NBA’s aging star system

On November 11, the Lakers continued to play at home against the Trail Blazers.

This was the third meeting between the two teams this season. The Lakers had won completely before, but Lillard also held his breath this time.

The Trail Blazers still continued their previous starting lineup, and the Lakers' starting lineup also remained unchanged.

The opening ball was won by the Trail Blazers. Lillard advanced to the frontcourt with the ball. Facing Su Tian's defense, Lillard appeared to be very cautious and called Nurkic to come out for pick-and-roll cooperation.

With the help of the pick-and-roll, Lillard directly shot a three-pointer.

Lillard's three-pointer did not allow Su Tian to react, and Lillard hit the three-pointer directly.

0-3

"Not bad, Lillard came up and hit a three-pointer. It seems that Lillard is in good condition today. The fans are lucky today and can see an offensive battle." Barkley said.

At this time, Lillard was not as relaxed as Barkley said, but just breathed a sigh of relief.

Even Lillard was extremely careful when scoring in front of Su Tian.

The ball possession changed and it was the Lakers' turn to attack.

Su Tian advanced to the frontcourt with the ball. Facing Lillard's defense, Su Tian smiled and also called Nance to come out for a pick-and-roll.

Unlike Lillard, with the help of the pick-and-roll, Su Tian directly breaks through the basket with the ball.

In order to defend against Nance's three-pointer, Nurkic had to come out with him and could not return to the basket in time. Fortunately, Lillard was fast enough and hurriedly caught up.

But although Lillard could keep up with Su Tian in speed, he was far behind in strength, so Su Tian took a European step directly against Lillard and easily scored the ball.

2-3

The ball was given to the Blazers again.

"It seems that not only Lillard feels good today, but Su's desire to attack is also not low." Barkley said.

"Yes, apart from last season when Su played freely, this season he started to reduce his desire to take shots again." Kenny Smith responded.

Su Tian has always been recognized by everyone as a player with low offensive desire, a player whose desire to organize is greater than his desire to score.

This is mainly because Su Tian's performance in the fourth quarter was so explosive that many people thought that Su Tian did not use his full strength in the first three quarters.

So some fans once asked this question on the Internet: If Su Tian had Kobe's desire to take action, what kind of player would he become?

Many people believe that such Su Tian must be a super scorer, a player who has the potential to reach Jordan's status.

The current Su Tian is too versatile in the eyes of some fans. He should focus on scoring and attacking like Jordan.

Of course, only Su Tian himself knows the real situation.

Soon after halfway through the first quarter, the game entered an official timeout. George came off the court to rest. The Lakers and Trail Blazers made substitution adjustments at the same time, but neither Su Tian nor Lillard came off the court.

After returning from the timeout, Lillard wanted to stab the Lakers directly, constantly attacking the Lakers with the ball, trying to take the lead.

But with Su Tian's defense in front of Lillard, it was impregnable and impossible for Lillard to break through.

Lillard saw that the breakthrough was not working, so he began to fire continuously from the outside, shooting three-pointers continuously.

But it is a pity that except for the first ball in the game that Su Tian did not notice, everything else was interfered by Su Tian, ​​and the three-point shooting rate dropped significantly.

At the end of the first quarter, the score reached 33-26, with the Lakers leading the Trail Blazers by 7 points.

In the second quarter, Su Tian took a break and George came on to lead the team. The Trail Blazers also made substitutions and adjustments, and McCollum came on to lead the team.

But compared with George, McCollum is obviously more than one level behind, and the point difference quickly reached double digits.

At this time Lillard found the coach.

"Mr. Coach, I'm going to play. If we wait any longer, we will lose the game again like before."

At this time, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts looked at the situation on the court and Lillard's condition, and had no choice but to agree to let Lillard play.

If the Trail Blazers want to beat the Lakers, the key point lies in Lillard. Only with Lillard's extraordinary performance can the Trail Blazers have a glimmer of hope of winning.

As for others, they don't even have the ability to impact the game.

Although McCollum and Nurkic are both very good players, they are really not enough to see the Lakers' Big Three.

After Lillard came on the court, the Blazers' situation did stabilize and they no longer lost points easily.

But it's not that simple for the Blazers to chase points.

Halfway through the second quarter, Su Tian came on the field again.

After Su Tian came on the court, he immediately began to take control of the team's ball and easily broke through Lillard's defense.

After coming inside to attract the defense, he passed the ball to Kuzma in the bottom corner.

Kuzma caught the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.

With the help of Su Tian's pass, Kuzma easily hit a three-pointer.

After Su Tian came on the court, his impact on the game was obvious, and the Lakers began to steadily suppress the Trail Blazers.

At the end of the first half, the score difference had reached 15 points, and Lillard sat in the locker room panting.

At this time McCollum came to sit next to Lillard.

"Damian, you have worked hard enough. Don't force yourself too much. Your body is the most important thing. We still have a long way to go, right?"

Lillard turned to look at McCollum and said: "CJ, you don't understand. I entered the league in 2012. I was already a senior at that time, and that kid won the MOP as a freshman in 2014 and entered the league. , although the pick was not higher than mine, he won the MVP earlier than me, and I was so unwilling to do so."

"I want to prove to everyone that I am no worse than him!"

After hearing what Lillard said at this time, McCollum walked away silently.

Unlike Lillard, McCollum was not favored since he was a child and has always been a lowly player. His ability to reach the NBA depends entirely on his own efforts.

Although McCollum is not so prosperous now, McCollum is already very satisfied. He hopes that he can continue to play in Portland until he retires.

The intermission ended quickly and the third quarter began.

There is no doubt that both sides sent out their entire starting lineup in the third quarter.

The first possession of the third quarter was given to the Lakers, and Su Tian advanced to the frontcourt with the ball.

Seeing Su Tian coming over with the ball, Lillard lowered his center of gravity and stared directly at Su Tian, ​​observing Su Tian's every move.

As for Su Tian, ​​it seemed a bit baffling to see such serious Lillard, because Su Tian saw not only fighting spirit but also very complicated emotions in Lillard's eyes.

But Su Tian was not a person who liked to avoid, so he motioned to his teammates to pull away and prepare to try Lillard alone.

After all his teammates were separated, Su Tian began to cross dribble constantly, mobilizing Lillard's defensive focus.

Seeing the right moment, Su Tian quickly broke out and rushed to the inside.

Lillard was not as strong as Su Tian and was easily broken through, so he quickly turned around and chased after him.

In the low post, Lillard finally returned to the defensive position. Just when Lillard wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, Su Tian followed up with a turnaround and fadeaway jumper.