NBA peak

Chapter 706 Morant and Jalen Jr.

There is still half an hour left before the game starts.

All the fans who grabbed tickets to watch the game have passed through the security check one after another and came to their seats.

The faces of the fans were full of confidence.

Just now, Tatum's inauguration speech made the fans feel emotional.

Fans can't wait to see the passionate basketball game back then.

"The Lakers Championship!"

This is the home court of the Lakers. The fans couldn't help shouting slogans in advance after seeing the Lakers players running to the court in an orderly manner to start warming up.

That's right, the general of the Lakers is aiming for this goal!

Seeing the KT boards with the words "Lakers Championship!" and "Ge Feng MVP!" being lifted up one after another around the scene, the Lakers players felt very encouraged.

The game has not yet started, and everyone has already felt the confidence of the fans.

Fans today look different than they did in any previous year.

These fans came to watch the game with hope.

And the hopeful mood of the fans will also make the Lakers players feel that there is an inexplicable force in their bodies, ready to go!
Staples Center is packed!

Athletes on both sides are geared up and ready to compete at any time.

Among the Grizzlies' starting five, the backcourt composed of Morant and Brooks, and center Valanciunas have not changed in any way.

In the striker lineup, the Grizzlies changed from Anderson and Toliver last season to Jae Crowder and Jaren Jackson Jr.

Among the Grizzlies' starting five, Jaren Jackson Jr. is the Lakers' second concern.

Jalen Jr. is the No. 4 position of the Grizzlies. He is also a powerful space-based insider with very good low-post singles ability and terrifying three-pointer ability.

Jalen Jr. is 2 meters tall, has a wingspan of 11 meters, and weighs 2kg. His excellent physical condition makes Jaren Jr. very confrontational.

In addition to his physical fitness, Jalen Jr. also has a deep understanding of the game and an accurate grasp of the timing of blocking shots. This is also the most important factor for him to become a great defensive player besides his physical fitness.

Jalen Jr.'s upper limit is extremely high, and his performance also gave the Grizzlies more room for imagination.

Jalen Jr. is the same age as Morant, only 23 years old.

Judging from Jalen Jr.'s progress, he is likely to develop into the next Garnett, Davis or... Bosh in the future?

But... in the future... as long as Jaren Jackson Jr. is not troubled by injuries, he will become a great star!

The only fly in the ointment is that Jalen Jr. averaged 3.79 fouls per game, tied for first in the league with Towns.

And this season, Jalen Jr. has fouled out 6 times.

The frequency with which Jalen Jr. was sent off was too high!
However, according to changes in league rules, Jalen Jr. is likely to usher in an explosion next season.

Sometimes, more fouls are not due to poor player ability.

On the contrary, the average number of fouls per game is more, which also shows that this player is very active in defense.

After all, it is impossible to be fouled by the referee for eye defense and akimbo defense.

Finally, in the eyes of the Lakers fans looking forward to, the whistle that heralded the start of the game finally sounded in the center of the Staples Center.

Participating in the jump ball is Davis of the Lakers and Valanciunas of the Grizzlies.

Davis looked very excited. The moment the whistle blew, he jumped up and turned the ball back to the half court, giving the Lakers the opportunity to attack first.

In the first match of the first round, the head coaches and players of both sides were testing each other's opponents.

As soon as the Lakers came up, they still played the inverted triangle formation that fans are familiar with. However, the Lakers did not give Ge Feng the first chance to attack, but let Davis play Jalen Jr. first.

Kobe knows very well that when teams play against each other in the playoffs, what really determines the trend of the game is often not the core of the team, but the key players of the team.

Among the Grizzlies' starting five, except for Morant, who the Lakers will definitely focus on defending, Jalen Jr.'s state is the key to the game between the Lakers and the Grizzlies.

The Lakers need to let Davis touch Jalen Jr. more to see who is the best 4 in the league.

Davis leaned against Jackson, turned around and shot after consecutive back hits.

"Boom."

Although Davis was very excited, he suffered a dark loss when he faced Jalen Jr. for the first time.

Jalen Jr.'s physical confrontation was too strong. When Davis turned around for this ball, Jaren Jr. lost his aim.

Jalen Jr.'s defense was really extraordinary.

Defensive rebound by Valanciunas.

The Grizzlies' defensive counterattack was very fast, and both Jalen Jr. and Morant rushed to the frontcourt immediately.

The Grizzlies are one of the teams with the youngest average age in the league. The way they rely most on scoring this season is defensive counterattack.

However, Bryant carefully studied their opponents before the start of the playoffs.

As the founder of the Mamba spirit, Kobe will never underestimate any opponent, even if this opponent is only the eighth mid-range team in the West.

The Lakers retreated very quickly. Morant had no chance to attack the frontcourt, so he stopped and waited for his teammates to return.

When the Grizzlies' pick-and-roll came out, Morant, relying on the league's top explosive power and stagnant power, took a quick step, passed Schroeder, then dodged and moved, rushed to the inside of the Lakers, and pulled the bar for a layup.

"Shh."

Morant dodges the joint block of Davis and McGee in the air and scores the ball.

However, Morant himself flew out of bounds.

The Lakers directly made a quick free throw, and before Morant had time to return to the defense, he grabbed one.

2 is better than 2!

The Grizzlies fans froze for a moment.

They were still cheering for Morant's explosive pull-bar layup just now, but in less than 10 seconds, the Lakers launched a counterattack and responded to the Grizzlies with a goal.

Grizzlies coach Jenkins gave Bryant a meaningful look.

At least, from this ball, Jenkins could see that Kobe had worked hard on them before the game, which made Jenkins feel respect and pressure.

Jenkins once studied with Popovich, and has been working as an assistant coach under Budenholzer for the Bucks since then.

Speaking of it, Jenkins is actually a very Spurs faction NBA head coach, he attaches great importance to the balance of offense and defense.

Jenkins came to the sidelines and loudly reminded Morant to reduce the unnecessary falls just now and pay attention to the Lakers' fast break.

Morant nodded.

He also noticed that the Lakers had thoroughly studied his playing habits and weaknesses, which made Morant feel very uncomfortable.

The Grizzlies have the ball.

Morant stood outside the three-point line, directing his teammates to move with one hand, and at the same time his feet were not idle, all kinds of fascinated steps, ready to break through Schroeder's defense at any time.

(End of this chapter)