Chapter 361: The Unsolved Koala

The Jazz have lost one more game on the road, and the situation is already very bad for them, and once all two away games are GG, the probability of the Spurs advancing to the conference finals will be more than 80%.

The Bulls, who have been favored all the way, did not get a 3-0 score on the road, and the Knicks used meat grinder tactics to get a difficult point from the Bulls, but paid the price of Eulin's injury and Oakley's next game suspension, which is more appropriate to describe them as trapped beasts.

Gorilla Ewing didn't drop too much at the beginning of this season, still averaging 20+10 per game, coupled with strong interior defense, he is still a proper All-Star center.

But in the same trajectory as Olajuwon, the two centre-forwards have only played more than two dozen games before suffering injuries that were nearly season-reimbursed. It is conceivable that the two veterans suffered such serious injuries at the age of 36, and even if their form after their comeback did not plummet, they would definitely not be able to find the same level as before.

The Rockets are the first team to fall out of the top team this year, and the Knicks are about to become the second team to fall out of the powerhouse group.

Although the Bulls lost on the road for a while, but in the next stop, they are likely to face a team without Ewing and Oakley, and the suspense of this group matchup is completely gone.

The pace of the NBA playoffs is very fast, and the schedule of the division semifinals is played every other day in the first four games, and the Bulls are finished with the focus quickly returning to the West.

After sleeping for a while, Zhang Yu had a hunch that today should be another home game, and he even notified reporters in advance to take a shot of himself running in the morning in his villa area, which was 4:44 in the morning.

As expected, it is now May, and the sun has not yet come out at this time, Zhang Yu tripped and almost hit the street while running in the dark morning!

"Los Angeles at 4 a.m. isn't pretty, because it's darkest in the wee hours of the morning before the sun rises. But it is this darkness that reminds me that I must never forget that it is the darkness that makes me shine brightly. ”

Although there were some flaws, Zhang Fu's snackful remarks at the pre-game press conference, coupled with the reporter's report that day and his black report, still allowed Zhang Fu to stabilize the label of diligence and hard work attached to his body.

This is also the label that the NBA has been creating for him, a real genius + hard work, naturally what Zhang Zhu looks like now, who believes who is stupid!

The Clippers are already 0:2 on their side, the first two games were big losses, and today's Clippers are already hanging by a thread, and a group of people have no desire to pretend to be forced.

The few fans of the Clippers even feel that they can score a point against the Lakers like the Knicks today, and not fall into the embarrassment of being swept away, which is already the most decent result.

When it comes to the proportion of fans on both teams, the Clippers players are really a handful of snot and tears.

When Zhang Zhu first came to the Lakers, he saw some media statistics, and half of the media's statistics showed that ninety percent of Los Angeles fans supported the Lakers, even if it was the most favorable statistic for the Clippers, that is, two percent of the support.

Now three years later, Zhang Wei rarely sees this kind of statistics again, and even if O'Neal comes to the Clippers, the ratio will not be lower than 9:1.

After Zhang Mao entered the venue today, he found that there were about seven or eight thousand fans wearing his own jerseys at the scene, plus the fans wearing Lakers jerseys, the total number reached at least 6 percent.

O'Neill's face had become ugly from the moment he entered, because after he was the first to enter, there were only sparse cheers and applause, mixed with some shrill boos and ridicule.

To put it bluntly, this kind of home game is no different, he would rather play away games, at least those boos can stimulate him to play better, and now this state of not being up and down is the most embarrassing.

But this situation was expected by many people before the game, Sterling wanted to rub off on the popularity of the Lakers, but in the end found that even a few of his original fans had defected under the charm of the koala baby, and this old thing had the idea of moving for the first time.

Moving his eyes back to the game, today's Clippers players don't know if they were stimulated, and they played more tenaciously after the opening, and O'Neal used his bully step to vent his frustration after scoring four points in a row.

Not surprisingly, the use of a defensive circumvention on the road is bound to be less effective, and O'Neal can use a lot of foul action that can be judged or not in the process of being in the middle of the position.

Mutombo, however, had to control his movements today, and the referee would not favour one team over the other based on the number of fans, and any team at home would be given a degree of favour.

But what surprised Zhang Qi today was that Kobe Bryant actually went to the basket twice after the opening to complete the offense, and they were all running for a dunk, and he didn't look like he was psychologically shadowed after being blocked by death.

However, courage alone is not enough, Mutombo used a block to make Kobe understand that having a brave heart does not mean that you can succeed, that can only show that your head is very iron, and only strength is the first premise of pretending.

After Zhang Zhu played 6:0 at the beginning of the Clippers, he immediately used a powerful breakthrough to dunk the ball in front of O'Neal, who assisted in the defense, and after landing, the little eyes of the Der Se revealed an obvious meaning: Dead fat, it is to bully your slow pace.

O'Neal and Mutombo's defensive ability is far from the same, but in the past, he could protect the box well by not walking under the basket, and Mutombo could not lure him out of the box, and now it is the three-second rule that has a huge impact on O'Neal's defense.

It's also one of O'Neal's most objectionable rules, as his mobility is not comparable to that of a center like Mutombo, but the old rule allows him to stay in the box to compensate for his lack of mobility, but with the three-second rule, opposition perimeter players can wait for him to move out of the box before attacking.

Zhang took advantage of the time difference, and the Clippers started the game 6-0, but the Lakers did not allow the opponent to shoot a single shot in the next three minutes, and their own three outside players bombarded the Clippers' restricted area.

Again, the Zen Master found that he couldn't handle Zhang Qi with a bag clip, which sometimes might work, but more because Zhang felt that creating opportunities for his teammates in the bag was more efficient, and that didn't mean he couldn't score in the bag.

Today's Zhang Zhu's desire to attack is stronger, which may have something to do with Kobe's head iron, today's little guy is like a paranoid, knowing that he broke through Jones's single defense, he has no spare energy to score points on Mutombo, who assists in defense, but he just wants to blindly attack the basket with head iron.

The Zen master didn't replace Kobe Bryant because he played irrationally, now he hopes that Kobe can be paranoid, Jordan also hit the wall several times before he tempered it, and now Kobe Bryant walks on the same road, which is the tuition that superstars must pay.

Of course, Mutombo doesn't give any face to this, even Jordan doesn't want to dunk on his head, this little guy still wants to turn the sky upside down?

In the first quarter, Mutombo made a total of 4 blocks, 3 of which were given to Kobe Bryant, but this guy was not discouraged at all, and still kept breaking through to find opportunities to score and pass.

This is the reason why the Zen master did not replace Kobe, although his strong attack was blocked several times, but Kobe's breakthrough also attracted Mutombo's attention and created several opportunities for his teammates.

The current Kobe Bryant is limited by experience and passing skills, and he is not able to deliver the basketball to his teammates accurately and in a timely manner for the time being, but this style of play is absolutely correct, and they can't dare to play inside just because Mutombo has defensive dominance under the basket.

The Lakers led the Clippers 24-20 in the first quarter, O'Neal was a little depressed on the defensive end today, and the Lakers players always attacked when he had to leave the restricted area, which looked like a rehearsed routine and made him feel that he couldn't use his strength.

Thankfully, on the offensive end, O'Neal was in good shape today, scoring 14 points on Mutombo's head on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, and the pesky guy was beaten by him late in the first quarter, which was good news for the entire Clippers team.

The Zen master saw an opportunity, and in the second quarter, all the main players except O'Neal stayed on the court, and he wanted to take advantage of Mutombo's absence to find an opportunity to close the gap.

Harris also left with the outside combination of Zhang Zhu + Starks + Jones, and the inside line uses O'Neal Jr. + Mason to increase the offensive firepower, which is a more offensive lineup.

Immediately after the start of the second quarter, Bryant scored points with a pull-up layup.

At this time, even Zhang Qi had to admit that once Mutombo was not there, the Lakers' protection in the restricted area immediately dropped a notch.

But what made the Zen master happy was not this goal, Kobe Bryant was not obsessed with scoring by himself after that, and his breakthroughs were more chosen to pass, which made the Zen master feel better for a minute.

I have to sympathize with the Zen master here, because a minute later, Zhang Yu used his three consecutive three-pointers to make the Zen master's smile more ugly than crying.

Zhang Zhu doesn't want to reason with people again, it doesn't matter if Mutombo is not there, it doesn't matter if O'Neal has another 10 points in this section, and Kobe Bryant's 6 points and 3 assists in this quarter can't affect the overall situation, because our koala baby hit 4 three-pointers in a single quarter, and he scored 22 points alone. Such a brutal performance made the other nine players on the court all spectators, and their presence was worthless, and the Lakers ended the first half 58-48.

This is how superstars dominate the game, regardless of the tactical level, I can just throw the basketball in front of you with all kinds of tricks, I just can cut more points than you, you just can't beat me, just ask you if you're angry?

O'Neal was naturally angry, and he scored 24 points and 5 rebounds in the first half, which was probably his best first half of the playoffs this year. However, these are not worth mentioning at all under Zhang Mao's halftime performance of 33 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and the Clippers can still only end the first half with a 10-point disadvantage.

This kind of game is also the most infuriating, the Zen master thinks that his team has performed very well today, O'Neal is in hot form, even after Mutombo returns to the court, Kobe's breakthrough can attract the defense to divide the ball, but unfortunately these are all floating clouds under Zhang Mao's unreasonable personal ability, and the Clippers' so-called OK combination still can't put the team in the lead position.

If you say, the Lakers won in the first half in Zhang Mao. Then, the Lakers in the second half won in the overall strength.

Eddie Jones' breakthrough in the first half in the face of Kobe Bryant was a little overwhelmed, the genius who beat Starkerhouse at the age of 18 was not in vain, and several heads-up with Jordan on the All-Star also made people see the rise of a new star, and in this game in the face of Kobe's breakthrough, Jones became a little embarrassed.

Of course, it's not a shame to be unable to defend one-on-one, and the really top singles players can't defend alone, but they can play back on the offensive end, and Jones thinks that he should be able to pull one back on the offensive end now.

Well, that's a bit of a high-mindedness, "singles" is the most test of a player's offensive talent, when he left the Clippers, Jones was actually unable to gain the upper hand in one-on-one, and with Kobe's rate of progress, it's not too much of a cheat to complete the overtake now.

Eddie Jones quickly discovered in the second half that he had no advantage in the heads-up with Kobe Bryant, although his speed and explosiveness were not inferior to Kobe, but he was born with narrow shoulders and was not as strong as the 19-year-old Kobe.

This should be the reason why both West and Baylor think that Jones' ceiling will not be too high, and the strength and confrontation ability greatly affect a player's ceiling in the later stages.

Harris quickly saw Jones's embarrassment when he was singled with Kobe, this is really a difference in strength, the 19-year-old Kobe Bryant can actually push Jones to complete a shot or pass, no wonder Jones will be embarrassed against a power guard, this is his weakness.

But it doesn't matter, there are a lot of common cover tactics in the Lakers, and these cover tactics can be used by Zhang Mao, Kidd, and of course by Jones.

Zhang Wei will not let his teammates lose face, since he can't get Kobe Bryant one-on-one, then he is a good man and two gangs, and he is willing to help Jones perform in front of the fans.

Eddie Jones' power isn't good, but his speed and explosiveness are enough to get him to the basket when he gets space, and his exaggerated long-range gliding throw is a great skill for dealing with O'Neal's lack of fast feet, but the problem is how to create space.

Pick-and-roll and positioning are undoubtedly the best way to do this, and when the Lakers' interior players are all double screens in the two low posts, it is all too easy for Eddie Jones to run for opportunities.

Kobe Bryant soon shouted "unfair", why is his singles one-on-one on the outside, even if it is finally killed, and there is a Mutombe under the basket to make up for the defense, but Jones can easily enter the interior with the help of the whole Lakers team?

This frustration finally came out in the last three minutes of the quarter after Jones successfully broke through and scored again and again - when Kobe Bryant was knocked down by Mutombo, who was blocked, he was very unhappy about it, because the former elbowed him, and Peter Pan yelled at the referee: "That old dog elbowed me, are you blind"?

Needless to say, such an arrogant result was, of course, a technical foul, and the referee even wanted to send him off at the time.

The Zen master secretly sighed that Kobe Bryant was still too young, and you shouldn't swear dirty words when scolding, of course you will get a technical foul if you complain like this.

Zhang Wei smiled and hit a free throw, and then broke through the point to assist Jones to hit a three-point shot, and Kobe's mentality was a little bit explosive.

But it doesn't matter, even if it doesn't blow up now, the fourth quarter will inevitably blow up.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers led 86-73, and the 13-point advantage was enough to get them through the fourth quarter safely.

The Zen master already knew that they were hopeless, and the Lakers in the fourth quarter would definitely control the situation with defensive counterattacks, which was their usual trick after taking a double-digit lead.

He guessed correctly, Zhang Zhu's favorite thing is to play defensive counterattacks after taking the lead, after the start of the fourth quarter, he frequently scored through fast breaks, the Lakers' lead soon came to 20+, and the outcome quickly lost suspense, Zhang Zhu went off the court early with 45 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in the last five minutes of the game, which was another typical Koala-style data.

"This game is too fake, every time he gets high scores and high data, how can the Clippers and O'Neal have such a dish, this is obviously a handicap, the league only wants the Lakers to advance."

"An NBA player who doesn't have a girlfriend and doesn't even have an affair must be a!"

"Jordan is the best, spicy chicken koala!"

“……”

Zhang Qi has 60E fans, and there will naturally be no fewer black fans, but now the total score of 3:0 is definitely not deliberately biased by the league, David Stern wants to see the Lakers and the Clippers play a few more games, but O'Neal really can't bring the current Clippers, and Kobe Bryant can't mature enough to join forces with O'Neal to defeat Zhang Qi overnight.

The Lakers' elimination of the Clippers was expected from the start, but another 20-point difference was a bit of a surprise, and the Lakers proved that they are the most favorable contenders for the championship with three consecutive big wins, and the mighty Clippers will have a hard time winning in the playoffs.

At this time, people remembered the Lakers' championship process last season, when except for the Rockets who won a victory at home, even the Bulls failed to steal a victory from the Lakers.

So the question is, has there been an undefeated team in history to win the championship?

Well, not really.

In addition to the Lakers' 15-1 championship last season, only the Lakers in 1989 swept all four rounds of the record is unbeatable, but unfortunately they were swept in the Finals, but this is also unprecedented.

"Win all?" When Zhang Qi was asked this question after the game, he said with a smile: "I still hope to win the championship first, and undefeated will not become my pursuit until after three consecutive championships, so let's win three consecutive championships for the time being." ”

Of course, there is no news point in such an answer, and there is nothing wrong with Zhang Fu now adjusting his goal to three consecutive championships, and it can even be said to be very low-key, you must know that the longest coherent in history is eight consecutive championships, Zhang Zhu did not take this as a goal, of course, it is low-key.

The Zen master admitted after the game that he couldn't find a way to limit Zhang Zhu, and the fundamental reason for the Lakers' three consecutive big wins over the Clippers was Zhang Zhu's incomprehension, in the 6 playoffs that have been carried out, the Lakers have hardly undergone any tests, every game has been played smoothly, and has been firmly grasping the initiative of the game, the team's star Zhang Zhu is also in great shape, and each game has handed over 40+ or quasi-triple-double data, under the leadership of Zhang Zhu, the Lakers have three military lives, and each player can play a good role, So naturally the team is very strong.

But if you want to ask how to limit Zhang Qi, the Zen master said that he has no way for the time being, so the Lakers have become the only team undefeated in the playoffs so far.

Western Conference - Lakers (3) VS (0) Clippers; Jazz (1) VS (2) Spurs.

Eastern Conference - Bulls (2) VS (1) Knicks; Heat (2) VS (1) Pacers.