On May 16, the NBA Western Conference Finals kicked off.

On this day, NBA commissioner Adam Silva came to the Russian City Energy Center with the MVP trophy to present the MVP trophy to Li Liang on the spot.

In fact, according to this year's regulations, Li Liang should go to the league office to receive the trophy, but Li Liang was not happy.

He's just going to be at the Energy Center, in front of all the limelight, to receive the MVP trophy.

It's not to show off in front of everyone, but Li Liang thinks that if he leaves after fighting in Thunder this year, he should still leave some good memories in Russia.

Silva can't help it, Li Liang is now the number one big name.

To be honest, for the attribution of this MVP, if Curry is not Under Armour but Nike, it is estimated that some media people will vote for Curry and let Curry win the MVP.

It's a pity that Curry is Under Armour's like Li Liang, so it doesn't matter.

Before the start of the match, Li Liang took the MVP trophy from Silva and held it high in front of 20,000 spectators.

This is also the first MVP trophy in the history of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the first in the history of the SuperSonics.

Therefore, Li Liang lifting this trophy at home is also very commemorative.

At the same time, Li Liang also became the first, and most likely the only, player in NBA history to win both the Sixth Rank and MVP of the Year.

After all, a player as thick-skinned as him should not be able to produce a second player in history.

Just as Li Liang won the MVP trophy, Curry sat quietly on the bench and watched this terrible man take over.

For the Warriors, facing the Thunder is facing Li Liang.

The pain of last year's finals seemed to be still in front of him, and he was crushed by Li Liang alone.

Terrible mid-range jumpers, unreasonable three-pointers, only playoff opponents know best, what Bruce Lee is tough about.

This is a person who is not at all reasonable.

Some of the research and data of the regular season cannot explain his performance in the playoffs and finals.

Therefore, the players of the Warriors are looking forward to this confrontation in their hearts, but they are also faintly afraid.

A strong opponent can arouse an athlete's desire to win and forge ahead.

But an opponent who is too strong will also make people lose the fighting spirit to resist.

Throughout the season, Li Liang gave people the feeling that "I haven't worked hard yet".

His body, which had been strong for a whole circle, seemed to contain a huge amount of energy, and had been accumulating a season of time, just waiting for this moment to explode.

The Warriors are very strong, and their 71 wins are also one of the best super records in NBA history, and they deserve Li Liang's full effort.

……

After the award ceremony, Li Liang sent the trophy back to the locker room, and then the game was about to start.

In this game, Li Liang appeared in the Thunder's starting list.

Just kidding, dignified MVP, what else do you do as a substitute?

Since he got the best sixth man, Li Liang no longer has to pretend to be a substitute.

Li Liang started directly, which was the first time Li Liang started this season except for the first few games.

The feeling of starting is pretty good.

The Warriors' starters are still Bogut, Curry, Green, Thompson plus Barnes.

This stable and strong lineup looks a little unsightly in front of the Thunder.

Green's "Plum Phobia" doesn't know if it's getting better, and if not, the Warriors will have a hard time fighting.

Another issue the Warriors face is Curry's injury problem.

After a sprained ankle in the first round, Curry's injuries were intermittent, like lingering rain, and then stopped.

It's not big when it goes down, but it obviously has an impact on Curry, and when it stops, it's still overcast, and it's always good.

If these two issues are not addressed, the Warriors will have a hard time this series.

At the beginning of the game, in the jump ball, Adams took the lead in dialing the ball, and the ball belonged to the Thunder.

The Western Showdown began.

After Westbrook got the ball for the first goal of the opening game, Green immediately stepped forward to interfere and wanted to cut off Westbrook's ball.

It can be seen that the Warriors are very motivated tonight.

Kerr understands that the Thunder's three strong ball-holding spots on the perimeter will definitely not be able to look if they don't do some work on the defensive end.

Westbrook controlled the ball, and the Thunder's first offense, Adams mentioned high post for Westbrook to block and pick-and-roll.

With the help of cover, Westbrook holds the ball and rushes to the basket!

With lightning momentum, the Warriors immediately shrank their defense, and Westbrook opted for a high-toss pass to Adams, who cut to the basket.

After Adams received the ball, he smashed it with one hand!

Westbrook's ball, one man knocked down two defenders - Green and Thompson.

The Warriors' defensive setup is still the same as in the regular season, with Curry to deal with Robertson.

Thompson defends Westbrook one-on-one.

The Warriors' counterattack came quickly.

Bogut responded with the ball in the high post, and then Curry and Thompson repeatedly cut around the screen.

Thompson made a big circle from the bottom corner, shook off Robertson's defense, cut to the basket to receive a pass from Bogut, and turned a one-handed throw to score two points.

2:2, both sides used good tactical cooperation to score points at the beginning.

But immediately, Durant followed Li Liang's defensive attraction in the high post, found a gap under the basket, passed the ball to Roberson, and Roberson received the ball and made a layup without defense.

The Thunder's spatial pulling ability is no worse than that of the Warriors.

Li Liang's debut allowed the Thunder to play a smooth tactical match at the beginning.

Then, after Curry feints from the outside, he shakes off the defense and stabs a pull-up jump shot that misses.

Adams got the rebound in the backcourt.

On the Thunder's side, Li Liang still didn't take the ball, and the ball was given to Durant.

After conducting the ball twice, give it to Li Liang at 45 degrees on the left side.

Li Liang received the ball and made a three-point shot, but he didn't hit it.

Neither man scored his first goal of the opening game.

Green got the rebound, dribbled and pushed the counterattack, and killed the basket in one go, trying to make Li Liang's foul.

Li Liang didn't want to give him any chance to show himself, and he directly scored a [Death Entanglement] break ball at the beginning.

Green felt that he had no reason to have this ball broken!

He also wanted to have a and one, but as soon as he made a shot, the ball was gone.

wanted to appeal to the referee, but the referee ignored him at all.

Li Liang, who broke the ball successfully, held the ball for half the court.

Green didn't catch up, and Li Liang suddenly accelerated near the three-point line to make a strong basket!

Because Li Liang often chooses to counterattack and direct three-point in the fast break, the Warriors players will stick tightly.

But this time Li Liang did not shoot, but used his strong body to impact the basket.

His speed and explosiveness are not as good as those of a black player like James.

But his strength was quite strong, and he forced a layup directly against Bogut.

The ball didn't go in, but it caused a foul on Bogut.

That's not good news for the Warriors.

Li Liang's [High Difficulty/Dunk] ability value is not high enough, otherwise it will be a 2+1.

Standing on the free throw line, Li Liang hit both free throws to help the Thunder open the game with a 6:2 for the Warriors.

The only team in the league that can press the Warriors to open the game is the Thunder.

Thompson immediately hit a two-point pullup jump shot after providing cover from the outside.

The Thunder also received a pass from Li Liang on Durant's right side and made a mid-range jumper.

The attacks on both sides began to open more and more, and the more they played, the more they entered the rhythm.

But overall, the Thunder got into a fast pace, and the Warriors didn't quite get into their own rhythm — because Curry hadn't scored yet.

Curry was met with a very targeted defense from the Thunder's side.

Westbrook sticks to the defense on the outside, and the three gibbons on the inside will definitely stick over to interfere with the attack.

As long as Green's point is on the outside line, it is basically in a state of being released.

Donovan has been determined, Green is going to shoot with him, and he is determined not to let Curry play the strategy.

Offensively, Green had two big open three-point opportunities, but he didn't shoot and forced a pass to Curry.

Curry made quick three-point shots under close defense, but he didn't hit any of them.

The Thunder seized the opportunity and fought back.

Li Liang turned into a humanoid tank for a while, went down, caught the ball, and attacked the basket.

In the past, when I played some teams, Westbrook alone could run the three-second zone.

To fight the Warriors, the two must work together, and Adams will follow behind.

The score was 14-8, a six-point deficit, and Kerr called a timeout.