lakers championship

Chapter 429 Master and Disciple Showdown
Fans and the media frantically praised the victory over the Timberwolves in the first game. Various discussions and articles uniformly declared that this would be the most suspenseful playoff matchup in history, but the Lakers did not have the slightest pride and no slack.Early the next morning, at the usual training gathering time, all 15 players of the team still showed up at the training base on time under the briskness that Wharton did not force.

The content of the training, even though Walton announced the free arrangement, the players did not chat and fart, or go through the motions casually. It was still warm-up, shooting, and running tactics in the morning, and strength, confrontation, and post-match summary in the afternoon.

In the evening, after the players went home, they watched the game between the Thunder and the Jazz online together.

At the beginning of the game, Westbrook and George teamed up, shot from inside and outside, made various strong shots, and stopped the Jazz with consecutive three-pointers, but Snyder called a timeout in time. After a wave of adjustments, Mitchell took the lead and led the Jazz to chase. tie the score.

Unfortunately, on the Jazz side, no one can stop George, who feels explosive, and the Jazz's substitute performance is not good, so even if the Thunder lacks the defensive champion Robertson, the Jazz still loses.

Regarding this result, Hart and Kuzma said that if they encounter the Thunder in the next round, George must not open his hands on the outside. Very few, once they feel cold or encounter high-intensity confrontation, they are likely to lose to the Jazz.

...

After two days of rest, the Lakers once again played at home against the Timberwolves.

After the start of the game, the Timberwolves' tactics were extremely simplified. Towns always mentioned the top of the arc, and cooperated hand-in-hand with Teague or Butler, and then relied on Towns to grab a three-pointer, Butler or Teague made a strong breakthrough. Wiggins is on call at all times, looking for an air cut when Ingram or Tatum is distracted.

This tactic works well, making full use of Towns' height and three-point advantage. The Lakers didn't quite adapt at first, and the Timberwolves took the opportunity to score a lot of points.But when the game entered the second quarter, Wharton sent Lopez to use his physical advantage to interfere and consume to limit Towns. The effect was very significant, and the Timberwolves' offensive success rate dropped sharply.

In the third quarter, the Lakers started to grab three-pointers like the first game. Although the shooting rate was not as abnormal as the first game, they were still 10 of 6. With the pressure on the defensive end, even Thibodeau shouted twice in a short time Timeout, still at the end of the third quarter, a 13-point lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves fought desperately.

But Butler and Wiggins hit the iron continuously, and Towns couldn't get the ball again, and the point difference widened.

In the end, the Lakers led the series 2-0.

...

At the post-match press conference, a reporter asked Wharton whether he wanted to play the Jazz or the Thunder in the next round.

Obviously, this kind of question cannot answer which one, otherwise it will offend the two teams. Regarding this low-end digging problem, Walton said with a smile that the Lakers' primary goal is to defeat the Timberwolves and advance to the playoffs.

Answering publicly is different from discussing privately.

On the plane to Minnesota, the entire Lakers team discussed the different characteristics of the Thunder and the Jazz.

After speaking for half an hour, Wharton made a summary.

A group of people headed by Kuzma and Hart want to play the Jazz, the reason is that the Jazz lacks obvious players, and soft persimmons are easier to pinch; a group of people headed by Tianyang and Kobe want to play the Thunder, the reason is that the Thunder The lack of in-depth tactics can be well restricted. Even if the Lakers had won two games before, it was because of Tianyang's suspension.

The two groups insisted on their own opinions, and no one could convince the other.

But the game between the Thunder and the Jazz that night disappointed a group of players who wanted to play against the Thunder, because the Thunder's Big Three hit the iron crazily, and the Jazz used their lives. The series score between the two teams was rewritten to 1-1.

...

On the 21st, the Lakers started the third game of the Timberwolves series.

Perhaps it was due to the advantage of the home game. As soon as the game started, Butler swept away the cold touch in the second half of the second game. Even under Tianyang's strict defense, he still hit all kinds of difficult three-pointers.

In this way, other Timberwolves players were also encouraged. Wiggins and Towns also felt hot, helping the Timberwolves lead the Lakers by 21 points at the end of the half.

During the timeout at halftime, Walton said that the Timberwolves are in full swing and cannot compete with them. If they miss the shot, the point difference will become bigger and bigger, and they must be suppressed with tough confrontation. Therefore, in the third quarter, they need to give up on their own initiative. three points.

After clarifying the thinking, the third quarter started with one. Tianyang, Randall, and Ingram rushed to the inside line in a row, and they did not hesitate to foul Butler, Gibson, and Wiggins to confront.

Since the Timberwolves shot far more times than they made breakthroughs in the first half, and the Lakers' changes were very sudden, the three of Butler had difficulty adapting for a while, and the three of Tianyang either scored or fouled.

Continuous mistakes on the defensive end caused the Timberwolves to fall into a positional battle with the Lakers every time they attacked, which led to a sharp drop in their hits. After the three quarters were over, they had a 21-point lead with only 6 points left.

In the last quarter of the game, the confused Timberwolves went to the doctor in a hurry and played a fast attack with the Lakers. Walton decisively sent Tianyang to play point guard Randall and the five small lineups at center. It took 3 minutes to complete the overtake and lead by 5 point.

In despair, Butler began to play singles frantically. Thibodeau could do nothing but let it go, but Tianyang showed why he was qualified to be the best defensive player on the defensive end. He interfered with Butler's three offenses in a row and caused him to strike. One steal, and then all quick counterattacks succeeded, directly taking away the game.

...

With a 3-0 lead, the Lakers really began to think about: "Who will play in the next round?"

In the hotel where he stayed in the away game, Walton organized the whole team to watch the third game of the Thunder and Jazz series.

The terrifying atmosphere at home in Salt Lake City, coupled with the Jazz's defensive adjustments, made it difficult for George to adapt. He made 8 three-pointers, but only made 3 of them.Westbrook also played poorly, combining three-pointers and two-pointers, making a total of 17 of 5 shots.

In this case, even though Anthony played well and had a shooting percentage of 60%, but because of too few shots, he only scored 14 points, unable to prevent the Thunder from losing.

After the game, Tianyang and Kobe said at the same time that they could start studying the Jazz video.

...

In the fourth game between the Lakers and the Timberwolves, although Thibodeau firmly believed that there was a chance for a comeback, Towns and Wiggins performed negatively. Even Butlert, who dared to fight and fight hard, only played tough for half the game.

In the end, the Lakers easily defeated the Timberwolves 122 to 104 and successfully advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a big score of 4 to 0.

On the second day of promotion, the Rockets and Warriors also advanced 4-0.

Such a grand occasion has caused many media to question and lament that the NBA has entered the era of warlord separatism, and weak teams have no ability to resist even a game.

...

After the Lakers returned to Los Angeles, they immediately began to study the Jazz.

From the coach's personality and habits to the player's shooting preference, everything is analyzed one by one.

In the end, the Jazz did not disappoint Tianyang and Kobe, and successfully advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a total score of 4-2.

On the night of the Jazz's promotion, Donovan Mitchell tweeted:

"In the next round of the series, it will be a huge honor for me to play against a player who can go to shooting guard President Hill @天洋. Plus, I went to your training camp before the draft draft, and you have given me The courage to participate in the draft has secured me an excellent agent, strictly speaking, you are my mentor."

"So, this is a master-student duel, and I will go all out."

(End of this chapter)