Chapter Seventy-One: Breaking the Record Again
Liu Han began to break out after entering December, his amazing three-point shooting rate amazed everyone, and domestic fans also began to know this young man who shined in a foreign country, and what made domestic fans talk about Liu Han was not a professional athlete, but a "wild road" who barely graduated from primary school, Chinese have always had a "master in the folk" thinking, Liu Han's existence confirms this view.
On December 8, 96, the Lakers came to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves on the road.
Kevin Garnett, a high school player selected by the Timberwolves with the fifth pick in the first round last season, has improved quickly, and his excellent physical gifts have allowed the young player to block on the inside and keep up with the average outside player on the outside, but Kevin Garnett did not play in this game, he was injured in the previous game and is now in the recovery stage.
Liu Han started again in this game, and in the face of the Timberwolves, who were weaker than the Lakers inside and outside, Liu Han played very easily.
The Timberwolves' rookie pick, Stephen Marbury, has been resistant to joining the Timberwolves from the start, and the black player who grew up in New York wants to go to the Big Apple.
Liu Han played 29 minutes in this game, with an amazing shooting rate of 11 of 14 shots, including 6 of 6 three-point shots, and the data of 34 points and 8 assists also made the media more optimistic about Liu Han's future.
O'Neal played 32 minutes in this game and easily scored a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Bryant also played 12 minutes in this game, scoring 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Bryant's attitude changed after being abandoned by head coach Harris for a few games, and Bryant, who no longer wasted his shots, began to show his talent and potential.
In the end, the Lakers won the game 110-82, and the Lakers have won five in a row since entering December. Liu Han received the first honor of his NBA career after this game, and he was voted the Western Conference Player of the Week, the first league honor for a rookie player this season.
After returning to Los Angeles, the team continued to practice as usual on the second day, during which Van Axel was injured again, he accidentally fell and sprained his left hand while taking a shower after training, and needed at least two weeks of rest.
Van Exel's injury gave Liu Han a chance, and the team can now play the point guard in addition to Liu Han, who has both defects in Rumil Robinson, obviously, the latter will not be too valued by the head coach, and a player who can't even do well on the bench "Towel Man" gets $200,000 a year is his highest achievement.
On December 10, local time in the United States, the Lakers welcomed the Sacramento Kings at the Great Western Forum Arena.
Safina came to the scene to watch Liu Han's game in this game, although since Liu Han entered the Lakers, Safina has come to the Lakers home court many times to watch the game, but Liu Han is likely to score high points in this game, so Safina seems to pay more attention, and Safina said to Liu Han that she hopes he can perform well in this game.
Originally, Liu Han's personality was not a particularly strong person, but after entering the NBA, Liu Han found that there was more competition between each other, because every player knows that more opportunities to play and more data means more benefits, honor is important, but once it comes to their own interests, few people will choose to be humble.
O'Neill and Liu Han have always gotten along well, first of all, the reason is that Liu Han is a very sincere person, he will express anything directly, although it is direct, but it is not strong. The second reason is that Liu Han does not affect O'Neal's status in the team, and the better Liu Han plays on the outside, the less pressure O'Neal will have on the inside.
Before the start of the game, Liu Han greeted his old teammate Teyus Edney, Edney finally sat in the starting point guard position in the Kings, although Edney is very low, but now the Kings are short of people in the point guard position, so Edney recently got the opportunity to start.
After the start of the game, Liu Han did not relax because Edney was his old teammate, he defended Edney in the defense, except for the speed is not dominant, the other Liu Han are much higher than Edney.
The Lakers' first-round offense was initiated by O'Neal, and Coach Harris emphasized that the opening court should be penetrated first.
The Kings' starting center was Aldenpolinice, with O'Neal dominant.
The Lakers' first two rounds of offense were done by O'Neal, and each time O'Neal hit Polines for a dunk, the 220-pound Polinice couldn't do anything about O'Neal. The Kings began to tighten up their bag clamps on the inside.
After the Kings began to wrap up O'Neal, the Lakers' outside opportunities increased, and Liu Han began to hit three-pointers frequently from the outside. The Kings didn't dare to let Teyus Edney defend Liu Han from the beginning, they let Richmond defend Liu Han, but Liu Han in this game was like a hanging, the first three shots in the first quarter all hit, and they were all three-pointers, even if Richmond had already pounced in front of Liu Han, but he was able to hit.
Liu Han began to practice the step-back jump shot after the injury of his right hand, this technical action is very simple, but the most important thing is the feel, and Liu Han's feel is almost not affected by the opponent's defense, Richmond is not tall enough to block Liu Han's player, and when the opponent jumps up to block, Liu Han can also avoid the opponent's defense through skillful step-back jumpers.
In the first quarter of the game, Liu Han played full time, shooting 5 of 5 three-pointers, as well as a breakthrough layup and two free throws, scoring 19 points in a single quarter. The Lakers also led their opponents by 12 points at 35-23 heading into the second quarter.
Liu Han had a five-minute break at the beginning of the second quarter, and after Rumir Robinson came on the court, he began to play indiscriminately, and Bryant ran the court but couldn't catch the ball. The Kings relied on the bench to gradually catch up with the score.
Liu Han played again in the second quarter at 6 minutes, the main return of the Lakers is still the first attack from the inside, O'Neal scored a series of strong attacks, Liu Han began to shoot outside, and three consecutive step-back jumpers to shake off the defender's three-point shots, so far, Liu Han three-point shot 8 of 8, he is very hopeful to break the NBA single-game three-point record.
At the end of the first half, the Lakers led their opponents by 21 points at 68-47 and entered the third quarter.
After a short break at halftime, Liu Han continued to play, and after playing, Liu Han received O'Neill's inside ball and hit two three-pointers, and the equalizing record was in front of him.
The Kings began to step up their defense of Liu Han from the outside, and no one wanted to be the backdrop of the historical record.
Six minutes into the third quarter, Liu Han made a three-threat move in the face of Richmond's defense, and then dribbled to the right side. Richmond quickly adjusted his center of gravity to try to get close to Liu Han, but Liu Han suddenly turned to the left side with a crotch dribble, and Richmond continued to adjust his intention to block Liu Han's breakthrough. Liu Han retracted his left foot and made his most skillful move very quickly - a step-back jumper, Richmond's center of gravity was out of position and he had no way to jump up and block, so he could only raise his hands as much as possible to try to interfere with Liu Han's shot.
Liu Han, who stepped back to the three-point line, ignored Richmond's defense and jumped to shoot a three-pointer, and the basketball flew into the net in a beautiful arc, and Liu Han tied the NBA's single-game three-point record.
Under the prompts of the commentary, the fans in the audience knew that Liu Han had equaled the record and stood up to applaud Liu Han, and even enthusiastic fans shouted the slogan of MVP, in their minds, Liu Han is the MVP of this game.
Liu Han, who returned to his own half, was also congratulated by his teammates, O'Neill directly hugged Liu Han's head and rubbed it a few times, he was also very happy that Liu Han could have such a performance, because the stronger the team, the greater the hope of winning the championship.
When Liu Han scored this three-pointer, the Lakers were already ahead of the opponent by 31 points, but head coach Harris did not replace Liu Han, in the face of the opportunity to create a new record, Harris did not want to offend people, if he replaced Liu Han now, it is estimated that it is not Liu Han alone, but will offend the fans in the entire arena, and maybe offend the top of the league.
The Kings began to defend Liu Han with all their strength after Liu Han's record-tying, and they did not want to be the backdrop for a new record.
When the third quarter of the game was about to end, Liu Han took the ball to advance just past half, and Richmond let Liu Han go two meters away, he would never believe that someone would shoot just after half.
Liu Han played hard in this match, and he hoped that his beloved girl would be happy with the new record he had set.
Liu Han stopped just after half-time, which was about 3 meters away from the three-point line. He looked around at his teammates, as if he was thinking about who to pass the ball to, and Richmond began to adjust his posture thinking that he would have to keep up with Liu Han without the ball next, and he couldn't give this guy any chance. But what everyone didn't expect was that Liu Han shot directly in this place, and this shooting option looked even more cerebral than Van Exel, and no player could guarantee a shooting percentage from such a distance.
Liu Han's throwing posture is no different from his usual shooting, but the basketball arc is larger in the air and the rotation is faster, and the basketball flies a certain distance without touching any edge of the basket and falls directly into the net.
Liu Han set a new NBA single-game three-point record, and he also set a new record for consecutive three-pointers in a single game, and the shooting percentage of 12-of-12 shooting amazed everyone, including the Kings players and coaches.
When Liu Han set a new record, Coach Harris replaced Liu Han and O'Neal because the Lakers are now almost 40 points ahead.
Liu Han's 12 three-pointers in the third quarter of the game made the entire fourth quarter a garbage time, Kobe Bryant became more and more depressed on the court, he originally felt that he should be the best of this rookie, but now he can only watch this guy who once brought him shame on the bench to set a new record, Kobe silently swore in his heart that he must catch up with this guy, and he wants to prove to everyone that he is the best one.
After the game, no one paid attention to the score of the game, all eyes were attracted by the new record created by Liu Han, domestic fans and media were also conquered by Liu Han's performance after learning the news, the media in the United States are now commenting on Liu Han's performance, they all think that Liu Han is one of the league's hopeful stars, but some media think that Liu Han's performance is not tough enough, he rarely breaks through, so these media believe that Liu Han's body is not enough to support Liu Han to become a superstar, because in the current position, There's no way for a player who can't break through to kill inside to win a championship, just like Reggie Miller.