Chapter 63: First Start
Liu Han's outstanding performance in his first official NBA game attracted the attention of some media in Los Angeles, who praised Liu Han for his composure and courage on the court, but the focus of other media in the United States was Allen Iverson, who scored 30 points in his debut, the 1.83-meter-tall little man started the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, played 37 minutes, shooting 12-of-19, 2-of-4 from three-point range, and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. With a game-high 30 points and six assists, Iverson's performance was unanimously recognized by the media and fans alike as the Philadelphia 76ers eventually lost 111-103 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Liu Han's good friend Ray Allen was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the fifth pick in the first round and swapped Stephen Marbury, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the fourth pick, and Ray Allen started the game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers, with a mediocre performance, scoring 13 points and two rebounds.
The Lakers flew to Apolis Minnesota after finishing their game against the Phoenix Suns, and their second game was against the Timberwolves.
The Minnesota Timberwolves selected high school player Kevin Garnett with the fifth pick in the first round of the 1995 draft, and after a season of growth, Kevin Garnett quickly became the team's interior pillar, and his fast movement and tough defense became his most important weapons. The Timberwolves traded with the Milwaukee Bucks for a round of 4 picks Stephen Marbury in the '96 draft, and the team is very optimistic about the Georgia Tech number one point guard, but Marbury, who was born in New York, is very disgusted with the freezing Apolis, in the first regular season game of the season, Marbury started, but only played eight minutes before being replaced, and the data of two assists and zero points obviously did not satisfy the team, and Marbury did not even enter the squad in the second game with the Lakers.
In this game, O'Neal once again showed his might, he finished the Timberwolves on the inside, played 41 minutes, shot 14 of 20, 7 of 13 free throws, and scored a big double-double of 35 points and 19 rebounds. Liu Han appeared again in the first quarter at nine minutes, did not have a very good performance, and was replaced in the second quarter three minutes, but he still got 6 points and 2 assists, in the second half Liu Han played again for 6 minutes, got 4 points and 2 assists, played 12 minutes, scored 10 points and 4 assists. Kobe Bryant, who was not on the game list in the last game, finally came into the game this time, he played 6 minutes in the third quarter, and the fierce confrontation of the game made Kobe Bryant look a little confused, and he didn't score a point in 6 minutes, only a block and a rebound. The Lakers relied on O'Neal's excellent play to win 85-91 on the road.
Two days later, the Lakers welcomed the challenge of the New York Knicks at home, facing the "gorilla" Patrick Ewing, O'Neal once again showed his power, he defended the opponent only 8 of 22 shots, while he himself shot 12 of 23, shooting more than 50%, played 41 minutes and scored 26 points and 13 rebounds.
Liu Han came off the bench again for 16 minutes in this game, scoring 12 points and 5 assists, and Kobe Bryant also came off the bench for 5 minutes, and he finally got his first score this time, with 4 points and 2 rebounds barely recognized.
In the end, the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks ended in a victory for the Lakers, and thanks to O'Neal's excellent performance, the Lakers won 98-92 at home.
Liu Han scored more than 10 points and more than 3 assists in the first three games of the Lakers, which made the Lakers fans who followed Liu Han very excited, they felt that the Lakers made a lot of money in this draft, and a first-round 24 selected players played the list and the results of the flower, while the exchange of Divac for Kobe Bryant was not so satisfying.
At only 18 years old, Kobe Bryant has not experienced a college career, and his talent is indeed incomparable, but in terms of personality, he still lacks a lot, at least in the relationship with his teammates, he seems a little arrogant. Liu Han's excellent performance on the bench also made Kobe Bryant's mood even more depressed, he felt that he had surpassed this Oriental, but the reality gave him a heavy blow, he himself was still struggling for a chance to play, and the other party had already become an important firepower on the team's bench.
The Lakers will face the Charlotte Hornets back-to-back at home immediately after the game against the New York Knicks. Before the start of this game, the team's main point guard Van Exel felt discomfort in his waist, as the team's main attack point and offensive playmaker on the outside, Coach Del Harris, who had a stable ball, rested Van Exel, so that Liu Han unexpectedly got the opportunity to start at home.
Knowing that Liu Han would start the game, the LaBeouf family collectively went out to cheer Liu Han, and Liu Han's former teammate Paul Pierce also received a gift ticket from Liu Han.
At the beginning of the game, Liu Han was responsible for marking the opponent's point guard Anthony Gel Dwyer, and Liu Han had an absolute advantage in height and weight.
O'Neal won the center circle jumper, the Charlotte Hornets came on as a double center, and Matt Geiger and Divac came on together in order to limit O'Neal's play. Liu Han received the ball from his teammates and advanced steadily with the ball, and head coach Del Harris arranged to start from the inside as soon as the game started, relying on O'Neal's outstanding strength to destroy the opponent's interior defense.
After dribbling to the opponent's half, Liu Han passed the ball to Cedric on the left, who received the ball and hoisted it inside, and Liu Han ran to the bottom left corner to prepare to respond. As soon as O'Neal got the ball, he began to face the opponent's bag, and at the beginning of the game, O'Neal planned to let the opponent see how good he was, he turned around and attacked the opponent's basket, but O'Neal obviously underestimated Matt Geiger's defensive intensity, and O'Neal, who couldn't make a strong attack, forced a shot, and the ball rolled out after a circle on the basket. Hornets Anthony Mason Jr. grabbed the rebound, they did not launch a fast-break counterattack, and the team in order to prevent O'Neal from playing a double center, the speed must not be able to catch up with the opponent, so they can only slowly advance to play positional battles.
Liu Han's single defense against the opponent's point guard Geld Wyer is very easy, but the Hornets' tactics are very successful, Divac does not enter the interior after blocking and dismantling high, so that Matt Geiger can attack on the inside, O'Neal can only defend one, Divac can pass the ball, Matt Geiger is better in weight and height than Lakers power forward Elden Campbell, as soon as the inside line is opened, the outside line reaches out and Dell Curry will play a role.
The Hornets' first offense was completed when Matt Geiger singled Elden Campbell to make it 2-0.
Liu Han advanced to the front court after receiving the baseline serve, and hoisted the ball into the inside again, O'Neill was still a little upset that the previous ball was not scored, and he took the initiative to signal to Liu Han to ask for the ball.
O'Neal's offense finally hit the ground running, and he shook off his defender Matt Geiger with his nimble footwork to score two points to make it 2-2.
Back to defend, the Hornets once again pulled O'Neal inside, Matt Geiger forced Campbell, Eddie Jones prepared to wrap up, Matt Geiger distributed the ball to outside shooter Dell Curry, who scored three points with a knife in his hand, 2-5.
Liu Han once again took the ball and steadily advanced to the frontcourt, this time he made a feint to hoist the ball into the inside line and then directly pulled up a jumper, the opponent's point guard was nearly ten centimeters shorter than Liu Han, and there was nothing to be done in the face of Liu Han's quick three-point shot Geldwier. The score was tied at 5-5.
Liu Han's bold shot won the cheers of Lakers fans on the sidelines.
The game went into a stalemate from the start, with the Hornets defending O'Neal well and playing with a very calm offense that never took it easy. On the Lakers' side, although the power forward position is not dominant, on the outside, Liu Han and Eddie Jones are still a step higher than the opponent's outside, and the scores of the two teams are alternately rising.
Liu Han was replaced at the end of the first quarter for nine minutes, and Coach Del Harris was really very "stable". Replacing Liu Han was Kobe Bryant.
In fact, before the start of this game, head coach Del Harris received instructions from general manager Jerry West, saying that he would try his best to cultivate Kobe Bryant, although Coach Del was not very happy, but he still agreed, which is Coach Del Harris's strength, and it is also his biggest shortcoming.
After the two teams gradually replaced the bench, the Lakers fell into a disadvantage, and the backup point guard Rumil Robinson was in arrears, and he would only cover his head after playing, and Kobe Bryant wanted to prove his ability, and he also went it alone. The veteran Byron Scott was dying, and after he came on the field, he directly turned into a defensive black hole, and in the face of the situation on the field, Coach Del still insisted on "stability", which made Liu Han, who was sitting on the field, feel that his previous head coach George Krent was so good for the first time.
When the second quarter was five minutes into the game, Coach Harris replaced Liu Han on the court. After coming on the court, Liu Han quickly showed his strength, he first stabilized the situation on the court by two consecutive three-pointers, and then stole the opponent's pass to assist O'Neal to catch a dunk, and the score on the court was 31-34 in just two minutes, and the Lakers were only three points behind.
Coach Harris was conspicuously lacking in the face of the opponent's two-inside configuration, and he still insisted on letting the team play the inside, and at halftime, the score of the two teams was tied again, 45-45.
At the beginning of the second half, the Hornets' shooter Dell Curry suddenly came into play, hitting two three-pointers in a row to pull the score away again. Liu Han fought back with three points, biting the score tightly, and the Lakers' outside line, which could not be opened, also began to be inaccurate, except for Liu Han who maintained his excellent performance, the other players collectively became blacksmiths.
Charlotte, Dell Curry's home, eight-year-old Stephen Curry watched his father's game in front of the TV, and he found that his father's shooting could not catch up with a yellow man he had never seen, which made Curry Jr. feel very strange, in his image, his father's shooting is so powerful, definitely the most powerful in the NBA, Liu Han's three-point shooting left a deep impression on the eight-year-old Stephen Curry.
When the game entered the third quarter, the Lakers were already 8 points behind the opponent, and the Lakers who came off the bench were once again beaten by the opponent to attack the climax, when the game entered the middle of the fourth quarter, the Lakers were already 15 points behind the opponent, although Liu Han finally relied on three points to narrow the gap to less than ten points, but his teammates were in no state, and finally the Lakers lost to the Charlotte Hornets 89-97 at home.
Liu Han played 35 minutes and scored 21 points and nine assists, while O'Neal played 36 minutes and scored 22 points and 10 rebounds.