NBA: James wants to team up with me

In the showdown with the Lakers, Wang Chong had already set a basic policy from the very beginning, which was to use offense to determine the outcome.

The Bulls will not struggle defensively with the Lakers, who are good at positional warfare.

The offense and defense transitioned, and it was the Bulls' turn to attack.

Curry quickly advanced through the half with the ball. Players on both sides were still unsteady. Wang Chong had already taken the lead and came to screen for Curry.

The moment Kidd was separated, Curry directly chose to take a quick shot from outside the three-point line.

Artest, who was responsible for defending Wang Chong on the other side, didn't have time to react. Curry's shot was almost completely open. Except for the fact that his position was slightly far away, it almost reached a distance of about one meter outside the three-point line, but this Location itself is no problem for Curry.

"Shh!"

Curry, who was wide open, steadily hit three-pointers.

3: 2.

The Bulls played the game at a very fast pace from the beginning. The offense never dragged on and almost ended within 15 seconds. As long as there was an open shot, whether it was Wang Chong, Curry or Billups, the shot was ready. All very determined.

This style of play prevents the Lakers from taking full advantage of their inside advantage. Gasol and Bynum are always in the process of running back and forth.

Gasol is slightly better. He is also a power forward with flexible feet and has good mobility in the paint.

But Bynum is having a hard time.

As a standard heavy center, Bynum's weight is not small. After all, the Lakers trained Bynum according to O'Neal's template.

Bynum, who is 2 meters tall, weighs close to 13 kilograms. Even compared to Gasol when he was at his fattest, he was more than 130 kilograms heavier. The weight difference between Gasol and Gasol at this stage is about 10 kilograms.

After running back and forth for several rounds, Bynum was already sweating and his steps became sluggish. Instead, Gasol seized the opportunity and ran back twice to easily cut inside to receive a pass from his teammate and successfully attack the basket.

The Bulls' fierce attack at the beginning made it difficult for the Lakers to withstand.

Sensing that the situation was not good, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson immediately called a timeout. After the timeout, the Lakers replaced Bynum and let Odom come on. At the same time, Gasol also changed from the power forward position to the center, playing with his younger brother. Gasol faced off.

Although replacing Bynum will reduce the Lakers' inside height, it will also improve the team's mobility. At least they will not be so passive when facing the Bulls' fast-paced offensive and defensive transitions.

In fact, during the Lakers' two consecutive championships, Bynum's own abilities have always been mediocre. His greater role is to serve as a wall to increase the height of the Lakers' interior line, that is, to strengthen the team's interior basket defense tool. .

When the Lakers won their first championship in the 08-09 season, Bynum averaged only 23 points and 6.3 rebounds in 3.7 playoff games. During the Finals, he averaged less than 20 minutes per game. What really limited Howard's performance was Gasol. In other words, the Lakers' three high inside players work together.

In the 09-10 season, Bynum's performance was slightly better, but it was also limited. In the playoffs, he averaged 8.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. In the finals, he faced blue-collar center Perkins, averaging 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Perkins had 5.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, which shows what the level of this little shark, who has high hopes for the Lakers, is.

The Lakers really have to wait until Bynum shows a dominant performance in the paint, and they have to wait until the 11-12 season, which is one year from now. By then, Bynum will average a double-double of 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game in the regular season. Successfully selected as a starter for the Western Conference All-Stars.

Unfortunately, this was just a flash in the pan. After being sent to the 76ers as a trading chip the next season, Bynum fell at the speed of light, and his peak period was quite short.

Wang Chong never regarded Bynum as a threat from the beginning, but when the Lakers' three big men were on the court at the same time, the height pressure in the penalty area was really great.

Now that Bynum has been replaced, although it has increased the Lakers' speed, which is not conducive to the Bulls' fast-paced small ball style of play, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce the pressure on the team's penalty area.

Marc Gasol may not have much advantage against his brother Pau Gasol, and may even be suppressed by the opponent.

But when Wang Chong faced off against Odom, it was a complete blowout.

Of course, the matchup between Wang Chong and Odom is limited to when the Lakers are attacking, with Wang Chong responsible for guarding Odom.

When it's the Bulls' turn to attack, the Lakers will only let Artest, who has the strongest single defense ability in the team, to defend Wang Chong. Although Artest can't guard Wang Chong, he can at least reduce Wang Chong as much as possible. Worshiping efficiency value consumes his physical strength.

After the change of formation, the situation of the Lakers began to stabilize. The Lakers continued to use Kobe Bryant, who had a good touch, as the core of the offense, while the Bulls continued to focus on the pick-and-roll cooperation between Wang Chong and Curry.

Soon after the first quarter, the Bulls and Lakers battled to a score of 29:26 in the first quarter.

The Bulls relied on their fierce attack at the beginning to gain a 3-point lead.

科比在这一节比赛中7投4中，罚球2中2，得到10分2助攻，表现绝对称得上高效。

For the Bulls, Wang Chong and Curry both made 6 of 3, and both scored three-pointers. Wang Chong scored 9 points, Curry scored 7 points, and they were full of firepower from the outside.

The first quarter of the game was difficult to distinguish, and the fans watching the game couldn't help but sweat.

Obviously, this is a close game. Both teams have their own advantages and disadvantages. Who can win the final game depends on their on-the-spot performance and adaptability during the game.

In other words, both sides have the possibility of winning this game.

While Lakers fans were excited about this result, they were also a little secretly shocked.

The strength of the Bulls is too terrifying. Without a superstar like Kevin Garnett who can suppress the Lakers' second man Pau Gasol, they can actually still have a 50-50 fight with the Lakers.

I can't imagine that if Garnett is not injured at this time and the Bulls have a complete lineup, which team in this league can compete with the Bulls? ——
The game continues.

As the game entered the second quarter, the Lakers' advantage in positional warfare began to emerge.

Although the Bulls' offense is sharp, it relies too much on outside shooting to score points. It's okay when the basketball can be made, but once the touch is not good and the shot cannot be accurately hit, the team's offense will immediately come to a standstill.

The Lakers do not have this problem. Even if they fail to make outside shots, the Lakers can still use their inside offense to continue scoring.

In the second quarter, the Lakers relied on this. With Gasol's performance of 4 of 3 shots and 4 of 4 free throws, scoring 10 points with exaggerated efficiency, they not only overcame the 3-point deficit in the first quarter. They were close to catching up, and even went ahead by 5 points. At the end of the half, they entered the second half with a 5-point lead.

This is the first time during the playoffs this season that the Bulls have trailed at halftime at home. Fortunately, the point difference behind is not big. For the Bulls, who are very explosive in scoring, even if they are behind by 5 points, even if the point difference exceeds double digits, as long as the offense becomes smooth, they can catch up in minutes.

The Bulls didn't keep their home fans worried for long.

After the intermission, the 2-point difference was caught up in just 5 minutes into the third quarter, and the two teams returned to the same starting line.

As a result, the two teams tied in the third quarter and entered the final fourth quarter with the same score at 89:89.

At this time, the situation on the court seemed evenly divided, but Lakers head coach Phil Jackson had already frowned because he was keenly aware of a problem. Wang Chong's offensive firepower output in the first three quarters of the game was not strong.

Except for 9 points in the first quarter, Wang Chong did not output much seriously in the next two quarters, scoring only 4 and 5 points respectively.

After three quarters, he scored 18 points and shot 52% from the field.

This data looks really good. Just a few shots in the fourth quarter can reach 20+.

The problem is that this is Wang Chong! He has dominated the scoring for five consecutive years and is recognized by the entire league as the strongest scorer in active service. When did he not score 30 points in a game, it was considered news.

Not to mention anything else, for the Lakers, Kobe has scored 28 points in the three quarters, a full 10 points higher than Wang Shang.

What Phil Jackson didn't expect the most was that in the second and third quarters of the Bulls' game, the main point of attack was actually first-year rookie Stephen Curry, but he was really frustrated.

But there is actually no way. The main starter at the Lakers point guard position is Jason Kidd, and the substitute is veteran Fisher. Both are standard veterans with rich game experience, but they are too fast as point guards. slow.

When Curry was young, although his speed was not as fast as that of point guards like Westbrook and Rose, who ran at lightning speed, his speed could definitely be regarded as T1 level among point guards. After he played against each other and tried it out, he figured out Kidd's speed. After the situation with Fisher, the frequency of breakthroughs with the ball began to increase.

What the Lakers fear most now is a team with a flexible and small point guard.

In the future, whether it is the 10-11 season when the Lakers faced off against the Mavericks and were defeated by Terry, or the 11-12 season when the Lakers faced off against the Nuggets in the first round and were torn apart by the little-known Ty Lawson in the second round. Facing the Thunder and being defeated by Westbrook are the best proof.

The defense of the Lakers in the 09-10 season may not be as bad as in the next two years, and Curry may not be as good as Westbrook.

But it is still possible to lead the team to hold on to the score.

What Phil Jackson is most afraid of now is the final fourth quarter. Wang Chong, who had been swimming in the first two quarters and still had a lot of energy, started to attack. That is the most terrible thing!
The third quarter had just ended and the players from both teams had taken a break. Jackson had already eagerly picked up the tactical board and urgently assigned tasks to the players.

"The key to winning this game is to be able to limit Wang Chong's scoring! In the fourth quarter, no matter what method is used, Wang Chong must not be allowed to score consecutively. If necessary, double-team him. , so that he didn’t even have a chance to touch the ball!”
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If Wang Chong could hear Phil Jackson's arrangements, he would definitely lament that he is indeed a legendary coach who has led the Bulls and Lakers to create dynasties and won 11 championships in his coaching career.

Wang Chong really planned to release all the accumulated energy in the fourth quarter and use a wave of explosive attacks to defeat the Lakers' defense.

Even if the Lakers were aware of it in advance, it would be impossible to restrict him.

Durant's weak ability to break double teams is due to his greater physical problems.

Wang Chong's physical strength is already full, and he has accumulated a lot of physical energy through paddling in the first three quarters. He is fully capable of fighting his opponents. Even if there is a double team, he can forcefully break the double team through movement or other methods.

No matter what, he was determined to win this game!

The break passed quickly and players from both sides reappeared.

As soon as Wang Chong arrived at the front court and took up his position, his eyebrows raised involuntarily.

In front of him was Artest, who never gave up and kept pestering him like candy.

Not far away, Kobe Bryant was like a black mamba, staring at him with his eyes, ready to attack at any time.

Wang Chong has no doubt that once he comes into contact with basketball, Kobe will immediately pounce on him and double-team him with Artest.

"But, so what? Want to guard against me? Give it a try!"

Wang Chong waited until Curry dribbled the ball past half court and reached the top arc three-point line, then made a tactical gesture, then moved towards the penalty area, stood in the right corner, and lifted Artest with his back. The hand wants the ball.

Curry moved to the front of Wang Chong and passed the ball to Wang Chong.

Before Curry could pass the ball, Kobe on the other side decisively gave up on Billups, who he was responsible for defending, and sneaked around from the back.

When Curry passed the ball to Wang Chong, he jumped out directly from behind Wang Chong, trying to intercept the pass in advance.

But Wang Chong has always been paying attention to Kobe's position, how could he give him a chance to steal?
With one step of his body, Wang Chong blocked Kobe Bryant, caught the pass, and raised the basketball above his head with both hands.

Wang Chong received the pass without any pause. He turned over and shot a fadeaway jumper, completely giving Kobe and Artest no chance to form a double attack on him.

Kobe, who was on the left side of Wang Chong, was braking because Wang Chong was blocking his forward path and could not take off. Artest, who was on his right side, jumped up immediately to try to block the shot.

But how can Artest, who is only 2 meters tall, block Wang Chong, who is 03 meters tall and also uses a fadeaway jumper?
"Shh!"

The basketball went hollow into the net, and the first-round double-team between Kobe and Artest failed.

In the next few rounds, the Bulls' offense was all completed by Wang Chong. His offensive methods were also varied, including running with or without the ball and relying on his teammates' pick-and-roll screens to catch jump shots, and holding the ball from outside the three-point line to break through double teams. He scored layups by rushing to the basket, and he also scored free throws by forcefully taking off from the basket and drawing fouls.

Wang Chong can not only attack and score, but his offensive efficiency is also ridiculously high.

At 4 minutes and 27 seconds into the fourth quarter, when Wang Chong forced a three-pointer against Artest's defense about one meter away from the three-point line, the Lakers called a timeout.

But at this time the Bulls had established a double-digit lead.

In four and a half minutes, Wang Chong scored 12 points alone and led the Bulls in a 12:2 attack wave! (End of chapter)