Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Day 2, Staples Center.

The Lakers played against the Clippers at home.

Although the Clippers' record this season is not outstanding, this Los Angeles derby is still the focus of fans' attention.

Today's Staples Center is still packed with people, the audience seats are crowded, and the attendance rate is close to 80%. You have to know that this is just an ordinary regular season game, and it is a very rare thing to have such an attendance rate.

Soon, players from both sides came out.

The first players to come out were the visiting Clippers.

Although the Lakers and the Clippers share the same stadium, the Clippers were the visiting team today. When they came out, there were some empty noises in the audience, and the voices of the Clippers fans were drowned out by the boos of the Lakers fans.

It was not until James came on the court that the cheers in the audience picked up again, echoing loudly in the stadium.

"Although the Clippers' record is not very good, James' popularity is still very high."

"The Clippers' record is not very good, but James is not playing badly, averaging 27.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game, which is not inferior to his performance in the Cavaliers last season. Other players are already veterans at the age of 34 and are at the end of their careers, but he still maintains a strong strength."

"I am looking forward to seeing how LeBron will perform today. Do you think he will play better today, or will Zhuang Yu play better today?"

"I think it's definitely LeBron. Maybe the Clippers will lose, but LeBron will definitely play well..."

Some people are discussing.

Many people think that the current Clippers are no match for the Lakers, but James may not lose to Zhuang Yu, and may even play better than Zhuang Yu.

The reason is simple, that is, this Los Angeles derby against the Clippers is more important to James.

This is a focus battle, but for the Lakers, who are currently ranked third in the Western Conference, winning or losing doesn’t really matter.

Of course it's good to win.

It doesn't matter if you lose.

After all, even if they lose this game, they are still third in the Western Conference.

Moreover, losing in the absence of Lopez does not prove anything, and no one will question the strength of the Lakers because of this.

But for the Clippers, they really need to win this game.

At this time, the Clippers are still outside the top eight in the Western Conference and are at a delicate juncture. They need to win this game to boost the team's morale.

So it can be expected that James will definitely show his attitude. He needs to win this game. Maybe not to prove anything in the match with Zhuang Yu, but he needs to win this focus battle to help the team.

Soon, it was the home players' turn to play.

The Lakers players came on stage one by one, and there was warm cheers from the audience.

When Zhuang Yu walked out, the cheers reached their climax, and the deafening cheers echoed in the Staples Center.

At this moment, Zhuang Yu stood under the spotlight, waving his arms and walking towards him, as if thousands of lights were scattered on him, making him look like a god descending from heaven.

It took a long while before the cheers died down.

The spotlights dimmed, the lights in the stadium came on, and the players took to the court to warm up.

......

After a warm-up, players from both sides returned to the sidelines.

The Lakers here.

Coach Scott spread out the tactical board: "On the defensive end, what we have to do is to defend James well and don't let him rush. We should pay attention to shrinking the defense line and going up to help defend. We can give the opponent some outside shots first to see how they feel from the outside today."

"Pay attention to protecting the rebounds. Everyone should actively fight for the rebounds..."

The Clippers' regular starters this season are Rajon Rondo, Tobias Harris, LeBron James, Montrezl Harrell, and Marcin Gortat.

The inside combination is Harrell + Gortat, and the backcourt is Rondo and Harris.

Harrell is only 201 cm tall, but plays the power forward position. He is a player with explosive physical talents. Last season, he played 4 games for the Clippers, averaging 76 points, 17 rebounds and 11.0 assists in 4.0 minutes of playing time per game.

His statistics don't seem to be that good, but considering that his average playing time is only 17 minutes per game, his efficiency is still quite outstanding.

Although Harrell is not tall, he has excellent strength. He is a short and strong powerhouse player who can run and jump and has great impact.

Center Gortat is 211 cm tall and played for the Wizards last season, averaging 8.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

This big man from Poland has also averaged 15+10 per game in a season. He has good height and size, strong defense, and is nicknamed the "Polish Hammer."

Strictly speaking, the inside combination of Harrell + Gortat is not that outstanding.

But now the Lakers are missing Lopez, and their inside combination is Anderson + Nance Jr., which puts them at a disadvantage against Harrell + Gortat.

Anderson's weight and athletic ability are at a disadvantage, so it's okay for him to defend against tall and flexible power forwards, but it's a bit difficult for him to defend against short and strong power forwards like Harrell, even with his height advantage.

Nance Jr. is lacking in height and body shape against Gortat, and Nance Jr. himself does not have any outstanding low-post offensive skills. He mainly relies on defense on the court and grabs rebounds with his excellent jumping ability, but he may not be able to gain an advantage against Gortat.

As for the perimeter, Coach Scott isn’t worried.

Rondo is no longer the All-Star player he used to be. He basically doesn't score now and only plays the role of organizer and connector on the court.

Harris has good scoring ability. Last season, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

This season he has become James' most powerful helper, averaging 20.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, making him the team's second-leading scorer.

However, the player facing him today is Zhuang Yu, so Coach Scott is not worried at all.

Only position 3.

The Lakers do have a No. 3 position, but the opponent is LeBron James, and the Lakers really can't find anyone who can match up with James.

Then, we can only rely on team defense to limit James as much as possible.

"It's a pity. If Lopez hadn't been injured, relying on our team defense, maybe..."

Coach Scott sighed inwardly, quickly adjusted his mood, and continued: "On offense, we should still follow our tactics, play more counterattacks, and speed up. When there is an opportunity on the outside, we must shoot resolutely and don't hesitate. And..."

After some arrangements, Coach Scott put away the tactical board.

On the other side, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has also made arrangements.

For the Clippers, the first thing they have to do is to defend Zhuang Yu and the Lakers' three-pointers, and the second is to attack.

The Lakers don't have Lopez right now, which is a good thing for the Clippers and something they can take advantage of.

Coach Rivers waved his hand, signaling the players to go on the court. He turned his head to look at the Lakers team, his eyes fell on Zhuang Yu, and he couldn't help but frowned.

......

The competition officially started at seven o'clock in the evening.

The Lakers still have Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Korver, Anderson, and Nance Jr.

The Clippers still have their regular starters, Rondo, Harris, James, Harrell, and Gortat.

First there was a jump ball, Gortat touched the basketball first and hit the ball to the backcourt, Rondo controlled the ball and started to advance, and after reaching the frontcourt he first called for a pick-and-roll.

However, Rondo's pick-and-roll does not pose much threat except for creating opportunities for the center. He lacks stable shooting ability. Nance Jr. does not need to jump too far forward to delay the ball. He can just keep Rondo two meters away. If Rondo dares to shoot a three-pointer, let him shoot it.

If he were younger, Rondo might have dared to shoot, but now he basically doesn't score points on his own and doesn't dare to shoot.

Seeing that Nance Jr. was two meters away from him, even if he forced the ball to Gortat, Gortat could not attack the basket directly, so Rondo had to pass the ball to James.

This is also the Clippers' common style of play nowadays.

Although there is Rondo, a master organizer, he lacks scoring threat. It is difficult to launch an offense from his point and tear open the defense. James is still the one who needs to rely on him.

As soon as James gets the ball, he will decisively play one-on-one, first with continuous dribbling between his legs, and then suddenly accelerating. His breakthroughs usually do not involve any fancy moves, not even fake moves, because for him that is completely unnecessary, and speed and strength are enough.

Those who have the strength to match James are not as fast as him, so there is no need for too many skills, just accelerate directly.

Those who can keep up with James' speed but are not as strong as James don't need too many skills, they can just run over him.

At this time, Korver was facing James. He was obviously blocking James, but James overtook him by half a body length in just one step.

The Lakers quickly contracted their defense, and Nance Jr. stepped forward to provide backup defense.

After passing Korver, James grabbed the ball and took two steps into the three-second zone. He jumped towards Nance Jr., confronted him in the air, knocked Nance Jr. away, and then made a layup.

"nice shot."

"He scored right from the start. It looks like LeBron is going to start scoring mode today."

Some people were discussing, their eyes shining.

Generally speaking, if James starts scoring in the first quarter, it means that he is very serious today and is determined to win the game.

On the field.

Little Nance was a little depressed.

"It's okay." Zhuang Yu consoled with a smile, motioned for Nance Jr. to serve the ball, and he quickly ran to the front court.

Both Coach Scott and Zhuang Yu were mentally prepared that they might not be able to defend against James. Without Lopez, they would rely more on offense rather than defense to win.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t defend it, just fight back.