Chapter 253: Get the Upper Hand
In fact, looking at the entire playoff career, George's average of 20.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game is far less gorgeous than Curry's 26.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists, and his average shooting rate of 43% is not as good as Curry's 45%.
But you know, George's several playoff games have basically been experienced in a hard-to-go situation with James, he faced the best players in the league, and there was a lot of pressure on both offensive and defensive ends.
In contrast, Curry, while having better stats, is faced with a player who is not the best player in the league most of the time.
The most typical example is in the Finals of the Cavaliers vs Warriors in 15, the Cavaliers' bench player Dellavedova defended Curry in place, making the regular season MVP a big disappointment in the Finals.
In terms of pure strength, George is naturally inferior to Curry, but in the battle at critical moments, the more tenacious and tenacious George can bring different changes to the team.
The third game between the two sides was played at the Celtics' home stadium, Boston's North Shore Garden Arena.
In the league's famous devil's home field, George did not have the slightest stage fright.
The Wizards' main point of attack shifted from Curry to George, who frequently broke through and attacked the basket under Garnett's defense.
Although Garnett was still selected for the All-Defensive Team 2 this season, as he got older, the old wolf's defensive ability has declined significantly.
Garnett, who was at the peak of his youth, claimed to be able to defend from the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position, although such rumors are somewhat exaggerated, but they also reflect Garnett's defensive ability.
When speed, bounce, and explosiveness were all at their peak, Garnett's speed was not inferior to that of a defender, and the speed of helping to defend and chase the hat was amazing, but it was the peak of his youth after all.
The 36-year-old Garnett has long lost the speed and explosiveness that he relied on to survive, although relying on experience, height and arm span, he is still the defensive gate of the Green Army's interior, but against George, who was strong last year, it is indeed a little difficult to defend alone.
George is used to holding the ball from outside the three-point line and ready to attack, because he also has a certain three-point shooting ability, and Garnett has to follow the defense in this situation, otherwise what awaits is a dry three-pointer.
Being able to follow beyond the three-point line means that the defensive area is expanded.
Even Garnett in his prime, he will inevitably be broken through by a small defender, let alone now?
George would often immediately turn into an off-the-beaten-track arrow and rush into the interior like an off-string arrow, and Garnett would not have time to catch up.
George, who once participated in the slam dunk contest, is amazingly explosive, as long as he rushes into the inside, it is often a powerful dunk.
In the first quarter of the game, George shot 5 of 7 and scored 10 points in a single quarter, scoring and efficiency were the highest in both teams.
Faced with this situation, Celtics' head coach Rivers has nothing to do for the time being.
The reason why George can impact the basket so easily is directly related to the inability of other outside defenders of the Celtics to help defend, Rondo and Bradley, as the main force of the Celtics' current outside defense, must keep an eye on Curry and Thompson throughout the whole process, and dare not slack off, after all, in terms of lethality, Curry and Thompson are much more terrifying than George.
Rao was a nervous marker throughout the whole game, and the two couldn't completely limit Curry and Thompson, Curry made 2 three-pointers in the first quarter, and Thompson made 1.
Even if the Splash Brothers are not defended, they can still have an impact on the field.
Relying on George's strong attack, the Wizards took the lead in the first quarter, leading by seven points at 28:21.
In the second quarter, George still maintained a hot hand, after the Celtics shrank the defense and began to strengthen the interior defense, he began to increase the number of mid-range shots and passes, although he only shot 2 of 6 in this quarter, he handed out 3 assists, 2 of these 3 assists were assists Curry and Thompson hit three-pointers, and 1 was an assist to Leonard's dunk in the air.
At halftime, George's stats turned to 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and the Wizards continued to cement their lead and extend the margin to double digits.
When it came to the third quarter when the bench players played time, Ray Ray. Allen also failed to lead the Celtics bench to turn the score around, after all, Jamison and Cuarón. Although Butler's fame and strength are not as good as Ray. Allen, but not a vegetarian either, is constantly using the attack to help the team bite the point difference and not give the opponent a chance.
When the main players of both sides reappeared, there was no suspense in the game.
Curry, who re-emerged, felt revived, hit two three-pointers in a row under Rondo's desperate defense, and then broke through and rushed into the interior to create 2+1, scoring 9 points in a row to expand the difference to more than 20 points in a blink of an eye.
At this time, the game had been played for about 2 minutes in the fourth quarter, and in the remaining 10 minutes or so, Ray . Allen and Pierce missed several three-point attempts, and the game went into garbage time.
With six minutes or so remaining, Rivers replaced the Big Three, leaving only Rondo and Bradley on the court.
The Wizards' fast-paced, high-intensity confrontation is a great test of the physical fitness of the Big Three. In the second half of the game, the Big Three all had varying degrees of fitness crisis, which was one of the main reasons why the Celtics failed to catch up in the final quarter.
In Game 3 on the road, the score between the Wizards and the Celtics came to 2:1, and it looks like the Celtics still have a chance.
However, the fans of the North Shore Garden Arena never expected that the fourth game between the two sides would be out of suspense at halftime.
Curry, who was not in good shape in the first three games, finally ushered in an outbreak in this game, with all kinds of difficult three-point shots, various three-point shots from afar, 17 points in a single quarter and 33 points in the half!
Curry, who is explosive in combat power, directly shoots the outside line of the Celtics into a sieve.
This is Curry, when the hand is not good, Dellavedova can restrict him, but when the hand is good, even if it is a double bag, a three-person bag clip will not work!
Unless you tie the hands of an elementary school student, or put a cauldron lid 100% on top of his head, as long as he shoots, no matter how difficult it is, how far away, even in the center circle, this guy will probably shoot the ball!
Curry's divine shooting completely disrupted the Celtics' defensive plan and also allowed Thompson to be activated.
Curry scored 33 points in the half, Thompson also scored 14 points, and with George's 11 points, just three of them scored 58 points in the half, 10 more than the Celtics as a team.
The Wizards also relied on the super high scoring of three people, scoring 79 points at halftime, 31 points ahead of the Celtics who scored 48 points at halftime!
In the second half, Curry's hands became cold, and the huge point difference also made the Wizards players relax a lot, but also because the point difference was too huge, the Celtics used the remaining two quarters of the game to catch up, and finally failed to catch up or overtake the score before the end of the game.