The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 66 Attack blocked
Zhang Xiaotian accidentally received an invitation to the All-Star Weekend Three-point Shootout Contest. His three-point shots are average.

It seems that the gimmick of breaking the record is enough, he thought for a second and agreed, why not go, treat it as a tour.

And he may also have the opportunity to participate in the rookie competition. Although it is not the main competition, he is also very proud.

Back then, I couldn't dream of entering the NBA, how many days and nights I couldn't sleep.

Now that he has the opportunity to be around the All-Stars, the chances in his life are really amazing, and he needs to cherish them.

After returning from the away game, they will accept the challenge of the Western powerhouse Lakers.

The Lakers this season, the summer is full of vigor and vitality, what is the first shooting guard partnering with the first center, what are the Big Four, what are the starting five tigers, but now they have not even entered the top eight.

Injury is a big reason, but Mike D'Antoni really didn't make their luxurious lineup integrate effectively.

Coming to the away game to challenge the Spurs, the Lakers did not bring the inside twin towers Howard and Gasol.

Howard had a small problem, and Gasol had repeated injuries.

Without two insiders, the Lakers did not put their minds on the bench, but let the rookie Thackeray start, and then the third backup guard, let Kobe play small forward and let Artest play power forward.

In this way, the Spurs' inside line took advantage.

But after the start, it was a little surprising that Artest resisted Duncan and resisted, but Duncan couldn't defend and was scored consecutively by Artest.

So the Spurs quickly made adjustments, letting Diaw play to defend Artest and Duncan to play center.

The Spurs adjusted in time and quickly regained the initiative. Because the Lakers' lineup lacked offensive power, they could defend Kobe strictly. Under the interference of Leonard's long arm, Kobe's touch was only average.

When it came to the rotation, Zhang Xiaotian faced Jamison again.

The aging Jamison is not fast, but he can't give him a chance to shoot. Zhang Xiaotian can handle it.

Originally, the advantage was on the Spurs' side. Unexpectedly, when Nash played with a substitute, the Lakers played a smoother offense. Their backup power forward Earl Clark felt hot and once caught up with the score.

However, Popovich's level of adjustment is absolutely fine. At first, he quickly replaced Splitter to solve the problem, and now he replaced Splitter again, which also solved the problem.

In any case, the Lakers just don't have an inside line. Duncan's own condition is a bit bad. Splitter was tumbling inside. The Spurs opened the score again and entered the intermission with a 9-point lead.

Kobe felt average in the first half, but he also made two fouls by Leonard, and another foul by Ginobili when he switched defenses. He must pay more attention in the second half.

How about it, the Lakers are also Kobe's team, and if they want to win them, they can't relax against Kobe.

In the third quarter, sure enough, there was a problem, and Kobe began to take over the game early.

Leonard can limit him, but at Kobe's level, what really limits him is his touch.

After adapting to Leonard's defense, Kobe can show off his power. He made consecutive mid-range shots and three-pointers. confusion.

How should I put it, defending Kobe cannot be judged by common sense. Sometimes he will not pass the ball when he encounters a pinch, and difficult shots are also a threat, but sometimes he suddenly passes the ball when he seems to be able to play.

In other words, defending Kobe with experience will definitely suffer. You can only let the single-defense masters follow him to interfere with him, let him shoot from the outside, and break through and assist the defense in time.

In the third quarter, Leonard found that his defense was not working well, and Kobe scored 14 points and sent 3 assists.

There is really no way to play this kind of superstar. The key is the next rotation time. Diaw did not catch the young and strong Earl Clark.

This is more embarrassing. As a competitor in the West, it would be a joke if the Spurs couldn't even deal with the Lakers who were short of major generals.

At the decisive moment, the Lakers are Nash, Kobe, Artest and Jamison and Earl Clark as substitutes.

The Spurs gave up Danny Green, who had performed poorly before, and left Ginobili and Zhang Xiaotian on the court.

They are the leading side, Duncan doesn't feel good, and Popovich has to keep the outside attack point on it.

Because Leonard wanted to defend Kobe, Ginobili would definitely not be able to stand up to Artest, so their offensive and defensive matchups were completely disrupted. Ginobili changed to defend Jamison, and Zhang Xiaotian took the most exhausting words Against Artest.

I also tried to let Zhang Xiaotian defend Kobe before, but his tough style didn't work well against Kobe.

"Little guy, your strength is still a bit weak."

"Shut up, you're still behind."

Artest was so angry that he couldn't show off, and the two of them seemed to be wrestling when they didn't have the ball. They were just carrying each other with their bodies, and the referee didn't bother to pay attention.

Zhang Xiaotian's defensive method is definitely no problem to limit Jamison, but entangled with Artest consumes too much, but fortunately Artest is much worse than James in offense.

He scored one of two in singles, all of which were pull-ups, and only made one of three three-pointers, which made the two big men on the outside hardly pass him the ball.

At 3 minutes and 32 seconds, Kobe made a super-long three-pointer. He didn't make a three-pointer from his normal position before. Leonard stood a little confused at the three-point line. He never thought that Kobe would make such a shot, and would dare to make such a shot.

Next, Parker made a pass error, and the Lakers countered Jamison with two points, and the gap between the two sides was only 3 points.

The Spurs requested a timeout, Popovich scratched the tactical board with a serious expression, and all the players did not dare to breathe loudly.

Originally they had a good lead, but suddenly Parker made three turnovers, Duncan had no chance to score, and Ginobili's success rate in singles was even lower than that of Zhang Xiaotian.

When they first entered the last quarter, they held a 10-point lead. It wasn't that the opponent was strong, but they were forced to lose.

Zhang Xiaotian was dissatisfied, so he should have been replaced earlier. Kobe didn't rest like this, so Leonard should rest more. In the last quarter, Leonard's attack was not as threatening as him.

It's a pity that the opponent's small forward is also very tough, and Zhang Xiaotian is also a little depressed.

This is what he has to face, and he couldn't help but say, "I can hit the ball in."

Popovich turned his head to look at him. There was a moment of silence in the air. Zhang Xiaotian was able to read the eyes of several teammates on the opposite side, which was admiration for his courage.

After going up, he didn't run out of opportunities, and Leonard hit the iron with a three-pointer.

Zhang Xiaotian was already a little depressed, but Artest wanted to hit him back after receiving the ball.

He was furious, could it be that he was not a persimmon?

(End of this chapter)