Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

When the sixth game of the Nuggets vs. Thunder series ended, the first round of the playoffs was also over.

西部这边勇士队4:1击败快船晋级。掘金队4：2击败雷霆晋级。火箭队4：2击败开拓者，以下克上，也晋级第二轮。

Needless to say, the Lakers are the first team in the Western Conference to advance to the second round.

东部的雄鹿早早以4：0晋级，凯尔特人紧随其后也以4：0晋级，猛龙和76人都和对手打到了第五场，双双以4：1晋级。

The Nets and 76ers played five games in the series, but ultimately failed to beat the 76ers. However, this result was not unexpected.

The gap in strength between the two sides is obvious.

Zhou An's performance in the first three games was very average, even a little disappointing, but he performed better and better in the next two games. In the fourth game, he played for 27 minutes and scored 18 points, plus 8 rebounds and 3 assists, including two three-pointers.

In the fifth game, Zhou An played for 32 minutes and scored 17 points, but he also grabbed 11 rebounds and had 3 assists. He played very well in both games.

It’s a pity that the Nets were still eliminated.

......

At the same time, the Lakers also ushered in the second round of the playoffs.

Entering the second round, the Lakers' opponent became the Nuggets, and the Nuggets had a home-court advantage because their regular season record was ahead of the Lakers.

The Lakers arrived in Denver a day in advance and after a short rest they faced the Nuggets.

This is the Western Conference semifinals, so the attention is naturally different from before. The audience seats are packed, it is very lively, and the attendance rate is very high.

Fans gathered in groups of three or four and whispered to each other, and the combined sound was so loud that the entire stadium was noisy.

Amid the hustle and bustle, players from both teams were warming up on the court.

While warming up, the Nuggets players were also chatting.

"You must keep a close eye on Zhuang Yu later. That guy is too good at scoring. Barton, you have to defend him closer to the front and don't let him shoot."

"Don't worry, I know what to do, but if he breaks through, it'll be up to you."

"It's okay, we will help you back up the defense."

The focus of the group's discussion was still Zhuang Yu, because Zhuang Yu was so strong.

In the previous Lakers vs. Jazz series, Zhuang Yu only played three quarters in two games before clocking out. His playing time in the entire series was only 30 minutes, but he averaged 29.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.

The efficiency is exaggerated.

The Nuggets specifically studied the game video of the Lakers vs. Jazz, and after watching it, the Nuggets players felt that this guy is a scoring machine.

Especially Zhuang Yu’s shooting, which was terrifyingly accurate.

Jokic was also warming up. He did not participate in the discussion with his teammates, but his eyes involuntarily fell on Zhuang Yu, thinking about how to respond.

But soon he shook his head helplessly, and the answer he came to was that it was difficult to restrict Zhuang Yu. He could only reduce his scoring efficiency as much as possible and prevent him from scoring easily.

In addition, there is our own attack.

This season, the Nuggets averaged 106.7 points per game and 110.7 points per game. It can be said that they are very good on both offense and defense.

Nikola Jokic averaged 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game and was selected as an All-Star.

In addition to Jokic, Jamal Murray averaged 18.2 points, Gary Harris averaged 12.9 points, Paul Millsap averaged 12.6 points, Will Barton averaged 11.5 points, Malik Beasley averaged 11.3 points, and Monte Morris averaged 10.4 points. Seven players on the team scored in double digits and one scored 20+ points. It can be seen that they have many scoring points and their offensive strength is also very strong.

If it were against other teams or other players, Jokic would be confident in the team's offense and defense. However, when facing the Lakers and Zhuang Yu, he still felt a little unsure.

"Unfortunately, we lack a No. 3 player who can defend well enough..."

Jokic suddenly muttered to himself.

Murray next to him asked, "Nikola, what did you just say?"

"Nothing." Jokic shook his head and did not explain. Instead, he smiled at Murray and said, "You have to help Barton with defense and be more resolute in offense."

Murray chuckled and indicated that he understood.

......

After some warm-up, the game is about to begin.

Players from both teams came onto the court, with the Lakers still fielding their regular starters.

The starting lineup of the Nuggets is Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic.

First the jump ball.

This time, Lopez touched the basketball first and hit the ball to the backcourt. Holiday controlled the ball and advanced slowly. When he reached the frontcourt, he first glanced at the Nuggets' defense and then looked at Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu ran back and asked for the ball.

Holiday immediately passed the ball, then pulled the people away himself and gestured to his teammates, signaling everyone else to pull the people away.

Opposing Zhuang Yu is Will Barton, who is 198 cm tall, comparable to Zhuang Yu, and is not at a disadvantage in terms of height and wingspan.

However, fearing Zhuang Yu's three-pointer, Barton defended relatively forward, only about one meter away from Zhuang Yu, with one hand raised all the time, keeping it in front of Zhuang Yu's face.

The next moment, Zhuang Yu stepped out with his right foot, made a tentative step, and then immediately retracted it, pushed the ball forward with his left hand, and broke through to the left.

"left."

Patton immediately adjusted his center of gravity and moved sideways to block the gap, but Zhuang Yu was too fast and he had already passed him by more than half a body length in just one step.

At the same time, Jokic took a step forward and prepared to provide backup defense.

However, Zhuang Yu did not rush directly into the three-second zone. Instead, he paused after taking a step forward, confronted Patton, then moved half a step to the left to further increase the distance between him and Patton, and then jumped up and took a mid-range shot.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

The home fans were a little unhappy when they saw Zhuang Yu hit the singles at the beginning.

Jokic couldn't help but frown. He was very smart and immediately realized that Zhuang Yu was going to attack hard from the beginning without reservation. He said to his teammates, "Pay attention to assisting defense later."

The teammates agreed and started the attack.

After Murray came to the frontcourt, he first called for a pick-and-roll, but the opportunity was not very good, so he didn't care and passed the ball back to Jokic.

In fact, the real organizational core of the Nuggets and the brain of the team is not the guard Murray, but Jokic.

This season, Murray averaged 4.8 assists per game, which is quite good.

But his assists data can only rank second in the team. Jokic ranks first, averaging 7.3 assists per game. Not only does he rank first in the Nuggets, but he also ranks first in the center position in the entire league. His total assists for the season reached 580 times, more than 2 times ahead of the second place Marc Gasol (349 total assists for the season).