In the ESPN live broadcast room, Wolverton had gradually calmed down, but anyone could see the shock and excitement remaining in the corner of his mouth. He took a deep breath and began to analyze the attack:
"Obviously, it seems that the Lakers were not fully prepared to face Wang's dominance at the basket."
O'Neal nodded with a proud look on his face: "Anyway, I only saw Chris Kaman's weakness. He retreated as soon as he was hit by the king, as if he took the initiative to give the defender space to break through."
At the court live broadcast table.
Zhang Lili said: "Ahem, um, the Lakers were caught off guard by the Trail Blazers' opening fast break. I hope they can defend well in the next round."
Next to him, Yu Jia retorted with a bit of teasing: "You can't say that. How can you say that the Trail Blazers' wonderful offense was the Lakers' carelessness? Besides, everyone knows the Lakers."
What is the current level of the team? There are just a few people in the post, and Kaman, who is in his thirties, is playing? Can Kaman guard him? He can’t. He doesn’t have the ability. Do you know?"
Yu Jia's counterattack left Zhang Lijia and many of the Lakers fans in front of the TV feeling a little emboldened.
Zhang Lili frowned and continued: "Now I can only hope that Kobe can stand up like a savior. If the Lakers want to win, Kobe's point is very critical."
"It's really crucial."
Yu Jia chuckled, glanced at Zhang Liyi meaningfully, quickly changed his tone, and echoed.
At this time, Marshall caught the ball and passed half court.
What is surprising is that Kobe did not come out to catch the ball, but honestly played without the ball.
No, when has it been? Are you still playing without the ball?
In fact, as Zhang Liyi said just now, if the Lakers want to win, the key lies in Kobe.
Doesn’t Kobe know this?
Of course he knows.
However, he knows better that he alone cannot defeat this unstoppable Portland youth team in the regular season. He must have teammates to stand up and fight alongside him.
Therefore, considering that the game has just begun, Kobe is focused on how to activate his teammates in the game, rather than attacking from the beginning to the end.
That's very tiring, right? He's already 36.
Unfortunately, Marshall, who has performed well under regular conditions, averaging 8 points and 8 assists per game, has obviously not adapted to the intensity of the playoffs.
After playing the pick-and-roll with Wesley Johnson, facing the rough treatment of Batum who came to defend him in a misplaced position, the first thing he thought about was not how to deal with his opponent. Instead, he subconsciously glanced at the referee's position.
It seemed to him that Batum had obviously committed a foul on his defense.
However, he seems to have forgotten that this is not the regular season, but the more brutal playoffs.
What's more, this is the home court of the opposing team.
There was a snap, and suddenly, Batum touched the ball with his right hand. When he saw the direction the ball was flying, he decisively pounced on it and took it into his arms.
"Steal! Batum's steal!"
"The Trail Blazers' chance to counterattack is here again!"
Almost at the same time, O'Neill and Yu Jia screamed excitedly at their respective positions.
"Return to defense!"
When he saw Marshall lost the ball, Kobe's face suddenly darkened, and he accelerated his steps back to defense in a hurry.
On the other side, Wang Zelin and the others did not just stand there stupidly. The moment Batum cut off the Lakers' ball, the other four rushed to the Lakers' frontcourt almost at the same time.
"Snapped!"
Batum was lying on the floor, turned over and handed the ball to Wang Zelin on the left side. After receiving the ball, the latter advanced on his own and quickly passed the center circle.
At this time, only Kobe Bryant and Wesley Johnson on the Lakers side were in place on defense, but all four players on the Trail Blazers side were in place.
In a 4-on-2 game, what choice would Wang Zelin make with the ball?
Without much hesitation, Wang Zelin accelerated his pace, apparently wanting to do it himself.
"Deduct one! Deduct one! Deduct one..."
All the Trail Blazers fans in the audience were shouting this sentence.
Huge pressure, as if tangible, suddenly fell on Kobe and Wesley Johnson.
But Kobe is Kobe.
After watching Wang Zelin enter the three-point line, he immediately turned on the intensity of the former and launched a death-wreath defense.
Wang Zelin was a little embarrassed. He didn't expect that Kobe would dare to ignore the size difference between the two, and even more dare to ignore his fierce momentum of advancing all the way, and hurriedly stepped aside to protect the ball.
"Hurry up to the king!"
Terry Stotts shouted from the sidelines.
In fact, he didn't need to worry. Wang Zelin himself could quickly adjust his mentality at the first moment. Seeing that his attack on the basket was fruitless, he quickly changed to sitting inside with his back to Kobe.
Once, twice... Even if Kobe secretly lowered his elbow, he still couldn't stop Wang Zelin's impact.
To his slight relief, several other teammates had already passed the center circle. The opponent's fast break opportunity was fleeting. In this round, the Lakers were temporarily defensive.
However, just as he relaxed, Wang Zelin suddenly took a step back, faced the basket, and assumed the same posture as Nowitz's chicken jump shot.
Fake investment and real transfer?
With only a moment of tangle in his heart, Kobe quickly turned around and rushed toward the basket.
He couldn't help but think otherwise, firstly because Wang Zelin had used this routine more than once in games this season; secondly, there was a height difference between the two. After Wang Zelin used the golden rooster jumper, not to mention whether he was proficient in it,
Anyway, Kobe can't interfere.
Rather than this, it is better to bet that the opponent is a fake shot and a real pass!
The next moment, Kobe just turned his head, and suddenly word spread that he was not feeling well.
Looking up, sure enough, Wang Zelin turned over and scored a mid-range jumper, scoring another 2 points for the Trail Blazers.
The Lakers fell behind 0:4 at the start.
"yeah!"
The moment the ball was scored, the Trail Blazers fans burst into joy and began to sway wildly on the spot.
"That's a great shot!"
Jay Chou felt the same and stood up to lead the Chinese star cheerleading team, waving his hands and enjoying it.
"This guy is becoming more and more stable in the mid-range! If we really get to the finals, how should we defend him? It's really a headache."
On the sidelines, Paul George just won G1 and came here specially to cheer for Wang Zelin.
Of course, another purpose is naturally to examine the Trail Blazers, one of their team's potential opponents in the finals.
The goal just made many NBA players, including Paul George, open their mouths and look at Wang Zelin.
It was hard for them to believe that this was an action made by a 70-year-old center.
But unfortunately, the fact happened before our eyes.
At this time, people realized that Trail Blazers No. 36 not only had a dominant ability to attack the basket, but his mid-range shooting skills were also among the top in the league.
By the way, this guy is not only the core of the Blazers' offense and organization this season, he also has the strongest interior defense and help defense in the league, and is also the core of the Blazers' defense.
Facing such an opponent, many stars who were watching the game suddenly fell silent.