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Chapter 569 - 246. Clench your teeth and persevere, hold on!_2

Chapter 569: 246. Clench your teeth and persevere, hold on!_2

Durant shifted to the right, moved to the center, and jumped up against Gasol, who was stepping on the charge circle arc, raising the ball high above and shooting a floater... and he scored!

The shot had the fans screaming incessantly, and the cheers didn’t stop.

Durant, looking even taller than the power forward Jordan Hill, managed to execute such a drive attack, which was simply incredible!

And the height at which he released the floater was so high that Gasol couldn’t block it at all; the ball seemed even higher than the basket when it left Durant’s hands!

It was unstoppable. The Lakers had anticipated this; Duhon took the inbound pass and pushed forward to the frontcourt and passed to Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang didn’t care about the intense pressure from Durant’s recent attack. His tasks for tonight were two—defend Harden and score!

Zhang Yang continued to drive... and again got heavily guarded; three taller players in the frontcourt blocked him on the left, front, and right. Unapproachable, he passed back to Gasol.

If Durant had really shrunk to 206 cm, Zhang Yang would have jumped over and just shot it...

After passing, Zhang Yang continued to move out to the right of the top arc, Gasol passed the ball... to Artest at the right corner!

Because leaving the paint with Zhang Yang wasn’t Ibaka, but Durant!

Just as Artest caught the ball, Ibaka had blocked him, but Artest faked a shot, and Ibaka jumped up.

Artest took a step forward to dodge Ibaka and shot a long two-pointer... and he scored!

CCTV commentator Zhang Weiping exclaimed, "What a confident shot by Artest! Unexpectedly, this year he has shown the best shooting performance since joining the Lakers. After last season, I thought he was going to retire, but he actually improved his shooting..."

The fans in front of the TV pressed mute as a sign of respect for the double Zhang duo.

But Zhang Weiping’s "wow" was acknowledged by the fans. Artest’s offensive performance this season as a Laker was indeed unexpected. If it had been from drive attacks, it wouldn’t be surprising, but after turning 30, his athleticism declined rapidly. This season, he had his highest scoring in four years, relying on his shooting...

Actually, in the 04-05 season, in the first 7 games, when he was still known as Artest, he showcased an average of 24.6 points, a 49.6% field goal rate, 60% under the basket, 40% from close range, 45% mid-range, 42.3% on long two-pointers, 41% three-pointers, and a 92.2% free throw rate, and before facing the Pistons, the Pacers had a 5-1 start. That year, he was a hot candidate for MVP + DPOY at the beginning.

But he only played 7 games that season; for the remaining 75 games, he was suspended.

A year with no games, he definitely wasn’t training in the gym every day; indulging in all pleasures... When he returned to the court a year later, his shooting ability had regressed to his rookie NBA levels. At the time of suspension, he was already 25 years old, and his four years of hard training in the NBA were destroyed. There’s no second chance in a player’s growth period; he never got back the shooting skills of that season.

The Lakers’ offense in the first two rounds in front of the TV made the fans and commentators dazzled! They played even better than the last game!

Gasol, playing as the main facilitator in the set piece, clearly suited the role better than Nash. Though Gasol didn’t receive any assists for those two plays, he contributed at least half to making them successful.

In set plays, Nash needed to be paired with a player strong in pick-and-roll cuts, but the Lakers lacked one...

However, the Lakers’ defense seemed even worse than in G1!

Though Earl Clark wasn’t good at defending, his physical condition was advantageous—208 cm tall, young, and excellent in terms of athleticism. His draft template in ’09 was Odom. Durant’s isolation plays were quite easy, but he still needed to figure out how to play.

Playing against Artest was different. Artest relied purely on strength and mobility to predict and defend, limiting long shots. Durant didn’t need to think at all; receive the ball and just drive, it was done!

When facing help defense, Durant would dodge to a more appropriate position to shoot; facing a double team, he would pass.

Seeing how easily Durant scored through drives, Harden kept feeding the ball to the big guy.

This was what Shubao liked most about Harden; when he was having fun in the game, Harden was truly willing to let him take over and play to his fullest, unlike Tortoise who always prioritized himself, even if he was playing poorly, Harden could still manage the ball like Tortoise.

Faced with Durant-led Thunder Team’s strong offense, the Lakers could keep up as long as Duhon and Artest were accurate from distance, but as they began to miss shots and Thunder Team’s wings, Ibaka and Sefolosha, performed steadily, the Lakers began to fall behind.

By the end of the first quarter, Zhang Yang took control; with Nash coming off the bench and using Jamison’s screen to make a quick stop and mid-range shot from the right side of the free throw line, he scored.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers were behind the Thunder Team by 3 points at 35-38, Nash’s shot brought the score within a difference of one possession.

The Lakers played quite well this quarter; Gasol played for nine minutes, and although his stats were only 4 points and 2 assists, he organized the team’s offense neatly. Zhang Yang just needed to play one-on-one, and when double-teamed, he would pass to Gasol.

Zhang Yang shot 4 out of 7, including making 1 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 out of 2 free throws, scoring a total of 11 points with 2 rebounds and 1 assist in the quarter.

For most of the time, the Lakers’ supporting players also did quite well, Artest and Duhon’s long shots, Jordan Hill’s cuts, all were executed with high accuracy. Nash and Jamison’s individual performances coming off the bench were also impressive.

But the opponents played even better!

Durant played the entire quarter, shooting 4 out of 6, including making 1 of 1 three-pointers, plus 4 out of 4 free throws, scoring a total of 13 points and 4 assists, with only one turnover!