NBA regular season, the Lakers back-to-back away challenge to the Grizzlies, as the dark horse of the West this season, the Grizzlies are currently in the fourth place in the West with a record of 21 wins and 14 losses, morale is high after the last game, the Lakers have just ended a 5-game losing streak on the Fish Belly Rockets, and the team needs to continue to continue the pace of victory and completely get rid of the downturn. After the start of the game, the Lakers quickly took the lead under the leadership of James, controlling the situation on the court for most of the first half, leading by 13 points at most, but before the end of the half, the Grizzlies played a small climax under the leadership of Morant, chasing the score to 48-54, and the Lakers led by 6 points at the end of the half.
From the first half of the game, Fitzdale's adjustment to the starting lineup began to bear fruit, and James also rarely got more rest time to save physical strength for the second half, and 10-day short worker Stanley Johnson played a brilliant performance on the defensive end, becoming an unexpected surprise for the Lakers.
1, Fei Shuai learned to be flexible, and the first one changed again
When playing the Rockets, the Lakers used James to play center, using a five-small lineup, which completely activated the team's offense. And when the outside world thought that the Lakers would continue to play for five hours, Fitzdale reactivated Howard, allowing him to replace Stanley Johnson in the starting lineup. And this adjustment is aimed at dealing with adams, the Grizzlies' big center, and it has achieved good results. It can be seen that Fitzdale has begun to learn to adapt and adjust the lineup according to the actual situation of the opponent, after all, the five small lineups themselves are not suitable for the lakers as an elderly team, and it is wise to make targeted adjustments according to the opponent.
2, James rarely reduces the burden
James shot 5-of-9, 3-of-4 from three-point range, 2-of-2 from the free throws, cut down 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and the offensive end was very efficient, for a 37-year-old veteran, being able to play such an efficiency in back-to-back games had to be admired. And Fitzdale obviously knows that old Zhan's physical strength is facing a big test, so he played more than 7 minutes in the first quarter to let him rest, and the second quarter also rested for nearly 4 minutes before re-appearing, half of the game, James got 8 minutes of rest, for the second half of the game is a good accumulation of strength.
Of course, James was able to rest safely off the court, and thanks to other teammates who were able to bite the game, Westbrook shot 4 of 8 and contributed 10 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, which was also eye-catching.
3. Stanley Johnson was praised for DPOY
Stanley Johnson did not start this game, but after coming off the bench, he continued to play a brilliant performance on the defensive end, and the entanglement of the Grizzlies' outside line created huge problems for the opponent's offense. Especially at the beginning of the second quarter, Stanley Johnson successfully defended his opponent in several consecutive rounds, helping the Lakers to take a double-digit lead after a wave of small climaxes and stop the Grizzlies. Lakers reporter Mike Trudell wrote directly: "Several wonderful defensive rounds by Stanley Johnson helped the Lakers take a 39-27 lead and forced the Grizzlies to pause. ”
Lakers Nation, a Los Angeles-based outlet, praised: "Is it too early to start discussing Stanley Johnson as DPOY?" "Although there is still a big gap between Putting Stanley Johnson and DPOY, he did show his energy on the defensive end in terms of these few rounds.
Of course, the Lakers in the last moments of the first half are still old problems, being counter-attacked by opponents to catch up with the score, if they want to win this game, they need to invest more energy in the second half on the defensive end to avoid another collapse without warning.