NBA’s aging star system

After the first quarter of the game against the Rockets, Su Tian also roughly understood the level of the Lakers' overall strength at this stage.

If the Lakers don't have themselves in the current lineup, they will be on the edge of the playoffs at best, and on the edge of not being able to make the playoffs.

But now with the addition of themselves, the Lakers have instantly reached the top three positions, on par with the Rockets.

Of course, the Rockets haven't fully adjusted yet, but the young Lakers haven't fully grown up either.

As for comparing with the Warriors? Forget it, the Warriors of the past two years are really beyond the reach of the current Lakers.

As for the future, let’s talk about the future.

During the break, Walton arranged tactics and made it clear that Su Tian's playing time would be increased in this game, because it was necessary to ensure that Su Tian faced Harden throughout the game, which was also a challenge for Su Tian.

Soon, the inter-quarter break ended and the second quarter began. Harden did not play, Paul led the team, and Walton breathed a sigh of relief and put Su Tian off the court to rest.

I thought that if Harden didn't play, he could give Su Tian a rest, but now even if it's just Paul, the Lakers can't cope without Su Tian.

Just three minutes into the second quarter, Walton couldn't help but call a timeout, because in these three minutes, Paul led the Rockets to an 3-8 spurt, directly bringing the score to 0-27. Wharton had to take Su Tian up again.

After Su Tian came on the court, he took the initiative to confront Paul. Paul was also a player who used his brain to play. Seeing Su Tian defending himself, he started passing the ball to assist his teammates.

Although Paul can still play a role, he is at least better defensive than before Su Tian came on the court.

Another three minutes passed. In these three minutes, under the leadership of Su Tian, ​​the Lakers maintained the point difference with the Rockets. Of course, Su Tian did not try his best, just to save energy for later time.

So after these six minutes passed in the first half of the second quarter, the Rockets also made adjustments and brought Harden up.

Seeing Harden and Paul on the court at the same time, Su Tian cheered up and prepared to turn on full power mode.

After Harden came in, the first possession of the ball belonged to the Rockets. Harden advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, and it was still Su Tian who defended Harden.

Harden this season is the original regular season MVP, and Su Tian cannot ignore it.

Facing Su Tian, ​​Harden called his teammates for a pick-and-roll this time, and with the help of the pick-and-roll, Harden made a direct three-pointer.

But Su Tian on the side kept disturbing him, and the "Defensive Shock" badge also lit up in time.

boom--

Harden made a shot and the rebound was grabbed by Kuzma. Su Tian stepped forward to catch the ball and advanced to the frontcourt.

After arriving in the frontcourt, facing Harden's defense, Su Tian also called for a pick-and-roll, but Su Tian used the pick-and-roll to break through, reaching the mid-range and directly stopping for a jump shot.

Swah——

Su Tian's mid-range shot was a solid hit.

The ball was transferred and it was the Rockets' turn to attack again.

This time, Paul advanced with the ball. After reaching the frontcourt, he and Capela picked and rolled the ball and rushed to the basket.

Clarkson, who was guarding Paul, was shaken by Paul's fake move and failed to keep up with Paul's changes in time, so Paul directly shot from mid-range.

Swah——

Paul's mid-range is still very stable.

"Hey! Look, does Su look like a taller version of Chris Paul?" Barkley said suddenly.

"It makes sense to say that. They are all excellent in mid-range, organization, defense, and have good three-point ability. It seems that they are just different in height." Kenny Smith said.

"No, no, no, you have forgotten Su's biggest characteristic. Su's final game is definitely better than Chris Paul!" O'Neal said.

"Oh! Yes! Su is the king of the end!" Barkley laughed.

Back on the court, Su Tian had already reached the frontcourt with the ball and used the pick-and-roll to break through inside. As a result, the Rockets gave up guarding Su Tian's teammates and directly double-teamed Su Tian.

Facing the sudden double-team from the Rockets, Su Tian did not panic at all. Instead, he passed the ball directly to Kuzma who was left open. Kuzma received the ball and shot a three-pointer.

Swah——

Maybe Kuzma is not strong, but his 3D attributes are really popular. With the help of Su Tian's pass, it is basically impossible to miss such an open opportunity.

In the next few rounds, Su Tian used all his strength to barely maintain a score difference of about 5 points, and persisted until Paul came off the court to rest.

When Paul came off the court to rest, there were only 3 minutes left in the second quarter. When Walton asked Su Tian if he wanted to rest, Su Tian refused.

Because Su Tian wanted to see where his limit was.

So in the last three minutes of the second quarter, Su Tian once again strengthened his personal offense, chasing the score between the two teams to a goal difference.

At the end of the first half, the score reached 55-57, and the Lakers were only 2 points behind the Rockets.

During the halftime break, in the Lakers locker room, teammates could clearly feel how consumed Su Tian was.

Su Tian lay aside and didn't want to talk at all. He took two sips of Gatorade to calm down.

"Su, you should take a rest in the first half of the third quarter. I think your body has exhausted too much energy, so you should take it easy first." Wharton said with a worried look on his face.

"No need, coach, I can do it, don't worry." Su Tian said immediately after hearing the coach's arrangement.

"Okay Su, I know I can't stop you, but you must do what you can. If you can't hold on on the field, you must raise your hand to signal me, or you can just raise your hand to call a timeout." Walton said.

"Okay coach, I understand, thank you."

Soon, the intermission ended and the third quarter began.

Sure enough, the Rockets still let Paul and Harden play at the same time.

Walton had already guessed this situation and sent Ball, Su Tian, ​​​​Ingram, Randle, and Nance.

The first possession of the third quarter was given to the Lakers. Ball advanced to the frontcourt with the ball and passed the ball directly to Su Tian.

Su Tian didn't rush to attack after getting the ball. He first adjusted his breathing, then called Nance to pick and roll, and used the pick and roll to break through directly.

This time, the Rockets' defense was more in place, and their cooperation seemed to be more tacit. Harden followed Su Tian closely. This defensive attitude and ability completely made Su Tian unable to think of the "Modern Combination" period. Harden.

Su Tian led Harden all the way to the basket. Harden thought Su Tian was going to take a layup and was already ready to jump to block the shot. However, Su Tian suddenly stopped and threw away the defending Harden.

Harden's reaction was not slow. Seeing Su Tian stop suddenly, he quickly changed his center of gravity and rushed towards Su Tian again.

As a result, Su Tian made an emergency stop and then turned around and took a fadeaway shot.

This operation confused Harden, so Su Tian made a shot without interference.

57-57

The two teams are back on the same starting line.

The ball possession changed and the Rockets began to organize the offense.

Paul came to the frontcourt with the ball. Paul didn't care at all when facing Ball's defense, but after all, Paul was still a traditional No. 1 position. He first thought about how to drive his teammates instead of taking action himself.

Paul began to call for pick-and-rolls, but similarly, the Rockets have improved in their pick-and-roll defense against the Lakers, and the Lakers have also improved in their pick-and-roll defense against the Rockets.