Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

As soon as he came on, Zhuang Yu took the ball and played singles.

At this time, the person facing Zhuang Yu was Malik Beasley.

This is a 196 cm tall guard who was selected by the Nuggets in the first round, 16th overall pick in the 1 draft, but he has not been given any opportunities in the past two seasons and is basically a water cooler guard.

It was not until this season that his playing time increased to 23 minutes per game, and his personal statistics also improved to 11.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game, becoming one of the Nuggets' stable rotation players.

Beasley has played very well this season, but he was at an absolute disadvantage psychologically when facing Zhuang Yu, and he couldn't help but feel nervous.

Seeing Zhuang Yu dribbling the ball between his legs and then raising his center of gravity, his heart trembled. Thinking that Zhuang Yu was going to shoot directly, he subconsciously jumped up on tiptoe.

"Don't jump."

Jokic yelled, but it was too late.

When Beasley jumped up, Zhuang Yu changed direction and accelerated, passing Beasley cleanly. Jokic had to move forward and prepare to defend.

Jokic stared at Zhuang Yu without blinking, trying to judge Zhuang Yu's next intention and what kind of ending method he would choose.

With Jokic's athletic ability, it is naturally impossible for him to protect the rim like some other centers. His defense relies more on prediction based on his excellent basketball IQ.

Zhuang Yu was seen holding the ball and taking a step forward, first taking a step forward, and then lifting the ball up.

"fake."

Jokic thought to himself, but didn't jump.

Sure enough, Zhuang Yu did not attack directly, but took another step forward. However, when Jokic was about to jump, he found that Zhuang Yu's step was very slow, forming a sharp contrast with the first step just now. It was actually a slow third step.

Just when Jokic was glad that he didn't jump in a hurry, he saw Zhuang Yu holding the basketball with his right hand, shaking his wrist, and throwing the ball into the basket.

"Uh......"

Jokic was stunned, and then he could only smile bitterly. He was just feeling lucky that he didn't jump in a hurry, but the other person ended up shooting.

But even if he jumped, it would be difficult to block it because it was a floating shot.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

Jokic shook his head, but he didn't show any emotion. He was a very calm player. At the same time, he knew very well that it was not surprising that he couldn't defend Zhuang Yu with his strength.

On the offensive end, Jokic assisted from a high position and took the ball at the free throw line. He first turned his back to the basket and observed the movement of his teammates. Then he half-turned around and faced the basket. He raised the ball and made a fake shot, then accelerated towards the basket.

Lopez immediately retreated, but saw Jokic holding the ball up and looking at the left corner, as if he was going to pass the ball, but in fact he jumped with his left foot, grabbed the basketball with his right hand and threw it into the basket.

An action similar to archery on horseback, but not with two hands, but with one hand, somewhat like a throw, and also like a hook.

After all, Jokic is a center with a height of more than 2.1 meters, so he doesn't need to throw the ball high like a guard.

Swish!

Also enter.

"This guy is really amazing." Assistant coach Madsen couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that his movements are very slow, but in fact he is very flexible, and he has a lot of fake moves. He has a very good grasp of the timing and the use of technology, and his touch is also very soft."

Coach Scott nodded. He was also a little surprised at Jokic's soft touch. He didn't look like a center at all. He was better than a guard.

In the next few minutes, the two sides exchanged blows, but the Lakers still had the upper hand.

Coach Malone's original plan was for Jokic to lead his teammates as much as possible, and it would be best if he could score more goals, but the effect was not good, and it still depended on Jokic.

......

"boom!"

With a dull thud, Murray's shot missed.

Lopez and Jokic were wrestling under the basket, their bodies entangled together and neither of them could jump up, but Jokic just flicked his hand and slapped the ball away, and it happened to fall into the hands of Millsap on the right sideline. Millsap was still waiting to grab the rebound, but he didn't expect the ball to fly into his hands by itself.

But he is also a veteran with rich experience. He did not hesitate and immediately took a step forward and slammed it with both hands.

There was another round of applause from the audience.

At this time, the second quarter was coming to an end, with only a dozen seconds left, and the Nuggets were still trailing by 9 points.

In the last attack, Holiday pushed the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu was not in a hurry. He calculated the time and started to act when there were only seven seconds left.

He dribbled the ball between his legs, switched the ball to his left hand, and broke through from the left side. Barton quickly retreated, while other Nuggets players also tightened their defenses, preparing to encircle him.

Zhuang Yu took a step forward, but did not continue to attack. Instead, he half-turned around, changing from facing the basket to back-to-basket, and hit Barton with his back.

While pushing back, Zhuang Yu kept an eye on the people coming to assist.

Seeing the help defender was about to pounce on him, he suddenly turned over and made a jump shot, leaning his body backwards and then leaning back, leaving Barton helpless.

With a slight sound, the basketball went through the net. There were only two seconds left in the second quarter. Finally, the ball was sent out and Murray pushed it forward, but there was no miracle. The basketball didn't even touch the rim and the first half ended.

The Lakers lead with an 11-point difference.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

When he came to the sidelines, Jokic was gasping for breath, with sweat all over his forehead and face. Coach Malone was worried. When had he ever seen Jokic sweat so much?

Normally he doesn't sweat much when playing basketball.

There was nothing they could do about it. The team had to rely on him to score. He had already scored 20 points in just the first half, plus 7 rebounds and 4 assists. It could be said that he was carrying the team forward alone. Otherwise, they would probably be behind by not just 11 points, but 21 points.

......

Soon, the second half begins.

Entering the second half, the Nuggets players except Jokic seemed to have found their form. First, Murray made a three-pointer and a layup to score 5 points in a row. Harris and Barton also scored goals one after another. The Nuggets had a small climax and narrowed the gap to 5 points.

But the Lakers soon responded.

First, Zhuang Yu broke through to attract the defense, and then made a hidden pass from behind to Korver outside the left three-point line, assisting Korver to hit a three-pointer. Then Holiday and Lopez played a pick-and-roll, and after the mismatch, Holiday singled out Jokic and broke through for a layup...

Halfway through the third quarter, the Lakers still maintained their lead.

At this time, Coach Malone called a timeout and prepared to make a substitution, wanting to replace Jokic, but was rejected by Jokic.

"Coach, we are only 8 points behind, let me play for three more minutes." Jokic said: "I hope I can catch up with the score before the end of this quarter."

Coach Ma Long frowned: "But your physical fitness..."

He didn't say anything more, because Jokic smiled bitterly, and Coach Malone immediately understood that if Jokic continued to play, there would be a chance to help the team catch up. But if he was replaced, the score difference would be further widened, and it would be even more difficult to catch up in the fourth quarter.

The key point is that even if Jokic is replaced at this time, his physical energy has been greatly consumed and he will still have physical problems in the fourth quarter.

"Okay then." Coach Malone responded.

Jokic wiped the sweat off his face and adjusted his breathing.

He thought that if he could catch up with the score or even surpass it in these few minutes, it might boost morale. After all, they had been behind for a long time. If they could catch up or surpass it, maybe his teammates would play better in the fourth quarter.