The Lakers' offense still failed to find an open opportunity, and Paul's three-pointer from the outside failed.
Offense and defense transition.
The Trail Blazers played a fast break, and Lillard hit Paul's three-pointer!
7:0!
Less than three minutes into the game, Lakers coach Walton reached out and called a timeout.
The Trail Blazers were at 200% tonight and got off to a stunning start!
When the Trail Blazers players came off the court, Wang Zelin and Lillard excitedly hugged their teammates who rushed up.
This is the characteristic of young teams. Once they get high, they can be unstoppable.
Although this game is an away game, the previous two big wins have built up enough confidence for them. Wang Zelin and Lillard performed well on both offense and defense in the opening game, which immediately mobilized the team's state. got up.
During the timeout, Walton Jr. did not arrange any tactics. Instead, he imitated Lao Li from the same city next door and poured chicken soup down to the Lakers players.
There is nothing that can be done about it, because his situation within the Lakers is indeed a bit embarrassing.
When many people in later generations evaluate Luke Walton, they cannot do without two labels: "a role player known for his basketball IQ" and "a young coach."
A high basketball IQ ensures that Walton has room to use his brain when he takes over as a coach after retiring; a role player shows that his ability as a player was mediocre, and his performance as a player did not provide more convincing for his playing career. .
As for the "young coach", firstly, it means that he has not experienced too many ups and downs in his coaching career, and when faced with complex situations and unfavorable situations, he lacks control over the situation; secondly, he has not cooperated with some The age gap between him and the players is widening, and his natural strength is insufficient. He cannot respond to the players like his mentor Zen Master did.
Of course, the most terrible thing is that the team he coached for the first time was the Los Angeles Lakers, which he played for as a player.
As an unknown younger brother next to Kobe in the past, he has now become the head coach of the Lakers. This makes the young coach treat Kobe more as a brother than as a head coach and a player.
It was precisely this strange way of getting along that prevented Walton Jr. from taking control of the team.
Therefore, even though he helped the Lakers achieve fifth place in the regular season in his first coaching season, and finally reached the second round, in people's eyes, this is more due to The credit goes to the Lakers' Big Three, not his coaching.
This is very embarrassing.
However, Walton Jr. can't care so much now. He just wants the Lakers to win tonight's game.
Due to his poor performance in the first two games, the team management has put pressure on him. If this series is swept by the Trail Blazers, the Lakers will most likely consider changing coaches next season.
In order to keep his job, Walton Jr. is also fighting hard. Since his tactical reserves and on-the-spot adaptability are not as good as Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts, he has no choice but to find another way to help the team.
That is, to inject the hope of winning into the Lakers from a spiritual level... Ahem, speaking in human terms is just giving chicken soup.
Needless to say, anyone who can make a living in the NBA head coach world can at least get a few words of chicken soup. In addition, it is a home game, and Walton's chicken soup does have miraculous effects.
After the Lakers came back from the timeout, their offense became more patient. Under the leadership of Paul, the master of control, they stabilized the situation on the court and did not allow the Trail Blazers to open the point difference to double digits.
Kobe no longer dominated the offensive end like he did in the first two games, but completely entered the off-ball mode. Unless his teammates really had no chance, they had to deal with some receiving balls in the last few seconds. For most of the first quarter, Both position themselves as off-ball shooters.
This has two advantages. One is that it allows Kobe to better conserve his energy, and the other is that it allows him to focus more on his defense work.
At this age, Kobe cannot be asked to defend the opponent's outside arrows alone like he did when he was young, but necessary assistance is still indispensable.
In order to maintain his offensive firepower in the first two games, Kobe's defensive efficiency on the court was extremely average. Although it was not a black hole, it was not much different.
After the Lakers lost two games in a row, he was criticized by some experts and fans for this reason.
This is the helplessness of veterans.
The Black Mamba used to be the best defender in the league in both offense and defense, but now he is no longer, and Father Time has found him.
In the current Lakers game, he can only choose one thing between offense and defense.
When the first quarter was still two minutes old, both sides entered into substitution rotation.
After Lu Wei came up, he made a beautiful change of direction and passed Beverley for a layup, but his shot was slapped directly off the court by Harrell!
Not everyone is as ambitious as Warriors coach Cole and dares to train new recruits in the playoffs. At least Coach Terry is not that ambitious.
Harrell, who had no choice but to "hide" due to lack of strength in the first two games and did not get a minute of playing time, finally made his debut tonight since the Trail Blazers entered the semifinals against the Lakers.
God knows how excited he was when he learned the news before the game!
No, right from the start, he proved his worth with a blood cap that was very good at boosting morale.
Starting from this block, both Lu Wei and veteran Caron Butler frequently misfired on the offensive end. They could only watch Connett Lee and Old Carter's three-pointers raining down, and the point difference continued to widen.
By the time they returned to the starting lineup in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers' lead had reached double digits.
When the main force came back, Wang Zelin came up and took the pass from Lillard and hit a long-distance hook regardless of the two defenses.
Looking at the familiar sky hook, some old Lakers fans in the stands were in a trance about the great center wearing No. 33.
As a result, when they came back to their senses, what they saw was a super beast wearing jersey No. 36 constantly wreaking havoc in the Lakers' penalty area, just like hanging out in their own back garden.
At halftime, the Trail Blazers led the Lakers by a full 24 points, 69:45!
At this time, the entire Staples Center was silent, and the home fans could no longer shout.
I thought the Lakers would be able to fight back after returning home, but after halftime, the same script appeared again.
In the G1 game, the Lakers were 60:80 in the first half, trailing the Trail Blazers by 20 points!
In G2 station, the Lakers trailed the Trail Blazers by 22 points at 45:67 in the first half!
Compared with the first half of tonight's game, it cannot be said that it has nothing to do with it, it can only be said that it is exactly the same.
And Wang Zelin, the protagonist of the script, performed as well as ever tonight.
At the end of the half, he scored a near-triple-double with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal.
Tonight, his teammates all felt good. Wang Zelin, who had carried two games in a row, was willing to hold back temporarily. He only scored 18 points in the half and wanted to give up the stage lights to his teammates.
Unexpectedly, unintentionally planting willows and willows to create shade.
He sent out 6 assists in just halftime, and could only get a triple-double tonight.
In this regard, Wang felt deeply helpless. In the end, he could only attribute it to himself being so good that he was the focus of the audience wherever he went.
(End of chapter)
