Chapter 406 Lakers: We Are Going to Kill the Gods Tonight!
In the home team's locker room, after receiving the Trail Blazers' starting lineup, the Nets' new head coach Byron Scott began to analyze.
He is a young new coach, a former NBA player, 39 years old. He served as an assistant coach with the Kings for the first two seasons and was hired by the Nets this season.
In fact, players like Dayao and others don't understand why the management wants this new coach to be the head coach. The team is so strong now, aren't they afraid that the new coach will hold them back? This can be regarded as a mysterious operation by the Nets management.
After thinking twice, Byron Scott said to Yao and Duncan: "Fortson's ability to pull away can be ignored. Yao, you and him. If he pulls out, you can let it go. Tim, you and Xiao O." "
Dayao and Duncan nodded one after another.
Duncan is actually a little hesitant, because half of his athletic ability has been lost. Whether he can keep up with Xiao Ou is a question.
But he couldn't ask the taller Dayao to follow Xiao Ao, so he could only agree.
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
Xiao Ao and Dayao jumped the ball, and the Blazers attacked.
Fordson's ability to stretch is average, and he moves around the edge of the paint area, with Dayao facing off.
Ou pulled out, and Duncan followed, but he also took two steps, just outside the left line of the paint area, and could quickly return to defend the basket.
Zhao Dong came to the frontcourt with the ball, saw the Nets' defensive position, and started a two-one-two zone defense.
Dayao and Duncan are on the left and right wings respectively, and can return to defend the basket at any time.
Among them is Stephen Jackson, and at the top are two guards, Marbury and Kendall Gill.
As he nears the top of the key, Marbury follows Eddie Jones while Kendall Gill and Stephen Jackson in the middle double-team.
At this time, Marion, who was free, quickly cut in from the left wing to the basket, and Duncan made up the defense.
Zhao Dong quickly passed the ball to Xiao Ao.
There was no one in front of Ou, so he took a step forward after receiving the ball, and when Duncan returned to defense, he made a mid-range jumper.
"boom!"
A nearly open jump shot, but unfortunately missed.
Zhao Dong, who rushed to the basket after passing the ball, blocked Dayao, grabbed the offensive rebound, and immediately started to hit Dayao with his back under the basket.
At this time, Stephen Jackson followed and started to double-team Zhao Dong, but Zhao Dong didn't notice him. Under the double-team at the front and back, he quickly swayed left and right, not only shaking Dayao behind him, but also knocking him away in front of him. Jackson, then turned sideways and bucked Dayao on the head with a bang.
The future Martial Saint was not heavy enough, weighing less than 100 kilograms. He could not stand firmly under Zhao Dong's impact. When he was knocked away, he pulled Zhao Dong's arm, but he was not strong enough and could not hold it back.
"Beep!"
The referee blew the whistle and pointed at Stephen Jackson, who was following the double-team, and called him a thug foul. Zhao Dongjia made a free throw.
Duncan ran over and said to Jackson: "Stephen, if you want to foul, be more aggressive. Don't let him score two plus one."
Jackson has a bad temper, but Duncan's temperament off the court is very good, and the two of them were in the same year, so they have a good relationship. He said nothing else and nodded to Duncan's advice.
"Hey, rookie No. 21, are you starting to coach your younger brother in playing basketball?" Zhao Dong said with a surprised look on his face.
Duncan, who looked dull, snorted and stood directly on the sideline of the paint area without replying.
Zhao Dong smiled and secretly thought that Duncan looked a bit like a stone Buddha.
Next he made a free throw, and then the Nets attacked.
Duncan and Dayao pulled left and right, and Fordson and O'Neill were pulled away from the basket. At this time, Marbury started to break through from the right wing.
The Trail Blazers did not play zone defense, but man-to-man. Zhao Dong personally guarded Marbury.
"Feilong, I'm going to attack you."
Marbury boasted that he wanted to challenge Zhao Dong head-on, but one move was as fierce as a tiger's, and when he looked back he saw that he had become 250.
"Damn it!"
Others rushed over, but the ball was gone. Seeing Zhao Dong making a quick move, he quickly turned around and chased after him.
"Haha, Marbury passed, but the ball stayed." Su Qun patted the table and laughed.
"boom!"
Zhao Dong’s fast break on the outside,
With his speed and impact, he was unstoppable. A flying dunk made the Nets' home court burst into warm applause.
"Lone Wolf, give the ball back to you. Give it to me later."
After succeeding, Zhao Dong handed the ball to Marbury.
"I'm not a lone wolf."
Marbury took the ball depressed and said angrily: "Don't try to steal my ball again."
"Do you have a new nickname?" Zhao Dong asked curiously.
"No."
Frustrated, Marbury threw the ball to Kendall Gill.
"Then let me give you one?" Zhao Dong smiled.
"What's it called?" Marbury asked.
"You are as fast as a galloping horse, your surname is Ma, and you also like to blacksmith, why not call yourself Iron Horse?" Zhao Dong said.
At this time, Kendall Gill served the ball. Marbury just heard the word "iron horse" and was so angry that he didn't catch the ball firmly and let go.
Zhao Dong had quick eyes and quick hands and grabbed the ball directly. Two steps later, the Nets' basket was blown up again.
"Feilong, you are so shameless!"
Marbury was interrupted twice in the beginning and almost exploded.
Zhao Dong laughed loudly and ran towards the backcourt.
"I think the nickname Iron Horse suits Marbury."
"Yes, I think so too."
In the media box behind the baseline, some reporters began to discuss Zhao Dong's new nickname for Marbury.
Marbury, who was waiting to serve at the bottom line, also heard their discussion and wanted to object, but thought that this nickname was better than Lone Wolf, so he didn't say anything.
After receiving the ball and advancing to the frontcourt, Marbury did not go to the top of the key, but went to the right wing. Zhao Dong defended.
"Hurry up, Iron Horse, give me my ball back." Zhao Dong joked.
"Don't even think about it," Marbury said angrily.
At this time, Kendall Gill came over to pick and roll. He knew that it would be difficult for Marbury to break through Zhao Dong head-on.
Borrowing the wall to complete the breakthrough, Marbury held the ball and reached the paint area.
Fordson quickly returned to defend the basket, and Marbury passed the ball to Dayao, who made a jump shot near the basket and made an accurate shot.
"As long as Marbury can break in, there's no way to defend such a ball."
Zhang Lijia shook his head and smiled: "The inside line pulled by the Trail Blazers must return to the basket. No matter whether it is Duncan or Yao, eight of the ten open balls near the basket are not accurate enough, and nine of them are not accurate enough." This is normal, it was too close to the basket."
Trail Blazers offense.
Zhao Dong held the ball at the top of the arc, but Stephen Jackson and Kendall Gill came up to double-team.
Marion cut inside and Duncan covered up the defense. The former suddenly stopped next to the latter and made a pick-and-roll screen. At this time, Ou, who was pulled out, quickly cut into the paint area from behind Marion.
Zhao Dong passed the ball, Xiao Ao received the ball and jumped up against Yao who was returning to defend the basket.
"Snapped!"
The ball jumped up and Xiao Ao was blocked.
Duncan turned around and grabbed the ball, and the Nets attacked.
It was Gill who set up a pick-and-roll for Marbury, but this time Zhao Dong quickly chased after him, and Marbury did not completely get rid of Zhao Dong.
But Dayao took a step up from the low post, and Marbury took the initiative to use the former's pick-and-roll to get rid of Zhao Dong.
Fordson had already returned to defend the basket. Marbury did not make a layup and still passed back to Dayao.
Zhao Dong switched to guarding Dayao. The latter turned around to play with his back, arched the former, and then turned around and shot a fadeaway jumper.
Zhao Dong knew that he could not guard against Yao due to his height disadvantage. Not to mention him, O'Neal, Duncan and Garnett could not guard against him, so he adopted the method of closing his eyes.
But Dayao's backward movement allowed him to get rid of Zhao Dong's defense. His vision was not affected and he still hit the ball.
In the following time, Zhao Dong did not attack the Nets inside like he did against the Lakers.
The Nets are different from the Lakers. There is no record conflict with the Trail Blazers. It's just a regular season game. Besides, he doesn't want to hurt Dayao, so he is showing mercy.
But even though he rarely hits the basket directly, his jump shots from close to the basket still keep his efficiency high. It is not easy for the Nets to win.
But in the end, the Nets relied on the power of two super insiders and Marbury's breakthrough to defeat the Trail Blazers without Zhao Dong playing at his full strength.
105:111, the Trail Blazers lost by 6 points.
Zhao Dong still scored 56 points, shooting 56% from the field, and scored another triple-double. This was his eighth consecutive triple-double.
It's just his triple-double that made him the leader of the air-cutting group today.
Dayao and Duncan teamed up to score 61 points, shooting 64% from the field, exceeding his efficiency.
With 7 wins and 1 loss, the Trail Blazers have withdrawn from the league's first record, and the Nets have 8 wins and 0 losses, ranking first in the league.
"Tiema, you played very selflessly today, your shots were reasonable, and you also gave out 14 assists." After the game, Zhao Dong joked.
"I want to compete for the assists title this season." Marbury said with a smile.
Zhao Dong smiled and said: "Then work hard, young man."
Marbury said angrily: "Young man, my birthday is February 1977. I seem to be a few months older than you."
"You've only been crazy for a few months."
Zhao Dong laughed, said something that could make Marbury angry, turned around and left.
The Trail Blazers lost to the Nets. The biggest consequence was not about the two teams, but it affected many people's evaluation of the Lakers.
Barkley gave his own evaluation: "Obviously, if the Lakers keep their main lineup healthy, they will have a chance to win against the Trail Blazers."
"The Nets can defeat the Trail Blazers with their two super insiders and top outsiders..."
The Lakers legend also encouraged the Lakers, saying: "The same two super centers, although David is old, he still has energy, and O'Neal, as the most dominant center, he has the ability to play behind David and Kobe. With help, beat the Trail Blazers like the Nets did."
The Lakers did nothing and relied on the Nets to defeat the Trail Blazers and received a wave of recognition.
The Trail Blazers continue their journey to the East. After the Nets, they have six away games before returning to Portland on November 23.
The next six away games were all the weak teams in the Eastern Conference, and the Trail Blazers successfully won them all. During the Eastern Conference trip, they achieved a record of one loss and six wins. In the first 14 games, they had 13 wins and 1 loss, returning to the first place in the league.
The Nets lost, losing to the Lakers on the road, tied for first place with the Trail Blazers.
David Robinson came back and teamed up with O'Neal to compete with the super combination of Duncan + Dayao, but Kobe defeated Marbury on both offense and defense.
Marbury's offense is okay, but his defense is far inferior to Kobe. This is where he is inferior to Kobe.
It was his poor defense that allowed Kobe to constantly attack Dayao and Duncan, causing great damage. Dayao committed too many fouls and only played 24 minutes in the game, spending a lot of time on the bench.
In turn, Kobe guarded Marbury closely, which greatly reduced his efficiency and was unable to impact the inside.
Kobe Bryant scored 46 points in this game, which was more outstanding than the two super insiders. He was full of murderous energy and showed his sharpness.
There was no game on the 24th, and after too many away games, the team did not arrange training. It was a day off, and Zhao Dong spent time at home with his four sons.
Lindsay works from home, surrounded by a dozen assistants, who remotely control the operations of Tianlong Investment Bank and Storm.
"Husband, the UN General Assembly meeting will be held the day after tomorrow. I plan to launch an asset management project at Tianlong Investment Bank after joining the WTO."
"Yes, Tianlong's current operating projects are not enough, and the funds it controls are not enough." Zhao Dong said.
"In addition, Huifeng Bank's acquisition cannot proceed. We did not get enough management shares. I am going to open our own bank with Tianlong as the capital." Lindsay added.
"Yes, we have an advantage over Huifeng in China. The funds from dozens of industrial group companies alone are enough to support a bank." Zhao Dong said with a smile.
At noon, the Nets, who came to challenge, arrived in Portland.
Zhao Dong drove to the hotel to pick up Dayao and Marbury and invited them to lunch.
On the afternoon of the next day, the United Nations General Assembly was held in New York. China's application for WTO accession was officially approved and China became a member of the WTO. China's development began to enter the fast lane.
That night, the Trail Blazers defeated the Nets at home and occupied the first place in the league.
Since this game was at home, Zhao Dong showed no mercy and went all out to attack Dayao and Duncan.
Of course, his main target was Duncan. He stared at Duncan and beat him up, but he still showed mercy to Dayao.
Duncan committed two fouls in the first quarter and played only 7 minutes before going down. In the second quarter, he was targeted by Zhao Dong again and committed four fouls in the half, playing only 27 minutes in the whole game.
At the same time, on the defensive end, Zhao Dong strengthened his defense against Marbury and reduced his breakthrough efficiency, which is also one of the important reasons for winning.
After this game, the Nets, who performed brilliantly in the new season, were questioned.
The main area that was questioned was the back line. Marbury was guarded by Zhao Dong and Kobe, and his partner Kendall Gill was not strong enough. The back line combination dragged down a pair of super insiders.
Time came to December 1st, and the league announced the Player of the Month for November and updated the MVP rankings.
Zhao Dong had a super performance in November, averaging 45 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game. At the same time, with the first record in the Trail Blazers League, he won the Best of the Month and maintained the first place in the MVP rankings.
On the 8th, the Philadelphia Digital Team came to visit and challenge the Trail Blazers away from home.
The 37-year-old Postman is still as strong as ever and in excellent condition. His cooperation with Iverson is getting better and better. He breaks through and pulls out. In the first half, he played on par with the Trail Blazers.
The Digital Team and Nets are different from the Lakers. The main players are very strong, and the substitutes are also very strong like the Trail Blazers. The lineup is very deep.
This is Iverson's fifth season. He has completely entered his peak period. His breakthroughs are so sharp that Zhao Dong can only sit in the paint area himself.
This is the same as the last second round of the Eastern Conference. Iverson used his lethality to create opportunities for the Postman.
The Postman's elbow can defeat anyone, but only Zhao Dong, and only Iverson's breakthrough lethality can hold Zhao Dong back and give the Postman a chance.
He played 22 minutes in the first half and scored 21 points with a shooting percentage of 57%, which was very efficient.
The two sides were tied in the first half. Entering the second half, Larry Bird changed his defensive tactics and asked Zhao Dong to mark the postman, while Iverson left it to others.
Larry Bird is preparing to use the crowd tactic to deal with Iverson. The Trail Blazers have enough people inside. Fordson, O'Brien, Brian Grant, Schrempf, and Dale Davis all have good defense. Use these five people to take turns blocking Iverson.
As a result, the postman was guarded by Zhao Dong in the third quarter, and Iverson walked to the free throw line step by step. Although he scored a lot of points, the digital team began to fall behind.
In the final quarter, Larry Bird once again changed his defensive tactics against the Postman, asking Fordson to guard the Postman and Zhao Dong to go inside.
Fordson guarded the postman in the Knicks. He is not afraid of the postman's elbow, but his ability to resist elbows is far inferior to that of Zhao Dong.
After such a fight, the efficiency of the email combination of Postman and Iverson plummeted, and they eventually lost the game.
"Larry, your coaching ability is not bad." After the game, Zhao Dong began to tease Larry Bird.
"Everyone knows that I am the top coach, on the same level as Pat Riley." Larry Bird said confidently.
Through two successful defensive tactical adjustments in the second half, the Trail Blazers proved that they have the ability to suppress the email combination.
After this game, many media began to doubt that the digital team was not qualified to be on the same level as the Trail Blazers, Nets, and Lakers.
On the 12th, the Trail Blazers defeated the Warriors in an away game and arrived in Los Angeles overnight to challenge the Lakers in an away game on the 13th.
This is a back-to-back game. Facing the powerful Lakers, physical fitness will be the biggest challenge for the Trail Blazers.
Prior to that, the Trail Blazers had 21 wins and 1 loss, the best record in the league, and they were brilliant.
Zhao Dong continued his incredible 40+ triple-double performance, showing his powerful offensive ability and versatility to the world.
Magic Johnson accepted an interview with the media in Los Angeles that day. He commented on Zhao Dong's performance this season and said in a very emotional tone: "I suspect that Feilong wants to play the season that Chamberlain had. If he is really allowed to do it, , then he will become the true ruler of this alliance, and he will dominate this alliance."
O'Neal was interviewed by the media at home. He was not as funny as before and said very seriously: "We have made all preparations and we will not obey his rule. Tonight, we will kill the gods!"
Kobe was interviewed in the training hall and said: "There is no ruler in this league. He is not invincible. The Nets can beat him and so can we. In fact, we can beat him as long as we want."
"The Dominators descend on Staples Center, and the Lakers want to kill the gods!" New York Times.
Although Zhao Dong left the Knicks, he still has a strong influence in New York. The Knicks' performance in the new season is too poor, with a record of 6 wins and 15 losses. It is so bad that the New York media does not want to report it. Now the New York media is paying attention to the NBA. Everything has been transferred to Zhao Dong, just like Zhao Dong is still with the Knicks.
"Tonight, we will kill the gods!"
"This alliance has no ruler!"
The Los Angeles media quoted O'Neal and Kobe, showing a strong momentum.