As the Lakers left Los Angeles, the Magic watched the smaller and smaller cities on the ground from the plane, remembering the 1988 parade with a lot of energy. The championship trophy at the time reflected James Worthy, Byron Scott, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and his smiling face.

In the blink of an eye, his old friends were gone......

Fortunately, the Lakers have become brilliant again, and it seems that the time has come again to consider a championship. At least the Finals are just around the corner, and as long as they can win in Salt Lake City, their goal of returning to the Finals after six years will become a reality.

After the Lakers come to Salt Lake City, they will have to spend the night in this hostile city, and the third game will start tomorrow night.

At the moment, no one has a better say in the direction of the best-of-seven series than Magic, because he has the most playoff games among active NBA players, and Jordan is not as good as Magic in this regard.

"The key reason for the third game is that if the score is 3-0, the Jazz will doubt their strength, lose their fighting spirit, and have fear in their hearts. And when the score becomes 2:1, anything can happen. ”

The Magic's answer was a bit coping, but when the media interviewed the Lakers' pre-game shooting practice, they found two frames hanging on the loaned court, with photos in Chinese and English, written with a quote from American journalist and photographer Jagbu Rhys a century ago - "When everything seemed powerless, I thought of a stonemason who chiseled the rock a hundred times without causing any cracks in the rock, but probably split the rock in half at the 101st time." I knew it wasn't the effect of the 101st chisele, but the result of previous efforts. ”

This sentence is similar to Zhang Mao's previous pretending to be forced, one role is to warn himself, and the other role is to motivate himself, after all, they are also about to reach the harvest season, and the six years of dormancy are for today's outbreak.

And before the game, in the Lakers' locker room, Harris wrote offensive and defensive requirements all over the board.

Today, while the Lakers continue to emphasize "running", Harris also told players to play "smart", and when they are in an advantage or against the trend, they need to play smart.

In this regard, Zhang Mao, Kidd, Mutombo, Mason can do it, and even Starks can now stabilize and play with his brain.

Such a Laker can definitely play smarter than the Jazz, as long as the opponent is impatient and negative first, it is really foolproof.

Harris entrusted Kidd with a heavy responsibility before the game today, and he knows that Stockton's form will inevitably drop after the last big outburst, and although Kidd may not be able to prevent it, but the "offense" is definitely no problem.

Therefore, Kidd took on more offensive tasks today, and Harris asked him to use the offense to blow up Stockton, which has the best effect of attacking instead of defending, and at worst, it will blow each other up!

Zhang continued to play without the ball in the first half and took over the rhythm of the game in the second half, and now he is the only privileged man who can play in two ways in one game.

The Lakers have entered a virtuous circle, Harris has too many ways to play cards in his head, and now they have a sense of how they play, and they have an advantage in how they play.

The Jazz are the opposite, whether it is an external interview before the game or a tactical lesson within the team, they have repeatedly emphasized only the spirit of fighting spirit and the desire to win.

There is no way, no matter how high Sloan's tactical level is, he can't come up with any way to solve the current predicament, and can only expect the players to bring miracles to the team.

This completely different situation, acting on the game, the suspense of the ending is naturally not high.

The Lakers' advantage + caution, as well as the spiritual effectiveness of those rumors and proverbs, were clearly revealed from the beginning of the third game, but the Jazz couldn't play the momentum of breaking the cauldron at all, and it was the Lakers who were fighting away from home......

Today is the third game of life and death for the Jazz, no matter how solemn they are, and no matter how terrifying the home atmosphere they created before the game, but at the moment they are not confident enough, and it is the home team that is hesitant and even fearful.

The starters of both sides are no different from the first two games, one of the two teams is not necessary to change the lineup, and the other is no card to change, so they can only play like this.

For the third time in this series, Mutombo jumped over Ostertag in the opening jump ball and dialed the jump ball into Zhang Fu's hands, and then everything seemed to be directed in advance, and before the Jazz could react, Zhang Fu had already sent the ball to the basket through a layup, just five seconds from the opening.

Sloan felt that this one goal alone set the end of the game, and he sighed after the game: "You might say that we should have expected Lyon to get the jump ball, because the Lakers have won the jump ball twice, but we just didn't think about it at the time, it was like being controlled by magic to think and not be able to predict the game normally." ”

Zhang Zhu gave the Jazz a dismissal at the beginning, he simply ignored the so-called devil's home court, no matter how the home fans attacked him personally, these could not affect his competitive state, but would make his state even better.

That's the buff that comes with Legends - what does it cost me to be angry? You've got to be a bit pushy, never provoke me!

Jazz fans obviously did not force the number, the only thing the local media pinned on before the game was the advantage of the devil's home court, so these fans brought in a bunch of ugly Chinese portraits and slogans, and spared no effort to come up with countless vicious discriminatory words during the game, in an attempt to interfere with Zhang Fu's state, so that they had a chance to win back a city at home.

But the tragic thing is that this kind of interference can obviously only add fuel to the fire, Zhang Yu will not let his anger affect him, that thing will only become a catalyst for him to be in a better state, but there are so many people who have not forced the number to think that this method is feasible.

CCTV will be the most embarrassing, because once the camera is pointed at the fans, countless emulsified slogans can be found. Once the background sound is turned on, you can hear the emulsifying curses from the home fans. Especially after Zhang Zhu's three shots and three hits in the first half of the first quarter, even if he didn't take the initiative to push the live sound, as long as the Chinese fans turned on the TV louder, they could hear a lot of unbearable vulgar words, which were all emulsified.

Naturally, the Chinese fans were filled with righteous indignation, but as Zhang began to put on a crazy face-slapping performance, the anger gradually turned into a happy ......

Chinese fans are getting more and more refreshed, what is more refreshing than watching you dance and curse with red ears on your face, but at the same time you show that you are helpless against me?

The Lakers gave the Jazz a 9:4 dismissal at the beginning, and Kidd, who has always been labeled as a "defensive" and "traditional point guard" in the eyes of fans, also shot the first three-pointer of the two teams today, helping the Lakers lead by as many as 5 points!

Lao Huo was in excellent form today, and immediately made a three-point shot from outside the 24-foot stadium, but Stockton was in a slump today, scoring a point in the opening five minutes, not giving an assist, and making two rare mistakes in the past.

This situation is a bit difficult to understand, but fans who often watch the game know that veterans are prone to a slump immediately after an outburst, but they can also break out quickly after a slump, but it is extremely rare to want him to maintain a steady outburst or slump. Even Stockton, who is known for its stability in history, inevitably falls into this convention at this age.

With 5 minutes and 24 seconds left in the first quarter, Kidd successfully steals Stockton, and Zhang Yu counterattacks and dunks, and the Lakers lead by 9 points at 20:11, which is already the 10th point Zhang has scored.

The Jazz have been unable to close the gap since then, and in the last 22 seconds of the first quarter, Zhang Yu burst to the basket for a layup to add two more points, and the Lakers led by 11 points at 35:22, which is another rhythm to burst the Jazz.

Zhang Qi had already scored his 15th point at this time, and most of them scored without the ball, and there was only one single in the first quarter.

Kidd's brilliance was naturally overshadowed by the more dazzling Zhang, but in fact he also scored 10 points in the first quarter, and the two combined to contribute 25 points, and the Lakers ended the first quarter with an 11-point lead over the Jazz at 35-24.

The Jazz fans at home were still noisy, but they were visibly angry......

Zhang Qi in the home atmosphere that these fans thought was huge, actually played a terrifying efficiency of 8 shots and 6 in the first quarter, contributing 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in a single quarter, this performance is the best slap in the face, at this moment many Jazz fans are like a slap in the face, hot pain!

In the second quarter, the ghost knows what the coaches of the two teams did off the court, but the shooting percentage of both sides has dropped significantly, especially the Jazz team only hit 2 goals in 10 shots in 5 minutes, although the Lakers also hit iron continuously, but they have an invincible handsome ratio, and they still score through counterattacks at critical moments, and the Lakers slowly opened the difference to more than 15 points.

Kidd, Harris's pre-game protagonist, seems to be unworthy today, even if he managed to make Stockton have four turnovers in the first half, and only 2 points and 2 assists in the account, this kind of performance exceeded everyone's expectations, including his own, but still could not break through the brilliance of Zhang Yi and enter everyone's eyes.

With 2 minutes and 15 seconds left in the second quarter, Zhang Fu, who had been lying on the court, scored two points through a counterattack layup, which completely rewrote the score to 52:35. Just 7 seconds later, Kidd successfully stealed Malone and countered for a layup to add two more points.

The Jazz were now trailing by 19 points, and Sloan immediately called a timeout and continued to throe.

But Stockton, one of the two in a slump today, seems to be back to last year's division finals when he was dominated by Payton, and today he is playing like the first three games of last year's Western Conference finals.

The overall strength of the Jazz is already at a disadvantage, as long as one person is not in the state, then the Jazz will definitely not be able to win the game, and Lao Huo will not be able to break out again.

After the timeout, the Jazz really did not improve, and the Lakers relied on quick counterattacks to keep attacking the Jazz's defense, a large number of free throws and layups, and finally ended the first half with a 58:39 lead of 19 points!

Jazz fans are a little unable to shout at the moment, Zhang Mao shot 10 of 17 in the first half, 7 of 7 free throws, and scored a first-half high 29 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and Kidd also had 18 points and 7 assists.

Looking at the home team, Stockton only has 4 points and 2 assists, which is not like the statistics played by the all-time No. 1 assist king. Malone's performance of 16 points and 8 rebounds couldn't save anything for the Jazz, and Lao Huo's 12 points didn't play a decisive role.

At this moment, anyone with a discerning eye knows that the Jazz's exit is inevitable, and they can only hand over such an answer in their so-called devil's home court, do they still expect to win 4 cities in a row, reverse the Lakers and advance?

This possibility no longer exists......

After the start of the third quarter, the two sides fell into the stalemate that the Lakers wanted, and the home team could only rely on a certain home whistle to survive, but the Lakers' counterattack was too sharp, depressed, and the brain became less flexible.

What made the Jazz even more uncomfortable was that Zhang Fu began to strengthen the frequency of singles in the third quarter, and the Lakers' fast attack, counterattack, and singles ...... These continuous offenses made the Jazz players more and more sluggish, the encouragement of the home fans had no effect at all, and the point difference began to break through 20+, moving towards a higher goal!

After the third quarter, Zhang Yu finally sat down on the court this time, and he felt that he really didn't need to play again this time.

With a score of 87:65, the Lakers led the Jazz by 22 points in the third quarter, how can such an advantage be reversed?

Zhang really didn't play again this time, Kidd and Starks not only withstood the Jazz's crazy comeback in the fourth quarter, but also extended the advantage to 24 points at the highest, and it was useless to let Sloan call a timeout.

Until there were 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the difference between the two teams remained at 20 points, Harris waved his hand to let Zhang Mao, who was warming up on the sidelines, come back, and the home fans began to leave, this time it was really stable.

With a final score of 118-91, the Lakers defeated the Jazz on the road by 27 points, and got the best score for them - a 3-0 lead.

After the game, the Jazz players at home exited faster than the Lakers, and they could already think about where to go on vacation in the summer.

In the division finals of the NBA playoffs, not to mention falling behind 0:3, there is not even a team that has turned the tables around after falling behind 0:2. Before Memorial Day in the United States, the Jazz could have been swept 4-0 on their home court, and as it stands, it's all too likely.

"Sweep", after Zhang Qi heard this word after the game, his smiling face suddenly appeared, and now he finally didn't have to be too cautious, because the Jazz had already collapsed first.

Zhang Mao only played three quarters today, but he scored an astonishing 42 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, only to see him wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead, and said in a straight voice: "Sweep, of course, if you can, sweep is of course the result we want." Moreover, I also believe that we have the strength. So we can rest longer and it's very good for us for the rest of the game. ”

Although the Lakers didn't dare to express the 3-0 result directly before the end of tonight's game, when the result was in sight, they began to expect more.

Kidd, who also played well today, scoring 30 points and 14 assists, said after the game: "I never thought that the division finals would play like this, that it would play like this. There was some luck in taking a 3-0 lead, but now that we have a result, why don't we go for a better result? We'll continue to concentrate and then carefully win the fourth race and step into the finals. ”

Harris also showed a smile after the game, although the Lakers' defense has always been not as famous as their own offense, but the Jazz's famous blocking and dismantling has done nothing under the Lakers' defense this time.

The Lakers' lead in these three games ran from the beginning to the end of the game, and Harris said with some pride after the game, "Playing a team like the Jazz, can you maintain the lead from start to finish, can you not be proud?" But for the opposing coach, it's a nightmare. ”

However, as a coach, Harris still avoided the word "sweep" despite the joy in his heart, saying: "I don't have 4-0 in my head, I just know that the next Jazz team will probably be better than now, and it would be better to be more cautious." ”

If at this time, Sloan would approve of Harris or something, I'm afraid this is it, and he is also adamant that such a thing as "sweeping" will not happen in Salt Lake City.

Poor Sloan frowned slightly when he heard the word "sweep" come up with the word "sweep" after the game, gritted his teeth and said: "In my team, no one will give up, nothing is over yet, and when we come here again in the next game, we will use all our strength." No one wants to be swept away, it's not a decent word, it's like that for losers. ”

However, there have been too many such things in history, and when a team is down 3-0, "negativity" becomes the deadliest chronic poison that can wipe out the spirit of a team.

This is also the reason why even Zhang Fu, who has always been cautious, feels that the Jazz have no chance to turn over, and this kind of "negativity" is even more terrible than the carelessness of the Lakers players.

Magicians believe that "sweep" is just a better term, and that the difference between 4:0 and 4:1 is really not much for the winners. However, if the Lakers can win the next game, it means they can get four to eight days of rest, which will be a long enough time to change a lot.

"It's really long, I've been through this, this time can help you, it can also hurt you, there are pros and cons, it's all up to you, it's a problem. However, we are happy to face such problems because we do want to sweep. ”

Compared with the optimism of the Lakers, the Jazz are naturally gloomy, and the air in the home team's locker room and the press conference is about to write the word "miserable".

Stockton was depressed after the game, saying, "I really don't know how I can play more," and for the first time since he joined the Jazz, people heard him say something like helplessness, "I've really played at the best level of my career, so I don't know what else I'm going to do next, but the team is on the edge of a cliff right now." ”

If you look at it with a critical eye, the Jazz's loss in Game 3 can be "attributed" to Stockton, because Stockton, as a playmaker, actually dropped to a pitiful 4 assists and scored only 8 points.

Sloan could only stare at Stockton again and again in distress and depression, in addition to the dismal scoring and assists, Stockton's 7 turnovers could almost label him as a "between".

Jazz fans certainly don't blame Stockton, and neither do Jazz players, and Malone even jumped out of desperation with a big truth: "Stockton can't be Superman every game, and letting him score 30 points means we're incompetent." ”

But what's worse is that now that the Jazz want to win a victory, they may really need Stockton to transform into Superman again, and the other two elders also have to change together.

Sloane didn't have hope for Stockton's transformation, there was always a Kidd or Starks dangling in front of him, and even if Stockton was really an iron man, there were times when he couldn't breathe.

Especially Kidd, he is more than ten years younger than Stockton, although he is inexperienced, but Harris has come up with the trick of "fighting poison with poison", this game desperately let Kidd carry out individual attacks, and the Jazz can't come up with any replacement for the misplaced defense, so Stockton can only follow the stupid run to consume physical strength, and the result is that even the offensive end collapsed.

What's worse is that there is a Starks next to Kidd who can play a wheel battle at any time, but Sloan has now lost trust in the team's benches, and the opponent's rotation has made Stockton inevitably messed up, and now the Jazz even the only one who can rely on the two elders of Xuan Ming has been limited to one, what else does the Jazz have to rely on to turn the tables? .