One Thousand Two Hundred and Thirty: Link Went Completely Crazy

Looking at the score on the electronic screen, the Lakers fans no longer had the arrogance they had at the beginning of the game.

A 10-point difference, to be honest, is not that big in this era. A few three-pointers or a few quick counterattacks might lead to a lead.

But the Grizzlies' state in the first quarter left them with lingering fears.

Link's 15 points in a single quarter eclipsed both James and Anthony Davis.

Howard, Jokic and others also performed very well. Facts have proved that without their excellent defense, the Lakers would not have only scored 22 points in the first quarter.

Before the end of this quarter, the Grizzlies in the minds of Lakers fans should be a very weak pseudo-strong team.

Their players should be severely under-talented, and their old lineup should be lifeless.

Link should be like James in the 1.0 period. Although his personal ability is super strong, due to the lineup, he cannot turn the Grizzlies back into the top team during the three consecutive championships.

After all, they were able to draw a 50-50 draw against opponents like the Chicago Bulls, and they were able to lose to the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler.

But now, Lakers fans' impression of the Grizzlies has completely changed.

Grizzly bears are strong and they are still very scary.

In terms of control of the game, they are not even inferior to those during the three consecutive championships!

Most importantly, Link's abilities are more powerful than anyone expected.

The Grizzlies can't contain Anthony Davis at the fourth position today?

It doesn't matter, Link's solution is to score more points than Davis!

On top of James, Link's score was almost never blocked, as if he was facing some unknown person.

No one knows how such a Grizzlies team lost to the Heat and how they were almost overturned by the Bulls.

They only know that the Lakers are in danger tonight.

If the Lakers lose to the Clippers and then lose to the Grizzlies, Lakers fans will really want to die.

The Lakers players will definitely be quite disappointed.

Lakers fans were still in shock when the electronic buzzer sounded at the start of the second quarter.

After the start of the second quarter, Link did not play for the time being. He will rest first.

Also not playing was Jokic. Joger has always been very strict in protecting big players.

So, Anthony Davis faced off against Marcus Morris.

Marcus Morris is a powerful player, and he is an important signing for the Grizzlies this summer.

But in front of Davis, Morris was really a bit unsatisfied.

Confrontation, speed, height, wingspan, shooting... It is no exaggeration to say that Morris is weaker than Davis in all aspects.

So in the few minutes that Link was away, Davis started scoring like crazy.

He forcibly grabbed the offensive rebound from behind Morris, and then made a layup directly across Morris, making it a 2+1.

He made a direct pull-up shot from the mid-range, and Morris had no way to interfere. Although the two are facing each other, Davis playing Morris is no different from playing out of position.

In the few minutes that Link took a rest, the score difference continued to get closer, and Lakers fans seemed to see hope.

When Link is away, the Grizzlies are really helpless with Davis.

But soon, this beautiful picture came to an end.

In the ninth minute of the second quarter, Davis relied on Morris for a breakthrough layup, which was destroyed by Howard who came in from defense.

In the second quarter, Howard's enthusiasm did not drop at all. Although he could not directly block Davis, he caused Davis' layup to deflect from the basket.

Then, Howard and Davis jumped up at the same time to grab rebounds. But there is no doubt that Davis' current secondary jumping ability is unmatched by Howard.

Seeing that he was about to miss the defensive rebound, Howard simply pulled Davis in the air and took the initiative to apply for a foul.

The number of free throws has not yet come, and Howard would rather foul than let Davis attack from such a deep position after getting the rebound.

Embarrassing, ugly, stumbling, these words are perfectly suitable to apply to Howard now.

But at least everything he did worked.

No matter how ugly the scene was, Howard did his best to contain the Lakers' offense.

The referee called a foul on Howard for rebounding, and the Lakers had to start the offense again.

But it also means the Grizzlies can rearrange their defense.

Moreover, the defense is still arranged with the starting lineup.

Taking advantage of the foul and dead ball, Joger took over the main players such as Link and Jokic again.

The moment Link came on the field, the atmosphere of the game seemed to change.

Before, Davis played easily and happily. But now, all he felt was fear.

"Howard's diligent defense allowed the Grizzlies to finally return to the main lineup with a 4-point advantage. Next, let's see if AD can maintain his previous state."

As soon as Mike Breen finished speaking, Davis missed.

This time, he bravely shot a three-pointer under Jokic's interference.

But Jokic is not Morris. Morris' height cannot interfere with Davis, but Jokic can.

As soon as Link and the others came back, the Lakers' scoring momentum was cut off.

Link is like Davis' nightmare. As long as he is present, Davis' aura will disappear instantly.

"Now the Lakers are only 4 points behind. Davis's scoring performance during this period is very good. I wonder if Link can continue his performance in the first quarter."

Kevin Harlan's words have become a comfort to many Lakers fans.

They all thought to themselves: "Link's performance in the first quarter of the game was already so good, the next three quarters can't be better than that!"

However, the opposite happened.

In Link's first offense after returning, he stared firmly at the basket after receiving the basketball.

James knew at that time that Link couldn't pass the ball.

Sure enough, Link once again used a sharp breakthrough to penetrate into the basket, causing McGee to foul.

Yes, James was easily overtaken by Link again. Nothing has changed, the Lakers' defense is still very fragile in front of Link.

The dreams of Lakers fans were shattered once again.

"Another fatal breakthrough. It seems that Link wants to respond immediately to Davis's performance and does not want to wait for another second. Link has fully turned on the scoring mode today. How many points will he score? The second game has just started, but his score is already approaching 20."

After Link caused the damage, he couldn't wait to stop on the free throw line.

Lakers fans tried their best to interfere, but in fact they all knew that this was in vain.

Sure enough, Link made two free throws to widen the point difference again.

At the same time, Link's personal score also reached the 17th point.

The live footage showed LeBron James, and he looked helpless.

He tried his best, but he couldn't even let Link pause his scoring pace.

This kind of helpless expression is very rare on James' face.

Link's breakthrough was just a warning to everyone that he was still as dangerous as he was in the first quarter.

Then, Link started a series of crazy scoring performances.

One round later, Link passed James with a rhythmic cross-step and reached the edge of the penalty area.

Seeing James retreating with all his strength, Link suddenly stopped and pulled back his hips.

James no longer had the super strength that could resist inertia. He staggered back and was shaken near the baseline.

Link, who was retreating, threw the ball to the basket with one hand coolly, 19 points!

A minute later, the nightmare came again.

The Grizzlies cleared the low post on the right side for Link, and Conley quickly sent the ball to Link.

Link hit James in the low post. In this era when everyone is catching and throwing from outside the three-point line, the art of low post singles has rarely been shown to the fans.

Link leaned against James and suddenly turned over, his movements somewhat like a golden rooster being independent.

James' reaction was not slow and he slapped the seal on Link's face. But the next second, the sound of the net rolling came as promised.

"Got it again, 21 points! Before half the game was finished, Link scored 21 points. What did he want to do? What did Link want to do to LeBron!?"

Mike Brin went completely crazy. Link's score today was completely different from the previous games!

It seems that the Los Angeles fans really annoyed Link.

Just one round later, Link faced James with the ball again.

James' current expression can be described as frightened. Throughout his career, no one can score more than 20 points in less than half a game against James!

This is the first time James himself has encountered this situation.

The "King", who had always been calm and composed, began to panic.

This time, Link made two fake shots from outside the right three-point line, but James remained unmoved.

Seeing this, Link immediately put his weight down and accelerated his breakthrough, but as soon as he took a step, he took a step back diagonally.

After retreating to the three-point line, he took a three-point shot despite James's reluctant interference.

Then, the basketball hit again, the 24th point!

True and false, false and true, James can't grasp Link's offensive habits at all.

After fighting against Link for so many years, James still couldn't predict Link's next move.

Because that guy is so versatile!

"So cold-blooded, Link is such a dangerous person! It's 24 points, and he almost took over the Grizzlies' offense by himself. God, the half of the game isn't over yet!"

Link scored, then calmly raised his right hand and showed three fingers. It was really his signature celebration after hitting a three-pointer.

But except for him, everyone in the entire stadium lost their composure.

Even Kobe on the sidelines stood up and looked seriously at the statistics on the big screen.

That kid is here just to cause trouble today!

Watching Link score recklessly on the court, Kobe suddenly remembered some past events.

Yes, it seems to be 2006, also in December, also at Staples, and the guy was wearing size 0 at that time!

Kobe swallowed, Link wouldn't really want to do that...

James then finally saved some face with a forced layup after a breakthrough.

But Link's scoring did not stop because of this. Soon, he set a screen with Gasol and continued to try to break through.

Davis immediately switched defenses to guard Link. When Link took off for a layup, he jumped up hard, waved his arms, and tried to block the shot.

However, Link's high-throwing layup was just too stupid. Davis felt that his finger was just a few centimeters away from touching the basketball, but it was these few centimeters that determined the outcome.

You know, Link is one of the players with the lowest block rate every year.

Link made a layup and scored his 26th point of the game!

At this time, there are still four minutes left before the end of half-time.

The entire Staples was in a state of extreme panic.

No one knows what they will experience tonight.