Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

When the timeout ends, players from both teams return to the court.

The Hornets made personnel adjustments. Two substitute players were replaced, Hayward and Zeller were replaced, and LaMelo Ball remained on the court.

The Lakers also made substitutions. Zhuang Yu, Lopez, and Anderson were all replaced by Rose, Clarkson, and Nance Jr.

The Hornets players breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Lakers change to this lineup.

The past few minutes have made them deeply aware that the gap between their main lineup and the Lakers' is too big and there is no comparison at all.

Now it's the substitute lineup, maybe...

However, the result made them even more depressed.

Because they can't even beat the Lakers' bench lineup. You know, the Lakers' bench lineup has shrunk compared to last season. Without Kuzma and Zubac, the strength and depth of the bench lineup have weakened.

But they can still suppress the Hornets steadily.

"This is..."

Coach Borrego shook his head in frustration and called another timeout.

It’s not because we were trailing by more than ten points, it’s just a preseason game, winning or losing is not that important, but the team was not able to play the tactics they should have.

That's the problem.

Several players came to the sidelines, and Borrego rearranged the tactics and called LaMelo Ball: "Organize the offense well. You are the point guard. Your first task is to organize, not to score. Do you understand?"

"clear."

He did not replace LaMelo Ball.

The reason why the Hornets selected LaMelo Ball with the third pick in the draft was because they saw LaMelo Ball's organizational ability and growth potential.

After signing Hayward in the summer, the Hornets finally have a core of their team.

If LaMelo Ball performs well enough in organizing the offense, Coach Borrego believes they can still make a difference this season, and it is not impossible to even make the playoffs...

So he has to give LaMelo Ball more opportunities, allowing this young man to adapt to NBA games, adapt and grow as quickly as possible, and then help the team.

In the next few minutes, LaMelo Ball performed well in organization, was very good at passing the ball, and created some opportunities for his teammates.

It's just that the Hornets players failed to seize the opportunity.

When the first quarter ended, the Hornets were trailing by 17 points.

The Hornets players were a little depressed about this.

The home fans, on the other hand, were exceptionally calm. In a preseason game against a weak team like the Hornets, a 17-point lead in a single quarter would not surprise them.

......

Soon, the second quarter begins.

The Lakers sent out Lopez Sr. and let Lopez Sr. play with Nance Jr., Rose, Clarkson and Bembry.

The Hornets also sent out a rotation lineup. LaMelo Ball did not play, and neither Zeller nor Hayward played, but Rozier did.

Rozier didn't get any advantage against Holiday in the first quarter, but he played well against Rose this time, mainly because Rose's defense was not as good as Holiday's.

After a few minutes, the Hornets and the Lakers were evenly matched.

This made Coach Scott a little disappointed.

Although Kuzma is gone, there are still Lopez, Rose and Clarkson on the court, so they should have the upper hand.

"Requesting a timeout."

Coach Scott called a timeout, thought about it, replaced Nance Jr. with Anderson, and rearranged the tactics.

After this timeout, the Lakers' offense quickly improved and gained the upper hand.

The Hornets quickly made substitutions, sending LaMelo Ball, Hayward and Zeller on.

A moment later, the Lakers also made substitutions. Zhuang Yu, Holiday and Cunningham returned to the court and regained the main lineup, still having the upper hand.

......

When the first half ended, the Lakers led by 21 points.

Obviously, the gap between the two sides is huge, very huge.

However, the Lakers still sent out the starting lineup in the third quarter, but replaced Cunningham with Clarkson.

This strengthens the offense and weakens the defense.

Without Kuzma and Zubac this season, the Lakers' overall style of play will not change, but there will definitely be some adjustments in the details.

How to make good use of defensive and offensive formations, how to maintain sufficient advantages and competitiveness on both offense and defense...this is what they need to explore and verify.

A few minutes later, the Lakers made a substitution.

Lopez, Holiday, and Anderson were all replaced, but Zhuang Yu was left on the court. In addition, Rose, Nance Jr., and Howard were replaced.

Seeing Howard finally come on stage, there was a cheer from the audience.

Although he is no longer the "Magic Beast" of the past, he is a former All-Star player after all, and the home fans still expressed great welcome.

Zhuang Yu smiled, and after reaching the frontcourt, he made a tactic and winked at Howard. Howard quickly cut into the inside, and Zhuang Yu swung the ball with one hand.

A high throw sent the ball to the edge of the basket.

Bang!

With a bang, Howard dunked with both hands.

He grinned: "Hehe, it's really enjoyable."

After a period of time, he and Zhuang Yu had developed some tacit understanding, and dunking like this was simply too comfortable for him.

If he really had to play like he did in the Magic team, he wouldn't be able to do it. Now he only does two things - dunking and defending.

Howard also knows his situation. After coming to the Lakers, he never thought about doing anything else. He just wanted to be a blue-collar inside player and do all the dirty and tiring work.

Nothing to complain about.

A player who is about to be unemployed can get a job, and in a team like the Lakers, and even have a chance to win a championship ring. What else can he not be satisfied with?

Just to have a chance to win a championship ring, he has to work hard.

......

"Bang!"

A moment later, Howard got the ball again and dunked with both hands.

By the end of the third quarter, Howard had already made 4 dunks and scored 8 points. Yes, all of his points came from dunks.

After three quarters, the Lakers still led by more than 20 points.

In fact, the Hornets did not play badly in the third quarter. LaMelo Ball did not score much, but his organization was pretty good. Hayward also found his feeling in the third quarter, making consecutive hits and scoring 9 points in a single quarter.

It’s a pity that they were still not good enough against the Lakers.

In the last quarter, Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Lopez and Anderson did not play because the game was no longer meaningful.

The Hornets didn't send out their main lineup, so it has no training value for the Lakers, so why should they send out their main players?

......

"Beep..."

The whole game is over.

With a score of 127:108, the Lakers defeated the Hornets by 19 points and easily won the first preseason game.

A day later, the Lakers played another game against the Hornets.

Not surprisingly, the Lakers still defeated their opponents easily.

Two games later, the Lakers faced the Thunder and the Mavericks again, winning one and losing one in the two games, losing to the Thunder and winning against the Mavericks.

After four games, the Lakers have 3 wins and 1 loss.

Then they boarded a plane to China to face the last two preseason games, namely the NBA China Games.

......

Now that he has returned to China, Zhuang Yu will certainly not disappoint the fans.

The opponents in these two China games are the Bucks.

In the first game, Zhuang Yu played for 30 minutes.

You have to know that this is just a preseason game, and the main players of most teams won’t play for long, only twenty minutes at most.

But in this game, Zhuang Yu played for 30 minutes. It was not arranged by Coach Scott, but his own request.

Because he knows the fans want to see him play.

Moreover, Zhuang Yu was more serious in the game than in the previous four preseason games. He scored 11 points in the first quarter, 8 points in the second quarter, plus 3 rebounds and 3 assists, 7 points in the third quarter, and 7 points in the fourth quarter. He scored 33 points in the whole game, plus 9 rebounds and 9 assists.

This made the fans very happy and enjoyed it.

When there were still a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, Zhuang Yu was substituted early. All the fans in the audience stood up and shouted loudly: "Zhuang Yu, MVP!"

"Zhuang Yu, MVP!"

"MVP..."

The warm cheers continued one after another and did not subside for a long time.

Zhuang Yu walked to the sidelines and waved to the audience.

This is the feeling of being at home.

......

One day later, the second China game started.

The Bucks played this game more seriously than the previous one, especially the core player of the team, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Last season, he lost to Zhuang Yu and failed to win the regular season MVP, which made him feel very unhappy. He was determined to win back the MVP this season.

Of course, it’s only preseason now.

Originally, Antetokounmpo didn't intend to take it seriously, but in the last game, Zhuang Yu played much more seriously, scoring nearly 30+10+10, and treated them as a background board.

So he planned to take this game seriously and win at least one of the two games. He was not willing to be used as a background to please the Chinese fans.

I know this is a Chinese game, I know Zhuang Yu is a Chinese player, this is his home court, and the fans are cheering for him...but so what?

Antetokounmpo doesn't want to be a supporting actor.

So, from the beginning of the game, Antetokounmpo performed dunks one after another with a serious expression and sharp eyes, showing his attitude.

If it were somewhere else, it would just be a preseason game and Zhuang Yu would not be interested in competing with Antetokounmpo, but this was in China, in his own country.

Antetokounmpo has made his attitude clear, how can he not accept the challenge?

"Give me the ball later."

Zhuang Yu gave an order.

Several teammates nodded in agreement, and their expressions became more serious.

When he came to the frontcourt, Zhuang Yu ran back to get the ball, played one-on-one, changed direction and pretended to break through, and then took a step back and shot a three-pointer, which hit the target.

Dozens of seconds later, Zhuang Yu grabbed the rebound and made a three-pointer, which drew cheers from the audience and excited the fans.

"Two three-pointers."

"Two in a row..."

These two three-pointers were a response to Antetokounmpo.

Several Bucks players looked at each other, and Antetokounmpo shouted, "Defend better and don't give him a chance to shoot three-pointers."

......

"Shh!"

There was another soft sound, and it was still Zhuang Yu's three-pointer.

The Bucks defended very well this time, and Antetokounmpo had already rushed in front of him, but it was useless, and Zhuang Yu still made the shot.

Moreover, after a while, Zhuang Yu faked a shot and actually broke through, dribbled past Antetokounmpo who was rushing over to delay him, rushed into the inside, soared into the sky, and made a one-handed slam dunk.

The sound of "bang" shook the whole place.

The fans all stood up, shouting and cheering excitedly...

When Zhuang Yu broke out, the Lakers quickly gained the upper hand.

Although Antetokounmpo also scored, he was obviously not as efficient as Zhuang Yu.

When Zhuang Yu was substituted, he had already scored 13 points, while Antetokounmpo scored 10 points, and the Lakers were leading by 6 points.

Entering the second quarter, both sides replaced their rotation lineups.

The Lakers still had a slight advantage, but with Antetokounmpo returning to the court, the Bucks turned the situation around and began to narrow the score.

Not long after he came on the court, the Lakers also replaced Zhuang Yu.

The two looked at each other on the court. Antetokounmpo narrowed his eyes, while Zhuang Yu curled his lips. An invisible aura collided...

......

"I can't stop it."

"After all, he is the best player in the league. It is normal that he cannot be stopped. The opponent cannot defend against Giannis either."

"But... Giannis doesn't score as many points as him, and his efficiency is also much worse."

"Uh, so we're always behind..."

In a blink of an eye, the game has reached the fourth quarter.

After more than three quarters, the Lakers were still leading.

The Bucks' Antetokounmpo played very well, scoring 28 points, but Zhuang Yu scored more, scoring 35 points, and his scoring efficiency was extremely high. So far, he has made 12 of 7 three-pointers, with a hit rate of %.

This made Antetokounmpo very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do. He really wanted to suppress Zhuang Yu, but he just couldn't do it.

Zhuang Yu has too many ways to score.

In the last few minutes, Antetokounmpo was still scoring. He no longer expected to surpass Zhuang Yu in personal performance, but wanted to win the game.

However, Zhuang Yu did not give him a chance. A three-pointer and a 2+1 directly killed the game.

When the game ended, the Lakers defeated the Bucks 120:113 and won both games in China.

Zhuang Yu scored 41 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists.

"Zhuang Yu is so handsome."

“It’s totally worth the ticket price.”

"This is just the preseason. I didn't expect Zhuang Yu to play for so long. He really loves his fans."

People are all happy.

You know, this is just a preseason game, and many players won't play for a long time, let alone be serious. However, Zhuang Yu played for more than 41 minutes and scored a gorgeous 9+12+. He didn't need to do so, but he did it.

If this isn’t pampering fans, then what is?

I spent the money for a preseason game and watched a game comparable to the regular season at home. If this isn't a good deal, how can it be?