One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Nine. The Defending Champion Tries to Change
Los Angeles is always different. When the Grizzlies played at home, there were also celebrities, but they were all acquaintances, or at least had met each other.
But when the Lakers played at home, the Chinese Embassy in the United States came, the Governor of California, politicians at all levels in Los Angeles, and even the Memphis City Hall came to Los Angeles to get tickets.
There are countless stars, socialites, and athletes!
For the Lakers, their popular games basically do not consider making money from the front row tickets, but from the news billboards on the sidelines.
Moreover, for them who signed a 20-year, 5 billion US dollar broadcasting agreement, it is far more important for these people to watch the game and enter the live camera than to earn tickets for these seats.
This time, Sun Ce's family came to Los Angeles to play away games, but the two old people, the nanny, and the twin babies were still watching the live broadcast at home here. Lily Collins and Zu Ge brought the little Gohan who was forced to smile in front of the camera to watch the game, occupying three seats.
Yao Ming, who just became the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, also came here to watch the game and to see Ding Yanyuhang and Yi Jianlian who will return to the national team to participate in the last quarter of the Asian Basketball Championship after the playoffs this year.
After the 2015 Asian Basketball Championship, this event, which has only been in existence for 10 years, will become a thing of the past. The new event, the Basketball Asia Cup, will be officially launched in 2017.
The last Asian Basketball Championship happened to be held in Changsha, China. It was an international competition after Yao Ming took office, and he must win it.
But this has nothing to do with Sun Ce. He will not participate in the Asian competition. The impact on the growth of young players is inevitable. If Sun Ce goes, he will definitely take the ball and do it.
Moreover, as the winner of the men's basketball bronze medal in the 12th Olympic Games, their Chinese men's basketball team automatically has a place in the Asian region of the 2016 Rio Olympics. This year's Asian Championships is not stressful for their Chinese team. Yi Jianlian went there just to hold the line. He has long revealed that he will train more young players.
After Yao Ming took office, we really know how serious the gap in domestic basketball is!
After the Grizzlies entered the court, the boos never stopped.
This is quite rare at the Lakers' home court. Two years ago, the Grizzlies eliminated the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, and the fans' resistance was not so great.
However, it was also related to the fact that James had not yet come to play for the Lakers. At that time, Lakers fans were still looking forward to Sun Ce joining after Kobe retired, but now it seems unlikely. That is the real enemy!
Before the game, both teams actively made final preparations. More than ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. At 7:58 pm, the two teams that had made all the preparations came to the court.
Both teams were eager to win this game. The Grizzlies wanted to sweep the opponent if they had the chance. Why not sweep if they could?
As for the Lakers, it was a game that they absolutely could not lose. If they lost, this year's playoffs would be over!
The battle was about to start, and the Lakers fans also felt fear this time, especially those old fans, who had seen their team invincible in the playoffs in a similar way. No matter what setbacks they encountered in the playoffs that year, they were the winners.
They are very familiar with that invincible attitude! But this time, it is the opponent who has this attitude!
The Lakers sent out the starting lineup of James, Kobe, Leonard, Wesley Johnson, and Nene tonight.
With Wesley Johnson returning to the starting lineup, the average age of the Lakers' starting lineup immediately dropped to 29 years old, and not only that, you can almost feel the improvement in athletic ability by looking at their lineup directly.
Nene's burst speed and endurance are not as good as before, but his athletic ability is still first-class among centers. Leonard and James have good physical fitness. Although Kobe is old, he still runs very well. Wesley Johnson may be the best in the game in terms of athletic ability.
The Grizzlies' starting lineup remains unchanged, with Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Aldridge, and Gobert on the court together.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the referee blew the whistle to start the game, and a crucial battle for both teams began!
Nene beat Gobert to win the jump ball, and the Lakers attacked first!
After James advanced to the frontcourt, he passed the ball to Leonard who was leaning against Sun Ce on the left side of the free throw line. Leonard came up and made a turnaround jump shot!
This solid basic skills gave Leonard extraordinary stability. From the perspective of health and physical strength, Leonard may not have much chance to become a scorer like Kobe, Sun Ce, and Harden. He can't score 50 or 60 points in a game, but he can be the most stable scoring point like Durant.
Attack and defense transition, the Grizzlies attacked, and Paul George advanced to the frontcourt. This time, the Grizzlies did not start the attack from Aldridge or Sun Ce's back-to-back, that is, they did not play the opening strategy of this season's playoffs, and chose to attack from the top arc!
Sun Ce went up to screen for Paul George and blocked Wesley Johnson. Wesley Johnson and Leonard were not afraid of this pick-and-roll, and immediately switched defenses. They did not use their bodies to push Sun Ce to break the pick-and-roll directly.
Paul George used Sun Ce to block Wesley Johnson and immediately met Leonard, which was even more difficult to play. Paul George certainly would not do it by himself, because Sun Ce had already turned his back to the top arc when he used the pick-and-roll. He passed the ball to Sun Ce hand-to-hand while going around the pick-and-roll, and then quickly pulled away.
This action was clearly seen by Wesley Johnson and Leonard. The two switched defenses without any interference. Wesley Johnson chased Paul George. Sun Ce received the ball, turned 180 degrees, and raised his hand... This style of play is rare. Wesley Johnson subconsciously interfered with Sun Ce's pick-and-roll and shot, and his center of gravity was shaken!
Sun Ce followed McGrady's left foot to the right front and left Wesley Johnson behind in one step! Go straight to the inside!
The speed was not that fast, but Wesley Johnson's center of gravity was shaken to a high degree, and he was really thrown away by Sun Ce.
Sun Ce rushed into the inside, entered the free throw line and took a heavy step. Gobert pulled away quickly, and Nene also left the inside. This posture was unstoppable!
However, Sun Ce took a step inside the free throw line and just jumped lightly towards the baseline, lifted the ball, and scored two points with a layup.
This layup is a passer-by, but it doesn't matter. Let Gobert and Nene choose again. Faced with Sun Ce who left Wesley Johnson behind in one step, they will still make way if they choose again.
God knows whether this guy didn't dunk because he saw the people under the basket evaded. This guy can do such a thing. Even his teammates are full of confidence in Sun Ce in this regard.
This game is obviously different from the previous two games!
Both teams showed a strong desire to attack at the beginning!
The Lakers are trying to change. It's too disadvantageous to play steadily with the Grizzlies.
In this game, the Lakers let go of the scoring, first releasing their positional warfare offensive capabilities, and then considering other things. They have to seize their own advantages instead of thinking about how to compete with the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies also played very unrestrained tonight. Coach Hollins made adjustments based on his own situation. He originally wanted to knock the players. If they are too confident, they have to knock. If they are not confident, they will be encouraged. For this kind of thing, the solution is usually very simple and doesn't need to be so troublesome.
But with Sun Ce, it is a double-edged sword at this time. Coach Hollins loves the confidence that Sun Ce brings to the team, as if as long as Sun Ce is there, his team will be fearless.
But there are some problems because of this. For example, Coach Hollins tried to suppress the overly high emotions of the players, but he couldn't do it!
Since this is the case, according to Coach Hollins' judgment, the opponent is unlikely to play steadily with them, so it is not suitable to play strategy. Strategy is based on a clear judgment of the opponent, such as the first two games, but this time, the opponent will definitely let go, which is as unpredictable as the Warriors.
But even so, Coach Hollins is not afraid. He didn't say what would happen if he lost, but even if he lost this game, it wouldn't matter. They are currently leading 2-0. Even if they lose both away games, they still have the home advantage. Even if it drags on to the sixth and seventh games, they are not afraid.
Isn't the home advantage used to play like this? On this basis, Coach Hollins also chose to let go! Since it is impossible to predict what the opponent will do, start with offense!
In the first quarter, the Lakers, who were at home, scored 37 points, but the Grizzlies also scored 36 points.
On the Lakers side, Kobe, Leonard, Nick Young, and Wayne Ellington all showed their singles talents, and everyone went all out. James coordinated in the middle and took the opportunity to launch a defensive counterattack from time to time.
The Grizzlies were led by Paul George to launch the offense and distribute the ball. After Sun Ce's opening offense was effective, Paul George did not choose to keep attacking this point, but chose Aldridge to attack James. Suddenly, Aldridge became the main attacker instead of Sun Ce, and used the threat of Sun Ce's breakthrough to open the offense.
On the defensive end, both teams were also very active, because both teams rotated frequently. On the Lakers side, all five players who were good at singles on the outside played, except JR Smith who played for only 37 seconds before being replaced. Kobe, Leonard, Nick Young, and Wayne Ellington occupied all the playing time in the two backcourt positions. James played more at the power forward position. Nene, Motiejunas, and Marion all rotated to play.
Carter, Larry Sanders, Randolph, and Yi Jianlian of the Grizzlies also played, rotating according to the changes in the Lakers' lineup and the needs of their own lineup.
To say that both teams did what they should do on defense, but were restricted, only JR Smith on the Lakers side was replaced immediately after he missed 1 iron and 1 turnover, and Yi Jianlian on the Grizzlies side was replaced immediately after he missed two open mid-range shots.
For various reasons, both teams played at a very high level!