NBA’s aging star system

Chapter 270 Lakers’ first playoff game (page 12)

After being reprimanded by Popovich, the Spurs' overall enthusiasm has indeed improved a lot, and their defense has become even more vigorous.

But Green still had a hard time facing Su Tian. After all, this was not just a matter of motivation.

So in the second half of the quarter, the Spurs directly changed their defensive strategy and implemented a double-teaming tactic against Su Tian.

The Spurs did effectively curb Su Tian's performance due to double-teaming, but they allowed Su Tian to lead the entire Lakers team. The other Lakers' shooting percentages increased with the addition of Su Tian's passes. Not only did the point difference not narrow, On the contrary, it got bigger.

The Spurs lost their bet, at least they lost this bet.

At the end of the first quarter, the score reached 32-21, and the Lakers led the Spurs by 11 points.

The score difference reached double digits in the first quarter, which put great pressure on the Spurs. Popovich actually knew that the reason why the Spurs fell so far behind was not only because they failed to defend Su Tian well, but also because their offense did not type it out.

Aldridge's offensive strength is naturally very strong, but it is not unsolvable or tough.

The Lakers only used Randall to defend, and with other people's help and interference, the simple defensive tactics restricted Aldridge's performance. The Lakers did not intend to lock down the opponent, but just wanted to limit it, so there was naturally less pressure. a lot of.

The Spurs have no second person to solve the problem, and Aldridge is not a player who is good at passing the ball to organize the team, so it seems that Aldridge has a sense of separation from the entire team.

"We can clearly see from the first quarter that Su's competitive state is very good. Other Lakers players also performed very well under Su's leadership. So what adjustments will the Spurs make?" Kenny - Smith said.

"There is no doubt that Su is worthy of being the MVP of the regular season. Then the Spurs must focus more defensive attention on Su. They would rather let role players explode than let Su take action. Otherwise, there will be no chance of success. Opportunity," Barkley analyzed.

O'Neal also gave his own analysis after hearing this, "I think the Spurs need to figure out how to play their own offense. After all, Aldridge's performance in the first quarter did not satisfy me. He should be tougher. "

The inter-section break passed quickly and the second quarter began.

In the second quarter, Walton made adjustments, allowing Su Tian to continue to lead the bench lineup, while the starting lineup rested off the court to prepare for the second half of the quarter.

The Spurs naturally made adjustments, and the task of defending Su Tian was passed from Green to Murray.

Murray is a rookie in 16, and this is only his second season. Facing such a young player, Su Tian has no moral ethics at all. He continuously breaks through Murray's defense with the ball, causing Murray to suffer a lot. scold.

The Spurs' offense still didn't work. Nance supported Aldridge, making Aldridge's shooting difficult, and his shooting percentage never increased.

Halfway through the second quarter, Walton called a timeout, replaced Su Tian and the substitute players, and put the starting lineup into the substitute period.

Without Su Tian, ​​the Lakers' overall strength will definitely decline, but there is still no problem in coping with the substitute period.

Su Tian sat off the court, but kept his eyes on the court. Su Tian found that Ingram's performance was pretty good, and Randall also had outstanding performances, but Ball was not as calm as he was in the regular season. Tian can still feel that this rookie is still a little tight.

Soon, at the end of the first half, Ingram and Randall held on to the double-digit point difference that Su Tian created in the first quarter. The score of the two teams came to 60-46, and the Lakers still led by 14 points. .

Leading by double digits at halftime was beyond Walton's expectations. Walton was nervous and excited at halftime, but he didn't expect that his first experience in the playoffs would start with defeating Popovich.

Su Tian also took advantage of the intermission to recover his strength. There was still a tough battle to be fought in the second half.

But overall, the atmosphere in the Lakers locker room is quite harmonious, but on the other hand, the atmosphere in the Spurs' locker room is not so good.

Popovich roared in the locker room while holding a tactical board to emphasize cooperation. The atmosphere in the Spurs locker room was very depressing.

After losing his temper, Popovich turned around and walked out, and the entire locker room fell into silence.

In fact, Popovich and the Spurs veterans understand that just by watching the Lakers' half of the game, they know that the Lakers are not a so-called regular season team. They are still very strong in the playoffs and are not so easy to bully. The Spurs It is very likely that the playoffs will be eliminated in the first round.

However, even if it is a round trip, Popovich does not want to leave in disgrace. He must at least win two games and leave with dignity.

So this is why Popovich lost his temper. He wanted to stimulate these players. Taking advantage of the fact that the Lakers are young and have no playoff experience, the first game should be the easiest to steal.

But things went counterproductive. The Lakers' performance really impressed Popovich, especially Su Tian.

Soon, the intermission ended and the third quarter began.

In the third quarter, Walton took on the starting lineup, and the same was true for the Spurs.

Although Green's effectiveness in defending Su Tian is not as good as expected, this is already the best choice for the Spurs.

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.

After all, this is Ball's first time playing in the playoffs, and everything is about stability.

After Su Tian got the ball, he called Lopez for a pick-and-roll. Su Tian used the pick-and-roll to directly start a breakthrough and rush to the basket.

Both Green and Gasol were veterans, neither of them were very light on their feet. They switched defenses directly, and Gasol sat under the basket waiting for Su Tian's impact.

But Su Tian didn't really rush in, but stopped in place with an emergency stop.

Seeing Su Tian stop suddenly, Gasol immediately remembered the scene where Su Tian was teasing him before, so he didn't pounce in time.

Su Tian saw that Gasol couldn't come up, so he stopped and shot a jumper.

Swah——

Su Tian's shot hit directly.

62-46

Su Tian decides his next move based on the opponent's reaction. This requires strong control and reaction, but the effect is really good.

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

Mills came to the frontcourt with the ball and still passed the ball directly to Aldridge.

After Aldridge got the ball, he directly started to hit Randall with his back. Although Aldridge didn't have many offensive methods, his shooting was accurate and it was difficult to defend.

The Lakers' defensive strategy for Aldridge is also a double-teaming tactic, but it is not a complete double-teaming. Instead, one person defends, and the other person only needs to come to interfere with the shot when the shot is taken.

After Aldridge continued to play back, he turned over and shot a jumper. Lopez's help arrived at the moment the shot was released.

boom--

Basketball strikes, Su Tian rushes to the basket to fight for rebounds.

Because Randall and Lopez are guarding Aldridge, the rebounds inside need to be ensured by the continuous rushing of outside players. Fortunately, Su Tian's rebounding attributes are relatively high, and Ingram's rebounding is also okay. The Lakers' rebounding is somewhat guaranteed.