Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

Chapter 146 The Battle of Chicago, tit for tat!
"I am back!"

Eddie Curry jumped up and put the ball over Tyson Chandler back into the Lakers backcourt.

At this point, the Lakers took the lead in gaining the ball for the first offense.

Hinrich dribbled the ball honestly across half court and then handed the ball to Kobe.

When Duan saw this, he immediately got entangled, but Kobe did not take the ball and single-handedly hit Duan, but passed the ball to Eddie Jones.

At this time, Eddie Jones, who had just received the ball, used Odom's pick-and-roll to break towards the basket.

When Eddie Jones attracted the defense under the basket, Hinrich suddenly cut to the basket, received a pass from Eddie Jones and completed a layup, helping the Lakers score the first 2 points.

Although it is a home game, Du En has already guessed that tonight will be more difficult.

Who knows, as the targets of the trade, Eddie Curry and Hinrich also fought hard tonight.

Kobe also respected his two teammates and took the initiative to reduce the ball rights, giving Eddie Curry and Hinrich more ball rights to score, allowing the two teammates to resolve the grudge match personally.

To put it bluntly, against Duan, what Kobe needs is not statistics, but winning!

As the team leader, the most important thing is the performance of the team!
If Kobe wants to prove that he is better than Duane and O'Neal, he needs to win the game against the Bulls and Heat!
At the same time, Tang Shuai's transformation and improvement of the Lakers has not been small.

As the head coach, Tang Shuai is more important than on-the-spot command, but his control over the locker room and people's hearts is indeed better than that of many famous coaches.

Tang Shuai can make Kobe hand over the ball, so that the Lakers no longer rely on Kobe for singles. This shows that Tang Shuai is indeed well-deserved.

The loner Olajuwon was able to be transformed by Tang Shuai into a real deputy gang leader next to Joe's gang leader in the 90s. Now, under the influence of Tang Shuai, Kobe seems to have become something wrong.

However, Du En is not very worried about this.

On the one hand, the chances of the Bulls reaching the finals this year are very slim. On the other hand, Duan knows that the biggest hidden danger in the Lakers team is that Tang Shuai is not in good health.

In Duan's memory, the first year when O'Neal was traded and Kobe was forced to fail was because Tang Shuai left the team due to illness, and the Lakers' record plummeted instantly.

Today, Kobe seems to have managed the locker room and found a way to win. In fact, most of this is because of Tang Shuai.

Tang Shuai's physical condition is like a time bomb. When it explodes, the Lakers' season will be over.

However, Tang Shuai's physical condition tonight is obviously still good.

During the Bulls' offensive round, Tang Shuai still stood on the sidelines with a serious face to supervise the battle.

"Kobe, are you willing to send teammates to double-team me?"

When Duan saw Eddie Jones cooperating with Kobe to double-team, he was trash-talking and passed the ball to Luol Deng.

The latter took the ball and rushed directly to the basket. He didn't want Odom to stop in front of Luol Deng in time. Eddie Jones quickly retracted to the basket and cooperated with Odom to double attack Luol Deng.

Luol Deng hurriedly passed the ball to Josh Smith, but the pass was average and almost left Josh Smith with a buttery hand.

Fortunately, I dribbled the ball several times and got the ball in my hands, but the offensive opportunity to take an open shot was wasted.

There is no other way. As the boss of the team, Du En sometimes has to work harder and step forward to get the ball and make a clearance.

Kobe's death coil made Duan uncomfortable, so he could only play from the high post to create some offensive space, then slightly adjust his rhythm and feel to make a more confident shot.

However, Eddie Jones hurriedly came out from the inside and resolutely cooperated with Kobe to double-team Duan.

As a result, Duan was in trouble. He made one-on-two difficult shots and his hit rate was not high.If you pass the ball to a teammate, it is a pass. If the teammate is in a hurry, it will be difficult to make the ball.

Duan also knows that the three-pointers of Luol Deng and Josh Smith are still unreliable.

After thinking for a moment, Duane passed the ball to Ben Gordon.

In this Bulls team, the only one who can truly be fully trusted by Du En is Ben Gordon.

However, under Hinrich's strict defense and with not much attack time, Ben Gordon's hasty shot was still interfered with.

Fortunately, Eddie Jones came out from the inside to double-team Duan. There were many people under the Bulls basket. In the end, Luol Deng grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to Duan.

Duen took advantage of this opportunity to speed up his elbow and drive towards the basket.

Kobe couldn't bear it and was pushed to the penalty area by Duen. When Odom stepped forward to help defend, Duen suddenly stopped and took off.

Originally, Du En wanted to pass the ball to his teammates, but there were too many people under the basket. In the end, Du En had no choice but to shoot a mid-range shot by himself!

But it's okay. Kobe's flying dive doesn't interfere much with Duan's shooting. Duan's mid-range shooting is already at an All-Star level. His shooting efficiency may not be high, but occasionally one or two shots can be miraculous.

brush--

The goal was scored and the score was tied 2-2.

The Bulls players did not relax and immediately returned to defense. The Lakers did have plans to switch offense, but seeing that the Bulls returned to defense in a timely manner, they took the initiative to slow down.

In the frontcourt, Kobe took the ball and passed it through his hands, and then Eddie Curry asked for the ball in the low post and hit Tyson Chandler alone.

Because the Lakers not only have Kobe on the outside, but also Hinrich and Eddie Jones. If we don't compare the three-point production, but only the three-point shooting percentage, Kobe is the most stubborn among the three.

Therefore, with the Lakers' outside shooting configuration, the Bulls simply do not dare to excessively help defend the basket.

And Eddie Curry is worthy of the name of Little Shark. He only hit his back twice and used his super agility and gorgeous footsteps to get rid of Tyson Chandler's defense and slide to the bottom of the basket to complete the layup. .

The Lakers have a killer in the low post, and the Bulls also have a transition attack machine.

Tyson Chandler immediately picked up the ball and slipped out of the baseline.

In order to fit in with the Bulls' regular tactics, Tyson Chandler will also practice his long passing ability in private.

Seeing that Kobe was chasing after Dunn, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon were also followed by others, Tyson Chandler immediately passed the ball to Josh who was two or three positions away from Odom. Smith.

Catching the ball, taking two steps to the basket, taking off, and dunking.

With the help of transition offense, the Bulls quickly evened the point difference.

The Lakers are different from the Bulls. Although they also play transition offense, they don't play it so urgently.

Seeing that the Bulls returned to defense in a timely manner, the Lakers continued to play steadily.

In the frontcourt, it was Hinrich who handed the ball to Kobe again. This time Kobe tried to play back to consume Duan, but seemed to find no good offensive opportunities, so he once again handed the ball to Eddie Curry in the low post.

Luol Deng tried to double-team Eddie Curry, but Eddie Curry still passed the ball.

Duan immediately jumped in front of Eddie Jones, who hurriedly transferred the ball. After receiving the ball, Kobe did not choose to shoot a three-pointer, but immediately went to the basket.

At this time, it was obviously too late for Duen to shrink the basket!

Luol Deng and Josh Smith double-teamed Kobe, but Kobe passed the ball to Eddie Curry in the gap.

After a month of cooperation, Kobe also knew how to pass the ball to Eddie Curry comfortably, so that Eddie Curry could eat the cake smoothly.

boom--

With the roar from the basket, the Lakers once again took a two-point lead.

The Bulls continued to play fast breaks, but this time the Lakers' defense was effective.

In a positional battle, Duan was double-teamed again. Luol Deng, who was left open, took the ball and took a step toward the basket, aiming for a long two-point shot.

Odom came out to help defend, but Luol Deng chose to fake a pass and pass the ball to Josh Smith.

Josh Smith also immediately charged towards the basket after receiving the ball, but today Eddie Curry was very motivated.

I would rather commit a foul than let Josh Smith easily score the ball under the basket.

In his rookie season, Josh Smith was still a bit rough and failed to seize the opportunity to score two plus one.After standing on the free throw line, he made 2 of 1 shots and only made one free throw. Fortunately, it was the second free throw.

It is worth mentioning that this free throw provided the Bulls with an opportunity to make substitutions.

Scott Skiles knew that there was a lack of space on the court and the problem of Duane being double-teamed urgently needed to be solved, so he immediately replaced Luol Deng with Andres Nocioni.

The arrival of Andres Nocioni has alleviated some of the Bulls' offensive pressure. Originally, Duan was prepared to use high-post double screens and rely on his personal ability to score!

However, considering that Kobe didn't take many shots, Duan also needs to save enough energy to deal with the problems that may arise next.

Therefore, when he was double-teamed next, Duen still chose to pass the ball to other teammates.

Among them, Andres Nocioni's mid-range has indeed brought a lot of help to the Bulls.

But the Lakers quickly found a way to deal with it, which was to let Eddie Jones single out Andres Nocioni and use offense to consume Andres Nocioni's energy.

After all, Andres Nocioni is a white player. No matter how tough he is, his physical fitness is much worse against a black All-Star swingman like Eddie Jones.

And Eddie Jones is not the Lakers' first scoring point. Even if he exhausted all his energy in the first half, Kobe took the lead.

It can only be said that under the guidance of Tang Shuai, the Lakers have gradually taken advantage of their lineup depth.

Relying on the overall strength of the starting lineup, the Lakers did not put too much effort into it. They scored 27-24 in the first quarter, leading the Bulls by 3 points.

Fortunately, not all of the Lakers' starting five are as energetic and full of fighting spirit as Kobe.

At the beginning of the second quarter, although Kobe Bryant continued to start the game, Duan relied on high-post screening tactics to constantly get rid of Kobe Bryant and get to the basket, scoring a lot of points from the Lakers substitute inside man.

Tang Shuai watched the Lakers go from a 3-point lead to a 5-point deficit. He immediately couldn't sit still and put two starting defensive players, Eddie Jones and Hinrich, on the court again.

The Bulls took advantage of the situation and used Ben Gordon and Diaw to share Duan's scoring pressure and organizational pressure respectively.

But tonight Ben Gordon's scoring efficiency was greatly reduced under Hinrich's defense.

Diaw is also easy to let go because of his relatively average shooting ability, which has the opposite effect on improving the Bulls' offensive space.

In the end, the Bulls were unable to play decent tactics in the positional battle.

Or in the position battle, Duan forced a high double screen to hit the basket.

Either Ben Gordon singles, or Andres Nocioni catches one.

We can only rely on improving defensive intensity, speeding up the pace of the game, and relying on transition attacks to score points.

However, as the game time goes by and physical energy is consumed, the number and success rate of the Bulls' transition attacks are also declining.

When the second quarter was about to end, the Lakers overtook the score again and even slowly widened the point difference.

54 to 49, although the Lakers only led by 5 points, Kobe only took 5 shots and scored 7 points in the first half, which is very telling.

In the third quarter, as expected, Kobe took the lead in the charge, intending to widen the point difference.

In the home game, amid the cheers of the Chicago fans, Duane had to stand up and continue a strong dialogue with Kobe.

Of course, Duan did not do what he did in the opening game, just playing one-on-one with Kobe.

It makes no sense for Doon to do this in order to win and defend the home victory.

Duan used efficient pick-and-roll play and connected other teammates to help the Bulls score more simple goals.

However, in the third quarter, the Lakers' strategy for defending the Bulls was completely different from the first half.

In the first half, Duen was constantly flanked. In the second half, when Duen used the screen to break through the basket, the Lakers directly let Duen hit the mid-range shot.

The Lakers set up a zone defense, shrinking the basket and blocking Duen's breakthrough path, restricting Duen from passing the ball to his teammates, and limiting Duen from scoring efficiently under the basket.

Duen tried to punish the Lakers with mid-range, but Duen made a lot of breakthroughs and singles. While losing physical strength, his mid-range shooting rate also dropped rapidly.

Duan first made 3 of 2 shots from mid-range in the third quarter, and then soon became 3 of 1 shots.

Although having a hit rate of [-]% is already quite good.

However, the point difference between the two teams did not narrow due to Du En's relatively good mid-range shooting percentage, but actually widened.

It is impossible for Duan to shoot mid-range shots throughout the quarter. He can only hand over the ball, run without the ball and go to the bottom corner to rest.

However, Ben Gordon was unable to regain his touch until the third quarter.

Under the restriction of Eddie Jones, Andres Nocioni only made 5 of 2 shots from mid-range, with a shooting percentage of 4%. His scoring efficiency was even worse than Duane.

Isolated and helpless, Du En regained his strength and started playing with the ball again.

I tried to shoot 3 three-pointers to chase points, but I only made 3 of 1 shots, which did not achieve very good results.

This can only end the game early to rest and try again early in the fourth quarter.

79 to 68, the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead, which put a lot of pressure on Dunn.

The Lakers also knew that Duan would not give up so easily, so at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kobe and Eddie Jones continued to play.

The purpose of this move is to capture Du En and win tonight's game more reliably.

Du En was naturally unwilling to lose like this, so he could only try his best to try again.

However, the point difference has remained at around 10 points. The only change is that Duan's scoring data has increased from 21 points to 29 points, which is about to break 30 points.

Scott Skiles considered that he would play the Heat, which was second in the Eastern Conference, in the next game, so he quickly withdrew Duane after his score reached 31 points.

Du En knew that tonight's game was going to be a bad one, but he was withdrawn in the middle of the game, and he still felt a little bit resentful.

I wanted to blame my teammates for their incompetence, but the coach didn't make adjustments in time.

But after a few protests to no avail, he sat back on the bench under the patient persuasion of Scott Scales.

As Duan came off the court, the point difference on the court naturally widened further. In the last 3 minutes, the point difference widened to 16 points, and the Lakers also withdrew their main force.

Du En, who had recovered some physical strength, did not have any spare time to come on the court and fight bravely.

So, 104 to 91, the Lakers defeated the Bulls by 13 points, avenging the opening game.

"I won tonight, and I'll treat you to dinner! You won't come, right?"

As soon as the game ended, Kobe went straight to Doon.

Although Du En wanted to refuse when he heard this, he still showed the proper demeanor.

"Of course! Congratulations, Kobe!

You and your teammates beat us and you were the better team tonight.

By the way, can I bring my teammates?

Originally, I had agreed to take them to dinner. "

Since we lost on the court, we have to make up for it off the court!

Duen was not willing to accept it and simply asked Kobe to pay more and take his teammates to have sex for nothing.

"No problem, they are all witnesses of my winning!"

Kobe laughed loudly, obviously not minding a few more people coming to share the meal.

(End of this chapter)