The ball possession went to Zhou Qing's team.
Zhou Qing's point guard Yu Mengmeng held the ball, while Lu Yu's arms were naturally bent, maintaining his balance and focusing on defense.
Lu Yu and Yu Mengmeng maintained a distance of about two steps, perfectly blocking any possible inside passing lanes from Yu Mengmeng.
"Finally, he can hold his position on the perimeter." Coach Wang, watching from the sideline, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Lu Yu's defensive performance. He didn't know much about Lu Yu's past, but he was familiar with the golden generation of that era. It was really difficult to ask about the details, so rather than playing the role of a mentor, it was better to give Lu Yu time to get out of the shadows.
The playoffs are progressing quickly, and Lu Yu really had no idea how he would perform on the court. Seeing Lu Yu recover so quickly now put his mind at ease.
On the other side, Luo Yan, sitting on the bench, smiled with relief and breathed a sigh of relief.
Little Taro, you've finally moved on. Seeing you running freely like that, I can finally let go of my worries.
Coach Wang and Luo Yan's heartfelt words were heard one after another.
After Yu Mengmeng feinted to the right, she used a change of direction to dribble and was about to break through Lu Yu's defense.
Lu Yu exerted force with his feet, shifted his body, and stole the ball from Yu Mengmeng's dribbling rhythm.
She can finally truly be free from the distractions of those outside the arena.
The white jersey with blue stripes and number six became the center of attention for the entire stadium.
With a large stride forward, only Zhu Ying was able to keep up with the defense under the basket.
The basketball bounced up with his running steps. Lu Yu smirked, turned to the side to block Zhu Ying's defense, and suddenly exerted force with his feet, his arm straightening abruptly as his body rose.
The muscles that tensed up instantly were clearly visible.
Lu Yu's explosive upward momentum completely exceeded Zhu Ying's expectations. Was this the jumping ability of a point guard...?
The basketball was pushed to its highest point by Lu Yu's palm.
The entire audience held their breath as the ball rose higher.
With a flick of his wrist, Lu Yu deftly flicked the basketball into the hoop.
"Hook shot!" Liu Du shouted.
"A point guard can shoot a hook shot?" Meng Xiaotong swallowed hard and looked at Feng Xu.
Feng Xu was also stunned by this goal. "Lu Yu wasn't a particularly outstanding offensive player before, I've always been willing to say that. But Lu Yu showed us right from the start today that her period of dormancy is truly over!"
The competition on the field continues.
Lu Yu had just crossed halfway when he seized the opportunity and tossed the basketball.
Yang Lingling jumped and grabbed the basketball under the basket, while Zhou Qing's defense under the basket was mainly drawn away by Sun Meng.
Yang Lingling's explosive power is astonishing; she leaps into the air and easily scores with a dunk.
From defense to offense, the Qingbei team finally achieved the effect of the pre-game plan. Just as Coach Wang said, Zhou Qing's interior defense was easier to break through.
Zhou Qing's team lost points one after another, and the Qingbei team firmly controlled the rhythm of the game.
At halftime, Qingbei team led by 8 points.
Cheers echoed throughout the Qingbei team's home stadium.
At the start of the second half, Zhou Qing's team made a significant adjustment to their defensive formation, switching to one-on-one defense in the paint to compensate for the defensive gaps in the paint.
Make flexible adjustments to the perimeter defense strategy.
Yu Mengmeng was guarding Lu Yu alone. After Lu Yu took a jab step, she immediately retreated, and the way she exerted force at her ankle gave the impression that she was ready to shoot at any moment.
Lu Yu did just that, jumping lightly with a small range of motion. His arm rose and bent, and the shooting motion was instantly formed.
Seeing this, point guard Zhu Ying, who was not far away, immediately moved up to the defensive position and was about to block the ball.
Seeing that there was no one in front of Chu Feiyu, Lu Yu immediately retrieved the ball and made a decisive long pass.
Chu Feiyu took a step forward, ready to catch the incoming basketball.
A figure flashed past.
It's Yu Mengmeng.
Yu Mengmeng, who had just been faked out by Lu Yu's retreat, darted forward and intercepted the ball.
Yu Mengmeng dribbled the ball and passed it to Zhu Ying while running. Zhu Ying caught the ball smoothly and made a mid-range shot.
At the start of the second half, Zhou Qing's team used the timing difference in their outside shots to regain the upper hand.
In the back-and-forth battle, Zhou Qing's team gradually narrowed the gap in the second half.
"Qingbei and Zhouqing are now only 2 points apart. This game was really exciting. Both teams put a lot of effort into their outside shooting. Such high-intensity outside coordination is truly rare. Today we really showed us what it means for a guard to make waves."
Liu Du's passionate commentary made the game even more thrilling, with every offensive and defensive play captivating the hearts of fans from both teams.
"Zhou Qing's team played very tenaciously in this game, and Qingbei's team was also under tremendous pressure; losing would mean going home. We can only say that we shouldn't be distracted by the score, but the players on the court are inevitably affected by this pressure to some extent. In the second half, Sun Meng's inside penetration wasn't very effective, so Qingbei's team had to rely on their outside shooting coordination," Feng Xu explained at the opportune moment.
"With only a dozen seconds left, Qingbei team is temporarily leading by 2 points. The outcome depends on this final window of time—"
Before host Liu Du could finish speaking, Zhou Qingdui's Zhu Ying hit a three-pointer from a distance!
"The three-pointer went in!" Liu Du's voice instantly rose.
The situation immediately reversed.
The fans of Zhou Qing's team hugged and cheered excitedly.
Zhou Qing's team is leading by 1 point.
The timer on the screen jumped to 13 seconds.
Lu Yu stared at the fixed number, feeling her heart pounding in her throat.
Possession returned to Qingbei team, and Lu Yu had 13 seconds to take the lead.
Only one goal!
Lu Yu exhaled, blowing his sweat-dampened bangs, and dribbled the ball across half-court. Yu Mengmeng and Zhu Ying continued their perimeter defense, changing direction as needed.
This time, Lu Yu didn't make any long passes; she couldn't allow herself to make another mistake.
She stared at Yu Mengmeng's arms as she took her stance, then suddenly accelerated to the right. Yu Mengmeng followed suit, forcing Lu Yu to retract her movements. She took a few steps back before accelerating forward again, like a wildly burning fire that wanted to burn away all its energy in an instant.
Just as Lu Yu was about to collide with Yu Mengmeng and commit an offensive foul, Yu Mengmeng was also stunned for a moment by Lu Yu's explosive power.
Lu Yu suddenly stopped. To others, Lu Yu's several accelerations and sudden stops seemed to happen without any effort, making them suspect that she might be a machine, able to start and stop with a single button, effortlessly controlled by her "feet".
Taking advantage of Yu Mengmeng's momentary lapse in concentration, Lu Yu accelerated to the left and broke through, cutting into the paint.
Zhou Qing's small forward Zhang Fan reacted quickly, leaping to block Lu Yu.
This leaves an opening in front of Sun Meng, who can then provide support from the flank.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Yu and Sun Meng worked together seamlessly, making a quick pass and setting a screen. Sun Meng received the ball and quickly broke into the paint.
As she jumped and raised her hand, the basketball extended along Sun Meng's arm.
"Thump—Bang!"
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