From sparring to superstar

Chapter 158 156. Welcome to Los Angeles
Pierce blurted out: "How can there be people like you in this world!"

With the alpaca galloping in his heart, he stopped his defensive movements.

Li Ao seized the opportunity to pull out and cut in. With a starting speed of 90, it was too late for Pierce, who was not stuck, to keep up.

Li Ao entered the inside to receive the ball and took off!

From the beginning of the game to when Li Ao was running, Pierce stuck tightly. Although Pierce's offensive performance was down tonight, the defense surprised the whole team. The talented rookie with both offense and defense in the past two years is back. .

Tony Batty didn't care about Li Ao's cutting into this issue. His ability was there. He was already stretched to defend against O'Neal. Facing Li Ao who suddenly entered the inside line, he had no time to hide, let alone turn around and press up.

Li Ao smashed the ball into the basket across from Tony Batty!

After landing, he said to Pierce who was chasing him, "Hey, you saw it today!"

Pierce, who was a little calmer because of the 'unequal bet', became angry again. He asked for the ball directly from the backcourt and rushed to the frontcourt to attack... Then he encountered Li Ao's defense, Matt Harperin's help defense, O'Neal The treatment of supplementary defense, after Pierce entered the inside line, under the attack of Li Ao and Jermaine O'Neal, he fought angrily...

The Clippers' defensive strategy tonight is to defend against the Celtics' twin stars.

Although the Celtics rank eighth in the East and rank in the playoffs, except for a record of more losses than wins, 20 wins and 22 losses, there are not many positive statistics.

Averaged 94 points per game, but averaged 96.5 points per game, 39.5 rebounds per game, 43 rebounds per game, 20.5 assists per game, 23 assists per game by opponents, and lower number of blocks than opponents. Only the steals are higher than the opponent, and the three-pointers are more than the opponent.

There are only two teams with double figures per game, Pierce and Anthony Walker, and there is no third person.

Of the 20 games the Celtics have won this season, 17 have been scored 50+ by the two.

As long as these two are guarded, the Celtics are finished.

Anthony Walker is very difficult to defend. Whether he scores a goal does not depend on the opponent's defense, but on his own touch.

So the Clippers' defensive strategy was aimed at Pierce from the beginning!
Before Pierce just wanted to beat Li Ao, he didn't pay much attention.

This time when he rushed in and was flanked by three people, he finally realized that he was fooled!
...

Knowing that he was duped, Pierce's choice is...continue to gamble!Prevent the big spider from dying!

He played defense with his life, and his defense was really good. Li Ao only scored 6 points and 1 assist in the first half.

He is not as fast as Li Ao, but he has a good sense of anticipation and can always follow closely.

Relying on his restrictions on the Clippers' first scoring point and second passing point, plus Anthony Walker's offensive firepower with 17 points and 5 assists in the half, the Celtics and the Clippers played evenly. Anthony Walker hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer, leading the Clippers by two points 43 to 41 to end the first half.

But in the second half, Pierce physical problems began.

His physical strength is barely enough to reach the top, and he can attack with the ball and defend with all his strength. It is enough to play for 30 minutes.

This season, he averaged 38 minutes per game and scored 24.9 points. The defensive end was almost akimbo.

The kind that can take care of the head but not the tail.

On Li Ao's side, as the game progressed, Matt Harprin stepped up his defensive efforts against Pierce after exhausting the opponent's wing pitcher, and his defensive pressure suddenly dropped.

As long as Pierce left the high position, he handed over the defensive task to Matt Harperin to help O'Neal protect the frame. While his physical exertion became smaller, the performance of the Clippers' frame protection improved.

One ebb and flow, the Clippers quickly took advantage in the third quarter.

The Clippers had changes in the game, but the Celtics didn't. Their head coach, Jim O'Brien, was a ruthless mid-game substitution machine. He was good at developing young players, but he was terrible on the spot.

The Clippers scored 54 to 39 in the second half!
皮尔斯全场打了35分钟，15投4中，其中三分球6中1，外加3中2的罚球，拿到11分7板1助攻1抢断，外加4失误和4犯规！

He almost set a new season low.

他本赛季唯一一次得分没上双，是打公牛队的时候遇到了罗恩-阿泰斯特，全场打了31分钟7中0，靠着10中9的罚球拿到9分。

Li Ao also took 15 shots tonight, but scored 15 goals on 6 shots!
其中三分球2中0，外加5中4的罚球，拿到16分4板6助攻2抢断4盖帽！

In the second half, Pierce couldn't keep up with Li Ao. Li Ao took the opportunity to cooperate with Odom and scored 17 points and 10 assists in 5 minutes!

At 10:21 p.m., the Clippers and Celtics were decided.

The fans at the scene cheered wildly!

Although Anthony Walker blasted Odom and Matt Harprin, who defended him for a while, he scored 29 points and 8 assists.

But two fists are no match for four hands.

靠着奥多姆的20分7助攻、李敖的16分6助攻、小奥尼尔的14分11板，快船队以95比82大胜凯尔特人队，拿下3连胜！

Listening to the long whistle at the end of the game, Pierce stared at Li Ao's 16-point data on the big screen.

He was replaced less than halfway through the fourth quarter, but before he was replaced, Li Ao had already scored 14 points, and Li Ao did not score points later, and continued to attack normally.

Suddenly, his sight was blocked, and that annoyingly handsome face appeared in his sight.

At this moment, Pierce felt that his offense and defense were changing!

Two and a half hours ago, he was the one who broke into the enemy line alone, but this time they became the one who was broken into!

Anthony Walker immediately came to Pierce.

This Spider-Man wants to win + hit people again?

But Anthony Walker thought too much.

Li Ao said loudly: "Paul, the cameraman is ready, are you ready to execute the bet like a man? You don't want to escape, do you..."

wipe!Little thought was exposed!
However, it's a matter of being a "man", plus the big spider's contemptuous eyes and frivolous tone...

Pierce stood up abruptly and shouted, "I won't run away! The big man keeps his word!"

At this time, a camera appeared behind Li Ao, and Pierce crashed.

What a cameraman!

...

After the game, the defensive battle between Li Ao and Pierce sparked heated discussions.

Li Ao's defensive performance is not surprising. The Clippers' defense on the flanks and under the basket is very good, and he is very good at taking advantage of this.

But Pierce's defense is surprising.

It turns out that this big mouth who was stabbed 28 times in 11 seconds can still be defended seriously!
But the fans' attention to Pierce's performance didn't last long...

Suddenly someone broke the news on the Internet that Pierce went crazy after bragging about beating Spider-Man with one hand, and ran naked outside the Staples Center!

At first people thought it was a spoof, but soon photos came out, and there was indeed a person running outside the Staples Center without pants, both front and back, but the night was too dark and the picture was too blurry to see clearly Positive face.

Until the admission of ESPN, which single-handedly concocted the contradictions of big spiders and bragging, a clear video was given.

It's Pierce running naked outside the Staples Center!

That speed is faster than on the court, and it is not obvious that he lacks physical strength in the second half.

The video also has both positive and negative angles, and naturally it is the one without coding.

Li Ao and Pierce fought, but it only attracted attention, and the heat was high, but it was not hot.

As soon as this video came out, Pierce exploded!
Some fans were amazed that bragging is not all bragging. He said that every time he went to a nightclub, he brought three female college students back to the hotel, which seemed true.

But what kind of performance art is this?
Really mad by being slapped in the face?
Some fans speculated: "Pierce is showing Hollywood his capital? I heard that he is very jealous that Spider-Man is as popular as a movie star in Los Angeles, and he also wants to make a movie? The kind that adults watch?"

This speculation is outrageous, but the fans chose to "believe" one after another, saying that as long as Pierce goes to film, they will vote for Pierce and vote him into the All-Star.

To show their sincerity, some fans even drove overnight to a 24-hour fast food restaurant to buy a hamburger to vote for Pierce, took photos and posted them online...

A basketball genius who has played hemisphere for two years, boasted countless things but failed to achieve them, and has never been popular. After taking off his pants, he exploded overnight!
...

Li Ao didn't expect Pierce to be so sincere.

He thought that Pierce would at most wear shorts to run around, and then he would be considered a man.

For this kind of thing, another person may directly renege on it.

Didn't expect Pierce to be naked!

Somewhat exhibitionist...

The next morning, the NBA officially spoke, asking players of all teams to be cautious in their words and deeds in public.

Some media interviewed Li Ao specifically for Pierce's streaking around the Staples Center. Li Ao replied: "Los Angeles welcomes Pierce home anytime."

After that, he didn't pay attention to this matter any more, and devoted himself to extra training, and there was back-to-back tonight, so he didn't have so much free time.

At 8 p.m., the Clippers played back-to-back games against the Kings at home.

After the game started, the Kings quickly gained the upper hand.

97综合评价、场均27.1分11板4.1助攻1.6抢断1.7盖帽的克里斯-韦伯打得快船队不要不要的。

On the offensive end, the Kings are second in the league, averaging 101 points per game, second only to the Bucks with three musketeers.

On the defensive end, the addition of Doug Christie not only brought more accurate mid-range and long-range shooting and outside singles ability, but also showed a first-level defensive strength, which strengthened the shortcomings of the Kings' lack of defensive ability in the back line. The defensive performance soared to the top ten in the league.

This has to mention the bad thing that the Kings' rise was hindered last season-in the summer of 99, Nick Anderson was dug from the Magic for $4 million in four years.

The Kings are full of expectations for Nick Anderson, the veteran who helped O'Neal reach the finals.

But who would have imagined that at the age of 31, the age of catch-and-shooters, Nick Anderson collapsed directly, shooting 39% of his field goals. 33% three-point shooting, and no enthusiasm at all, the performance is not as good as Joan Barry, who has a $80 contract.

The media joked that this is because the Kings paid too much. The salary for 4 years is higher than that of Nick Anderson in the first 10 years of his career. There is no motivation for them to play.

Swap Nick Anderson for Doug Christie and the Kings take off!
Li Ao scored 25 points, 11 rebounds, 26 assists and 5 steals on 6 of 4 shots tonight. They played a good defense tonight, and they also played several counterattacks. Mostly Jason Williams made a mistake, and the Kings were only defended. Got 94 points, very good.

It's just the top ten defense of the Kings in the league, and they have always maintained a defensive focus, and they have not slackened at all because the opponent is a non-playoff team.

On the offensive end, the Clippers only scored 86 points on 35 of 87 shots. Li Ao's 44% field goal percentage is considered good in the team.

The Clippers played very hard, but eventually lost 87 to 94, ending their 3-game winning streak.

...

The winning streak ended, and the Clippers' record became 22 wins and 22 losses, returning to a 5% winning percentage.

After the game, not many people paid attention to their loss itself. It would be news that they won the Kings. Everyone felt normal when they lost, including Clippers fans.

But they have reached the current stage, and the fact that they still have a 5% winning rate has attracted some people's attention.

Is this the rhythm to really stand up?
The Clippers have 17 games in a single month, multiple back-to-backs, and still maintain this winning percentage.

If this is placed in the Eastern Conference, the playoffs will be secure!
Even in the West, the Clippers have not fallen behind. This month, the No. 8 Sonics in the West, the No. 9 Rockets, and the No. 10 Nuggets all have a winning percentage approaching 5%. The recent games There are more losses than wins.

If the Clippers still have this winning percentage after getting through the middle of the season, it is not impossible to counterattack.

However, not many people pay attention to this matter, and more people focus on Li Ao-Spider-Man has 0 blocks for the first time in his career!

Someone stepped on it-Spider-Man met a team with good passing and strong overall offense, and he couldn't block shots.

There are also people who hold different views-this proves that Spider-Man didn't block shots, and when the team needed him to defend on the outside, he didn't stare at the inside to make up shots.

This sparked the controversy of 'whether Spider-Man brushes the cap'.

There was no such controversy. At first, Li Ao hated a lot of veterans, that is, he was ridiculed as "only bullying the old man". The evaluation of his blocking itself is still very high. The defensive improvement brought by his inside defense to the Clippers is obvious. .

But as his popularity soared this month, controversy suddenly emerged.

Without any evidence to support it, his remarks about blocking shots have been supported by many people.

In addition to the controversy, Li Ao's 0 caps in a single game also brought another topic-the battle for the block king!

Before the game against the Kings, he averaged 3.77 blocks per game, beating Ratliff, who averaged 3.6 blocks per game, to the top of the block list.

The list of blocked shots was once ignored by fans.

Because Li Ao blocked too many shots at the beginning of the season, he averaged 5+ blocks per game at the beginning, and he still averaged 11+ blocks per game after November. At that time, Mutombo, who was second in the cap list, averaged 4 blocks per game, and Li Ao was far ahead. Mourning is reimbursed, and no one can compete with Li Ao who has shown such a performance.

Now, people suddenly discovered that Ratliff did not know when he caught up!
(End of this chapter)