lakers championship

Chapter 188
Wharton is known as the king of ideas, but the Raptors play tricks, and fouls do not care about the cost, as if they have a mine at home.

The game came to the first official timeout in a blink of an eye, the Lakers players walked to the bench, and Walton took out the tactical board.

"Now that the Raptors are targeting Tianyang, we need to contribute more. On offense, we need to do more pick-and-roll coordination to create better shooting opportunities for Tianyang; on defense, we need to delay the Raptors' ball holders in advance. To avoid or delay DeRozan's unscrupulous singles consumption of Tianyang's physical strength through switching defenses, understand?"

After Walton finished speaking, Clarkson, Ingram and other players nodded one after another.

With strategic guidance, the Lakers players will fully implement it after returning to the game.

It worked out great at first.

In the Lakers' defensive round, Clarkson continued to press Lowry in the midfield position, forcing DeRozan to raise the ball to a higher position. In addition to Ingram's follow-up delay, DeRozan faced many difficulties every time he faced Tianyang.

In the offensive round of the Lakers, Tianyang first took Powell around from the left wing, the left corner, the basket, and the right corner, and then saw that Ingram or Clarkson passed the ball and cut to the basket.

Even if it cuts to the basket, Tianyang has a limited choice of throwing shots, trying to avoid contact with Raptors center Valanciunas and power forward Siakam, so as to save energy.

As a result, the Raptors' strategy of expending energy and fouling fiercely failed, which caused their offense to lose their due rhythm. The Lakers seized the opportunity to play a wave of 12-6 and ended the first quarter with a 24-22 lead.

Just when the Lakers thought the Raptors had no move, Coach Casey became ruthless.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Lowry forcibly changed his usual habit of dribbling the ball to the three-point line in 7 seconds to 5 seconds.

When he got to the three-point line, he immediately looked for a pick-and-roll.

Let DeRozan do the same routine again, even if he posted a post, he didn't deliberately compete for offensive rebounds, but defensively oppressed other Lakers players with all his strength, forcing Tianyang to receive the ball.

Once Tianyang received the ball, the Raptors immediately increased their defensive strength, either fouling aggressively or double-teaming wildly.

In short, Tianyang is having a hard time.

After the half-time game, although the two teams had a very fast offensive and defensive rhythm, their shooting percentage was also terrible.

The Lakers only scored 48 points, and the Raptors only scored 50 points.

In terms of personal data, Tianyang had 14 points and 3 assists.

……

Half time, inside the visiting team's locker room.

The accompanying team doctor applied ice compresses and massages to Tianyang's hands.

Clarkson and Ingram lay back on the chair, covered their faces with a towel, and fell to the floor with their hands spread out, as if they had just finished a tough battle and had exhausted all their energy.

Even Lu Wei, who only played for 3 minutes, was rubbing his shoulders, as if he was hit by a pain.

Seeing this, Wharton clapped his hands and shouted: "Don't worry, everyone, I have already thought of a solution!"

Hearing what he said, Tianyang signaled the team doctor to pause, Clarkson and Ingram also raised their hands to remove the towels on their faces, and Lu Wei turned his head to join the others, waiting for the answer with wide eyes.

"The Raptors have to play fast! Let's play slow! In the second half, SkyOcean was in control, and there was no more than 70% certainty that they would not pass the ball or attack. On defense, let DeRozan and Lowry rush casually, and hand over the basket to Nance, McGee and Tarek take care of it, just a little help from the outside line!"

Honestly, this doesn't sound that different from the previous strategy difference.

It's just that Tianyang can control the ball better to control the rhythm, so that the Raptors will not press the trap.

But it is not sure whether the three insiders taking turns defending can resist the breakthrough of the 'trash brothers'.

But this is a way, better than slow death!
……

Excited to have an answer, the Lakers returned to the court.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Walton replaced Nance and Clarkson with McGee and Lu Wei.

The Raptors attacked first, and Lowry dribbled the ball across the half court with a smile. Seeing Tianyang's defense, his smile became brighter.

He didn't call for a pick-and-roll, he went up to stick to Tianyang and walked in.

He is ready for a strong muscle collision!

But Tianyang seemed to avoid him deliberately, keeping a small half-step distance and letting him go inside.

Although he didn't understand what it meant, he rushed to the basket unceremoniously.

Three-step start, layup!
A big hand reaches out to the basketball, and McGee takes off!
The flight trajectory of the basketball was affected, the position of the wiping board was slightly deflected, and it failed to hit after a circle of rotation.

Randall pushed Siakam to grab a rebound and made a long pass to Ingram.

DeRozan rushed forward aggressively, but Ingram stepped back and abruptly gave up the fast break.

The Raptors players were taken aback and could only reduce their running speed.

The rhythm slowed down, Tianyang took the pass, turned around continuously to avoid Lowry's press, and took the ball across the half court steadily.

At the top of the arc, Tianyang held the ball and waited, while other Lakers players began to move.

The attack time passed quickly, he was not in a hurry, but Lowry was in a hurry.

In the last 5 seconds, Lowry couldn't bear it anymore, bent down and threw himself down, his hands approaching the basketball.

Tianyang waited for a long time and finally got this opportunity. He directly retreated to pull the ball, and then threw it vigorously to the inside.

Ingram received the ball, sprinted away from DeRozan, took three steps, and took off from the free throw line to shoot.

Hit!The Lakers tied the score.

The Raptors attacked, and Lowry brought the ball to the three-point line in 4 seconds, changing directions continuously.

Tianyang still kept a small half-step distance and retreated, letting Lowry walk in close.

Lowry rushed into the penalty area, stopped and jumped suddenly, separated Tianyang with his left arm in the air, and threw with his right hand!
Everything seemed reasonable, but Tianyang was 14cm taller than him.

"Crack", the basketball flew upside down, Lu Wei picked up the rebound, faced Powell's pressure, and decisively stopped on the spot with both hands holding the ball.

Fast breaks are impossible. The Lakers will not fast break in this game!

Powell has a lot of brute strength, but he has nowhere to vent, so he can only retreat to the front field in a calm manner.

But Lowry didn't think so. As soon as Tianyang got the ball at the top of the arc, he immediately pressed for it.

Yes, more decisive than last round!

But Tianyang turned around smartly and easily dodged.

Lowry hurriedly turned around and grabbed again, Tianyang turned around and hid again.

Three times in a row, the two of them seemed to be dancing a two-person dance, twisting their bodies constantly...

Seeing that there were only 8 seconds left in the attack time, Tianyang raised his hand and threw the ball inside.

Valanciurans had been dumbfounded for a long time, and did not expect Tianyang to pass the ball suddenly.

But McGee has been watching Tianyang's every move with full attention.
He took a step forward to catch the ball, then turned around and shot with a small hook.

Hit, the Lakers lead by 2 points.

The Raptors attacked again, and Lowry scored from the left wing to block Ingram and create a singles opportunity for DeRozan.

Unexpectedly, Tianyang took a big step back and provoked DeRozan to shoot a three-pointer.

How could an All-Star player stand up to such contempt?
DeRozan made a three-pointer and hit the iron!

McGee grabs the rebound and stays put, ignoring Valanciunas' roar.

He waited until Tianyang ran to his side before he safely handed over the ball.

Tianyang dribbled the ball to the top of the arc, but this time Lowry didn't make a move to press down, with an indifferent expression on his face.

"Come again!" Tianyang took the initiative to provoke, but Lowry was calm and ignored it at all.

"Then I'm not welcome!" Tianyang pulled out his hand and hit a three-pointer.

The Raptors attacked again, and Coach Casey made a gesture to give up the tactics of rushing and wasting, and played again according to the usual tactics of the Raptors, but his attitude towards Tianyang's shots remained the same, and he could be as ruthless as he could.

Tianyang didn't care either, and tried to attack less and pass more, completely turning into a traditional point guard.

In the end, after four quarters, the Lakers beat the Raptors 98-96.

Tianyang scored a double-double with 22 points and 12 assists.

At the press conference after the game, Coach Casey said that although the Raptors lost the game, they defended Tianyang very effectively and successfully limited Tianyang from a superstar to a normal star.

At the same time, he believes that other teams should learn from the Raptors' defensive strategy.

　Decided to gradually change the style from the next game, I hope everyone can give more suggestions then.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)