basketball kingdom

Chapter 425 The First Crisis

Chapter 425 The Second Crisis

After Xu Tian experienced a wonderful and unforgettable night, he went to the Lakers training hall to help his teammates prepare for the game while maintaining his own state.He always feels that practicing is like sailing against the current. Once he can't make progress, he will suffer a big decline. This is something he can't tolerate.

The atmosphere in the Lakers training hall was more serious than yesterday, and almost every player felt an extra sense of tension in their hearts.This is a normal reaction under the pressure of the playoffs. It's just that Xu Tian was on top before, so the teammates felt relaxed.

Xu Tian felt that the regular training was almost done, and proposed to play a non-competitive training game to adjust the overall state.

Kobe and George needed Xu Tian to imitate Harden's style of play, did not refuse, and soon began to attack and defend without confrontation.This kind of training game has no intensity, it is only used to improve the changes and communication on the defensive end, so as to achieve the effect of limiting Harden.

Xu Tian's personal style is not similar to Harden's, but he is quite versatile, and he can almost imitate Harden's style of play. Even without confrontation, he still found several opportunities to draw fouls.

Clarkson was mentioned by Scott to the starting lineup, but his performance in the training game was not very satisfactory, which worried the coaching staff.In this atmosphere, the game of the evening came gradually.

The Rockets adjusted the starting lineup, allowing Beverly, who is better at defending and not occupying the ball, to start. D'Angelo Russell returned to the bench to enhance the offensive firepower of the bench.This adjustment is extremely targeted, and it is to attack the shortcomings of the Lakers' lack of experience in the bench lineup.

The Lakers' starting lineup hasn't changed much, they just put Clarkson in the starting lineup to replace the suspended Xu Tian.

Xu Tian couldn't enter the court, so he could only stay in the home locker room, move the chairs to the corner, imagine himself playing on the court, and prepare for the game according to the habits he usually accumulated.

Maples also did not enter the field, but stayed in the locker room, watching the game with Xu Tian and several video analysts.

After the game started, Xu Tian did not sit down, but pretended to have the ball in his hand, and began to practice the tactics Scott had arranged in advance in the locker room.In this way, he needs to find the feeling in the usual game.

Harden was very smart, and Beverly, who was in charge of Clarkson's defense, continued to pick and roll, forcing Clarkson to switch to him, and then began to play singles with the ball.He felt very comfortable with this kind of offense. He exploded in the first quarter and led the Rockets to play a pretty good attack wave. It was with this advantage that the Rockets achieved a [-]-point lead in the first quarter.

George encountered the Rockets' double-team defense, and Kobe was entangled by Beverly's close defense, and neither of them played to their due level.Since Howard felt surprisingly good at free throws tonight, the Lakers had no way to narrow the point difference by sending him to the free throw line. At the end of the half, Clarkson had committed four fouls, three of which were on Harden.

Mike Breen and Mark Jackson explained the game on the spot. In addition to the live commentary in the first half, they were always analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the Lakers lineup.That's the job of the commentators, and they have to do it.

During the intermission, the Lakers players returned to the locker room for the first time, during which no one spoke.Now the momentum of the Rockets is very fierce, and Harden is not doing a good job in defense, so the atmosphere is a bit low.

Kobe didn't expect the Rockets' response to come so quickly, he went back to the locker room silently and walked towards Xu Tian who had just sat down.

Xu Tian stretched out a chair and put it on the way Kobe came, so that he could sit on it.

Kobe played long enough in the first half, took enough shots, and consumed a lot of energy. Without saying a word, he sat on the chair, adjusted his breathing, and asked Xu Tian, ​​"Xu, did you watch the entire first half in the locker room?" Looking at the game, where do you think the team needs to improve?"

Xu Tian is not very good at pointing out that there is a problem on the defensive end. He simply gave a few suggestions, so that Clarkson should go around the screen when defending, and don't easily switch to Harden.With Clarkson's strength, Harden can't be restrained, and Kobe or George should face him.

Clarkson remembered Xu Tian's words and planned to try it in the second half to see if it would work.This is something he has to face, so he can't escape, he can only look forward and find ways to improve his performance.

Scott and Marc Madsen didn't mobilize, sitting in their seats at the locker room table, drawing plays on paper urgently, looking for ways to counterattack in the second half.

The Rockets didn't make too many adjustments, just let Howard try his best to defend.If the Lakers have targeted him for hacking, they will need backup center Clint Capela to step up to make the Lakers' wishful thinking empty.

The time for halftime passed quickly.

The Lakers players left the locker room with trepidation, trotted back to the lively stadium, and prepared to start the second half of the game.

The Rockets still continued to double-team George, while Kobe, another core defender of the Lakers, still faced Beverly's defense.Due to Clarkson's loss, Kobe received a lot of defensive intensity. Without accident, he failed to open the breakthrough again, and the point difference was gradually opened.

George Kong has a whole set of offensive skills. When the Rockets focus on targeting, sometimes he can't even catch the ball, let alone lead the team to recover the point difference.

Mike Brin said: "This is why most media reporters believe that Xu Geng should be elected as the MVP of the regular season. In his absence, the Lakers' overall offense and defense have dropped a lot, and there is no way to limit James Harden. performance."

Reggie Miller said: "Any top ten player who can be included in the MVP award discussion has a strength that far exceeds the league average. The Lakers are comfortable on both ends of the offense and defense when he is on the court, and when they can't open the game It is easy to spoil the fans and teammates with Xu Tian attacking, but that is Xu Tian's playing style, and it is understandable."

Listening to the commentator's analysis, Xu Tian watched the Lakers' lagging gap gradually widen, and the pain in his heart became stronger.He was very annoyed by his impulsive behavior the night before, but he couldn't turn back time, so he could only continue to practice and watch the second half of the game.

Howard sprayed a few trash words at Kobe in high spirits, and then the two began to spray each other.This behavior did not rise to a conflict, and the referee stopped the two, and the game continued.

Scott stood on the sidelines, frowning all the time, carefully observing the efforts of the new players, preparing for the next Game [-] at the Toyota Center in advance.This is the key point of the series, never let the last game affect you, but put aside the losses and painful memories, and strive to fight back in the next game.

(End of this chapter)