Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"not good."

Collins' heart trembled, and he subconsciously reached out to steal the ball, but he didn't touch it. He realized that there must be someone missing behind him.

When Collins turned around, he saw Lopez grab the basketball, jump up and do a two-handed dunk.

"Damn it." Collins cursed depressedly.

Coach Scott on the sidelines smiled.

This is the effect he wants to see. Zhuang Yu and Lopez are both on the court, one inside and one outside, both of them have extremely strong deterrent power.

Clarkson can hold the ball and play one-on-one, which will not deprive him of the ball as the sixth man. Once he breaks through and attracts defense, the Trail Blazers' defense on Zhuang Yu and Lopez will be weakened. Clarkson can pass the ball to Zhuang Yu, Lopez, or even Kuzma, because Kuzma also has shooting ability.

Of course, this isn’t the only change.

In the next round, Zhuang Yu still passed the ball to Anderson and let Anderson organize the game.

This time, Anderson did not pass the ball to Clarkson, because Zhuang Yu made a crossover run with Kuzma after passing the ball, got rid of the defender with the help of Kuzma's screen, and then quickly cut in. Anderson passed the ball to Zhuang Yu, who made a layup.

The Trail Blazers failed to score for two consecutive rounds, while the Lakers scored two goals in a row, and the difference between the two sides quickly dropped from 8 points to 4 points.

This made Lillard frown. After he got to the frontcourt, he called a pick-and-roll. He did not get rid of the defense, but formed a switch defense. The person standing in front of him became Lopez. Lillard decisively chose to play alone. First, he made a series of crossover steps and then suddenly took a step back and jumped.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

Coach Stokes breathed a sigh of relief. Lillard was still as good as ever and he always stood up when the team needed him.

But when he turned around, Zhuang Yu immediately returned an answerball.

It was almost exactly the same as Lillard's previous goal. He also called for a pick-and-roll to switch defense, and Aminu rushed up and blocked Zhuang Yu.

However, Zhuang Yu did not break through. He quickly changed direction to the left and pretended to move to the left. In fact, he suddenly pulled the ball back, tapped his feet on the floor, quickly retreated to the three-point line, and then jumped up directly.

Aminu reacted quickly. He is a player who excels in defense. He rushed forward at the first moment, but failed to block it.

This ball not only retreats, but also fades away.

Aminu helplessly watched the basketball getting farther and farther away from him, and then flew out from Zhuang Yu's fingertips, spinning towards the basket. He prayed in his heart that the ball would not go in, but then a "swish" sound came from behind him.

Obviously, the ball went in.

"Hey......"

Aminu sighed, somewhat helpless.

He had almost defended to the extreme, and despite his height and wingspan, he still couldn't block Zhuang Yu's shot.

Retreat and lean back.

It was such a difficult move, but looking at Zhuang Yu's expression he seemed very relaxed.

This is the strength of the scoring champion!

Aminu had to sigh that Zhuang Yu’s scoring ability was indeed too strong, as he was able to win the regular season scoring title for two consecutive years.

He secretly decided that he would have to rush forward and be more determined next time.

His previous defensive strategy was to delay Zhuang Yu after he had used the pick-and-roll to get rid of him, but now it seems that just delaying is not enough. He must rush in front of Zhuang Yu and carry out oppressive defense. He must not let Zhuang Yu shoot three-pointers, as his three-point threat is too great.

In the next few rounds, Aminu saved the ball very resolutely, but Zhuang Yu did not just play one-on-one, and he didn't even attack with the ball. He just played without the ball and let Anderson and Clarkson initiate the offense. He, Lopez and Kuzma all played without the ball.

However, the Trail Blazers' "backcourt duo" still performed well. Before the end of the first quarter, Lillard had scored 9 points and McCollum also scored 8 points. The two scored a total of 17 points.

In a blink of an eye, the first quarter was almost over, and both sides began to gradually replace their main players and rotate their lineups...

On the Lakers side, Zhuang Yu, Anderson and Lopez were all substituted, but coach Scott replaced Holiday with Clarkson, Rose, Kuzma and Nance Jr.

This lineup performed quite well, because the Trail Blazers' bench lineup is not as good as the Lakers', and the bench depth is much worse.

Fortunately, the Trail Blazers' main lineup played very well before and maintained a leading advantage, so even if the bench lineup is inferior, the score is still acceptable.

When the first quarter ended, the score was 29:28, with the Trail Blazers leading by 1 point.

"Fortunately, we are still one point ahead."

"It doesn't matter. We'll fight better later. We still have the upper hand..."

Several Trail Blazers players are cheering themselves up.

Coach Stotts also encouraged the players: "Defend better, play more patiently, and score as many goals as possible. As long as we can keep the score stable, we will be able to regain the upper hand after the substitution."

He clapped his hands, "Come on."

The team's bench lineup is not as good as the Lakers', and the rotation time will be at a disadvantage. Coach Stotts is mentally prepared.

But he was not too worried. After all, they were still leading by one point. As long as the substitute lineup could hold on in the first few minutes of the second quarter, even if the opponent overtook the score, as long as the score difference was not widened too much, once they replaced the main lineup, he believed they would be able to overtake the score again soon.

However, his thoughts were still too idealistic.

When the second quarter started, the Lakers sent out the combination of Rose, Clarkson, Cunningham, Nance Jr. and Lopez Sr.

On the offensive end, Rose, Clarkson and Lopez all have strong scoring abilities, and the Trail Blazers, despite their efforts in defense, are always unable to defend. If they defend one or two, they will miss another. Even if Cunningham and Nance Jr. do not score, the Lakers' offense is still very sharp.

On the offensive end, the Trail Blazers also encountered trouble.

With Lillard and McCollum both out, they lacked an offensive strong point.

Moreover, the Lakers' lineup is more defensive, with Lopez sitting in the interior, while Cunningham and Nance Jr. are only responsible for defense. The three of them have built a solid wall for the Lakers' interior.

This forced the Trail Blazers to choose more outside shooting, but their outside shooting accuracy was worrying.

After a few rounds, the Lakers not only reversed the score, but also quickly widened the gap to 6 points.

This made Coach Stotts' face turn pale.