Jordan Jr. was starting to get a little nervous, and while the Clippers still led by one point, the Grizzlies seemed to be getting into the rhythm. The Grizzlies started scoring back-to-back points, which was a red flag for the Clippers.

The reverse high and low positions of Link and Gasol Jr. left the Clippers at a loss, and they could either put Gasol Jr. to shoot or have Link and Matt Barnes one-on-one, just for those two options.

However, in just a few rounds, no matter what the Clippers choose, their defense is in jeopardy.

Off the court, Clippers coach Vene Nagro panicked. In his plan, if the Clippers can seize the opportunity to widen the margin to double digits, then the initiative of the game is in the hands of the Clippers.

But he didn't expect that this 7-point advantage would be so useless. Link and Gasol simply beat the Clippers to the ground with a single high and low position.

Now the Clippers' offensive efficiency is not necessarily higher than that of the Grizzlies, and Link's threat in the low post is just too great. Unless you let a real No. 4 defend Link, you can only watch Link tumble in the low post.

And the Clippers need to add firepower now, and Billups can't help Paul share the scoring load with the Grizzlies' tight defense. The Grizzlies are accustomed to using tight defense to create counter-attack opportunities, and the Clippers have a way to make the Grizzlies' counterattack unable to play by scoring goals.

De Nagro then turned his head to look at the bench, and in a few more rounds, he was about to start adjusting the lineup.

This year marks De Nagro's last year with the Clippers. Until now, the Clippers have not mentioned a contract extension. He knew very well that the Clippers were going to make a decision after watching his performance in the playoffs.

In other words, this round of the series will be directly related to De Nagro's job, and he will not throw in the towel easily.

Thinking about it, the first quarter of the game was already halfway through. Under the threat of Link and Gasol Jr., the Clippers' defense was at odds. The Grizzlies have gone from trailing by seven points to leading by five points.

When Link's third turnaround jumper finally hit the iron and the Clippers got the ball, De Nagro couldn't help but call a timeout.

You can't go into the second quarter with a disadvantage, you have to keep the Grizzlies under pressure at all times!

One by one, the Clippers players reluctantly walked off the court, and Paul even slapped the bench the bench, which shows how aggrieved he was just playing.

"Don't be discouraged, the first quarter of the game is not over, are you going to give up? If you give up, will you be able to come back from 2-0 down? We've all survived such a big difficulty, and now it's just 5 points behind to get out, how can we give up so easily!? De Nagro poured a bowl of chicken soup into the players, knowing that if the players themselves had no intention of fighting, then no amount of clever tactics would be in vain.

"Listen, we need to make some adjustments. Jamal, you replace Chaunsibilups. Butler, you take the place of Barnes. Defensively, if Link sits in the low post, Blake, you go defend him! If Link goes beyond the three-point line, you'll switch defenses with Butler quickly! ”

Denagro said as he wrote and drew on the tactical board. Of course, the main purpose of his pause this time is not to defend, but to attack!

"Hit me aggressively on the offensive end, don't float all the way to the perimeter! Blake, I support you in developing mid-range shooting, but you can't dodge and play all the time in mid-range. You're a strong power forward, give me a bang to the basket, give me a shot to the basket! Although the black and white bears are not as good as Link's data, you can see how strong their containment is. It's fair to say that a lot of the Grizzlies' tactics don't revolve around Link, but around the black and white bears. ”

Speaking of which, the pause time ends. De Nagro didn't add anything more, but made a neck wiping gesture at the players.

In an instant, the Clippers players understood. Create kills, force black and white bears to foul, as a way to force them down, understand!

"The Clippers made a substitution, and the Clippers' super sixth man, Jamal Crawford, came on. At the same time, Caron Butler also replaced Barnes. It seems that the Clippers are trying to use the way of wheel warfare to slowly grind with Link. On the Grizzlies' side, they are still full starters and have no substitutions. ”

Barkley interpreted the lineups of the two sides, and the Clippers were very targeted, obviously to strengthen the offense.

Link doesn't care who his opponent is, whether it's Barnes or Butler. Both guys are ruthless, and Butler even has a gangster background. But on the basketball court, it's only strength that can decide the direction of things.

Link stayed in front of Butler, diligent, and relentless. Butler's three-point shooting percentage this season is close to 40, and letting him shoot is tantamount to suicide.

Just as Link followed Butler to the bottom right corner, a shrill whistle suddenly sounded.

Link looked back in surprise to find Crawford sitting on the floor, and in front of the referee, there was an innocent Randolph with his hands outstretched.

"Jamal Crawford broke through very quickly, and Iguodala seemed to struggle a little bit to keep up. Crawford's ability to get rid of the defense is still very strong, and he can see the stitches when there is a gap! "When Kenny Smith saw Crawford playing, he knew the kid wasn't going to do nothing.

The sixth person must have the characteristics of the sixth person, and show his own characteristics in a limited time, which is the value of the sixth person. And Crawford's value lies in scoring.

Crawford stepped to the free-throw line, and while Grizzlies fans tried to interfere, to no avail. As a veteran fritter who has been in the league for 13 years, Crawford doesn't care about these voices.

After two free throws, the Clippers narrowed the deficit to three points. The most distressing thing is that Randolph was saddled with a foul because of this.

At first, Grizzly didn't pay much attention to it. For Jamal Crawford's offensive power, the Grizzlies team has long been mentally prepared.

But when Crawford drew a foul on Randolph for the second leg in a row, everyone began to realize that something was wrong.

The Clippers are deliberately lethal!

"Another foul, Jamal Crawford is too fast, Iguodala is not suitable for defending such a player. He might be able to defend James, he might be able to defend Kobe. But this type, Iguodala can't keep up at all! Once Crawford broke through Iguodala, Randolph simply didn't have time to react. ”

Barkley pouted, and the Clippers were firm. When everyone thought the Grizzlies were going to slowly pull away at their own pace, the Clippers stopped the bleeding in time.

No wonder they were able to come back from 2-0 down to win.

Randolph is also helpless, he is not a defensive gate, he is more offensive than Gasol. And dealing with this kind of defender who is known for his speed is precisely his shortcoming. But Crawford was about to rush at him.

No matter how angry Randolph was, he eventually accepted being substituted.

Darrell Arthur came into battle and saw the No. 00 who had undergone a ruptured Achilles tendon appear, and Griffin's eyes lit up!

Leeks are coming!

Crawford continued to make free throws, although his shooting was inconsistent in the athletic battle and he was a nerve knife. But when it comes to free throws, Crawford has always been among the best in the league. Last season with the Trail Blazers, Crawford shot a whopping 927 from the free-throw line.

Although it has declined this season, the free throw percentage of 71 is not low.

Two shots, two points. The Clippers narrowed the deficit to one point, and Randolph was barred from sitting on the sidelines with two fouls.

The Clippers got up in the spurt and they weren't crushed by back-to-back goals from Link and Gasol!

After that, the two sides entered the grappling of "you punch me, I kick you".

Blake Griffin, who was almost invisible at first, stepped up, and on the offensive end, his athleticism was enough to crush Arthur.

Arthur was also an athlete before, but after experiencing an Achilles tendon rupture, few athletes can return to the level they were before the injury, and Arthur is no exception.

Against Griffin, whether it's speed, confrontation or bounce, he's an all-round underdog.

Griffin also complied with De Nagro's arrangement, and instead of continuing to float in the mid-range shot, he bravely attacked the basket.

Gasol made a few stop-up attempts, but it didn't work well and was fouled by Griffin. With Randolph already protected for two fouls, Gasol's defense has become hesitant and timid.

Defensively, Griffin was on the low post and on the Link bar.

While Griffin's defensive prowess isn't top-notch, the power and tonnage are there. Link wants to play Griffin on his back, but it's much harder than Barnes.

And now that Randolph is off, Arthur has no advantage over Barnes! Even if Link passes the ball, he can't cause misalignment.

With just one substitution, the Grizzlies' reverse highs and lows became less playable.

Therefore, every starter is extremely important to a team, and it affects the whole body.

In basketball, there are five people on the court on a team. As a result, the impact of a single player on the situation of the game is huge. In this regard, basketball and football are fundamentally different.

The fewer athletes involved, the greater the impact of individual players on the situation.

In the eighth minute of the first quarter, Blake Griffin continued to attack, and also caused Gasol's second foul in the first quarter!

Although even if Griffin made two free throws, it could only be an equalizer. But Grizzlies fans are still covering their heads with their hands in frustration, and both the black and white bears are troubled by fouls, which is undoubtedly a huge blow to the Grizzlies.

In the end, the Grizzlies had to put the interior combination of Azeli + Arthur on the court. The Grizzlies' strategy is that, for the most part, the Black and White Bears will have at least one on the court, rarely having Arthur and Azeli play at the same time.

It's not that these two guys are completely unusable, but one has greatly regressed in ability, and the other is just a rookie, and it is still unsafe after all.

But now, the grizzly bear can't do it if he doesn't want to.

The Clippers then stormed the interior, and De Nagro even let Lamar Odom come up and play, and that guy really scored!

In the end, after the first quarter, the Clippers tied the score at 27-25 and entered the second quarter with a two-point advantage.

Griffin and Crawford became key figures in the Clippers' first quarter, and the offense of these two guys allowed the Clippers to resurface forcefully as they were about to fall overboard.

And Randolph and Gasol's foul troubles could last the whole game. At the end of the first quarter, the black and white bears were not completely reassured.

Link thought that when he and Gasol played a superb match, the Clippers would have little confidence to resist.

But as he thought before, this round of the Western Conference semifinals may be more difficult than expected.