Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

This kind of goal that can be scored even after being touched is half luck and half strength.

But you can't expect the ball to go in every time it's touched by the defensive player. This time Zhuang Yu only touched it a little bit, but next time it won't be just a little bit.

After pushing the ball to the frontcourt, Zhuang Yu was not in a hurry to attack. He first glanced at Harden, then pointed at Ariza. The meaning was self-evident - if you have the ability, don't let Ariza defend you, defend me yourself.

Harden understood what Zhuang Yu meant and couldn't help but feel a little angry, but after thinking about it, he still didn't switch defense with Ariza. He was not an impulsive player, and he knew clearly that his defense was not his strong point, not to mention that he was a little shorter than Zhuang Yu.

If I were to defend Zhuang Yu, I would definitely not be better than Ariza, I would only be worse than Ariza, and I would fall into Zhuang Yu's trap.

"Don't you dare?" Zhuang Yu curled his lips in disdain.

This expression made Harden's nostrils almost spit fire.

However, he still suppressed his inner impulse, looked away and no longer looked at Zhuang Yu.

"Sure enough, Harden is much calmer than Lillard." Zhuang Yu thought to himself, but he didn't care. He just teased Harden.

Even if Harden doesn't come over, it will still be Ariza defending, and it won't make much difference to him.

The next moment, Zhuang Yu suddenly accelerated, and Ariza quickly retreated. He did not try to get ahead of Zhuang Yu because Zhuang Yu was too fast. He could only retreat and move sideways to stay close to Zhuang Yu and prevent him from passing him completely.

At the same time, Nene stepped forward to provide backup defense.

However, Zhuang Yu only took two steps forward before making a turnaround jump shot, leaving Nene with nothing but watching. Ariza was also caught off guard and could only pounce on it subconsciously.

Swish!

Go in again.

Ariza was a little helpless, with a wry smile on his face. This kind of sudden turnaround jump shot, and a fade away, really made people helpless.

"Zhuang Yu scored again."

"Well done. How many points did Zhuang Yu get? He should have surpassed Harden."

"He has already surpassed Harden. Zhuang Yu's score has already exceeded 20."

"Haha, where are the Rockets fans? Why are they all silent? Weren't you just shouting that Harden is the best player? Why aren't you shouting anymore?"

The home fans were happy.

This is what they want to see, Zhuang Yu never disappoints.

On the sidelines, Coach D'Antoni frowned. He called a timeout and first made a substitution, replacing the full main lineup. Then he spread out the tactical board and made some arrangements. Finally, he emphasized: "You have to go up and help defend. You can't let Zhuang Yu continue to play alone like this."

Obviously, Ariza couldn't defend Zhuang Yu either.

The first half wasn't over yet and Zhuang Yu had already scored 23 points.

The only way to limit Zhuang Yu's scoring is to rely on assisting defense and double-teaming.

The Lakers have many players who can score, and it is too risky to double-team Zhuang Yu, so Coach D'Antoni can only let the players help defend. It is not necessary to completely defend Zhuang Yu, as long as he can limit him. With the Rockets' sharp offense, Coach D'Antoni is confident that he can defeat the Lakers.

......

The pause ended quickly.

Both sides replaced their main lineups.

After returning to the court, Paul organized an offense and used his excellent passing ability to assist Capela in scoring in the interior.

Turning around, the Rockets players quickly retreated and Ariza faced Zhuang Yu, but now he was not defending alone, as there was help defense.

What made Coach D'Antoni depressed was that even with the help defense, he was still unable to limit Zhuang Yu's scoring.

Zhuang Yu first broke through, attracted the defense and passed the ball, then he ran around and returned to the three-point line after a circle.

At this time, the teammates passed the ball over. Ariza had been blocked. Only Paul was closest to Zhuang Yu, so he rushed towards Zhuang Yu.

But Paul was too short, more than ten centimeters shorter than Zhuang Yu, and posed no threat at all.

Swish!

Zhuang Yu made a three-pointer.

"Damn it, he made the shot again. Defend better, defend the three-pointer..."

"Harden, there's one more, hit him!"

The Rockets fans were very depressed and shouted at the court, asking Harden to fight back.

On the offensive end, Harden asked Paul for the ball and did not call for a pick-and-roll. He wanted to single out Zhuang Yu to give him a taste of his own medicine and boost morale.

He first took a series of crossover steps, then suddenly accelerated, pretending to break through, followed by a behind-the-back dribble, pulling the ball back, tapping his feet on the floor, quickly retreating to the three-point line, and jumping up to shoot.

laugh!

However, this time Zhuang Yu touched the basketball again, and not just a little bit. The trajectory of the basketball changed and it fell down without even touching the basket, right into the hands of Lopez.

"This shot was blocked."

"This is a double step-back, Harden's signature move, and it was blocked."

people exclaimed.

Harden's double step-back is difficult to block because the distance of the step-back is very far, and it is a double step-back with a somewhat weird rhythm, which defenders often cannot keep up with.

But at this moment it was blocked by Zhuang Yu.

People couldn't help but sigh that Zhuang Yu was worthy of being the best defensive player.

Amidst exclamations, the Lakers launched a counterattack.

Lopez passed the ball to Anderson, who was already one step ahead. Anderson dribbled two steps and then passed the ball to Zhuang Yu. Harden and Ariza returned to their own half, but Zhuang Yu didn't slow down after getting the ball. He ran straight to the basket and just stepped into the free throw line when he soared into the sky.

"This..." Ariza's eyes widened and he stopped subconsciously.

"Damn it, he actually dared..." Harden cursed in his heart. He was standing under the basket at the moment, but his reason told him that he could not go forward and had to get out of the way.

He took a step back.

The next moment, Zhuang Yu dunked the ball into the basket, and fell to the ground due to inertia, almost hitting Harden.

Harden's face was dark. He took a step back to avoid being dunked on, but he still became Zhuang Yu's background. He was blocked and allowed a fast break dunk. It was so embarrassing.

......

I have to say that Harden is still very strong.

Feeling humiliated, he quickly retaliated on the offensive end, forcing a breakthrough towards Zhuang Yu, actively seeking physical confrontation, and then throwing the ball with one hand.

The ball goes in.

But Zhuang Yu also continued to score.

It is not so easy for Harden to score against Zhuang Yu's defense, but it is easy for Zhuang Yu to score against Ariza's defense.

Although both of them scored, Zhuang Yu's score and scoring efficiency were higher than Harden's.

......

At the end of the second quarter, the score was 64:60, with the Lakers leading by 4 points.

The Lakers were trailing by one point in the first quarter but were leading by four at this point.

"Zhuang has already scored 28 points, and it's only the end of the first half. He's almost got 30 points."

"Harden also scored 24 points."

"Oh, don't forget that at the end of the first quarter, Harden had already scored 1 points, while Zhuang Yu only had 12 points. Now Zhuang Yu has 11 points and Harden has 28 points, which means that Zhuang Yu beat Harden by 24 points in this quarter. Look at the scores of both teams. The Lakers were behind by one point in the first quarter, but now they are leading by 5 points. The difference is exactly 1 points, which means that Zhuang Yu beat Harden by 4 points. Do you understand?"

"Understand what?"

"Nonsense, of course Zhuang Yu is stronger than Harden!"

During the half-time break, fans in the stands gathered in groups of three or four to discuss the game.

It seems that the answer to who is the best player has been found, at least in this quarter Zhuang Yu is the better player.

This made Harden unhappy.

When the second half started, Harden asked for the ball when he got to the frontcourt, called for a pick-and-roll, and then stepped back and made a three-pointer. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was the best player and the one who was most qualified to be the regular season MVP.

However, when he turned around, Zhuang Yu immediately retaliated by also hitting a three-pointer, and it was an unreasonable long three-pointer, which he shot facing Ariza's defense.

"You're still a little short of a three-pointer with me."

When turning around to check out, Zhuang Yu passed by Harden, smiled contemptuously at Harden, and said this.

This made Harden very angry.

what?

How dare you say my three-point shot is not good? Damn it.

In fact, Harden's three-point shooting is really good and he shoots a lot. After all, the Rockets are a three-point team.

Last season, he averaged 9.3 three-pointers per game, but his hit rate was only 34.7%. Although he took a lot of shots, his hit rate was much lower than that of super shooters such as Zhuang Yu, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry.

This season, Harden takes more three-pointers, averaging 10.2 three-pointers per game. Fortunately, his hit rate has improved compared to last season, reaching 37%.

That is to say, he makes 3.7 three-pointers per game on average, which makes him a complete three-point expert. So, facing Zhuang Yu's contempt and ridicule, how could he not be angry?

When he reached the frontcourt, Harden immediately took another three-pointer, still his signature step-back three-pointer, but he missed.

Zhuang Yu had long anticipated that he would definitely shoot a three-pointer, so he was well prepared and defended very forward, interfering with Harden's shot.

"Fake."

Harden was so depressed that he almost pulled his beard off.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that just a few dozen seconds later, Zhuang Yu hit another three-pointer, and this time it was a three-pointer facing Harden after switching defense with the help of a pick-and-roll.

After the pick-and-roll, it was Zhuang Yu and Harden who were facing each other. Zhuang Yu did not hesitate to shoot a three-pointer against Harden, and it went in.

Harden's mentality is a little broken now.

The reality is so cruel. If we really compare three-point shots, he seems to be inferior to Zhuang Yu.

This season, Zhuang Yu averaged 9.2 three-pointers per game, which is not as many as Harden, but his hit rate reached 42.7%, far exceeding Harden.

In fact, Zhuang Yu's three-point performance this season not only surpassed Harden, but also surpassed Klay Thompson, Kyle Korver, JJ Redick and other three-point shooters. He is only slightly inferior to Curry, really just a little bit.

But this doesn't mean that Zhuang Yu's three-point shooting is good enough to match Curry.

Zhuang Yu is taller and has an advantage over Curry in terms of physical talent, so it is easier for him to shoot three-pointers.

If Curry had the height, wingspan, jumping ability and explosiveness of Zhuang Yu, his three-point shooting would be even more terrifying.

Harden then threw another one, but still missed.

Coach D'Antoni on the sidelines realized that something was wrong and immediately called a timeout.

When several players came off the court, he pulled Harden and said, "You shouldn't compete with Zhuang Yu in three-point shooting."

Harden replied in a muffled voice: "Yes, my three-point shooting ability is not as good as his."

"No." Coach D'Antoni shook his head. "You were fooled."

what?

Harden looked up, stunned.

Coach D'Antoni explained: "He deliberately provoked you and asked you to compete with him in three-pointers, right? When you do this, you have been fooled. Think about it, what are your advantages and what are you good at? You have to break through, create damage, and go to the free throw line. If you always shoot from outside the three-point line, it will be difficult to foul. Look at your points today, how many of them came from free throws."

"4 points, only 4 points!"

Hearing this, Harden shuddered all over and suddenly realized: "I was wrong. I was fooled by him. Damn it."

This season, Harden averaged 3.7 three-pointers per game and scored nearly 12 points, but his free throws are also an important way to score. This season, he averaged 10.5 free throws per game, with a hit rate of 86%, and an average of 9 points per free throw.

In other words, almost one-third of Harden's points came from free throws.

But if there is no breakthrough and you just shoot three-pointers from outside, there won’t be many free throws.

For example, now, his personal score is almost 30 points, but he only gets 4 points from free throws, which is less than one-sixth.

It is precisely because he took a lot of three-pointers with a low hit rate and took few free throws, so although Harden scored a lot of points today, his offensive efficiency was not very high.

"Adjust it, you have to adjust it."

Coach D'Antoni patted Harden on the shoulder, then replaced him and asked him to adjust.