lakers championship

Chapter 417 Useless?

After defeating the Spurs, the Lakers ended their four-way trip, and the team returned to Los Angeles by special plane.

On the afternoon of the 4th, Ingram's injury was diagnosed, and the team doctor Garivetti asked for a two-week rest.

On the 5th, the Lakers faced the Trail Blazers at the Staples Center.

After the start of the game, Lillard seemed to switch off the shot button, giving up shots even if there was an open space, and insisted on playing pick and roll with Evan Turner, then broke through to the basket, and then made a small range with Nurkic and Aminu Cooperate.

Rondo can defend against Lillard's shots, but he is a bit powerless for breakthroughs, and has made it easy for the opponent many times.

In addition, McCollum squatted to guard the bottom corner, and Tianyang couldn't ignore it. Lillard was a little bit whatever he wanted.

Fortunately, the Lakers' offense was sharp enough. Tianyang, Rondo and Lopez played a pick-and-roll, and the Blazers could only stare blankly, so the two teams took the lead alternately.

After the first quarter, the Lakers still led 32 to 31 by one point.

In the second quarter, the Blazers took the initiative to seek changes. Stotts directed Nurkic and Aminu to speed up the rotation, and the Lakers were slightly affected on offense.But the Lakers also changed their defensive strategy. Rondo delayed Lillard in advance, forcing McCollum to come out of the bottom corner to catch the ball, and by the way, played Tianyang's role in defense.

As a result, the offensive efficiency of the two teams declined at the same time. After halftime, the Lakers led 55 to 51.

In the second half of the game, the Blazers made another change. Lillard began to use Nurkic's pick-and-roll to grab three-pointers. He felt good and made 3 of 2 shots, which gave McCollum a three-pointer.Tianyang defended very well, but McCollum was so lucky that he hit consecutive difficult three-pointers, forcing Tianyang to use close defense.

But Na Zeng thought, press down on McCollum, and Turner came out again. Even though the Lakers' offensive firepower remained undiminished, after three quarters, they fell behind 82 to 91.

In the last quarter of the game, the Lakers sent five small lineups to grab the rhythm, intending to use fast breaks to tie the score.

The Blazers took the opportunity to focus on the inside, Nurkic scored consecutive points above Randall, and the Lakers failed to tie the difference.

In the last 2 minutes, the Lakers were still 6 points behind, and Tianyang stepped up to take over the game.

Luck finally sided with the Lakers. Tianyang first made a strong three-pointer, and then made a steal and assisted Hart to hit a three-pointer, which directly helped the Lakers tie.

But Lillard went crazy. In the last 3 seconds, he hit a super long three-pointer against Tianyang and Hart's defense, but the Lakers didn't pause, so that the last attack had to be a free throw from the backcourt.

At the critical moment, Tianyang first passed the ball to Randall, and then passed it to Lopez, who was two steps away from the three-point line. The game dragged into overtime.

In overtime, Tianyang took over the game completely, and Nurkic scored in consecutive misplaced singles, while the Blazers lost their sense of three-pointers, and Lillard was completely locked by Hart. The Lakers played a wave of 8-0, directly win.

After the game, many media said that the Lakers were so lucky that even Lopez could hit a super long three-pointer, which is completely a sign of winning the championship. In the future, documentaries can be used as close-up shots.Moreover, the Blazers team's fiery three-pointer feeling, if there is no one, it will be nothing, it is simply to send the Lakers to win.

On the 7th, the Lakers continued to sit in Staples to face the Magic.

Considering that the opponent's strength is too weak, Wharton decided to arrange the main players to rest in rotation. Tianyang and others only played for a few minutes before taking a rest. Kuzma and others led the team to play.

But that once thought that at the beginning of the second half of the third quarter, Vucevic suddenly showed his power, and Zubac fouled 5 times in 5 minutes. Walton had to re-dispatch Lopez to avoid capsizing in the gutter.

After Da Luo came on the court, he successfully restrained Vucevic. What he never expected was that during a rebound, Da Luo sprained his ankle and left the field directly to return to the locker room.

Wharton had no choice but to switch to the main lineup again and won the game without any risk.

On the morning of the 8th, Lopez's injury was confirmed, with a moderate ankle sprain, and the team doctor Gary Vitti asked for two weeks of recuperation.

With the addition of Ingram, the Lakers lost two important rotations at once. ESPN issued an article stating that this situation may cause the Lakers to lose the number one position in the league, because the Rockets did not lose a few games.

On the 9th, the Lakers traveled to Denver to challenge the Nuggets away.

At the beginning, Tianyang intentionally increased the number of shots and Harris scored in consecutive singles, but Jokic was overwhelming in the paint, and Murray played well. After the first quarter, the Lakers trailed 32 to 35.

In the second quarter, the Nuggets double-teamed Tianyang. Tianyang could only reduce the number of shots and pass the ball to his teammates more, but Hart, Kuzma, and Tatum were not in good condition. One by one, so that after halftime, the Lakers trailed by as much as 56 points 67 to 12.

In the third quarter of the game, seeing that the overall shooting percentage of the Lakers was too low, the Nuggets double-teamed Tianyang even more recklessly. Fortunately, Tianyang led the team to adjust their play in time and used more quick counterattacks to stabilize the form, but it did not shrink. Points difference.

In the fourth quarter of the game, Hart's trio finally came back, but the Nuggets also got up.

Hart made a three-pointer at the buzzer, and Murray immediately returned a super-long three-pointer; Tatum made a sharp breakthrough layup, and Button turned his head back with a violent two-handed dunk; McGee made a beautiful air-cut dunk, and Jockey Qi quickly counterattacked a 2+1!

In this way, the Lakers failed to narrow the point difference until the last 20 seconds, and reluctantly chose to give up.

But he never expected that Murray would pass the ball through the crotch when Tianyang turned his back to him.

Wharton blew his hair straight away, and with a wave of his hand, Hart rushed straight into the fight. Murray did it on purpose, so naturally, it was a pity that the referee reacted quickly enough and quickly stopped the two of them.

During the whole process, Tianyang was not impulsive at all, and seemed indifferent.

After the game, in an interview, the reporter asked him why he looked 'indifferent', Tianyang said: Murray's behavior is like a child's vindictiveness, he finally wins once, and it's normal to vent a bit, he should not be treated like a child.

Murray saw Tianyang's response on Twitter, and immediately retweeted it, but Tianyang ignored it.

Losing to the Nuggets, the Lakers have accumulated 7 losses, and the topic of whether they can surpass 73 wins has been brought up again.

On the 11th, the Lakers returned to the Staples Center to face the Cavaliers.

Because Tyronn Lue was injured, Larry Drew temporarily served as the head coach of the Cavaliers.

There is something about this guy. During the entire quarter after the opening, the Cavaliers showed various tactics.Even in the second quarter, the Cavaliers still maintained an efficient tactical movement. In addition, JR and Korver caught and shot the ball well, and Nance and Clarkson played bravely against their old owners. LeBron didn't make much effort. Trailing by 15 at halftime.

In the second half of the game, the Lakers changed to five small lineups. The effect was good in the first few minutes, but the TT broke out suddenly, and Randall was helpless to fight back, helping the Cavaliers to maintain the lead.

In the fourth quarter, LeBron turned on the No.1 mode in the league and broke through Tatum to score consecutively. Because he didn't exert much force in the first three quarters and was very energetic, he maintained this state until the end.

In the end, the Lakers lost to the Cavaliers 113 to 127 and suffered a two-game losing streak.

That night, the Lakers rushed to Oakland overnight to challenge the Warriors in back-to-back away games.

As a result, the Warriors won by 20 points, and the Lakers suffered a three-game losing streak.

All of a sudden, various pessimistic voices came out.

Some people think that the Lakers have exhausted their usefulness, and the injuries of Lopez and Ingram are the best proof.

This statement was endorsed by many people, but Tianyang responded on Twitter.

"The Lakers have never relied on good luck, but on their own strength."

Bill Simmons retweeted Tianyang and wrote: "If you can defend Jokic, then I admit that you are eligible to be elected as the best defensive player."

Coincidentally, the next game of the Lakers happens to be against the Nuggets at home.

(End of this chapter)