Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Robert Horry's outstanding performance allowed the Lakers to successfully stabilize the situation, and when O'Neal returned to the court in the second quarter, the Lakers' overall offense became more smooth.

With Shaquille O'Neal inside and Robert Horry outside, these two players, working together, have caused huge trouble for the Timberwolves.

Although Robert Horry rarely had singles with the ball in previous games, in today's game, Robert Horry, who successfully played with the ball, was a huge threat, so the Timberwolves did not dare to let him go to double-team O'Neal.

This kind of defense also gave O'Neal plenty of breathing space, allowing him to frequently score in singles in the paint.

Although Ben Wallace can help his teammates to make up for the defense in the first time by relying on his strong mobility, the fat man O'Neal has delicate hands and can often find gaps in the inside double-team and pass the ball to Campbell.

O'Neal's all-round and outstanding personal ability also forced the Timberwolves' defense to tear apart. With the cooperation of Robert Horry on the outside, the Lakers' offense was very successful for a while, which put great pressure on the Timberwolves.

As for the Timberwolves, Wu Dao's physical fitness declined after playing for two consecutive quarters. The Chinese player seemed to know that the offense of the Timberwolves lineup would be concentrated on Wu Dao, so he put a lot of pressure on Wu Dao on the defensive end.

With O'Neal guarding the inside, the Lakers could double-team Wu Dao unscrupulously.

Robert Horry, who was originally defending Wu Dao, also changed his defensive strategy with the help of his teammates. He gave up his previous strategy of taking a step back to defend the opponent's breakthrough, and instead used close defense to consume Wu Dao's physical energy, limit Wu Dao's space to receive the ball, and create time for his teammates to double-team him.

Under such tremendous defensive pressure, Wudao also selectively changed his offensive style.

A one-on-one attack would cause a huge consumption of Wudao's physical strength. In order to cope with subsequent games, Wudao began to borrow the strength of his teammates.

On the court, it was the Timberwolves' offensive round, and the basketball was passed to Wu Dao after several passes.

As soon as the basketball was in his hand, Nick, who was located inside the three-point line in the middle, immediately took action. He quickly let go of Chris Kyle, who he was supposed to defend, and rushed directly towards Wu Dao.

Wu Dao who had the ball noticed Nick running towards him from the wing, and quickly made a pick-and-roll gesture towards Ben Wallace in the paint. At the same time, he quickly dropped the ball with his right hand, and made a direct breakthrough, leaning his body against Robert Horry who was facing him.

Ben Wallace quickly moved forward to set a screen, and his action also attracted Campbell of the Lakers. However, although Campbell followed Wallace away from the basket, he did not go directly to the high post. Instead, he stood in the middle distance and waited for further offensive changes from the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves' offensive rotation was very fast. Before Ben Wallace's pick-and-roll arrived, Wu Dao had already used his body to block Robert Horry and quickly passed by the opponent.

But at the same time when Wudao successfully broke through, Nick went around Robert Horry and headed straight for Wudao. At the same time, Campbell, who was in the middle distance, also moved his feet, forming a staggered human wall with Nick, blocking Wudao's path.

In just a few seconds, Wu Dao's route in front was blocked by the Lakers players. Robert Horry, who had just passed by Wu Dao, also quickly rushed back towards Wu Dao. Robert Horry's movement was very tricky. While double-teaming Wu Dao, he also blocked the passing route between Wu Dao and Chris Kyle.

The three Lakers players instantly formed a pincer attack on Wu Dao, cooperating with each other very well.

Under such tremendous defensive pressure, Wudao did not hesitate at all. After a quick stop, he took a fadeaway jump shot, choosing to shoot directly at the basket from a high position.

The basketball flew directly over the heads of Campbell and Nick. Under the expectant gaze of the Lakers players, Wu Dao's shot hit the basket.

Continuous games caused Wu Dao's physical fitness to decline, and the Lakers' high-intensity defense also put a lot of pressure on Wu Dao's offense, and his shooting percentage dropped significantly.

As the basketball hit the basket, O'Neal under the basket seized the best landing spot. As the basketball fell, he jumped up and grabbed the rebound firmly in his hands.

In the stands, the Lakers fans cheered enthusiastically as they watched their players successfully defend against the Timberwolves' attack. After O'Neal grabbed the rebound, he quickly passed the ball to Nick who came back to receive it.

"Defend! Defend! Defend!"

Although the Timberwolves fans were somewhat disappointed with the team's offensive strength this time, they quickly adjusted their mood and, led by the home commentator, shouted for defense in a rhythmic manner.

When the game situation was tense, the emotions of the fans of both sides were aroused, and everyone's attention was focused on the game on the field.

"Coach, Budo is obviously a little tired."

"He needs help. Let's put him on the court. Ben doesn't have a mid-range shot. His high-post pick-and-roll can't pose much of a threat to the Lakers."

"Even if he was on the ball, the Lakers still had players like O'Neal guarding the basket. He had no way of breaking through O'Neal's defense with his ability."

"It is precisely because of this that the Lakers were able to double-team Wu Dao so unscrupulously."

The Lakers began to organize an offense. Garnett on the sidelines could no longer sit still. He quickly came to the side of Coach Philip and analyzed with some concern.

"Ok!"

"Wait a minute, sit down for a while, don't be anxious."

Coach Philip looked up at the scoreboard beside the court, quickly glanced at the score and time, and then comforted Garnett beside him.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to give Wudao some time to rest, nor does he not want to substitute players like Garnett to help Wudao.

He was just waiting for the right moment, waiting for the moment when the Lakers would gain momentum.

In basketball games, the timing of player rotation is also very important.

This so-called timing is not only determined by the score of the two teams. Sometimes the rising or falling trend of the two teams' momentum can also serve as an indicator for substitutions.

Currently, the score difference between the Lakers and the Forest is very close, with the score reaching 39:41, and the Timberwolves are still the leading side.

Although the Lakers played very strongly from the situation point of view, their strength was not directly reflected in the score.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Lakers' momentum is rising rapidly, while the Timberwolves' momentum is beginning to level off and become somewhat sluggish.

The opportunity that Coach Philip was waiting for was the moment when the Lakers' momentum reached its peak. At that time, it would be most beneficial to the team to bring the main players back to the court and deal a blow to the Lakers.

If the Lakers suffer a blow at the peak of their momentum, they will most likely be unable to recover. Not to mention that they will not be able to regroup for the rest of today's game, even the subsequent game against the Timberwolves will probably leave a shadow in the hearts of these Lakers players.

This is the effect that Coach Philip wanted. He felt that the Timberwolves' hard power was stronger than the Lakers. It was precisely because of this idea that he wanted to let the Timberwolves players hold on for a while longer.

In the court, Nick dribbled the ball into the front court and quickly passed it to Kobe on the wing. In the duel between Kobe and Tom, Kobe had a small advantage. This was the first step for the Lakers to tear apart the Timberwolves' defense, and it was also the step that could most effectively undermine the Timberwolves' overall momentum.

Kobe picked up the basketball, leaned forward, and dropped the ball with both hands in front of him. The basketball was only a dozen centimeters away from the ground, and the center of gravity was low.

Tom opened his arms, tried to lower his center of gravity, and stared at the basketball in Kobe's hands, with no intention of easily stealing the ball.

The basketball in Kobe's hand fell, and the moment it bounced back, Kobe suddenly grabbed the ball with his right hand, and directly pulled the ball up. At the same time, his left foot quickly stepped forward to the right, trying to break through from Tom's left side.

"Bang!!"

The two bodies collided directly with each other. The huge force made Tom's breathing pause, but his strength was better than Kobe's. He did not lose the upper hand in such a fierce physical confrontation. He stood firmly in place and did not give up his position.

But at this moment, Kobe, who was affected by the huge recoil force, suddenly took the ball and turned around. With an extremely flexible and chic posture, he turned directly in front of Tom and rushed towards the basket.

However, Tom on the defending side still stood stiffly in the same place, and was unable to adjust himself and turn around to chase.

Under the basket, the Timberwolves' inside players were all focused on O'Neal. Stanley Roberts was wrestling with O'Neal at the moment. By the time he noticed Kobe who had broken through Tom, it was already too late.

Stanley Roberts was anxious to get away from O'Neal and was about to jump up to stop Kobe, but he saw the young man in front of him just grab the ball and jump up, and crashed into Stanley Roberts without any care in his body. Riding on Stanley Roberts, Kobe dunked the basketball in his hand directly into the basket.

"Bang--"

The loud noise of the dunk exploded in the stadium. After a brief moment of shock, the Lakers fans in the stands suddenly burst into warm cheers, the cheers almost breaking through the dome.

A powerful slam dunk finally pushed the Lakers' momentum to its highest point.

On the sidelines of the court, Coach Philip, who had been waiting for a long time, saw Kobe's dunk and realized that the time was ripe. He finally stood up slowly and called a timeout.

41: 41.

The score was frozen, and with less than three minutes left in the second quarter, a sharp whistle sounded in the stadium at the right time.

"Is this a timeout?"

After hearing the sharp whistle, the players of both teams came to their senses and quickly walked towards the rest area under the court. As the Lakers players walked off the court, they also cast their eyes towards the scoreboard on the sidelines.

Seeing that there was little time left in the second quarter, the Lakers players all showed some doubts.

The situation has not actually deteriorated to that extent, and the second quarter of the game is about to end. Calling a timeout at this time will not actually maximize the benefits of this timeout.

The Lakers players obviously didn't expect this. Coach Philip called a timeout in order to decide the outcome in the remaining three minutes!
The Lakers players were very happy that they had stabilized the situation on the court. The coach did not change his team's offensive and defensive strategies. This timeout was dispensable to them. It was nothing more than giving the players more rest time.

But for the Timberwolves, the timeout had a completely different effect on them.

The originally somewhat depressing atmosphere quickly dissipated as the pause time passed.

As the buzzer sounded, indicating the end of the timeout, players from both teams returned to the court.

When the Timberwolves were serving the ball in the backcourt and preparing to attack, the Lakers players also noticed that the Timberwolves players on the field had changed.

Both Stanley Roberts and Ben Wallace were substituted off the court, and they were replaced by white center Cherokee Parks and Garnett.

At the same time, Tom, who had played for two consecutive quarters, was substituted out. He was replaced by Sam Mitchell of the Timberwolves, and Chris Kyle was also replaced by Marbury.

There have been huge changes to the entire Timberwolves lineup.

The basketball was passed from the backcourt to Marbury. After a few minutes of rest, Marbury slowly entered the frontcourt. He did not choose to pass the ball, but dribbled the ball at the top of the arc, familiarizing himself with basketball while observing the Lakers' defensive position.

He had been resting on the sidelines for a long time, and his originally hot body had cooled down a little.

He needs some time to get back on the court and get back to the ball in his hands.

Marbury also received instructions from Coach Philip and did not give the ball to Wu Dao. The players were on the court to help Wu Dao share the offensive pressure. For a player of Wu Dao's level, even if he was on the court, as long as he didn't hold the ball, he could be considered to be resting.

He doesn't need to be substituted off the court and can still have some rest time on the court.

Marbury was nearly two meters away from the top of the arc. The offensive time was passing second by second, but Marbury, who had the ball, was not in a hurry at all and controlled his offensive time.

With only 11 seconds left in the offensive time, the Timberwolves' offensive lineup finally changed.

Garnett in the interior quickly moved up, seemingly wanting to set a screen for Marbury.

After being reminded by his teammates, Nick also noticed Garnett who was approaching him quickly, and he chose to move forward immediately, trying to defend Marbury closely and prevent Marbury from having the space to break through with the pick-and-roll.

But his actions seemed to be within Marbury's expectations. When Nick moved his center of gravity and stepped forward, the basketball in Marbury's hand fell quickly, and he directly accelerated and broke through.

Marbury's breakthrough was very sudden, and he used an anti-common sense move here, and did not go in the direction of Garnett's pick-and-roll.

In just a moment, Marbury passed Nick and approached the free throw line.

With a simple pull-up jump shot, Marbury quickly threw the basketball in his hand before the Lakers' defensive player could get forward.

"Shh!"

With a crisp sound of the net hitting the net in the stadium, the basketball went into the net.

(End of this chapter)