Legendary star

Chapter 39 Christmas Battle (8)

Less than 3 minutes after the start of the fourth quarter, the Spurs relied on Meng Xu's two consecutive 3-pointers to overtake the score. At this time, Phil Jackson called a timeout and made adjustments to the Lakers.

The next game will be the time for the two teams to play as substitutes. In order to ensure that the main players can still have enough physical strength at the last moment of the game, it is absolutely necessary for the substitutes to play for a few minutes, whether it is Phil Jackson or It is impossible for Popovich to let the main players not rest for a moment in the fourth quarter, unless the point difference on the court is so large that it must be adjusted.

After the timeout, the two teams replaced most of the main players and let the main players rest on the bench for a while, preparing for the final battle at the last moment.

After the game restarted, Glenn Rice, who had rested for most of the game, was also put on the court again, bringing Derek Fisher and other substitutes to face the Spurs' substitutes.

When the Spurs made a substitution, Popovich left Meng Xu on the court, ready to experiment with a new style of play.Originally, in the previous game, Popovich would let David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Avery Johnson take turns to lead the bench players, but this game has played so far, David Robinson has committed 5 fouls, and Duncan has played more than 35 times. It's been 35 minutes, and Avery Johnson, as a 30-year-old veteran, has played more than [-] minutes in this game. After constant weighing, Popovich chose to let Meng Xu lead the bench to play.

Now that the game has been played, the entire Staples Arena has gradually entered into a state of excitement, cheering like crazy for the home team players.After O'Neal and Robinson Duncan left the court, the height of the players on the court also dropped suddenly. Both sides also gave up their offensive positions at the same time, and the pace of the game became faster and faster.

"Nice mid-range shot. After most of the rest, Glenn Rice still showed excellent touch." After Glenn Rice made a mid-range shot, he glanced at the Lakers' bench, to be precise He glanced at Phil Jackson, as if expressing his dissatisfaction with Phil pushing himself on the bench.

The Spurs' backup point guard Antonio Daniels, after driving the ball into the half court, followed the coach's instructions and quickly passed the ball to Meng Xu, who was on the right side of the center circle, and Popovich, who was on the bench, came to the field side, staring at Meng Xu, rubbing his right fingers back and forth constantly.The current outside core of the Spurs, Avery Johnson, can’t play for a few years, plus David Robinson, who has entered the late stage of his career, the core trio of the Spurs will soon fall apart, so we are looking for a powerful assistant for Duncan , Cultivating a new outside core has become an imminent task for the Spurs.

Meng Xu, who was originally positioned as the team's outside defender, showed excellent outside shooting ability, Popovich had the idea of ​​using Meng Xu to replace Avery Johnson's tactical position.Moreover, Popovich also wanted to know what kind of destructive power Meng Xu could display after possessing unlimited firepower.Therefore, Popovich also instructed the team's backup point guard to hand over the ball to Meng Xu, who was the starting point of the tactics.

At this moment, Meng Xu hesitated after holding the ball. Meng Xu knew better than anyone else about his ball-handling ability and breakthrough ability. On the offensive end, he was not proficient in anything except long-range shots.

Guarding the ball on the spot, he glanced at the running positions of his teammates around him. Meng Xu was embarrassed to find that he didn't know who to pass the ball to. He took a step, watched Glen Rice, who was defending him, lose his position, then retracted his steps, took off on the spot, and shot a 3-pointer directly at the place where he received the ball just now.

Seeing Meng Xu's choice, Popovich also smiled. In fact, Malik Rose and Jerome Kersey had very good opportunities on the court just now, and Meng Xu chose to go it alone.

"Greg, Meng's desire to shoot is very strong." Assistant coach Mike Budenholzer stood behind Popovich, watched Meng Xu hold the ball, completely lost his teammates in his eyes, and attacked frantically from the outside Looking at the basket, he was also slightly disappointed.The selflessness shown by Meng Xu in the previous game once made Mike Budenholzer a player like Grant Hill and Anfernee Hardaway, but now it seems that he is Dominic Wilkin in his bones s.

For Mike Budenholzer's words, Popovich quickly heard it, ignored Mike Budenholzer, and Popovich continued to observe the situation on the court.

After Meng Xu attacked with the ball, he also relaxed his defense against Glenn Rice. The queen bee who was frozen by Meng Xu in the first half of the first quarter did not become unable to shoot because he sat on the bench for a long time , but quickly found the touch and made two consecutive mid-range shots.

"Glenn Rice's mid-range shot once again helped the Lakers equalize the score. After Glenn Rice played, he scored 4 points in a row. The queen bee we are familiar with seems to be back."

"Rookie, don't be too arrogant." After Glenn Rice made a shot, he also made an exaggerated gesture of celebration to Meng Xu, and dropped a trash talk by the way.Meng Xu's imitation of the magician's dunk in this game, as well as the somewhat embarrassing celebration afterwards, also made Glenn Rice a little angry. In addition, Phil Jackson has been pressed on the bench in this game. It also made Glen Rice feel resentful, and looked at Meng Xu very unkindly.

Looking at the excited Glenn Rice, Meng Xu frowned. This guy is really too arrogant. Didn't he just make two mid-range shots? As for this look.

When Meng Xu pushed the ball beyond the 3-point line again, facing Glenn Rice's defense and Rick Fox who rushed up to double-team him, Meng Xu shot directly without hesitation.

"The rookie's shooting was so decisive, it was a world-changing change from the indecision in the first half, we don't know, what Popovich said to him at halftime, but this This change is really unbelievable." Looking at Meng Xu's decisive consecutive shots on the court, the magician was also a little surprised.

90 to 87, the Spurs once again overtook the score.

At this time, Glenn Rice, who was defending Meng Xu, was also a little helpless. Glenn Rice was even a little discouraged by being repeatedly attacked by Meng Xu. own.

(End of this chapter)