boyutpedia Chapter 458: Suddenly 20 points behind
Chapter 458: Suddenly 20 points behind
Kemba Walker is an excellent ball-handler, with quick changes of direction, swift drives, and accurate pull-up jumpers. On nights when his shooting touch is on, his scoring explosiveness is terrifying. His on-ball offense is star-level; his off-ball movement is slightly weaker, but he's not someone who can be left wide open. However, he has a bad habit on offense: he prefers to slow down and play in the half-court, and his fast breaks are neither quick nor decisive. This is somewhat contrary to the current trend in the league, and this was even more pronounced when Jeremy Lin was playing. Lin was decisive in his fast breaks, with quick and decisive transitions, but his half-court offense relied heavily on pick-and-rolls.
The Clippers' defense is relatively compact, somewhat like a "one-on-four zone" formation, which is more of a zone defense. To put it bluntly, they take advantage of your poor offensive spacing and shooting ability.
Kemba Walker is the Hornets' primary ball-handler and leading scorer, so he naturally needs to be the focus of their defense. That's why Beverley is specifically designed to guard him.
Kemba Walker splits the right wing with Batum.
Batum, facing Paul George's replacement Wesley Johnson, didn't attack the ball but passed it to Howard in the low post.
Howard was posting up Olynyk, but after struggling with his clumsy footwork for a while, he still couldn't get past him. Finally, he unleashed a "zombie hook" with his right hand, which was as hard as plaster...
The ball obviously didn't go in. Some people can only dunk; they just can't seem to learn a sophisticated offensive technique like the hook shot. Howard even learned low-post footwork from Hakeem Olajuwon back in the day, so how did he end up with this mess?
Jia Fei leaped to grab the rebound and then launched a fast break.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the defense against Jia Fei throughout the game. With team owner Jordan in attendance, he naturally wanted to put on a good show.
Jia Fei brought the ball over and, before the opponent could even get into position, passed it to Wesley Johnson on the right wing.
Wesley Johnson's three-point attempt missed!
He's a classic example of someone who doesn't seize opportunities!
The Hornets' offense remained a slow, half-court affair. Team commander Kemba Walker prefers this pace, and currently, they lack players in their starting lineup suited to a fast-paced style. Howard is definitely not suited to a fast game, Batum is also a slow player, and Marvin and Kidd-Gilchrist don't usually participate much in the offense; their strengths don't really matter...
Five minutes into the game, neither side had scored much.
The Clippers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, were still affected by fatigue; the players weren't in good form, resulting in a low offensive success rate. Jia Fei's teammates failed to capitalize on the offensive opportunities created by being double-teamed.
However, the Clippers' defense remained solid, effectively exploiting the opponent's lack of offensive spacing, which led to a back-and-forth battle.
This performance continued into the rotation phase, with both sides fielding their rotation lineups. The Clippers continued to rely on Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, while the Hornets added Lamb, a former teammate of JaVale Westbrook, along with Michael Carter-Williams, Cody Zeller, Kaminsky, and Bacon.
Both sides started attacking, at a much faster pace than the starting lineup, but both sides lost ground defensively.
At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers trailed by 2 points, 21-23.
Jia Fei scored 6 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, and made 1 steal in the first quarter, a respectable performance.
At the start of the second quarter, the tide turned unexpectedly. The Clippers' offense went cold, while Lamb suddenly erupted for the Hornets, scoring 10 points in a row with a combination of drives and shots, instantly widening the score gap.
Clippers coach Buden immediately called a timeout and double-teamed Lamb. However, the double-teaming of Lamb was not effective, and Kaminsky hit three consecutive three-pointers, instantly widening the gap from 2 points to 20 points.
The Clippers called another timeout, and Jia Fei returned to the court.
"Teacher Ma, the Clippers are in a bit of danger. I'm thinking Coach Buden should have put Jia Fei in earlier!" Wang Zixing said with a worried expression.
"Coach Budenholzer has managed Jia Fei's playing time very well. He doesn't arbitrarily increase his playing time just because the team is on the back foot. I think that's the right thing to do. This is the regular season, and the team is playing back-to-back games. You can't put too much pressure on your core players. Otherwise, they'll get exhausted and prone to injury. If the core player gets injured, the team's record will actually get worse!" Ma Jian explained.
When Jia Fei entered the game, the score was 28-48, a full 20-point difference.
On the sidelines, Jordan, wearing large earrings and a leather jacket, chewed gum incessantly, a smug look on his face. He didn't like Jia Fei, because he had been heavily criticized both online and offline for not drafting him. But he believed himself to be the god of basketball, incapable of making wrong judgments. Whether it was Kwame Brown before, Adam Morrison after, or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist after, his choices were correct; the problem was that these players themselves weren't good enough, didn't work hard enough.
This time, they're playing against Jia Fei's team, the Clippers. The Clippers are currently on an 8-game winning streak, having just defeated the Cavaliers, who are the team of Running Man, and are incredibly hot. But tonight, in Charlotte, it seems they might suffer an upset.
Even if the Clippers' Paul George doesn't play and it's a back-to-back game, with all the debuffs stacked up, potentially ending their winning streak, it would also be a powerful boost to the Hornets' team morale.
Simply put, Jordan felt more satisfied than winning money at the gambling table if he could make Jia Fei suffer. People really do get more petty with age; before, when Running Man's consecutive accolades threatened his position, he was quite annoyed with the show. Now that Jia Fei is at the peak of his career, he's also unhappy with the young man.
What nonsense about the younger generation surpassing the older generation, what inheritance? It doesn't exist. He's not my son, so what inheritance is there to pass on?
The lineups for both teams at this time are as follows: for the Clippers, Art Mayork, Gallinari, Wesley Johnson, Jia Fei, and Beverley; for the Hornets, Kemba Walker, Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kaminsky, and Marvin Williams.
Jia Fei + Art Mayok VS Kemba Walker + Lamb, a classic buddy civil war!
The on-site director was also very thoughtful, switching the camera from the faces of the four Cornell University students one by one. This kind of scene is not something that happens often, and it really made Cornell University fans ecstatic.
The Clippers inbounded the ball, Beverley dribbled over and passed it to Jia Fei.
Jia Fei has the ball and continues to face Maijiji.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist taunted, "Down by 20 points, and you think you can solve the problem right away? Do you really think you're Michael Jordan?"
Jia Fei wasn't going to back down either: "Of course I'm not Jordan, but beating you up is no problem!" After saying that, he changed direction and drove into the middle, facing two people double-teaming him. He gathered the ball and started to move, colliding with Marvin in the air. With the whistle blowing, he twisted his body and banked the ball into the basket!
After scoring, Jia Fei fell to the floor, and Art Mayork immediately helped him up!
"Great shot! How did Jia Fei do that? That was so difficult!" Wang Zixing exclaimed excitedly. It was indeed a difficult shot; just getting the ball out in double-team conditions is no easy feat, especially with Marvin protecting the rim inside, and then scoring even after being fouled.