Ryan Kelly wanted to come with you to block Wang Zelin, but he obviously overestimated the endurance of his small body, and was knocked away by Wang Zelin before he could stand firmly.
After passing through two people and breaking through the blockade of the Lakers' two major inside lines, Wang Zelin was left with only the Lakers' back line and small forward in front of him. He accelerated towards the penalty area.
Behind him, the pioneer generals also came to cover him up.
Rondo and Kobe didn't know for a moment whether they should block Wang Zelin or defend their respective opponents.
But time did not allow them to think about it. When Wang Zelin stepped across the free throw line, Batum's pass had already been passed in smoothly.
"boom!"
After catching the ball, Wang Zelin took off with one step and swung the ball with one arm, slamming the ball into the basket.
"Is this the Lakers' defense?"
After landing, Wang Zelin yelled at the players around him with a fierce expression.
"Blow the Lakers!"
"Blow the Lakers!"
"Blow the Lakers!"
The entire Rose Garden Arena was boiling, and the Blazers' momentum instantly reached its peak.
When the Lakers attacked, Rondo received the ball in the backcourt and advanced slowly. After halftime, he skillfully directed his teammates to move. Then he passed the ball to the ground and found Kobe, who was in space after being screened without the ball.
After so many games of adaptation, Rondo and Kobe's cooperation became more and more tacit. Sometimes, he could even subconsciously find Kobe's location just by feeling.
The attack was the same this time. Kobe caught the ball with his back and instantly assumed a triple-threat posture. After taking a step back from Kang Litli, he jumped up and shot.
2:2 flat.
Seeing this scene in the live broadcast of the Imperial TV station, Weiping Bryant suddenly became excited: "That's how we should play, just give the ball to Kobe!"
Although Yu Jia on the side was already used to this, there was still a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
In turn, the Trail Blazers attack, Lillard takes the ball from the outside, and looks at the Lakers' position behind the main defense inside.
After hesitating for a while, he decided to continue following Terry Stotts' pre-match arrangement and handed the ball to Wang Zelin who was in the wrong position!
After Wang Zelin got the ball, he looked at the Lakers' 32 zone defense position and knew that the opponent was going to target him tonight.
But don't forget, he is not O'Neal. The offensive threat is not limited to the basket. His offensive range is much greater than O'Neal.
Ignoring the Lakers' defensive threats from other players, Wang Zelin started to attack with all his strength!
"Bang!"
After Wang Zelin and Ryan Kelly collided, relying on the heavier tonnage and powerful force, he easily knocked the latter away. Before Pau Gasol could help defend, he accelerated and was turned to the front of the basket, facing the defense.
The man jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket.
"boom!"
A loud noise caused the Rose Garden Arena to boil.
4:2, the Trail Blazers lead at home.
"Return to defense!"
After landing and turning around, Wang Zelin waved his hand and led his teammates to quickly run back to the backcourt.
Lakers coach Byron Scott shook his head helplessly on the sidelines.
Encountering the strongest center in the league currently, who may even be another big killer in the penalty area after O'Neal, he has no good way to deal with this.
And sure enough, in the rest of the first quarter, Wang Zelin faced Ryan Kelly inside many times to complete the offense.
Due to Pau Gasol's slow pace, the Lakers' zone defense was ineffective, allowing Wang Zelin's offensive efficiency in the interior to remain as high as in the previous games.
However, even when Wang Zelin scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in a single quarter, the Trail Blazers only led their opponents by 2 points in the first quarter.
It's something that many fans and viewers didn't expect.
"I really didn't expect that Kobe's efficiency would be so high after he changed to playing without the ball. He made 4 of 6 shots in the first quarter and scored 10 points, which almost offset the king who was overwhelming in the paint!"
"This fully reflects the Lakers' trust in Kobe's outside firepower. This is also the reason why the Lakers have been able to compete with many strong teams this season, and even defeated several championship-seeded teams before!"
"The trend of this game is just as predicted by many media before the game. The competition is about the ability of the stars. Now it depends on Kobe and King, whose firepower can last longer."
"..."
Yu Jia and Zhang Lili chatted endlessly in the commentary box.
On the Trail Blazers bench, coach Terry finally made a substitution adjustment after thinking about it several times, replacing Beverley with the main lineup.
He carefully looked at No. 24 on the opposite side and thought to himself: You like running so much, right? I will attach a piece of brown candy to you later and see how you can run.
After a quick timeout, the second quarter of the game between the Trail Blazers and Lakers officially began.
The players who played are also rotation players of the two teams. The Trail Blazers are still confident. So far in the new season, except for the period when the main players are injured, they will basically not change the team's five-up and five-down rotation pattern in the regular season!
As for the Lakers, it is also rare to have a five-up, five-down rotation like the Trail Blazers did.
On the one hand, because the scores between the two teams are now similar, the Lakers themselves feel that they can give more trust to the bench lineup.
On the other hand, the Lakers' sixth man Nick Young has been feeling very good in the past few games. He has scored 20 points in two consecutive games. His outstanding performance has given the Lakers' main players more rest time.
However, today, when facing the Trail Blazers' bench, Nick Young, who was originally a little arrogant, was directly poured cold water on him!
Because he had a mentality of underestimating the enemy, after Nick Young made a layup, he wasted two three-pointers in the face of strong interference, and the results were all negative.
Seeing that the core of the opponent's rotation was so cooperative, the other players on the Trail Blazers were also very proud. Under the leadership of two veterans, Garnett and Carter, the Trail Blazers hit a 6-0 climax right from the start.
Fortunately, Lakers veteran Carlos Boozer was experienced and under tremendous pressure, he managed to get back to the Blazers with Garnett in the post, and only then did he wake up Nick Young, who had been thrown cold water on him.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! And after Nick Young recovered, he quickly showed his powerful chaotic fighting ability.
As a master of chaos, the reason why Nick Young has been able to stay in the NBA for so many years is because of his singles skill package. Sometimes once the touch comes, he is not even inferior to some superstars.
As the third three-point shot was hit, the rotations of the two teams began to play back and forth on the court. Even if the Trail Blazers hadn't brought Lillard back to the court in time, maybe Nick Young could really lead the Lakers.
The rotation team gained the upper hand.
At least, judging from the current situation, the Lakers are really good.
Of course, this has something to do with the fact that the Trail Blazers' current lineup is still incomplete. Without the team's second-in-command Aldridge and the offensive and defensive leader Matthews, the overall strength of the Trail Blazers will still have a great impact.
After all, the Trail Blazers team in front of us is not truly complete yet!
In the 8th minute of the second quarter, Lillard made a kill under the basket, helping the Trail Blazers gain a 6-point lead.
The gap between those who lead the team and those who do not is gradually revealed.
At this time, Kobe stood up and asked for help, wanting to return to the game.
Byron Scott thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Immediately, the Lakers put their lineup back on the court.
The Trail Blazers also made lineup adjustments. The difference from the first quarter is that the player in the first position became Beverley.
Kobe immediately understood that this was an adjustment made by the Trail Blazers for him.
However, he was only surprised. Words like fear and fear had never appeared in his dictionary.
The Black Mamba has never been afraid of double teams!
On the court, the Lakers' offense.
Kobe began to move constantly on both sides of the three-point line again looking for opportunities.
But this time, there was always someone chasing after him, clinging to him like a piece of brown candy.
Seeing that Kobe had no chance, and time was running out, Rondo handed the ball to Pau Gasol inside to handle it.
Pau Gasol got the basketball, and the eyes of the fans in the entire Rose Garden Arena began to become solemn.
As the hero of the Lakers' two consecutive championships, Pau Gasol has long lost his reputation as a softie during the Grizzlies era. Trail Blazers fans know very well that that guy's strength is not necessarily inferior to Aldridge's, and he is definitely the best in the league.
One of the strongest power forwards.
At the same time, Pau Gasol was guarded by rookie Jokic, who was not known for his defense. They were worried that the fat white guy from Serbia would not be able to guard the opponent.
After receiving the ball, Pau Gasol sat back hard, but he was surprised to find that he did not have much advantage in this confrontation.
It seems that the rookie of the Trail Blazers is really good.
However, as a veteran in Europe, he felt that it was necessary for the young people behind him to see the strength of his predecessors.
In the second time, Pau Gasol continued to hit from behind, and Jokic deliberately took a step back, hoping to win with a surprise move.
But he forgot that ginger is always spicy after all.
Not only did Pau Gasol not fall for the trick, he turned around and took a step from behind.
At this time, Jokic also knew that he had fallen into the trap, but it was too late and he could only watch the opponent take action.
"Whoosh!"
The basketball flew in the air for a while and then hit the basket.
At 44:40, the Lakers trailed by 4 points.
"well!"
There was a burst of lamentation from the sidelines, making Yekic's face look a little ugly.
"Rookie, if you're a man, call me back soon!"
Batum stepped forward and slapped Jokic's big butt hard, making a loud noise.
Ouch, it feels good in the hand.
After taking his hand back, he muttered softly.
Trail Blazers offense.
"Give me!"
Under the basket, Jokic looked fierce and yelled at Beverley.
Beverley couldn't help but glance at Wang Zelin, who was serving the ball below, and saw the latter nodding to him, and then passed the ball to Jokic.
Amid the cheers from the audience, Jokic made an offensive move with the ball. As a future MVP player, although he is still relatively immature at this stage, his shoulder sway can be faked.
On the opposite side, Pau Gasol's defense can only be said to be average even in his peak period, not to mention that he has now entered the stage of an old man in his thirties.
Just when Pau Gasol hesitated, Jokic suddenly turned around and broke through. After undergoing a strict weight loss after Wang Zelin's scolding, his figure became slimmer and his steps became more flexible.
Although this level of breakthrough was not enough for him to easily pass by Pau Gasol, he had an idea and pushed Pau Gasol with his shoulder, and still entered the penalty area.
Pau Gasol didn't expect this fat white guy to be so flexible and so skilled in key skills. You know, he is still a first-year rookie!
Jokic went to the basket in one go, held the ball with both hands, then took three steps and successfully attacked the frame!
"Haha, what a great response! Maybe Pau Gasol didn't expect that Qiu Feng, the rookie of the Trail Blazers, would be so tough."
When the TNT commentary box started, Barkley patted his belly excitedly and laughed.
“Well done Nikolay!”
Wang Zelin gave Jokic a thumbs up, and the latter responded with a smile.
Afterwards, the first half of the game ended quickly in a frenzied atmosphere throughout the Rose Garden.
At 53:48, the Trail Blazers entered the second half with a 5-point lead.
For the Trail Blazers, the top scorer was Wang Zelin, who played a total of 16 minutes in the first half and scored a near-double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
The highest scorer for the Lakers was naturally Kobe, who played a total of 16 minutes in the first half and scored 15 points.
"As everyone expected, whether it was Wang Zelin of the Trail Blazers or Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, their performance in the first half was in line with our expected game state. Although there was no actual confrontation between the leaders of the two sides, they were both passing
Keep scoring to help the team."
At halftime, Kenny Smith had his say.
"At the same time, we have to admit that Wang and Kobe are both well-deserved as the number one center and number one shooting guard in the league."
Buckley next to him nodded in response.
"It's just that looking at it now, because the other players on the Lakers are even less powerful, at the end of halftime, the Lakers were in a lagging position." Kenny Smith continued.
"No, no, no, I still insist that the key to this game lies in the performance of the two stars. The difference is only five points. Whether it is Wang or Kobe, it is a piece of cake. The difference between the two sides is
It’s not so big that it’s qualitative!”
Barkley sang the opposite tune.
In the home locker room.
As soon as he returned, Beverly stood up and expressed his apology to Terry Stotts.
He had high hopes, but he actually did not do a good job of defending Kobe in the second half of the second quarter. Facing his defense, Kobe not only shot 2-for-3 from the field, but also drew a foul on him.
This kind of performance is obviously not what the head coach wants to see.
However, Coach Terry also understands that when a superstar is in excellent form, it is basically difficult to be restricted.
What's more, the person Beverley needs to defend tonight is the "Black Mamba" Kobe Bryant, so he doesn't blame the opponent too much.
Fortunately, for the Trail Blazers, Wang Zelin, as the star player, completed the task of matching Kobe very well, and even had the upper hand in the first half.
Great step forward, just change the place and fight again in the second half.