De'Antoni frowned.

Davis, why did he have to recover just when they were playing the Lakers!

The Pelicans' offense was fierce, and the Lakers were clearly struggling to cope.

With nine minutes played in the first quarter, both sides began to rotate their lineups.

The score on the court was 26 to 13, and the Pelicans had already taken a 13-point lead.

At this time, the Lakers' lineup on the court consisted of Ronnie Price and Jordan Clarkson on the outside, Nick Young and Boozer on the inside, and Chandler, who started, remained on the court.

For the Pelicans, the inside consisted of Jokic and Aminu, with Ariza and Gordon on the wings.

Because Holiday was injured, Dinwiddie, who previously had few opportunities to play, got a chance to play.

It is worth mentioning that team consultant Nash was also on the sidelines, constantly reminding Dinwiddie of something before he went on the court.

It was obvious that Nash really liked Dinwiddie.

The Lakers' offense.

Boozer asked for the ball in the low post to play against Aminu, then turned and faded away.

His fadeaway was very high, and the shot went over Aminu's fingertips.

"Swish!"

The basketball went into the net.

Although he was already 33 years old, his offensive firepower was still strong.

The Pelicans' offense, Dinwiddie held the ball past half court and passed the ball to Jokic.

Jokic organized from the free throw line.

Chandler was constantly giving him resistance, and the other Lakers players were closely following their defenders.

The Lakers were clearly guarding against Jokic.

The better Jokic played, the more he was studied by his opponents, and the more he was targeted on the court.

With more than half of the offensive time gone, there were no good opportunities on the court, and Jokic chose to force an attack on Hill.

But Chandler's resistance was no less than his, and he was like a copper wall and iron barrier. He didn't have a good chance to shoot when he turned to the basket.

Just then, Dinwiddie signaled Jokic to pass the ball out on the outside.

Jokic knew that his chances of scoring were slim, so he chose to pass the ball out.

At this time, more than half of the offensive time had passed, and the other Pelicans players had already spread out, ready to let Dinwiddie force a shot.

But Dinwiddie reached out and signaled to run a wing cut tactic.

This choice was unexpected, but Dinwiddie was a point guard, and the Pelicans' usual tactical literacy was not low, so his teammates still ran the tactical play.

Jokic turned to screen for Ariza, and Gordon on the other side cut to the basket from the forty-five-degree angle on the three-point line.

But none of these continuous tactics produced a chance.

The Lakers players on the court knew that there was not much time left for the offense, so they only needed to limit Ariza and Gordon, the two receiving points, when defending.

Moreover, because there was not much time, the Pelicans' screens and cuts seemed rushed, and the intentions were too obvious.

With little time left, just when this wave of offense was about to fail, Dinwiddie, who was holding the ball, suddenly pulled up for a three-pointer from the outside.

This came very suddenly. Price, who was defending Dinwiddie, was looking back at Gordon's cutting position, and Dinwiddie just shot it.

He reacted and pounced, but it was a little late.

And more importantly, Dinwiddie was a tall point guard with a height of 1.98 meters, which was a full 10 centimeters taller than him.

The interference he could provide was very limited.

In other words, this shot basically depended on Dinwiddie's own feel.

The ball swirled through the air in an arc.

"Swish!"

Accompanied by a crisp sound, the basketball went into the net.

A near buzzer-beating three-pointer!

The fans at Staples Center were in an uproar.

De'Antoni also reached out and rubbed his forehead.

He watched as the 24 seconds were about to be defended, but Dinwiddie threw in a three-pointer. This kind of shot had a very big impact on the team's morale.

Nash on the bench excitedly stood up and walked to the sidelines to applaud directly.

Tang Tian couldn't help but smile when he saw Nash's reaction.

The shot just now seemed to be a sudden cold arrow from Dinwiddie as time was running out, but if you looked closely enough, you would find that it was not that simple.

Jokic's pick-and-roll was defended, and the one-on-one attack was not successful either. There were about 10 seconds left.

If Dinwiddie really played one-on-one, the Lakers would focus their defense, and he would probably be defended.

But he didn't choose to do that, but called a tactic.

10 seconds or so is definitely not enough time to run a tactic, but not being able to run it out doesn't mean you can't run it.

The meaning of calling that tactic was not to really run it, but to attract the Lakers' defensive attention and then create an opportunity for him to shoot.

This was a bit of playing psychological warfare.

A rookie, or a second-round pick, it would be impossible to make such a judgment and choice in a short period of time on his own.

The only explanation was that Nash taught him.

Of course, Dinwiddie's own learning speed was also fast enough.

Dinwiddie's career in history was not smooth. He spent the first two years with the Pistons and the Bulls, and was even cut twice by the Bulls.

It was not until his third year as a rookie that he met Kenny Atkinson with the Nets that he was able to make a name for himself.

But now he has met Nash, which is like a Chollima (a mythical horse known for its speed and stamina) meeting Bole (an expert judge of talent).

This is also the NBA, or more broadly, life. How many NBA stars become famous in one battle, and how many stars are unappreciated and disappear among the crowd.

Strength is one part, but opportunity is also a very important part.

And it can be seen that Dinwiddie was obviously prepared.

Otherwise, even if he could use tactics to win a shooting opportunity for himself, it would be in vain if he didn't make the shot.

Boozer continued to play Aminu in the low post. This time, he used his experience to deceive Aminu, turned to the basket, and caused Jokic to commit a shooting foul.

After making both free throws, he had scored 4 consecutive points after coming off the bench.

Speaking of which, he was still able to contribute 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the Bulls last season. If he hadn't been amnestied, he would still be a starter on a team.

Dinwiddie held the ball to the front court again. After taking a look at the Lakers' defense, he signaled Jokic to sink to the baseline, and then asked Aminu to come up to the high post for a pick-and-roll.

After the switch, he was mismatched against Boozer.

He then signaled Aminu to pull Price away. This time he was going to play one-on-one.

Tang Tian turned to look at Nash again.

Dinwiddie hadn't played against Boozer before, so Nash must have told him about Boozer's defensive flaws.

Boozer's defense had deteriorated significantly, otherwise the Bulls wouldn't have amnestied him during the offseason.

Dinwiddie made continuous crossovers, and Boozer's center of gravity was obviously swaying.

Seizing an opportunity, Dinwiddie directly crossed over Boozer and charged to the basket.

Jokic had already sunk to the basket early, and at this time, he completely blocked Chandler.

After crossing over Boozer, Dinwiddie quickly laid the ball into the basket.

He had scored 5 consecutive points after coming on the court!

The Pelicans' lead had also reached 14 points!

Tang Tian didn't actually know much about Dinwiddie, after all, the latter's peak in history was only a starter-level player.

But now it seems that Dinwiddie's basketball IQ is very high, and with a top mentor like Nash, his growth rate is faster and his ceiling will be higher.

This is probably also the reason why Nash is willing to do his best for Dinwiddie.