Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

On April 4, the 15 NBA playoffs kicked off.

There was no Lakers game on the first day of the playoffs. The two games in the Western Conference were Rockets vs. Spurs and Warriors vs. Jazz.

Although there was no Lakers game, Zhuang Yu still turned on the TV on time and watched the live broadcast of the Warriors vs. Jazz game.

If the Lakers beat the Pelicans in the first round, they will face the Warriors, ranked third in the Western Conference, in the second round.

So Zhuang Yu is actually focusing on the Warriors.

There was no suspense in this game as the gap in strength between the two sides was obvious.

The Warriors had been leading since the first quarter, leading by 1 points in the first quarter and 1 points in the second quarter. By the end of the first half, the Warriors were already leading by 11 points.

The Jazz played well in the third quarter, especially Donovan Mitchell. As a first-year rookie, he scored 3 points in the quarter to help the team narrow the score.

However, in the last quarter, the Warriors used a "five-small lineup" and took the game away with a wave of three-pointers.

"As expected..."

Zhuang Yu was not surprised by this result at all. The gap in strength between the two sides was there, and the Jazz could not beat the Warriors.

However, in the playoffs, the strength displayed by the Warriors is indeed incomparable to that in the regular season, and they are obviously much stronger.

This is not reflected in the players' strength. After all, they are all mature players, not rookies like Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz. Their personal strength will not improve in a short period of time. The strength shown by the Warriors comes from the players' concentration and attitude towards the game.

For the Warriors, the regular season is nothing, so the players naturally won’t take it too seriously. But now it’s the playoffs, so it’s naturally different.

"It seems that in order to defeat the Warriors, in addition to defense, offense must also be at its best." Zhuang Yu said to himself.

In today's game, the Warriors' three-point rain in the fourth quarter left a deep impression on Zhuang Yu.

In the regular season, the Warriors' five-small lineup failed to rain down three-pointers under the Lakers' defense. But this does not mean that the two sides will not be able to shoot three-pointers against the Warriors in the playoffs. Once the opponent shoots three-pointers, it will be troublesome.

The three-point storm that came one after another made people's scalps tingle.

Although the Warriors are very scary and may not be able to be defended, Zhuang Yu is not afraid even if it comes to an offense competition because the Lakers are also very strong.

......

On April 4, the Lakers played their first playoff game.

Staples Center.

The auditorium was full early in the morning, with almost no empty seats. The noisy sounds echoed in the stadium, making it very lively.

This is the Lakers' home court, so naturally most of the people here are Lakers fans, with a small number of Pelicans fans among them.

But there were too few of them and their voices were completely drowned out.

Especially when the Pelicans players came on the court, the boos swept across the stadium like a tsunami. The only bit of cheers in the audience were completely drowned out and could not be heard at all. The huge boos pressed down on the Pelicans players like an overwhelming tidal wave.

A group of Pelicans players couldn't help but frown.

This is the first time the Pelicans have entered the playoffs in several years. Some players on the team are even experiencing the playoff atmosphere for the first time, so they are inevitably a little nervous.

"Don't be nervous, they are just shouting loudly, they can't rush onto the field."

"This is the atmosphere of the playoffs. You just have to get used to it."

Some veteran players who had experienced the playoffs comforted the young players, telling them not to be nervous and just pretend they couldn't hear them.

But how could I not hear it? It was so loud.

Then the Lakers came on stage.

At this moment, the boos turned into cheers. Under the spotlight, the Lakers players walked out one by one. They were accompanied by the light and bathed in cheers. Coupled with the golden jerseys they wore, each of them looked like a god descending from heaven, coated with a layer of gold.

This made some of the Pelicans players, who were already nervous, even more nervous, and even a little panicked.

Look at yourself and then look at the Lakers players. Can you win?

Rondo is very experienced and can tell at a glance that some of his teammates are in a bad mood.

So during the warm-up, he pulled Anthony Davis and whispered, "My teammates are not in a good mood. After all, this is the opponent's home court. We are suppressed by the opponent's momentum. We have to find a way to boost morale. You can go and do a few dunks later."

Davis nodded, and then he dunked with both hands, which stretched the basket out of shape. The reporters under the basket all shrank their heads.

Then there was a tomahawk slam dunk, a glide slam dunk, and even a slam dunk after changing hands between the legs, which was quite explosive.

For a moment, the Pelicans players cheered and their tension was relieved.

"Zhuang, do we want to deduct a few too?" Clarkson asked.

"Is it necessary?" Zhuang Yu smiled calmly, "This is our home court. Do we still need to rely on dunks to boost morale?"

Clarkson scratched his head and also laughed.

There was a bang from the opposite side, and Anthony Davis made another dunk.

"Wow, this guy's physical fitness is really amazing. It's rare for an inside player to be able to dunk so well." Zhuang Yu exclaimed in praise, but he didn't care at all. There was no panic on his face, not even nervousness.

It’s just the first round of the playoffs, it’s just the Pelicans.

......

Soon, the warm-up was over.

Players from both teams returned to the sidelines and the game was about to begin.

A group of Pelicans players gathered around head coach Alvin Gentry. Gentry had a serious expression on his face. He opened the tactical board and made arrangements: "Defense well, especially against Zhuang. Don't let him shoot. Don't let him play one-on-one. Go up and help defend. Give him physical confrontation. This is the playoffs. The whistle won't be so tight. Defense must be aggressive. Do you understand?"

"AD, I'll leave Lopez to you."

"As long as we defend Zhuang Yu and Lopez, we will be defending the Lakers."

"As for the offensive end, play according to our tactics, combine inside and outside, score in and out, don't be anxious, be patient, Rajon (Rondo), control the rhythm..."

After some arrangements, Coach Gentry clapped his hands and shouted loudly: "Play well, we will definitely win, come on!"

"come on!"

A group of Pelicans players shouted in unison, very loudly, but unfortunately this was at the Lakers' home court, and boos immediately broke out, drowning out their voices.

......

Players from both sides come to the field.

The Lakers still have their regular starters, while the Pelicans' starters are Rajon Rondo, Evan Moore, Darius Miller, Nikola Mirotic, and Anthony Davis.

First there was a jump ball, Anthony Davis touched the basketball first and hit the ball to the backcourt, and Rondo controlled the basketball and started to attack.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Rondo first glanced at the situation on the court, and then made a gesture. Davis mentioned the pick-and-roll, and Rondo moved to the left, but his eyes were on Davis. Seeing Davis cutting to the empty field, Rondo immediately passed the ball.

The ball was given very accurately, but the Lakers quickly contracted their defense, and several people huddled together in the interior.

Davis frowned and did not force a shot. Instead, he passed the ball to Mirotic.

Mirotic took a three-pointer as soon as he received the ball.

"boom!"

There was a muffled sound, and the basketball bounced out of the frame.

The shot seemed a bit hasty, but this is what the coach required. Cousins ​​was out due to injury, and they lost an important scoring point. The Lakers will definitely focus on defending Davis, so if they want to beat the Lakers, other players must step up and score.

It's just that other players' scoring ability is obviously not comparable to Cousins, so Coach Gentry requires them to be resolute on the offensive end. For role players, only resoluteness can have a good effect. The more resolute they are, the better they play.

But the first ball was a miss.

Lopez blocked Davis, Anderson grabbed the rebound and quickly launched a counterattack, and Zhuang Yu and Holiday ran to the frontcourt together.

Anderson pushed the ball with both hands and made a long pass to the frontcourt.

"not good."

"Damn, that's too fast."

On the Pelicans bench.

A group of substitute players couldn't help but exclaim that the Lakers' counterattack was too fast.

Especially Zhuang Yu, who left everyone behind in a blink of an eye and stepped into the front three-point line. He looked back, reached out to grab the flying basketball, took another step forward, and then jumped into the air with an explosive tomahawk slam dunk.

There was a loud bang, causing the audience to boil.

"awesome."

“This dunk was so explosive.”

The fans shouted excitedly, cheering for the dunk and for Zhuang Yu.

The score is 2:0.

Although only one round had passed, Coach Gentry on the sidelines could not help but frown. The first round was a missed shot, and the opponent also made a quick counterattack. This was a blow to the morale of the Pelicans.

The Pelicans players were a little nervous when they faced the Lakers at their home court...

Coach Gentry stood up, walked to the sidelines, clapped his hands, and shouted, "It's okay, it's just a ball. Defend better and retreat quickly. Come on."

......

On the court, the Pelicans attacked.

After coming to the frontcourt this time, Anthony Davis directly reached out to ask for the ball in the low post on the right side, and Rondo passed it immediately without hesitation.

After getting the ball, Davis did not rush to the inside, but half turned around, from facing the basket with his back to the basket, holding the ball at his waist and examining the Lakers' defense.

He knew from the previous ball that the Lakers would not let him get the ball near the basket easily. Even if he got the ball near the basket, the Lakers would immediately shrink their defense and would rather give other Pelicans players some space to shoot from the outside than let him shoot easily.

This is what makes the Pelicans depressed after Cousins ​​was injured. The team only has one strong point in scoring, which is too easy to be targeted by defense.

Since the Lakers will shrink their defense, assist and make up for the deficit, Davis is not in a hurry to go inside. He lowers his center of gravity and takes a tentative step first.

Lopez subconsciously took a step back. After all, he was not as fast as Davis, and he would easily be passed if he got too close.

As soon as he saw Lopez retreating, Davis immediately pulled up for the shot.