Livingston collapsed on the sidelines, feeling the strength of his legs and getting ready to take the stage.

After coming to the Clippers, Livingston didn't get too many opportunities to perform, and most of the time he really kept it as Min Congda thought.

After all, the Clippers' lineup is indeed too thick, although there was one less third point guard in the previous point guard position, but Harden, Curry, and Dragic are enough in the normal 9-person rotation, and basically will not give the third point guard too many opportunities to play.

In the short playing time, Livingston did not play too brightly, because when he can play, the game will basically be no suspense.

But even so, Livingston will take advantage of the few minutes he has played to perform seriously and accumulate the feeling and form of the game.

And in terms of playing style, Livingston and the Clippers' offensive systems are not particularly compatible.

He is not good at three-point shooting, and his ability to catch and shoot without the ball is average.

In the application of some technologies, it is obviously a template of the previous era, or even the previous era.

In general, the tall point guard style that was popular at the beginning of the 21st century can use the back body very skillfully.

He is good at mid-range shooting, is good at attacking from two waist positions, and has a pretty good level of turnaround jumpers.

This style of play is slowly being eliminated by the league, and it is even more out of place in a team like the Clippers that pays attention to new style of play.

In the first round against the Jazz, Livingston didn't get much of a chance to play, and the opponent fell after a little force.

In this round of playing the Lakers, Livingston thought he would sit on the bench, but he didn't expect to let him play in the second quarter.

Before going on the court, Tyronn Lue patted him and said, "It was Mr. Smart who asked you to play, he said that after he came on the court, he would play more singles, just stare at Paul and play your state!" ”

When Livingston heard that it was Mr. Smart who made him appear, his eyes lit up, and he felt that his body was full of motivation!

Livingston is full of gratitude to Min Congda, whose three-year guaranteed contract not only gives him a job, money, but more importantly, a new hope for his career.

After half a season, Livingston can feel that the impact of the injury on his body and mind has been minimized, and he can play well.

Back to the Clippers, even if he didn't have much playing time, he still didn't dare to slack off for a moment, worked hard to train and maintain his competitive condition.

The so-called raising soldiers for a thousand days, using soldiers for a while, Livingston knew that the time had come to exert his energy!

Hit Paul, right?

Paul...... What about the Paulians?

When you play, why can't you see him?

Oh, behind McGee, blocking the invisible.

It's too short.

Facing Paul, a famous point guard in the league, Livingston was not scared at all.

In terms of height, arm span, and style of play, Livingston is absolutely restrained on the offensive end.

And defensively, Livingston is not a colander, the Clippers have already formulated a defensive strategy before the game, no matter who plays in the No. 1 position, it will bite Paul, and nothing else.

If you're fucked by Paul, don't worry, someone will wipe your ass later.

Like some defensive gates, you often have to be distracted when playing against the opponent's core players.

While facing each other, you have to turn your head, look left and right, and see the movement of your teammates and opponents to decide your next move.

Livingston, Curry, and Dragic didn't have such a problem tonight, and they just bit Paul to death.

So, after the timeout, Paul was once again subjected to an all-round oppressive defense and had to give the ball to Kobe Bryant again.

Kobe Bryant burst into the basket from the outside, faced the defense, twisted a twist in the air, changed hands and made a layup, and scored two points.

Kobe Bryant was in really good shape tonight, being fed by the Clippers.

But playing like this, the physical consumption is really large, and this is only the second quarter.

Kobe Bryant's physical fitness is not as good as in the past, and during the regular season, D'Antoni has been reducing Kobe's usage rate to ensure his fitness.

In the first half of the playoffs, Kobe Bryant was already making a lot of shots, because there was no way, Kobe Bryant couldn't open this point, and the Lakers couldn't attack.

Not only was Paul soldered to death on the offensive end, but the defensive end was in a catastrophic situation - Livingston began to point Paul on the head.

After blocking people, he went to the waist position to catch the ball, pushed Paul, and then walked to the bottom line, turned around and jumped!

Paul reached out to interfere, and even Livingston's eyes couldn't cover it, and Livingston made a jumper from close range to score two points.

Kobe Bryant scored two points and Livingston made an easy jumper.

The ball began to go more to Kobe, and the Lakers' offense dominated, leaning from Paul to Kobe.

There is no way, Paul's pass is basically contained, and it is not possible to break through the ball, steal points, or eat one-on-one.

This kind of pertinence was unprecedented in Paul's career.

If you target it a little, I just avoid its edge, how can there be such a staring at people to death?

But the Clippers were targeted to death, and there was a feeling of being downbeat about life and death, and the whole team was united, as if they had a grudge against Paul.

In fact, there is no hatred, it is completely Min Congda's strategy.

When Min Congda saw Livingston get the frontcourt rebound, dribble out, and turn around to score two more points on Paul's head, he sighed in his heart: "Mom, how can the people I pick are very useful?" I thought Livingston was just coming to the Clippers to retire, but I didn't expect that this guy would work wonders when it comes to eating, training, and playing Paul. ”

Min Congda was eating oranges while analyzing the situation on the field.

Livingston has already scored six straight points on Paul's head, and the difference between the Lakers and the Clippers remains at around 15 points.

If you can't catch up, the Clippers have no intention of further widening the difference, just attrition in a slow-paced situation.

The defensive intensity of the game has increased by two levels compared to the regular season, and the movements of both sides are getting bigger and bigger.

Kobe Bryant is in this state, and he is really used to this kind of high-intensity confrontation.

And Paul's already dark face looked even darker, and after being scored two more points by Livingston, Paul, who got the ball on the backcourt serve, smashed the ball hard.

Then calm down and continue to organize the Lakers' offense.

As soon as halftime passed, Paul handed the ball to Kobe Bryant and then ran to the bottom corner to squat and wait for his chance.

Paul is still very smart, he is waiting for an opportunity.

But Livingston kept his eyes on Paul.

When Kobe Bryant broke through with the ball from the 45-degree diagonal side, Livingston, who was squatting in the bottom corner, didn't reach out to help defend, didn't even look at Kobe, and followed him in.

Paul wanted to run to see if he could get a chance, but there was always someone in front of him!

The first half is almost over, and Paul didn't even score in the athletic battle?!

Bryant drove the ball to the basket and scored two points on a difficult step-back jumper with no one to help defend him.

Bryant had already scored 18 points in the half, and Paul only scored one point from the free throw.

Paul was completely furious, and in the subsequent defense, when Livingston tried to hit Paul again with the ball in the waist position, Paul directly pushed Livingston and asked for a foul.

“Fxxk you！ Fxxk！ ”

Paul couldn't help but explode while the Lakers called a timeout.

Paul really can't bear it, are your Clippers all Cormi?

Can you suppress me like this, and let Kobe Bryant score alone?

Back on the bench, Paul threw his towel in anger and his performance in the first half was completely subpar.

The Clippers simply sacrificed defensive integrity to suppress Paul's offensive role.

The key is that if other teams play like this, the defensive system is estimated to have collapsed, and the score will definitely fall behind.

And the Clippers can still lead the Lakers by 15 points if they play like this, which shows the depth of their strength.

But you are so powerful, why do you have to target Paul? It's basically murderous.

Not only to win, but also to provoke and intensify the contradictions within the Lakers team, killing two birds with one stone.

The whole team of the Clippers is also very happy, and Paul's skills are admirable, but to be honest, it will be really uncomfortable to play against him.

His little actions, trash talk, and cleverness in the game are really unpleasant.

For example, Cousins, the center of the Kings, has to be yin every time he plays with Paul.

Cousins, who has an upright personality, loses his temper every time he beats Paul, and he can't wait to go up to give Paul a moment of relief.

Curry and Paul played against each other, and they were not less targeted by Paul, so biting Paul tonight made Curry feel very enjoyable.

Livingston played just four minutes before making three of three shots and hitting two free throws after a timeout to score eight points.

The efficiency is staggering.

Curry took a short break off the court and returned to the court.

Grit your braces, continue to come to Paul, and hold on.

Paul is already in a semi-debacle state, and the last time he did so was when he lost by 58 points in the playoffs.

He probably won't lose that much tonight, but he can't score 0 points in the athletic battle!

Paul couldn't take it anymore, he had to score.

After all, he is only 27 years old, and although he has changed his style of play with a major knee injury, as a superstar in the league, he can still force points if he wants.

A change of direction accelerated past Curry, and the middle went directly into the three-second zone, facing Gasol Jr. and rushing to the basket!

He riveted so hard that he wanted to dunk one on the Clippers' basket!

As a result, Anthony Davis, who was made up, pressed down with a big hat!

The interior combination of Anthony Davis and Gasol Jr. has greatly improved the defensive ability of the basket.

The ball was pressed down, the ball did not go out of bounds, nor did it leave the hands of the two, and the referee blew a scrum.

Paul shook his head at the referee, you might as well for an offensive foul.

Isn't it insulting for me that you asked me to scramble for the ball?

Just give the ball to the Clippers.

Standing in the penalty ring, the two fight for the ball.

Paul didn't jump at all, so how could he have jumped.

In fact, if you are short in height, you don't necessarily can't fight for the ball.

Key aerial confrontation capabilities, as well as shoulder width are important.

Because in addition to the longitudinal height of the scrum, the lateral space is also important.

A tank-type point guard like Fisher, when fighting for the ball, sometimes Yao Ming can't compete with him.

Yao Ming is tall enough, right?

But Paul is just shoulder-width and aerial confrontation is not a tank like Fisher.

I could only stop jumping, trying to judge where Davis landed on the scrum.

Davis wasn't stupid either, and directly dialed the ball to Gasol Jr.

The Clippers attacked, Curry received the ball with a left-handed acceleration, rushed to the basket and made a layup, causing Paul's defensive foul.

Paul raised his hand helplessly.

Comi, you are all Comi, and the referee is Comi.

You all want me dead!

Curry hit both free throws.

The first half ended quickly and Paul stopped struggling.

Half court, 1 point, 2 turnovers, 3 boards, 4 assists, the stats are very neat, but they don't work.

The Lakers mainly relied on Kobe's play, and in the first half, they barely fell behind too much, 15 points, and they could still chase.

But those who watched the half of the game know that the Lakers will basically not have a chance in this series, and the gap is really big.

Kobe Bryant is actually not a fool, he has played for more than ten years, and he knows that this Clippers are aimed at Paul and asks him to play.

The scene was so obvious that Kobe Bryant didn't dislike Paul so much in his heart, and even had some sympathy.

It's just that at halftime, the two still didn't communicate.

Either way, it's the distance that produces beauty.

The two had just worked together, and during their honeymoon period, they admired each other very much.

The first season was also quite enjoyable to work with, but everything was ruined by the Clippers.

Kobe knew in his heart that if the Clippers wanted to, they could block Kobe with all their might, and then let Paul play to his heart's content.

How the Clippers want to win depends entirely on their mood, they have a choice, and Kobe Bryant and the Lakers don't.

This feeling is really uncomfortable, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers used to be as strong as this, it was 2001, and in the playoffs they were completely invincible, no one could stop them, and they could win whatever they wanted.

The only miscalculation was the counterattack by Iverson in the first game of the Finals, but later in Philadelphia, the Lakers did not give the 76ers any chance.

Kobe Bryant could see that everyone was quite frustrated, and Kobe Bryant tried to cheer everyone up with encouraging words and his own performance.

However, after the start of the second half, the situation did not change substantially.

With 15 points trailing and the pace completely controlled by the Clippers, all the Lakers can do is run at a constant pace with the Clippers.

The Clippers scored 2 points, the Lakers scored 2 points, the Clippers scored 3 points, and the Lakers scored 3 points.

But Kobe Bryant or the Lakers want to struggle a little, want to break the deadlock with intensity, and close the score.

The Clippers have the ability to increase the intensity and bring the situation back under control, and there will be no chaos at all.

With a 15-point difference, grinding positional battles, the Lakers can't play a defensive counterattack climax, and if they don't pull the difference to within 10 points, they won't have a chance.

Even, the Clippers have the ability to stretch the difference to 20 points in one wave, but they don't, they just control the score, or they don't relax the rhythm to let some people steal points.

Control the court to this point, the Lakers players and some senior fans are all in a cold sweat.

Including the Clippers coaching staff, like Mike Malone, knew that Min Congda was in command in the back in this game, and he found that Min Congda's command level was so high, and his understanding of the Clippers and Lakers players, as well as his calculation ability, was quite amazing.

It turns out that there has always been such a great god hidden in the team, no wonder Cole can be fired at will and let him go to the rival knight.

Of course, there is one person who doesn't realize this, and that's Clippers head coach, Tyronn Lue!

He faithfully carried out the arrangement on the little note, and then thought, "I did a good job tonight, and I got the job done." ”

(End of chapter)