NBA: I am a master dealer

And soon.

The Lakers ushered in the final game of the All-Star Weekend and challenged the Suns away from home.

The Suns have only achieved a record of 17 wins and 39 losses this season, and are completely at the bottom.

I still remember that before the start of this season, ESPN ranked them at the end of the Western Conference. This made the Suns generals furious. Booker, Bledsoe and others told the media that they wanted to smash ESPN's old face.

result.

People's predictions were correct, the sun is indeed at the bottom.

Just looking at the strength on paper, the Suns are actually not weak. Super star Devin Booker, bloody Bledsoe, the once brilliant Luol Deng, former Bucks leader Brandon Knight, champion center Feng Chandler Wang, explosive forward TJ Warren.

There are also high-quality role players such as Marquese Chriss, Barbosa, Alex Len, Dudley, Jones Jr., etc.

But despite this, they still can't escape the fate of being at the bottom.

Because others are stronger than them.

The Pelicans seem to be injured and crippled, but Anthony Davis holds up the sky. As long as the players they match are not too outrageous, they are still very competitive. This is the verification of top stars.

Booker of the Suns is still a little immature and does not have the strength to support the entire team.

Not to mention the bloody Bledsoe. He has been in the NBA for many years. Although he has an outstanding body and a powerful playing style, he has always been synonymous with inefficiency.

Neither of them has cornerstone level strength. Naturally, they cannot support the team's tactical system, so they will naturally be underestimated by the outside world.

Uh……

It's not an underestimation, it's a fact.

In this game, outsiders predict that the Lakers will win the game without any blood.

result.

In the first quarter, the Lakers were stunned.

At 18:32, they lost by a full 14 points.

For a moment, Xue Liancheng was not sure where the problem was. He just missed the shot and felt like something was wrong.

Section 2.

Xue Liancheng played at a steady pace and finally produced good results. His offensive firepower recovered and he scored 33 points in a single quarter.

But the Suns had more firepower, scoring another 36 points in a single quarter.

The Lakers lost another 3 points in this quarter.

At halftime, the Lakers trailed the Suns by a full 17 points.

Being beaten by the Western Conference?
This was totally unexpected.

Xue Liancheng couldn't believe it. Before the game, he thought there would be no pressure in this game.

result.

There is no way to fight back.

The Suns can shoot whatever they want, and they attack the basket like a whirlwind, extremely fast.

The Lakers' defense felt like it was leaking everywhere. It couldn't be defended this way, and it couldn't be defended that way. They could only watch the sun send the ball into the basket over and over again.

In the locker room.

Mike Brown was the first to express his anger in black face: "What is going on? Who can tell me what happened?"

"We lost by a full 17 points, 17 points! This point difference is so incredible, you don't need me to explain it, right?"

Seeing that everyone was silent, he started to drink chicken soup: "But these are not important anymore. I hope that all of you can cheer up to meet the next challenge, and I also believe that you can do it, because We are the best team in the league, if not one."

The last paragraph is indeed inspiring and true.

After all, the Lakers have ushered in an 11-game winning streak, which is the ceiling of the league's current winning streak. Mike Brown is not bragging. They are indeed the best team in the league at this stage.

This is equivalent to injecting a shot in the arm and giving confidence to all the Lakers players.

However, Xue Liancheng felt that it was not enough and added, "Perhaps the rapid progress has made everyone relax and feel that we are already strong enough to crush anyone, especially those teams that seem to be very weak. We subconsciously do not let them go." In my eyes, the Pistons were like this last time, and the Suns are like this this time as well.”

This is what is called underestimating the enemy.

With this kind of mentality, you will be lax in your actions.

For example, the defense is not so focused.

For example, the offense has become random.

He didn't have the nerves to tense up when facing a strong enemy, and he didn't have the determination to kill the opponent forcefully.

It was the same thing the last time we faced the Pistons. In the end, we relied on George's hard pass and his buzzer-beater to barely win and continue the winning streak.

Now facing the countdown Suns, everyone once again had this mentality, which led to them being hit in the head in the first quarter.

Therefore, he must remind them and sound the alarm for them.

As soon as these words came out.

As expected, everyone's expressions changed.

This shows that Xue Liancheng is right.

Xue Liancheng continued: "Next, we have to show the momentum and determination to play the last game. The offensive end may need to test the touch, but the defensive end requires ferocity and concentration. We can do these things. Then I have to give everything I have, for example, since I have to commit a foul, I can’t hesitate like a bitch, give me more intensity.”

After hearing Xue Liancheng's words, the eyes of everyone began to become determined.

The words were spoken so clearly that they naturally knew what to do next.

If you must commit a foul, be brutal. This is the standard.

The second half.

The Lakers' momentum changed. In the first round, Randall almost knocked Booker to the ground, and a physical conflict broke out between the two sides.

But the tone was set here. It was no longer so easy for the Suns to hit the basket.

The Lakers have transformed into a violent giant. They would rather send you to the free throw line than let you easily hit the basket successfully.

The referee's whistle blows are also constantly adjusted.

The fierce physical confrontation also affected the hands of the Suns players.

As for the Lakers, due to the presence of Xue Liancheng, the offensive end is still very secure, especially in the third quarter. His 100% hitting skills are no longer retained, and he has already used them in continuous pursuit of points.

And the effect is also obvious.

湖人单节以38:28抢回来10分，总比分变成了89:96，湖人虽然依旧落后7分，但气势已经起来了。

The commentator even said bluntly: "Next, it's Xue Liancheng's harvest time again. The Lakers have shown the potential of a top team."

Commentator: "For this reason, solar energy is actually pretty good."

Final section.

The Lakers continued their fierce impact, and they played to a very high level on both the defensive and offensive ends.

But I don’t know what happened. Maybe the Suns felt really good. They were still leading by 1 points with 5 minute left in the final quarter.

This is simply jaw-dropping.

No one could have imagined that the sun's resilience could be so strong.

Xue Liancheng's eyelids couldn't help but twitch wildly. He had already used two 100% hit skills, and now he only had the last one left.

There is no team that can force him to this level, but it shouldn't be the Suns!
A team that was last in the Western Conference made him so embarrassed. Especially after the second half, the Lakers really tried their best, but still couldn't come back.

This is very demoralizing.

Fortunately...

George stood up again.

First, he forced a layup, causing the opponent to foul and winning two free throw opportunities.

George made two free throws, narrowing the point difference to 3 points.

In the next round, George defended Booker alone and successfully stole the ball.

Xue Liancheng and George played fast break and completed the alley-oop.

1 point difference. In these two rounds, George regained his true qualities as General Joe and played like a top star.

There are still 33 seconds left.

Booker came to execute the Suns' last attack, but it seemed that tonight's luck had run out, and the game ended.

George jumped high in the crowd and protected this crucial rebound.

There are still 21 seconds left.

The Lakers' last attack.

It is also an attack that determines life and death.

After the timeout, Xue Liancheng successfully caught the ball.

But the Suns quickly came to double-team, and Xue Liancheng quickly seized this missed opportunity and passed it to George, who then passed to Courtney Lee, who rushed in and was unguarded.

The latter scored easily.

Directly completed the big comeback.

16 seconds.

The Suns made the final shot.

In the end, he couldn't even shoot. Booker paid the price for his youth. After catching the ball, he was flanked by Xue Liancheng in anticipation.

Mistake.

And the Lakers ran fast breaks.

After Xue Liancheng rushed through the half court, he caught the ball and shot a three-pointer.

in!
Kill the game 3 seconds early.

finally.

The Suns lost a good game at 122:126 and swallowed the fruits of defeat.

The Lakers continue to advance and have won 12 consecutive victories, ranking first in the league.

George scored 21 points on 11 of 31 shots. His offense and defense at critical moments showed the strength of a top star.

I have to say that in terms of personal performance, George's recent performance is top-notch.

Xue Liancheng is still very satisfied with George's current strength.

Although sometimes it is unreliable, sometimes being tough can really save the team's life.

The Pistons have already shown it once, and this time they can still stand up at the critical moment.

This shows that this is definitely not a coincidence.

George has this strength, and the four small forwards can be said to be well-deserved.

George showed his worth.

Anyway, in terms of effectiveness, it is much more reliable than Oladipo. At least in terms of attack and key abilities, George is a level higher than Oladipo in his emergence stage.

And now there is some superficial cooperation between him and George.

For example, switching up and down.

Xue Liancheng was blocked when he rushed forward with the ball. After passing it to George, he continued to rush forward. George could also immediately return the ball. This kind of up and down switching cooperation made it difficult for the opponent to defend.

Or George holds the ball and passes it to Xue Liancheng, and Xue Liancheng immediately passes the ball back. George has rushed into the penalty area after receiving the ball again, and uses George's body to get in. Basically, the ball is stable.

The power cannot be underestimated. It evolved from Xue Liancheng's previous connection ball, but it is just a simplified version.

But the cooperation between two top stars, even in a simple version, is terrifyingly lethal.

As for this up-and-down pass coordination, Xue Liancheng still returned the ball to George first. He returned the ball more frequently, and George began to learn to pass the ball back and continued to advance forward.

Slowly, it evolved into what it is now.

In addition to switching between upper and lower positions, their Z-shaped double-line fast break is slowly starting to take shape.

It's just that George no longer serves as the end point like Oladipo and Wade, but instead advances the participants, advancing together with Xue Liancheng.

Although the effect is not as direct and clear as the endpoint, it is enough.

After all, advancing in two lines during the march is still very difficult to guard against.

In particular, Xue Liancheng's passing vision and movement control ability are top-notch, and he can make switches calmly.

After the European step passes people, he can sometimes ignore the defense and go directly.

If there are obstacles in front, he can also use his deterrence to pass the ball and assist.

So far, the results are equally good.

In other words, after playing so many games, the two sides finally had a spark, which made the Lakers' offense richer and fuller.

In addition to George's outstanding performance, Xue Liancheng made 20 of 12 and also had 37 points and 13 assists. His performance was also very outstanding.

It was the guidance of these two people that brought them back to life.

Randall's performance was average, 13 of 5, 13 points and 9 rebounds, but his efficiency was a bit poor.

Zubac was exhausted, taking 4 shots, hitting 2 goals and scoring 4 points.

Courtney Lee scored 11 points.

Clarkson scored 13 points, James Johnson scored 11 points, and Marvin Williams also scored 10 points. They all performed well.

But they all came into play in the second half.

As far as the first half is concerned, Clarkson made 5 of 1, James Johnson made 6 of 2, and Marvin Williams made 3 of 1. Their performance is hard to describe.

It was the explosive boost in the second half that allowed Xue Liancheng and George to decide the outcome in one fell swoop.

Although the Suns fell short, Booker did show very strong scoring ability, scoring 14 points with 9 of 23 shots.

Bledsoe was also very tough. He scored a triple-double of 14 points, 7 assists and 25 rebounds on 13-of-10 shooting. It was his superb performance that allowed the Suns to beat the Lakers to a crawl in the first half.

Chris and Len both scored 15 points, and TJ Warren and Brandon Knight also scored 11 points, both performing well.

It was completely expected that the Suns lost this game.

However, the process was thrilling.

If you look at this game alone, the Suns should be at the level of a top team.

pity……

This state of the sun is very accidental.

The Lakers welcomed the All-Star Weekend with a 12-game winning streak, and after this wave of strong performance, their record has reached 29 wins and 29 losses.

Finally, we have a 50% winning rate. It’s really not easy!
Now, they have completely secured their eighth position in the Western Conference.

The closest Denver Nuggets have 25 wins and 31 losses, and the distance from the Lakers has reached 3 wins.

This safe distance is indeed safe enough.

The Lakers are not far away from the seventh-place Grizzlies.

今天灰熊以91:95输给鹈鹕，战绩来到了31胜27负，湖人跟它的距离仅有2个胜场差。

In the remaining 25 games, with the Lakers' current state, surpassing the Grizzlies is almost a certainty.

The Thunder, sixth in the Western Conference, currently have 32 wins and 25 losses. They are only 3.5 games ahead of the Lakers. This position is also not a challenge for the Lakers.

Then looking at fifth place, the Utah Jazz had 35 wins and 22 losses, a winning rate of 61.4%, which is indeed not low.

The win difference between the Lakers and Jazz has reached 6.5, which is indeed a big distance. To surpass them in 25 games requires not only strength, but also luck.

Then fourth is the city rival Clippers, with 35 wins and 21 losses.

The Lakers and Clippers are still 7 games apart, which is also quite far apart.

But it's not impossible, after all, the Lakers have won 12 consecutive games.

It just takes a little luck.

(End of this chapter)