Chapter 461 461. Third in active service!

Bibby guessed right. The Trail Blazers sent Liu Xiu to guard him in order to create more rest time for Payton and reserve strength for the playoffs.

But this is not the main purpose. The main purpose is to transition from Payton to Liu Xiu for the back line's task of defending the opponent's offensive arrows alone.

Payton is already at this age and his physical strength is not good enough. The time to maintain efficiency in the playoffs is bound to be shorter. The decline will happen sooner or later. He is less than two years away from retirement. Liu Xiu has shown the potential to integrate offense and defense, and the back line can defend alone.

It is imperative that the leading soldiers move from Paton to Liu Xiu, and it should be done sooner rather than later.

It just so happens that Payton can no longer guard Bibby. The last time the Trail Blazers lost to the Kings by 4 points, Payton had to take the blame. In the 23 minutes he defended Bibby that night, Bibby scored 19 points and 7 assists.

, Bibby played 40 minutes that night and scored a total of 28 points and 10 assists.

When he was young, Payton defended Bibby very well, but as he grew older, his speed and confrontation declined, he couldn't defend him in the past two years.

Moreover, Payton, who was still in his prime, always bullied the fair-looking Bibby. Now that Payton is old, Bibby hammered Payton every time he saw him. They played against each other 6 times in the past two years. In these 6 games, Bibby scored 17 points.

points or above, including 3 times of 20+ and 2 times of 30+.

In this case, let Liu Xiu directly guard against Bibby and start changing now.

After trying this time at the beginning, the Trail Blazers coaching staff was pleasantly surprised by the results! Payton was both surprised and healed...

In the next few rounds, the Trail Blazers did not rush and continued to slowly test on both ends of the offense and defense.

In terms of defense, although Liu Xiu was pleasantly surprised, he was not blindly confident and defended cautiously.

It was impossible to lock Bibby down. After Bibby stopped looking down on Liu Xiu's defense, Liu Xiu couldn't completely defend him like he did in the first round, but the method he learned from Payton to defend Bibby was correct.

, post, don’t reach out randomly to avoid being fouled, you can give Bibby quite clear restrictions. Of course, this is not simple. Payton can no longer do these simple things when guarding Bibby, but Liu Xiu can!

Focusing on the improved defensive effectiveness against Bibby, the core ball-handler, the Trail Blazers' overall defense was also better than the last time they played against each other.

The Outlaws spared no effort to pursue Peja, Kwame Brown protected him at close range and under the basket, and Payton assisted with defense on the wing... Each point was significantly improved compared to the last time they played against each other, and it played a significant role in the Kings' offense.

The restrictions are a qualitative improvement compared to the last time we played!

Under the leadership of Liu Xiu, the Trail Blazers successfully limited the Kings' offense in the first quarter, preventing the Kings from scoring only 22 points in a single quarter!

The Kings are mentally prepared for the limited offense. They expect that the Trail Blazers will definitely start from the defensive end when they meet again. Everyone is a regular in the playoffs, and the Kings don't want to attack like last time. It's too bad.

Sure, they were here to sharpen their position. Although the person leading the defense was Liu Xiu and not Payton or the outlaws, they were a little surprised, but their prediction was correct.

However, the Kings play a defensive style of battle, and their scores are what they should score if they play a defensive battle, but the opponent does not!

The Trail Blazers' style of play is also one of positional warfare and grinding out defense, but scoring is something that can only be achieved in offensive basketball!

Randolph looked like he was on a roll tonight, doing very well in singles and rushing, scoring 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in the first quarter.

Randolph ran away alone, but Liu Xiu exploded even harder in the first quarter!

After hitting a tip-in at the beginning, Liu Xiu scored two more mid-range shots in the 9 minutes of the first quarter, a counterattack layup, an air cut that caused a foul, and two free throws. In a single quarter, he scored 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block!

They all played defense. The Kings scored 22 points in a single quarter, and the Trail Blazers scored 29 points in a single quarter!

…

For the Kings, what was scary after the first quarter was not being behind by 7 points, but that they were still so far behind despite trying their best.

Liu Xiu is in great shape!

The Kings have made targeted preparations for Liu Xiu's super stability in the second half of the season, but they still failed to guard against it! It's always a close call!

Not only was Liu Xiu in good personal condition, but he also made good use of Randolph's desperate rush. The two men cooperated tacitly, and the Kings really had no choice. Adelman didn't even know when he was taking a break in the first quarter.

What adjustments should be made.

In this case, the team members can only make adjustments independently.

Bibby's commanding ability is still good, but in this aspect, the gap between him and Liu Xiubi is quite obvious. Bibby only has leadership ability, while Liu Xiu is called a natural commander.

The lineup has the advantage, the back-to-back disadvantages are maximized, and the tactical response is more effective... The Trail Blazers, who are dominant in many aspects, continued to work hard in the second quarter and continued to widen the point difference!

At 11 minutes and 47 seconds of the second quarter, Liu Xiu seized the opportunity to catch the ball around the baseline and hit a mid-range shot, helping the Trail Blazers open the point difference to 16 points, leading 58 to 42!

In the Kings' last attack of the first half, Kenny Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled and made two free throws, narrowing the gap by one point. However, the Trail Blazers still led the Kings by 15 points, 58-43, entering the halftime break.

After halftime, Bibby was very frustrated.

Although his ability to adjust independently is not as good as Liu Xiu's, it is still pretty good. The point he wanted to take advantage of was that Liu Xiu didn't show up for 10 minutes in the second quarter.

Bibi was puzzled - why didn't Liu Xiu show any mercy when he beat them?

When playing against the Spurs and the Suns, Liu Xiu clearly acted like a real player with the 13th pick in the first round, rowing without an oar.

But tonight, Liu Xiu just didn't waste his time. His condition was obviously better than when he played against the Spurs and Suns, but he just chose to play steadily.

The Kings did a good job of cutting off individual players and passing the ball. Liu Xiu played without the ball, moved to respond, passed the ball in transit, and took the blame...

If he defends against three-pointers tightly, Liu Xiu will not shoot three-pointers, but will look for mid-range opportunities for cuts and rushes.

The Kings' defense against Liu Xiu's three-pointer is also very interesting. The strength of their defense against Liu Xiu's three-pointer is comparable to the way they defended against Ray Allen against the Sonics, against Reggie Miller against the Pacers, and against Mike Miller against the Grizzlies.

Miller... has an intensity. When Liu Xiu plays against the Kings, his outside movement control is as good as that of the top pitchers.

In this regard, the Kings were also desperate and helpless. Every time Liu Xiu beat them, his three-pointers were stronger than usual!

The Kings couldn't completely limit Liu Xiu's style of play. Liu Xiu had 6 shots in the second quarter, 5 of which were successful. He made 3 of 5 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, and one of his three-point shots was blocked.

Made all 3 free throws for fouls, 10 points in a single quarter again!

After halftime, Liu Xiu made 7 of 12 shots and scored 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block!

Not to mention the Kings, even the Trail Blazers didn't expect Liu Xiu to be so aggressive tonight, but everyone was already familiar with attacking around the rampaging Warden.

The Trail Blazers naturally had to continue their successful style of play. In the second half, the Trail Blazers continued their previous style of play and played steadily.

The Kings regrouped during the halftime break and launched a ferocious counterattack in the third quarter. Their mentality entered an indomitable mode... that is, after breaking the can, Peja surged again in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in a single quarter.

Helped the Kings score 31 points in a single quarter!

Peja has fully demonstrated the characteristics of top pitchers in raising the upper limit of their strength!

However, the Trail Blazers, who played steadily, relied on Xiao Fei's 7 points and 2 assists, Liu Xiu's 4 points and 4 assists, and Kwame Brown's 6 points and 3 rebounds to score 27 points in a single quarter, although they fell behind in this quarter.

, but the double-digit lead was maintained. After three quarters, the Trail Blazers led the Kings by 11 points, 85-74.

Although I don’t know what the result will be if we take a radical route in this quarter, the Trail Blazers feel that the current situation is not bad!

It is obvious that at the beginning of the third quarter, the Kings counterattacked very fiercely, but in the second half of the third quarter, the Kings were unable to narrow the point difference to less than 10 points against the steady Trail Blazers.

Already starting to get impatient.

Sure enough, after returning from the break, Liu Xiu found an opportunity in the first round. He caught the ball on the right side of the free throw line, turned around and rushed inside. The breakthrough line was smooth. He entered the three-second zone, and Brad Miller made up for it.

Liu Xiu jumped up and smashed the ball into the basket with one hand against Brad Miller! The referee's whistle sounded, the goal was valid, and there was an additional penalty!

Liu Xiu also scored with an extra penalty!

This ball, Liu Xiu saw, the Kings defense was in chaos! The Kings had insisted on locking up his three-pointers before, but now they are gone! To put it more deeply, the Kings defense has lost continuity.

Liu Xiu made a prompt decision, adjusted his playing style, and began to increase the number of attacks with the ball. After defending, he tried more to counterattack.

This decision was correct! This time, the dunk was 2+1, kicking off Liu Xiu’s personal offensive frenzy in the final quarter!

At 1 minute and 09 seconds into the final quarter, Liu Xiu took advantage of the screen and hit a three-pointer. He felt very good and scored! His personal score increased to 30 points!

At 3 minutes and 58 seconds of the final quarter, Liu Xiu made a jump shot from the left side of the free throw line, raising his score to 32 points.

At 6 minutes and 08 seconds, the official timeout was entered. Before the timeout, Liu Xiuxian used a screen on the wing to receive the ball from Flying Squirrel. He hit a three-pointer from the right sideline and defended the Kings in the next round. Flying Squirrel counterattacked, and Liu Xiu counterattacked with

He made a layup against Bibby who came back from defense and caused a foul, stopping the Kings!

Originally, the point difference was only 14 points, and the Kings still had hope, but Liu Xiu's 5-0 wave opened the point difference to 19 points, and Liu Xiu also had to add penalties. With Liu Xiu's always accurate free throws, it was already

20 points difference!

From the coach to the players, the Kings are desperate!

…

Liu Xiu wanted to say to Adelman: Thank you, because of you...

If Adelman had called a timeout and surrendered when the score difference reached 17 points, Liu Xiu might have been replaced at that time.

If Adelman had waited for Liu Xiu to finish his free throw before calling a timeout and came back from the timeout, Liu Xiu might not have played again.

But Adelman immediately called a timeout after Liu Xiu made the ball and received an extra penalty.

After the timeout, Liu Xiu made an additional free throw to increase his personal score to 38 points.

The Kings had already replaced Peja and Brad Miller at this time. Of the three major stars, only Bibby was still on the court. The 20-point difference was almost a surrender.

But the warden continued to enter the dare-to-fight mode at this time.

In the next round, Liu Xiu caught the ball with his back from a high position, turned around and rushed to close range, and hit a layup!

With 14 of 26 shots, including 2 of 4 three-pointers, and 10 of 10 free throws, Liu Xiu scored 40+ points in a single game for the 13th time this season!
Chapter completed!