NBA: I am the card dealer

After playing the Wizards, the Lakers head to Boston non-stop. They need to play the Celtics back-to-back.

With the addition of Horford this season, the Celtics have completed their transformation. As of the game, their record is 31 wins and 18 losses. They have turned around and pulled the Cavaliers from the fourth position. It is very fierce.

of course.

In terms of momentum, the Lakers are not bad either.

After defeating the Wizards, they have won 6 consecutive games, and their record has reached 23 wins and 29 losses, and they are getting closer to the % winning rate.

Therefore, in this game, the pressure on both sides is actually quite high.

Especially the Lakers.

It has been many days since Xue Liancheng released his bold words about hitting the top four, but the media are still catching on to it and publicizing it from time to time.

There are many, many fans who are staring at the Lakers. Just waiting for the Lakers to lose, they will jump out and ridicule.

Even the Clippers players, they can't wait to see the Lakers' jokes.

You can imagine how much pressure the Lakers generals are under. In addition, they are playing back-to-back away games. This is no different from putting a weight on them under heavy pressure.

But the Lakers' advantage is still obvious.

That's right.

Xue Liancheng's matchup against Thomas is one of the Lakers' biggest advantages at the moment.

In any case, Xue Liancheng has a certain crushing force on Thomas, both on the offensive and defensive ends.

During the game, it turned out to be different than expected.

The pick-and-roll between Thomas and Horford is very powerful.

As long as there is a cover, Thomas can rush in at full speed. You can't even catch up. The speed is so fast that it is simply staggering.

of course.

Thomas' defensive loopholes are still very obvious. No matter how the Celtics cover it up, they can't cover up Thomas' lack of height.

Therefore, whether it is Xue Liancheng or George, when they play singles, they will specifically name Thomas.

This led to scenes of funny scenes during the game.

The Lakers couldn't stop Thomas's deep thrust as he stepped on the accelerator.

The Celtics also can't stop Thomas from becoming the Lakers' focus.

The two sides were going back and forth on this point, and no one was convinced.

Halftime ended.

The Lakers temporarily lead the Celtics by 66 points at 62:4.

The two sides were evenly matched.

And Thomas Jr. was extremely ferocious. He had already scored 14 points in the half, and he felt completely unstoppable.

But the same thing.

Xue Liancheng held down Thomas and beat him hard. In the confrontation with Thomas alone, he scored 10 points and 6 assists. He really made the Celtics lose their temper at all.

honestly……

With this intensity of attack, Marshal Stevens did not take down Thomas. That was true love.

Or to be more precise, as the Celtics' engine, they can only face Thomas's serious lack of defense.

Once Thomas is replaced, their entire offensive system will collapse and they will not be able to score points. If you still want to win, it is most likely an idiotic dream.

So, there is absolutely no way around this.

And Mike Brown noticed this accurately. During the break, he kept emphasizing: "Their strongest point is also their weakest point. What we need to do is to seize their weakest point and beat them as hard as we can. As long as we beat this point to death repeatedly, I believe victory will definitely belong to us."

In other words, the Lakers resolutely implement the strategy of naming Thomas.

The Celtics are desperately trying to avoid Thomas being named.

But there are only five people on the basketball court. If you want to prevent all of them from switching defenses, it is impossible. Courtney Lee can sometimes swing the ball and crush Thomas in. It is definitely not a help defense. Defense, or the problem can be solved without changing defense.

Because this is the problem, the only way the Kettles can solve the problem is to replace Thomas.

But can they change?

Dare to change?

Neither dare nor can...

At the beginning of the second half, the Lakers resolutely implemented this strategy.

The Celtics have no choice but to use more screens and pick-and-rolls to allow Thomas to attack more.

This strategy of using offense instead of defense is still somewhat effective.

The most important thing is that Thomas is really brave. Whether it is a breakthrough by himself or a combination of breakthrough points, he can tear the Lakers' defense apart.

The two sides continued to stalemate like this, and the game ended in a tie in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the situation suddenly reversed.

Thomas exploded.

It started with a three-pointer that went straight to Courtney Lee's head.

Then in the next round, he circled again and shot again, and scored another 2 points.

After scoring 5 points in a row, Thomas finally struck a chord.

but……

Before the Lakers generals could breathe a sigh of relief, in the next round, Thomas rushed to the top of the key and shot.

Another 3 points!

Already scored 8 points in a single quarter.

This kind of explosive scoring power can be said to be very violent. No wonder he averages 29 points per game. Thomas's personal offensive ability must not be underestimated.

This is also the reason why Stevens refused to hold down Thomas.

Without a scorer who averages 29+ per game, the concept of what it means is already clear, it is almost like cutting off his own hands.

If the Celtics want to win, they naturally cannot put down Thomas, even if Thomas is blown away.

After the pause.

The Lakers reorganized their offense, and Xue Liancheng completed the breakthrough point, and then quickly moved, and George got an air-cutting opportunity.

He caught the ball and dunked directly, finally stopping the decline.

And Thomas' performance is far from over.

Although the next three points were hit again, his two-pointer was still very stable.

When the game came to the last two minutes.

The score between the two sides was 106:105. The Lakers' lead was negligible, but Xue Liancheng had already seen the dawn of victory.

Next round.

After he pushed the ball over, he signaled to calm down.

When the attack time ran out to the last 10 seconds, he finally made a move.

Push horizontally.

Press hard.

He directly attacked Smart.

Everyone knows how powerful Xue Liancheng's passing is, but the Celtics ultimately chose to double-team and let go of Courtney Lee from outside the three-point line.

Under normal circumstances, Xue Liancheng would still pass the ball. After all, open opportunities are more reliable than forced shots.

But when he saw Thomas Jr. coming to double-team him, he temporarily changed his mind.

While pushing Smart forward, he suddenly leaned over. At this moment, Thomas reached out and took out the ball.

Xue Liancheng came over directly, clamped Thomas's arm, and forced the shot.

Beep!

The whistle blows.

The ball bumped into the frame.

2+1.

Scoring this goal basically means that the Lakers are safe in this game.