roccoschili Chapter 193 The Werewolf Thorn King
Chapter 193 The Werewolf Thorn King
Chapter 193 The Werewolf Thorn King
The next day, the league only arranged two games, as if the person who arranged the schedule had expected it, these two games were the highlight, respectively, the Los Angeles Lakers, the No. The San Antonio Spurs challenge the fourth-placed Sacramento Kings away.
The matchup of the Western Conference semifinals has attracted everyone's attention. The first is the duel between the Lakers and the Timberwolves. In the last game, Garnett was suspended and was unable to play against his old team. As a result, the Lakers were blocked by Jermaine · O'Neill and Nesterovic teamed up to break the hammer. This time, both sides have a neat lineup. Whoever can win will have a psychological advantage in the possible playoff matchup.
New Lakers aid Shane Battier has also been placed on the activation list. If nothing else, he will play in the purple and gold jersey for the first time.
At the beginning of the game, the Lakers used Malone to defend Jermaine O'Neal, but the latter was tall and long. After receiving a pass from Arenas, the Lakers turned around and made a jumper with a feint. Malone was far behind.
The Lakers didn't follow the usual routine and played from the low post. After Billups dribbled for half court, he found that Arenas was a bit in. He took a step outside the three-point line and directly shot a three-pointer with an empty shot.
This "Arenas"-style three-point shot obviously inspired Arenas' fighting spirit. Now the hot No. 0 agent often ignites the center of the target through his unreasonable three-pointers.Of course, he was also familiar with Staples' basket.
Using Nesterovic's cover, Arenas was ready to return with a three-pointer, but he ignored a problem.
Nesterovic's opponent is Garnett, the famous defense monster.
Arenas' shot was interfered by Garnett, who was flying towards him, and the shot was slightly missed. The ball hit the basket and popped up. Malone protected the backcourt rebound and threw it directly to Garnett, who was sprinting towards the opponent's basket after the dive. Special, the latter completed a fast break dunk.
Arenas was too late to retreat, picked up the basketball and threw it on the ground in frustration, and sent the ball to Sprewell who came back to meet him.
Although the madman is getting old, his temper is still there. It doesn't matter whether you are facing Jordan Kobe or someone else, just do it.
The meaning of Nesterovic's existence is to build walls everywhere. This time, Sprewell learned the lesson of Arenas, borrowed a cover from the back of Buddha, and after pointing the center of gravity of Garnett who switched defenses, he forced his way to the basket. , and scored a layup.
The madman has the characteristics of a veteran player. After scoring a goal, he started to defend on the spot, and stared at Kobe who received the serve from the baseline.
Kobe kept changing direction, protecting the ball for half court, but instead of letting his teammates open a play or call a pick-and-roll as Sprewell imagined, he handed the ball to Bilu Puth, ran to the side by himself.
"What's the matter, boy, are you scared? Don't dare to fight by yourself..." Just as the madman spat half of his trash talk, Kobe suddenly started and cut to the basket.
The madman chased back in a hurry, but was blocked by Malone's solid off-ball screen. He could only watch as Kobe received a wonderful pass from Billups and scored with a one-handed alley-oop dunk through the back door.
The Timberwolves' three perimeters are all good scorers. The head coach Philip Saunders also teaches according to his aptitude, giving Arenas maximum freedom to play his offensive firepower. The Timberwolves' average scoring has surpassed the Kings, second only to the Lakers and Mavericks.
Szczerbiak's task this season is much easier. With Sprewell as a single point to attract firepower, all he has to do is to use his shooting expertise to open up space for the team, and at the same time make those damn shots. Open shot, in this round, Szczerbiak used Jermaine O'Neal's cover to get rid of Artest's defense and hit a long two-pointer.Artest's defensive ball scorer is very powerful, but it is a bit difficult to deal with a shooter like Szczerbiak who mainly focuses on off the ball.
Szczerbiak is an "atypical" shooter. He has a weight of 111 kilograms and a strong body. He is not as weak as many shooters. On the defensive end, he can even withstand the advance of a heavy small forward like Pierce.
So when the Lakers were about to let Artest return a goal, Artest was deflated on Szczerbiak, and he barely made a shot but was rejected by Jermaine O'Neal who came over from the defense.
Jermaine O'Neal seems to be planning to make the team completely forget about Garnett. He felt hot after the start of the game. Just after halfway through the first quarter, he scored 5 points on 4 of 8 shots. This kind of turnaround jumper purely based on height and feel made Malone helpless .
On the contrary, Arenas, although he has a strong desire to attack, is in a mediocre state. He missed all 3 three-pointers and made 2 turnovers.
Relying on the stable performance of Kobe and Billups, the Lakers temporarily lead 15 to 14. After the timeout, the Lakers replaced Wade, replaced Artest, who was not effective on both offensive and defensive ends, and replaced Nene , to replace Malone against O'Neal.
The effect of the substitution was immediate. Although Szczerbiak is strong in confrontation, lateral movement is not his forte. Whether it is against Kobe or Wade, neither can limit the opponent's breakthrough. The Lakers continue to attack him at this point. Kobe and Wade each staged a wonderful breakthrough dunk, the Lakers hit a wave of 1-6 within 0 minute, and once again stopped the Timberwolves.
"It feels good to have a lot of players!" Seeing Kobe, who has reached the peak, and Wade, who is budding, grasping the Timberwolves' weakness, for a moment, Jim felt that even the Spurs are not so terrible, at least the Lakers are not so terrible. Like three years ago, except for the OK combination, they could only rely on the aging Glenn Rice to break the deadlock.
After the timeout, the Timberwolves replaced Szczerbiak, replaced the swingman, and defended the titan Trenton Hassel, hoping to rely on the perimeter defense of Hassel and Sprewell to freeze the Lakers. attack.
Hassell is known for his candy-style defense. He seldom loses his position because of trying to steal. All his defensive goals are based on personal interference, so that opponents cannot make offensive moves comfortably.As soon as he played, Hassel found Kobe, and the two almost danced face to face.
Seeing that Kobe and Wade had no good chances, Garnett began to take on the heavy responsibility of the main attacker, but he was a little soft in the face of his old owner, and missed two consecutive mid-range shots.
Fortunately, after Hassel came on the field for the Timberwolves, the offensive space became crowded. Nene defended Jermaine O'Neal at all costs, as if to exhaust his energy within five minutes.
O'Neal didn't have many chances. The Timberwolves could only play singles by Madman and Arenas in turn. The efficiency of scoring was mediocre. Madman's shooting percentage has always been a weakness, and Arenas finally hit his first sports goal until his sixth shot. .
At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers led 24 to 19. This score is relatively low for both sides.
(End of this chapter)