Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"beep!"

The referee blew the whistle and called a defensive foul on Anderson. Anderson could only smile bitterly. His defense was excellent, but facing a player like Davis, he was helpless.

This time it was Anderson who defended in front, but Davis still received the ball. He could only stop Davis by fouling and sending Davis to the free throw line.

"Shhhh..."

Davis made both free throws, giving the Pelicans a 10-point lead.

In the past period of time, the Lakers scored 7 points in a row and played a small climax of 7:0, which has narrowed the gap to only 8 points, and even made Coach Gentry want to call a timeout.

Fortunately, Davis stepped up and stopped the bleeding for the team.

"We are still at a disadvantage in the interior." Zhuang Yu frowned slightly.

Both Davis and Cousins ​​played very well today.

Davis in particular caused great trouble to the Lakers with his help on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he had a considerable advantage over Anderson. Before the end of the second quarter, he had already scored 16 points.

Coach Scott was also frowning. He looked at the time and requested a substitution, replacing Anderson with Nance Jr., letting Nance Jr. play the No. 4 position to defend Davis.

But the effect is still not good. Although Nance Jr. is an inside player, he is only 206cm tall, which is much shorter than Davis.

Seeing this, Coach Scott could only shake his head.

It's not that there are no other people on the team, such as Zubac.

At least Zubac has the height to form a twin tower with Lopez, but Zubac will seriously slow down the Lakers' speed, and it will become a positional battle. Then the Pelicans will have the time to laugh.

Although there are some troubles on the defensive end, fortunately the Lakers are still online on the offensive end. Zhuang Yu, Clarkson, and Lopez are all strong scorers, and there is also Korver lurking outside the three-point line. The Pelicans' twin towers can guard the inside, but it is difficult for them to take care of the outside.

"Pull away."

On the field.

Zhuang Yu gestured to his teammates to move away, and then played against Tony Allen. He first accelerated, then turned around with the ball, bypassed Tony Allen, and then raised the ball. Cousins ​​rushed over to make up for the defense, and the others also subconsciously shrank the defense line to surround Zhuang Yu.

At this time, Zhuang Yu passed the ball to Clarkson. After Clarkson got the ball, he raised it up, made a fake shot, and then immediately broke through and passed the ball again.

Finally, the ball was given to Korver, who made a three-pointer with a flick of his hand.

The difference is 7 points.

"Fortunately, our offense is still strong enough." Assistant coach Madsen breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt a little aggrieved. In the previous few games, they easily suppressed their opponents, but today they were suppressed by the Pelicans throughout the game.

......

In a blink of an eye, the second quarter ended.

At this time, the score became 57:50, and the Pelicans still led by 7 points.

The score difference is not big, at least it has been narrowed a lot compared to the previous 15 points, but it still makes the Lakers players feel very unhappy.

The Pelicans are able to stay ahead of us, damn!

Entering the third quarter, the Lakers sent Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Korver, Nance Jr., Lopez Sr., but not Anderson. Although Anderson is not inferior to Nance Jr. in height, he is still inferior in confrontation and has no advantage over Davis, especially in the low post.

Of course, the Lakers further strengthened their defense against Davis, especially limiting Davis from getting the ball in the low post and near the basket.

But Davis is not only strong in low-post scoring, he can also dribble through, shoot, and even has a certain accuracy in three-pointers.

This is troublesome.

In the third quarter, Davis began to frequently get the ball on the outside = he played one-on-one, or broke through the basket, or dribbled two steps and then encountered help defense and passed the ball to Rondo, who immediately passed it to Cousins.

For a time, Rondo + Davis + Cousins ​​formed an offensive triangle, making it difficult for the Lakers to defend.

Even after getting into the swing of the game, Rondo actually made a three-pointer.

"I have to say, the Pelicans played really well today."

"I feel that the combination of Rondo + Davis + Cousins ​​is better and stronger than the combination of Holiday + Davis + Cousins ​​last season."

"This is not surprising. After all, Rondo, Davis and Cousins ​​are all Kentucky alumni, and they are seniors of the two. They are all willing to listen to Rondo..."

"That's because Rondo is so good. He's not called a tactical master for nothing."

In the audience, the home fans were laughing and talking.

People always unconsciously compare Rondo and Holiday, and finally find that Rondo is much more effective than Holiday.

And it’s not expensive!

But to be honest, Holiday played much worse than Rondo today.

He performed badly in the first half and the same was true in the second half. He was not in good shape and was hesitant on the offensive end. When he reached the frontcourt, he wanted to pass the ball to Zhuang Yu and let Zhuang Yu organize the offense because he felt he was not doing as well as Zhuang Yu.

He also had no touch in scoring. He was so frustrated that he missed all his shots in the first half. In the second half, he didn't dare to shoot anymore after missing two shots.

So much so that at the end, even the defense started to become distracted.

On the sidelines.

Assistant coach Madsen shook his head and said to Coach Scott, "Coach, do you want to call a timeout to make a substitution or make some adjustments, so that Zhuang can organize the offense. Or you can replace Anderson and let Anderson organize the offense. Holiday is in really bad shape today."

However, Coach Scott shook his head: "No, let's play like this. It's only halfway through the quarter, it's still early to make substitutions."

"But......"

"All right."

Coach Scott raised his hand to interrupt, signaling him not to say any more.

In fact, Coach Scott had considered this issue during the halftime break, but Zhuang Yu found him and told him to let Holiday play normally in the second half.

At this time, other people did not trust him, and as his coach and teammates, we could not and did not trust him.

Even if they lose this game, what does it matter? It's just a regular season game, less than ten games have been played in the regular season, and they can afford to lose.

Compared to the outcome of a game, Holiday's condition is more important.

Hearing this, Coach Scott thought what he said made sense, so he let Holiday play normally in the second half and did not make any substitutions even though he performed poorly.

......

In a blink of an eye, most of the third quarter was over.

At this time, the score difference was widened to double digits again, with the Lakers trailing by 14 points.

"Requesting a timeout."

Coach Scott then called a timeout and replaced Holiday, Zhuang Yu and Korver, leaving Lopez on the court, and also replaced Anderson, Clarkson and others.

The situation did not improve much after this substitution.

The Lakers played so depressingly today that even the mood of other players was affected. In addition, they were behind by more than ten points. The morale of the other team was high, but the morale of the Lakers was a little low.

Until the end of the third quarter, the Lakers were still trailing by more than ten points.

"After falling behind by more than ten points, the Lakers may have no chance."

"It's not like there's no chance at all, there's still one quarter left. But if the Lakers still want to come back, Holiday shouldn't play in the fourth quarter."

"indeed......"

Amid the discussion, the fourth quarter began.

The team first sent out the substitute lineup, but Zhuang Yu came on at the beginning of the fourth quarter and, together with Clarkson and several other substitutes, gave Lakers fans hope again.

still have a chance.

Led by Zhuang Yu, the Lakers gained the upper hand and quickly narrowed the gap to single digits.

As soon as he saw that the situation was not right, Coach Gentry immediately made substitutions and started replacing the main players. Davis and Rondo both returned to the court.

After this substitution, the Pelicans' offense improved significantly. Although they still couldn't stop the Lakers from scoring, they were at least able to fight back in time.

Of course, it mainly depends on Davis.

After another moment, the Lakers requested a timeout.

"Substitution..."

First, change people.

Holiday was sitting on the bench, still with his head down. But when he heard his name, he looked up in astonishment: "Is the coach calling me?"

Coach Scott said: "Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Korver, Anderson, Lopez, you guys will play later, or..."

This time Holiday heard it clearly. He was indeed asked to play, but he played so badly today, and the coach still asked him to play. He couldn't believe it.

However, Coach Scott did not say much and continued to arrange tactics.

After the tactics were arranged, he took back the tactical board, clapped his hands and said, "The game is not over yet. We are only 8 points behind. It doesn't matter. Play well and keep going."

......

With only a few minutes left in the game, players from both teams returned to the court.

Fans were a little surprised to see the Lakers actually substituted Holiday again. Holiday played like this today, only getting 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in three quarters. What was Coach Scott thinking that he actually let him play?

Several Pelicans players looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

Regardless of what Coach Scott thinks, this is a good thing for them.

As soon as they returned to the court, the Pelicans passed the ball to the inside, allowing Cousins ​​to play one-on-one in the low post. The Lakers quickly made up for the defense, and Cousins' shot missed. However, Davis grabbed the rebound and performed a dunk, widening the gap to 10 points.

The Lakers were on offense, Holiday took the ball and advanced in the backcourt. When he reached the frontcourt, he immediately looked for Zhuang Yu and passed the ball to him.

Seeing this situation, the Lakers fans began to shake their heads.

What’s the difference between this and before?

There was indeed no difference. Holiday still hadn't found his form. He was hesitant on the offensive end. When he got to the frontcourt, he immediately looked for Zhuang Yu. After passing the ball to Zhuang Yu, he wandered around, not playing his role as a point guard at all. He didn't contribute to the offense, and in his personal offense, he shot another three-pointer, but it still missed.

Zhuang Yu couldn't help but shake his head. He glanced at the score and had no intention of passing the ball again. He first took a series of crossover steps, then retreated slightly and shot a three-pointer facing Tony Allen's defense.

With a bang, the ball goes in.

For a period of time afterwards, the Lakers' offense mainly relied on Zhuang Yu and Lopez. Zhuang Yu shot from beyond the three-point line, making 4 of 2 three-pointers, with a good hit rate. Lopez scored one in the low post, and also caused a foul. He made one of two free throws at the free throw line. The two of them scored 9 points together, accounting for all the points of the Lakers during this period.

It's just that they are scoring, and the Pelicans are also scoring. The combination of Cousins ​​and Davis is indeed very lethal in the interior.

And Rondo feeds them the ball.

For a while, the game time passed quickly, and the two sides exchanged blows. Although the score difference narrowed, the Lakers were unable to catch up.

In the last minute, Cousins ​​and Davis successively stepped up to the free throw line and made free throws, completely killing the game.

"drop......"

When the whistle sounded to end the game, the score was fixed at 114:107. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers by 7 points, won a game and ended the Lakers' winning streak.

The Pelicans played very well in this game. Davis scored 32 points and 12 rebounds, Cousins ​​scored 26 points and 11 rebounds, Rondo contributed 11 points, 6 rebounds and 13 assists, and Kiki, one of the "Kentucky Big Three", scored a double-double.

The Lakers here.

Zhuang Yu made 7 three-pointers and scored 33 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Lopez scored 20 points and 9 rebounds, Korver scored 10 points, Anderson scored 8 points, and Clarkson scored 16 points. However, Holiday lagged behind, scoring only 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.