On January 1, Beijing time, the Lakers suffered a back-to-back away defeat to the Pelicans 109-129. In this campaign, LeBron James made 4 mistakes. Most of his mistakes were due to the Pelicans' "Sixth" Alvarado. During the game, James was intercepted by Alvarado several times. Alvarado, known as the "phantom thief", really left James in the shadow. Netizens have ridiculed whether Alvarado reminds James of Barea.
In this round, James forced a breakthrough and tried to break away from the defense for a layup. As a result, Alvarado used brute force to pull the ball down.
In this round, James completely did not expect Alvarado to come from behind to steal the ball and the ball was stolen.
The same goes for this round. James was dribbling and counterattacking to think about how to attack. Alvarado used his low center of gravity to intercept the ball from behind.
In this round, Christie counterattacked with the ball, and Alvarado directly stepped sideways to steal.
Alvarado's steals are very terrible, because when he completes the steal, the Pelicans basically counterattack. Especially his steals from Christie and James in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers had already caught up to 11 points and were about to narrow the point difference to single digits. But Alvarado made consecutive steals, and the Pelicans successfully counterattacked twice, instantly extinguishing the Lakers' counterattack. Alvarado walked to the sidelines to encourage the fans to cheer louder, and the "Old Six Song" rang out again, and the Pelicans completely gained momentum.
In the entire game, Alvarado scored 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals and 2 blocks, becoming the hero of the Pelicans' victory.
Alvarado is an inspirational model in the league. Alvarado participated in the NBA draft in 2021. He originally thought he could be selected late in the second round, but in the end he was defeated. Before Alvarado could be disappointed, he received a call from his agent, who told him that the Pelicans might give him a two-way contract to give him a chance.
Alvarado said: "At that moment I celebrated like I was the No. 1 pick."
In the Pelicans, Alvarado became famous for stealing the ball with ghosts, but do you think he can only steal the ball with ghosts? Alvarado's judgment of the opponent's passing route is very accurate. He is short but not afraid of defending taller players. He is very good at defending opponents, can draw offensive fouls and cut the ball from behind. When Alvarado is on the court, he can always drive the team with passion and defense. Last season, Alvarado evolved after special training with Tony Parker, averaging 9 points, 3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, and his three-point shooting percentage increased to 33.6%.
Alvarado signed a contract with Chinese brand Peak last summer. He accidentally sprained his ankle while participating in activities during his trip to China in the summer, which affected his attendance this season. However, Alvarado still performed well after his comeback. His three-point shooting percentage increased to 39%, and he was still able to average 1 steal per game even though his playing time was reduced.
It is worth mentioning that during the Pelicans game not long ago, Alvarado wrote "Pray for Gansu" on his sneakers. This move won the hearts of Chinese fans.
