Seeing Howard playing well and the Celtics falling into a passive situation, Rivers called a timeout in time. He had to make adjustments. Fabmelo is just a rookie center. If he doesn't adjust, he will be beaten by Howard.
Rivers was also frowning at this time. He sighed and said that he didn't think of any solution. He just asked the players to work harder on defense. Other than that, he couldn't say anything else.
At a time when all the players are struggling with Howard's bug
"I thought of a way." When everyone heard that it was Yang Zhenxing who spoke
Everyone unanimously focused their attention on Yang Zhenxing
"Double-team him, double-team him hard," Yang Zhenxing said
"What about Kobe? You can't miss Kobe," Rivers asked Yang Zhenxing.
Yang Zhenxing's tone was very firm. He wiped his sweat and said: "I will be in charge of the opponent's small forward. I will guard Ci Shiping or Barnes, and the other guard will guard Kobe. What do you think, coach? Then I will
Come double-team Howard at any time.”
Rivers looked at Yang Zhenxing carefully, then looked at Ci Shiping's strong body, and looked at Yang Zhenxing's slightly thin body with disdain: "Can you do it?"
Faced with the doubts of Rivers and other teammates, Yang Zhenxing did not refute but cleverly avoided it. He said: "Coach, this is the only thing now. Let's try this method first."
Rivers hasn't been able to come up with an effective method yet. After all, the overall situation of the Lakers is too strong. Except for Ci Shiping, who is slightly weak in offense, absolutely no one can let go of other players.
"Okay, let's do this first"
Rivers then said to everyone: "Rajan, Young, Paul, Kevin, Brandon, you guys come on"
After the timeout, the Lakers replaced Gasol. Nash, Kobe, Ci Shiping, Jamison and Howard were on the court.
The Celtics have the ball. This ball is very crucial for them. They haven't been able to score in the third quarter, so they are bound to win this ball.
Rondo gave it! Garnett suddenly turned around when he was struggling with Howard under the basket. Rondo immediately passed the ball. Garnett made an alley-oop and put the ball into the basket with a tap of his wrist.
Garnett is not young. If he usually dunks on this kind of ball, he can only score a goal. For him, a forced dunk may not be worth the gain.
The Celtics scored for the first time in the second half and the score reached 54 to 52. The Celtics led by two points.
The Lakers had the ball, Kobe dribbled it, and handed it over to Nash. Howard still had to come up for the pick-and-roll. Nash was preparing to pass the ball. Yang Zhenxing had sharp eyes. He had been staring at Nash and was always ready to intercept Nash on the passing route. As a top passing defender, he not only
With excellent passing awareness and extremely high vigilance, Nash judged that Yang Zhenxing was trying to steal his pass. Nash did not pass it this time.
Nash wants to attack on his own
Rondo is now under pressure because he has just been blocked by Howard. Now Nash is still ahead of him. It is too late to make up for the defense. Rondo is ready to steal Nash's ball from behind.
Nash ball exposed the position of only one palm
Rondo made a decisive move to steal the ball, and the ball successfully fell from Nash's hands. Rondo was holding the ball and preparing to launch a fast break.
The referee's whistle sounded promptly at this moment.
Rondo was a little angry and threw the ball to the referee. The referee should not call Rondo a technical foul at this time and ask for trouble.
Rondo was charged a defensive foul
The ball is still in the hands of the Lakers. Nash is still dribbling. This time it is Gasol who comes up to pick and roll.
Nash went in, and this time the pressure came to Buss. To compensate or not to compensate was a question. If he stepped forward to help defend, the inside line would naturally be more empty. Nash would definitely choose to pass to Gasol or Howard at this time. This is his most commonly used style of play. Bass thought for a while. Instead of letting him pass to his teammates to bomb the basket, it is better to let him shoot. Although his shooting rate is quite high, it is worse than letting two inside behemoths. Torturing yourself will make you stronger
As expected, Buss did not cover up the defense. Nash shot decisively from mid-range.
brush!
Sure enough, the two-pointer hit and the game was tied again.
Next, Rondo returned a two-pointer, but Rondo chose a layup that he was better at. He used a signature move to trick Gasol and scored the ball with a backhand pull in the air.
Good shot! Yang Zhenxing applauded fiercely
"Beautiful!!" Rivers also clenched his fists
Nash is very calm. After all, he has been abused by attacking defenders for more than a while. This is not his strong point.
The Lakers have the ball, and the Lakers' pick-and-roll has been tried and tested. Nash kills him again. This time Pierce, who was guarding Kobe, comes to defend Nash. Nash instantly passes the ball to Kobe, and Kobe shoots a three-pointer.
Brush! Thread the needle
The off-court situation then entered a boiling stage, and the emotions of the Lakers' home fans were once again aroused.
The Lakers gained a one-point lead
The Celtics were no longer calm. They had just discussed how to solve Howard's problem. Now Nash started to play again.
Rivers looked solemn off the court. He walked up and down the court and stopped talking, because he couldn't think of a way to deal with it and could only hope that the Celtics could score the ball.
Rondo passed the ball to Yang Zhenxing who came out of the pocket. Yang Zhenxing resisted Kobe's defense and immediately passed the ball to Garnett inside. Garnett turned over and shot a fadeaway jumper.
clang!
Garnett missed his shot from close range and Pierce grabbed the offensive rebound. Howard didn't react. Pierce made a sneak attack and scored a layup after grabbing the rebound.
This ball temporarily eased the Celtics' situation, and Rivers was temporarily relieved.
But before Rivers could take a breath, Nash came again.
Nash came to the frontcourt, and when the Celtics were not yet firm, Nash took off with a three-pointer and hit another cold arrow.
Nash scored this ball before Rondo even had time to jump up and interfere with him.
It's not over yet, Pierce's shot was blocked by Howard
Nash grabbed the ball and immediately launched a fast break
Rivers was very nervous. He knew that Nash must be playing at a very fast pace. The foundation he had when he was in the Suns was still there.
Sure enough, Kobe rushed to the frontcourt, and Yang Zhenxing followed closely behind him. Seeing that Yang Zhenxing immediately caught up with Kobe, Nash passed the ball, which was a long-distance pass.
Yang Zhenxing tried to intercept it in the air, but he miscalculated. Kobe received the ball, and there was no one in front of Kobe.
Boom! Another dunk
Of course, it was accompanied by countless applause and cheers from the audience.
Rivers couldn't sit still at all. Just after playing for a while, Rivers once again requested a timeout.
Even if I lost against the Lakers in the past, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been so strenuous. Rivers thought to himself, could Nash be a loser too?
