NBA Old Age Star System

Soon the intermission ended and the third quarter began.

In the third quarter, both sides once again brought out their starting lineups, but Edwards still did not form any decent cooperation with the twin towers inside, and the Lakers still held an absolute lead.

At the end of the game, 118-105, the Lakers won the game.

Judging from the score, we can know that the Lakers' offense was not too explosive and remained at a normal level, while the Timberwolves' offense obviously failed to keep up with the Lakers' rhythm, which led to the growing gap between the two sides.

After the end of the first game, it did not attract much attention, because everyone generally believed that the Timberwolves could not bring a big obstacle to the Lakers, but the Timberwolves did not have an advantage inside, which was quite unexpected.

On April 4, the second game of the series began.

Compared with the first game, the Timberwolves in this game have significantly increased their internal and external cooperation. Edwards is no longer obsessed with playing alone, but has begun to seek cooperation with his teammates.

Su Tian naturally knows very well that Edwards who cooperates with his teammates is much more difficult to beat than Edwards who plays alone.

But the Lakers still relied on the joint efforts of the entire team to win this game with difficulty.

Even at the end of the third quarter, because the Lakers were in trouble inside, the Timberwolves once overtook the score. In the fourth quarter, they relied on cheating Su Tian to defeat the Timberwolves.

Towns and Gobert both had 20+10 inside, and the Lakers' inside line looked shaky.

If it weren't for Su Tian's performance on the offensive end, the Lakers would probably have to settle here.

On April 4, the two sides moved to Minnesota to start the third game of the series.

Just when the Timberwolves fans thought they could win at least one of the next two home games, the Timberwolves suddenly lost two games in a row, directly ruining the entire series.

The main reason why the Timberwolves lost these two games was that the twin towers inside did not perform as well as they should.

Originally, if the performance in the first two games was followed and the outside and inside lines cooperated tacitly, at least one game could be won.

But in these two games, the twin towers on the inside were directly separated.

Gobert is not an offensive player to begin with. He didn't score much and no one said anything, but he didn't even defend well.

As for Towns, everyone originally had high hopes, but his performance in these two games was extremely inconsistent, and his shooting rate was even lower than that of Edwards from the outside.

The Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 4-0 and advanced to the second round.

At the same time, the results of some other games also came out.

In the West, apart from the Lakers beating their opponents 4-0, only the Suns are leading the Kings 3-1, and this is still a downfall.

As for the second-placed Nuggets versus the Warriors, although the records are quite different, the overall strength of the two teams is not very different, so that the two teams have never had an absolute lead in the game. They are currently 2- 2 tied.

In the third place, the Grizzlies and Clippers, although the Clippers are temporarily leading 2-1, the Grizzlies' impact cannot be underestimated.

As for the Eastern Conference, things are pretty normal so far. Except for the Heat in the bottom half, which showed an advantage when facing Philadelphia, the rest of the games were dominated by the top half.

Soon, the series between the Suns and the Kings came to an end. The Suns defeated the Kings 4-2, and the Suns became the Lakers' opponent in the next round.

On April 4, the Lakers faced the Phoenix Suns at Staples.

Before the game started, the Lakers had good news, that is, Davis had passed all instrument tests and had been confirmed to be able to play in the game, but for safety reasons, the team's management and coaching staff decided to let Davis train with the team for two days before talking about his playing time.

In order to boost morale, Nongmei also took the initiative to come to the bench and personally wave towels for his teammates.

The Suns' starting lineup is Paul, Booker, Okogie, Durant, and Ayton.

The starting lineup for the Lakers is Su Tian, ​​Dort, Johnson, George, and Gasol.

Su Tian and Paul faced each other, Dort faced Booker, and George faced Durant. The two sides could be regarded as soldiers against each other, and they were against generals.

Soon the game started, Ayton took the initiative, Paul stepped forward to receive the ball, and came to the frontcourt with the ball. First he stretched out his hand to direct his teammates to move, and then passed a pass to Booker.

Booker received the ball and faced Dort's defense. He first tested Dort with a triple threat, and then started to single out Dort with the ball.

After such a long period of training and competition, Dort's defensive strength has been demonstrated. Booker's singles with the ball has been hindered to a certain extent.

But in the end, Booker relied on his stronger offensive strength to get to the basket with the ball, turned around and bypassed Dort's defense, and shot for a layup.

Bang——shua——

Basketball hits the board into the net.

In fact, when Booker took action at the end, Gasol on the side had already realized it and wanted to step forward to interfere, but his body dropped too much. His consciousness kept up, but his speed did not keep up.

The ball was transferred, and Su Tian came to the frontcourt with the ball. Facing Paul's defense, Su Tian took the ball and went directly to the basket. This posture was much smoother than Booker's singles against Dort just now.

Su Tian easily succeeded in singles, and both sides responded.

But after a few rounds, the Lakers had a clear advantage and the gap between the two teams gradually began to widen.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers already led 32-26 by 6 points.

After both sides made substitutions and adjustments in the second quarter, the Suns tried to chase the point difference, but the effect was not good, and the point difference even widened again to hover around 10 points.

After Su Tian himself came on the court again, the point difference stabilized at double digits.

At the end of the first half, the Lakers led the Suns by 13 points and temporarily took the lead.

"I really didn't expect that the Suns would be so careless when facing the Lakers."

"You know, this is the Lakers without Davis, but the Suns have Ayton!"

"Actually, judging from the first half of this game, Ayton was really not that good. He couldn't even beat the aging Gasol."

At this time, in the Suns' locker room, head coach Monty was holding a tactical board in his hand, constantly emphasizing the tactical coordination issues in the second half.

"We have to open up the situation from the inside in the second half, DeAndre. Marc Gasol's playing time will definitely be reduced in the second half. He does not have so much physical reserves, so the second half is our opportunity! You have to seize this opportunity!"

Ayton was named by the head coach, and the entire team's attention turned to Ayton.

Ayton nodded bravely.

Ayton doesn’t want to play? He wants to fight more than anyone else! But the ability doesn’t support it!

On the other hand, for the Lakers, everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

"Su, in the second half we will start from you. After that, you can distribute the ball according to the situation. Everything is up to you."

"Okay coach, don't worry."

Soon the intermission ended and the third quarter began. For the Lakers, Marc Gasol did not start the game again, and Cousins ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

Cousins' ability has indeed declined a lot, but because he has not suffered more injuries, he is still more durable than historically.

Coupled with Cousins' experience, he can still stand up to the young Ayton for a while now.

The first attack in the third quarter was given to the Lakers. Su Tian advanced to the frontcourt with the ball and faced Paul.

Seeing Paul's serious look, Su Tian couldn't help but want to make a joke.

"Chris, don't be so serious. It's your destiny to leave the Suns. Maybe you can hug Curry's thigh and compete for the championship again." Su Tian said with a smile.

"You're the one hugging your thighs! Your whole family is hugging their thighs!"

Paul's words were not forgiving at all, but Su Tian didn't care at all. A quick change of direction in front of his body directly opened up the breakthrough space, and then he accelerated and rushed into the inside.

Ayton, who was under the basket, immediately stepped forward to cover up the defense. Su Tianze first made an emergency stop to attract Ayton's attention, and then passed a ground-breaking pass to Cousins, who was unguarded under the basket. Easy layup.

Ayton has some strength, but not much. At present, it is still difficult for Ayton to defend one against two.

Paul saw Su Tian easily assisting his teammates and was very dissatisfied with Ayton's performance, so he immediately reprimanded him.

"Watch your man! Don't let him score easily! Defend well!"

After Ayton heard it, he just curled his lips and said nothing.

In his heart, he muttered silently, "You still have the nerve to accuse me, but it's not because you can't guard yourself, and it's all up to me to wipe your ass!"

When the ball was transferred, Paul came to the frontcourt with the ball, and Ayton followed the coach's instructions and came to the basket and reached for the ball.

But Paul did not directly pass the ball to him, but pretended to direct the traffic. After a while of movement control, Paul passed the ball to Ayton.

Ayton was already unhappy at this time. He felt angry after getting the ball, so he couldn't help but move his hands a little louder.

At this time, Cousins ​​​​showed the abilities that a veteran should have. The moment Ayton lowered his shoulders and took the initiative to exert force, Cousins ​​​​tumbled backwards and yelled.

"what!!"

"drop!"

"Offensive foul!"

Ayton looked in disbelief when he saw the referee's gesture.

"Mr. Referee, he was diving! I didn't touch him at all!"

Ayton looked anxious like a child asking his parents for candy.

The ridiculous appearance made many viewers laugh.

But the referee's decision has been made and cannot be changed. Even head coach Monty has no intention of challenging it.

So the game continued and the ball was given to the Lakers again.

This time, Su Tian came to the frontcourt with the ball and reached out to call Cousins ​​​​to step forward to cooperate with the pick-and-roll. Ayton pounced directly on Su Tian. After all, Cousins ​​​​was slow, and it was easy for Ayton to catch up.

But Cousins ​​​​didn't think about going down the line. Instead, he directly pulled away to a 45-degree angle. Su Tian waited until Cousins ​​​​was in position and immediately passed the ball to him.

Cousins ​​received the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.

Swah——

With the help of Su Tian's pass, the three-pointer was hit steadily.

The point difference between the two teams continued to widen, gradually heading towards 20 points.

In the next few rounds, the Suns began to focus on the inside according to Monty's arrangement.

Cousins ​​did indeed decline a lot. In addition to his wonderful performance at the beginning of the third quarter, he dragged the team back in the next few rounds and became the Lakers' weak link.

Halfway through the third quarter, the point difference between the two teams was still hovering around 10 points, and the two teams were in a stalemate.

At this time, both teams made substitution adjustments in a very tacit understanding. Su Tian on the Lakers side took a rest, Paul and Durant on the Suns side also took a rest, and Booker led the team.

Logically speaking, after Su Tian left the game, the Lakers' strength was greatly reduced, and they should not be a match for the Suns led by Booker.

But it happened that the Lakers' bench performed very well during this period.

On the back line, Rose and Rivers performed very well, and Aldridge also contributed on the inside. As for the forward line, Brando and Griffin are both relatively versatile representatives with first-hand organization. ability.

So in the second half of the third quarter, the Suns not only failed to catch up with the point difference, but even let the point difference get wider and wider.

By the end of the third quarter, the point difference between the two teams had reached 16 points.

"It seems like this game is going to be won by the Lakers." Barkley said.

"How to put it, I can only say that the Suns' probability of winning has become much smaller. Under normal circumstances, when this point difference meets the Lakers in the fourth quarter, few teams can come back and win." Kenny Smith said.

"If the Suns want to compete with the Lakers in the fourth quarter, they must find ways to increase their shooting percentage in the fourth quarter and at the same time defend well to avoid some low-level mistakes." Barkley said.

Kenny then said: "But it's not easy."

While the two were talking, the benches on both sides were not idle.

The Lakers' bench was relatively normal. Walton was arranging the candidates for the fourth quarter while handing a towel to Su Tian next to him.

"In the fourth quarter, we still have to focus on defense. We must not take it lightly. As for the offensive task, Su, I will leave it to you."

"Okay coach, don't worry."

If the Lakers' bench is relatively peaceful, then the Suns' bench atmosphere is not so good.

"We are already too far behind the Lakers! In the fourth quarter, we must take advantage of our strengths and bring out our offense! Devin, Kevin, you two will dominate the team's offense in the fourth quarter, I don't care what you use The solution, even if it’s singles one by one, you have to catch up with me!”

"Chris, if you don't want to play in the fourth quarter, you should take a rest to recover your strength. When the time is right, I will let you play again."

With Monty's arrangements, the Suns' candidates for the fourth quarter were also decided. Paul did not expect that he was not asked to play, but Paul did not say much and chose to follow the head coach's arrangements.

Soon the intersection ended and the fourth quarter began.

The first possession of the fourth quarter was given to the Suns. Booker advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, and the person responsible for defending Booker was naturally Su Tian himself. (End of chapter)