Chapter 119: All-Star Game
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Look at the teammates around you, who they are.
LeBron James, the core of the Cavaliers, Dwyane Wade, the soul of the Heat, and Carmelo Anthony, etc., these are all unattainable existences of Shangguan Yu half a year ago, and now Shangguan Yu has to fight side by side with them.
And who is standing on the other side of the field?
Kobe Bryant, the current NBA's No. 1 player, the Warriors' "Splash Brothers", the Thunder's twin stars, and the Spurs' new core Leonard, these will be Shangguan Yu's opponents in tonight's game.
Being able to be teammates with such an outstanding player, and being able to be an opponent with such a powerful player, is indeed a bit out of reach for a rookie like Shangguan Yu, who was undrafted. But now it's happening, that's why he has a little trance.
Although it is said that they are here to train, there are not many people who actually train.
Curry was playing with a few shots in the middle circle, Kobe Bryant was talking and laughing with several players, and James was no different. Only a few of Millsap were there to shoot obediently.
But as the music sounded, there was no serious player anymore.
James was the first to follow the beat, jumping and jumping, and he turned his attention to Wade on the side, and the two had rarely had the opportunity to play together since they parted ways. But the tacit understanding was there, and seeing James's eyes, Wade also writhed.
“Hei,come-on!”
James has launched invitations one after another, and many players in the East have joined them.
But James was obviously not satisfied, and aimed at Kobe Bryant on another court, and he twisted his body and walked towards Kobe.
He didn't speak, but spun and jumped around Kobe Bryant while making an inviting dance.
Kobe Bryant couldn't help but be happy as he watched his writhing body, but he quickly joined in.
The two came to the vicinity of the middle circle and actually danced. However, it is obvious that James is superior, but Kobe Bryant does not show weakness and follows James to get high. The others all gathered around the middle circle and writhed to the beat of the music, although Shangguan Yu was not good at dancing, his body coordination was still good, and he was excited with them.
Seeing this, Old Man Bobo could only shake his head helplessly, because the most calm player under him, Leonard, also swayed.
At the end of the song, the demon dance is finally over, but everyone's next training is just a formality.
As the clock ticked by, the game officially began at 8:30 p.m., but by 8 o'clock it was full. Seeing Olynyk taking care of his sister on the side, Shangguan Yu was relieved. Although Shangguan Yan'er is not a child, in a foreign country, it is better to be careful.
The starting lineup in the West is: Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard, without a true center.
The starting lineup in the East is Dwyane Wade, Kyle Lowry, LeBron James, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, and there is no real center either.
In fact, since Yao Ming retired and Howard was no longer as brave as he was back then, the league has never had a capable center. Now the league is even more prevalent in small ball, and the presence of the center is too weak.
After the starters in the East and West stood on the court, it was found that Kobe Bryant, who was wearing the No. 24 jersey, and LeBron James, who was wearing the No. 23 jersey, went to jump the ball.
Time flies, there was a legacy 13 years ago, although it was the 23rd to the 8th, and now it is the 23rd of the 24th Legacy Road, but the inheritance continues to make the NBA continue to develop.
This should be the 24th and 23rd, the last All-Star encounter, and possibly the last.
The referee tossed the ball high and it is not known whether it was intentional or unintentional, James did not win the jump ball.
Wei Shao got the ball and excitedly dribbled with a small jump under his crotch to announce the official start of the game.
Curry and Durant covered a little, but Kyle Lowry didn't follow up, and Wei Shao seized the opportunity to go straight inside to complete a two-handed dunk.
The 03 generation in the East played a match, Wade passed the ball to Anthony, who made a three-pointer and bounced out of the frame.
Curry got the backcourt rebound, showed off his dribble, and handed the ball to Leonard, who cut inside. Seeing that the opponent's defense was retracted, Leonard did not attack, but handed the ball to Curry, who ran from the right side to the left 30-degree three-point line, and the latter's three-point shot also bounced out of the frame.
Anthony got the rebound and pushed Lowry forward, and he tossed the ball to Wade at the top of the arc from the three-point line.
After receiving the ball in the air, Wade threw the ball up again, and James, who followed up from the middle, scored a dunk in the air.
"Beautiful!"
This time the cooperation was quite exciting, Shangguan Yu couldn't help shouting, the fans at the scene cheered even more, and Thomas also waved a towel and turned into a cheerleader.
The Western All-Star quickly sent a baseline ball, and Curry handed a long pass to Kobe Bryant who ran to the frontcourt, but the ball was a little big, Kobe Bryant had no opportunity to attack after receiving the ball, Kobe passed the ball to Leonard who followed up, and he hit a drift shot after receiving the ball.
Such a mid-range shot, in a more performative All-Star Game, is simply not enough to attract people's attention.
Leonard, who has an unpretentious style of play, is still not suitable for such a game.
Lowry dribbled the ball across the halfcourt, took advantage of Anthony's cover, and pulled up a three-point shot.
Curry took the ball across half court and handed it to Durant, who made a three-point shot from a 45-degree angle on the right side, but it bounced off the frame.
This is the advantage of not having a big center, there is no need to wait at all, what is dedicated to the fans is wave after wave of attack. It's just that the offense will be monotonous, either a direct outside three-pointer or a dunk, but that's exactly what the fans want to see.
Anthony grabbed the rebound and quickly passed the ball across the halfcourt, and Paul George received the ball at 45 degrees on the left side and hit a three-pointer in the face of Leonard's defense.
The Eastern All-Stars are 8-4 ahead of the Western All-Stars by four points.
At this time, it is only a minute and a half before the start of the game, and the next game will be even more exciting.
As Kobe's last All-Star Game, people wanted to see Kobe Bryant's wonderful performance, but now he didn't have a chance to shoot. Curry distributed the ball to Leonard, who saw Bryant from beyond the three-point line and threw the ball to him.
Kobe Bryant catches the ball and shoots, but this time it's iron!
The Eastern All-Stars played a quick counterattack, and Anthony shot from mid-range, also hitting iron.
Bryant got the backcourt rebound, advanced to the halfcourt, and handed it to Durant on the right.
The latter saw that it was Kyle Lowry who was defending in front of him, and he had formed a misalignment and did not give face to the hosts. Leaning on him to kill the inside, Lowry let it go, and Durant made a dunk under the basket!