NBA Old Age Star System

At this time, the score difference reached 10 points, but there was not much time left in the second quarter. If the Lakers were allowed to lead by double digits into the second half, it would be bad news for the Suns.

So after the timeout, Paul and Booker once again staged cooperative tactics.

But because Booker was closely followed by Su Tian, ​​the effect was not good.

Just when everyone in the Suns team was at a loss what to do, the Suns' X factor appeared.

When Booker's offense was blocked, Paul quickly shifted the team's offensive output point and began to let other teammates share the pressure.

It's just that some of them have grasped it, and some have not.

Bridges was the one who caught it. After receiving Paul's pass, he made consecutive three-pointers.

He made 4 of 3 three-pointers in a short period of time, bringing the point difference back to 6 points.

This small wave of offensive climax set off by Bridges not only brought back the team's hope, but also directly improved the team's sluggish morale.

At the end of the second quarter, relying on Paul's stable control of the field and Bridges' extraordinary performance, the point difference stabilized at 6 points.

"Bridges is really the lucky star of the Suns! If it hadn't been for this kid in the last few minutes, the game would have been almost over at this point," Barkley said.

"Indeed, but this is the charm of basketball, you never know what miracle will happen in the next second!" Kenny Smith said.

At this time, the game entered halftime, and both teams returned to the locker room to make adjustments.

The Suns seemed very excited, and even after returning to the locker room, they still couldn't stop everyone's enthusiasm.

"Mikal! You are so awesome man! I love you so much!"

"Mikal, keep up the good work, you will be an indispensable force for the team!"

"Man! How did you do that! This is amazing!"

"Seriously man! You're the next All-Star!"

When Bridges came to the locker room, he was immediately surrounded by teammates, who touched their heads and patted their shoulders.

Among them are Paul and Booker.

The atmosphere within the Suns team is pretty good at the moment, and everyone is more happy and thankful for each other. After all, facing a formidable enemy like the Lakers, no team has the energy to engage in internal fighting.

At this time Monty also came to the locker room.

"Mikal, you performed well just now. I knew you could do it. Keep it up!"

"Okay, no problem coach!"

Bridges was obviously attracted by this feeling of being in the spotlight, and his inner ambition began to take root.

At the same time, the Lakers seemed much deserted.

"Guys, we still have the advantage at the moment, but we can't be careless, we must be cautious and show our best."

It was head coach Walton who was the first to break the situation. He first promoted the Lakers and then advised them.

In this way, the embarrassment of being chased by the Suns for consecutive points just disappeared.

"Our tactics remain unchanged in the second half. We still follow what we said before. Su is responsible for Booker. This is our top priority. But George, you also need to pay attention. Although Bridges is young, he is still young. It’s not easy, watch out for his shots.”

As Walton opened up the situation and started talking, the atmosphere in the locker room gradually returned to normal, and Walton immediately began to arrange some tactics.

Walton is not a stickler for rules. He slightly changed his tactics for the second half based on the situation in the first half. The most important one was the defense against Bridges, which was directly improved by several levels.

In terms of hard power, the Lakers are not afraid of any team in the league, but they are afraid of some uncontrollable factors, such as Bridges this time.

Soon the inter-section break ended and the third quarter began.

The Lakers naturally brought out their starting lineup in the third quarter, and the Clippers also ensured that Paul, Booker and Bridges were present.

The first attack of the third quarter was given to the Lakers. Brunson came to the frontcourt with the ball and passed the ball directly to Su Tian.

The current situation for the Lakers is a bit turbulent, and Su Tian needs to step forward to stabilize the situation.

Su Tian got the ball and faced Booker's defense. He started with a triple threat, then took a tentative step to force Booker back, and immediately returned to the three-point line to shoot a three-pointer.

Swah——

The three-pointer was hit steadily.

The point difference returned to 9 points.

"Good goal! Su showed his offensive deterrence at the beginning of the second half. The Suns must be more vigilant!" Barkley said.

The ball was transferred and it was the Suns' turn to attack. Paul advanced to the frontcourt with the ball.

Paul stood at the top of the arc with the ball, dribbling while reaching out to direct traffic, signaling his teammates to run tactics and cooperate.

Brunson stood in front of Paul, not daring to be careless at all. Although Paul is now mainly focused on passing the ball, Paul's offensive threat cannot be ignored.

Just when the Suns were running tactics, Paul suddenly took action and passed a ground-breaking pass to Bridges who was cutting in the air.

Paul passed the ball with some advance, which was a bit difficult for Bridges to control, but it also ensured the safety of the pass.

At this time, Bridges struggled to control the ball and headed towards the basket with the ball. However, just as Bridges took three steps to collect the ball, McGee suddenly appeared on the side and slapped the basketball with a big slap.

Snapped--

With a crisp sound, the basketball was swatted away by McGee and snatched directly by Kuzma, who has quick eyes and quick hands.

Kuzma got the ball and did not turn around for a fast break. Instead, he passed the ball to Su Tian, ​​who was already running in the frontcourt.

Su Tian received the pass and directly attacked the basket, making an easy layup.

The score difference came to 11 points.

Su Tian scored 5 points in a row after coming on the court, directly opening the point difference to double digits.

Monty on the sidelines reached out and called a timeout.

Su Tian's offense was so strong that he had to call a timeout to slow down the Lakers' offense.

"Devin, you have to show your threat! This way the team can run better."

"Chris, the team needs you to be there for a long time, and you need to control your physical distribution."

Paul nodded upon hearing this.

The Lakers are also making tactical arrangements and arrangements at this time.

"Su, Booker will still be the main scorer for the Suns. We must not relax our defense against him! This is our top priority in this game."

Even though the Lakers have an absolute advantage and are still leading by double digits, Walton still emphasizes defensive issues.

This is not to say that Walton does not pay attention to offense. On the contrary, it is precisely because Walton is too confident about the team's offense that he takes the trouble to emphasize defensive issues.

The timeout soon ended and the game resumed.

After the game started again, as expected, the Suns were still looking for opportunities for Booker to shoot. Unfortunately, under Su Tian's defense, Booker could not find any suitable opportunities at all. Booker's offense couldn't be opened up, so Paul could only look for other teammates, hoping that other teammates could give him some help.

It's just that neither Crowder nor Bridges can play any decisive performance in the battle.

Bridges' three-pointers were short-lived after all.

As a result, the score on the field continued to change, and the point difference between the two teams continued to grow.

By the middle of the third quarter, the point difference had reached 16 points, and it seemed that the Lakers' victory was determined.

So Walton followed his usual practice and replaced Su Tian to rest, while George continued to lead the team on the court.

The Suns' choice is to let Paul rest off the court and Booker continues to lead the team.

In fact, it is understandable to let Booker lead the team on the court. After all, with Su Tian gone, Booker can show his offensive strength.

Although without Paul's help, Booker's strength has declined, but he is still the league's top offensive level.

As for the Lakers, although Su Tian is not here, with George here, the team's fundamentals are still fine.

What's more, with the assistance of Brunson, Nunn and others, the overall strength of the team cannot be underestimated.

So in the next few rounds, Booker began to show his offensive methods and level to his fullest, while George led the team to control the score and point difference.

By the end of the third quarter, the point difference was indeed caught up somewhat, but not completely. There was still an 8-point difference.

Failing to control the point difference to double digits, George was full of guilt when he came off the court.

"Su, I'm sorry, I've tried my best, but I think this point difference should be enough for you."

"Don't worry, buddy, it's enough."

At this time, taking advantage of the break between sections, the head coaches on both sides were arranging tactics, while the core players were working hard to restore their physical strength.

"Charles, do you think the Suns still have a chance in the fourth quarter?" Kenny Smith asked.

"Opportunities? Of course there are opportunities, but I'm not sure how many there are. After all, it was the Lakers and Su in the fourth quarter. It's not that easy to deal with."

Although it seems that Charles is saying that the Suns have another chance, anyone with a discerning eye can tell that Charles does not think the Suns will win at all.

Soon the intersection ended and the fourth quarter began.

For the Lakers, Su Tian still leads the bench, but Walton asked Kuzma to join him just to be on the safe side.

Looking back at the Suns at this time, Paul and Booker went into battle!

Even though Booker was obviously exhausted at this time, Monty still let Booker continue to play.

The first possession of the fourth quarter was given to the Suns, and Paul advanced to the frontcourt with the ball.

At this time, Paul did not attack by himself, but stretched out his hand to call for his teammates to come forward and cooperate with the pick-and-roll.

With the help of his teammates' pick-and-roll, Paul quickly got rid of Dort who was following him and broke through with the ball.

But just halfway through the breakthrough, Paul passed the ball and accurately passed it to Booker, who was running outside the three-point line.

As soon as Booker received the ball, he wanted to shoot a three-pointer directly, but Su Tian's defense arrived the next moment, and Booker had to pass the ball to his teammates again to look for opportunities again.

After passing the ball continuously, it was barely passed to Crowder, and Crowder made a three-pointer.

boom--

Basketball struck, Boucher turned around to collect the rebound and passed the ball to Su Tian.

But as soon as Su Tian received the ball, he was directly double-teamed by the Suns, so Su Tian quickly passed the ball to Dort who was making a fast break in front.

Dort received the ball and went straight to the frontcourt. There was no one around him, so Dort made an easy layup.

The point difference returned to 10 points.

The ball was transferred and Paul advanced with the ball again. This time Paul reached out to signal his teammates to make a tactic.

After Booker saw this gesture, he stopped running and took Su Tian to the bottom corner.

"Is this giving up Booker's main attack? Or is this just an illusion?" Su Tian suddenly felt a burst of speculation in his heart.

It is impossible for the Suns to give up Booker to focus on the offense, so the purpose of this tactic is to try to reduce Booker's presence, and then let Booker perform a series of output.

There is no problem with this tactic, and it can be used in series, which is very suitable for the Suns.

But Monty didn't expect that the Lakers could kill Booker with just one person, and Booker had no way to retreat!

So in the next few rounds, Booker, who pretended to have no sense of presence, became really non-existent, and Paul could not find any safe passing routes at all.

Booker was blocked by Su Tian alone!

So under this influence, the score difference is getting bigger and bigger.

When the score difference reached 15 points, Monty finally rejected this tactic and instead asked Booker to hold the ball and score to stabilize the situation.

So after starting again, everyone found that Booker was back in the public eye, but this time Booker looked particularly embarrassed.

Booker followed Monty's arrangement and increased the proportion of his offense with the ball.

But with Su Tian's defense, what kind of splash can Booker make?

On the contrary, after Booker consumed too much energy on the offensive end, he was about to be beaten to a pulp by Su Tian on the defensive end!

Booker himself is not good at defense, let alone facing the number one player in the league.

Although Monty also arranged other defenders to confront Su Tian, ​​Su Tian was not an obedient baby. Not only did he not go to those people, but he also took the initiative to confront Booker.

Therefore, the Suns, who seemed to be improving, actually had not changed much in terms of points difference from before.

The 15-point difference lasted until halfway through the fourth quarter, when the Lakers took the entire lineup.

After the Lakers get all the starting lineup, this game can basically be declared over.

In the end, one minute before the end of the game, the Suns finally took down the entire starting lineup and surrendered.

At the end of the game, the Lakers won the Suns 119-105.

The first half of this game was quite exciting, but in the second half the Suns lost their magic and could only gradually fall into the Lakers' trap.

The Lakers are like boiling a frog in warm water, slowly boiling the sun to death in the pot.

But for the Suns, losing to the Lakers in the first game is not the worst news.

The worse news is that this Laker is still a Laker without thick eyebrows, and in the next game, thick eyebrows will return.

By then, when the Suns face the Lakers with thick eyebrows, it will be a luxury to hope for a close game.

As for Su Tian, ​​after the game, he hugged Booker and said goodbye, followed closely by Paul.

Although Su Tian was not happy with Paul, he was a senior after all, and he was still a capable senior, so Su Tian was naturally willing to leave a good impression.

"Su, our game is not over yet, we will continue with the next game!" Booker said.

"Dewen, come on, I'll wait for you." (End of chapter)