Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The reason why Coach Kerr asked Durant to strengthen his one-on-one shooting is naturally not just to compete with Zhuang Yu, but there is another purpose. When Durant plays one-on-one shooting with the ball, the Lakers must adjust their defense, need assisting defense, or even double-teaming, to limit Durant as much as possible.

Once this happens, the Lakers' defense against other players will have loopholes, such as Curry or Klay...

This gives Curry and Klay the opportunity to show their three-point ability.

Durant's one-on-one play with the ball + Curry and Klay's three-pointers, this is the real reason why the Warriors' offense is so sharp.

In the first quarter, Coach Kerr let Curry attack with the ball, while Klay and Durant played without the ball. Although Durant's shooting was also very good, this style of play obviously could not fully unleash the Warriors' power on the offensive end.

One reason is that although Curry's ability to hold the ball and play one-on-one is also very strong, he is limited by his physical talent and is not as unstoppable as Durant.

Second, the person facing Curry is Holiday. It is obviously much more difficult for Curry to play against Holiday than for Durant to play against Korver.

not to mention......

In terms of playing style, Durant is more suitable for one-on-one play with the ball, while Curry is more suitable for playing without the ball.

So like in the first quarter, with Curry holding the ball and Durant playing without the ball, this is not the best offensive strategy.

As it is now, it is obviously better for Durant to be responsible for the ball-holding offense and Curry and Klay to be responsible for playing without the ball.

In the next few rounds, the Warriors' offense all started from Durant, who used his personal ability to hold the ball and play against Korver, or took shots himself, or disrupted the Lakers' defensive formation and then passed the ball to Curry, Klay, or others.

In short, their offensive efficiency was obviously much better than in the first quarter.

However, on the Lakers side, Zhuang Yu was also more aggressive on the offensive end than in the first quarter. As long as Durant made a shot, he would also make one.

In fact, there is no difference in the offensive strategies of the two teams. The Warriors have Durant holding the ball and playing alone, while the Lakers have Zhuang Yu holding the ball and playing alone, while the others play without the ball. They all have small lineups and shoot a lot of three-pointers...

It’s just that the Warriors played better off-ball offense, and the Splash Brothers, Curry and Klay, were more accurate in three-point shooting than the Lakers.

So after a while, the Warriors were still in the upper hand and the gap between the two sides narrowed a little.

......

"Shh!"

With a slight sound, Klay hit another three-pointer.

After this three-pointer, the gap between the two sides was narrowed to only two points.

"Requesting a timeout."

The Lakers called a timeout.

Several players came off the court and Coach Scott made substitutions, replacing Korver and Nance Jr. with Cunningham and Lopez Sr.

Then he spread out the tactical board and made some arrangements.

After the timeout, the Warriors also made substitutions. They replaced Iguodala with Cousins.

After this substitution, the Lakers' defense is obviously much stronger than the previous lineup. Not only the individual defensive ability of the players, but also the team's defensive ability is stronger than before. The target is naturally the Warriors' offense, to be precise, Durant, Curry and Klay.

But the Warriors were clearly prepared.

After the timeout, they started to shoot the ball towards the basket and passed it to Cousins, who caught the ball near the basket.

In the first quarter, the Warriors basically didn't give the ball to Cousins ​​on the offensive end. Cousins ​​was mainly responsible for defense and rebounding on the court. But at this time they began to give the ball to Cousins, allowing Cousins ​​to play one-on-one in the low post.

Considering the performance of Durant, Curry and Klay in the previous few minutes, the Lakers had to focus their defense on the three of them and had no time to pay attention to Cousins.

When Durant, Curry and Klay are on defense, Cousins ​​has a better chance and can basically shoot directly after receiving the ball.

After a few tries, Cousins ​​actually scored two or three goals.

Although he is not the offensive core of the Warriors, he plays a good complementary role, allowing the Warriors' offense to blossom in multiple areas.

......

"Shh!"

With a slight sound, the basketball went through the net and the timer lit up.

At this time, the second quarter ended, and with Curry's high rebound and buzzer-beater, the Warriors not only tied the game, but also overtook by two points.

"Haha, this buzzer beater is awesome."

“Finally overtook.”

"This quarter was great. Not only KD played well, but Curry, Klay, and Cousins ​​also played well..."

The home fans were discussing excitedly and were very satisfied with the Warriors' performance in this quarter. This was the Warriors' offense.

The Warriors had been lagging behind before, which made the home fans a little depressed, but with their outstanding performance in this quarter they successfully reversed the score.

......

At the same time, in the locker room.

A group of Lakers players sat together, all with serious expressions.

Zhuang Yu glanced at his teammates, then stood up and said with a smile: "Why do you all have such expressions? The opponent just overtook us by two points."

Everyone looked at Zhuang Yu but said nothing.

They certainly would not fall into self-doubt just because the Warriors overtook them by two points. What made them look like this was that the Warriors' offense was too sharp in the second quarter.

In fact, the Lakers' offense in the second quarter was also very good, but in comparison, the Warriors shot better from three-point range and had a more outstanding offense.

What the players are worried about now is that they are not sure whether they can defend the Warriors' offense in the second half under the current circumstances.

What if you can’t prevent it?

Zhuang Yu said: "Don't worry too much. The Warriors' offense was indeed very good in this quarter, but it is not impeccable."

Ok?

What's the meaning?

Everyone couldn't help but raise their eyebrows and looked at Zhuang Yu in confusion.

Zhuang Yu explained: "The reason why the Warriors played so well in this quarter was because of KD's individual singles ability and the distraction of Curry and Klay. They created a lot of opportunities for Cousins. They really have a lot of scoring points, which makes it hard to defend against."

"But I don't think it's really unpreventable."

"First, KD. KD has a strong scoring ability, but I don't know if you noticed that in this quarter, KD actually chose to shoot more. Even after breaking through the defender, he would choose a mid-range jump shot. He was almost never seen attacking the basket. Why is that?"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Thinking carefully about the game just now, it seems to be true. Durant performed very well on the offensive end, but he basically just shot and did not attack the basket.

Anderson's mind moved, and he said, "Are you saying that KD is still troubled by injuries and doesn't dare to play freely, so he chooses to shoot more?"

"That's right." Zhuang Yu smiled and said, "With KD's comprehensive skills, he chose to shoot all the time. I think this is the only explanation. If this is the case, then we can be more targeted on the defensive end."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Of course, even though Durant was troubled by injuries and was reluctant to attack the basket in order to reduce physical confrontation, his shooting was already very impressive.

Even if they knew this situation, most people couldn't defend against him.

So Zhuang Yu immediately said: "I will take the initiative to ask to defend KD later, leave him to me. What you have to do is to limit Curry and Klay's three-pointers from the outside, force them to break through as much as possible, and don't give them outside shooting opportunities..."

As he was speaking, Coach Scott pushed the door open and walked in.

"Zhuang is right."

He took over Zhuang Yu's words, "I have been observing KD just now. I am sure that the injury must have affected him. Zhuang will defend KD later. The others need to defend Curry and Klay. The switching defense must be fast and no one should be missed. Don't give them any opportunities from the outside."

Coach Scott then spread out the tactical board, wrote and drew on it, and made detailed arrangements for the defensive tactics.

It is mainly aimed at Durant, Curry and Klay.

As for Cousins, he just gave a simple reminder, because the reason why Cousins ​​played well on the offensive end in the second quarter was actually because Durant, Curry and Klay tied up a lot of the Lakers' defense and created good opportunities for him.

Once Durant is restricted and the Lakers target him on defense, forcing Curry and Klay to break through more, it will be difficult for Cousins ​​to get a good offensive space in the interior.

As for letting Cousins ​​hold the ball...

Coach Scott is not worried about this.

......

Soon, the second half begins.

Both sides fielded their starting lineups.

Lakers possession of the ball.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Holiday and Zhuang Yu moved crosswise. Holiday passed the ball to Zhuang Yu and helped Zhuang Yu block Klay. The two switched defense and Curry defended Zhuang Yu.

This was a mismatch opportunity, and Zhuang Yu decisively challenged Curry.

However, the Warriors were obviously prepared and quickly provided help defense. Zhuang Yu passed the ball and assisted Anderson to score a layup.

Turning around, Curry took the ball and pushed forward in the backcourt. After reaching the frontcourt, he glanced at the defensive situation on the court, and then he couldn't help but frowned, a little surprised.

At this time, the person facing him was still Holiday, but the person facing Klay became Korver, and Zhuang Yu stood in front of Durant.

The two exchanged defensive positions, and it was Zhuang Yu who defended Durant.

Although he was a little surprised by the Lakers' defensive changes, Curry still called a pick-and-roll and then passed the ball back to Green, who passed it to Durant.

The Warriors' playing style was the same as in the second quarter, starting from Durant. Durant held the ball at his waist, first made a fake shot, then stepped out with his right foot, broke through, slapped the ball forward with his right hand, and accelerated suddenly.

Zhuang Yu judged Durant's intention in advance, and took a step back to block the position, blocking Durant in front of him and preventing Durant from breaking through.

Durant pulled the ball back, swung his shoulders and changed direction in front of his body, switched the ball to his left hand and broke through to the left.

This time, Zhuang Yu quickly moved sideways to get close to Durant, while Anderson moved closer. He pounced decisively and got directly in front of Durant.

At this time, there was Zhuang Yu on Durant's side and Anderson in front of him. A direct pull-up shot was obviously not a good choice. Without hesitation, he passed the ball to Green, who passed the ball to Curry, wanting Curry to shoot a three-pointer.

However, the Lakers quickly switched defense. Anderson ignored Green and rushed directly towards Curry. He was also very determined to prevent Curry from shooting a three-pointer.

Curry frowned slightly, but still chose to break through.

And this is what the Lakers want, not giving Curry three-pointers and forcing him to break through. It doesn't matter even if Curry breaks through and scores two points.

The Lakers used the same defensive strategy in the next few rounds. Zhuang Yu defended Durant alone, relying on his "special ability" to predict Durant's offensive intentions in advance. Although it was still impossible to completely defend Durant, Zhuang Yu only needed to defend Durant's shots.

This can still be done.

Of course, Durant could have passed Zhuang Yu and attacked the basket...but he didn't do that and passed the ball instead.

It was nothing once or twice, but after three or four times, Coach Kerr's expression changed.