NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 48: With both offense and defense at full strength, Li Xingchen's stamina is running lo

In this crucial battle, not a single person was a coward.

Role players like Bojan, Royce O'Neal, Conley, Bazemore, Wiggins, and Li Xingchen all contributed points with open three-pointers or layups.

Even Draymond Green sank two three-pointers, and he might break his "ultimate triple-single" record today and achieve double-digit scoring.

Curry and Mitchell engaged in a star-studded duel, scoring 18 and 16 points respectively in the first half, a true clash of titans.

After a slump in the previous game, Mitchell has clearly adjusted back at home. Although his scoring efficiency is not as explosive as in the previous two games, he has brought his shooting percentage back to over 50%.

Facing Li Xingchen's head-to-head defense, he bravely took three shots, but unfortunately only made one.

So most of the time he would avoid fighting Li Xingchen, and he wouldn't easily make a move unless there was enough solid cover.

There's nothing shameful about it; normal teams would execute this tactic to give their attacking players more comfortable scoring opportunities.

If you stubbornly insist on attacking the opponent's defensive stalwarts head-on, then you really have something wrong with your brain.

At halftime, the Warriors trailed the Jazz by a narrow margin of 53-54 on the road.

The refereeing in this game was relatively lenient, and the intensity of the competition between the two sides was very high, with a considerable level of defensive effort, so neither team scored very high.

Despite such intense defense, Curry still managed to score 18 points on 12 shots, while Mitchell added 16 points on 12 shots, making for a thrilling back-and-forth battle between the two stars.

On the Warriors' side, Li Xingchen scored the second-highest points of the team with ten points. He had a good shooting touch in the first half, and he basically took advantage of the open shooting opportunities created by Curry.

However, at halftime, his expression turned serious, because he clearly felt that his physical reserves seemed to be running low...

But it's impossible to bring up something like this on your own initiative.

We can only try to recover as quickly as possible during halftime, and fight as far as we can in the second half.

If your performance in the game is significantly reduced due to excessive physical exertion, the coach will naturally substitute you for rest without you even having to tell him.

However, not having enough stamina to last the entire match is a major disadvantage for professional athletes, so Li Xingchen would definitely want to persevere as much as possible if he could.

"Hopefully it won't be too much of a problem!"

"It's not easy to train physical fitness during the playoffs, so it looks like I need to really work on my intensity this offseason."

"Mainly because I've never had the chance to play a full game of this intensity in an NBA regular season game before!"

"The physical exertion of playing against the Development League is on a completely different level."

Li Xingchen was somewhat troubled. It wasn't that he didn't want to practice, but the intensity of the competition was simply too much.

Having only intermittently served as a substitute during the regular season, it's understandable that he's struggling to adapt to the intensity of the playoffs and the starting role.

Furthermore, there's something else he himself didn't realize: the reason he felt his stamina was starting to decline at halftime was largely due to the referee loosening his officiating standards.

Once the whistle is lifted, the intensity of the confrontation increases dramatically, putting immense strain on the defensive players.

In every possession, he has to participate in countless physical confrontations. The collisions and explosions between muscles cause every player's stamina to drop rapidly, and as the Warriors' defensive ace, he is the first to bear the brunt.

Of course, at least during halftime, his physical condition had not yet become apparent, so fans still had high expectations for his performance in the second half.

"I really enjoyed watching this half. The referees should have called those calls a long time ago and given the playoffs back to the players! All they do is shoot free throws all the time. I don't know what's the point?"

"It's really exciting to watch! Even though the defensive intensity was very high and both sides were very solid, they still managed to score all sorts of amazing shots. It's so entertaining!"

"With this level of defensive intensity, Curry still managed 18 points in the first half, and our Achen also scored 10 points in the first half, second on the team."

"You know, he puts in a lot of effort on the defensive end too. He's truly a two-way player. How did the Warriors even get him?"

"Little Li already had ten points in the first half, so does he have a chance to break his own playoff scoring record of sixteen points in this game?"

"It's hard to say. I've noticed he often scores more in the first half! I guess he doesn't have as much energy to maintain his offensive level in the second half. With his defensive ability and scoring efficiency, if he can still average over 20 points per game, he'll probably be eligible for a max contract!"

……

The game quickly moved into the second half.

Halftime can indeed help you recover some physical strength, but once you return to the field, that recovered strength is quickly depleted.

Anyone who exercises regularly knows this: if you can play at high intensity for half an hour in your prime before collapsing from exhaustion, then if you rest for fifteen minutes and come back, you'll likely collapse from exhaustion again after just three minutes of playing.

Li Xingchen is in this situation now.

Now, Kerr is using him as a regular starter, and he basically needs to play for 40 minutes in the playoffs.

In the first half, he played for nearly twenty minutes and was very engaged on both offense and defense. Naturally, his stamina was depleted faster than that of "specialized" players who only needed to dominate the offense or defense.

Not long into the third quarter, he clearly felt that his speed and core strength had declined compared to his normal state, and it was obvious that the consumption of physical energy had begun to affect his offensive and defensive performance.

The defense is alright, it's slipped a little, but the impact isn't too big, the players who need to be covered can still be covered.

The impact on the offensive end is significant. Keep in mind that he is a shooter who primarily scores from the outside. If his shot is even slightly weaker due to fatigue, it will hit the rim directly.

As expected, Li Xingchen felt that his two open shots in the second half, one a three-pointer and the other a mid-range shot, were no different from his usual touch, but in the end, they hit the rim.

After his second shot hit the rim, he couldn't help but steal a glance at Kerr.

Seeing that Cole had no intention of replacing him for a rest, he considered the situation carefully and decided to change his strategy.

"Since stamina is starting to affect offensive efficiency, I should reduce my shot attempts on offense and focus my limited energy on defense..."

"Only in this way can I maximize my contribution to the team, continue to demonstrate my value, and prove that I do have the ability to start and play the entire game!"