Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The Lakers' offense played too fast during this period.

Not only do they advance quickly, but once the ball reaches the frontcourt they only pass the ball three times at most and then complete the attack.

This is not the pace the Spurs like. The Spurs like to slow down and fight a positional battle.

Whether attacking or defending, they prefer to go slower. After all, there are many old players in the team's lineup, and they can't keep up with the pace if the speed is too fast.

Moreover, as the offensive tempo became faster, the Spurs players were older and slower, and they were unable to complete the tactical system coordination in a timely manner on the defensive end.

This also compromised the Spurs' strong defense.

"Requesting a timeout."

Coach Popovich immediately called a timeout.

After several players came down, he opened his hands and pressed down, saying loudly: "Play slower. Slow down the tempo, don't run after the opponent, we have to press down and fight a positional battle, we have to be more patient in offense and protect the rebounds."

Several players agreed.

......

The timeout ended quickly and both sides returned to the court.

The Spurs attack.

After Parker got the ball in the backcourt, he advanced to the frontcourt. He was not in a hurry to attack. He first called a tactic. Gasol went forward to screen and Parker got rid of it with the screen and then passed the ball to Leonard. After Leonard got the ball, he did not attack by himself, but moved to the right to pull away from the opponent...

After a tactical run, the left side was cleared and the ball was given to Aldridge.

Aldridge played a one-on-one game with his back to the basket, and the Lakers quickly provided assistance in defense.

Aldridge passed the ball again and gave it to Leonard. At this time, there were only five seconds left in the 24-second offensive time, but Leonard did not shoot directly. He passed the ball again to Danny Green who was cutting to the basket, and Danny Green made a layup.

The attack was completed in almost 24 seconds.

Zhuang Yu immediately understood the Spurs' intention. He gestured to his teammates. This time, Deron didn't need to get the ball. Instead, Zhuang Yu took the ball at the baseline and advanced to the frontcourt as quickly as possible. Without waiting for Lopez to catch up, he made a direct breakthrough.

The Spurs players were shocked. They didn't expect Zhuang Yu to be so decisive. For a moment, several players subconsciously shrank back.

But Zhuang Yu did not shoot himself. He passed the ball to Deron on the outside.

As a veteran, Deron is very experienced and knows the meaning of Zhuang Yu's pass. After receiving the ball, he made slight adjustments and then decisively took a three-pointer.

Swish!

There was a soft sound and the ball was scored.

"nice shot."

"Well done."

In the audience, the home fans cheered loudly.

Coach Popovich frowned again on the sidelines. Zhuang Yu was too fast. When he rushed to the frontcourt and passed the ball, his teammates were able to shoot the ball from outside the three-point line, which made the Spurs very uncomfortable.

In the next few rounds, the Spurs played very patiently. Regardless of whether they could score the ball or not, they would try their best to use up the 24-second offensive time.

It’s just that the Lakers simply don’t play like that with them.

The Spurs played almost every attack for 24 seconds, while the Lakers controlled almost every attack to 15 seconds, or even less than 10 seconds.

When the Spurs complete their attack, whether they score or not, the Lakers will immediately launch a counterattack.

And it was no longer Deron who carried the ball forward, but Zhuang Yu. He was very fast and could advance to the frontcourt in almost the blink of an eye. He did not even wait for Lopez to arrive before launching an attack. He would either break through and pass the ball to his teammates for outside shots, or go straight to the basket himself, or simply go to the three-point line and shoot a chase three-pointer.

This is just a case of you fight yours and I fight mine.

The Spurs played the Spurs' positional offense, and the Lakers played the Lakers' quick offense. Both sides wanted to control the tempo on the court, regardless of whether they could score the ball or not, the first thing they wanted to do was to get the tempo going.

There was nothing wrong with playing like this, but what made the Spurs depressed was that the Lakers' outside shooting was surprisingly accurate today.

Not only Zhuang Yu, Gerald Green and Deron also had accurate outside shooting. Only Anderson's shooting performance was average.

Even more outrageous is Lopez.

With the Lakers' offensive style, Lopez basically had a hard time participating in the offense, and he couldn't play the role of a big center, and he just ran back and forth on the court.

But the problem is that Lopez can shoot three-pointers.

Since the team's offensive tempo was too fast and he had no time to follow up, he simply didn't go inside and stayed outside the three-point line as a three-point turret.

Of course, the most important thing is to make the shot.

......

"boom!"

With a dull thud, the Spurs' shot missed.

Anderson launched a quick counterattack as soon as he got the rebound. Instead of passing the ball to Zhuang Yu, he pushed forward himself, quickly crossed the center line, and then immediately passed the ball to Zhuang Yu.

After getting the ball, Zhuang Yu made a fake shot, then accelerated and broke through, then passed the ball to Gerald Green.

At this time, the Spurs' defense was already in some chaos. Several players all retreated within the three-point line. All attention was on Zhuang Yu, Gerald Green, and Deron. No one cared about Anderson and Lopez.

Gerald Green grabbed the basketball and prepared to shoot, but he saw Lopez, who had just run to the front three-point line, reaching out to him for the ball.

Gerald Green didn't think much and passed the ball subconsciously.

Lopez was seen standing on the three-point line, first glancing at the basket, and then, without jumping up, he raised the ball and shook his wrist, shooting a three-pointer in a way that was almost a free throw, and he made it.

Now even old man Popovich is depressed.

He called another timeout and started to make substitutions, gradually replacing the main players with substitutes, and at the same time told the players: "I emphasize again, play slower, control the rhythm, we have to play a positional battle and protect the rebounds."

He added, "Also, leave one person to delay the opponent's serve and first pass. We can't let the opponent play so fast."

Several Spurs players responded.

At the same time, the Lakers also made changes, replacing the main lineup with a rotation lineup.

At this time, Zhuang Yu still stayed on the court, leading the substitute lineup with Clarkson. One of the important reasons why Coach Scott let Tower stay on the court was to ensure speed.

For a period of time before, the Lakers and the Spurs were fighting each other, but because the Lakers shot more and more accurately from outside three-pointers, the Lakers were ahead in the score.

In this situation, the Lakers have actually taken the initiative in the game, so they still have to stick to this style of play.

Because it's not them who are panicking, but the Spurs.

......

After the timeout, both sides returned to the court.

Following the instructions of coach Popovich, the Spurs players left one person on the Lakers' half after scoring the ball to interfere with the Lakers' serve and delay the Lakers' serve, while the others quickly retreated and set up the defense.

When the Spurs failed to score, when the Lakers got the rebound, the Spurs players would immediately rush to the person who got the rebound, interfere with his pass, and prevent him from passing the ball to the guard immediately, so as to delay the Lakers' counterattack.

This is indeed a way.

If you encounter a team that is very good at counterattacks, likes to play fast breaks, and has a very fast offensive rhythm, the best way is not to run after the opponent, but to find a way to delay the opponent's pass. After all, basketball is a five-person sport, and passing the ball is often faster than holding the ball, especially in a fast counterattack offense, passing the ball can allow more players to participate.

As long as the opponent's pass is delayed and the ball cannot be passed quickly, the opponent's quick counterattack and fast break can often be effectively restricted.

The Spurs' strategy did work.

For a period of time afterwards, the Lakers' offensive speed slowed down, quick counterattacks decreased, and their offensive efficiency also declined.

However, the Lakers still maintained the lead, and at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers were still leading by 7 points.

"Very good, that's how to defend."

Several Spurs players came to the sidelines. Popovich clapped his hands to encourage the players, affirmed their performance, and told them to continue defending in the same way and to slow down the tempo.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Spurs did a great job, delaying the pass as much as possible on the defensive end. After the Lakers slowed down and switched to a half-court offense, the Spurs double-teamed Clarkson just like in the previous game.

But Clarkson's performance today was much better than in the previous game.

Facing double-teaming, he decisively passed the ball and started running. In addition to Clarkson, Deron was also on the court. When Clarkson passed the ball, Deron would distribute the ball to the most suitable position in time. If there was an opportunity after Clarkson ran, he would also pass the ball to him as soon as possible.

Clarkson was seen running back, getting rid of the screen, and then catching the basketball again. He made a fake shot, then broke through and rushed to the basket.

Before the Spurs could double-team him again, Clarkson had already made his way into the paint and hit the ball with a rebound shot.

"nice shot."

"Clarkson played much better today."

The home fans cheered excitedly and were in a good mood.

Clarkson performed poorly in the last game, which made the fans a little worried. Fortunately, it seems that he has adjusted now and performed very well today.

"pity......"

Old man Popovich whispered to himself.

But it is not surprising. They will adjust, the Lakers will adjust, and the Lakers players will also adjust. In the last game, they almost defended Clarkson to death, but Clarkson's strength is still online. It is not realistic to expect him to score only a few points in every game.

As long as he doesn't perform above his level like in the first game, scoring 20+ will be fine.

In the blink of an eye, a few minutes passed and the Lakers were still in the lead, but they were unable to widen the gap to more than ten points.