NBA Old Age 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 - swish -

Basketball hitting the backboard.

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.

After grabbing the rebound, Su Tian turned around and started fast break mode.

At this time, when Su Tian moved, not only Butler pursued him, but also Vincent and Hero were double-teamed.

Seeing the Heat setting up such a big battle for themselves right from the start, Su Tian passed the ball directly to Brunson without hesitation.Brunson caught the ball and went straight to the frontcourt and made an easy layup.

4-0
"It seems that the Lakers have everything ready for this game." Barkley said.

"Indeed, even if the Lakers are remnant, it is still very difficult for the Heat to win the game." Kenny Smith echoed.

The ball was given to the Heat again. This time Vincent held the ball and called for a pick-and-roll. After using the pick-and-roll to break through Brunson's defense, he attracted George's help and passed a pass to Hiero outside the three-point line.

When Hiero got the ball and was about to take a shot, Kuzma's help was felt at the same time, so Hiero had to pass the ball to Dun Luo in the bottom corner again.

Dun Luo took the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.

Swah——

Hit a three-pointer steadily.

4-3
"What a great shot. Robinson's three-pointer is pretty good." Kenny Smith praised.

"That's for sure, this is a player who came out of the Lakers." Barkley said proudly.

When Butler saw Dun Luo hit a three-pointer, he kept clapping his hands to celebrate, and even took the initiative to give Dun Luo a high-five.

The ball is switched, and it's the Lakers' turn to attack.

Brunson came to the frontcourt with the ball, tried to break through and quickly passed the ball to Su Tian.

Su Tian got the ball and directly called Kuz to step forward to pick and roll.

The Lakers' pick-and-roll cooperation was very fast and tight. In order to ensure timely defense, the Heat chose to switch defenses directly.

So Su Tian successfully faced off with Deng Luo.

"Duncan, come on, take precautions, otherwise you won't have a chance."

As a former teammate of Su Tian, ​​Deng Luo knew very well how strong Su Tian was, and he also knew very well that his defense was definitely no match for Su Tian.

Spoelstra has also been prepared for a long time. He has already arranged for Adebayor to be behind, ready to help defend and double-team at any time.

At this time, Su Tian changed direction and directly broke through Dun Luo's defense.

Deng Luo could only follow closely behind Su Tian, ​​trying to cause some interference.

Upon seeing this, Adebayor on the inside immediately let go of McGee and came towards Su Tian.

At this time, Su Tian was faced with double teams, but he didn't panic at all. He passed the ball directly to the basket and cut to McGee.

McGee received the ball and dunked with both hands.

6-3
For Su Tian, ​​the ordinary double-teaming tactic was no longer effective.

If you want to use double teams to deal with Su Tian, ​​you can only deal with Su Tian's scoring data, but you can't deal with the entire Lakers team.

In the next few rounds, the game on the court continued step by step, and the gap between the Lakers and Heat teams was also obvious.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers led 31-25 by 6 points.

"Judging from the first quarter, I feel it should be similar to last season's finals. The Heat are still no match for the Lakers," Barkley said.

"Although the Heat have introduced players this season, they have not introduced very powerful stars, and their improvement is very limited. If they want to break through the Lakers like this, I'm afraid they still won't be able to do it." Kenny Smith said.

At this time, more than two commentators thought so, as did most fans, including some Heat players.

Soon, the intermission ended and the second quarter began.

In the second quarter, both sides made substitution adjustments. Su Tian temporarily took a break, and George led the team on the court.

Butler on the Heat's side also took a break off the court for the time being, with Dragic and Hiero on hand to lead the team.

Although the strength of the Lakers' bench has declined this season, it still has an advantage compared to the Heat.

Not even halfway through the second quarter, the point difference had already reached double digits.

As soon as the point difference reached double digits, Spoelstra immediately took Butler up again.

After Butler came on the court, he recovered some points, but only stabilized the point difference at around 8 points.

Halfway through the second quarter, Su Tian came on the court to replace George.

At this time, Su Tian and Butler faced off again, and Su Tian only used 3 rounds to open the point difference to double digits.

After the point difference was widened, Su Tian began to pass the ball to assist his teammates, giving away more shots.

The two teams have also fallen into a balance, and the point difference has not changed much.

At the end of the first half, the Lakers led by 12 points.

The game entered halftime, but some fans had already begun to turn off the TV, because it was foreseeable that this was another Lakers victory.

At this time, in the Heat's locker room, Spoelstra was still holding a tactical board, constantly emphasizing some tactical coordination and precautions for the second half.

"Jimmy, we still have a chance in the second half, but we have to catch up with the score in the third quarter, and we still have to rely on you."

Spo looked at Butler seriously and said.

Butler also nodded seriously and said, "Okay coach, I know what to do."

At the same time, Walton did nothing for the Lakers and also emphasized the defense against the Heat in the second half.

"There is no doubt that the core of the Heat is Butler, but Butler's defense can be left to Su. You don't need to worry too much. What needs everyone to pay attention to is the Heat's three-pointers. This needs all of us to pay attention to." , can’t give the opponent a three-point chance!”

Soon the third quarter will start.

Both sides also came up with their starting lineups again.

The first possession of the third quarter was given to the Heat, and Vincent came to the frontcourt with the ball.

Just when everyone thought Vincent was going to pass the ball directly to Butler, Vincent suddenly took the ball and launched a breakthrough.

Brunson didn't react for a moment, and Vincent caught the defensive loophole and completed the breakthrough.

Vincent was also very fast, and Brunson followed behind to interfere.

After a confrontation, the two came to the basket. Just when Vincent was about to take a layup, McGee appeared at the right time and jumped up to block the shot.

But Vincent, who was already in the air at this time, did not take a rash shot. Instead, he pulled the ball back again and passed a pass to Adebayor behind McGee.

Adebayor took the ball and shot.

bang - swish -

Basketball hitting the backboard.

"Good shot, Vincent's assist is very smart! It seems that Vincent's ability is constantly improving!" Barkley said.

"Adebayor's finish is also very good. It seems that there has been progress during this period, and the future is promising." Kenny Smith also praised. (End of chapter)