Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Another three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three minutes, the Lakers used a small lineup, but the effect was surprisingly good. Instead of falling into a disadvantage due to the lack of an inside player, they gained the upper hand.

This was mainly due to their quick counterattacks and outside three-pointers. Not only did Clarkson make a three-pointer, but Zhuang Yu and Nick Young also made three-pointers.

"Great, the difference is now ten points.

"It was a great few minutes."

"Haha, the Spurs thought they could limit our offense by defending from the backcourt, but they miscalculated."

In the audience stands, the home fans were discussing the game excitedly and were in a good mood.

The Spurs called a timeout.

During the timeout, Coach Popovich emphasized the defense of three-pointers, and at the same time urged the players to play with a high success rate. He also made substitutions and returned to the starting lineup.

At the same time, the Lakers also made changes.

Clarkson, Nance Jr., and Young were replaced by Lopez, Deron, and Gerald Green, also returning to the starting lineup.

It’s not because I didn’t play well before, it’s just that it’s time for rotation.

After this substitution, the Lakers continued to play the same way as in the first quarter, and the Spurs' defensive strategy did not change much.

Of course, it's not that there are no changes at all, for example, they have tightened restrictions on three-point shots.

Coach Popovich is very experienced. He knows that when the Lakers are leading in the score, it is difficult for them to change the tempo of the game. Even if they try to slow down the tempo of the game, the Lakers will never follow them.

After all, the Lakers are leading and taking the initiative at this time, while the Spurs are in a passive position.

At this time, the only thing they can do is to limit the Lakers' three-point shooting. As long as the Lakers' three-point shooting efficiency decreases, the Lakers will have to play more cautiously on the offensive end and actively attack the inside, which will be beneficial to the Spurs.

It's just a pity that they were not able to successfully limit the Lakers' three-point shots.

Because Zhuang Yu is here.

......

on the field.

The Spurs scored a goal and the Lakers immediately launched an attack. It was still Zhuang Yu who was responsible for holding the ball, not Deron.

After he quickly advanced to the frontcourt, he broke through and passed the ball to the outside. At this time, the Lakers gave the ball to Anderson. Anderson walked to the three-point line in the right corner, while Zhuang Yu walked in the opposite direction. The two ran in an intersecting manner, and Anderson passed the ball to Zhuang Yu hand-to-hand.

After receiving the ball, Zhuang Yu did not dribble. He stepped forward sideways, adjusted his steps, pointed his toes towards the basket, and jumped up immediately.

Leonard was blocked in pursuit.

Aldridge, who was originally facing Anderson, pounced on him, but Zhuang Yu ignored his pounce and shot a three-pointer towards Aldridge.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

And just a moment later, Zhuang Yu made a tactical cooperation with Lopez and Anderson.

Anderson and Lopez set a double screen for Zhuang Yu, allowing him to break free from the defense and return to the three-point line. Deron immediately passed the ball to him.

At the same time, Parker rushed towards Zhuang Yu and jumped up, but with his height and bounce, he had no way of blocking Zhuang Yu, and could only interfere at best.

In fact, even the interference had little effect. The basketball just drew a beautiful arc and obediently went into the net and still hit the target.

This is Zhuang Yu's third three-pointer in this quarter.

Including the three-pointers made by Clarkson and Young before, the Lakers have made five three-pointers in this quarter alone.

In this situation, there was naturally no reason for them to change their offensive strategy and methods. Instead, it forced the Spurs players on the court to subconsciously change their own defensive methods.

Several players became more and more wary of Zhuang Yu's three-pointers and were completely restrained by Zhuang Yu, which gave Lopez, Anderson, Gerald Green, and Deron opportunities.

After a few rounds, the second quarter ended.

At this time, the Lakers were already leading by as many as 13 points.

......

During the halftime break, fans were discussing the first half of the game. The home fans were very satisfied with the Lakers' performance today.

Both the individual players' performance and the Lakers' overall performance were excellent today, even better than the first game.

In the first game, Zhuang Yu and Clarkson performed well, but in today's game, not only these two, but other players also performed well.

Near the sidelines, Kobe's second daughter Gianna excitedly asked Kobe: "We are now leading by 13 points. We will definitely win today, right?"

Kobe smiled and said, "Don't worry, we will definitely win today."

Then Kobe began to explain to Gianna: "The reason why I said the Lakers can win today is not just because we are leading by 13 points. It's only the end of the first half. Leading by 13 points is nothing. The important thing is not this, but that we firmly control the rhythm of the game."

"You've watched the previous two series. In the first game, Zhuang Yu and Clarkson played very well. But in fact, the Spurs played well, too. So even though we won in the end, we only won by three points, thanks to Zhuang Yu's outstanding personal ability in the final moments."

"In the second game, the Spurs found a way to deal with us. They focused on limiting Lopez and Clarkson, making Clarkson's score less than 10 points. The rhythm of the game was also completely controlled by the Spurs. In the end, the Spurs won the game."

"But we had a firm grip on the tempo of today's game, and Zhuang Yu, Lopez and Clarkson all performed very well."

"Under these circumstances, the Spurs are no match for us."

Listening to her father's explanation, Jaina rested her right hand on her knee and supported her cheek with her palm, looking as if she was listening carefully. After thinking for a while, she said, "What you said makes sense."

Kobe chuckled and thought to himself that of course that makes sense. Your father is Kobe Bryant, so he should have some vision.

However, Kobe decided to add some extra ingredients to impress Gianna, so that she would know that he was not only an excellent player, but also a top-notch coach even if he was not a player, at least better than the coach of their school team.

"Another point......"

Kobe spoke again: "Do you know why the Spurs are desperately trying to slow down the pace of the game?"

Gianna thought for a moment and replied, "Because the Spurs are a defensive team. They are better at positional warfare. And they have two outstanding inside players, Aldridge and Gasol. Playing a half-court positional battle can better play their inside advantage."

Although the girl is only 11 years old, she has been influenced by Kobe since she was a child, and with Kobe's guidance and training, she has a good understanding of basketball. She even understands basketball better than ordinary fans.

"No." Kobe shook his head and said, "Not just because of this. It's also because the average age of the Spurs players is relatively old. Most of the players on the team are over 30 years old. Their physical fitness can't compare with the young people on the Lakers. So they have to play slower, because if the rhythm is too fast, they can't keep up with the pace and their physical fitness can't hold up."

"If we can't change the current pace of the game, the Spurs' players' physical fitness will further decline in the second half, and it will be even more difficult to turn the game around."

Hearing this, Gianna suddenly realized something, and finally looked at Kobe with a little admiration in her eyes. She said excitedly, "I understand."

Kobe was very satisfied with his daughter's reaction.

You little guy, you must be impressed by me.

......

The second half started quickly.

Both sides fielded their starting lineups.

The Spurs still wanted to slow down the tempo of the game and play a positional battle, while the Lakers insisted on playing their own game and were not influenced by the Spurs at all.

And after only three minutes of playing, Coach Scott unexpectedly replaced Lopez Sr. with Nance Jr., which surprised and puzzled the fans in the audience.

However, Coach Popovich frowned.

Obviously, the Lakers did not replace Nance to improve the team's offense. Nance's scoring ability is not comparable to Lopez's. Not only in scoring, but also in defense, Nance can't compare with Lopez. There is only one purpose for replacing Nance, that is to ensure the speed of offense and the intensity of the game. Coach Scott has only one sentence, that is, run for me.

Just as Kobe said to Gianna, Coach Scott not only needs to control the rhythm of the game on the court, but also needs to use young players to consume the physical energy of the Spurs players, especially Gasol, Aldridge, Parker and other players who are over 30 years old.

Their physical fitness could not be compared with that of young men in their twenties. Coach Scott asked Zhuang Yu and others to run just to make the Spurs chase after them.

Of course, it's not just on the offensive end.

On the defensive end, the young lineup of the Lakers can also use their abundant physical energy to tear apart the Spurs players, create physical confrontations for them, and consume their physical energy as much as possible.

The Spurs were already behind, and even though they were very experienced, they would not be easily led by the Lakers. The two sides were still fighting each other, but as long as the Spurs' players consumed too much energy, it would be very difficult to turn the tables.

......

On the court, the game continues.

Two minutes later, the Spurs relied on their inside advantage to catch up a little and narrowed the gap to less than ten points. However, Coach Scott didn't care. He made another substitution, replacing Deron with Clarkson.

The lineup on the field became Nance Jr., Anderson, Gerald Green, Zhuang Yu and Clarkson. Among the players, only Gerald Green was 31 years old, and the remaining four, including Zhuang Yu, were no older than 25 years old, which was the age when they were full of energy and vitality.

Moreover, this lineup is equivalent to the "small five", and several players can run and jump, which makes the Spurs' group of veterans really unable to cope.

Coach Scott did not make any substitutions until the end of the third quarter.

At this time, the Lakers were still leading by ten points.

The lead was not that big, but Coach Scott had a smile on his face because several veteran players of the Spurs were obviously running out of energy.

A few minutes ago, Popovich replaced Parker, Saul, Aldridge, and Danny Green, leaving only the youngest Leonard on the court, letting him play with the substitutes. After all, the Lakers' three starters, Zhuang Yu, Anderson, and Gerald Green, were still on the court. If he dared to replace Leonard, the difference between the two sides would soon be widened.

Then there would be no way to catch up in the fourth quarter.

But even so, Parker, Gasol, Aldridge and others still consume a lot of physical energy.

And it's not just them. Mills, Ginobili, David Lee and others in the substitute lineup also consumed a lot of energy.

On the other hand, on the Lakers side, even though Zhuang Yu, Anderson and Gerald Green played the entire third quarter, they did not look very tired.

"It's good to be young."

Coach Scott sighed.

......