Chapter 211: The Western Decision
"Why? Why do you want to spread it! Phil Jackson shouted as his eyes fell on O'Neal.
Bryant was on the sidelines on his knees, looked up at the cheering Warriors fans in all directions, and turned his head into the players' tunnel. O'Neal, who was celebrating in the crowd on the field, looked at Kobe Bryant in the player tunnel, and an inexplicable smile appeared on his face.
O'Neal played 32 minutes, scored 21 points, 9 rebounds and 1 block, one of which saved the Warriors, and Li Zhi scored 29 points, not scoring much, but staged a big comeback in the fourth quarter. Crawford retired injured in the fourth quarter and scored 28 points in 28 minutes.
Kobe Bryant played almost the whole game, played 45 minutes, broke his personal playoff scoring record, and scored 53 points, 11 rebounds, 23 assists and 3 steals.
Before the playoffs began, no one expected the Lakers, the favorites to win the championship, to say goodbye to the playoffs in such a way. Losing Gasol, they were completely suppressed by the Warriors, and Bryant won the stats but lost the game.
At the press conference, the Lakers coach and players left after a few casual words, and Jackson said that the Lakers lost to Gasol's injury, and his absence due to injury had a huge impact on the Lakers. Without Gasol, the Lakers have one less singles point on the court, and they have lost the Lakers' powerful response weapon.
The Warriors were interviewed, and everyone was extremely excited, and before the series began, no one in the Warriors could have imagined that they would be able to win against the Lakers, who were aiming to win the championship. Now everyone is optimistic about the Warriors' series journey, their next opponent is the Rockets without Yao Ming, without Maddy, and the loss of Yao Ming, the current Rockets are a civilian team.
The series was dramatic, and the reporter naturally talked about Vujacic's foul. "I didn't expect them to do this kind of thing, really, it's too LO, this is a basketball court, not a gangster fight," Li said. ”
Li Zhi's words once again sent Vujacic to the cusp, Vujacic couldn't say it because of the bitterness in his heart, Jackson asked him to do it, and he couldn't do it if he didn't do it. But he couldn't say this kind of thing, he could only apologize to Crawford on Twitter, but Crawford didn't accept it. This guy was so insincere that he didn't make a single phone call, and Crawford also took the opportunity to scold Vujacic once.
Crawford is a very strange kind of person in the NBA, he really loves basketball, the salary in the previous years was enough for him to live on for a lifetime, and he played for fun. At the Warriors, this kind of fun reached its peak, and the word championship had never been thought of before, but when Gasol was injured, he realized that the Warriors had a chance.
Crawford's mentality is also the mentality of the whole Warriors team, and the young man is facing a lions without claws, which is a pack of hungry wolves, which is also a true portrayal of the Warriors' last two games.
According to media analysis, even if the Lakers lack the strength of Gasol and the Warriors, they are half a pound or two, and they just lose in momentum and attitude. The Warriors used infinite rotation and iron-blooded defense to prevent the Lakers' role players to death, and the Lakers couldn't match the Warriors' defensive intensity.
Bill Simmons commented on the second day's show that Kobe Bryant is not a qualified leader at all, and Gasol is the true core of the Lakers. This statement was naturally bombarded by Lakers fans, Kobe Bryant is the soul of the Lakers, and Bill Simmons' statement is naturally excessive. However, Gasol's tactical role in the Lakers is indeed much greater than Kobe's, there is no doubt about it.
The Warriors won against the Lakers, and the players are excited these days. With the exception of Crawford, who is out for two weeks due to injury, everyone else is healthy and has no problem playing in the Western Conference Finals.
Maybe the opponent is too weak, and the Warriors don't have the same nervousness as they prepare for the Lakers and Trail Blazers, and Li Zhi has the same mentality.
In the lineup competition, the Warriors occupy an absolute advantage in terms of staffing, although Milicic's defense is poor, but Scola has not reached the point where Gasol and Aldridge are, his skills and feel are excellent, but his physical fitness limits his ceiling. He doesn't jump high, he doesn't run fast, and his reach is not good, which means that Scola's low-post attack can't be as good as Gasol and Aldridge. The defense is smart and daring, but his height suffers, and Scola is good at mid-range shooting, which is exactly the type of Milicic likes to defend, and Milicic's weakness is not a problem at all against Scola.
Yao Ming is injured, and the Rockets can only play Landry or Hayes in the center position, but no matter how Adelman arranges, there will be no one to match O'Neal in the center position. O'Neal doesn't provide much help offensively, but he plays a big role defensively, and he focuses on pick-and-roll in the playoffs and is very efficient.
Stephen Jackson on shooting guard vs. "President" Sean Battier, Sean Battier defends without saying, but the offensive threat is limited. Besides, Stephen Jackson's task is to defend, and it is useless for Battier to be strong defensively. He's a good piece of the championship puzzle, but the Rockets are destined to not go far without Yao Ming.
Point guard is a weakness of the Warriors, but since the playoffs, it has been Jackson and Li Zhi who have played point guard in the cameo, and the Warriors will play Morrow or Livingston at the No. 1 position, but in any case, there are problems with the No. 1 position of the Rockets, they have no organization, and it is usually Yao Ming who takes on the task of organization.
The only thing that the Rockets can compete with the Warriors may be small forwards, and Artest is also a template for the star in the future, but because of the slightly irritable style of play, he is destined to not be able to support the banner of a team.
The defeat under the Kings has proven that Artest can only be the second and third leader of the team. Li Zhi will face the league's top defense this time, but he is not afraid, he has had Artest defensive skills for a long time, and he knows his defensive skills very well.
Rockets fans should miss Maddie by now, but Maddie isn't destined to return.
Fans on the American side have no idea about the Western Finals, the Warriors will lose one or two games at most against the Rockets with an incomplete lineup, and the Warriors will definitely advance in the end, and American fans will discuss more of the Eastern Magic VS Cavaliers game.
But China attaches great importance to this series, and the Rockets and Warriors are both the home teams of the Chinese people, so everyone is naturally looking forward to it.
The first game of the Western Conference Finals was well publicized in China, but it was a little weird no matter how you looked at it. The Warriors Rockets are fifth in the West and sixth in the West, and they actually met in the Western Conference Finals.
What's even more bizarre is that in the first game, the Warriors, who were expected to do so, lost. In the first game of the Warriors, all the players sleepwalked, shooting 3-of-25 three-pointers, which can be described as miserable.
In the starting lineup, except for Li Zhi, who scored 18 points, no one else scored in double figures. The Warriors' top scorer was Nick Young, who came off the bench for 32 minutes and scored 28 points to replace Crawford's tactical position.
The whole team didn't take this game seriously before the game, but the Rockets gave the Warriors a blow in the first game. They showed an iron-clad defense, keeping the Warriors' shooters at bay to the point where they couldn't have been more iron-clad.
Artest faced Li Zhi on the court and bit wildly, Sean Battier attacked Li Zhi with an indifferent face, and the Rockets used defensive counterattacks to score 30 points all over the court, which made Nelson extremely angry.
Nelson scolded the whole Warriors team in the locker room, and the Warriors all knew that they had underestimated the enemy and paid attention to it again.
Li Zhi took the lead in reflection, and Jackson and Barnes also set an example next to him, training seriously, and other players naturally paid attention to it.
In the second game, the Warriors cheered up and defeated the Rockets 99-78 at home, and the Rockets did not show the intensity of the first game, and the Warriors scored easily. Li Zhi played 36 minutes and scored 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while Milicic scored 12 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Young still performed efficiently off the bench, scoring 20 points to blow up the Rockets' bench group.
Nielsen's tactics have an unimaginable effect on chaotic warfare, and both Nick Young and Crawford have benefited from Nielsen's tactical system.