In the Lakers' 108-103 victory over the Timberwolves, James only contributed 4 points in the final quarter, and the offensive end of the game was only 26 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, but the "textbook" defense he sacrificed in the final quarter was the cornerstone of the team's reversal, and we took six pictures as an example to present to the fans one by one.
James had 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block
1. Pre-judgmental defense.
The top defenders all have a "super ability" that allows them to predict the opponent's offensive line in advance according to the situation on the court, and James is one of the typical representatives (selected as the best defensive team for five consecutive years in 2008-13), two typical cases:
James prejudged the Timberwolves' offensive line
For example, this defense, James stood under the basket to protect the basket, the Timberwolves on the line to block the demolition, James should have made up for the downside Vanderbilt, but he predicted that Edwards was going to pass Reed in the lower left corner, so he raced with the ball, Reid just received the ball, James' defense was already in place, directly forming a disturbance. The set of offensive tactics that the Timberwolves configured for Reid three times in the final quarter were cracked by James one by one.
James defended Reed Gong again
Another example is this defense, still Vanderbilt and Edwards on the line to block the demolition, the former down, James as shown in the picture to pretend to save, Edwards turned to the left arc of Beverly, James has turned, waiting for Beverly to pass the ball to Reed in the bottom left corner, James quickly made up for the damage.
Two, one defensive and two steals.
Defense requires physical conditions, but in addition, it needs concentration and effort, and James will interpret the concentration and effort vividly in a defense.
Inspector James' Long Arm Destroyers fight back
The team attacked unsuccessfully, the Timberwolves rebounded directly back, according to the theory, Vanderbilt is taller, faster, and younger than James, but as shown in the picture, James in the process of catching up behind, struggling to probe forward with his left hand, destroying the Timberwolves' counterattack; subsequently, the Beverley ball leader wanted to find Reed under the basket, and James directly snatched.
James was exhausted
Note that James does not have an absolute physical advantage over Reed and Vanderbilt, and is 37 years old, able to complete high-quality defense twice in one defensive round, stemming from his efforts. When the team counterattacked unsuccessfully into the timeout, as shown in the picture, James hunched over and gasped for breath, tired!
Third, James's experience, do not expose the ball.
Having been racing the league for nearly two decades, James is too experienced. It had previously been said that once he bent his knees, bowed his waist, and opened his arms, he would stare at his opponent, and when the game entered the final decisive moment, James posed this posture again.
James cut the ball instantly
For example, in this defense, Daniels revealed the ball when he closed the ball, and James cut it with a palm.
James cut off Edwards
Another example is this defense, James changed to defend Edwards, Yuanlang experience is jerky, just exposed the ball, James is a slap to complete the steal; and the last defense, Edwards rushed to the basket, James stood in advance, forcing him to bypass James on the back basket, directly hit the iron.
This is the end of the game, James brought a huge contribution to the Lakers, although the offensive end is only 4 points, but he used a "textbook" level defense, interrupted the Timberwolves' full line of offense (8 of 18 shots, 8 of 8 three-pointers, 3 assists and 7 turnovers only scored 23 points), the Lakers can complete the key to the reversal.