Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals has come to an end.

The result was not very surprising. As expected, the Warriors won, but people did not expect it to be presented in this way.

The Lakers led by double digits in the first half, but the situation took a sharp turn for the worse in the third quarter when Lopez was injured. Although Zhuang Yu scored 3 points in the last quarter, they were still unable to prevent the score from being overtaken and eventually lost the game.

"The Lakers are in real trouble now."

"The score of 0:2 is nothing, the injury of Lopez is the real disaster. From the second game, we can see how important Lopez is to the Lakers. In addition to Zhuang Yu, he is another absolute strong point of the Lakers. Not only can he guard the inside on the defensive end, but he can also blow up the Warriors' inside on the offensive end, and he can also form an internal and external echo with Zhuang Yu. The lack of Lopez has a huge impact on the Lakers. The Lakers' lineup is not as good as the Warriors, and now they are even less of a match."

"It's a pity that if Lopez wasn't injured in today's game, the Lakers might have won."

"Yes, if the Lakers win this game, the series score will become 1:1, and there will definitely be some games later..."

Many fans believe that the Lakers missed the best opportunity.

If they win Game 2 of the series, they might still have a chance to beat the Warriors, but now there is probably no chance.

There are also many fans who are concerned about Lopez's injury and still hold a glimmer of hope. If Lopez's injury is not serious, and if he can return in the next game... then the Lakers still have hope of a reversal. After all, the next two series will return to the Lakers' home court.

However, news of Lopez's injury soon came out, shattering the fans' fantasies.

There is news that Lopez suffered a serious ankle sprain and is expected to rest for 1-2 weeks. Fortunately, he avoided a more serious injury.

However, a 1-2 week break is still fatal for the Lakers. It doesn't even take two weeks. The Western Conference Finals might be over in just one week.

Obviously, it is almost impossible for the Lakers to hold on until Lopez returns.

For a time, almost everyone was pessimistic about the Lakers, and many people believed that the Lakers would most likely be eliminated by the Warriors with a score of 4:0.

......

Meanwhile, the Lakers have returned to Los Angeles.

As soon as he returned to Los Angeles, Coach Scott called together assistant coach Madsen and two other assistant coaches, who locked themselves in the office to study the previous two games and discuss how to deal with the next game.

They want to find a way to beat the Warriors without Lopez, but it's too difficult.

With such an obvious difference in lineups and such a huge gap in strength between the two sides, any method or tactic becomes unrealistic.

And Zhuang Yu was also thinking about this problem.

In the apartment, Zhuang Yu sat on the sofa with a frown on his face. On the coffee table in front of him was a laptop computer, which was playing video clips of the previous two games. Next to the laptop was a stack of data, including game data of the Warriors and the Lakers.

Not only the data from this series, but the data from both sides throughout the entire playoffs were compiled by the Lakers staff for reference by the coaching staff.

Zhuang Yu asked for a copy of the information and took it home. He wanted to find a way to defeat the Warriors from it.

"Snapped......"

Zhuang Yu threw the information in his hand on the coffee table, feeling helpless. He couldn't think of any good solution. No matter how he looked at it, it would be difficult for them to beat the Warriors.

At this time, An Xin came over with a fruit plate.

She placed the fruit plate on the coffee table, sat down next to Zhuang Yu and said softly, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You've done well enough."

Zhuang Yu put his arm around An Xin and said, "Don't worry, I'm not that fragile. Although the situation is very unfavorable to us, we've only played two games in the series. I won't give up that easily. We'll know whether we can win or not only after we play."

An Xin smiled and was about to speak when she suddenly covered her mouth.

Seeing that she seemed to be about to vomit, Zhuang Yu asked with concern: "What's wrong with you?"

An Xin shook her head and smiled, "It's okay, I might have a cold. I've been feeling like vomiting these past two days." She patted her chest and said, "I'll be fine after two days of rest."

Zhuang Yu is already having a headache at this moment, and she doesn't want him to worry about her anymore.

Zhuang Yu asked a few more questions, and An Xin just said that she was fine and just needed to rest for two days. Zhuang Yu had no choice but to send her back to her room, poured her a cup of hot water and told her to rest, while he went back to the living room to continue studying the game video and data.

......

In a blink of an eye, Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals arrived.

The game was played at the Lakers' home court. The Lakers' 0:2 deficit did not make the fans lose interest in the game. Instead, more fans came to the scene.

Because Lakers fans know that this game is very crucial, they must come to the scene to support the Lakers and cheer for the Lakers.

The auditorium was packed with people, and every seat was occupied. The huge noise echoed in the stadium.

At the back of the Lakers' bench, An Xin, Anna, and Yang Jinsong sat together.

Seeing that An Xin was obviously a little nervous and uneasy, Anna comforted him, "This is the Lakers' home court, don't worry, Zhuang and his team will definitely win."

An Xin nodded, but still couldn't help but worry.

This game was too crucial. If they lost this game, the series score would become 0:3, and the entire series would basically lose suspense, because there has never been a precedent of a successful comeback from a 0:3 deficit in NBA history.

What's more, this is when Lopez is out due to injury.

Once we lose this game, it's really over.

Soon, players from both teams came on the field, with the visiting team coming on first. Immediately, huge boos broke out from the audience, like a tsunami.

Huge boos echoed in the stadium, drowning out the visiting team's players.

A group of Warriors players frowned.

Of course, they can't be scared like this. After all, they have played in the Western Conference Finals and even the Finals many times and are accustomed to big scenes.

A moment later, the home players came out.

The cheers were like thunder and the atmosphere in the entire stadium was extremely warm.

When Lopez came out, the cheers became even louder. Although the fans knew that Lopez could not play in this game, they were still willing to give him applause.

Lopez did not rest at home, but came to the scene with a cane. He waved to the fans with a smile on his face, but the smile was a little forced.

This is the Western Conference Finals. Getting injured at a time like this is really terrible and depressing.

Finally, Zhuang Yu appeared.

The cheers in the audience reached a climax, but there was no smile on Zhuang Yu's face. His expression was extremely serious. He walked over, raised his hand and pointed upwards, then clenched his fist and punched his chest twice, his eyes extremely determined.

It seems like I am telling the fans, I am still here and I will not give up!

After that came the warm-up. The atmosphere on the Lakers side seemed a bit dull. The players were warming up silently and no one spoke.

It was not until the end of the warm-up that Zhuang Yu clapped his hands and signaled his teammates to look over when he returned to the sidelines. He said in a deep voice: "Brothers, I don't think I need to say how important this game is. The situation is not favorable to us, and no one thinks we can win. But I don't believe it. I just want to prove to them that no matter what difficulties we encounter, we, the Lakers, will not give up. No matter how strong the opponent is, we will not be afraid. What doesn't kill us will only make us stronger."

"The Lakers must win!"

A group of players were excited and responded in unison: "The Lakers must win!"

"The Lakers must win!"

The cheers of the crowd sounded like thunder, echoing in the stadium.

Suddenly, the home fans shouted in unison: "The Lakers must win, the Lakers must win..."

It was a long time before the cheers died down.

Coach Scott nodded to Zhuang Yu with satisfaction, and then said, "Clarkson, Gerald Green, Anderson, Dedmon, and Zhuang, you guys start."

"It's better to defend the opponent's three-pointer and force the opponent to break through. Dedmon, you are responsible for guarding the inside, and the others must also actively assist and make up for the defense."

On defense, Coach Scott did not make many arrangements, because given their current situation, no matter what they did, it would be difficult to defend against the Warriors' offense.

Like the previous two games, there was nothing wrong with the defensive strategy, it was just that the opponent was too strong.

Coach Scott then looked at Zhuang Yu. Just as he was about to speak, Zhuang Yu said, "Give me more balls. Help me with screens and pick-and-rolls."

Coach Scott smiled because that was exactly what he wanted to say. He immediately said, "Just do as Zhuang said. Try to get the ball to him as much as possible. Others should help him with screens and pick-and-rolls. Zhuang, the offense depends on you."

Zhuang Yu nodded heavily: "Yes."

In the current situation, the offense is obviously a bit stretched, so Coach Scott promoted Clarkson to the starting lineup, one to make up for the offensive firepower, and the other to help Zhuang Yu share the defensive pressure and contain the defense.

Otherwise, the Warriors' defense would definitely focus on Zhuang Yu alone.

However, Coach Scott is also very clear that Clarkson is not an absolute strong point, so the offense still has to rely on Zhuang Yu.

After some arrangements, Coach Scott clapped his hands and shouted, "This is Staples Center, our home court, and tens of thousands of fans in the audience will cheer for you."

"let's go."

Zhuang Yu and his teammates walked onto the court and the game officially began.