The Nuggets' performance confirmed Barkley's thoughts.
Li Yan led the substitute lineup to play a beautiful overall offense and defense. They had a back-and-forth with the starting five-man Hornets.
After George Karl replaced Li Yan, the main lineup led by Anthony and Iverson was not very bright.
The Nuggets' inside and outside lines were completely separated, and Kenyon Martin and Nene could only rely on some offensive rebounds to complete some secondary attacks.
There was no cooperation between the "golden guns" Iverson and Anthony on the outside. Even if some pick-and-rolls were used, there was no subsequent connection.
This makes the Nuggets' offense lack considerable fault tolerance.
Thanks to the outstanding personal abilities of Iverson and Anthony, their scoring ability is very strong.
When the two of them are feeling great, the Nuggets can quickly open up the score; but once the status of the two fluctuates, the Nuggets' offense will experience a power outage.
When Li Yan came on the court, the Nuggets' offense immediately improved.
In positional battles, Li Yan is best at using pick-and-rolls to launch attacks. Depending on the situation, he can choose to take action himself, or pass down the inside or assist outside shooters.
At the end of the first half, 56 to 50! The Nuggets lead by 6 points.
Chris Paul had 18 points, 8 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals; while Li Yan had 8 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Li Yan's assists surpassed Paul's by one, but Paul scored 18 points.
From a data perspective, Chris Paul is even better.
However, judging from the course of the game, Li Yan's performance was not weaker than Paul's, and he was not suppressed by Paul.
On the contrary, in the contest with the second team led by Paul, Li Yan performed very well. In the absence of Iverson and Anthony, Li Yan firmly controlled the situation on the court.
The Nuggets' second lineup is still capable of fighting even against the Hornets' starting five.
"Kenny, Lee's assists have surpassed Chris." Barkley was very happy: "The program team can prepare donkeys."
"I have to say more," Smith said: "Chris Paul has taken on more responsibilities, and he can't focus on connecting the team."
"What? Are you still trying to cheat?" Buckley asked.
"Nothing, am I afraid of a donkey?" Smith rolled his eyes at Barkley: "I just said that Chris Paul's performance is more comprehensive."
"Ouch!" Barkley immediately retorted: "How comprehensive is it? Lee has more rebounds, blocks and assists. Chris just scores more points."
"How about we up the ante?" Smith said, looking at the ratings curve on the panel.
"How did you come?" Buckley is quite confident in Li Yan now.
"Bet on the sum of their points and assists." Smith put forward a harsh condition.
You must know that Paul's current score and assists are 26, while Li Yan's is 17. There is a big gap between the two.
"No, no, Kenny, Lee, the current average per game is generally 10+13, and the total is only 23." Barkley said:
"Don't try to trick me."
"How about we add steals and blocks." Kenny Smith thought for a while and said.
Paul's and Li Yan's stealing abilities are almost the same. When it comes to blocking shots, Li Yan has the advantage, but can this still improve the statistics?
Li Yan averages 1.5 blocks per game and is already the only backcourt player in the top 20 in the blocking list.
"We also need to add rebounds." Barkley insisted: "If I lose, I still have to face two donkeys."
Paul's current cumulative data is 30, and Li Yan's is 26. The difference is not much.
However, scoring is the easiest to increase. From this perspective, Paul has a greater chance of winning.
"No problem." Kenny Smith agreed.
"In this way, I won't take advantage of you. If I lose, I will face three donkeys." Smith added.
"Wow! Kenny, can't you be satisfied with two flights?" Barkley couldn't hold it in any longer: "Because you experienced double happiness last time, you deliberately wanted to increase the amount this time. Damn it, I've already followed It’s no longer your way of thinking.”
"However, we have to ask the director if there are three donkeys prepared? I remember there are only two." Buckley said.
The director on the side quickly said there was no problem.
Looking at the soaring ratings, even if we have to airlift the female donkeys from Nevada now, it's worth it!
Although it is a program effect, as long as people like to watch it, it won't be a big problem.
Barkley and Smith high-fived each other, and the audience's enthusiasm was aroused.
Winning or losing this game doesn't even matter anymore, they just want to watch Barkley and Smith have close contact with donkeys.
Of course, if they were given the choice, Barkley would definitely have more supporters. After all, the scene of facing three donkeys at the same time would be more attractive.
…………
Li Yan didn't know about the bet between Barkley and Smith, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care about it.
He didn't care at all who and what happened to the donkey.
But at halftime, the system gave a rare supplementary mission: completing double 20 (20 points and 20 assists) and leading the team to victory, rewarding the skills of legendary point guard John Stockton.
Stockton is a player from the same class as Jordan and Dream, but the 16th pick Stockton is not as eye-catching.
However, with his small frame of 1.85 meters tall and 85 kilograms of weight, he can become the NBA's history leader in assists (15,806) and the NBA's leader in steals (3,265), which is really something.
It is difficult to score 20 points and 20 assists in a game at the same time. Only Jason Kidd and Steve Nash have accomplished such a feat.
However, for Li Yan, this is not an unattainable task. You must know that the players with the most 20 points and 20 assists in history are "Magic" Johnson and John Stockton.
"Magic" Johnson has completed 20+20 data as many as 11 times in his short 13-year career, and even once scored a triple-double of 32+20+11.
The foundation laid by Li Yan in the first half was not bad. In the second half, he played more proactively and had a high probability of completing the task.
John Stockton's skills are a bit exciting to think about.
What if the advantages of the "gorgeous and agile" "genius" point guard Magic Johnson and the "simple and practical" "hard-working" point guard John Stockton could be unified in the same person.
What a terrifying monster such a point guard would be!
