Chapter 458 - You Can't Beat It If You Join (7000 Words Chapter)
In the Western Conference Finals G1, the Clippers returned to simple superstar basketball again, and frequently gave the ball to Li Ze after the opening, leading the offense with points.
When Lee hit an easy pull-up jumper from the left elbow of the free throw line, the Warriors' defense finally couldn't hold up, and Steve Kerr began to signal for follow-up packs.
It was still Durant who helped the Warriors break the deadlock, breaking through the right block position, dribbling two steps and scoring two points on a drift-back jumper.
"Shhhhh
Boos abound, and Clippers fans prefer to see their opponents hit the iron.
Paul George certainly knew that Durant would definitely have such a difficult goal in the series, and he was mentally prepared.
From the beginning, his purpose was to make it difficult for Durant to receive the ball, and as for whether he could hit the ball in the future, it could only depend on Durant's own feelings.
Constantly clapping his hands during the retreat, as if he felt that he had found an offensive feeling, Durant shouted to his teammates:
"Hold on for two rounds!"
Trying to look like a leader, Durant became more vocal after Perkins' tweet.
Coach De Nagro also stood up at this time, and after the assistant coach's prompting, the Clippers had expected the opponent to pinch the defense.
Standing on the sidelines and making a circle gesture, Li Ze immediately slowed down his advance and motioned for Jaylen Brown to stand on the same side as Paul George.
“Let's go Clippers! Let's go Clippers! Let's go Clippers! ”
The more they watched, the more excited the Clippers fans shouted, Li Ze had just dribbled past halftime, and Iguodala and Klay stepped forward at the same time.
Li Ze immediately gave the ball to Paul George on the right wing, while Curry rotated the defense and stepped forward to delay.
Paul George didn't stop the ball either, and again gave the ball to Jaylen Brown in the bottom right corner, who caught the ball and made a quick save.
Durant then retracted to the basket and let Harris at the far end empty.
Jaylen Brown followed the tactical requirements, and immediately accelerated with the ball in his right hand along the baseline after a false shake.
Jokic was aggressively stuck under the basket at this time, forcing Durant to keep pulling on his side.
Green didn't expect Jaylen Brown to handle the ball so resolutely that he was almost taken a step past and despite his efforts to defend, he was broken through to the near paint.
Instead of forcing a layup, he threw the ball into the bottom left corner, although the pass was not of high quality, and Harris couldn't shoot directly after receiving the ball.
But in the face of Durant's defense again, Harris still successfully made a jump shot after some adjustments.
"Huh!" Three-point shot hollow into the net!
The Clippers, who had been prepared for a long time, moved the ball quickly, plus a seven-point lead in the opening game, and the role players did not have any pressure in their hearts, and they handled the ball and shot very decisively.
Harris patted his chest after the goal, and although he didn't say much, he still had a trustworthy offensive grasp in the face of absolute chances.
"It's not a good sign, since the Clippers' coaching staff is well prepared during these days off."
Chris Webber saw the way the Clippers' role players handled the ball, and knew that these players on the court were full of confidence.
"Steve probably didn't expect them to play a tie-break with the Rockets, the Warriors were too slow to get into the game, and the Clippers won't give up such an opportunity."
Reggie Miller had expected the Clippers to steal the start, and after all these years, Li Ze usually hit hard in the first and third quarters.
The offense started unfavorably, the core players had to step up and score, and Curry no longer handed over the ball in the middle of the half, but restarted playing high blocking.
Green covered the quality well this time, and finally delayed Li Ze's pursuit, Curry paused at the top of the arc, feigned the ball, and then accelerated again with the ball in his left hand, passed Jokic, and made a two-point pull-up jump shot.
"Huh!" Two-point goal!
At 4:12, the Warriors still trailed by 8 points.
Obviously, Curry has also accelerated his offensive tempo, and if he continues to break through, there is a high probability that Li Ze will chase after him again.
Coach De Nagro was back on the bench at this point, and the Clippers could accept Curry's two-point shot, which was also the offensive opportunity they left for the Warriors.
In the minutes that followed, the Clippers demonstrated a variety of ways to break the ball, and while not every offense hit the basket, the Warriors were piecemeal on the offensive end and couldn't respond.
On the contrary, because of physical strength, the Warriors began to lose rebounds again.
This time, Paul George forced Curry, came to the paint area and encountered Green's help defense, threw the ball into the frame, and the ball knocked out of the frame.
Jokic hung on Durant, flicked his left hand, and the ball fell back into the basket.
"Oh!!"
Clippers fans cheered loudly again, this is the second time that the white fat man has rebounded in the frontcourt, and it is clear that Jokic still has the weight advantage in the hand-to-hand fight with Durant.
The point difference came to double digits, and everyone in the Warriors was anxious, so they accelerated the offensive rhythm again, hung up a cover, Klay started in the bottom corner of the left side and came to the left wing, and threw the ball when he received Curry's pass!
"Bang!" Hit the nail in a rage!
The long rebound ball popped up, but it just fell into Green's arms, and he gave the ball to Curry outside the three-point line again, and after receiving the ball, he didn't hesitate to throw it after three points from a long distance!
Li Ze just reached out to interfere, but the ball hit again and Steve Kerr on the sidelines spread his hands, seemingly unable to understand such an offensive option.
Paul George picked up the rebound and the Clippers seized the opportunity to launch another transition offense.
The Warriors, who quickly retreated, failed to complete the defensive alignment for a while, and when Li Ze received the ball on the right wing, he immediately broke through with his right hand in the face of Curry's defense.
Curry was directly crushed by Li Ze to the right blocking area, and when Li Ze turned around and came to the basket, he could only pull helplessly.
"Squeak!"
The referee immediately blew the whistle, and the fans began to boo Curry.
Spit out braces, Curry held his knees, gasped for air, and too many switching offenses consumed a lot of his physical strength.
Durant, who returned to defense, was also a little dissatisfied, and in his opinion, he should give the ball to him at this time, instead of throwing three-pointers blindly from the outside.
Li Ze stood on the free throw line again with a smile and hit two free throws steadily.
At 10:22, the margin came to 12 points, and Steve Kerr finally couldn't hold back and immediately asked for a timeout.
Scoring 10 points in the first half of the game and allowing the opponent to score 22 points is unacceptable.
"It can be seen that the Warriors do have some physical problems, but the biggest problem is defense, and it is difficult for them to limit Kayce and frequently let the Clippers play more and less."
Commentator Kevin Harlan didn't want the game to be spent too soon, but considering the Warriors' schedule, he thought the game was basically cold.
Chris Webber noticed that the Warriors didn't make any substitutions after the timeout, and added two sentences:
"At this time, what the Warriors need is to score, stabilize the difference first, and then look for opportunities, if they continue to widen the difference, then the game will be over."
Scoring was difficult, and the Warriors opted to use the strongest tactics, and after a timeout, everyone pulled away and watched Durant single in the left elbow area.
In the face of Paul George's defense, Durant put the ball with his right hand after three threats, walked up to the line and forced a breakthrough, and finally made a jump shot in the paint area!
"Huh!" Two more points!
Extremely difficult to score, Paul George shrugged his shoulders, this +2 way, he is just as acceptable.
At 12:22, Durant's score helped stabilize the situation for the Warriors.
The Clippers' offense was unhurried, and Li Ze didn't wait for half court to give the ball to Jokic at the top of the arc, and then ran without the ball to the right wing to stand.
After receiving the pass, Jokic immediately protected the ball sideways, released the ball with his left hand, and moved a few steps to the left wing.
On the left flank, Paul George immediately kicked in, received a hand-to-hand pass, and reached the top of the arc with the ball in his right hand.
At this time, Jokic had already gone down, Paul George paused slightly, accelerated the breakthrough with the ball in his right hand, and suddenly pulled back to the free throw line with a large crotch.
Shake out half of his body, stand against Klay's defense, and shoot a mid-range pull-up jump shot!
"Huh!" Steady hit from mid-range!
This kind of strong shooting that relies entirely on personal ability is very dependent on feel, but Paul George, who is full of physical energy, did not overshoot tonight, and the tailwind game has entered the state of General Joe again.
Curry blocked high, missed the three-pointer again, and the rebound fell into Jokic's arms.
Throwing the ball to the frontcourt, Jaylen Brown made an easy layup to score two more points, at which point the Warriors' defense completely collapsed, and the speed of the defense dropped sharply.
Steve Kerr kept making downward gestures on the sidelines, which only allowed him to reduce the number of rounds, and the Warriors coaching staff knew that the first quarter was the first time to get through.
The Warriors, who were playing slower and slower, could only rely on Durant's single play and Curry's long two points, and Iguodala was let go, but the bottom corner three-pointer still missed.
Li Ze, who received the long rebound, launched a conversion offense again, and Curry, who was desperately retreating, kept giving physical confrontations, but it had no effect.
The two quickly came to the left wing, and at this time everyone in the Warriors was still desperately retreating, Li Ze, who was holding the ball in his right hand, quickly circled the ball behind his back, and after switching to his left hand, he lowered his center of gravity and accelerated with his shoulders.
Just dribbled past the three-point line, suddenly dribbled under the crotch, returned to the three-point line, and with a simple emergency stop, Curry was shaken out a meter away
Seeing Li Ze quickly jump after combining the ball, Curry struggled to jump up and block, but before Li Ze landed, he hit his right forearm.
"Whew! Chirping! ”
When the whistle blew, the Intuit Dome Arena erupted in loud cheers again, scoring 4 points!
This kind of foul is completely caused by the inability to control the body's subconscious defense, Curry watched Li Ze walk to the free throw line, subconsciously crossed his waist, gasped for breath and looked up at the huge screen above the arena.
Li Zejia hit a free throw, 19:35, with the last 29 seconds left in the first quarter, and the difference has come to 16 points.
Green, who was substituted off the court, slammed the bench at this time, and the trend of the game was completely beyond his expectations, they didn't have the power to fight back, and they were completely crushed.
In the final moments, Curry assisted Jordan Bell again to score two points under the basket, and Jaylen Brown forced the basket to make a foul for the Warriors.
Steve Kerr returned to the bench as soon as he turned his head, which is why he didn't like to use the new in key games.
Jordan Bell's foul made the previous score useless.
With the cheers of the Clippers fans on the spot, Jaylen Brown hit both free throws, and the score of the first quarter was fixed at 21:37.
"The Warriors were 0-of-7 from beyond the three-point line in the first quarter, and maybe that's why they couldn't attack."
"The Clippers were 3-of-6 from beyond the three-point line, with Harris and Paul George both netting."
"Kayce will definitely break out on the outside, it's the rhythm he likes!"
Reggie Miller took a look at the stats and knew that the Warriors would most likely not be able to withstand it tonight, and the Clippers would not be able to stop their offense as long as the role players were on the line with three-point shots.
"I totally agree with you, Kayce will definitely increase his playing time tonight."
"This is definitely not good news for the Warriors, who may not be able to sustain four high-intensity games with the fitness of their main lineup."
After Chris Webb saw the technical statistics, he also became Li Zechui.
6 of 6, 1 of 1 from beyond the three-point line, 4 of 4 free throws, Li Ze scored 17 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in a single quarter, facing the Warriors' defense, this efficiency has gone up to heaven.
The Clippers didn't cut the rotation short tonight, replacing Paul George with Eric Gordon late in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, there were a lot of substitutions, with Brogdon, Eric Gordon, Paul George, Siakam, and Kevon Rooney coming on.
The inside line is replaced by two capable grabs, and the outside offense has double insurance like Eric Gordon and Paul George.
Coach De Nagro was cautious, and the Warriors also expanded their rotation at this time and did not stick to the main team.
Livingston, Klay, Nick Young, Draymond Green, Jordan Bell are on the scene.
Steve Kerr has also opted to bring two main players to the bench, while also looking forward to more energy from the rotation.
In the first quarter of the game, Klay, who was dumb on the offensive end, gradually found his touch, and cooperated with Livingston to help the Warriors score consecutive points.
And after the debut, Eric Gordon also felt hot, shot inside and out, and responded.
Steve Cole was a little anxious when he saw that the game had entered a stalemate again, they were 16 points behind!
Gordon's long-range three-pointer set the atmosphere in the Intuit Dome arena on fire, and Steve Ballmer joined the fans in shaking his fist in celebration.
Li Ze flicked the towel with the atmosphere group, and on the Warriors' side, Durant's face was long, physical fitness was not an excuse, what he was not satisfied with was the offensive choice of the team in individual rounds.
"Kevin, we need you to get on the court early, let go, your job is to keep scoring!"
After just over two minutes of the second quarter, Steve Kerr called out to Durant, and if he didn't use his strongest tactic, the game would be explained.
Durant ripped off the towel and got up immediately, and the assistant coach of the Clippers saw the movement of the Warriors and whispered a reminder in Li Ze's ear.
Li Ze took off his coat with a smile and moved to the technical desk.
"Overdrawn? It looks like the Rockets are tougher than I thought they would be, and you're going to lose again tonight. ”
Hearing Li Ze's ridicule, Durant was a little unhappy, and then he thought of Perkins's big mouth recently hacking him every day on Twitter.
'It's a long series, even if we lose away, then we have a three-day break and we don't lose again when we get back home.
"As for Team Rocket, I never had them in mind!"
Durant covered his mouth and whispered a response.
When Li Ze heard Durant's words, he knew that the Warriors' physical fitness was indeed not optimistic, and the coaching staff was ready to lose two games in a row.
Considering the actual situation, the G2 game also has just over a day of rest, and Steve Cole may have expected such a result.
The on-site director frequently gave the camera to the two, but unfortunately Li Ze and Durant didn't bring a microphone tonight, and the sports media at the scene were itching, but there was nothing they could do.
Durant replaced Nick Young, and Li Ze replaced Brogdon, and both sides got back the main lineup early.
The Rockets' lead was overturned, and a 0-of-27 from beyond the three-point line simply couldn't have happened to the Clippers.
With a 16-point lead in hand, Li Ze calmly controlled the pace of the game and patiently waited for the Warriors to make mistakes themselves.
It is not uncommon for both sides to have zero errors in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, the first mistake was made by Green at the top of the arc.
Coming out of the bottom right corner, Clarele's right wing then cut in without the ball, and Green's pass was too anxious to throw the ball directly onto the Clippers bench.
Jokic's eyes widened, he held the ball, stood up and made a shooting gesture, which immediately caused a burst of laughter from the fans in the front row.
Green's face was a little ugly, and he could only keep high-five and continue to cheer himself up at this time.
The Clippers kicked the ball out of the sideline, and Looney saw Li Ze's tactical gesture and came to the three-point line as soon as possible.
The top of the arc was far from the three-point line for a high block, Klay couldn't squeeze past Looney's cover, and Jordan Bell was a little confused, and the first big delay came up.
Li Ze, who was holding the ball in his left hand, suddenly went in and out sharply, shook to the right and then suddenly retreated.
Jordan Bell just followed his body's reaction and slid desperately to the left rear, only to be shaken out by Li Ze more than a meter away.
There was no one to defend on the three-point line, and Li Ze quickly jumped at the top of the arc!
"Huh!" Three-point shot hollow net!
At 30:48, as Li Ze hit a three-pointer, the difference came to 18 points.
"It was so fast, from blocking to completing the offense, Kayce only did one shake and there was a great shot!"
"Maybe it's time for Steve Kerr to make a substitution, they have to get the main lineup back early!"
Reggie Miller noticed the close to 20-point difference and couldn't help but help the Warriors come up with an idea.
Chris Webb shook his head from the sidelines, and he somewhat understood the Warriors' choice:
"This is only G1, the physical condition of the main squad is not optimistic, in this case, taking Durant in advance is already a risky choice."
"Even if Curry returns and can solve problems on the offensive end, he is still at an absolute disadvantage on the defensive end."
Steve Kerr didn't get Curry back early, but only completely returned the main lineup after the official timeout.
The point difference has not narrowed at all, Durant hit a three-point shot on the right wing, turned around, and hit Li Ze on the line, and Paul George on the left wing faced Curry who changed defenses, and the strong shot outside the three-point line also entered!
Klay received the ball on the right wing and stood up to Jaylen Brown's defense, and forced a three-point shot to score again!
The Clippers attacked, Jokic received the ball in the low post on the left side, and Harris moved up at the left elbow of the free throw line to make an off-ball cover for Li Ze at the top of the arc.
After briefly getting rid of Iguodala's pursuit, Li Ze just came to the left wing, received a pass from Jokic, and then drifted to the left and quickly jumped outside the three-point line!
After making the shot, Li Ze raised his right arm, raised three fingers, and confidently turned his head to retreat.
"Huh!" Three-point shot hollow into the net!
The continuous response ball made the atmosphere of the Intuit Dome arena more and more hot, and if you ignore the point difference, the game was indeed very exciting during this time.
As the game time passed, the Warriors' bench was completely silent, and even if Curry hit a three-pointer, everyone just sat in their seats in silence.
At halftime, 50:68, the Clippers went into the second half with an 18-point lead.
What does such a point difference mean, of course everyone in the Warriors knows that in the face of the Clippers, the 10-point difference is like a trench, 18 points, and the game is likely to be gone.
Curry, who walked to the tunnel with a towel over his head, scored just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting in the half and 1-of-6 from beyond the three-point line.
If he loses tonight, the first pot will definitely be his!
Durant was also in a good mood, scoring a team-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting in the half, 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Obviously he was not bad, but the Warriors fell behind by a large margin
Steve Cole didn't return to the locker room for the first time, and after looking at the technical statistics, he kept adjusting his emotions, and finally regained his confidence before coming to the crowd:
'Forget about the first half, what we need to do for the rest of the game is to get back into shape.'
"The series has just started, we were playing in Houston the day before yesterday and then we flew to Los Angeles, so don't care about tonight, that's not what we're really capable of."
“.”
Steve Kerr is trying to decompress his players, after all, there is still G2 to play the day after tomorrow, and he only hopes that after a day of rest, the team's outside feel can pick up.
After halftime, it came to the third quarter of the game, and the Clippers hit hard again.
Li Ze did not relax because of the 18 points, but continued to attack the basket, while also continuing to fire outside the three-point line.
Durant also kept asking for the ball at this time, and what kind of passing and cutting system had already left him behind.
The two sides are once again in a state of attack.
Li Ze faced Green, who came up from the switch, quickly pushed the ball in his left hand and changed direction, passed directly through the bag of Iguodala and Green, and went straight to the basket!
After grabbing the ball with his right hand and rushing into the paint area, the Warriors were no longer defended inside, and Durant, who had switched to defense, also stopped.
Li Ze rushed up in three steps, and after rounding the ball horizontally, he grabbed the ball with one hand with his right hand and smashed it with his arm!
"Boom!" The windmill burst the buckle!
Durant, whose eyes were on fire, simply advanced with the ball from the backcourt, the right wing, and made two large changes of direction in a row, shaking off Paul George and going straight to the basket.
In the end, against Jokic's block, Durant dodged in the air and picked up the basket with his left hand.
In several rounds in a row, Li Ze and Durant continued to score points, and the cheers in the Intuit Dome arena continued, and Los Angeles fans just liked the star race
Steve Kerr, who was on the sidelines, frowned, and after he found that Durant kept single, Curry completely became a system shooter.
This is indeed not the offensive rhythm of the Warriors, and the game went fast in the third quarter, and Durant vented the frustration in his heart.
As a result, back on the bench, Durant looked up and cursed in his heart.
At 79:99, the Warriors are already trailing by 20 points.
Durant scored 18 points in a single quarter, but it didn't make a difference.
In the fourth quarter of the game, the rotation lineup came on, and seeing that the score difference did not narrow, Steve Kerr quickly let the atmosphere group go straight to the court.
In the Intuit Dome arena, Clippers fans saw the situation and began to celebrate the victory.
Reggie Miller and Chris Webb looked at the technical statistics and didn't speak for a while, but the commentator Kevin Harlan turned into Li Zechui:
"It's a wonderful third quarter, and it looks like the main lineups of both sides won't be on the back for now."
"Kayce played 32 minutes tonight and got 42 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal with no turnovers!"
"Nearly 8 percent of the hit rate, incredible performance!"
Chris Webber only felt that Li Ze rarely threw during the game, and he was a little daze after seeing the technical statistics, and then he completely came back to his senses:
"It's unbelievable, even in the Western Conference Finals, Kayce's efficiency is still undiminished, and it looks like the Warriors are going to be ready to lose two games in a row!"
Seeing that his partner's wind direction became so fast, Reggie Miller shook his head helplessly:
"There's still a chance, I believe Stephen Curry won't stay in the doldrums, as long as the Warriors' outside form recovers, the series will always be in suspense!"
In the third quarter, Durant took a lot of shots, while Curry was 2-of-5 and scored only four points.
Sitting on the bench at this time, everyone on the Warriors team had straight eyes, and the atmosphere of the Clippers was getting more and more courageous, and the score gap was still widening
At the end of the game, the score was fixed at 103-131, and the Clippers beat the Warriors at home, and after a head-to-head attack, the series was 1-0.
Steve Kerr pulled out a smile and shook hands with Coach De Nagro for the first time.
Neither said much, the series had just started and they still had a lot of time.
In the Intuit Dome arena, there was a lot of buzz and Clippers fans celebrating the big win.
The Warriors quickly left the court, but fortunately, in the post-game press conference, Amika's sports media also understood the difficulties of consecutive road games and did not fall into the ground.
The big loss made the hearts of Warriors fans feel cold, and the big-mouthed Perkins was the first to send a comment on Twitter:
"Durant is strong, but if he continues to play alone, the Warriors will completely lose the series, he can't be the leader of the team, Curry is the soul of the Warriors."
This tweet received a good response, and the people who eat melons have liked it.
Ball critics who like to do things are also actively commenting below, and the more outrageous the views, the more loved by the media!
After returning to the hotel, Durant did not look at his phone for the first time, and followed his teammates to summarize the game before returning to his room.
It's just that Durant still couldn't hold back before going to bed, looked at Twitter twice, and was almost so angry that he couldn't sleep, and scolded again for a while:
"Hell leader! I scored a team-high 36 points! ”
Thank you all for your subscription support~
QAQ shouldn't be watching football in the morning,
It's too painful not to save the manuscript!
(End of chapter)