When the Clippers and Mavericks were tied 3-0, the score between the Rockets and the Trail Blazers was still 1-2, and the Rockets pulled one back after returning to their home court in Game 3.

Seeing that the Mavericks were going to fail, Houston automatically took on the heavy responsibility of carrying the flag for Texas to avenge it, and was full of thoughts about a big reversal against the Trail Blazers and a meeting with the Clippers in the semifinals.

Although the score is behind, the Rockets are so confident.

That confidence was shattered in the fourth game.

thought that with the power of the home court, the Rockets would be able to pull back another city, but the Rockets were reversed by the Trail Blazers again when they were leading the game.

This is already the third comeback in four games.

As long as the Rockets led into the fourth quarter, they didn't win in the end.

On the contrary, it was the third game, which fell behind in the first three quarters, and overtook it in the fourth quarter and won one game.

Where are you going to reason?

Judging from the lineup alone, the Rockets and the Trail Blazers should be comparable.

After all, there is only one win difference, and Harden is the best in this series in terms of strength, fame, and experience.

Who knew that the seemingly low-key Trail Blazers had completely seen through the Rockets and Harden in terms of lineup, tactical arrangement and personnel alignment.

It only took one Matthews for Stotts to control Harden, causing Harden's efficiency to plummet in the playoffs.

At the same time, as soon as the Rockets reached a critical moment, they couldn't withstand the bombardment of Aldridge and Lillard.

The Rockets are a team with a long tradition of center, and historically they have tended to suffer a lot when they meet an opponent in a point guard-power forward combination.

The Jazz and Supersonics in the 90s, and the Jazz in 07 and 08 have all become opponents for the elimination of rockets.

This year's Trail Blazers are no exception, and the Rockets have been solving the problem of bad power forward since the Yao Ming era.

Every offseason, the media and fans start to chant "defensive power forward" and "blue-collar coolie", which is almost a scripture.

As a result, every year this position is not good, and every year in the playoffs when a team with a strong power forward is blown up.

Is the league so short of defensive power forwards?

To put it bluntly, I still want to do a two-penny job with one penny, and then I have to earn back a dollar.

It wasn't until last summer that Howard wasn't brought in, and Jefferson and Smith were fooled.

As a result, Jefferson couldn't defend well, Smith couldn't attack, and Smith played a power forward with average height and arm span, and Aldridge's scalp was numb when he was turned over by Ade's straight arm jumper.

McHale naively chose to use Terrance Jones to defend Ade one-on-one in the first game, but he was beaten so much that his mother didn't even know him.

The big score was 1:3 behind, and the Rockets understood from top to bottom that they were really on the edge of the cliff.

Harden also knows the pressure is on his side.

Game 5 came to Portland, and the Rockets were dying.

As in the previous games, the Rockets were always able to take the lead in the opening game.

And the Trailblazers are always slow to heat up, slowly catching up when they are lagging behind.

This time, the two sides fought extremely fiercely, and the physical and tactical confrontations reached the peak of the series.

In the fourth quarter, the Rockets, who still led by about 5 points in the first three quarters, were tied by the Trail Blazers again.

This time, it was Lillard, who made a strong three-pointer from the outside, and a breakaway layup brought the two sides back to the same running line.

Jeremy Lin showed his inconsistent side in the playoffs, with several key turnovers that led to the Trail Blazers gaining the upper hand again.

At this time, Harden finally stepped up, first hitting a three-point shot on a counterattack, then blocking Matthews in defense, and then counterattacking to make a foul and go to the free throw line.

Then, the Trail Blazers missed the attack, and Harden made another foul on the free throw line on the counterattack.

This rain is falling, and it makes people feel that the pioneers are going to be cold.

After all, this is Adam Silva's first year as NBA president, and his first playoff game, so why should it be a little more intense?

In the other two series in the West, the Clippers have 4:0 Mavericks and are waiting for a seat in the semifinals.

There is also the Spurs, which are also unceremoniously sent the Grizzlies home 4:0, which is really a gentleman's revenge, and it is not too late every year.

I didn't report enough this year, and I will come back again next year.

What a grudge.

Now, all that's left in the West is the Rockets vs. Trail Blazers and Warriors vs. Thunder games.

And the Rockets fell behind 1:3, and it looked like it was going to be over, but on the side of the Warriors and the Thunder, the first four games between the two sides were tied 2:2, and the battle of Tianwang Mountain was played after the game between the Rockets and the Trailblazers.

The Rockets still wanted to catch their breath a little longer, and with more than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Rockets led the Trail Blazers by 2 points at 101-99.

The two sides entered the fiercest battle, and this is when the Rockets' defense made another contribution.

Throughout the series, the Rockets' defense is to drop the chain at a critical moment, and the Trail Blazers will definitely have a chance as long as they play a dozen covering tactics and run two or three back and forth.

Lillard hit a two-point pullup jump shot at the top of the arc to tie the score.

The Rockets called a timeout, came back from the timeout, and the ball was given to Harden again - McHale has only one tactic in key moments this season, to Harden.

And Harden's first thought when he got the ball was to make a foul.

If you can't make a foul, then the opponent must be dodging, and as soon as you dodge, Harden will be able to shoot.

Of course, there are times when you can't hide even if you want to.

This time, Matthews, who was defending Harden, really dodged it, and as a result, Harden missed his jumper.

But Perkins stole a frontcourt rebound under the basket and hit a rebound!

The rebound was worth a fortune, and the Rockets not only took the lead, but also gave only 0.9 seconds to the game.

With less than a second to go, the Rockets are almost going to take the game back to Houston.

Game 6 was played in Houston, and a win for the Rockets would have been able to drag the series into a tiebreaker.

In that case, the final result is not easy to say.

But the excitement of Perkins and the Rockets players only lasted for a timeout.

After the timeout, the Trail Blazers ran a simple cover tactic with 0.9 seconds to play.

Lillard received the ball one step outside the three-point line, but there was no one in front of him, but Lillard directly pulled up a three-point shot and hit the whistle!

Lore!

Lillard defeated the Rockets in the last 0.9 seconds at home, helping the Trail Blazers eliminate the Rockets with a score of 4:1 and enter the Western Conference semifinals!

It was a thrilling goal, reminiscent of the scene when Roy was also at home, near midfield, and used 0.8 seconds to catch the ball and shoot the Rockets.

The rocket died twice in the face of a similar miracle, and it was time to think about what was wrong with him.

Such a sudden death was unacceptable to the Rockets players, and Harden, Parsons and others sat on the bench completely blinded.

And the fans at the home of the Trail Blazers fell into a frenzy, and Lillard looked indifferent and pretended.

But he is indeed very good, and like Li Liang, he is also a second-year rookie, and he has been able to play a star-level performance in the playoffs.

The top pick in the '13 draft didn't even make the playoffs, and these two guys who were inconspicuous in the draft have already shone in the playoffs and are about to meet in the semifinals.

As for the Rockets, their great offseason is back in the works.

After all, no team can beat the Rockets in the offseason.

You can make a lot of money, and the Rockets will never lose - they don't have anything to lose anyway.

And after the Rockets and Trail Blazers game ended, the next day, the battle between the Thunder and the Warriors began.

The battle between the two sides was also fierce, and as a result, in the third quarter of the game, Westbrook hit Draymond Green with a knee that was marking him and left the court injured.

Westbrook's sudden injury was fatal to the Thunder.

Although under the leadership of Durant, the Thunder and the Warriors fought for two overtimes at home, the Warriors still relied on Thompson's key three-pointer to defeat the Thunder!

The Warriors are leading 3:2!

The Thunder, who were originally one of the favorites to win the championship, suddenly stood on the verge of being eliminated in the first round.

After the game, Westbrook's knee injury was not good, and the season was announced.

This result means that the door to the Thunder's championship this season has been closed early, and a season's hard work has been wasted.

Sure enough, Game 6 was moved to Oracle Arena in Oakland, and the Thunder resisted half the court and collapsed in the second half.

The Warriors blossomed with more than three points, shooting through the demoralized Thunder.

In the end, 118:103, the 15-point advantage defeated the Thunder team who had lost their soul, and the big score was 4:2, and the Thunder was eliminated to enter the Western Conference semifinals.

After the game, Durant's face was written with disappointment.

After losing to the Heat in 2012, he thought the time had come for the West to be his own and the Thunder.

Unexpectedly, it failed for two consecutive seasons, and this season was eliminated in the first round.

I don't know why, Durant's head sounded with what Li Liang once said to him, "... Why don't you join me, I'll take you to the championship..."