NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 12 Li Xingchen scores consecutively, Snyder calls another timeout!

The enthusiastic atmosphere at the Jazz's home arena was instantly dampened.

After the timeout, the Warriors scored five points in a row, and Li Xingchen played a crucial role in both possessions!

"Draymond Green cut to the basket and slammed home a powerful two-handed dunk, giving the Warriors a four-point lead again," Duan Ran commented earnestly in the live broadcast room.

Wang Meng didn't hold back his praise: "Li Xingchen played really well! He shot when he should have shot, passed when he should have passed, executed the tactics very clearly, and his shooting was decisive. These last few possessions were truly beautiful!"

"Let's take a look at the stats... Just updated, he's already scored seven points on two out of three shots, plus two assists, and he's only been on the court for a few minutes. You could say he's been very well-rounded."

"And I don't know if everyone noticed, but Li Xingchen's defense was also excellent. He basically never lost his position, and his help defense awareness was also very good. No wonder Kerr put him on the court so early; it seems he really saw his potential!"

……

At the scene, Jazz head coach Snyder has not yet called a timeout.

Kerr called a timeout after losing three consecutive possessions; he wanted to take another look.

What if the team can score or defend the opponent in the next possession? Then they can save a timeout.

Sometimes, people are just so skeptical of superstition.

When it came to the Jazz's offensive possession, because Clarkson had scored on a scoring run earlier, the Warriors immediately sent out their perimeter "lock-up" Wiggins to guard him, which made things very difficult for him.

Pitchers' confidence and momentum are often inversely related. Just because Li Xingchen had just delivered two very impressive offensive possessions, Clarkson really wanted to respond, but he was also restricted by Wiggins and his dribbling was in disarray. As a result, Wiggins took advantage of the situation and stole the ball!

Li Xingchen immediately sprinted towards the front field.

He knew that this was one of his key training programs these past two days: stopping suddenly to catch the ball and shoot three-pointers!

On his way to the frontcourt, Li Xingchen already felt it. Everything was exactly the same as when he was training. He ran to the 45-degree arc and stopped abruptly. He caught the ball and immediately shot a three-pointer... It was sure to go in!

Wiggins didn't hesitate at all and quickly passed the ball up the court for a fast break.

Although his passing wasn't outstanding, he wouldn't make a particularly bad pass in a fast break where there was almost no one defending him.

Li Xingchen stopped abruptly to receive the ball, then chased down for a three-pointer, executing the move flawlessly and sinking it cleanly!

"Beep—"

The whistle for a pause finally blew.

With the score at 38-31, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run, forcing the Jazz to call another timeout!

Of those eight points, six came from Li Xingchen, and the other two came from his crucial assist to Green under the basket after drawing the defense's attention!

The Jazz's home arena fell completely silent, as if it had been muted.

But Tencent's live streaming room is getting more and more lively.

"Six hundred and sixty-six! My brother Xingchen is that awesome!"

"Pick-and-roll three-pointers, fast break pull-up threes, playing a two-man game with Draymond Green—who can tell you apart from Curry?"

"I managed to summon Stephen Curry, the 2021 scoring champion, during my summoning event. You should try it out too!"

"Is our men's basketball team about to rise again?"

……

There are 8 minutes and 4 seconds left in the second quarter.

Li Xingchen played for about eight minutes, making three of four shots and scoring ten points, along with two assists.

His scoring even temporarily surpassed Curry's, making him the team's highest scorer.

During the timeout, not only Coach Kerr praised him highly, but his teammates also put their arms around him, clearly admiring his performance.

Wiggins chuckled and patted Li Xingchen's bottom: "You're so reliable, Li! You got me an assist so easily!"

Green also gave Li Xingchen a high-five: "That pass after the pick-and-roll was so beautiful! One of my two points should have been yours!"

Poole, on the other hand, stood silently to the side. After all, judging from Kerr's current tactical arrangements, Li Xingchen had completely replaced Poole's role on the court and could do it better than him. Not only could he provide firepower during transition periods, but he also did a pretty good job on defense. This would undoubtedly take up a lot of Poole's playing time.

However, that's how the NBA works; it's always survival of the fittest. Poole was originally demoted to the Development League because of his poor performance at the beginning of the season, but after returning in the middle of the season, his level improved by leaps and bounds, so he directly replaced Wanamaker, the team's original main rotation player, in terms of playing time.

Since you, Poole, can replace someone else, then when someone else performs better, they can naturally replace you as well.

If they want to regain their playing time and tactical role, the only way is to let their performance speak for itself.

The timeout ended quickly, and both teams' key players returned to the court, including Warriors' star Stephen Curry.

What gave Snyder a major headache was that Li Xingchen actually stayed on the court after Curry returned!

The Warriors' current lineup consists of Curry, Bazemore, Li Xingchen, Toscano Anderson, and center Looney.

Wiggins and Green finished their transition period, then went to the bench for a short rest before returning to play the final half of the first half.

This lineup has slightly less spacing than before. After all, Anderson's shooting can't compare to Wiggins', and while Draymond Green is a typical non-spammel point guard, he can still occasionally sink a few behind-the-back three-pointers. Looney, on the other hand, almost never shoots, and his only way of scoring is by getting easy baskets under the rim.

Fortunately, Curry is back, and he can draw as much defensive attention as two people.

While Rudy Gobert of the Jazz is an outstanding defender, after all, he is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. However, his greatest defensive dominance lies in the paint. Against the Warriors, who have three-point specialists like Stephen Curry and Li Xingchen, he was extremely unlucky and was almost completely neutralized point by point.

However, there was no way to stop him. Even though the Warriors used multiple screens to move him out of the paint, forcing him to help or rotate to the perimeter, he had no choice but to face it head-on. Although being outmatched by a smaller player didn't look good on the court, he was actually able to limit the opponent's three-point shooting to some extent.

If we keep retreating, then we'll really get shot through by Curry and the others.

Because of Snyder's setup, Li Xingchen was treated as a quality spacing point or even the Warriors' second-choice shooter. As a result, almost all of his pick-and-rolls were switched, leaving him with few opportunities to shoot.

On the other side, Kerr was no fool either. He countered Li Xingchen's moves accordingly. Since Li Xingchen's shooting threat had increased, he simply had him play the role of Klay Thompson in the past, running along the baseline with Curry and setting screens for each other between the guards, which directly disrupted the opponent's defensive formation.

Curry also benefited from Li Xingchen drawing some of the opponent's defensive attention, allowing him to lead the team to score several offensive goals during this period, and the score was quickly widened to 48-35.

With a double-digit lead, Snyder had to call another timeout!