From sparring to superstar

Chapter 186 184. The Basket Should Be Repaired
The uproar never stops, it just moves from one topic to another.

On the night of the 17th, the attention turned to the game itself.

Although Li Ao has locked in an average of 25+5+5 per game in advance, the game between the Clippers and the Suns is still the focus of today's battle.

This game may determine who can get the fifth place in the Western Conference between the Suns and the Jazz.

The Jazz are currently 52 wins and 29 losses, and the Suns are 53 wins and 28 losses.

The two teams played against each other directly, and the Jazz dominated with 3 wins and 1 loss.

If the Suns lose the last game and the Jazz win the last game, the Jazz will beat the Suns at the buzzer.

The Lakers, with 58 wins and 23 losses, have secured the regular season championship one game ahead of schedule.

The Mavericks are 54 wins and 27 losses. Relying on the status of the first place in the Midwest Division, the Mavericks won the second place in the West.

The Kings, 56 wins and 25 losses, finished third.

The 55-26 Trail Blazers are fourth.

The top four rankings have been locked and will not change.

Obviously, whether it is the Suns or the Jazz, they want to play the Trail Blazers more than meet Webber.

This game may also determine who can win the seventh place in the Western Conference between the Clippers and the Timberwolves.

There is also a topic with a very strange style of painting today-whether mad scientists will release water on the Timberwolves.

After the fans discussed it, they generally think it will!

If the Clippers lose to the Suns, Nelson will definitely pick the Timberwolves to play. It's not like he hasn't done this kind of thing before.

No one thinks how far the Clippers can go in the playoffs, but everyone thinks that the defensive Clippers will definitely mess up more than the Timberwolves in the playoffs.

The Mavericks are not strong enough to care who they play in the playoffs. If they can choose, Nelson will definitely choose the Timberwolves, who have played in the first round for 4 consecutive years and have no competitiveness in the playoffs.

This is a game that could impact the playoffs if the Jazz make it to fourth in the West and are on the same line as the Lakers...

There are still countless people looking forward to the 37-year-old Malone and the 38-year-old Stockton!

Many old fans regard Utah Shuangsha as the "last youth".

Even if they are not fans of these two, they even hated these two players to the extreme.

But when the magician, god, big bird, human film essence and others retired, and the big dream, gorillas and others have long lost their bravery, and when they appear in the news are all topics related to the "pension contract", the Utah Sha became the last sustenance in the hearts of fans of that era.

As long as you see Utah Shuangsha still struggling on the court, you feel that your youth has not passed away.

They still believe that Utah Shuangsha, who have beaten Shousha and Xiaoke for two consecutive years, can beat OK again.

...

During lunch time, Li Ao took the time to surf the Internet and log in to the forum, and opened a small account to see if there was a chance for passionate laning.

But I didn't expect that the game between the Clippers and the Suns would blow up a lot of '16 Jazz fans'. I wanted to complain, but I thought it was pretty good.

At least it diverted his attention, and now he relaxes a lot.

In the afternoon, he practiced mid-range shots for half an hour and three-pointers for half an hour, and then took a nap for an hour to recharge his energy.

In the evening, after a "perfect warm-up" and eating two chicken rolls to restore his physical strength to the best condition, Li Ao and his teammates came to the entrance of the player tunnel. At 7:40 in the evening, the admission ceremony began.

Looking at Kidd who came out last from the opposite side, Li Ao recalled it. If there is no accident, this is the last time he played against Kidd wearing a Suns jersey.

When the Clippers entered the court, Kidd also focused his attention on the opposite big spider.

This broken ship, what grade, has actually become a 50-win team like their Suns!

The speed of progress of this team is beyond his imagination, just like the speed at which the big spider on the opposite side develops technology makes him feel incredible.

He practiced hard for three-pointers for several months, and he has made obvious progress. He is quite proud of himself. He feels that he still has a talent for three-pointers... Then he saw that he developed a post-up singles in a few months... I despise gifted dog.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the referee blew his whistle, and the Clippers' home game against the Suns began!
O'Neal easily beat Chacaridis to win the jump ball and the Clippers went first.

Jermaine O'Neal came to close range and prepared to rush. Seeing the big meat shield of Chacaridis and the inside combination of Clifford Robinson, he has given up singles and even close range shots tonight, and directly turned into a rebounder. .

Odom received the jump ball and advanced to the frontcourt, broke through Clifford Robinson, failed to get rid of the defense, and scored the ball through Li Ao, who was covered by Maggette. ...The direction is very positive, but the take-off force was not well controlled during the confrontation, the force was a little stronger, it was iron!

Chakaridis stuck O'Neal and Kidd received a defensive rebound.

Advance to the frontcourt, looking at the opposing lineup, Kidd has question marks in his head.

During the entrance ceremony, his attention was all on the big spider, and he didn't see clearly who was in the opponent's starting lineup.

It was only after playing that I found out, where is the opposing point guard?

Is it possible that this is the product in front of me?
Odom, Big Q, Maggette, Li Ao, Jermaine O'Neal, looking at these five people, Kidd pinched his thigh to concentrate, he was in a mess just now.

Seeing Odom who was almost retreating to the free throw line, Kidd was eager to shoot, but he calmly chose to break to the left!

The 27-year-old Kidd, who is at the peak of his athletic ability, started quickly. Odom moved laterally at the first time. Kidd dribbled the ball under his crotch and changed direction. He took a step to the right, passed Odom and rushed to the free throw line .

O'Neal under the basket didn't press up, and kept Chakaridis at close range to eat cakes.

Odom followed Kidd, while covering the space for Kidd's pull-up jumper, while cutting off the passing space between Kidd and Mario Elie running towards the top arc.

There is no chance for long-range shots, the basket can't get in, Marion is being chased by Maggette, Clifford Robinson is fighting with the big spider... Kidd gritted his teeth and took a step forward, and made a close-range throw from the front of the basket... Right hit the right side of the basket.

Maggette blocks a cutting Marion and grabs the defensive rebound.

This shot can be said to be very outrageous, but it is Kidd's level. So far in his career, his close-range shooting percentage is less than [-]%, which is at the same level as Matt Harprin.

After the shot, Kidd retreated immediately and returned to the backcourt to direct his teammates to strengthen their defense.

Although it was a bit messy, today he faced the 50-win Clippers without any carelessness, and his thinking was very clear.

He could tell from the first round of offense that the opponent's lineup was aimed at defense!

A lineup adjustment that only considers defensive matchups and offense!

Kidd is happy, if the other party wants to play like this, he will play with the other party!

The Clippers are the top ten defensive teams in the league. Coincidentally, their Suns are one of the five biggest iron-blooded teams in the league!The top defensive team with an average of only 91 points per game!

Odom pushed forward to attack, and the Suns' defense rotated faster than in the previous round.

Kidd commanded the adjustment, and the teammates immediately executed it.

On the court, he has absolute dominance.

Maggette cut into the attack frame and was blocked by Marion, who was shrinking. The Clippers quickly retreated to block Marion who was going down directly after the block, forcing the Suns to fall into a positional battle.

Gentry felt a little regretful seeing this scene.

He's still wondering if the guys can surprise him offensively tonight like they did against the Mavericks.

The Suns don't have the offensive ability of the Mavericks, and they don't have the crazy coach of Nelson.

This lineup is his carefully prepared defensive lineup for the Suns' starting five.

The strong and fast Maggette defends against Marion cutting into the frame; Li Ao defends against the versatile Clifford Robinson; the big Q focuses on marking Mario Ellie; After Kidd entered the inside line, he interfered with Kidd passing the ball to the high post and top arc area.

Gentry is very confident. The Suns, who averaged 94 points per game, cannot break through the defense of this lineup.

If there is a little surprise on the offensive end, then this game has to be taken care of.

Unfortunately not, they have been fighting each other more loudly since the beginning.

It was a pity, but it was within his expectations.

Facing the top five defensive Suns in the league, it is too difficult for the Clippers to play a good offense.

However, although their comprehensive defensive strength of the Clippers is not as good as that of the Suns with Kidd, Marion, Clifford Robinson, and a big tank, the Suns' top two salaried stars are all reimbursed, and the opponent's offense is not as fast as theirs. fleet!
As the game progressed, the staff at the Staples Center felt that it was time to overhaul the basket during the intermission.

He felt that the basket was crooked!

After the official timeout of the first quarter, the score was 8-7. Relying on Kidd's open three-pointer, the Suns took a 1-point lead.

Except for Kidd being emptied for a while, the two teams had almost no open shots in the first 6 minutes!

Every time you shoot, you have to shoot against the defense.

Moreover, the defensive actions of the two teams were very rough, with constant hand-to-hand combat and confrontation.

The referee's whistle is also very loose. In this half of the game, only two fouls were given, and none of them were shooting fouls.

After the official timeout came back, Kidd saw that the opposite side replaced Odom with Matt Harprin, and he accepted it.

In order to ensure the continuity of the defense, even the offense was ignored!
Glancing at Gentry across the way, these Larry Brown coaches are outrageous one by one.

In the second half of the first quarter, the iron-blooded battle continues!

As the two teams gradually adapted to the rhythm of the game, the Clippers, with stronger shooting skills, began to take the initiative!

In fact, it was Li Ao's advantage that began to show.

He began to increase the running catch and strong throw.

The mid-range shot of 88, relying on the 'catch and shoot expert level 5', temporarily raised the mid-range shot to 93, the strongest mid-range shot in the audience!
In the second half of the first quarter, Li Ao made 5 of 3 mid-range shots!
In addition, there was a time when he turned around without the ball in a high position and cut into the basket to catch the hook and was thrown down. He made two free throws and scored 8 points in the half quarter!
Under the leadership of Li Ao, the Clippers scored 12 to 7 in the half quarter.

19 to 15, the Clippers overtook the Suns by 4 points to end the first quarter!
Gentry was shocked!
Who says there are no surprises?

Their Spider-Man just exploded!
Li Ao's performance in this half of the game, he thought of Alan Houston.

Although the running ability is not as good as the king of mid-range shooting, Spider-Man's height and wingspan are much better, and his body is stronger, and his ability to ensure shooting stability in high-intensity confrontation is stronger!

In the second quarter, the Suns strengthened their defense against Li Ao.

Gentry expected that the opponent would do this during the break. He adjusted his offensive tactics and used Li Ao's 10 points in a single quarter to create scoring opportunities for other players.

However, although there was an open shot opportunity, he couldn't make it.

The Clippers were also pulled down in the second quarter, scoring only 18 points, but they continued to exert strength on the defensive end, preventing the Suns from only scoring 19 points.

At the end of halftime, the Clippers still maintained a 3-point lead, with a score of 37 to 34!

Li Ao only scored two points in the second quarter and was completely unable to attack.

但还拿到了3板1助攻3盖帽，半场12分6板1助攻1抢断4盖帽！

After returning from the intermission, the iron-blooded battle continued.

Neither Gentry nor Scott Skiles took the lead in making adjustments.

If you continue to defend, you will definitely be able to defend, but if you switch to offense, you may not be able to play well, and the defense may collapse.

Gentry chose to believe in his players and find opportunities to score.

Scott Skiles is not as confident as Gentry.

He didn't expect the Clippers to suddenly play pure iron-blooded basketball. At this time, they had no strength advantage against the Clippers. After the All-Star Weekend, their record was not as good as that of their opponents.

And now they are passively playing defense!

He had to choose to trust his players to get the ball in.

Kidd, the first defense tycoon, with Marion and Clifford Robinson, two master defense masters, played a stronger defense than the Clippers.

The Clippers captain was at a disadvantage in the first half, and it was only because Li Ao scored 8 points in the half quarter that he maintained a weak lead.

In the third quarter, the Suns and Clippers played a single quarter score of 17 to 15.

51 to 51, the Suns tied the Clippers and entered the final quarter!
However, after another intermission, the situation changed slightly.

In terms of comprehensive defensive ability, the Clippers are not as good as the Suns, and the targeted defensive lineup prepared in advance is still a bit behind the opponent.

However, they are young!
The fourth quarter started. On the first attack, Big Q received a ball from Li Ao after running in a wide range, turned around and hit a three-pointer!
Clifford Robinson, who switched defenses, was significantly slower!
He played 31 minutes in the first three quarters, and he was able to hold on at the end of the third quarter, maintaining his defensive performance.

But after entering the inter-section break, sitting down and relaxing for a while, just playing, the first round of defense did not work hard!
When the Suns attacked, Kidd finally passed the ball to the veteran center Chris Dudley who came off the bench.

Chris Dudley makes a layup from the sideline of the three-second zone... "Smack"...

Relying on the 'Siege Level 3', Li Ao accelerated his speed and charged into the inside line, and slapped the ball away from behind!
Odom grabbed the ball and counterattacked directly!

He didn't play much time tonight, he was purely defensive. His performance was not as good as Matt Harprin's, and even Sean Lukes was not as good as him. He only played 18 minutes in the first three quarters.

But it also gave him plenty of physical strength!
Odom counterattacked with the ball himself, rushed all the way to the frontcourt, and hit a layup against Kidd who retreated to the inside!
The [-]-meter point guard grabbed the rebound and counterattacked one-stop!

(End of this chapter)