NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

On the plane to Los Angeles International Airport, Manu, who had removed the bandages and was able to do some simple ball handling exercises, sat next to Joey, a little puzzled.——

"We have almost booked our tickets for the second round and everyone is thinking about our next opponent.……"

"Why are you still watching the Lakers' regular season game videos?"

Manu's words attracted the attention of most people in the cabin, especially Fat McIlroy who was sitting in the row in front of him and Joey.

The latter shrank his head awkwardly, then took Leonard's headphones next to him and pretended to be calm...

Holding the tablet with the video downloaded in advance, Joey, who was watching intently, ignored Manu and didn't even raise his head.

In this nearly four-hour journey, he couldn't remember how many times the Argentine Eagle had"harassed" him.

Although Manu's words were a bit frivolous, they were indeed true.

The Lakers, who lost to the Spurs by an average of 14 points in the first two games of the series, have been"certified" by the media as the least competitive team in the first round of the Western Conference.

Pau Gasol + Stevener��+Howard + Ron Artest, this lineup looks very"beautiful"...

Haha, maybe only"beautiful" is left!

The Lakers, who lost Kobe, the top singles player, are like a pack of wolves led by a sheep. Each of them is a first-class hunter, but together they are a group of"headless flies" with no rules.

Of course, this sentence does not mean that Nash is a sheep, nor that D'Antoni's tactical system is rubbish...

But all of the above combined can make the five-star Lakers, whose lineup on paper is comparable to the South Coast Big Three, become a team on the edge of the Western Conference playoffs!

The reason why Joey studied the Lakers' regular season videos is also very simple. He needs to find some information about Kobe's shooting method from the videos... or summarize the latter's shooting tips during this period.

Combined with the"pull-up jump shot" specially trained by McGrady for more than half a month, the two superimposed, let him master another trump card!

………

"Buss should fire Mitch Kupchak, this asshole watched Joey slip away from us……"

"From the All-Star Game to the entire week of the trade deadline, we have suggested countless times to that old bastard Kupchak to use Worldpeace + Jordan Hill, or even Nash, in exchange for the Spurs' best rookie!"

"I don't understand why Kupchak is reluctant to propose this deal. Can't a 15+7 outside scorer, a talented inside beast, and a two-time regular season MVP be traded for the No. 3 pick in a weak draft year?"

"Asshole, what we need is a rising star in the league who will inherit the glory of the purple and gold, not a big fool who smiles all day long, doesn’t care about winning and is extremely stupid!"

"Kobe needs Joey's help, just like MJ needs Kwame Brown after his second comeback……"

(Danzi: That’s not necessary!)

"As both are top two teams in the Western Conference, why is it that the murderous old man of the Spurs can always select team cornerstones like Duncan and Joey in the draft, while we can only rely on robbing other teams' All-Star players to recruit them?"

"I never want to see that idiot with strong limbs and simple mind who can only laugh foolishly in front of the camera again.*！"

"DeWalt is a piece of shit. He is a piece of annoying shit.……"

"No, his head was still full of paste. From the moment he was knocked unconscious on the court by the Spurs rookie, he became a mixture of water and unknown white sticky liquid!"

"……"

After the second game of the series, the official website and media of the Lakers were overwhelmed by the fact that they had been expected for the entire season, and the result was that they were likely to be eliminated in the first round.

The comments were full of angry criticisms of the then Lakers general manager, Kupchak, and the second most insulting posts were insults to the star player Howard...

The third game of the series soon arrived.

Coming to this stadium that left a"deep memory" for Joey's career, his heart was... calm at this moment.

He and all the Spurs players behind him knew that in the third game of the series, the Los Angeles Lakers, who had been forced to a dead end by"public opinion", would definitely try their best in this game and defend their first home court advantage to the death.

And they also knew that if they wanted to enter the preparation state for the Western Conference semifinals as soon as possible and wait for the opportunity, they had to solve the Los Angeles Lakers in a swift and resolute manner within four games to prepare for the second round opponent.

Facing the opponent selected by"chance", Popovich naturally had a plan to deal with it.

He also expected the"counterattack" of the Lakers today.

So Popovich, who is known for his"weird changes", made a bold change in the third game of the series.

He promoted Tiago Splitter, the team's starting power forward who had played for most of the regular season, to the starting lineup, forming a twin tower inside with Duncan to hold down the Lakers' two starting All-Star inside players.

Joey returned to his best position as the team's sixth man - according to statistics from the team's data analysts, when Joey served as the team's sixth man, he was always the player with the highest contribution to the team's victory!

Most of the time it was even higher than the three GDP players!

This change in lineup quickly achieved"results""——

Although he doesn't have the containment power of Joey in the high position, Split is obviously more suitable for defending the league's top offensive inside player like Dajiasao.

Throughout the game, he not only limited Daga's shooting percentage to about 43%, but also strengthened the team's defensive rebounding protection, so that the Lakers, who averaged 4.7 more offensive rebounds than the Spurs in the first two games,"only" had one more offensive rebound than the Spurs in this game.

He didn't need to be"distracted" on the offensive end. The"No. 21 rookie" who was in his twilight years played well even when facing the peak of the Warcraft. He made 9 of 16 shots and 5 of 7 free throws in the whole game, and scored 23 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, winning the game for the Spurs.

In addition to Duncan and Split, Parker also performed well in this game. He scored 19 points and 8 assists in the Lakers' restricted area. At the end of the third quarter, he and the Lakers'"Son of the Wind" Nash, who suddenly broke out, competed with each other and scored 13 points in a single quarter, leading the Spurs to suppress the"counterattack" of the Lakers players in the third quarter. The

Lakers were caught off guard by Popovich's sudden"change of formation", and D'Antoni had no time to adjust the tactics - in fact, he couldn't adjust other tactics...

He watched the Lakers"work together" in the first quarter, and the eight-point lead was wiped out by Joey, who came on the court in the second quarter, with the Spurs'"five-out" lineup, with a"rain of three-pointers"!

D'Antoni then truly realized the gap between the Lakers and the Spurs in terms of hard power!

The advantage of the Spurs is obvious, that is, there are a steady stream of players in the team who can stand up in the game and"turn the tide" -

Duncan, Manu, Joey... and even the second-year Leonard!

There is also an Argentine demon sword who has not yet returned on the bench.

And what about the Lakers?

Nash, the son of the wind who is in the twilight of his career and is troubled by a back injury? Gasol, who has a concussion during the season and insists on playing with the injury?

Or the one who laughs like a fool... Forget it, he can't be relied on, bad luck!

And a lot of role players who can't wait to share the outside shooting rights after Kobe's injury, with an overall hit rate of less than 35%...

Forget it, D'Antoni just felt that the game was over. He covered his forehead and resisted the dizziness that came over him, and asked the assistant coach to go to the technical desk to apply for a timeout.

Just like that, with less than 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers trailing by 17 points, coach D'Antoni announced that he had given up the game. The

Los Angeles fans on the sidelines witnessed it and were immediately furious - boos, roars, heavy objects smashing, arguments...

The sounds coming from all directions like a tide instantly enveloped this famous coach who has been in the league for many years and won the annual best coach!

At this moment, D'Antoni finally realized what it means to feel"sad".

He didn't cry after being scolded by Lakers fans for a season, he didn't cry after the star player snatched his tactical board in public during the game, he didn't cry after taking at least half of the responsibility for the loss alone...

But at this moment, he was wrapped in powerlessness and noise, and his eyes were wet unconsciously!

Looking at the 12 purple and gold jerseys flying over the Staples Center, and the championship flag representing the 16-time summit record...

Those were such beautiful and memorable years!

But at this moment, on the four large screen broadcast boards above the court, the score of 118:101 was particularly dazzling, as if Staples represented the most shining team in the league!

Guilt, self-blame, discomfort... All kinds of emotions surged in my heart, and my nose suddenly turned red!

In the end, the Lakers failed to defend their home advantage and fell behind by a score of 0:3.

Los Angeles fans completely recognized the reality on this day - the 12-13 season belonging to the Lakers has ended...

What? You told me there is another team?!

Los Angeles fans: Oh, you mean the Clippers! They must be coming soon...

Three days later, in the fourth series at the Staples Center, the Lakers showed a"death-oriented" spirit.

Steve had a big"breakout" and played what is probably his best game of the season, contributing 21 points and 20 assists, double"20+" data, and played the Lakers with a little bit of the"seven-second run and gun" style of the year!

Unfortunately, they still couldn't resist the rolling iron cavalry of the Silver Gray Army. In the end, the Lakers lost this round of the series with a score of 109:103.

The long offseason"fishing" life officially began...