Da Yao's performance in the first game of his return from injury was not ideal, and he was completely lying down, but Da Yao himself and even the whole team were still very satisfied with this result.

After all, Da Yao doesn't have to play excellent statistics to prove his ability, or he has to become the most critical star in the team.

Da Yao, who has always been the team first, can fully accept the status of a substitute in order for the team to win, let alone because of injury.

Only he knows his physical condition best, and Da Yao knows very well that with this injury, he is no longer at his peak, and it is already a very valuable result to be able to play again.

This is also thanks to Wang Chao's previous weight loss advice to Da Yao, and he often uses sparring potions with physical fitness potions in daily training to reduce Da Yao's physical fatigue and burden, so that he can continue to play on the NBA stage at the age of 34.

After all, the original Da Yao was unable to adapt to the fierce competition at the age of 30 and was forced to retire.

In the rematch with the Warriors, Da Yao still came off the bench, but unlike the first game, because Curry and Thompson gradually adapted to the pressing defense of Leonard and Butler on the Rockets' side, the shooting percentage gradually improved, and Iguodala also began to exert strength on the bench, and the score was still difficult to solve halfway through the game.

And when Da Yao really appeared on the court and used his real skills, the feeling of the Rockets last season that they were all reducing the dimension inside and outside came back.

The Warriors couldn't defend against Wang Chao's offense on the outside, and they were even more powerless in the face of Da Yao's low-post singles on the inside.

Cousins himself is not good at defense, and he is still facing a head taller than him, with extremely superb interior skills and a greater tonnage than him, and he is completely beaten by fancy hanging.

Worried that Da Yao's body would not be able to withstand the long-term fierce confrontation, the Rockets still strictly controlled Da Yao's playing time in this game, Da Yao only played three quarters, and the playing time in each quarter was strictly controlled to less than 7 minutes, and the whole game played 20 minutes.

In these 20 minutes, Da Yao shot 8 of 13, scored 18 points and 5 rebounds, ranking second on the team, second only to Wang Chao, who scored 42 points on 9 of 17 outside three-pointers.

Wang Chao and Da Yao scored 60 points for the first official partnership after nearly half a year, leading the Rockets to another big victory, with a total score of 2:0 ahead.

"Jiang is still old and spicy, although he has just returned to the court, Da Yao immediately used practical actions to educate the Warriors' Cousins center how to play."

"In the last game, Da Yao didn't play much, and the Warriors had already collapsed at halftime and were defeated, even Da Yao was serious in this game, how could the Warriors have a chance to win?"

"I originally thought that the Warriors, who could fight seven games with the Clippers, should be okay in combat, but I didn't expect the Rockets to be so vulnerable, worthy of the Rockets who won the championship with 72 wins in the regular season last season and all the wins, and their strength is not at the same level as other teams."

"Judging from the current situation, the Warriors may not be much better than the Grizzlies, and avoiding a 4-0 sweep is their biggest success this season."

At the end of the two games, the Rockets' promotion to the Western Conference finals is almost a 100% certainty, and no one still thinks that the Warriors can turn the tables, and there are not many people who are optimistic about the Warriors who have a similar playing style to the Rockets but are surrounded by all sides.

No one may have realized this before, but with the playoffs between the two teams, many fans began to analyze and study the characteristics of the two teams, and then came to a surprising result.

The Warriors' tactics are highly similar to those of the Rockets, both teams are offensive-oriented, supplemented by single-point and defensive forwards, with super shooters with strong projection ability on the outside, who can use offensive tactics such as elevator doors and pick-and-roll covers, and a strong center with independent ball-holding offensive baskets on the inside to prevent outside shooters from feeling poor.

Obviously, the Warriors' style of play is based on learning from the Rockets, but it's a pity that they have learned a little bit of Dongshi.

After all, the Rockets and the Warriors are different, as the absolute core of the team, Curry's three-point shot is very good, but it still does not reach the level of Wang Chao, and aside from the three points, Curry can't compare with the all-round hexagonal warrior Wang Chao in other aspects.

Wang Chao also used blocking and dismantling cover on the field, but he didn't rely on this trick at all, because unless he was caught in a bag, there was no player in the league who could defend him one-on-one.

As for other 3-and-D players at outside positions, the Warriors are obviously not as high-profile as the Rockets.

Clay. Thompson is very good, averaging 18.4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game this season, shooting 44% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range.

However, when the offensive end is close, the two on the defensive end are not at the same level at all.

Thompson can only be regarded as a relatively good defensive player among outside players, and can do a good job of marking opponents, but that's about it.

Leonard is different, after three seasons of tuning by Wang Chao, the current Leonard's outside defense has completely transformed into a super defensive expert who is a one-trick death entanglement defense all over the league.

Being able to beat James and be selected as a small forward is the best proof of this.

Curry can't compare to Wang Chao, Thompson can't compare to Leonard, but Iguodala, who was selected for the best defensive team, can be compared with Butler a little, the best defensive team vs. the best defensive second team, Butler suffered a slight loss in terms of personal honors, but he averaged 15 points per game, Iguodala only 9.3 points, and the two contributed completely different contributions to the team on the offensive end, so the two were only tied at most.

Some media described the Warriors' lineup as a "poor" imitation, but as everyone knows, the real plagiarism dog is actually the Rockets.

Wang Chao is a reference to the Warriors' Death Five lineup, and he has begun to consciously select players who meet the tactical system at the beginning of the draft, and the first target is actually the top 3D Klay who is most suitable for this style of play. Thompson, just because of the problem of picking, did not get his wish.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, of course, you can see further, especially for a traverser like Wang Chao, who is not a skill, and naturally he will not be proud.

Moreover, the real qualitative change in the Warriors' roster is still next year. Kerr took over the coaching whip, and at the same time, Curry really ushered in a period of personal strength, and the three-point shot had the same strategic deterrent as Wang Chao.

All in all, this year's Warriors are still almost meaningless in terms of strength.

——

On May 10, the Rockets traveled to the Warriors' home court for Game 3 of the series.

The Warriors, who were unwilling to lose like this, set off an extremely ferocious comeback in this game, leading by 14 points at one point in the first half, which was the largest half-time lead in the meeting between the two teams this season.

But in the second half, the Warriors still failed to hold on to the lead, and the Rockets, led by Wang Chao and Da Yao, played a wave of counterattacks to tie the point difference.

The final result was 113-110, and the Rockets won the game on the Warriors' home court, bringing the overall score to 3-0.

In the fourth game, the Warriors did not win a game like the Grizzlies, the opponent of the Rockets in the first round, and saved the last face, but were defeated by the Rockets with a neat 4-0 and swept out.

Da Yao played his best game since his comeback in Game 4, playing 25 minutes, shooting 12-of-16 and 4-of-4 free throws, scoring 28 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

In this game, the Warriors made some attempts to change the lineup, reducing Cousins' playing time and bringing defensive stalwart Bogut off the bench to limit Yao's play on the inside.

As a result, stealing chickens did not become counter-erosion, and Da Yao played better in the face of Bogut, which was simply hanging up and fighting.

However, at the last critical moment, Wang Chao was a little worried about what disgusting off-the-board tricks Bogut was playing, so he replaced Da Yao early in the fourth quarter of the game, after all, there is one thing to say, the title of the Golden State Wushu team is really not for nothing, from Bogut to Green to Zaza. Pachuria, dirty movements that set in a set.

Although the world is as black as a crow, the Bulls dynasty has Oakley, Rodman escorts, and the Spurs have Bowen, this kind of player itself is part of the NBA game, and there is no way to avoid it, so you can only avoid risks as much as possible.

The Warriors were swept 4-0 out, and the Rockets became the first team to reach the division finals.

On the Eastern side, the Heat and Pacers both had the absolute upper hand in their respective series matchups, but neither could sweep their opponents, both leading 3-1 and about to play Game 5.

The other set of matchups in the semifinals of the Western Division, Spurs vs Thunder, is another tragic battle.

Of these two teams, the Spurs have an absolute interior advantage, while the Thunder have Durant and Westbrook shining stars.

The two teams are currently tied 2-2 and won at their respective home stadiums, and the next game is the battle of Tianwang Mountain at the home stadium of the Spurs.

On May 13, the Spurs, who had the home court advantage, successfully defended their home court, narrowly defeated the Thunder with a score of 105:104 and won the crucial fifth battle of Tianwang Mountain.

Wang Chao has to admire, Popovich is really strong, in this series, Howard is really a bit of a superstar, averaging 24.6 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in 5 games, all thanks to the benefits of the Spurs' tactical system.

Of course, the Thunder's weak interior strength is also an important reason.

Perkins, the Thunder's starting center this season, is also 30 years old.

For most star players, 30 is still the peak of competitive form, but for a blue-collar interior player like Perkins, it is difficult to maintain the original form at 30.

That's what Perkins is.

This season, he can be described as old and slow on the court, averaging 4.9 rebounds per game, and scoring only 3.4 times, if it weren't for the weight of 122 kilograms, he still retains some rim protection ability, and the Thunder team really can't find a better replacement player, I'm afraid he would have kicked Perkins out of the team a long time ago.

In fact, by next season, the Thunder really couldn't stand Perkins anymore, so they traded him to the Cavaliers in the middle of the season, out of sight and out of mind.

Perkins was defenseless in the restricted area, whether facing Howard or Duncan, and let others want.

As for the Thunder's power forward, Ibaka, who was selected as the best defensive team this season, is good at defending small men on the outside, and is not proficient in interior defense, especially in the face of a player like Duncan who is skilled on the inside and Howard who crushes him in tonnage and body, and his performance is not much better than Perkins.

The Thunder can play the battle against the Spurs on the Kings Mountain, all supported by the individual abilities of Durant and Westbrook.

Especially Durant, the Spurs don't have Leonard's limitations, and Durant's scoring efficiency in this series is quite explosive, averaging 32 points per game in the first five games, and also has 5.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists.

And after losing the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Durant scored 37 points at home and led the team to tenaciously tie the score to 3:3.

The two sides ushered in a tiebreaker, which was also the Spurs' second tiebreaker after the first round with the Mavericks.

It stands to reason that the average age of the squad is older, and the Spurs, who played a tie-break in the first round, are at a physical disadvantage, although they should still have a slight advantage in terms of home court.

But in such critical moments, you can always trust GDP.

In the life-and-death tie-breaker, it was not Howard, the Spurs' new interior core, who stood up to turn the tide, but the old GDP triumvirate.

The 38-year-old Duncan was a far cry from Garnett, who was also 38, scoring 21 points and 16 rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting in the tiebreaker, including six offensive rebounds.

Ginobili 17 points and 8 assists, Tony. Parker scored 26 points and 5 assists on 12-of-21 shooting, plus Howard, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds despite being a bit of a stroke and playing soy sauce.

The Spurs scored double-doubles in a fierce overtime game, defeated the Thunder 112-107, won the tiebreaker, and successfully entered the Western Conference Finals.

Durant scored 34 points and 10 rebounds on 12-of-25 shooting in this game, and Westbrook also had 31 points and 8 assists, but he shot 8-of-23 from the field and shot only 34.8% from the field. Jackson two.

If you look more closely, you will be surprised to find that there are only 5 players who have scored in the whole game, except for the above four players who scored double-doubles, only the old fish Fisher has 5 points, and the rest of the players including Perkins, Collisson, Sofrosa and others all have 0 points.

Obviously, Durant was the best player in the whole game, but the Thunder were clearly not a better team than the Spurs, so the Spurs had the last laugh.

(End of chapter)