NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 20: The transition period shows its power, leading the halftime plus-minus value!

A three-plus-one goal is often one of the scoring methods that most ignites cheers from fans.

Unfortunately, this was the Jazz's home court, so the arena fell silent, with only the Warriors' bench waving towels and shouting excitedly.

Li Xingchen's shot was a true silencer on the road!

In China, even the commentators in Tencent's live stream were impressed by Li Xingchen's amazing skills.

Ke Fan exclaimed, "Wow, that shot...it's kind of like Curry's!"

Su Qun nodded: "Xiao Li is specifically targeting the opponent's weak points with his three-point shooting. If he can consistently execute this move, his offensive ability is probably not far from becoming a star player."

Ke Fan picked up the conversation: "Coach Wang, what's your opinion?"

Special guest commentator and retired player Wang Shipeng was even a little excited: "You know what, I really feel now that Li has the potential to become the absolute core of our men's basketball team and carry an era..."

……

The scene of the game.

Snyder was forced to call a timeout by Li Xingchen yet again.

Throughout this series, he seems to have had more timeouts called by Li Xingchen than by Curry.

The main reason is that he doesn't understand Li Xingchen well enough, or rather, he has always underestimated him. Every time Li Xingchen shows his unexpected scoring methods, he is forced to call a timeout to make arrangements and change the defense, which is also to break Li Xingchen's ball momentum.

However, this was of little use. Back on the court, Li Xingchen still made the three-plus-one free throw.

As a pitcher, his free throw percentage in a large sample size is generally around 90%. Even under the pressure of the game, it will not drop more than two percentage points, and he does not miss many free throws.

After making the shot, Li Xingchen scored four points in one possession, helping the Warriors tie the score at 27-27.

At this moment, there is one and a half minutes left in the first quarter.

上场七分钟，李星辰拿到的数据是8分1篮板1助攻，投篮3/5，其中两分球2/3，三分球1/2，罚球1/1。

It remains incredibly magnificent.

The game continued, and from the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the second quarter, Li Xingchen remained on the court, playing with different teammates.

The defensive pressure on him indeed increased, so he didn't find many opportunities to shoot. Instead, he acted more as bait, drawing the opponent's defense and then passing the ball out to assist his teammates in scoring.

Unfortunately, his assist numbers didn't increase much because he doesn't play the point guard position. Apart from one-on-one plays, he doesn't have many opportunities to hold the ball for extended periods. When he does have a chance to pass the ball out, it's mostly indirect assists.

Currently, his passing skills are not very high, and this is not the focus of his recent training. Therefore, he is not very good at feeding the ball to his teammates in the most suitable positions for shooting or cutting.

So most of the time, he chooses to draw the defense and then pass the ball back to the ball handler on the central axis—such as Draymond Green—who then sets up the next power play.

When Curry returned in the second quarter, Li Xingchen hadn't even left the court yet, and he and Curry teamed up as a backcourt duo for a few more minutes.

It has to be said that playing alongside Curry is really great. From the moment Curry entered the game, Li Xingchen felt the defensive pressure on him suddenly decrease.

For the first half of the quarter, he barely had any chance to shoot. After playing Curry for just over two minutes, he found three good shooting opportunities. Of course, this was also related to Curry's conscious use of cross screens and screens to give Li Xingchen more opportunities to shoot.

After all, judging from his performance in these two games alone, Li Xingchen should be the Warriors' most reliable outside shooter besides Curry.

Unfortunately, Li Xingchen's shooting touch seems to have dipped a bit during this period, probably because the continuous games have taken a toll on his stamina. He only managed to make one three-pointer out of three decent shooting opportunities.

Cole noticed that Li Xingchen looked a little tired, so he replaced him to rest.

When the game ended, the Warriors and the Jazz were still tied.

Next came another back-and-forth stalemate, but the Jazz had a slight edge overall, as Mitchell's first game back was incredibly hot, and his performance today was superior to Curry's.

Curry is currently on 5-of-11 shooting for 15 points. While that efficiency isn't low, it's clearly not enough for the Warriors right now, especially with the opposing team having a hot hand like Milwaukee who's on 8-of-12 shooting. As a result, they've gradually fallen behind by four points.

In the last two minutes of the first half, Li Xingchen, who had rested for five or six minutes during a timeout, was substituted back onto the field to play in the final stages of the first half.

As soon as Li Xingchen entered the game, the Jazz had to assign a player with good defense to limit him. However, in such situations, it is often a choice between two poisons. Because Li Xingchen had absorbed some of the defensive intensity, the defensive intensity faced by Curry naturally decreased, and he quickly found an opportunity to sink a three-pointer.

This three-pointer wasn't reflected in any of Li Xingchen's stats, but anyone who watched the game knew he made a significant contribution.

At the end of the first half, the Warriors trailed the Jazz by one point, 55-56.

With the opposing team's star player Mitchell returning, the opposing team playing at home, and the opposing team determined to win the game, the Warriors' ability to keep the score close in the first half was a pleasant surprise for many fans.

Li Xingchen deserves much credit for making these achievements possible.

At halftime, the Warriors were down by one point, but Li Xingchen's plus-minus rating was the highest on the team at +8. This meant that the team won by eight points when he was on the court, but lost by nine points when he was off the court.

Such a gap is considerable.

Of course, this doesn't mean he's the strongest player on the team. After all, his playing time is mainly during the transition between the two sides. The opposing team doesn't have all their starters on the court. With defensive weaknesses like Clarkson that can be exploited, the offense will always be smoother. So, you can't just look at a player's plus or minus rating when evaluating their contribution.

But in any case, this is already a very convincing figure.

Li Xingchen played for a full 16 minutes in the first half, which is almost the playing time of a core starting player.

数据是11分2篮板1助攻，投篮4/8，其中三分球2/5，罚球1/1，依旧维持着180俱乐部水準的高效率。

The data comparison shown in the live broadcast room was no longer between him and Clarkson of the Jazz, but between starting player Bojan Bogdanovic.

Fans are also discussing this extensively, feeling that Li Xingchen's progress is too fast and wondering if it is really possible for him to become a starter for the Warriors in the next game.