NBA’s aging star system

The Lakers are quite sufficient on the front line, so there is currently no shortage of personnel, and even Brando can't get much playing time.

But on the inside, after missing his thick eyebrow due to injury, he is indeed a bit stretched.

McGee couldn't play for too long due to his own reasons. He basically only played 20 minutes in each game.

Boucher is limited by his height and personal abilities, and he doesn't have much playing time.

And whether it is Boucher or McGee, both of them are defensive players and have no offensive ability.

Currently, Cousins ​​​​can be regarded as an inside player with offensive ability in the Lakers' lineup. However, after a serious injury, although Cousins ​​​​has tempered somewhat, his ability has indeed declined seriously.

However, Cousins' shooting ability is still there, and he can occasionally hit from the outside. Coupled with Su Tian's passing bonus, the shooting rate is also considerable.

So in the next few games, Cousins' playing time began to increase. Su Tian also intended to help Cousins ​​​​get back to his form and passed many opportunities to Cousins ​​​​.

With the help of Su Tian, ​​Cousins ​​​​scored in double figures in three consecutive games and averaged 1 three-pointer per game.

Seeing that Cousins ​​was in good condition, Walton was relieved and felt relieved to let Cousins ​​enter the rotation.

However, although Cousins ​​​​performed well in these games, the Lakers feel like they are barely holding on.

George's condition is still being adjusted, and Su Tian is still the only one the Lakers can rely on at critical moments.

Fortunately, the opponents in these games were not very strong, and with Su Tian's strong performance, he was able to win them all smoothly.

Thanks to these strong performances in these games, Su Tian's average data per game also experienced a wave of growth, and he also won the Player of the Week in the new week.

Time quickly came to December. The Lakers only lost one game after the absence of Big Eyebrow. Their current record is still ranked first in the Western Conference and first in the league.

After entering December, George's condition was adjusted and he returned to his former superstar style. Su Tian's pressure was greatly reduced, and the Lakers returned to their invincible state again.

"There is no doubt about Su's strength, and the current Lakers have also made an experiment unconsciously, that is, as long as Su is given an All-Star, he can lead the team on the road to winning the championship!" Barkley once said This was commented during the live broadcast.

At present, no one questions Su's strength anymore. Everyone is more questioning whether the Lakers' current strength is enough to defend their title.

"The Lakers have had too many twists and turns this season, and they don't feel very stable."

"The Lakers' state this season is not as good as the Bucks in the Eastern Conference."

"It's a bit much to say that the Lakers are not as good as the Bucks. No matter what, the Lakers are now the best in the league."

"It can only be said that his record is good, but it cannot be said that he is stable enough."

"I really can't understand that you actually have doubts about the Lakers who have won two consecutive championships!"

"Isn't that normal? In the past few years, you see, whether it is the Heat, Spurs, Warriors or Cavaliers, they all had the opportunity to create three consecutive championships, but none of them succeeded, so it is normal for the Lakers to fail."

After the time came to December, the Lakers gradually found a balance point after missing the thick eyebrows. George and Kuzma took on some of the offensive responsibilities, and the interior defense was barely maintained by Boucher and McGee.

The most important game in December is undoubtedly the Christmas game.

The Lakers' opponent on Christmas Day was also their opponent in the Finals last season, the Heat.

The Lakers' management also knew the importance of this game, so in order to prepare in advance, they implemented a rest strategy starting in December.

The rotation strategy has both good and bad consequences for the current Lakers. The players have maintained their condition very well, but the team's record has begun to show twists and turns.

In this way, win or lose, the time came to December 12th.

The Heat also arrived in Los Angeles on time.

Originally, Su Tian wanted to contact Butler and Dun Luo in advance to have a dinner, but Butler obviously attached great importance to this Christmas war, so he rejected Su Tian's proposal.

Time soon came to the game, and the Heat's starting lineup also changed.

Vincent, Butler, Herro, Dunro, Adebayo.

The Lakers chose the starting lineup commonly used during this period, Brunson, Su Tian, ​​George, Kuzma, and McGee.

The Heat obviously adjusted their starting lineup in order to deal with Su Tian.

Before the game started, Su Tian saw that the Staples venue was packed with people, and there were cheers everywhere.

Su Tian stepped forward to greet Butler.

"Jimmy, this must be our first match this season. How are your preparations?" Su Tian said with a hint of teasing.

"Don't worry Su, this scene will definitely make you look good."

Butler was obviously unwilling to be criticized and immediately responded.

Immediately after the game started, McGee took the lead to grab the jump ball. Brunson got the ball and advanced to the frontcourt with the ball.

After Brunson came to the frontcourt, he directly faced Vincent's defense. In fact, as the two teams played against each other more and more times, not only Su Tian and Butler were old rivals, but Brunson and Vincent were also old rivals. .

However, similar to the matchup between Butler and Su Tian, ​​Brunson has the advantage in the matchup between Brunson and Vincent.

Facing Vincent's defense, Brunson directly called Kuz to immediately cooperate with the pick-and-roll, and directly initiated a breakthrough with the help of the pick-and-roll.

Vincent turned to chase, but by the time Vincent caught up with Brunson again, Brunson had already reached the basket with the ball.

With his stronger body, Brunson overcame Vincent's defense and shot directly for a layup.

Bang——shua——

Basketball hit the board.

2-0

The ball was transferred. Vincent advanced to the frontcourt with the ball and passed the ball directly to Butler.

Butler got the ball and faced Su Tian's defense.

"Come on Jimmy, let me see if you've improved during this time."

Hearing Su Tian's provocative words, Butler didn't respond. He first tried the three-threat test. After seeing that Su Tian couldn't be dazzled, he began to reach out and call his teammates to step forward to pick and roll.

With the help of pick-and-roll cooperation, Butler broke through from the right side with the ball.

Su Tian quickly turned around to avoid the pick and roll and chased Butler again.

Su Tian was very fast. When Butler came to the free throw line, Su Tian wrapped around and forced Butler to stop again.

But Butler obviously didn't give up yet, and broke through again after a quick change of direction.

Su Tian also changed his defensive focus again to keep up with Butler.

After a confrontation, the two came to the basket. Butler pushed away the defense and barely made a layup.

According to the Lakers last season, the big slap with thick eyebrows is about to come at this time, but at this time they can only rely on Su Tian's personal ability and McGee's inability to block shots.

boom--

Even without the help of thick eyebrows, it would be equally difficult for Butler to hit against Su Tian's defense.

Su Tian turned around and got stuck in position, grabbing the rebound.