"Dunn, in tonight's game, in the first half, you should save some energy and just give the ball to Kobe and Shaq.
Kobe will leave the team in the second half and drive to Eagle County. The team needs you to provide more stable offense and defense.
Your task will be heavier tonight, but I believe you can overcome some difficulties and help the team win. "
Before normal training in the afternoon, Master Zen had a private chat with Du En.
Only then did Duan realize that Kobe was going to Eagle County for a hearing again, and he would be leaving in the middle of the game.
After hearing the Zen master's arrangement, Du En understood how to play tonight's game.
Give the ball to Kobe! Give the ball to O'Neal! What's so hard about this? Just watch me perform and that's it!
At around 7 o'clock in the evening, at the Staples Center, the game started quickly after the two teams started playing.
Just like in the preseason, Dunn did not guard James, who was playing point guard. The Lakers first sent Payton to guard James to create some ball-holding pressure on James.
After Ricky Davis was traded to the Celtics, the Cavaliers also acquired third-year lottery pick Kedrick Brown from the Celtics to replace Ricky Davis' vacant position.
James gave the ball to Kedrick Brown and ran without the ball. However, before he could cut to the basket and find a chance to steal the ball, Kedrick Brown's ball was taken away by Kobe.
In the blink of an eye, Kobe quickly broke to the basket and dunked, helping the Lakers take the lead.
When the Lakers returned to defense, the Cavaliers also passed the ball to the frontcourt.
However, James failed to catch the ball because Duane, who was always paying attention to him, anticipated this scene in advance.
James did not expect that Duan first lurked near the center circle. After the ball was passed, he ran a step inside the three-point line and took off to intercept the ball in the air.
James was in the penalty area. He thought about getting the ball and dunking it directly. Who knew that someone had studied his scoring routine clearly?
By the time James noticed Duan rushing up and wanted to step forward to get the ball, it was already too late.
After Duan completed the interception, he immediately passed the ball to Kobe who turned around and resumed the fast break.
After Kobe got the ball, he took three long strides and dunked with his arm, once again scoring two points.
In the first half minute, the Lakers relied on defensive counterattacks and easily scored 4 points.
Cavaliers head coach Paul Silas had to call a timeout, replace Kedrick Brown, and then replace him with Kevin Ollie, the backup point guard, to share the pressure of holding the ball with James.
"Kobe, how about you take care of this rookie, and I'll take care of the substitute?"
After the Cavaliers made a substitution, Payton guessed the Cavaliers head coach's arrangement, so he took the initiative to switch defenses with Kobe.
Although Payton has seriously affected James' dribbling and control, there are people who help James share the pressure of dribbling. When James gets the ball in the frontcourt and hits him alone, it will also put a lot of defensive pressure on him. After all, James is taller and stronger than him. .
If Kobe were to guard James and he was to guard an undrafted player with mediocre talent like Kevin Ollie, then the defensive pressure would naturally be much less.
"No problem." After Kobe said that, he went to guard James.
As soon as James saw that it was Kobe, he immediately passed the ball to his teammates, so that he could save energy and devote himself to the offensive end.
After Kevin Ollie got the ball, he encountered Payton's strict defense and was a little overwhelmed. He quickly passed the ball to Eric Williams who was defending Duan.
Eric Williams was also unable to move in the face of Duan's persistent pursuit. He had to protect the ball with his back and wait for his teammates to come up and respond.
The Lakers accidentally launched a full-court press, leaving the Cavaliers with no perimeter player who could dribble past half court.
James had to come up to catch the ball, and then immediately passed it to Boozer who had already run upfield.
After taking the ball, Boozer didn't wait for his teammates, shook it, took another step, and directly shot a mid-range shot.
The Cavaliers finally relied on Boozer's personal ability to score 2 points.
When the Lakers came into the offensive round, the play was very simple. Duan held the ball and called a pick-and-roll, directly misplaced Kevin Ollie and broke into the basket and passed the ball to O'Neal.
Big Z actually did a good job of pushing O'Neal, but O'Neal still hit him twice on the back, turned around and hooked the ball into the basket.
"MVP, MVP, MVP!"
Stars' singles are the most exciting part of the game. Lakers fans were not surprised that Kobe Bryant scored twice on fast break. O'Neal's success in singles caused the whole Lakers fans to cheer.
"Dunn, let MVP lead you to win!"
After scoring the goal, O'Neal came to Du En to clap. When Du En saw that Kobe and Payton had stepped forward to press on the defense, he took the time to joke with O'Neal.
"Shaq, you played great, I will continue to pass the ball to you!"
"Haha, you are going to have something to eat later, Shaq is treating you!"
Even though O'Neal is fat, he actually eats a lot.
Every time there is a home game, O'Neal will order takeout or something. Sometimes he just eats by himself, and sometimes he invites everyone to eat together.
O'Neal was in a very good mood today and entered the "let's order first" phase early.
However, it has to be said that as a weak team in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers really can't put too much pressure on O'Neal.
Not to mention, the Lakers' perimeter defense makes dribbling alone a big problem for the Cavaliers.
After the first quarter, 16 to 27, the Lakers already led by 11 points.
By the time the first half was over and Kobe left the arena early, the score between the two teams had reached 37 to 54, a full 17-point difference.
If the game continues like this, I'm afraid the Lakers' main force will be clocked out in the third quarter.
Considering that Durn only made 2 of 3 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 1 of 1 free throws in the first half, and only scored 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 6 assists, he had to think of more solutions in the third quarter.
After all, who knows if James will lead the team to another fight in the fourth quarter?
When the time comes, James scores 30+ points and becomes a tragic hero, while Duan only scores more than ten points and becomes a transparent person. Isn't this very bad?
"Kobe is not here. As his successor, it makes sense for me to fire unlimited fire, right?"
During the intermission, Du En was eating and thinking.
When he started the game in the second half, Duane took the initiative and said to Payton: "I will take Kobe's position and I will guard LeBron James."
Payton was quite happy at first. Duen was willing to help him share the defensive pressure, so Payton naturally had no objection.
Who knows, what Du En means by taking Kobe's position is that he has also inherited Kobe's unique skill of watching people but not passing the ball.
Because Duane and O'Neal both want the ball, Payton is forced to become a dribbling defender.
However, because of Kobe's departure, the Lakers' perimeter defense lacked a hole.
The Cavaliers finally made a few three-pointers from the outside. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 65 to 86.
Although the Lakers continued to have an advantage in the third quarter, the point difference was not wide enough to clock in three quarters.
"Phil, leave it to me, let Shaq and Gary have a good rest!
The veterans need more rest time, our goal is the championship!
Only health can win us the championship, right? "
During the break, Du En volunteered to lead the team in the fourth quarter.
After hearing what Dun said, O'Neal was happy: "Ah, yes, yes, Shaq is very tired, Shaq needs to rest!
Next, let my little brother Du En lead you to play ball!
Shaq will appear at critical moments and lead you to win the game. "
Who says that if you have the biggest contract in the team, you must play the most minutes and produce the highest statistics?
Shaq won three championships for the Lakers. Isn’t it enough to just enjoy it?
O'Neal is happy to see the rookie on the team roll up, and takes the initiative to let him receive the rookie bonus.
In this game, the Lakers did take a lot of leads in the first three quarters.
There are also many rookies in the Lakers who need more playing time. Zen Master thought that Du En and O'Neal had already spoken, so let's do it!
As a result, Du En soon led the team alone and led other Lakers to play as substitutes.
Sure enough, in the fourth quarter, Duane faced James, and James also came out with a group of Cavaliers substitute players.
In the first three quarters, James made 7 of 17 shots, 0 of 3 three-pointers, and 3 of 5 free throws before scoring 17 points. Naturally, James was not very satisfied.
By the fourth quarter, the only ones the Lakers could defend were Duane and Fisher.
James, who was full of anger, naturally wanted to regain his place with Fisher.
However, Du En did not give him a chance and continued to take the initiative to defend James.
As early as the third quarter, James knew how good Dune's defense was, so he let others do the dirty work of dribbling the ball through half court.
After arriving in the frontcourt, James began to direct traffic, calling for pick-and-rolls, and getting the ball ready to start a breakthrough.
Duane knew that James was left-handed and liked to go left when going around screens.
In addition, James' style of play is to use screens to break through, instead of shooting directly like a shooter.
This style of play allows Duen to avoid forcing the screen, and can simply take a step back around the screen, move laterally faster, and go around to James.
"Is this okay?" Fisher on the side was a little dumbfounded.
Du En and James actually played the game of King Qin circling the pillars.
One is really hesitant, and the other really doesn't dare to vote.
James called two screens in a row, but he still couldn't get to the basket. He could only retreat to the three-point line again and tried to shake off Duan's center of gravity twice in a row.
With about 3 seconds left on the attack time, the ball suddenly passed to substitute small forward Jason Kapono.
Jason Kapono is a white wing shooter with a strong three-point ability.
However, if you have to shoot a catch ball with only two or three seconds left in the attack time as soon as you come on the field, you will be lucky if you can make it.
As the duang sounded, Du En turned around and rushed to the frontcourt.
Immediately afterwards, the basketball quickly appeared in front of Duen. After receiving the ball, Duen made a gliding dunk.
Don't ask why Du En ran so fast, ask just to trust his teammates.
Noticing Duen who quickly ran back to the backcourt, James felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn't figure out what the situation was.
Soon the ball was back in James' hands. He seemed to realize that the game was lost and there was no pressure to win. James no longer hesitated.
This time, James did not continue to break around the screen. Instead, before Du En could react, he directly used the screen to shoot a jumper.
Du En found that he had no chance to pounce, so he could only turn his head and pay attention to the basketball situation to see if he scored or missed.
If it's a blackout, Duan will continue to look at where the rebound lands and then choose whether to go for a fast break.
Duang, as expected, James still failed to grasp the ball.
However, the rebound was grabbed by Cavaliers inside player Tony Barty, who immediately launched an attack in the low post after receiving the ball.
"LeBron, you scared me! I thought you could really get in!"
Seeing James miss the shot, Du En said with a playful smile.
James naturally knew that Du En was laughing at him, so he could only turn his head and ignore it, and immediately returned to defense.
As Tony Barty scored the ball, the Lakers regained the ball.
Because they couldn't play fast breaks, the Lakers played a triangle offense under the leadership of Du En.
James is a point guard and does not need to guard Duan, a swingman at forward.
However, Duan took the initiative to play a pick-and-roll and switched to James.
As soon as Du En launched a back attack, James took the initiative to take a step back, seemingly guarding against Du En's turning breakthrough.
Dunn was aware of James' defense, so he turned around to face the frame, stepped back from his hips, and retreated directly outside the three-point line to shoot a three-pointer.
James reacted a beat too late, and it was too late to pounce.
However, this did not prevent James from taking a few steps forward, and when he got below Duan, he turned to look at the basket.
Fortunately, Duan didn't jump very high, and he also paid careful attention to James' movements after shooting.
Dududu——
Duan missed a three-pointer, but the whistle sounded.
Because James occupied Du En's cylinder, Du En had no place to stay after falling, so he could only rely on the strength of his waist and abdomen to lean back slightly and fall to the ground.
He is also a Nike contract player. Although Duan's contract is not as big as that of James, he is a small boss of Nike.
Not to mention that this is the home court of the Lakers. The home whistle is still very obvious these days.
With an innocent look on his face, James spread his hands towards the referee, wanting an explanation.
However, Duan stood on the free throw line and soon made all three free throws into the basket.
Knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, he prefers the tigers in the mountains. Then Duen attacks with the ball, still causing trouble for James.
James' little moves were a little restrained, and Duan took advantage of the half-open shooting opportunity to hit two three-pointers.
It didn't take long for Du En to complete the task of leading the team and clocked out after three and a half quarters.
Under the leadership of Duan who scored 17 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in the second half, the score was 82 to 104. The Lakers defeated the Cavaliers led by James with a huge advantage of 22 points.
Of course, it was still the same after the game. The Cavaliers lost, but James did not lose.
James scored 31 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Compared to Duane, who had 23 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists, he not only looked not weak, but actually had an advantage in scoring.
However, when it came to the post-game interview, Dunn, as an opponent, was trying to cover up for James.
"LeBron has already played very well. If it were anyone else, facing the OK team for the first time, I'm afraid they would be too scared to play!"
"I believe in LeBron's talent, the sky is his limit! But this is the Staples Center, no one can take off on Shaq's head!"
"I don't care who is the best rookie, maybe it's LeBron, maybe it's Melo! And I'm already studying the All-Star opponents!"
