I thought it would be a difficult first-round series, but the Kings passed it very easily.

Before the playoffs began, everyone said the Kings had drawn a pick.

The first round against the Clippers and the second round are likely to be against the Spurs - the Spurs and Kings have a 3-1 record in the regular season, with the Spurs dominating.

And the Kings don't have home-court advantage and are likely to suffer against the Spurs.

In the face of this kind of remarks, Li Liang thought to himself, is it possible for us to play against the Thunder in the first round and the Warriors in the second round.

Ranking second or third is the best ranking.

Coupled with the 57-win "championship record" numerical bonus, Li Liang has confidence in this season's Kings.

Confidence is something that is gradually stimulated as the game progresses.

Before the start of the regular season, Li Liang himself was a little lacking in confidence, especially because he was not very suitable for the work of the head coach.

Later, after turning on the "rule by inaction" mode, after no longer staring at data, videos, and achievements every day, Li Liang felt a lot more relaxed.

In the second half of the regular season, the team recuperated and experimented with tactics, which kept the team in very good shape.

As a result, when it came to the playoffs, it exploded all at once.

Li Liang even felt that in this season's playoffs, his overall state was the best in his career.

Whether it is mentally or physically, he has begun to enter his peak.

That's right, Li Liang has just entered his prime.

That's what he thinks himself, anyway.

After the win over the Clippers, the confidence of the entire Kings team has risen to a new level.

Especially for a man like Cousins who has no playoff experience, the 130 points in the first game are actually very important to him.

With that 130 points, Cousins' whole heart is different from the past.

In the game, he played more calmly and restrained, and he also knew that this was a key playoff game, and every round was related to the victory or defeat of a game, and each win or defeat was related to the success or failure of the series, and it was related to the dedication and hard work of a season.

That's what Cousins really grew up for.

In the semifinals, the Kings' opponents were soon revealed.

The Spurs defeated the seventh-ranked Grizzlies 4-2 in the first round.

The Spurs' victory over the Grizzlies was much more tortuous than the Kings' victory over the Clippers.

The Spurs, who had a normal regular season, had a brilliant record, and Wiggins and Booker, two talented young men, were at home at the Spurs.

In the first two games of the playoffs, the Spurs went smoothly and won two consecutive games at home.

But once they got to Memphis, they ran into trouble and got bogged down in the Grizzlies' defensive quagmire.

The Spurs were upset by the Grizzlies for the second game in a row and had to return to San Antonio to play Kings Mountain.

The battle of Tianwang Mountain was quite thrilling, and at the last moment, the old demon knife Ginobili received Gasol's pass in the bottom left corner, and the mid-range jumper killed the Grizzlies to help the Spurs get the series point.

In the sixth game, the Grizzlies had no resistance at the end of the crossbow, and lost at home, and the Spurs successfully advanced to the next round.

Kings vs. Spurs, Li Liang vs. Popovich, the two sides met again in the playoffs after two seasons apart.

In the last playoff matchup, Li Liang single-handedly shattered the Spurs' dream of winning the championship again.

It was since 2007 that the Spurs came closest to a championship.

It is also the toughest of all the series that Li Liang thinks.

That time, Li Liang not only eliminated the Spurs, but also provoked the relationship between Leonard and the Spurs, causing him to leave in the summer.

Of course, Leonard's departure has brought a very good chip to the Spurs, and the talent shown by the two stars has made the Spurs a strong team in the West for the next five years.

In the other semifinal matchup, the Warriors easily passed the Trail Blazers in the first round, also 4:0, without giving the Portlanders any chance.

The Thunder, who ranked four or five, played the Lakers in the most intense first-round game.

The Thunder, with the defending champions, took the lead in Los Angeles and grabbed home-court advantage.

And Lakers Wade and Leonard showed a completely different look in the playoffs.

After that, he led the team to three cities in a row, reversed the situation in an instant, and the big score became 3:1, and he was about to eliminate the Thunder.

The Thunder were originally in full swing during the regular season, but they suffered a series of injuries during the season, with Durant injured and Robertson injured and reimbursed for the season.

By the time Durant returned in the playoffs, the team's form had been compromised.

Even so, in Game 5 at Stamps, the Thunder withstood the pressure and pulled themselves back on the brink of elimination.

Then in the sixth game, the Thunder and the Lakers double-overtime battle, and at the critical moment, Westbrook broke through the basket to make fouls and went to the free throw line to help the Thunder win the game and tie the score at 3:3.

The tiebreaker between the Thunder and the Lakers started on the same day as the first game of the semifinals between the Kings and the Thunder.

The Kings arrived in San Antonio by plane in a spring rain.

Because the regular season record was not as good as the Spurs, the Kings did not have home-court advantage.

This is the first time in Li Liang's four-year career that he has not had a home-court advantage in the divisional playoffs.

But correspondingly, he has an away advantage.

The home of the Spurs has always been a mecca for top scorers to perform.

For example, Kobe Bryant, on the black and white floor of San Antonio, I don't know how many wonderful games he has contributed.

As an evergreen tree in the West, the Spurs trample on the dreams of many teams to go further, but they always have to pay it back, and the Spurs have done a lot of background boards.

The last time the Kings faced the Spurs in the playoffs was back in 2006, and that was the last time the Kings made the playoffs.

The Kings, who had Bunche Wells and Artest at the time, gave the Spurs a cold sweat in the first round.

It's a pity that Wells, who played well in the series, had his brain pumped, and in the summer he rejected the Kings' 36 million contract, and 5 million switched to the Rockets to sign a bigger one.

It can only show that Wells doesn't know about a team like the Rockets at all, as long as you are not a superstar, how can you easily sign a long-term contract or a big contract?

In the end, Wells lost tens of millions, had no ball to play in the NBA, went to the CBA, and finally became a passerby.

And the battle for his fame was when he played against the Spurs in the playoffs 10 years ago.

Duncan was still in his prime, and Ginobili's hair hadn't fallen out yet.

This is the first season in Duncan's absence, and the Spurs have done well in the regular season.

Pau Gasol and Ade form an "inside double soft", which is quite effective on the offensive end, and is the most efficient interior combination in the league.

On the outside, Wiggins and Booker are twin stars, and the point guard is still controlled by the old fritter Parker, and the starters should be said to be quite balanced.

If there is any flaw, it is that the defensive intensity and hardness are greatly reduced.

In the first round against the Grizzlies, it was difficult to contain the opponent on the defensive end, and the next few games were very difficult.

In the end, the Spurs relied on experience and talent to defeat their opponents.

After all, the Grizzlies' outside three-point shooting rate is too poor, and many times it gives you the opportunity to miss, which is not good.

But it's different when you meet the king, the weakness of the outside defense will give the king a lot of opportunities.

In particular, the Kings have Li Liang, the top three-point shooter in history.

Li Liang has been in and out of Gan Guoyang's copy in the system this season to experience life, and one of the main tasks is three-point shooting.

His three-point shooting ability has reached 90, and his goal is to be above 90, a whole new realm.

It took Li Liang a whole season to pass this task - the mission content was to play in the 2004 Finals, the third game, replace Fox, in the Auburn Hills Palace in Detroit, hit eight three-pointers in a single game, and also help the Lakers win the game.

The strange thing about this task, and the difficulty is that Li Liang replaced Fox to play.

To be honest, if Li Liang replaces Kobe Bryant, it won't be so difficult.

8 three-pointers is not impossible, even if there are no props, skills and runes, Li Liang can shoot three-pointers if he thinks of a way.

The problem is that Li Liang replaced Fox on the field, and then the person who matched him was Kobe.

TMD can't get the ball!

Kobe Bryant in 2004 and Pistons in 2004 made this task extremely difficult.

Li Liang was doing tasks several times, woke up in the middle of the night, called Kobe and scolded him, which made Kobe bryant.

Later, near the end of the regular season, Li Liang took advantage of an opportunity to give Kobe Bryant a step on the court and put Kobe down.

Then, he and O'Neill played together, and everything became easy and natural.

The iron-blooded Pistons also showed flaws in front of the ultra-long three-point range, and the Lakers won the game with difficulty and turned the tide of the series.

Li Liang's [Empty Three-point] ability value has increased to a terrifying 99 points, and he has reached a new realm.

The well-deserved first three-point player in history was born.