NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 587 This season's Lakers are different.

The Lakers' starting lineup has a very good defense. Although they have a big center like McGee who is easily targeted, Davis can help cover for the other players to some extent. The help defense of a forward is very significant.

Anthony Davis can switch on perimeter defense and protect the rim, making him one of the best power forwards/centers in the league on the defensive end. The Lakers' desire to acquire him is understandable; at 26, he's in his prime. The Lakers haven't lost their future; they're simply trading up their resources, not mortgaging their future as many have suggested.

Gallinari faked a shot and drove in, but his layup was blocked by Davis!

Anthony Davis took the ball and handed it to the running man to dribble over.

The running man gets the ball very quickly, and the first pass finds Caruso who is making a quick run down the frontcourt!

But Jia Fei anticipated this and intercepted the ball!

Jia Fei brought the ball over, and facing Davis's switch defense, he signaled his teammates to spread out!

The crowd cheered as Jia Fei announced his intention to take on Anthony Davis!

Anthony Davis's defensive ability is beyond doubt. Although he has never won the Defensive Player of the Year award, his defensive coverage and versatility are truly outstanding in today's small-ball league!

If we had to find a template for Anthony Davis's defense, it would be Kevin Garnett. Both are tall, long-armed, and exceptionally quick, with fast movement, a large defensive coverage area, excellent help defense and sweeping, capable of guarding five positions, and outstanding defensive awareness.

Jia Fei, with a smile on his face, holds the ball in his left hand and faces off against Thick Eyebrows!

With his left hand holding the ball, he dragged his feet, shifting the opponent's center of gravity. Suddenly, Jia Fei executed an Iverson-style crossover dribble followed by a left-handed crossover change of direction!

The speed was too fast, and the amplitude was too large. Even someone as sharp-witted as Brow couldn't keep up with the pace immediately!

That wasn't the end of it. After his left-hand crossover, Jia Fei didn't accelerate into the paint. Instead, he followed up with a lateral step-back, instantly moving from inside the three-point line back to outside it!

After Jia Fei stepped out of the three-point line, he gathered the ball and everyone took three-point shots. By then, Davis was already far away from him, and unless he became a long-armed player, he couldn't interfere at all.

The ball went in! 2-3, the Clippers take the lead!

Many fans at the scene screamed, "That was so tough! So cool!" Jia Fei pointed at Anthony Davis, "Does he have to be so tough?"

The Lakers are on offense. The running man brings the ball over and sets a screen with Davis at the high post!

The Clippers immediately switched their defense!

The Running Man player lobs the ball to Anthony Davis!

Anthony Davis receives the ball, faces Paul George who has switched onto him, backs down and shoots with a hook shot – and it goes in cleanly!

4-3, the Lakers have come back to take the lead!

The Lakers fans in the arena cheered, finally they weren't being dominated by the Clippers all the time. With Anthony Davis, at least the Lakers had an advantage in the paint against the Clippers.

Beverley brought the ball over and passed it to Jia Fei!

Jia Fei passed the ball to Olynyk, and then handed it to him with a handoff!

After the hand-to-hand pass, Jia Fei changed direction and rushed into the middle, but was double-teamed and then passed to Pao Jiao in the bottom corner!

The pickled pepper's three-pointer from the bottom corner missed!

McGee grabs the rebound, and the runner pushes the ball forward!

The Lakers made a pass to Anthony Davis in the frontcourt, who caught the ball and dunked it in! 6-3, the Lakers lead by 3 points!

With strong support around him, the Running Man cast members are much more motivated and energetic than last season. He's just too clever; when he can't see hope, he doesn't want to work hard, but when he sees hope, he runs faster than anyone else.

"Mr. Yang, the Lakers are different from last season!" Wang Meng exclaimed.

Yang Yi nodded: "The Lakers have an advantage in the paint after Davis came. We all know that the Clippers' interior defense is not very good. Olynyk and Gallinari, both white players, are not good at defense."

Beverley brought the ball over, but Bradley stole it from him!

Bradley drove the length of the court for a fast break and dunked, helping the Lakers go on a 6-0 run and forcing the Clippers to call a timeout!

The Clippers fans in the arena were somewhat bewildered. It had been a long time since they'd seen their home team get dominated from the start, especially with Jia Fei on the court. It's clear the Lakers are no longer the Lakers of last season. Defense alone is a significant improvement this season, undoubtedly thanks to Anthony Davis, but Vogel's contribution is equally undeniable. Vogel's defense with the Pacers was among the league's best; he's particularly adept at developing interior defense, often featuring a dominant center in his system. The current Lakers follow this pattern, with McGee in the starting lineup and Howard off the bench. In contrast, Walton seems to have been poisoned by Kerr. He doesn't have Kerr's talent, but he's got Kerr's quirks, constantly experimenting with small lineups. Without the Splash Brothers and a forward like Green who can play center, what you call a small lineup isn't a death sentence, it's a suicidal small lineup…

In this league, Walton isn't the only coach who's been influenced by Kerr; several coaches also like to play small lineups all the time. In fact, small lineups are very difficult to play unless you have a small-ball big man like Green or Davis. Otherwise, your defense in the paint will definitely have problems when playing small lineups.

It's well known that the biggest problem with small lineups isn't offense, but defense. Even the Clippers' five-forward lineup faces defensive issues in the paint, let alone smaller lineups from other teams.

After the timeout, the game resumed.

Beverley brought the ball over, secured it, and immediately passed it to Jia Fei.

Beverley was embarrassed when Bradley dispossessed him. He prides himself on being a point guard, but a so-called point guard who can't even safely dribble the ball up the court is really shameless.

Jia Fei receives the ball and faces the bald man.

Compared to Caruso's shiny bald head, Jia Fei's hair volume is clearly a significant advantage.

But basketball isn't about who has more hair; if it were, the Running Man cast should have retired long ago.

Caruso's defense is quite good; he's quick, strong, and resilient. These are excellent qualities of a great perimeter defender.

But if this alone could stop Jia Fei, then Jia Fei wouldn't be Jia Fei!

Jia Fei dribbled the ball, made an in-out fake to drive inside, turned and cut in, facing Davis and the running man who were helping to defend under the basket, and made a last-second pass to Gallinari in the corner!

Big open!

Gallinari's three-pointer went in perfectly!

8:6, the score difference was suddenly narrowed to 2 points!

Cheers erupted immediately. Jia Fei's pass was fantastic. His excellent passing vision, achieved through hang time and core strength, perfectly matched every coach's expectations for an outside star player.

The Lakers' offense still revolves around Anthony Davis, but after the Clippers timeout, they clearly started to pack the paint and collapse the defense to limit the Lakers' inside offense!

Anthony Davis's pass was double-teamed, and he made a mistake when passing the ball, which was stolen by Paul George!

Pao Jiao dribbles the ball on a counter-attack and passes to Jia Fei who is making a quick run!

Jia Fei received the ball, accelerated past the runner, and faced Bradley's help defense. He pulled the ball behind his back and jumped to score with a layup!

8:8, both sides draw!

The Clippers responded with a 5-0 run!