manynovel Chapter 73 Starry Night shakes down Morris, three-pointers hit in a row to tie the game again!
Chapter 73 Starry Night shakes down Morris, three-pointers hit in a row to tie the game again!
Curry turned around at the sound and saw Li Xingchen's sincere eyes.
He nodded almost without hesitation and threw the ball to Li Xingchen directly after crossing the halfway line.
Although Li Xingchen is currently positioned as a 3D wing player, his performance in recent games and their one-on-one experience a few days ago show that his ball-handling ability is completely trustworthy.
He's much better than Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, who play similar roles. In particular, he's not like Klay Thompson, a "dribbling genius" who sometimes dribbles the ball off his own foot or suddenly loses his grip, resulting in inexplicable mistakes, even when no one is interfering.
Curry now trusts Li Xingchen a lot.
When the team needs to make changes, it's perfectly acceptable to give him a try!
Li Xingchen received the ball and advanced to the three-point line.
Standing in front of him was Paul George, a player who has been named to the All-Defensive Team for several consecutive years.
Li Xingchen has not scored yet in this game because the defensive pressure he faces is almost as great as Curry's, so his teammates have not taken the initiative to look for him.
Similar to Curry's ball-handling offensive tactics, Li Xingchen wouldn't foolishly go head-to-head with Paul George, but instead called for Looney to screen for him.
Compared to a heavy ball-handling forward like Kawhi Leonard, who has a low chassis, stable center of gravity, and strong physicality, an off-ball scorer like George is relatively more agile and flexible in movement.
His ability to create screens is also better than Kawhi Leonard's.
So when faced with the pick-and-roll between Li Xingchen and Rooney, George gestured to Morris not to switch, but to let him squeeze through the screen and continue to entangle Li Xingchen.
Seeing this, Li Xingchen's eyes flickered slightly.
It seems the opponent still doesn't take his attack seriously enough.
When facing Curry, they dare not give him any open looks and can only switch on defense, but when facing themselves, do they dare to give him any open looks?
can.
But if you dare to give, you must dare to pay the price!
In an instant, Li Xingchen recalled the feeling he had when he practiced shooting three-pointers with the ball extensively last week.
After a pick-and-roll, if the opponent doesn't switch, he takes advantage of the brief moment the defender is squeezing through the screen to get a shot off; this has always been one of his key training exercises.
He clearly remembers that rhythm and feel.
It's now!
Taking advantage of the moment when George was blocked by Rooney and had not yet squeezed through the screen, and Morris had not yet come to help defend, Li Xingchen raised his hand and hit a three-pointer over the defender. The speed of his shot was so fast that it really had a bit of Curry's feel.
With a "whoosh," it hit the target squarely!
A single arrow pierces the clouds and cuts through the sky; three points are swift as lightning and pierce through the rainbow!
George had just squeezed through the screen and hadn't even had a chance to reach out and interfere.
What's most terrifying about Li Xingchen is that, although he doesn't seem to have absolute dominance in any field yet, he has a brilliant performance in every field as if he's possessed by Goat.
His three-point shooting is like Curry's, his hang time and layup are like Jordan's, his extreme fadeaway is like Kobe's, and his block is like LeBron's...
Whether on offense or defense, he seems to know a little bit of every weapon of the God of Every Field, and he can use them on the field from time to time.
The only problem is that it seems to be used very infrequently, in short, production needs to be increased.
But he is still young, and it is entirely understandable that some of his skills are not yet fully refined.
It's unimaginable how powerful he would be on the field if he mastered all these key techniques to the point where he could use them freely and flexibly...
Back to the field.
George was secretly shocked by the speed at which Li Xingchen attacked.
However, he is a veteran of ten years who has been through many battles, so he naturally wouldn't panic just because the opponent scored a goal.
During the transition between offense and defense, George also pulled Morris aside for a talk.
Obviously, if Li Xingchen runs a pick-and-roll again in the next possession, George will no longer try to create space for Li Xingchen to shoot by squeezing through the screen; instead, he will switch defense directly with Morris.
He refused to believe it. If even Curry's pick-and-roll offense couldn't break through their defense, how could Li Xingchen possibly do it?
Looking back, the Clippers' offense remained methodical.
As the number of possessions increased, Wiggins became more and more familiar with Leonard's offensive rhythm and made several effective interferences, causing Leonard to miss shots frequently. Therefore, he changed his strategy and no longer insisted on one-on-one against Wiggins, but instead called on his teammates to set screens.
Logically speaking, given his physique, Wiggins would be best suited to play one-on-one against Curry, but Curry is currently matched up against Reggie Jackson, who doesn't have particularly good screen-setting abilities, and Wiggins can easily squeeze past the screen.
With no other option, he had to settle for second best and call on Morris to set a screen.
In fact, given Kawhi Leonard's technical characteristics, he wouldn't have much of an advantage in mismatches against big men like Rooney.
So his real purpose was to use the screen to force the Warriors to switch, and then pass the ball to Morris during the gap in the switch.
Let's see if we can use this time difference to find new opportunities.
In reality, Morris did get a brief open shot, so Li Xingchen, who was on the same side, immediately stepped forward to help defend and interfere.
But the Clippers weren't stupid either. As soon as he moved, the ball was immediately passed to George, who was guarding him.
Compared to Kawhi Leonard, Paul George is better at catching and shooting.
A long-range mid-range shot, and it went in smoothly.
The score was 15-18, with the Clippers leading by three points again.
Paul George whistled in Li Xingchen's direction with a hint of smugness.
After all, in the previous possession, Li Xingchen took advantage of the time difference when he squeezed through the screen to make a three-pointer, so this shot was basically a direct response.
Li Xingchen simply smiled and shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.
George's action was a slight provocation, but he certainly wouldn't take it too seriously.
The best approach is to respond directly on the offensive end!
After crossing half-court, Curry passed the ball directly to Li Xingchen.
Now, his level of trust in Li Xingchen should exceed that of all his other teammates.
Li Xingchen followed suit, calling on Rooney to set a screen for him.
This time, George did not choose to squeeze through the screen, but instead switched onto Morris.
Morris, who was now in front of Li Xingchen, was also full of confidence.
If I can't stop Curry, surely I can stop you?
Li Xingchen's handsome face remained calm and undisturbed.
He kept thinking about the various feints and combos Curry used during his one-on-one match that day.
Then, prepare to do the opposite!
Just as Wiggins gradually adapted to Leonard's offensive rhythm, Morris will certainly try to study and adapt to Curry's offensive rhythm as well.
Whether he can truly adapt remains to be seen, given that Curry's offensive rhythm is inherently unpredictable.
But Li Xingchen could use this to his advantage.
He imitated Curry, making a fake shooting motion like bowing to Buddha, and then immediately pretended to break through to the right.
Morris was not fooled by the "prayer" trick and immediately moved to the right as a reflex, clearly having already learned this lesson from Curry.
However, Li Xingchen suddenly changed direction, dribbling between his legs before turning to advance to the left.
Morris was secretly alarmed. His brain tried to control his body to change direction immediately and block Li Xingchen's breakthrough, but his legs said they couldn't do it.
He lost his balance while trying to change direction and fell to the ground!
On the Warriors' bench, the substitutes stood up once again to cheer for Li Xingchen and wave towels.
He actually managed to knock Morris down!
However, his offensive combo was not actually over yet.
Having shaken off Morris, Li Xingchen's path to breakthrough was now unobstructed.
However, it takes some time to break through to the basket.
This brief window of time could allow other Clippers players to drop back to the basket and help protect it.
Although if the opponent dared to do that, Li Xingchen could easily pass the ball to the outside, and his teammates would definitely have an open three-point opportunity.
But if that's the case, why not just do it yourself right now?
In the end, Morris was disappointed to find that Li Xingchen had a total of four offensive moves, and he had only guessed the first one correctly.
The "prayer" shooting motion is fake, the subsequent drive to the right is fake, and even the sudden crossover dribble to the left is fake...
Ultimately, the real offensive point is the step-back three-pointer after the probing step on the left wing.
Because Morris was knocked to the ground and completely out of position.
Therefore, Li Xingchen was able to calmly adjust his shooting angle, which was almost equivalent to making a wide-open three-pointer with no one to defend him.
Unsurprisingly, the connection was precise.
The score is tied at 18-18, the Warriors have tied it again!
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