NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 46: Analysis of Defensive Levels; The Battle of Titans is About to Begin!

Ultimately, the score of Game 4 of the first-round series between the Warriors and the Jazz was 132-104.

It was only thanks to the substitutes racking up points during garbage time that the Jazz managed to break 100 points and narrow the gap to less than 30 points.

Otherwise, the point difference between the two sides would probably be close to 58 points.

Chris Paul must have been furious to see Snyder surrender so early, leaving him with the record for the biggest single-game point difference in the playoffs.

Curry's final stats in this game were quite impressive. In just 23 minutes of playing time, he made 13 of 18 field goals, including 8 of 12 three-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws, scoring a whopping 40 points. He also added 12 assists and, even more impressively, only committed one turnover, resulting in an astonishing 12 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

A large double-double represents a perfect comeback after a lackluster performance in the previous game.

Li Xingchen's performance remained consistent. He also played for 23 minutes, making 5 of 9 field goals, 3 of 6 three-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 16 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal.

That's enough to fill the data column.

However, anyone who watched the game knows that his contributions on the field are actually far more than what the statistics show.

Tencent released two defensive plays as the best defensive plays of the game in the final quarter, which was unprecedented for them, probably because they felt it would be a pity to miss either one.

Both of these rounds were initiated by Li Xingchen.

One instance was during the second defensive possession at the start of the game, where he made a clean break against Mitchell in a one-on-one situation. After this possession, Mitchell's offense completely collapsed, and he lost all confidence and touch.

One instance occurred after Green's mistake, when Mitchell was on a fast break preparing to dunk. Li Xingchen's chase-down defense and a powerful block, along with Kerr's subsequent successful challenge, almost completely shattered the morale and spirit of the entire Jazz team.

Looking at the final stats, Li Xingchen only had one block and one steal; but if you look at his actual performance on the court, his two defensive plays were crucial. One set the tone for the entire game at the start, and the other completely ended the Jazz's comeback when the game was about to be decided.

Even more outrageous is that in those possessions that weren't recorded in the statistics, Mitchell, who was guarding him throughout the game, was almost questioning his existence...

Shortly after, Hupu (a Chinese sports forum) followed up its news about Curry with a post about Li Xingchen, praising his defensive performance:

According to statistics, Donovan Mitchell faced Li Xingchen in twelve rounds of the game, only managing to take four shots, making one and scoring two points.

In the end, Mitchell played 26 minutes in the game, making only 3 of 12 shots, and scoring a total of 8 points including free throws, breaking his personal career low for points in a single playoff game.

This time, fans no longer only focused on Curry's offense, but also paid attention to Li Xingchen's terrifying defensive contributions in this game.

"This is way too outrageous..."

"I am Li Xingchen. I've managed to summon Scottie Pippen from the Chicago Bulls dynasty during my spirit-summoning event. You should try it too!"

"Only those who watched the game know how terrifying Li's defense was. You can't really blame Mitchell; anyone would have had a similar outcome if they had been matched up against him."

"Has no one noticed? Ah Chen scored sixteen points again today. This is his fourth consecutive game with sixteen points. Could it be...?"

Curry and Li Xingchen received the most comments after the game.

Curry has been labeled "a god descended to earth" and "a scoring machine," while Li Xingchen has been labeled "a defensive blockade" and "a suffocating force."

The top comment about Curry: He turned the tide and saved the day!

The top-rated comment on Li Xingchen's profile is: "When Mitchell lifts the covers at night, all he sees is Li Xingchen..."

……

The day after Game 4.

With a tight schedule for the remaining games, the Warriors will assemble and fly to Salt Lake City the day after Game 4 to prepare for the pivotal Game 5 on the road.

This time, because Li Xingchen felt that his performance was acceptable and the team won, he went online again to enjoy the praise from the fans.

The main strategy is to only play when you have an advantage.

Seeing the fans' praise and amazement at his defensive performance in this game, his resolve grew stronger.

From facing skepticism to gaining recognition, only those who have gone through the entire process can truly understand the hardships and the joy of success.

In addition, some data analysis and tactical analysis bloggers and posts have analyzed Li Xingchen's defensive level in detail in this game, and even pointed out that his defensive level has achieved a "leapfrog" improvement, which also made him very excited.

"Wow, I'm already this awesome?"

"People are actually comparing me to Jrue Holiday, and even to Klay Thompson and Wiggins..."

To be honest, Li Xingchen didn't have a particularly clear understanding of his defensive performance in the last game.

After all, when he's on the court, he needs to be 100% focused on every defensive play, leaving him no time to pay attention to anything else.

He felt he hadn't really lost his position much, and he even had some steals and blocks, so he must have defended pretty well.

But he really didn't expect it to be so effective. Even when he saw Mitchell's final stats and his opponent's stats, he was quite surprised.

He later analyzed the situation himself and concluded that there were several main reasons for this.

First, Mitchell relied too much on his previous matchup experience and was extremely unaccustomed to the sudden increase in his defensive intensity compared to the previous two games. He couldn't find a way to break through and thus struggled.

Secondly, Mitchell's performance was likely due to reasons beyond the first point, or perhaps other factors as well. His own form and touch were simply not good, and it wasn't entirely because of Li Xingchen's defense that he delivered such a disastrous performance.

Mitchell may be able to adjust these two points in the next game.

However, there is a crucial third point.

Li Xingchen discovered that after choosing the defensive enhancement reward, his physical attributes in related areas seemed to have improved.

Lateral movement speed, acceleration, core strength, jumping ability...

All physical attributes related to defense seem to have improved.

Presumably, this improvement wasn't tailor-made for Mitchell, but rather to ensure that he could limit any guard in the league to a shooting percentage at least three percentage points lower than his season average.

While Mitchell is among the top-ranked guards in the league, he is a well-rounded player, lacking a particularly outstanding advantage in either speed or power.

After Li Xingchen's all-round improvement, he was able to suppress him in every aspect, and was completely restrained.

If that's the case, then the Jazz are basically guaranteed to lose their next two games.

With Li Xingchen on the court, Mitchell is unable to perform at a high level, which in turn causes the Jazz's entire offensive system to collapse.

Li Xingchen was really looking forward to that moment.

Next, he will fly to Salt Lake City with the team.

The first crucial battle is about to begin!