NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 718 Your Boyfriend is So Handsome

The Clippers' starting lineup is clearly indicating that Jia Fei will continue to play point guard in the new season. They didn't acquire any other point guards during the offseason, and currently only Brunson is a true point guard on their roster. With Brunson coming off the bench, Jia Fei will remain the starting point guard.

Last season, Jia Fei won the assist title while playing point guard, showing everyone that he could be a point guard for a championship team. This season, the Clippers continue to do so, keeping their five-forward lineup intact.

The Clippers are starting Hartenstein for the new season, losing their five-forward lineup, but their five-wing lineup remains. Many experts predict the Clippers will become the league's best defensive team this season because their defensive resources are incredibly abundant. Hartenstein's starting role also fills a gap in the team's interior defense. Both their individual defense and the players' physiques are terrifying.

The Warriors' starting lineup for the away game is: center - Looney, power forward - Green, small forward - Andrew Wiggins, shooting guard - Pullman, and point guard - Curry.

With Klay Thompson injured, Powell will start. Powell is a major discovery for the Warriors; while his physical attributes aren't outstanding, he has demonstrated excellent offensive talent and has the potential to become an excellent offensive combo guard.

However, if Pu'er starts alongside Curry, the Warriors' perimeter defense will face a challenge. It's worth noting that Klay Thompson has often been the team's primary defender, responsible for guarding the opposing team's shooting guards. But with Klay out, Pu'er's defense is even worse than Curry's, leaving them to rely on the "Goji Berry Mamba" (Clay Thompson) to put down his thermos and defend. There's also a problem: if the "Goji Berry Mamba" guards the opposing point guard, then Curry and Pu'er will have to guard the opposing shooting guards (small forward and small forward), inevitably facing a size disadvantage and considerable trouble.

The modern small-ball era actually places higher demands on players. Teams practically want everyone to be able to shoot threes, and they want every player on the court to be a defensive liability. In today's league, strong teams can only tolerate one player on the court without a three-point shot, and only one defensive liability.

So if you have two players on the court who can't shoot threes, or two defensive sieves, then it's very difficult to build your offensive and defensive system, and it's hard to achieve a true balance between offense and defense.

The starting players from both teams took to the court, and Jia Fei and Curry exchanged a brief hug. Even this simple hug drew a flurry of camera flashes, as if afraid to miss a single beautiful moment. It's understandable; the two are simply too popular. The combined popularity of everyone else couldn't match theirs, so it's no surprise that the cameras were constantly focused on them.

The Clippers have a very tall roster, with every position taller than their opponents. The Warriors have already used twin towers, but they are still shorter than their opponents. In fact, both of the Warriors' big men are small centers. Although they are tough and strong, they are not very tall. Looney is only 206 cm tall, and Chauncey is only 2 meters tall. In the past, one of them would have played the power forward position, and the other could only play the small forward position.

Rooney and Hartenstein prepare for the jump ball near the center circle, and the match is about to begin amidst cheers from the fans.

The jump ball began, and Hartenstein won the jump ball using his height advantage, giving the Clippers possession for the first offensive possession.

Jia Fei dribbled the ball across half-court.

"Your boyfriend is so handsome!" Art Mayork's fiancée said to Lin Ning from the sidelines.

Lin Ning nodded, her face slightly flushed, and she didn't forget to give a polite compliment: "Your fiancé is very handsome too!"

Rose sighed and said, "But all he can do is wave a towel!"

At this moment, Art Mayork on the sidelines was waving a towel, undoubtedly the leader of the atmosphere team.

Jia Fei brought the ball over, Hartenstein set a screen, and the Warriors opted to delay.

Jia Fei passed the ball to the weak side of the pickled pepper.

Paul George dribbled the ball and drove to the basket, but the Warriors double-teamed him. He then passed the ball to Bridges, who missed a three-pointer!

Since Wiggins is assigned to guard Jia Fei, one of Curry and Pu'er will definitely have to guard Paul George. However, Wiggins won't guard the opposing star, so Pu'er will have to do that job.

It's not that Pu'er's defense is particularly good, it's just that he has no choice but to defend against Paul George! My brother doesn't do this kind of thing...

This is my brother's team. If Pu'er doesn't want to defend, he can only go to the bench, and he might even get hit by Tie Niu's iron fist...

How did Tie Niu's axe turn into an iron fist? Wasn't it Lu Zhishen who killed Zhen Guanxi? Well, weapons aren't allowed in NBA games, so Tie Niu left his axe in the locker room and only uses his iron fist.

That was a loving punch, very light, and it was over quickly...

It hurts? Force is reciprocal; it hurts me too, but I did it for your own good…

Curry dribbled the ball over and passed it to Chase in the high post.

Because of Rooney's presence, Hartenstein could let him shoot, Grant was guarding Chase, and Jia Fei went to guard Puer.

The Clippers' defensive duties are still entrusted to the long-legged and long-armed Bridges.

The Clippers didn't completely open up the shooting, Grant was able to force the ball out, and he was agile.

Curry makes an off-ball movement, chases down the ball, and passes it to the basket!

Curry received the ball, dribbled behind his back and between his legs several times, knocked Bridges away, and then sank a three-pointer—it went straight in!

Curry hit a three-pointer right at the start of the game!

The Clippers are on offense, but Paul George's three-point attempt misses!

The Warriors secured the defensive rebound, and Curry hit a three-pointer in transition!

With a 6-0 lead, the Warriors took control on the road, seemingly telling everyone that they wouldn't let their championship night be so easy.

After two more possessions, the Clippers' shooting remained cold, missing several shots in a row, while Curry hit another three-pointer for the Warriors, making it 9-0 at the start!

The Clippers have paused play!

"Mr. Su, what do you think is the reason why the Clippers' offense didn't go smoothly at the start?" Wang Zixing asked.

Su Qun adjusted his glasses and replied, "We still rely too much on three-pointers. The opponent gives you opportunities, but you can't make them. The more you shoot, the less you can make them. I think we can try to play inside. Even if the opponent puts two big men in, the Clippers are not without the ability to fight back. We can at least try to draw some fouls."

After the timeout, the game resumed.

Jia Fei dribbled over, and Harten continued to come up to screen!

Jia Fei accelerated past Rooney the instant he made the screen, and Rooney didn't even have time to react before he was beaten.

Jia Fei cut to the basket, took three slow steps, and steadily placed the ball into the hoop with his left hand!

9-2, the Clippers finally scored!

The Clippers' home crowd, IntuitDome, erupted in cheers as this marked their team's first two points of the season!

Warriors offense: Curry draws double teams and passes to Wiggins on the weak side!

Wiggins faked a move, cut inside, and went for a layup...

It was blocked by Jia Fei who came over to help defend!

Bridges gets the ball and passes it to Jia Fei!

Jia Fei brought the ball over, faced the temporary matchup of Zhui Dan, made a step-through and drove into the basket, turned and brushed past his opponent, cut in, faced Rooney under the basket, rose up, leaned against his opponent, and with the whistle blowing, used hang time and soft finger and wrist strength to put the ball into the basket!