Zeng Xingyang continued to raise the momentum.
"Beautiful three-pointer!"
Zeng Xingyang spread his hands and high-fived the audience at the sidelines in greeting.
After that, he led the Nuggets to continue applying defensive pressure on the Clippers.
However, Paul is very experienced.
As soon as Paul crossed half court, he passed the ball to Crawford.
After Crawford got the ball, he accelerated and changed direction, barely getting past Pope.
Crawford attracted Jokic’s help defense, then lobbed the ball.
In the paint, Little Jordan jumped up, grabbed the basketball with both hands, and slammed it hard.
Little Jordan grabbed the rim with both hands, pulling it hard, making his body swing continuously.
Little Jordan was venting.
Barkley said: "After the Clippers improved their offense, there was a noticeable effect, despite the Nuggets’ strong defense tonight, the Clippers still have scoring methods."
Smith said: "Rivers must have figured it out, trying to compete defensively with the Nuggets doesn’t work, they can only go on the offense."
On the court, Mike Malone frowned.
The Clippers’ toughness indeed exceeded his expectations a bit.
The Clippers have more offensive initiation points, and the Nuggets’ defense hasn’t been as effective as before.
Crawford has a strong one-on-one dribbling ability, and no one’s defense can completely hold him down.
After he was brought into the starting lineup, there was a significant improvement in the Clippers’ offense.
The Nuggets’ possession.
Zeng Xingyang dribbled past half court, then passed the ball to Jokic.
Jokic tried a post-up in the paint, but Little Jordan held his ground against Jokic this time.
Seeing no opportunity, Jokic quickly passed the ball to Pope on the perimeter.
Pope gave it to Harris, and Harris shifted the ball back to Jokic.
The Clippers’ defense rotated continuously, and Zeng Xingyang positioned himself at a 45-degree angle on the right side, opening up. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⦿fire.net
Jokic decisively threw a no-look pass to Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang caught the ball and shot a jump shot.
Another three-point attempt.
The basketball hit the rim heavily and bounced high.
This time, the shot had a bit too much force.
Griffin grabbed the rebound.
Griffin passed the ball to Crawford.
Crawford quickly dribbled to counterattack.
Once the ball was in Crawford’s hands, their offensive rhythm noticeably sped up.
Crawford’s dribbling skills are strong, Zeng Xingyang immediately tried to slow him down, but was out of position and Crawford got past him with a big behind-the-back dribble.
Crawford encountered a double team from Harris and Pope in the frontcourt, at which point he passed the ball to Paul, who was advancing on the other side.
Paul received the ball and was in the clear, but he still didn’t shoot, instead did a convincing fake move to shake Grant, then passed it to Redick, who was even more open nearby.
Redick’s three-point jump shot.
The ball went through the net cleanly.
The Clippers took the lead.
In the next few plays, the Nuggets’ offense stalled, and the players kept missing shots.
Even Jokic, usually steady, missed hook shots and floaters under the basket.
The Clippers, however, were red-hot, going on a small scoring run.
With the score at 17 to 9.
Mike Malone finally called a timeout.
"Stay patient, we don’t need to rush."
"They should be the ones feeling anxious now."
"Don’t be careless, focus on defense."
Mike Malone kept roaring, signaling the team to focus.
Today, it seemed the Nuggets were indeed a bit careless against the Clippers.
Having won against the Clippers so many times consecutively, everyone instinctively relaxed a bit.
The execution of tactics and defense weren’t as precise as in the last game.
Zhang Weiping said: "The Clippers’ lineup change has achieved some results, and the Nuggets are visibly not adapting well to such a change."
Yu Jia said: "The playoffs are just a process of constant lineup adjustments and battles, the Nuggets have shown their inexperience as playoff rookies."
The crowd’s momentum at the Pepsi Center was somewhat suppressed.
Mike Malone used the timeout not just to scold, but also to set up a play revolving around Zeng Xingyang.
When the team is in trouble, it’s still fitting to find Zeng Xingyang.
After the timeout, Zeng Xingyang continued to try and exploit mismatches against Paul.
But the Clippers were well-prepared, immediately double-teaming whenever such a situation arose, not giving Zeng Xingyang chances for isolations.
Zeng Xingyang decisively passed the ball to Harris, who was left completely open, and with clear space in front of him, Harris didn’t shoot, but instead took a step forward, drove to the basket, and easily made a layup.
The Clippers’ possession.
Paul continued to pass the ball to Crawford.
Despite Zeng Xingyang’s defense, Crawford opted for a big shift, attempting a right-side drive.
Crawford chose a step-back, quickly pulling up for a three-pointer.
Zeng Xingyang’s defense was in place.
Crawford’s shot hit the rim heavily, and Jokic grabbed the rebound.
Zeng Xingyang and Pope quickly countered, with Jokic passing the ball to Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang drew the defense and found a bounce pass opportunity, passing it to Pope.
Pope scored on a layup during the counterattack.
In the following two plays, the Nuggets managed to successfully defend once, and scored on two offensive attempts.
The score quickly shifted to 19 to 17.
Just a two-point gap.
The fans at the Denver Pepsi Center were roaring with excitement.
They all sensed that after the initial poor start, the Nuggets were quickly regaining form.
As the fans predicted.
In the remainder of the first quarter, the Nuggets gradually gained dominance.
Zeng Xingyang and Jokic frequently initiated pick-and-rolls, with the two of them serving as core components to drive the team’s offense on the court.