king of defenders

Chapter 1283 Xianglong's Explosion

"Shh!"

With a soft sound, the basketball was hollowed into the net.

The Heat fans in the auditorium naturally applauded loudly, but Xiang Long looked calm, even colder than usual, without any excitement, turned around silently, and ran towards his own half.

On the big screen, a close-up shot of Xiang Long was shown.

Seeing Xiang Long's expression, many fans were astonished. Only a very small number of Xiang Long's old fans, who had watched him play before he entered the NBA, knew what this expression meant.

boom!
The Celtics strike iron here.

Xiang Long stuck in his position, stood in front, took the rebound, glanced at the position of his teammates, and finally did not pass the ball, but advanced with the ball by himself, but the speed was not slow, and he quickly came to the frontcourt.

Several people on the Celtics team have opponents. Horford is facing Xiang Long, but he is not in a hurry to rush forward. When he thinks about it, Xiang Long advances with the ball by himself. After reaching the frontcourt, he will definitely pass. To a teammate, and then to a teammate to do a pick-and-roll or something.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Long stopped suddenly and made a sudden shot from outside the three-point line.

"What?" Horford was taken aback, and quickly turned his head to look at the basket, only to see the basketball piercing through the net, and the white net was swinging like ocean waves.

The ball is scored, and it is still a three-pointer!

In the auditorium, the Heat fans cheered and cheered loudly for Xiang Long.

Horford's face was ugly, and the Celtics coach on the sidelines had a dark face and shouted at the field: "How to defend, keep an eye on him."

No names were named, but everyone knew that the head coach was dissatisfied with Horford's defense. Horford looked gloomy and took a deep look at Xiang Long.

Horford was not the only one looking at Xiang Long. Durant also frowned slightly at Xiang Long's back. When he came to the frontcourt, Durant took the initiative to ask for the ball, and then played singles.

Everyone knows that Meng Yun's absence has a great impact on the Heat's offensive end, but in fact Meng Yun's absence not only affects the offense, but also affects the Heat's defense.

Usually, many people pay attention to Meng Yun's offense, his organization and passing, but few people pay attention to his performance on the defensive end, ignoring Meng Yun's role on the defensive end.

For example, Meng Yun's restrictions on Owen.

Meng Yun is also the core on the defensive end. He has amazing speed, height and long arms, and excellent jumping and awareness. Assist defense, excellent jumping and can complete the blocking.

But now that Meng Yun is missing, the Heat's defense has also dropped a notch. Durant's singles are simpler, and he can easily score the ball, which can be regarded as retaliation.

It’s just that what surprised Durant and the Celtics players was that Xiang Long’s condition was a bit too good today, and he played very resolutely. He was determined to play singles when he got the ball, and the success rate was very high. Horford paired Yi couldn't restrain him, and was scored by Xiang Long.

This made the Celtics coach frown, called a timeout, and arranged a defense against Xiang Long.

On the Heat side, coach Spoelstra carried out a personnel rotation. First of all, he replaced Whiteside and replaced Monroe. He stopped Monroe and said in a deep voice: "Greg, we are facing the I don’t need to say more, Xiang Long played very well just now, but the opponent will definitely make targeted arrangements in the future. What I need you to do is the same as before, you have to cooperate with Xiang Long, such as passing internally .”

After some arrangements, Monroe promised in a deep voice.

There is no need to say more about the situation now. Monroe knows that Meng Yun is not here, and Lu Wei is not feeling well today. Xiang Long has become the key point, and the opponent will definitely make targeted arrangements.

In this case, it is difficult for Xiang Long to have a chance to start a one-on-one singles.

And he is not Meng Yun. It is Meng Yun's specialty to distribute the ball to the most suitable position when facing the opponent's defense and double-teaming. Xiang Long cannot do this.So Monroe is needed. It is difficult for Xiang Long to send the ball to his outside teammates in a timely manner, but it is possible to pass the ball inside to Monroe.

First of all, the internal distance of the internal pass is short, Xiang Long and Monroe are both tall enough, the Celtics are not as tall as them, Xiang Long can pass out, and there is no need to worry that Monroe cannot reach it; There have been many times during the regular season, and there is such a consciousness between the two.

That's why Coach Spoelstra told Monroe.

It's just that Monroe just came back after all. Although he played a few games, he has not fully recovered, and his cooperation with Xiang Long is also a little rusty. Xiang Long passed the ball, but he failed to seize the opportunity, so that The Celtics had the upper hand again and widened the point difference again.

By the end of the first quarter, the Celtics led by 8 points.

Monroe's face was full of self-blame, and he lowered his head and dared not lift it up.

Instead, Xiang Long patted Monroe and said, "It's okay, this is only the first quarter, and the other party will definitely target me later, it still depends on you, I believe in you."

Monroe was shocked and nodded heavily: "Yes."

Everyone can see that the situation is not good for the Heat. The lack of Meng Yun has a greater impact than the Heat players expected, and it is also greater than the fans expected, even if Xiang Long played the entire first quarter. , and had a very good performance at the same time, but the Heat still lost by 8 points.

Entering the second quarter, Coach Spoelstra had to let Xiang Long down to rest for a while, but the score continued to widen and soon reached more than ten points.

Fortunately, Lu Wei felt warmer and hit two consecutive three-pointers to bring the point difference back to within [-] points. After that, Xiang Long returned to the court. Although he was targeted by the Celtics again, Monroe seemed to have found it this time. I feel that the cooperation with Xiang Long is very good.

After all, Xiang Long is not Meng Yun. Although he has excellent footwork, soft touch, can play low singles, and can also shoot three-pointers, he does not have very distinctive characteristics, such as speed and strength.
Therefore, Xiang Long is not an unsolvable existence. Once he is targeted by the opponent for defense, he will be restricted. Fortunately, Lu Wei feels warmer and Monroe is also in shape.

But even so, the Heat are still behind, but they just managed to bite the score and did not allow the Celtics to widen the gap too much.

This situation certainly does not satisfy the Celtics from top to bottom.

After that, the Celtics further strengthened their defense. At the same time, in addition to Durant who was still scoring points, Irving also started to score points. Before facing Meng Yun, Irving always avoided playing. Yun, if you play after a dislocation is formed, the scoring efficiency will be greatly reduced.

Now without Meng Yun, whether it is Lu Wei or someone else playing against him, Irving can play singles calmly and with high efficiency.

After all, Owen's scoring ability is there, that is, Meng Yun is faster than him and taller than him, so he can restrain him, but it won't work if he is replaced by others.

(End of this chapter)