lakers championship

Chapter 366
In addition to Fox Sports' ingenious and vivid praise, ESPN, TNT, and ABC three major TV stations also made a special review of the Lakers' 26-game winning streak at the same time, and their ratings continued to rank first in the same period.

The three TV stations first used the three basic data of players MPG/OPRM/DRPM as an entry point to analyze the different performances of the Lakers from the main force to the bench. The impact of the system on the record.

In the end, a 10-minute program time was specially added for SkyOcean, and the performance of SkyOcean was analyzed with very high-level data such as TS%, turnover rate, assist rate, and USG%.

In terms of USG% (proportion of tasks undertaken by the offensive end), Tianyang has dropped sharply from 34.5% last season to 29.1%. This is due to the further growth of Ingram and Randall, as well as Rondo and Kobe. Waiting for the reasons for the veterans to share their worries, there are also surprises brought by the two rookies Kuzma and Tatum.

It is worth mentioning that in the 05-06 season, Kobe's USG% was as high as 38.7%. That is to say, the Lakers at that time basically needed Kobe's full participation in every offense. Either he scored directly or he completed an assist. Either he opened up the space.

Tianyang is more fortunate, and has been greatly liberated on the offensive end. Only when the Lakers meet the Warriors, Rockets, and Cavaliers, the three top teams in the league, do they need him to stand up with all their strength.

In short, from all aspects, the Lakers are really awesome as Fox Sports commented.

……

After the game against the Cavaliers, the Lakers' four-game trip in the Eastern Conference ended, and they were supposed to return to Los Angeles that night, but in order to ensure that the players got a better rest, Walton deliberately applied to the management, hoping to postpone it for one night.

When an NBA team goes to an away game, there are a lot of entourages, so they need to be paid; daily expenses such as hotel accommodation and meals also need to be paid; schedules, buses, and special plane scheduling need to be determined in advance. Jim agreed without hesitation, not unhappy that the team's winning streak was over.

On the evening of the 15th, the entire Lakers team landed at Los Angeles International Airport, and many enthusiastic fans spontaneously came to pick them up.

The 26-game winning streak is of great significance to the Lakers. Jim also took this as an opportunity to announce an 12% discount on the tickets for the game in late December. Although every game is full even if there is no discount, Lakers fans feel the official sincerity.

In addition, there are also 5-10% discounts on Lakers peripheral products such as jerseys, ball caps, autographed photos, and dolls, and there are also some free lucky draws.

Strictly speaking, this is a commercial strategy, but in terms of the current momentum of the Lakers, they can get good sales results without discounts, so the largest offline fan group of the Lakers in Los Angeles said that they will prepare a copy A special return gift.

……

According to the schedule, the Lakers have 4 days of rest before the next game, but at 16 am on the 10th, one hour before the regular training set, all the Lakers players have come to the training center.

Walton has also prepared many three-point tactics, and the whole team started training directly.

After the tactical training, Tianyang, Kobe, and Carter continued to guide Hart, Kuzma, and Tatum to practice three-pointers. McGee and Lopez practiced pick-and-roll with Rondo and Rose. Randall , Ingram, and Nick Young practiced arc top screens and corner three-pointers, and Thomas and Zubac practiced small-scale passes inside.

In the afternoon, the whole team went to the gym for core strength training, followed by 5V5 mixed mild confrontation drills.

After three days of continuous training, the Lakers' newly added three-pointer tactic took shape, and Walton was very satisfied.

On the evening of the 18th, the Lakers sat in Staples to meet the Warriors' second challenge.

Before this game, WOJ released a message on Twitter, saying that the top management of the 26 teams in the league agreed that if the Lakers can achieve more than three wins in the next four games, then the championship this season will only be between the Lakers and the Lakers. Among the Warriors, the Celtics and Cavaliers in the East are not enough to pose a threat to the winner of the Lakers and Warriors.

After the game started, the Warriors still used pass-and-cut tactics in the first quarter. Thompson, who made 4 fouls early in the previous game, performed well. He made 3 of 3 three-pointers and 2 of 2 two-pointers. point.

But even so, Tianyang and Ingram did whatever they wanted on the offensive end. They jointly contributed 19 points and 6 assists to help the Lakers draw with the Warriors 34-34.

After the start of the second quarter, the Warriors resorted to the same tactic as before. In the case of a misplaced perimeter defense, they deliberately let the Lakers shoot three-pointers, but Tatum and Kuzma, who came off the bench, performed very well. With a total of 6 points and 4 shots, the Warriors who were stunned could only resort to unlimited defenses again.

In the third quarter of the game, the lagging Warriors started the "brave and crazy" state. Curry and Durant played pick-and-roll singles one after another. The two felt hot and once hit an 11-4 shock wave. Reducing the rhythm of offense and defense, it slowed down the fiery touch of Curry and Durant.

Three minutes before the fourth quarter, Cole saw that the Lakers had one less timeout, and directly sent Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Durant, and Green's ultimate death five small lineup, hoping to pass two or three. The advantage of the round lays the foundation for victory.

But I thought, Hart led the team to organize, Randall and Ingram played pick-and-rolls, continuously breaking through the Warriors' defense.

If the Warriors shrink inside and defend, the two will pass the ball to Hart or Nick Young to shoot a three-pointer. If the Warriors do not shrink and defend, the two will rely on their personal ability to score a layup.

As a result, although the Warriors scored a lot, they still failed to widen the gap.

After the first official timeout, Walton also used five young players, and the Lakers tied the score in two rounds.

Five seconds before the end of the game, the two teams were still tied 5 to 114.

The ball is in the hands of the Lakers, but there is no timeout, but under the command of Tianyang, Kuzma and Tatum stand in the frontcourt, Randall serves from the bottom line, and Tianyang and Ingram make a transfer in the backcourt.

The referee whistled, and Randall pretended to pass the ball to Tianyang, but actually made a long pass to Tatum in the frontcourt.

Tatum caught the ball and dribbled it two steps in a row, and made a fake shot from outside the three-point line and passed it to Kuzma, who made a three-point lore.

Winning when the Warriors played well as a team, the Lakers completely silenced those who mocked their luck.

……

On the 20th, the Lakers challenged the Rockets away. According to the plan, Carter and Rose took turns.

This time the Rockets resolutely implemented the misplaced small play tactic on offense, and patiently created opportunities for Harden and Paul. On defense, they were the same as the Warriors.

Such an arrangement allowed the Rockets to take the lead during the period of the substitute contest between the two sides, but in the fourth quarter, they were still killed by a wave of high-intensity offensive and defensive transitions by the Lakers.

After defeating the Rockets, the Lakers flew to Oakland on the 22nd to challenge the Warriors.

For the second time in four days, the Warriors, who have lost two games in a row this season, showed 120% enthusiasm, but unexpectedly, in the Oracle Center, a large group of fans wearing Lakers jerseys appeared in the entire north stand .

The on-site reporter learned from the interview that it turned out to be a support activity organized by local fans in Los Angeles, which was a 'return gift' to the Lakers' official comprehensive discount.

With such enthusiastic fans supporting the away game, the Lakers also adjusted their plan to give up the rotation. The two teams fought anxiously for 48 minutes, and finally entered overtime.

In overtime, McGee and Rooney clashed, Randall stepped forward to pull, and all three were sent off.

As a result, in the first overtime, the two teams still hadn't decided the winner. With Lopez and Kuzma leaving the field with six fouls, Walton could only play in the second overtime. Thomas Bryant plays forward.

These two basically didn't play much in the new season, and their hands are very raw. Playing at such a critical moment, the Lakers fans can't help but sweat, but then thought, in the last 8 seconds, Zubac picked up an offensive rebound and his hands Pass the ball to Thomas to complete the dunk lore.

In such an unexpected situation, the Warriors were so angry that, except for Curry and Thompson, they all left the field without shaking hands.

After defeating the Warriors, the Lakers flew to Portland overnight.

In the game against the Blazers on the 23rd, the Lakers rested extensively. Tianyang, Kobe, Kuzma, Tatum and others all played for only a few minutes before resting. In the end, the Blazers beat the Lakers 113 to 101.

In such a terrifying schedule against the Warriors-Rockets-Warriors-Blazers in a row, the Lakers have a record of 3 wins and 1 loss, which is very rare.

On the 24th, ESPN announced the latest NBA team power list, and the Lakers ranked first.

ESPN commented: "This Lakers team is reminiscent of the Celtics in 08. At that time, they won 5 consecutive away games in the Southwest Division. At that time, the Lakers and Cavaliers failed to complete this achievement. Now the Lakers have 3 wins. 1 loss, losing to the Trail Blazers due to special reasons, which thoroughly proves that they have the best strength in the league."

(End of this chapter)