Author: Tiamo the Withered

"The Magic came out on top! The Lakers were not to be outdone. Kobe caught the ball and quickly moved to the frontcourt, intending to take advantage of the Magic's unsteady footing to attack. However, the ball was interfered by Howard and missed, and Lewis got the rebound - Warcraft Today

I was very excited when I came up, and my offensive and defensive status was also very good."

Dayao said: "Howard's ability is still very strong. The most important thing is to have an outside shooting lineup that can help him clear the space inside so that he can rush up and the opponent may have to foul."

"But Dayao is quite experienced in fighting World of Warcraft, right?"

Dayao nodded and said: "Maybe he is more stubborn when he encounters me many times. If I defend him alone, I will definitely not be afraid of him. I am just afraid that he will cooperate with the outside pick-and-roll and I will not be able to defend him..."

In fact, he also knows the domestic evaluation of Howard, especially when he is put together with Howard, he feels that Howard cannot compare to him.

Otherwise, why would he be beaten every time he faced off, and his historical record would be very disastrous?

But Dayao himself still knows very well that he and Howard are not the same type.

To be honest, Howard is indeed a large blue-collar center who has a strong offensive impact due to his athletic ability, but this is also because he is more adaptable to the NBA's style of play.

And if it were to switch to the international arena, then centers like Dayao would definitely be more popular. Even his lack of mobility would not be considered a weakness or even a strength due to FIBA's competition rules.

To put it bluntly, the NBA changed the rules and weakened the deterrence of big inside centers in the penalty area. You are easy to get fouled under the basket, and it is difficult to recover when you are pulled out, so people will directly bombard the inside.

It is easy to fall into a dilemma.

Houston's defeat to the Jazz for two consecutive seasons has a lot to do with this natural flaw on the defensive end.

The problem is that Houston has never been able to find a suitable partner at the fourth position to free up Yao.

Hayes can defend, but his offense is a mess. Scola and Landry are still rookies, and they can't count on their strong offense and weak defense.

When you have obvious flaws inside, wouldn't you be a fool if you don't attack?

Similarly, the Lakers now have Pau Gasol who has performed well in the international arena, but Gasol is more suitable for the fourth position. As a center, he is still worse at one-on-one defense.

, it seems more difficult to defend against Howard.

Howard even drove him hard to the basket twice in a row. He got a dunk and caused a foul. He also got extra penalties. He hit a layup once and scored 6 points in a row after the start.

"Kentucky" Jackson also seemed a little unable to sit still at this time. He stood up and greeted Radmanovic loudly, asking him to help Gasol share the pressure.

Now that Yao is here, Zhang must guide them to look forward to the future Olympic situation. At this time, there are both Kobe and Howard, the future main players of the American team, and Pau Gasol, the core inside player of the Spanish team, on the court.

Seeing Gasol being "beaten" by Howard, and thinking about how difficult it was for him when he faced Li Chengming, Director Zhang smiled and said: "I think if we face the Spanish team in this Olympics, the inside line should be better."

At an advantage.”

If Li Chengming takes the fourth position and partners with Dayao in the paint, it's hard to say on the defensive end, but Spain will definitely not be able to stop him on the offensive end.

Even Dayao might be able to enjoy being single-guarded or even left open in the paint, because the opponent is likely to double attack Li Chengming.

Dayao was more conservative, shook his head and said: "It still depends on the results of the training camp and the subsequent warm-up matches. You don't know anything until you play."

The Lakers seemed to be a bit stunned at the beginning, but Kobe stepped up and scored 4 points in a row to stabilize the morale of the team.

When the first quarter entered 7 minutes and 34 seconds and the official timeout occurred, the score was 21:14, and the Lakers were temporarily 7 points behind.

Van Gundy replaced Li Chengming on the court, replacing Howard who was fouled by Kobe Bryant for the second time.

Howard did appear to be more active today, and defensive enthusiasm is a double-edged sword, especially since he still hasn't gotten rid of his bad habit of jumping around and can easily get fouled. In this regard, he is different from the Suns.

Pretty much the same.

In other words, these jumping men actually have similar problems, as if they feel uncomfortable if they don't jump when defending.

After Li Chengming moved to the center position, he faced Gasol, who was a head taller than him. Kobe seemed to want to give Gasol some confidence and continued to help him with the ball.

But although Li Chengming was at a height disadvantage, he had just strengthened on the defensive end and gave Gasol a head start.

First, he took the ball from behind to destroy the out of bounds, and then made Gasol's walking violation through prejudgment.

In the next round, he made an early judgment and took a step back after Gasol turned around. Then he suddenly stepped forward and cut the ball out of Gasol's hand to complete the steal.

And in a positional battle, he directly faced Gasol and succeeded in a jumper. After stealing the ball, he passed the ball and launched a fast break. The offense and defense overwhelmed Gasol, which made him lose face.

Director Zhang was happy to see it: "Li Chengming and Howard seem to have turned Gasol into the Lakers' defensive weakness. The key is that he can't score even if he can't guard himself. Li Chengming's defensive aggressiveness today is very strong."

, giving enough physical confrontation.

"Today the referee's whistle was indeed looser. The scales on both sides are almost the same, but in terms of physical confrontation, the Magic's inside line definitely has an advantage."

The current total score is 1:1, and this is at the home court of the Lakers. In fact, it can be expected that as long as the league is not bent on protecting the Lakers, there is a high probability that this third game will be relatively fair.

Anyway, the calls so far in the first quarter can be said to be impartial. The two fouls committed by Howard were clearly committed and had to be called. This can only be said that Kobe adjusted well in the air and deceived him.

he.

But now Li Chengming defends Gasol, using his body to hold him up, and at the same time, he looks for the opportunity with both hands and takes the ball from under his armpits. As long as he takes the shot, it will be accurate.

Gasol seemed a little uncomfortable and was in a hurry, mainly because there seemed to be some mental problems.

When Jackson took him off the field, he called him aside to explain himself secretly.

Gasol is undoubtedly a very smart player, but he was indeed manipulated by Howard and Lee Cheng-ming in this game.

It was precisely because of this "breakthrough" that the Magic opened the point difference to 11 points before the end of the first quarter.

Kobe, who only rested for two minutes in the second quarter, came back to lead the substitutes. He really wanted to win, but Li Chengming and Turkoglu were on the court at the same time. At the center position, there was also a Polish man who was getting better and better as a substitute in the playoffs.

Gortat, the Lakers struggled to maintain an unbeaten streak.

At more than four minutes, both Howard and Gasol returned to the court, but the protagonists at this time were neither the two of them, nor the fame of Kobe and Lee. Instead, it became a three-point battle between Vujacic and Lewis.

Lewis, who performed well on the three-point line in the last game, continued his touch this time. So far, he has made 3 of 5 shots. Vujacic also made 2 three-pointers and a fast break layup. He scored 8 points in a single quarter.

The explosion actually helped the Lakers firmly lock the point difference.

Of course, Vujacic's performance also has a lot to do with the Lakers' excellent passing of the ball in this quarter. Odom and Farmar played the role of threading the needle, and the triangle offense produced an answer that satisfied the fans.

Unfortunately, the Lakers were still 8 points behind at halftime. Li Chengming didn't take many shots in the half. He only scored 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on 4 of 7 shots. He also observed the opponent's formation changes and played a lot of high pick-and-rolls.

Support the ball.

However, his performance on the defensive end was very surprising. He had 2 steals and 1 block all against Gasol.

Gasol was out of control in this half, even facing Gortat. He felt like anyone could beat him. If he didn't quickly adjust his mentality and state in the midfield, the Lakers would definitely be doomed.
Chapter completed!