Link's and Conley's bag worked, and the Grizzlies' first defense left Lillard in a big way.

As it turned out, the Grizzlies' defensive strategy was correct. They forced Lillard into a defensive trap, and Link was on the outside and would decisively wrap Lillard in the box.

In doing so, Link, as a No. 4 position, is equivalent to giving up the scramble for defensive rebounds and giving up the tight defense of Aldridge. But as a result, Lillard has to get past Link's fingers every time he attacks.

In such a situation, combined with Gasol's help defense and rebounding control on the inside, it can play a perfect effect.

The successful defense in the first round just now is proof of that.

Such a strategy is the right medicine in itself, not to mention that Link is also one of the best defensive players in the league. You can even remove one of them.

Although Link's Defensive Player of the Year award this year is a bit dangerous, it doesn't mean that Link's defensive ability has declined. On the contrary, he defended just as well as he did last season.

In addition to averaging 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game, Link also limited opponents to just 43.5 percent shooting.

Among them, 49.5% of the reasonable collision zone was suppressed, 35% was suppressed from the middle distance, and 29% was suppressed from outside the three-point line.

In addition, in addition to tackling opponents head-on and cutting off the opponent's passing route this season, Link has also used his light-speed reaction to complete steals many times at the moment of the opposing pass.

Link's defensive deterrence at this time is the same as the deterrent effect of Gobert, Jordan Jr. and others to players who are about to enter the penalty area.

As soon as he stood at the top of the arc, his center of gravity was pressed, and his long arm could form an invisible aura. Just like Pippen back then, one person is an army, and one person is the whole audience.

In addition to one-on-one single defense, Link also does a very good job of helping to defend and compress space. He's always in the right place at the right time, and on how many occasions this season the attacking players thought he had managed to break through the defence, only to end up waiting for not a goal, but a big risk or a steal from Link.

The most important thing is that Link is still averaging only 1.8 fouls per game this season! This point is completely incomparable to Beverley, Green and others. He often doesn't need to foul to prevent opponents from scoring.

In the words of Chinese fans, "Link's defense will make you feel like you have been forced X and the opponent has not broken the law." ”

That's Link, and his defensive water is undoubtedly the best of the league's. Indeed, the Spurs' "facial palsy" was good enough, and his turnout was only less than two percentage points lower than Link's.

But this does not mean that Link's defensive ability has degraded, at most it can only be said that the media is a little aesthetically tired of Link, who has won the award, and wants to see a newcomer win the award. As a result, it still didn't work out.

The perfect strategy, paired with the league's best defensive players, was enough for Lillard to be kept in check.

And that round just now, as Link said, was just the beginning!

The Trail Blazers attacked for the second time, and this time, Lillard didn't continue to call Aldridge to block and pick-and-roll, he wanted to break through on his own.

But Conley's defense is not vegetarian either, and his biggest characteristic is that he doesn't make mistakes.

Therefore, it is not an easy task to crush Conley in a 1-on-1 match. You may not get tackled or blocked, but you can't find space in Conley either.

Moreover, Link is also keeping an eye on Lillard's movements all the time. Although he didn't directly cover it, he always gave Lillard the feeling that Link was everywhere and it was better not to act rashly.

Eventually, Lillard passed the ball to his French teammate Nicolas who was ambushed in the bottom corner without completely getting rid of the defense. Batum.

Batum has been doing well in the playoffs, with all stats being better than in the regular season.

But in the face of Tobias, who has a more dominant height advantage. Harris, Batum's shot was not so easy.

As soon as he jumped to make a shot, Harris raised his arm high to block it, so that the Frenchman could not find the direction of the basket.

Batum shot 33 percent from three-point range in the playoffs, but he wasn't accurate enough to shoot defense-up.

Just like that, Batum's shot hit the left side of the basket, and the Trail Blazers' offense failed again!

Since the start of the game, the Trail Blazers have missed two consecutive rounds of offense. Their magical aura seems to have been taken off by a grizzly bear.

Link and Conley worked together to create an impregnable wall that caused Lillard to hit his head and bleed.

Defensive efficiency has gone up, and the Grizzlies' offense isn't ambiguous.

Link used his speed advantage to cut into the box empty-handed, and Gasol responded with his back to the mid-range, hitting the ground and passing, allowing Link to receive the basketball.

At this time, Lopez was pulled to the middle distance by Gasol, Aldridge was directly pulled outside the three-point line by Harris, Batum couldn't catch up with Link, and the Trail Blazers' restricted area was directly open.

Easily, Link made a layup to complete the offense.

With three hits and five divided by two, the Grizzlies cut the Trail Blazers' defense.

On the sidelines, Trail Blazers coach Terry Brown. Stotts instantly became nervous.

After just two back-and-forths, Stotts already realized that the Grizzlies and their last opponent, the Clippers, were not opponents at the same level at all!

Now, Stotts can only count on Lillard to break the deadlock.

Lillard did dare to fight, and under the targeted defense of the Grizzlies, Lillard was not timid, but took the initiative to strengthen his aggression and become more heroic and fearless.

This time, Lillard chose to force his way through the defense. After borrowing cover, before Conley could catch up, Lillard immediately accelerated and challenged Link directly!

I have to say that Lillard's first step was also very fast. Not to mention forwards, even many small guards can't stand Lillard's toss.

But if he's up against a striker who has won the best defensive player, that's a different story.

Link's traverse speed and reaction speed are fast, and every summer Link will play Lillard in training camp, and he has long been accustomed to Lillard's speed.

Therefore, he blocked Lillard's breakthrough route in the first place!

Lillard was blocked by the strong Link like this, and it instantly became difficult.

But he still didn't give up, but forced himself to the basket and forced a layup without completely getting rid of Link!

In the last round against the Clippers, even if he didn't score with this trick, there was a high probability that he could get a foul from Jordan Jr. and Paul.

At the Federal Express Arena, however, Link wasn't used to this kind of behavior.

Lillard's feet had just left the ground, and before he could send the ball to the basket, Link waved his long arm and with a "bang", he directly fanned the basketball in Lillard's hand out of the bottom line.

"Damn!" Lillard's heart began to waver a little, and he was extremely resolute at this time, and he was also beaten by Link at this time.

After successfully blocking, Link spread his hands at Lillard with a "I didn't mean to" expression.

"As I said, that's just the beginning. Keep suffering, Damien. ”

Cover plus trash talk, there's nothing like that to break the hearts of your enemies.

Lillard didn't respond, calmly preparing to receive an out-of-bounds serve. But everyone could tell that Lillard was just trying to look calm.

After the throw-in was sent, Lillard chose to give the ball to Aldridge.

However, Aldridge's shot was heavily interfered with by Gasol, and the Spaniard is also at the level of the best defensive player. Handing over the inside line to him, Link was very relieved.

Mark. Gasol is the capital that Link dares to wrap up decisively.

The Trail Blazers missed their third straight offensive run, and they were completely eaten by the Grizzlies.

The rest of the game was simply Lillard's big rollover scene.

Passing errors, strong throws, and punching the frame......

The prestige and fame that Lillard had built up on Paul in the last series is now all lost at the Federal Express Arena, at the hands of Link and Conley.

Wherever Lillard goes, Link's long arms will be waiting for him. So much so that Lillard began to panic as soon as he saw Link later......

After Lillard was restrained, the Trail Blazers' offense became monotonous. Rad tried his best to turn the tide, but he was a little too reckless and had little effect.

Lillard began to pant and began to have a heartbeat, and began to ...... Start getting scared!

He thought there was nothing harder than being 3-1 down, and he thought he had gone through real hell.

However, Link didn't lie to him, here, Memphis, Federal Express Arena, is what hell really looks like!

The further the game went, the more Lillard struggled, and the margin between the two sides widened.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the on-site photographer gave Lillard a close-up of his face.

Unlike in the past, which was always full of fighting spirit, today, Lillard's face showed only helplessness and powerlessness.

This seemingly unbeatable fighter is already on the verge of collapse.