Chapter 202: Attack! Equalize
Li Zhi had two assists, the Warriors scored in a row, Fernandez couldn't sit still, he couldn't let Li Zhi be so arrogant.
He has always considered himself "Richie's arch-enemy", and if McMillan hadn't stopped him, he would have scored more in his first two games.
On the offensive end, Fernandez decided to play alone after getting the ball, he is not the main defensive point of the Warriors, and there are many opportunities. It was Morrow who defended him, and he felt like he had dealt with it.
Fernandez dribbled under the crotch to show operation, and made a pull-up jump shot at a low 45-degree angle to hit the cricket.
9:2, Fernandez plays like a star, Trail Blazers fans love him, and if it weren't for Roy and Aldridge, he might be the core of the Trail Blazers.
The Warriors came to the frontcourt, Li Zhi held the ball in a high position, Aldridge did not defend it, their tactics are very clear, the core of the outside defense is Fernandez, Li Zhi is close to the penalty area, Aldridge will make up the defense.
Li Zhi dribbled to the right side, Fernandez chased the defense, and saw that he was going to lose Li Zhi, Fernandez pulled Li Zhi, and Li Zhi took the opportunity to throw the basketball. The referee's whistle blows, shooting foul, two free throws.
Li Zhi hit a free throw, and the score came to 11:2
Li Zhi opened, this is what Nelson wants to see, all the tactics of the Warriors rely on Li Zhi, and only when Li Zhi plays out, the Warriors' tactics will all take effect.
"Don't be impulsive! Stick to him, stick to him! What do you have a brain for? McMillan shouted a reprimand from the sidelines.
Fernandez really wanted to smack McMillan once, and he screamed inwardly: "You try to defend yourself, can I keep up with him and still foul?" ”
He has been defending Li Zhi in these few games, which is a difficult defensive task, but he can't admit it, which will make Li Zhi look down on him. Fernandez was actually a little overwhelmed, and he could see that Li Zhi was in good shape today.
The first quarter played 6 minutes, 15:12.
Li Zhi took the ball and singled Fernandez on the outside, went to the inside, Fernandez followed the defense, and Aldridge assisted in the block. Li Zhi did not go to the basket, Aldridge and Fernandez were squeezed under the basket, Li Zhi would not ask for trouble, and passed the ball directly to Nick Young with his left hand.
Nick Young runs out of space and catches the ball and misses a drift hit. After hitting the three-pointer, Nick Young maintained this shooting posture and looked at his shooter in surprise, which made the fans excited.
After hitting this three-pointer, he has already scored nine points in the quarter. If Li Zhi is in good shape, the shooters will have a chance, pass the ball to their teammates, have Li Zhi to attract the defense, and everyone else has open space.
Milicic was a bit of a waste to go on the bench, but his style of play was really suitable. Without Richie, the basketball in the bench is in the hands of Crawford and Milicic, and with the ball, the two of them can play powerfully. Nelson believes this game can be won, and the Warriors have found a way to restrain the Trail Blazers.
The Warriors' three-point shot Trail Blazers had to defend, but no matter how they combined the defense, the two bottom corners would always slip through. People are marking, and Fernandez, who was ranked to defend Li Zhi, did not defend well this time, and defending Li Zhi alone is equivalent to giving the Warriors points.
Roy made a move, singled in the low post, and turned around for a jumper past Nick Young. 18:14.
The Warriors attacked, Li Zhi received the ball, paused and suddenly changed direction, it was such an action, Fernandez was shaken, Fernandez stood up, Li Zhi had broken through to the basket and dunked with both hands in response. 20:14.
The Trail Blazers' starting Channingfrye did give them a decent offensive performance, but his defense wasn't as good as Pulzbilla, who was a meat shield and was more effective defensively than Frye.
The Trailblazers attacked, and as soon as Fernandez saw that his opponent was Li Zhi, he began to choose to break through frantically, this can't bear it, this guy just shook himself like a, and this one definitely has to be beaten back.
But no matter how he changed direction and dribbled, Li Zhi was unmoved, Fernandez had a hot brain and pulled it out directly, but was interfered with by Li Zhi and missed the shot.
O'Neal took the rebound in the backcourt and handed it to Jackson to advance.
McMillan yelled on the sidelines: "What are you doing? Who made you single? Didn't you see Ade hit Jackson in a misplaced position? ”
Fernandez pretended not to hear it, and walked straight past McMillan, and he replied in his heart: "I really didn't see it." ”
The Trail Blazers' offense went wrong, Roy singled out, and the rest of the players had to wait for their chances, and their movement wasn't as good as the Warriors'. As long as it comes to the singles session of Roy and Fernandez, this is a one-man show.
Roy scored 15 points in a single quarter, and Li Zhi was even better, with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, directly heading for a triple-double. At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors led the Trail Blazers 37-31.
In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers were still the previous bench lineup, but the Warriors changed lineup. David Lee, Milicic, Gerrard Green, Crawford, Livingston.
Livingston bullied Stephen Blake with his height and hit consecutive shots. The Warriors offense played well, but the Trail Blazers offense didn't go well, Batum was jammed with both shots by Gerard Green, and Fernandez didn't get a bargain on Crawford.
The Trail Blazers can't open the outside line, so they can only hand the ball to Pulzbilla on the inside, and he is even more difficult to score, Milicic and David Lee are sandwiched, and Pulz Billy is poor in donkey skills, and he is helpless. On the contrary, David Lee played well, and cooperated with Milicic to burst into the middle range for several rounds in a row. Not to mention Crawford's ability to shoot in the chaos of the battle, Fernandes focused all his energy on Crawford, resulting in a lack of offensive strength.
Fernandes scolded McMillan's tactics in his heart: "Why is it that I defend the bench as well? I'm a star! ”
McMillan knew that the Warriors' second lineup was strong, so he wanted the starters to rest for a while and hurry up, but he didn't expect the Trail Blazers' bench lineup to not last even 5 minutes.
The Warriors' bench lineup is fast, while the Trail Blazers can only keep up with the Warriors on the outside, and the two big men on the inside can only do switchbacks on the court.
McMillan couldn't help but call a timeout, bringing Aldridge and Roy on the pitch to replace Purzbila and Fernandes in an attempt to step up the attack. Nelson didn't rush to replace Richie, but just replaced David Lee with Jordan Jr. Defensively, this lineup is not weak.
Aldridge was majestic, in the first quarter under the interference of Li Zhi, his hand was not good, facing Milicic, scored two goals in a row to stop the bleeding for the Trail Blazers, but looking at the big score, the point difference became larger.
The Warriors' small lineup was like a whirlwind, scrambling for rebounds immediately after missing a shot, and Gerard Green and David Lee were both rebounders, jumping higher than Frye and Aldridge, grabbing offensive rebounds several times. They didn't shoot much, but they shot a lot, and most of them made three-pointers, extending the margin to 16 points in the second quarter.
Crawford is like a bankrupt version of Richie, relying on blocking and dismantling to continuously break into the interior, and the interior defense is poor, which is also a weakness of the Trail Blazers.
Nelson looked at Crawford and nodded, he was the same type of player as Jason Terry, who was born for the sixth man. The bench played well, and Nelson was not in a hurry to play Rich, but McMillan couldn't sit still.
Gerard Green and Lin Wenston took turns limiting Roy, and Milicic was ready to help defend and pull Roy together as he did in the first game.
Roy shot the iron, so he passed the ball to Aldridge, but the Warriors bench went crazy and relied on his speed to wrap Alder in a row, which made Ade's hand feel cold.
Nelson won the game, and with three minutes left in the second quarter, he was replaced by Rich, who had rested enough, and the Trail Blazers chased the score to 12 points and also changed to the starter.
The Warriors continued their tactics in the first quarter, with Lee maintaining a good hand and players creating solo opportunities for Lee on the perimeter. Fernandez came to defend Li Zhi again, and he didn't dare to be so easy. Roy didn't dare to help defend, and Lee Zhi beat Fernandez.
No one came to assist in defense, so Li Zhi played unlimited singles, assisted defense, passed the ball, and resolutely shot three points from the outside.
At the end of the second quarter, Li Zhi hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. At 68:51, the Warriors already led by 17 points. Li Zhi had 18 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, close to a triple-double.
Li Zhi applauded his teammates one by one when he left the game, as long as he continued to play like this, the Warriors would win the game.
While the Warriors were celebrating, the Trail Blazers weren't quite harmonious.
Fernandez couldn't stand McMillan's preaching, so he pushed McMillan directly, and the photographer filmed this scene, which attracted a lot of discussion.
Fernandez's impulsive behavior has been criticized, and McMillan has been in the limelight this season by bringing the Trail Blazers to the top three in the West, and Fernandes' impulsive behavior has cost him a lot of fans.
However, there are also some people who are harsh on McMillan, the same coach, when the Warriors fell into adversity in the first two games, Nelson took all the responsibility, and said in an interview that everything was his own tactical mistakes, but McMillan pushed everything to the players, and many people doubted McMillan's prestige in the locker room.
In the third quarter, Fernandez was really abandoned by McMillan, and without Fernandes, Li Zhi broke through more resolutely. On the Trail Blazers' side, Roy was also stimulated by McMillan, and in the second half, Richie and Roy took on the offensive responsibilities of the two teams, and the third quarter became a performance for the two.
McMillan did not arrange for someone to contain Rich, nor did he ask for a timeout, but let the players adjust freely on the field, and others seemed to be McMillan's unfathomable, but in fact he really had no choice.
Roy scored 18 points in the third quarter, but the Trail Blazers couldn't recover the score after all, and entered the third quarter with a 12-point difference.
In the fourth quarter, Milicic and Crawford were put on the court again, and Barnes, who had been inactive for the whole game, was also not sent on, and he was responsible for defending Roy.
Roy played three quarters and only had a five-minute rest, and now he didn't have many chances after being entangled against the energetic Barnes, and conceded four consecutive shots in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors took the opportunity to pull the score away, and the Trail Blazers were powerless.
With four minutes left in the game, the Warriors led by 20 points and McMillan gave up, but Roy insisted on getting back on the court. Roy played to the end of the game and recovered six points, but the Trail Blazers still lost.
Roy had 40 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, the highest score of the game. Li Zhi got a triple-double of 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Warriors scored six double-doubles, David Lee, who had few opportunities before, scored 10 points in this game, and Nick Young scored 15 points on 5-of-8 three-pointers.
Before the game, many people thought that the Warriors would go to Portland with a 1-3 deficit after this game, but the result was a big surprise. If this momentum continues, the warriors have a chance to win the battle of Tianwang Mountain.
In the post-game press conference, McMillan said: "I'm not worried about the next game, the Warriors made a lot of three-pointers in this game, and I don't believe they can keep that touch in the next game." ”
Reporters don't think so, and McMillan really can't help it. Fernandez didn't listen to the command, Roy didn't listen to him in the fourth quarter, and the reporters didn't believe that McMillan wasn't worried at all.
The reason why the Warriors were able to win the game was that in addition to the Warriors' many offensive points, McMillan's inaction was also the main reason.
When the Trail Blazers won the first two games against the Warriors, not only the fans, but even McMillan himself thought that the game was won, so he didn't make much adjustment, and after the Warriors showed such a powerful offense, McMillan could only pin all his hopes on the players.