Pick Westbrook

Chapter 304 Is there a mistake?

The game continues.

Paul advances with the ball.

Continuous singles made him a little tired.

Paul is very clear that if this game keeps him so single, it is only a matter of time before the Hornets lose the game.

Now if you want to crack the Spurs' defensive strategy, the best way is to combine all the Hornets players on the field to transform the inefficient and physically demanding individual offense into a team offense.

Paul glanced at Li Lai on the sidelines. At this time, he didn't know how the team should play when Boris Diaw came on the court.

Li looked at Paul and nodded.

Because of the consecutive away games, Li Lai and Paul have formed a perfect understanding on the offensive end, so they can understand each other's meaning in every word.

Boris Diaw puts the ball up high.

Paul cuts from on-ball to off-ball and runs a pick-and-roll for Leonard.

Duncan was a little afraid of Boris Diaw's three-point shooting ability, so he raised the top of the arc and the three-point line was very far from the basket.

Leonard cut to the basket immediately after using Paul's pick-and-roll.

His cut instantly caught the attention of every Spurs defender.

Stephen Jackson and Gary Neal shrink the inside line at the same time, pressing Leonard tightly.

Barkley couldn't help but praise, "The Spurs' defense is very disciplined."

But at this moment, Boris Diaw passed the ball directly to the bottom corner. Paul did not leave after the Leonard pick-and-roll, but stood still and formed a human wall.

Tony Parker, who should have switched to Vince Carter's position, couldn't keep up and hit Paul completely.

Swish!
Carter made a solid three-pointer.

"The Hornets play a bit of a Bucks offense this time around."

"The wall covers and the door is closed on one side. This is the Bucks' trick on the offensive end."

Kenny Smith couldn't help but be full of memories and said.

Of course, even now he is still a loyal fan of the Bucks and has been following that team's games.

Tyronn Lue definitely has the strength to become the head coach of a team. Under his leadership, the team still maintains the strength of last season.

Buckley said: "This is the tree moving the dead and the living."

"Because of Boris Diaw's playing, the Hornets have an extra ball-holding organization point. Now it is not so easy for the Spurs to completely limit their offense."

"Although Boris Diaw is not an All-Star in terms of personal strength, even becoming a team's starting-level player is a bit embarrassing."

"But he has a fundamental fit with this Hornets team."

Popovich's complexion was unstable, and he remembered what Li Lai said before the start of the game.

"This little bastard really didn't have the idea of ​​​​buying out Boris Diaw, and he traded him from the Bobcats on purpose."

"That is to say, after the Spurs lost the candidate to strengthen the small forward position, they once again lost the candidate to strengthen the depth of the bench."

The point is that the players Popovich wanted to strengthen in these two positions were snatched by Li Lai.

Thinking of George Hill and Dragic before, with new and old grudges combined, Popovich even wanted to beat Li to that kid at this moment.

The first quarter is over.

The Hornets trailed the Spurs by 24 points with 26:2.

The second game.

Hornets rotation: Beverley, JR Smith, Jimmy Butler, Boris Diaw and Jason Smith.

Spurs rotation: point guard Patrick Mills, shooting guard Manu Ginobili, small forward James Anderson, power forward DeJuan Blair and center Matt Bonner.

At the beginning of the game, Ginobili relied on the serpentine dance to eat Jimmy Butler and scored a layup.

Then Ginobili borrowed DeJuan - Blair's pick-and-roll, once again reached the basket and succeeded.

Two consecutive waves of defense failed to limit Ginobili's offense. Jimmy Butler was very uncomfortable and blamed himself.

"Ginobili is too oily, and he is not smooth on the court. With Jimmy's current defensive experience, it is really difficult to limit the opponent."

Stevens has spotted problems on the field.

I have to say that the Spurs still have a reason for putting Ginobili on the bench.

Ginobili's excellent breakthrough ability and shooting ability are basically dimensionality reduction blows when facing most of the league's bench lineups.

To defend Ginobili's offense, almost all teams can only try to double-team.

But Ginobili is also a good passer, and the Spurs are still a team that advocates overall offense. The consequences of double-teaming him can be imagined.

"Defend Ginobili and try not to use double-team defense. We can only hope that Jimmy can get familiar with the opponent's way of playing as soon as possible."

"As long as we can limit Ginobili a little bit, we all still have the possibility to win."

"However, Ginobili is oily but we are not bad. The Hornets have the same old fried dough player who can go and play with them."

Stevens stared at Li Lai with wide eyes, and suddenly thought of something.

Li Lai nodded without hesitation and said, "This game is when we can break the playing time limit for all players."

beep!beep!
Li Lai took the initiative to call a timeout and make a substitution in advance.

Paul was reactivated and took the court without a break for 2 minutes, and Beverly was taken.

At this time, the Hornets have also reached the time to chase points, so Beverly's defense is not very useful at this time.

Paul, who finally had no time limit and was able to overload the game, was very excited. He put on his braces and signaled that Dior would still play in the same offensive way as in the first quarter.

Both of them are players with good basketball IQ, so after finding a way to cooperate, they immediately had a tacit understanding.

Hornets attack.

Paul played the pick-and-roll with the ball outside, and Dior came up to cover.

After seeing this offensive tactic, Barkley clicked his tongue again and again, and said: "Two players who can organize and pass the ball are playing pick-and-rolls in the high position. At this time, the Spurs' overall defense and ability to break pick-and-rolls will be extremely tested."

Ginobili decisively switched defenses, and he followed up with Paul throughout the court. The moment Dior came up, Ginobili squeezed ahead without hesitation.

Paul took advantage of the situation to lean on his body, and then threw his body into the sky.

beep!beep!
The referee whistled and Ginobili fouled from outside the three-point line.

Hearing the penalty, Ginobili was very speechless, and went directly to the referee and spread his hands to explain again and again.

"The ball came by himself, how can he call me a foul?"

The referee who whistled also explained: "Manu, I don't read what you said and only follow the rules. You violated Chris Paul's shooting cylinder and caused the opponent to lose his body balance in the air. You should be punished. Call a foul."

Popovich's face darkened directly, and he even wanted to rush up and chop Paul into pieces.

Such a bad move, how did you Chris Paul do it!

Yu Jia couldn't help laughing at the commentary stand: "Oh, Manu suffered a big loss from Paul, you can do whatever you want, but when it comes to petty moves, I'm second to Chris, and no one dares to be number one."

Su Qun also laughed at the side and said: "The slow-motion replay of the big screen at the scene came out, you see Paul took the initiative to lean on, Ginobili didn't even have a place to hide, and he was forced to foul from beyond the three-point line .”

"He is avenging his teammate Jimmy Butler. You, Manu Ginobili, have field experience, don't you?"

"Look, Paul is smiling and high-fiving Jimmy Butler."

on the field.

Paul pointed to Butler in a gesture, and the latter nodded as if I understood.

Manu Ginobili was on the sidelines, and could only watch Paul make all three free throws, and the Spurs' advantage was once again wiped out.

Later, Butler became more and more experienced in defending Ginobili. He took the initiative to let the opponent half a step away, and did not give Ginobili a chance to break through easily.

"Although Ginobili is still playing well on the court, he has lost the terrifying efficiency he had before, and now he is playing normally."

"But our attack is up!"

Paul scored 8 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, leading the Hornets to a wave of 10:4 offensive highs.

Popovich had no choice but to also replace Duncan and Tony Parker in advance, which suppressed the Hornets' offensive momentum, and at the same time returned a wave of 8:4 offensive high slots.

Halftime is over.

The Hornets are still 49:53 behind.

Second half of the game.

Li Lai replaced Paul, who played a lot of time, and partnered JR Smith and Dior together.

JR Smith, who could only rely entirely on personal offense during the rotation time, finally got a very comfortable pass.

Diaw was at the top of the arc, Jimmy Butler went in to pick and roll and set up a wall for JR Smith, who got rid of the defense and took a step forward to catch the ball.

Ginobili's defensive prediction was extremely good, and he rushed to JR Smith the moment he received the ball.

Unexpectedly, JR Smith's fake and real shot slowed down Ginobili's defensive speed, and then retreated and shot outside the corner three-point line.

hit!

Su Qun said: "JR Smith, a problematic player that no one cares about during the off-season, originally the New York Knicks were only willing to offer him a basic salary contract."

"But the Hornets did not hesitate to offer JR Smith a multi-year mid-level contract, and the opponent's performance this season is completely worthy of this contract."

Yu Jia looked at JR Smith's current game data and said: "So far in the regular season, JR Smith has averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game, shooting 43% from the field and 38% from the three-point range."

"At the same time, it is worth mentioning that JR Smith is currently the second best sixth man on the list, second only to Dragic of the Bucks."

"If JR Smith can continue to maintain this performance, he and Dragic will become the main contenders for the best sixth man this season."

Of course, JR Smith's shooting efficiency so far is not good, which is also because the Hornets don't have a good passer in the rotation stage.

With the joining of Dior, JR Smith is destined to get more easy scoring opportunities in the future, and it will not be surprising that the shooting efficiency will be improved by then.

What Barkley wants to say is that so far he has not heard any bad rumors about JR Smith, which is much better than the bunch of bad things he had in the Nuggets before.

Kenny Smith said: "Don't look at JR Smith as a substitute for the Hornets. His scoring average can rank second in this team, second only to Chris Paul."

on the field.

Diaw signaled his teammates to start running, and JR Smith got a chance to switch singles at a 45° angle on the right.

Guard JR Smith by Tony Parker.

Facing Parker, who was much shorter than him, JR Smith played very resolutely, forcing his way to the basket, followed by a one-handed dunk from the free throw line.

boom! ! !
This dunk stunned all the New Orleans fans at the scene. They even forgot to cheer and applaud their home team players at this moment.

Stevens and Du Feng were almost dumbfounded at this moment.

"When did JR Smith jump like that and look like an All-Star on the court."

Li Lai looked at the shocked Stevens and Du Feng, and said with a calm smile, "Tonight, JR Smith brought a knife."

The third quarter of the game.

Relying on JR Smith's sudden outbreak, the Hornets tied the Spurs 75:75.

GDP regrouped back on the field in the second half of the game.

Duncan once again showed his ability to completely crush Lewis on the court. Li Lai had to double-team Duncan even in such a critical game in the last quarter.

Such a defensive strategy can naturally limit Duncan's scoring very well, but it is followed by the Spurs' multi-point blooming.

Parker gyro scored a layup, Ginobili hit a three-pointer from the outside, and Wu Sheng Stephen Jackson made a mid-range shot + three-pointer to help the Spurs overtake the score.

Li Lai made urgent adjustments knowing that he could no longer prevent the Spurs from attacking, and took JR Smith who was in very good form tonight.

At this time, the Hornets' lineup is Paul, JR Smith, Leonard, Butler and Jordan.

"The Hornets have their own big and small lineup again!"

This is the number of times Barkley has seen the Hornets take this team lineup at critical moments, and every time the Hornets take this lineup, they can always receive miraculous effects on the court.

Of course, the slight change is that JR Smith replaced Vince Carter in this lineup.

"The attributes of JR Smith's nerve knife mean that he can finish the offense under any defense."

"And Vince Carter has to be more versatile, whether it is defense or passing, he is better than JR Smith."

"But considering JR Smith's performance tonight and the current situation of the Hornets falling behind on the court, I very much agree with Coach Li Lai's decision to make substitutions at this time."

Li Lai was already standing on the court at this time. He pointed to various positions on the court and directed the players to play the most critical rounds with great solemnity.

Popovich's face was also full of nervousness at the moment, and he also yelled on the sidelines to signal the Spurs players to seriously defend every opponent on the field.

Butler and Leonard, who played such a critical round for the first time, were slightly nervous, while veteran Paul kept applauding and motivating his teammates with words.

JR Smith put his hands on his hips on the court, looking fearless, even if this is a finals, he is the same, he loves whoever he likes, and he can do whatever he likes.

At 96:98, the Hornets trailed by two points.

Paul picks and rolls from a high position, and Jordan immediately goes down.

The Spurs still adopted the same defensive strategy, trying not to give Paul the chance to pass the ball, blocking the connection between him and his teammates.

Paul played this ball extremely decisively. After seeing Thiago Splitter changing defense in front of him, he executed the singles without hesitation.

Pulled back to the three-point line, dribbled the ball over the crotch and passed Tiago Splitter in one step, and then went straight to the basket.

Faced with Duncan's shrinking inside defense, Paul scored with a one-handed throw.

"The Spurs, Mr. Popovich, they have suffered a lot tonight."

"They underestimated Chris Paul's singles ability, and underestimated the determination of the Hornets to win this game."

"The Spurs paid a terrible price for Paul tonight."

98:98 the score was tied.

There are 32 seconds left in the game.

Popovich called a timeout angrily, his face flushed with anger.

He never thought that this Hornets team could have such a strong strength, especially the variable Dior.

Because of the addition of the opponent, the offensive level of this team's rotation has taken on a new look, and at critical junctures, Diaw can also work with Paul to organize and change the opponent's targeted defense.

Barkley said with great certainty at this time: "The 900 million Dior is definitely worth the money for the Hornets."

Pause ends.

The Spurs executed their last round, and the defensive tactics Li Lai arranged for the team was zone defense.

He didn't know what offensive tactics Popovich would deploy at this time. Li Lai was betting.

Just bet Popovich will hit Duncan, who played so well tonight.

At the same time, the Hornets have no good defensive players at the power forward position. In addition, Jimmy Butler also mentioned the power forward position at this time, and the inside defense is further weakened.

"It's impossible for Popovich not to take advantage of that."

on the field.

Tony Parker advanced with the ball and decisively passed it to Duncan near the free throw line.

Li Lai was right!
Looking at Butler behind him defending himself, while Jordan and Leonard standing inside helping defend, Duncan knew that the opponent was attacking him.

Popovich was a little flustered looking at the defensive position of the Hornets on the court at the moment, and he hurriedly stroked the court like swimming.

"Popovich is signaling all the Spurs players to pull away. Only in this way can the defensive pressure Duncan encounter on the court be greatly weakened."

Duncan did not choose to pass the ball, but turned from the back to the front to attack.

Facing Jimmy Butler's defense, he broke through with the ball without hesitation, and at the same time pushed his body hard to push away the opponent's defense.

Jordan on the same side came up to double-team, and Duncan made an open shot before the double-team.

Duang!

The basketball hit the rim, stumbled and bounced in again.

"Come in!"

"Duncan scored this key goal."

"There are 18 seconds left on the court."

beep!beep!
Li Lai took a deep breath and called the team's last timeout.

The Hornets have predicted the Spurs' offensive tactics in advance, and at the same time, they have done a very detailed handling of Duncan's defense, but they were still beaten into this critical round by the opponent.

This is the quality of a star, and Li Lai has nothing to do about it.

It was the first time Stevens and Du Feng encountered such a tense and intense scene, and they were extremely nervous at the moment.

They all looked at Li Lai and hoped that the other party could arrange a decisive tactic to resolve the battle.

Li Lai first signaled for adjustments and substitutions, taking Butler and Carter, so as to increase the offensive threat of the team's outside line.

Du Feng originally wanted to ask, why not take Jordan down and replace him with a player with shooting ability, so that the offensive threat will become greater.

Stevens guessed Du Feng's thoughts, quickly held down the opponent's hand and shook his head and said: "Jordan can grab offensive rebounds at critical moments. If we replace him, we will be desperate."

"It can be seen that the coach really wants to win tonight's game."

The game restarts.

Popovich looked at the court very solemnly. He knew that little guy Li Lai's offensive accomplishments, so he was very afraid of the opponent's offensive tactics at this time.

In terms of defensive arrangements, Popovich also gave the players death orders.

"The audience is pressing!"

Barkley was shocked to see the intensity of the defense on the court.

All the players of the Spurs are chasing people frantically, just not giving any player of the Hornets an easy chance to catch the ball.

At this moment, the Hornets have no timeout. If they cannot send the ball in this round, the Hornets will directly lose the game tonight.

Yu Jia had already seen the sweat on his palms and backs, and said excitedly: "Popovich is still old, and the timeout of the Hornets sent himself into the abyss at the same time."

Jordan served the ball, but he couldn't find a point to catch the ball for a long time.

Leonard and JR Smith suddenly made a human wall in the bottom corner, and Paul passed through the human wall and quickly raised it to the outside of the three-point line to beckon for the ball.

"The ball is out! It's in Paul's hands."

"Now it depends on how Paul plans to play. He feels very good tonight."

Paul's outside point roster beat Tony Parker.

Low-handed dribbling, rhythm, and accelerated breakthrough.

"Paul's in!"

"But Duncan's inside double-team also came!"

"Vince Carter is lurking outside the corner three-point line."

"How to say?"

Paul decisively passed the ball to Vince Carter in the bottom corner, and Ginobili and Stephen Jackson rushed at the same time.

Vince Carter throws the ball at a 45° angle to the right.

Popovich sat down on the ground when he saw the pass.

"JR Smith was wide open! He shot!"

Paul, Leonard, and Vince Carter raised their hands together at this time. This is the offensive arrangement of the coach during the timeout. They executed this offensive tactic perfectly on the court. Now it depends on whether JR Smith can complete it. This is the final three points.

Jordan squeezed to the basket and was still trying to see if it was possible to grab an offensive rebound.

Swish!
The crisp sound is very eye-catching.

Yu Jia was already watching the music at the commentary stand.

"Director Su, that's how the plot is arranged. My God, it's not Paul, it's not Vince Carter, JR Smith counts down the lore."

Su Qun was also happy and said, "Coach Li Lai really believes in JR Smith, and he really dared to arrange this ball."

"No one thought that JR Smith would complete this lore. After all, Vince Carter was only on the court, and his position is also the greatest threat."

"However, I have to say that there is nothing wrong with this tactic. JR Smith feels very hot tonight."

on the field.

JR Smith was extremely arrogant half kneeling on the ground and shaking his hands, Leonard and Paul rushed over excitedly.

The Hornets players off the court couldn't sit still anymore, and all rushed onto the court.

For a time the scene was extremely chaotic.

The New Orleans fans at the scene only saw the performance of the Hornets in the last few games on the broadcast. Originally, they ran to the arena to watch the home team's game with curiosity and anticipation, but they didn't expect it to be so passionate. screen.

"Are you sure this is our Hornets?"

"Kill the Spurs and start with 5 consecutive victories?"

"Did you make a mistake!"

(End of this chapter)