Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Despite winning consecutive games, Lopez's injury still had some impact on the Lakers.

For example, Zhuang Yu had to play longer, and the team's defense had declined compared to before, so they often had to rely on offense to make up for it.

Fortunately, the Lakers have sufficient lineup depth.

Even though the Lakers' defensive strength has declined without Lopez, they are still very strong on offense.

After defeating the Jazz, the Lakers went to another away game and challenged the San Antonio Spurs a day later.

The Spurs' lineup has undergone significant changes this season. Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Raptors, Manu Ginobili announced his retirement, and Tony Parker went to the Hornets. Only Aldridge, Rudy Gay, and Pau Gasol are left from last season's main lineup.

Pau Gasol is still recovering from injury.

In this way, the Spurs can only rely on Aldridge, DeRozan, and Rudy Gay.

The performance of these three players is pretty good. Aldridge and DeRozan both averaged more than 20 points per game, and Gay also contributed 13.5 points per game. However, compared to their respective peak seasons, their data this season has obviously declined.

What is ultimately reflected in the game is the Spurs' poor record, currently ranking only eighth in the Western Conference, slightly ahead of the Clippers.

When the game started, the Spurs showed their usual high level of defense, but in Zhuang Yu's opinion, it was completely incomparable to the Spurs a few years ago.

The Spurs have always been a team that excels in defense, and the Spurs system is well-known.

Mr. Popovich is still here, but the players who built the Spurs system have either retired or left.

Although the current Spurs have All-Star players like LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, it is no longer possible to build the Spurs system again.

Therefore, the Spurs' defense is still very strong today, but not to mention compared with the Spurs during the peak period of the "Troika", it is still much worse than a few years ago.

This is a good thing for the Lakers.

Since everyone's defense is not at its best, let's compete in offense.

When it comes to offense, the Lakers are not afraid.

Since defeating the Warriors, the Lakers have swept away the depression and repression caused by Lopez's injury, and the players have become motivated again.

Zhuang Yu's performance was still outstanding, scoring 1 points in the first quarter, plus three rebounds and two assists. In addition, Holiday, Anderson, Korver, and Clarkson, Rose, Nance Jr. who came off the bench also performed well.

In the end, the Lakers led the Spurs by 12 points in the first quarter alone.

After entering the second quarter, the Spurs launched a counterattack and narrowed the score difference to single digits.

However, whenever they wanted to catch up, someone from the Lakers would always step up and score, which made the Spurs very depressed. They could clearly see the lead, but they just couldn't catch up.

The Lakers led until the end of the first half.

After entering the second half, the Spurs wanted to launch a wave of attack to catch up with or even surpass the score in one fell swoop.

However, before they could explode, the Lakers started raining three-pointers.

First, Zhuang Yu made a three-pointer, then Holiday suddenly passed the ball to Korver, assisting Korver to make a three-pointer. Then Zhuang Yu passed the ball to Holiday from behind without even looking at him, and Holiday took the ball and made a three-pointer, which also hit the target steadily.

After three three-pointers, the gap between the two sides quickly widened and returned to double digits.

The Spurs called a timeout to adjust.

However, just a few dozen seconds after returning to the court, Zhuang Yu hit a difficult step-back three-pointer against the defense.

The Spurs' morale plummeted, and the emotions that had been brewing were also destroyed.

The Lakers led for the next few minutes.

Until the end of the third quarter, the Lakers were still leading by 11 points.

Although GDB is no longer with the Spurs, and Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green have also left the Spurs, the current Spurs are almost rebuilding, but old man Popovich is still there, and the fine tradition has been preserved, that is, no matter when or under what circumstances, they will not give up easily.

In the last quarter, the Spurs were still trying to catch up, and even narrowed the gap to single digits at one point.

But when Zhuang Yu returned to the court, he first made a layup with a European step after a breakthrough, followed by a three-pointer, and a fadeaway jump shot... before long, the difference between the two sides was more than ten points again.

The Spurs have also tried to find ways to limit Zhuang Yu.

However, sometimes you don’t know what despair is unless you try hard. They tried hard, but found that they had no way to deal with Zhuang Yu. Only DeRozan tried to compete with Zhuang Yu, wanting to use his scoring ability to help the team offset the damage brought by Zhuang Yu.

But DeRozan is good at mid-range shooting. He is nicknamed the Little Prince of Mid-range Shooting. He is a master of mid-range jump shots. It can be said that he is one of the best mid-range jump shooters in the league today.

However, three-point shooting is not his strong point.

When he could score the ball with a mid-range jump shot, Zhuang Yu could also score the ball, but when Zhuang Yu hit a three-pointer from the outside, he couldn't return an answerball.

Even if he turned around and scored the ball, it would only be a two-point shot, and the gap between the two sides would still widen.

After a while, the fourth quarter came to an end.

The Lakers were still leading by more than ten points. The game had lost suspense with only a little over a minute left, but old man Popovich did not replace the main players and let them play the last minute or so.

When the game ended, the score was 117:118. The Spurs used the last minute or so to narrow the gap to single digits, but it was of no avail.

In this game, Zhuang Yu played for 37 minutes, scored 33 points, plus 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and another 30+.

In fact, scoring 30 points in a game is nothing to Zhuang Yu. He has already won the scoring title twice, so winning it once more would not mean much.

However, now that Lopez is missing, the Lakers' defense has problems and they have to rely more on offense. Without Lopez, a strong scoring point in the interior, Zhuang Yu must take on more scoring tasks. With more shots, his points will naturally increase.

If this trend continues, it probably won’t take too long for Zhuang Yu’s average points per game to rise to 30 points.

After all, the 65 points against the Warriors directly increased his scoring average by more than one point, which was already close to 30 points.

After three road games, the Lakers boarded a plane back to Los Angeles...

......

Another week passed in the blink of an eye.

In the Lakers training gym.

A group of players were training, and Lopez also came to the training hall, but he could only sit on the long side wearing protective boots and watch his teammates training.

Lopez's surgery went smoothly. He can now walk on his own wearing a protective boot, but he still can't get rid of his crutches, so it will take another two or three months for him to return to the court.

He didn't have to come.

However, he had been in the hospital for more than a week and could no longer stay there. He also didn't want to watch TV at home, so he came to the stadium.

Here are his teammates, comrades-in-arms, and brothers.

There are familiar voices and laughter here, which prevents him from feeling too depressed.

"Bang!"

With a bang, Kuzma dunked over Anderson.

Lopez blew a whistle and shouted to the court: "Kyle, can you tolerate this? One more, dunk on him."

Anderson rolled his eyes and deliberately kept a straight face, showing a grim expression: "Kuzma, you are dead."

Since both of them are named Kyle, Anderson usually calls Kuzma by his last name instead of his first name. Otherwise, he can only call him Big Kyle or Little Kyle, which is not appropriate.

For example, we call them Gasol Sr. and Gasol Jr., Morris Sr. and Morris Jr., Curry and Curry Jr., that's because that's their last name.

Rather than a name.

Kyle Anderson and Kyle Kuzma certainly don’t have the same last name, but it’s a coincidence that both of them are named Kyle.

"I'm not afraid of you." Kuzma patted his chest.

Coming to the frontcourt, Anderson took the initiative to ask for the ball, and then singled out Kuzma...

Lopez blew the whistle again, and the players who were not on the court also started to make a noise, while Coach Scott and Assistant Coach Madsen and others just smiled and didn't take it seriously.

It's just a training match. In the tense and intensive regular season schedule, training itself is not the focus, and no one would expect to improve themselves at this time.

Unless you practice like Zhuang Yu.

The NBA regular season schedule is very dense and the games are very intense, which is a test for the physical fitness and health of NBA players, especially the team's main players and regular rotation players. Many players suffer injuries because of excessive consumption in the game, accumulated physical damage, and insufficient time to adjust and recover.

Moreover, intensive games are not only a huge test for the players' bodies, but also a test for their spirits.

For example, consecutive away games, and even back-to-back games.

Generally after a game they have to wait for a plane overnight to fly to the next away game. They may not even have time to rest as they have to face another game the next day.

It can be said that the consecutive away games for NBA teams are really tiring as they are either on the court or on the plane. It is not as comfortable and relaxing as outsiders see. Although it is a chartered plane, it is not a luxurious private plane that can accommodate a bed, and there is no possibility of fine wine and cigars.

Therefore, during the regular season, the team often does not organize training, for example, when the interval between two games is too short or when they have just finished a series of away games.

Generally, the coaching staff will not arrange training at this time.

Even if there is training, the intensity will not be very high. It is more about tactical drills and allowing players to maintain their touch and condition.

During training, the atmosphere is not particularly serious. Players are always allowed to relax. It is good for them to relax appropriately.

If you pay more attention, you will find that the locker rooms of many NBA teams are very cheerful. This is a kind of emotional adjustment and it is also what the coaching staff is happy to see.