NBA: Strongest In The History Of Holding A Large Ball

In the next attack, James still chooses to play with his back to Chang Tiancheng.

The current situation left the Spurs at a loss as to how to deal with it. After all, it is obviously unrealistic to let Chang Tiancheng defend James alone, but if he chooses to wrap James, then he will inevitably pass the ball to his teammates who are in the open position.

Wembanyama's supplementary defense just now is an example, he just raised it slightly, and James found a gap and assisted the thick eyebrows to complete a dunk.

After James came to the restricted area with Chang Tiancheng, he saw that no one came to wrap him, so he simply came directly to a back-to-back jumper, but unfortunately he didn't feel good today, and the ball smashed in the front of the basket.

Wembanyama took the rebound and gave the ball to Chang Tiancheng.

After Chang Tiancheng received the ball, he did not let the ball stay in his hands, and directly threw the ball to Keldon, who was already playing a fast attack.

The Lakers couldn't get back on guard and were dunked by Keldon.

It may be that the dunk just now gave Keldon confidence, and in the next round, he actively came over to help Chang Tiancheng wrap up James, but James easily distributed the ball to Rivers who was in the open position and helped him hit a three-pointer.

Because the opponent hit a three-pointer and got plenty of opportunities to retreat, the Spurs fell into the offense of positional warfare this round.

Out of the habit he had developed in the previous games, Chang Tiancheng gave the ball to Wembanyama as soon as he observed that the players on his side were all in place.

Wembanyama faced the thick eyebrows and knew that he would definitely not be able to move when he got off the ball, so he turned around with the ball, held it high, and chose to shoot in the middle.

In the previous games, Wembanyama's mid-range shots rarely missed, but now under the defensive pressure of thick eyebrows, this ball still deviated slightly from the basket and failed to score.

Bamba took the rebound in the backcourt and gave the ball to James.

After James received the ball, he directly held the ball to complete the fast break, and no one in the Spurs could keep up, and James easily scored a counterattack layup.

Chang Tiancheng came to the Lakers' half again, this time he did not directly give the ball to Wembanyama, but first called Wembanyama to conduct a high-post blocking with him, changed the thick eyebrows, and let Wembanyama go to the opposite James.

After Wembanyama squeezed to the inside, Chang Tiancheng passed the ball over.

In the face of James's defense, Wembanyama was obviously much more relaxed than he was in the face of the thick eyebrows before, and he directly made a backhand jumper and scored the ball.

After a few more rounds, the starting five on both sides basically played more than half a quarter before being replaced, and the substitutes on both sides were also evenly matched.

In the end, the Lakers led the Spurs by 6 points with a score of 30-24 in the first quarter.

For the Spurs, there are two issues that need to be addressed urgently.

One is that Wembanyama's offensive efficiency has dropped significantly against the Lakers' interior pair. In the second quarter of the game, can he adjust in time? If he can't adjust, should he be the main point of attack?

Even if Chang Tiancheng can use the block to let Wembanyama go to the wrong position to hit James, but after this move was used twice, the Lakers simply did not change the defense in the face of Wembanyama's blocking. They chose to let James rely on his physical fitness to force past Wembanyama's blocking, even if it may allow Chang Tiancheng to get more room for breakthroughs, but there is still Bamba on the inside, and it is not so easy for Chang Tiancheng to easily attack the inside, and in the end he can only dribble the ball out again, and at that time, there is not much time left for the Spurs to attack.

The Spurs' second problem is this, Chang Tiancheng only made one shot in the first quarter of the game, and because Bamba interfered with the missed shot, his accurate three-point shot last season seems to be missing.

Popovich came to Chang Tiancheng's side, leaned over and asked, "Chang, do you have any concerns on the court? Why can't I see you make a move?"

Chang Tiancheng responded while wiping his sweat: "The opponent is responsible for defending me is James, if I force my shot in the face of him, the hit rate should not be too high." But if I break through to the inside, there are thick eyebrows and Bamba guarding on the opposite side, so I thought about helping the other teammates find their touch first.

Popovich nodded and said to Wembanyama: "Victor, you go ahead and take a break at the beginning of the second quarter.

Wembanyama took a sip of water and had no opinion on Popovich's arrangement. He was nurtured by Tony Parker from a young age and knew that Popovich was one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, and he must have made a reason for this.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Spurs fielded their starting lineup from last season when Chang Tiancheng was not injured: Chang Tiancheng, Vassell, McDermott, Keldon, Sochan.

The Lakers, on the other hand, are still their starting lineup for this game.

As soon as the lineups on both sides came out, James realized that the Spurs had made a killing move.

Although the Lakers have twin towers, the Spurs' lineup at this time is even if they abandon the interior and rely on dexterity and shooting to score, which invisibly dissolves the Lakers' interior defensive advantage.

The Spurs served, and Vassell and McDermott each ran to a corner, as always. Chang Tiancheng had a high-post block with Keldon, and then used his speed advantage to kill directly to the Lakers' interior.

Brother Thick Mei and Bamba both wanted to block Chang Tiancheng's breakthrough route, so they turned their heads together and returned to the defensive penalty area.

But Chang Tiancheng passed the ball directly behind his head and sent the ball firmly to Keldon, who was standing outside the three-point line at the top of the arc.

Keldon hit a three-pointer.

At 30:27, the offensive superiority of the Spurs' small-ball lineup has begun to help them chase points.

James advanced with the ball and was about to break through, but found that the Spurs' interior was very tight, quite a kind: "You can shoot on the outside, don't come to the inside." ".

But the Lakers are completely different from the opponents the Spurs faced when they used this roster last season, and they have a big inside killer who doesn't have to follow the Spurs' rhythm at all.

James passed the ball directly to the thick eyebrows on the inside, and in the face of Keldon's defense, the thick eyebrows hit the back strongly, directly pushed it away, and then completed a one-handed split dunk through Sochan.

The Spurs were not discouraged by this defensive defeat, and after dribbling just over halftime, Chang Tiancheng continued to block and dismantle with Keldon, pretending to break through the inside, shaking off James, who wanted to squeeze through the pick-and-roll cover, and threw a three-point retreat.

At 32:30, Chang Tiancheng finally made the first three-pointer of the game.