Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 169 "Poison Combination"

The FedEx Center was as lively as ever that day.

At the beginning of the season, the Grizzlies won four consecutive games, the best start in team history, which was exciting.

Unexpectedly, Randolph was injured soon after and was injured for two months.

Now, Memphis fans can finally see the complete home team again!
Like Hansen, they also want to know what the result will be if they face the Lakers.

Realistically speaking, if the Grizzlies want to win the championship this season, the Lakers are the hurdle they must overcome.

Expecting them to be eliminated by other teams is completely inconsistent with the Grizzlies' sword-drawing spirit.

In other words, only by defeating the Lakers tonight can they truly have a shot at the championship.

The league also attaches great importance to this game tonight, and the three giants of TNT are all present.

"The Grizzlies lost last time entirely because of Randolph's absence. They will give the Lakers a good beating tonight." Barkley was already talking in the commentary booth.

"But Okafor was not there in the last game, and the Lakers were the stronger team on paper," O'Neal retorted.

Don't take it seriously, it's all for the show effect, it's all role-playing.

No one wants to see this Lakers team fail more than O'Neal, but commentary requires opposing viewpoints, and what he can't get rid of is the label of a Lakers legend.

Then, the two men started a bet, and their bet was that whoever lost would have to shave his hair "like Kenny Smith's".

What, why Kenny Smith?
The "peak big three" mentioned by O'Neal, the third person must also have a sense of presence.

Otherwise it will be the same with or without you, so what is the point of talking about the Big Three?

As for what Kenny Smith's hairstyle is, it is actually a bald head, but because their hairlines are very far back, their foreheads appear shiny.

According to the setting, Barkley supported the Grizzlies and O'Neal supported the Lakers. The two of them were at loggerheads, and the live broadcast became increasingly popular.

When they finished chatting, the warm-up on the field ended and the opening ceremony began.

The Lakers were the first to play as the visiting team, and they used their regular five players: Paul, Kobe, Metta World Peace, Gasol, and Okafor.

Who is Metta World Peace? In September last year, Artest changed his name to Charity-World-Peace.

After the visiting team is the home team: Conley, Hansen, Gay, Speights, and Gasol Jr.

When this starting lineup came out, the Lakers were confused.

Because Randolph didn't start!
Could it be that Randolph's comeback is just a smokescreen for the Grizzlies?

Korandorf also participated in the warm-up before.

After the last three minutes of preparation time, the starting players of both sides came on the court one after another.

The cheers at the scene could no longer be suppressed.

Gasol Jr. and Gasol Sr. jumped the ball in the center circle, and finally the younger brother was better than his master and passed the ball back to the Grizzlies' half, and the game officially started.

The Grizzlies opened the game with Gasol Jr. receiving the ball and playing one-on-one in the low post.

Joerger's arrangement was also intended to test Okafor's condition first.

Last season's playoffs helped Gasol build up his confidence, and Randolph's absence helped him hone his inside skills. He now has a certain level of low-post singles.

In the confrontation between the two giants, Gasol Jr. finally made a beautiful move to dribble past Okafor and score on the rebound.

The Grizzlies came out on top.

There was also cheers from the fans at the scene.

Most people outside only pay attention to the Grizzlies' lineup problems, but in fact their main players have improved to varying degrees compared to last season.

Of course, Joerger's goal was achieved. Okafor's ability to play does not mean that he is in the best condition. Repeated injuries have a great impact on the player's condition.

Paul organized the game in the frontcourt, and Kobe's movement attracted the Grizzlies' defense. Paul passed the ball directly to Gasol who cut into the basket after the pick-and-roll without even looking at the opponent.

Gasol faced Gasol Jr. and made a layup, which hit the backboard.

The Lakers' opening offense showed why they are number one in the league.

Okafor and others are just icing on the cake; the fit between the three core players is the key.

Gasol continued to play one-on-one in the low post. This time the Lakers double-teamed him, but this was exactly what the Grizzlies wanted. Hansen and Speights quickly set a pick-and-roll and moved to the free throw line, and Gasol's pass had already arrived.

At this time, Han Sen had a moment of free time.

This is also the result of Speights' spatial ability. When he breaks the ball, Metta World Peace can only chase him out.

After receiving the ball, Hansen made a fake move to trigger Gasol's breakthrough, and Kobe came over to assist in defense.

Han Sen completed a mid-range shot before that.

"Shh!"

Kobe's early jump interference did not prevent Hansen from hitting the shot.

Looking back, Paul and Gasol set a pick-and-roll, attracted a double-team and then quickly passed the ball to Gasol.

The ball was divided beautifully, but Marc Gasol rushed forward in advance to block Marc Gasol's attack angle. Marc Gasol did not panic. After a back-to-the-basket move, he passed the ball to Kobe in the middle who had gotten rid of Gay's rapid cutting in, and incidentally blocked Marc Gasol's defensive route.

Kobe jumped up and made a flying pull-up shot to avoid Hansen's block and score.

There was a commotion at the scene, with the fans watching intently.

Putting aside the issue of victory or defeat, the quality of tonight's game was extremely high.

"If they meet in the playoffs, it will be the most exciting series for us." Even Kenny Smith, who is usually more objective among the TNT Big Three, sighed at this time.

About 6 minutes into the game, the score was 13 to 10, with the Lakers leading.

Although Okafor is not in the best condition, the Lakers' overall strength is obviously better than that of the Grizzlies.

Moreover, Mike Brown also stuck to the defensive strategy from the last match, cutting off the connection between Hansen and his teammates.

Kobe's breakthrough caused Speights to commit a defensive foul and he got two free throws, and the game entered a dead ball.

At this moment, a short whistle sounded at the scene, and the camera turned to the technical desk. Randolph adjusted his headband and prepared to go on stage.

There was a loud cheer at the scene. This was truly the long-awaited event!
It is obvious that Randolph's coming off the bench was not a smokescreen. The Grizzlies simply wanted Randolph to start as a substitute to get a feel for the game.

After all, no matter how well you recover, it is only in the training ground at most, which is still different from the official competition.

Randolph high-fived Speights before taking the court, then tapped his head.

Just as Han Sen had seen before, Randolph was already impatient to return.

Kobe made both free throws despite interference, and the Lakers extended their lead to 5 points.

Conley holds the ball in the frontcourt, and Randolph is in the low post.

The one defending Randolph was Gasol, and Randolph had a clear advantage in the confrontation.

After Conley passed the ball in, he took Paul away through the back door. This was a standard Randolph low-post tactic.

However, Paul was very sneaky in this play. He seemed to be following Conley, but halfway through the walk he suddenly turned back and waited for the right moment to cut the ball.

Randolph didn't react in time and was intercepted.

The Lakers quickly launched a defensive counterattack, and Kobe scored a fast break layup, and the score difference on the field reached 7 points.

"The Grizzlies must maintain their success rate. They can't let the Lakers launch that kind of defensive counterattack." Barkley seemed a little anxious at this time.

Although there is some acting involved, what he said is correct. In a duel between masters, the details determine the outcome.

Instead of calling a timeout, Joerger made a new tactical gesture to Conley.

Conley passed the ball to Hansen, asking Hansen to pass the ball to Randolph.

Han Sen had the ball, but he didn't pass it directly because he paid attention to the details on the court.

Okafor switched to Randolph.

Although the Lakers successfully defended the ball just now, the Lakers switched defense in the interior.

This Lakers team is full of details.

Of course this is not the players' credit, but Brown's scheduling.

Brown also showed his defensive skills frequently after leaving James. Hansen signaled Randolph to pull out and play pick-and-roll.

Randolph came out happily, but he was not happy with Hansen.

Randolph’s size makes him a solid pick-and-roll player, so Hansen is mismatched against Okafor.

Not to mention Okafor who was in trouble, even if Okafor was in normal condition, he would not be able to defend against Hansen in the current situation.

Therefore, Metta World Peace could only launch a pincer attack at this time.

Hansen passed the ball back to Randolph without even looking at him.

Although Brown's tactic is to cut off the connection between Hansen and his teammates, the pick-and-roll tactic is difficult to achieve unless you have a top defender who can get around it in the first place.

Then why didn't Hansen fight Speights before?
Because even though Metta World Peace couldn't defend back, Paul came to assist.

When the outside world is drooling over the Lakers' two super backcourt offenses, what must not be overlooked is that this is a combination of two defensive first-team players.

If it was Speights who caught the ball, the pick-and-roll would have failed here, but not Randolph.

He just shot the ball.

Paul could only jump. Although he provided assisting defense, he could not interfere without jumping due to the height difference.

As a result, Randolph just faked a shot, and after receiving the ball, he broke through quickly. After suffering a loss, he went to the other side of Paul's body.

Paul, who was still in the air, had no chance to grab some money even if he wanted to.

Randolph broke into the inside, broke through the defense of Metta World Peace and scored a layup, and also caused the latter to commit a defensive foul.

In terms of offensive skills, whether it is Speights or even the evolved Gasol, they are not as good as Randolph.

After scoring the goal, Randolph excitedly roared at Paul, then turned around and bumped chests with Hansen.

He looked a little embarrassed after being interrupted in the previous singles, but the 2+1 just now made him find the feeling of the game.

It has to be Han Sen.

And it is Han Sen who has evolved again.

As for the pick-and-roll tactic, they also played it last season, but at that time they were limited by Hansen's passing level, either the timing or the angle, the ball was always not good enough when it was delivered, and the opportunity was fleeting.

So most of the pick-and-rolls at that time were completed by Han Sen, but the ball Han Sen just fed was comfortable, which was also the key to his successful shaking off Paul.

At this time, both sides made substitutions. Barnes from the Lakers replaced Artest, and Battier from the Grizzlies replaced Gay.

Randolph made the free throw and the score difference returned to 4 points.

"Defend! Defend!"

The cheers of fans were also heard at the scene.

Paul showed his basketball IQ at this time. He and Gasol set a pick-and-roll to find Randolph's mid-range shot.

But Conley made a beautiful move and successfully interfered with Paul.

Paul's final shot went wide of the frame and the rebound was secured by Gasol Jr.

After Conley advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, he continued to pass the ball to Hansen, and then directed the weak side to open up space.

This time he moved to a 45° angle instead of standing at the top of the arc to prevent Paul from interfering.

Hansen continued to play pick-and-roll with Randolph and continued to break through quickly.

This time the Lakers did not dare to continue double-teaming, and Kobe on the weak side was restrained by Battier and could not get over.

Hansen passed Okafor with a close-range change of direction, then jumped up like a spring and scored with a one-handed slam dunk.

This instantly lit up the FedEx Center.

"The Lakers are in trouble, they are in trouble!" O'Neal seemed worried, but in fact he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth and shouted there.

The Grizzlies have narrowed the gap to one goal.

After Randolph came on as a substitute, the Grizzlies started to chase points!

At this time, Kobe was in the frontcourt with his back to the basket, and after Paul passed the ball to him, he held the ball and played against Battier one-on-one.

Kobe's one-on-one play is an art, with continuous shoulder shakes after turning back to the basket, plus turning around and stepping back and jumping.

Han Sen couldn't help but take a few more glances. Although his mid-range ability is not weak now, there is still a big gap in footwork and skills compared to Kobe.

He still has room for improvement this summer, at least he needs to strengthen his footwork.

Battier rushed forward and performed his signature eye-covering defense.

This scene has been played out countless times in the past, and Kobe has long been accustomed to Battier's defense.

However, his luck was a bit bad on this shot. The ball hit the front of the basket and went out, and the rebound was protected by Randolph.

Looking back, Hansen continued to play pick-and-roll with Randolph.

This time Barnes assisted in defense, and Hansen passed the ball to Randolph, who took a mid-range shot before Barnes returned to defense.

"Shh!"

Knife up and down.

Once Randolph found his rhythm, he immediately showed his potential as a killer inside.

17 square meters.

The Grizzlies launched a 7-0 counterattack climax and successfully tied the score!
Kobe received the ball again. This time he chose to force his way inside. After passing Battier, he attacked the basket and caused Randolph to foul.

Randolph's foul was a bit too big and almost caused a conflict with Kobe.

Han Sen then went over and grabbed Randolph to calm him down.

Now they are on the momentum of catching up.

After the conflict was over, Kobe went to the free throw line.

There was booing at the scene.

Kobe did not show any mercy and made both free throws to help the Lakers regain the lead.

Conley passed the ball to Hansen when he reached the frontcourt, and the familiar cheers of Grizzlies fans began to ring out.

"Whoop that trick!"

Hansen also played pick-and-roll with Randolph, but this time their pick-and-roll changed.

In the previous pick-and-roll, Randolph would go outwards and Hansen would go inside.

But this time, Hansen stepped back after stealing the ball, which attracted Barnes to come out to assist in defense.

However, the next second, Hansen seized the opportunity and directly passed the ball to Randolph who was walking inside after breaking the ball.

Randolph got the ball and started to accelerate, facing the assisting defense of Gasol and his strong jump shot.

Because of the conflict just now, Gasol's defensive action was a bit too big and his body directly collided with Randolph.

The referee blew the whistle, and Randolph's shot went wide of the basket after he lost his balance.

Randolph stood up suddenly from the ground the next second.

Just when everyone thought he was going to stand up and have a conflict with Gasol, he knocked his head hard and walked straight to the free throw line.

He controlled his emotions this time.

And after adjusting his breathing, he made both free throws.

Although he came on as a substitute, he scored 7 points in just three minutes.

The Grizzlies' delay in his return worked.

Of course, what is more important is the chemical reaction between Hansen and Randolph, which was completely absent last season or even at the beginning of the season.

"They are a poisonous duo!" O'Neal no longer cared about his own personality at this time and directly started using nicknames.

"They are like two cups of poison. No matter which cup the Lakers choose, there is no cure!"

(End of this chapter)