Legendary star

Chapter 38 Christmas Battle (7)

"Tim, how is your physical strength, can you still hold on?" At the end of the third quarter, Popovich looked at Duncan on the bench and asked with concern. David Robinson was restricted by the number of fouls in this game. There is not much time, and Tim Duncan played more than 3 minutes in 3 quarters, which is the biggest contributor to the Lakers' inability to open the score. Moreover, among the Spurs' insiders, only Duncan can withstand O'Neal on the defensive end.

"I'm fine." Duncan wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel, and an assistant coach of the team was helping Duncan pinch his shoulders.

"Meng, what about you?" After getting a satisfactory answer from Duncan, Popovich turned to ask Meng Xu.Meng Xu's playing time in this game is second only to Duncan, far exceeding the previous playing time. Popovich is also a little worried about Meng Xu's physical strength.

"Coach, don't worry, I'm completely fine." Meng Xu nodded after taking a sip of water.He looked at Duncan with some envy, and asked for a massage. When will he be able to receive this kind of treatment.

In this game, during the halftime break, Meng Xu was grabbed by Popovich's jersey in the locker room and sprayed wildly. In addition, every time he held the ball, Lakers fans would boo him. It inspired Meng Xu's strong competitive spirit. Although Meng Xu was very tired at the moment, driven by his competitive spirit, Meng Xu also nodded firmly.

"That's good, Meng. In the last quarter, O'Neal will be handed over to David and Tim to deal with it. Your task is to defend No. 8 on the opposite side. By the way, you need to increase your shots on the offensive end. Understand. Hearing Meng Xu's answer, Popovich was also relieved. In Popovich's heart, Meng Xu is now the team's fourth most important player after Duncan, Robinson, and Johnson. Xu's performance can already have an impact on the team's overall record.In addition to Meng Xu's good defense, the Spurs' lack of 3-point shooting ability is also an important factor. Since the game against the Raptors, Meng Xu's shots have also increased significantly, averaging 5 3-point shots per game. The number of shots has exceeded one-third of the Spurs' 3-point shots.

The two sides scored 3 to 73 in the first three quarters, and the Lakers entered the final quarter with a 71-point advantage.

After the game restarted, Meng Xu returned to the small forward position again. In order to save more energy for the offensive end, Duncan no longer took on the task of defending O'Neal in the fourth quarter.

So far in this game, Phil Jackson is not satisfied with the situation on the court. This game did not play the Lakers' established tactics at all. Not only did the Spurs defend very well, but also their ability to assist defense inside and outside the line was first-rate. When Len Rice was crippled by himself, the Lakers also lost an important outside scoring point, and the game has been very difficult until now.

Fortunately, O'Neal has always been able to maintain a good offensive shooting percentage. Phil Jackson shook his head when he thought of O'Neal. When he mentioned O'Neal, he had to say the damn free throws. Only hit 3 goals, not even half the hit rate.If we only talk about the dominance of the basket, O'Neal is stronger than Michael Jordan, but O'Neal's shortcomings are also very obvious, such as poor shooting and small offensive range. Once he leaves the basket, O'Neal's lethality will drop significantly. O'Neal's own shortcomings, but O'Neal refused to improve his shooting. In his own words, it was: "If I can shoot, what are you playing?"

"In the first three quarters of the game, both teams played very well, especially O'Neal alone blasted the entire inside line of the Spurs, and Tim Duncan's performance was not inferior to O'Neal's. There is no doubt that O'Neal and Duncan They are the two strongest inside players in the league at present." When the game was about to start, the magician in the commentary was also a little excited.

"Yes, this is a very exciting game, but judging from the scene, the Lakers have not been able to play the triangle offense, and the Spurs have also lost the suffocating defense this season." While echoing the magician, His partner also said with a little regret.

"It is indeed the case. Because of the strong overall defensive strength of the Spurs, the Lakers' triangle offensive tactics are not smooth. I think this is also related to the short run-in time of the team. The Spurs' defense is indeed very good, but this time They faced O'Neal in the game."

"Nice, O'Neal pushed David Robinson and dunked."

"Tim Duncan, Duncan broke through directly from the wing with the ball, made an emergency stop jumper, a beautiful shot, and caused a foul by AC Green."

"The Spurs began to double-team O'Neal. Facing the double-teams of David Robinson and Tim Duncan, O'Neal didn't pass the ball, turned around and hit a hook."

"Tim Duncan, Tim Duncan again, easily passed AC Green, and Duncan dunked."

After the start of the 4th quarter, both O'Neal and Duncan wanted to take over the game and take away each other in a wave. When the two teams were unable to limit each other, the game became more and more anxious.

After the success of AC Green in consecutive singles, the Lakers also began to double-team Duncan. When Duncan received a pass from Johnson and was about to break through from the flank again, Rick Fox, who was originally defending Meng Xu, left Meng Xu. Stepped forward to double-team Duncan. After seeing Duncan being double-teamed, Meng Xu also followed the tactical deployment in training and ran to the right 3-point line at a 45-degree angle. Duncan, who was double-teamed by AC Green and Rick Fox, He turned around and passed the ball to Meng Xu.

After Meng Xu received the ball, before Kobe's supplementary defense came, he made a direct shot without the slightest sloppy, and hit a 3-pointer, 81 to 81, and the Spurs evened the score.Entering the fourth quarter, after the big heart skill was activated, Meng Xu's shots also became more decisive.

"It's a beautiful 3-pointer, why is his shooting posture so familiar." Seeing that Meng Xu still maintained the shooting posture after making a 3-pointer, the magician in the commentary had a weird look on his face.Meng Xu's take-off height is not high, but his body is very stretched, and his elbows are not bent too much. This shooting posture is too familiar.

"Bird, it's Larry Bird." The magician's brain was running rapidly, searching for all the information in his mind. Just after Meng Xu faced Kobe's defense with a step-back shot and hit a 3-pointer again, the Magic The teacher also shouted loudly in the commentary department.

(End of this chapter)