Chu Xuan's main purpose is to defend the interior, and in his opinion, if Cousins breaks out, then the Lakers will definitely face the biggest trouble.

However, to his surprise, Mike Malone was just using Cousins as a bait. Throughout the third quarter, Malone's tactics changed and turned around, and the final focus was still on the outside offense, especially shooting from beyond the three-point line.

Because of the strong defensive intensity, the three-point shots of both sides in the first half were very poor, and the shooting rate was not high, so both sides naturally rarely tried to shoot three-point shots.

However, after the second half, the game entered a climax with a three-pointer from Thorton.

Thornton hit a three-pointer from Cousins, his second three-pointer of the game, and the fan reaction at Arco Arena was huge.

After that hit, Thorton's individual score reached 21 points, which is almost more than his previous two games combined.

However, this was just the beginning, and just one minute later, Thornton hit a three-pointer with Landry covering and scored 24 points.

After Chu Xuan saw this scene, he decisively called a pause.

"Marcus Thornton's touch is coming, he's no longer the 1-of-6 three-pointer in the first half, and we have to be careful. Judging from the game, Mike Malone's arrangement is mainly to block and delay the pick-and-roll, helping the team's scorer get space and timing to shoot. In this case, we need to change the defense, we must not have any hesitation, and we must change the defense decisively when it is time to change the defense. Chu Xuan arranged.

"Offensively, we have to rotate the ball a lot, we have to be patient, okay, let's go play."

The atmosphere at the scene was relatively strong, and the enthusiasm of the fans was very high, which was completely due to the stalemate of today's game.

It can be said that in the first round of eight groups of matches, today's game is the most exciting. This gives some comfort to the hearts of the spectators, but not every game is so drowsy.

The game continued.

Both sides defended well, there was a lot of physical friction between the players, and Cousins was on the verge of exploding at one point, but he rarely calmed down, which was very surprising.

Obviously, this Cousins is growing up, and if he can control his emotions, he definitely has a very bright future.

Speaking of which, Cousins' improvement in the regular season this season has been enormous.

As the core of the team, he averaged 20.4 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, shooting more than 50% for the first time. Cousins is one of only four players in the league who can contribute an average of "20+10" per game this season, which is enough to show how strong he is.

Clearly, Cousins is already one of the league's best interior players. And what is certain is that as long as he stays focused and improving, then he is definitely getting closer and closer to the league's No. 1 interior position.

The calm Cousins is terrifying, he appears very rational in every offensive choice, and, when his chances are not good, he will pass the ball to his teammates, which can be said to be very positive.

The Lakers' defensive focus is on Thornton, which really limits his individual offense.

However, at this time, Wazquez exploded, hitting two 3-pointers in a row to help the Kings establish an eight-point lead.

Seeing that the score difference was about to widen to double digits, Chu Xuan immediately made a change and used a five-man lineup of Jeremy Lin, Green, Kobe, Gasol, and Whiteside.

With such a lineup, Chu Xuan has practiced many times this season, and the focus is to highlight the internal and external offenses at the same time. Especially today when Whiteside is in excellent form, the effect of this squad is even greater.

In the second half of the third quarter, Whiteside dunked three times, which greatly damaged the interior morale of the Kings. At the same time, Jeremy Lin, Green, and Nash each hit 3-pointers and played a wave of 15:5 counterattacks.

In this way, the third quarter of the game ended, and the Lakers' lead was still 2 points.

The crucial third battle, the third quarter, the two sides were almost tied, the meaning of this was undoubtedly indescribable, everyone was very excited and nervous, including Chu Xuan.

After seeing his opponent play so well, Chu Xuan's desire to win G3 became even stronger.

Because in his opinion, only by doing his best to win this game is to respect the king as an opponent.

"Now, it's a little more of a test of patience and grasping every offense, even if it's a 24-second violation, and I want to see the most rational and reliable offensive options."

Chu Xuan's expression was solemn, and he made this arrangement for the players.

'The opponent is really playing a good game, they can play all the players they can play, so what else can they have in that situation? We're different, and there's a lot of people on our side who can continue to play better. So, it's absolutely no problem to get them. I think so now, and I hope you will maintain that confidence. ”

In some key games, the role of the head coach is not only to arrange tactics and substitutions, but also to do psychological work for the players according to the different situations of the game to relieve pressure for them.

And now, Chu Xuan is doing this, he wants his players to play with the most relaxed mentality at all times.

Chu Xuan's work did have a great effect.

The player's play was naturally very crucial, the stalemate between the two sides continued, and the game quickly went to the last minute, the score was tied at 100, and the two sides returned to the same running line.

At this time, it is clear that every attack is very crucial.

The Kings attacked, and Thorton singled Jackson and hit a 3-pointer.

On the Lakers' side, Kobe Bryant came back reflexively, singled Thorton, and hit a mid-range step-back jumper for 2 points.

At this time, judging from the time of the game, both sides only had one attack left.

Continuing with the Kings' offense, this time, the Lakers' defense was definitely a lot of effort, but in the final shot, Thorton became the savior, and he hit another 3-pointer.

With a 4-point difference, the Lakers are in a desperate situation and are in danger of losing.

At this time, Chu Xuan made a quick decision, sent Novak, and arranged a rare elevator tactic, using Novak as a bait, and finally Jackson executed the key shot.

It was a tactical choice that no one had expected, because before this shot, Jackson's efficiency was only 3-of-13, which was extremely low.

However, Chu Xuan's final tactical choice revolved around Jackson, Jackson, who failed to defend Thorton in this game.

Everyone felt that this was a stupid tactical choice.

However, when the three points were in the bag, all doubts disappeared in an instant.

At 105:106, the Lakers trailed by 1 point with 12 seconds left and the ball belonged to the Kings. (To be continued.) )