All-Out Double-Teaming
Bibby was starting to worry; would his coach's tactics create a monster?
Coach Adelman was also somewhat surprised. After all, Li Chen had always played a team-oriented style of basketball since he entered the NBA, and he never expected that this Eastern Kid would also be so strong in one-on-one play.
Of course he's strong! He gets beaten up by Kobe every day, how could he not be strong?
Alvin Gentry rubbed his bald head, thinking smugly, "Chen, this Jordan successor, is no mere figurehead; he absolutely deserves the title."
At that moment, Alvin Gentry felt a surge of pride, as if he had unparalleled warriors and was determined to achieve his ambitions.
On the field.
Bibby broke through and passed the ball to Divac.
Divac's layup drew a foul from Michael Olowokandi.
Divac was awarded two free throws.
Divac made one of two free throws.
The score is 16 to 23, a difference of 5 points.
The Clippers are on offense.
Li Chen remains under tight surveillance.
Corey Maggette dribbles the ball forward.
Li Chen successfully reversed his escape route.
Corey Maggette quickly passed the ball to Li Chen.
However, Bibby figured out the passing route and intercepted the pass.
Bibby a fast break with the ball.
Li Chen quickly followed and appeared beside Bibby in the blink of an eye.
Bibby a bitter taste in his mouth; that bastard had run away way too fast.
A moment later, Bibby forced a three-step layup but was blocked by Li Chen, who then grabbed the rebound.
Bibby began to entangle with Li Chen.
Li Chen held the ball with his back to the goal, then suddenly turned and accelerated, shaking off Bibby in one fluid motion.
But Doug Christie came right up to him from the frontcourt.
Li Chen used a crossover step to get past Doug Christie, then attempted a Euro step layup, but was fouled by Stojakovic, and the ball missed.
Two free throw opportunities are awarded.
Li Chen let out a long breath, trying to calm his somewhat rapid breathing.
Swish! Both free throws went in.
18 to 23.
The Kings on offense.
Because Bibby spent too much time entangled with Li Chen, he was exhausted and made a passing error that was intercepted by Wang Zhizhi.
Wang Zhizhi passed the ball to Li Chen.
After receiving the ball, Li Chen slammed it home with a windmill dunk, drawing boos from the Golden No. 1 Arena.
20-23. Li Chen scored 8 consecutive points, leading the Kings on an 8-1 run that forced Kings a timeout.
In a domestic live streaming room.
"This is the way you should be, Chen! Chen scored 8 points in a row, that's amazing!"
Coach Zhang praised him highly, and even Zhang Weiping suddenly changed his tune, saying that Alvin Gentry was actually a pretty good coach.
Fans watching the live stream were also excited; they genuinely hoped that Li Chen could go far in the Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Bibby was drenched in sweat. He was exhausted from defending Li Chen with all his might. You know, he had to run at full speed every time he wanted to keep up with Li Chen, otherwise he would be left behind. Bibby was really struggling to keep up.
Coach Adelman didn't give up on his tactics; he was determined to wear Li Chen down.
He'd made up his mind. If this one didn't work, he'd try the next one. He refused to believe he couldn't wear him down.
He then resorted to a ruthless tactic, surrounding Li Chen with his entire team.
Shortly after, Coach Adelman substituted Bibby for a rest and brought on Bobby Jackson, having him and Doug Christie double-team Li Chen.
After the pause.
The Kings, after their first offensive possession failed.
Li Chen was slightly taken aback when he suddenly saw the two men surrounding him.
He then passed the ball to Odom was left unmarked, without hesitation.
Odom didn't hesitate either, immediately jumping up and sinking a three-pointer.
He wanted to use this three-pointer to tell the Kings that leaving him open was the right thing to do.
Thud! The basketball hit the rim and flew out.
Seeing this, Li Chen's lips twitched.
He discovered that Odom in this world had been raised in a corrupted way.
It has a strong "JR Smith" vibe about it, constantly losing power every now and then.
Under the basket, Michael Olowokandi outjumped Divac to grab the rebound again.
He then missed a floater, and Chris Webber grabbed the rebound.
Alvin Gentry was so angry he wanted to swallow that bastard Michael Olowokandi whole.
If it weren't for this guy's decent rebounding skills, he would have gladly banned this bastard right now and never hired him again.
Alvin Gentry ran to the sidelines and yelled, "Give that damn basketball to Li Chen!"
Michael Olowokandi shrank back in fright.
Meanwhile, Wang Zhizhi and Odom double-teamed Webber. Webber tried to force his way past both of them, but after almost losing the ball, he realized the situation and passed it to Bobby Jackson, but it was intercepted by Li Chen.
Li Chen hits a step-back three-pointer.
The basketball was tossed high into the air, swooping down towards the basket like a fledgling eagle just learning to feed.
Swish! The basketball goes through the net cleanly.
At 23-23, Li Chen almost single-handedly tied the score.
"Wonderful! Chen's performance is just like a young version of Michael Jordan!" Zhang Weiping exclaimed excitedly in the live broadcast room.
Sun Zhengping nodded repeatedly, but then he changed the subject, saying, "However, if this continues, Chen's stamina will definitely not hold up. Without stamina, his shooting percentage will drop. So whether the Clippers can win this game depends on whether the other Clippers players can step up and share the pressure with Chen."
Zhang Weiping nodded frequently, agreeing with Sun Zhengping's view.
The Kings then launched a fierce counterattack, catching the Clippers off guard.
At the end of the second quarter, the Clippers trailed the Kings 50-52 by two points.
Li Chen scored 28 points and had 3 assists in the first half, shooting 11-for-20 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
During that time, Odom, who was left unmarked, couldn't bear to be underestimated and scored 8 consecutive points, showcasing his unpredictable and erratic play to the fullest.
Odom displayed incredible power, making the Sacramento Kings dare not give up on this point again.
However, Li Chen played too aggressively today, and one-on-one defense is definitely not enough to stop him, so we have to double-team him.
So they started letting Wang Zhizhi play, and it worked well for the first few rounds. But then Wang Zhizhi scored one after another, so they had to keep switching targets.
Clippers' rest area.
Li Chen covered his face with a towel and breathed heavily. Every time he touched the ball, it was like a battle. This style of play was too tiring.
Wait a minute, Li Chen suddenly remembered something, then grabbed the towel off his face, stood up and walked out of the changing room.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Odom shouted.
Li Chen waved his hand and said, "Mind your own business. You should worry about your shooting touch in the second half!"
Hearing Li Chen's taunt, Odom felt a little embarrassed. He then looked down at his own large hands and thought to himself, "I'm helpless too!" His shooting touch had been off since the Playoffs began.
A short while later, Li Chen went to the restroom and drank a bottle of Functional Drink.
At that moment, he secretly rejoiced that he hadn't consumed Functional Drink that day.
However, this incident reminded me that I should always keep some of these Functional Drink on hand to replenish my energy during competitions.
While Functional Drink can give you a full boost, they can also accelerate the recovery of physical strength.
In this way, as long as he can control his stamina under such high-intensity targeting, he can play for 45 minutes without any problem.
"I hope my teammates can step up in the third quarter! Otherwise, the Clippers might really be eliminated," Li Chen thought worriedly.
After the start of the third quarter.
The Kings continued to double-team Li Chen relentlessly, and Li Chen only had a 30% success rate when forcing layups. Clearly, Li Chen's shooting touch was a bit off at this stage.
However, the Kings still dared not defend Li Chen one-on-one, which gave the Clippers a chance to breathe.
In addition, his teammates performed quite well, so the score wasn't too far behind.
Meanwhile, the Kings, from Coach Adelman and his coaching staff to the players and benchwarmers, were all dumbfounded.
Despite their relentless defense against Li Chen, this Eastern Kid, he hasn't collapsed from exhaustion. He's still running and jumping on the court, showing no signs of fatigue. In fact, he hasn't even had a moment to catch his breath or put his hands on his hips – something they find incredibly hard to believe.