In the East, after six games against the Heat, the Cavaliers finally fell in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Wang Shuo, who has watched the Eastern Conference semifinals all the way, is impressed by the progress made by the Cavaliers this year.

This season, the Lakers played against the Cavaliers at the beginning of the regular season, and at that time, in Wang Shuo's opinion, as long as the Lakers were a little more serious, the Cavaliers were not a team that could cause problems for the Lakers.

But assuming that the current Cavaliers and Lakers play a series, even Wang Shuo does not dare to pack tickets, the Lakers will definitely be able to get the Cavaliers within six games.

Under Malone, in addition to my obvious improvements, Griffin's progress this season has been equally impressive.

Griffin, who can attack with the ball on the outside frame, can also sit in the low post and play alone, and at the same time can organize and coordinate the team's offense, is exactly the same as Jokic in Wang Shuo's memory.

Unlike many coaches in the NBA who like to "pick peaches".

Although Wang Shuo remembers that when he was expelled from Cleveland with his old father, Brandon Malone, Malone was just a garbage coach in the eyes of a certain big star......

But in Wang Shuo's previous life, Jokic was able to become the active No. 1 center in the NBA before he crossed over, and in Wang Shuo's view, Ma Long's cultivation of Jokic was absolutely indispensable.

It can even be said that Jokic was completely cultivated by Malone from the novice village and trained all the way to a super center at full level.

Historically, in the 15/16 season, after picking up the whip from Denver, Malone first worked with Nuggets management to select Jokic and Nurkic to focus on development.

Then, as Jokic evolved, Malone kept instilling his coaching philosophy in him.

And gradually develop him into an all-round modern center forward.

Blessed are the fans of "Silly Fen" in this life.

Because Ma Long's coaching philosophy has decided, as long as "Silly Fen" dares to absorb the basketball concept instilled in him by Ma Long......

In the future, when Jokic plays, he will most likely be called "Griffin Jr."

In addition, the combat effectiveness shown by the Heat in the game with the Cavaliers also made Wang Shuo, who has been sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight this year, feel a little vigilant.

In this series with the Cavaliers, Wang Shuo is fully willing to call the Heat's Miami duo the strongest forward and guard combination in the NBA in the 21st century.

Against the forward line of Deng, Bradley and Westbrook, Anthony and Wade not only played their own characteristics in the game, but they also always led their teammates on the court.

Bosh averaged 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the Heat in this series.

Despite the fact that his scoring is not up to the standard of a superstar's interior teammate, Bosh shot 58 percent overall in this series.

In addition, Gortat and Ginobili also played their worth in this series.

The former also didn't score much, averaging only 8.5 points per game in this round of Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cavaliers.

However, the tactical literacy he cultivated during his time with the Knicks allowed him to always help Wade attack the Cavaliers' defense through the famous "West pick-and-roll" on the court.

As for Ginobili?

Truth be told, compared to Bosh ......

Ginobili is clearly the third leader of this Heat team.

In Wang Shuo's view, Ginobili is to the Heat what West is to the Knicks.

This Argentine demon knife can not only get enough rest time for Anthony and Wade, but it even has a certain probability of leading the Heat bench to kill the game directly.

Fortunately.

No matter how many surprises the Heat have created in this year's NBA game, after successfully advancing to the Eastern Conference finals......

Wang Shuo believes that the Pacers, who just eliminated the Knicks with a score of 4-3 in the tiebreaker, will not let them pass easily.

This year's eastern part is indeed full of all kinds of grievances and hatreds.

In the series with the Pacers, although the Knicks without Yao Ming still dragged the Pacers into a tiebreaker, the Knicks, who relied more on the inside in terms of game style, still lost to their physical fitness like last year.

The Pacers' idea of winning is very similar to that of the Lakers in last season's Finals.

That is, find a way to replace the Knicks' inside score with outside scoring, and then find a way to drag the Knicks into a war of attrition to kill the Knicks.

If the "young player" Duncan at this moment is the Duncan who just fished ashore when Wang Shuo coached the Knicks, then in Wang Shuo's opinion, even if there is no Xiaoyao, Duncan will most likely bring the Knicks to the Eastern Finals.

However......

For Duncan, who is now 35 years old.

No matter how consistent his performance on the court is, without the stable output provided by Xiao Yao, he has to abide by the basic rules of the NBA veteran.

As it turns out, time is the key to beating this Knicks team.

After all, in this world, even Michael Jordan in Wang Shuo's memory can't escape the sanctions imposed on him by the years.

Next, the Eastern Conference Finals will be played out between the Heat and the Pacers, two bitter rivals who have died no longer in recent years.

The Lakers' opponent in the Western Conference was the Grizzlies who eliminated the Thunder in an "upset" after seven games with the Thunder.

If you only look at the regular season rankings of the two teams, the elimination of the third place in the West and the second place in the West is not an upset.

But before the start of the series between the Thunder and the Grizzlies, because most people, including Wang Shuo, were more optimistic about the Thunder, the Grizzlies fought back against the Thunder this time......

You can completely understand that Thunder head coach Brooks has already ordered a cappuccino for his aunt who is in charge of cleaning the court......

But who would have thought that the grizzly bear, who didn't talk much, directly performed the art of seventeen-card seconds killing for the Thunder on the spot.

I have to say that Brooks' coaching ability is really average.

Because even Wang Shuo admits that this Grizzlies is a very competitive team......

However, as far as the current lineup of the Thunder is concerned, Wang Shuo really can't understand how Brooks managed to overturn the Thunder, a galaxy battleship.

When reviewing the footage of the Thunder-Grizzlies game, Vogel and Schneider were shocked.

Because in the case of the Grizzlies' dominance on the inside, both of them don't understand why Brooks arranged for Rose to be the main offense in this round of the series, instead of giving Durant more balls.

Be.

Durant's fitness groove is not as long as Kobe's.

But is there a possibility that in the semifinals against the Grizzlies, Durant averaged only about 16 shots per game......

And didn't reach his own limits?

In Wang Shuo's memory, neither Stephen Jackson nor Sean Battier could effectively limit Durant's shooting percentage on the court in their career records with Durant.

Durant played these two guys, and he had an overall shooting percentage of 50% and 48% respectively in his career.

And, that's when you count Durant's early career leveling phase.

On the court, if it is against Battier, Durant can completely ignore Battier's defense.

Because no matter how good Battier's defensive skills are and how good his defensive awareness is, Durant's alignment with him is a natural misalignment.

In the 11/12 season, the Spurs, who used Jackson to deal with Durant, allowed Durant to score nearly 30 points per game on more than 50% shooting from the field in that famous Western Conference Finals.

Model-wise, Jackson is indeed barely able to match Durant.

But as he gets older, it's impossible for Jackson to be able to keep up with Durant on the court.

Because as a historic scoring machine, Durant is difficult to defend against ...... The catch-and-shoot he gets after running off the ball is a scoring opportunity that you have to give him on the court.

Admittedly, you can complain about Durant's staying power.

But in terms of scoring consistency, Durant definitely deserves the praise given to him by the world.

In this round of the series with the Grizzlies, in Wang Shuo's opinion, Brooks is somewhat taken for granted.

Because in Brooks' eyes, compared with the Grizzlies, the Thunder's biggest advantage is Rose, so in the game, Brooks handed over the burden of the team's offense on the court to this "Rose of the Russian City" for seven consecutive games.

However, after several years of leveling......

Although in this series, Lowry can't do anything to prevent Rose.

But in terms of personal data, he averaged "17+7" excel per game, and in a sense, he completed the redemption with Rose, who averaged "25+8" for the Thunder per game.

In addition, Brooks' overly simplistic offensive routine also makes the Grizzlies, who are known for their defense, always use defense to effectively limit their scoring on the court.

Therefore, after watching the game footage of this round of the series, Wang Shuo can only say that the Thunder lost not unjustly at all.

After all, it is not uncommon in the NBA for one general to be incompetent and exhausted to death.

……

According to the schedule, the Western Conference Finals will start on May 21.

The Lakers, who have the best regular season record, first home and then away, with a format of 22111.

Facing the Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers will have a certain psychological advantage.

Because counting last year's playoffs......

The Lakers have won a total of seven of their last eight games against the Grizzlies.

In the NBA, whether it is in the past life or in the present life, except for the rookie season, Xiao Jia has never let Jefferson bargain in front of him.

Milicic also doesn't like to play against Garnett in the game.

In this life, Milicic, who is known as the "Serbian National Treasure", is a small forward disguised as a big forward.

His offensive methods on the court are mostly "pseudo-hard solutions", and Garnett, who is tall and has long arms, is just very restrained by him.

In the previous 14 career games between the two, Milicic averaged only 12.5 points per game and shot only 42% from the field.

In addition, the Grizzlies' forward line will not take advantage of the Lakers either.

Because even if Lowry can continue his excellent performance this year in the Western Conference finals, he can't do it with Curry and Ellis.

And what's more, the Grizzlies still have to focus on Kobe Bryant when defending?

As long as the Grizzlies' twin towers can't play an advantage in front of the Lakers' double-plus combination, then this round of the series, in Wang Shuo's eyes, is a series in which as long as the Lakers don't wave, the Lakers will most likely advance 4-0.

On the evening of the 21st, the G1 match of the two teams kicked off at the Staples Center.

Before the game, veteran coach Lionel Hollins hoped that the Grizzlies' players would be able to show the momentum of the previous Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

And after the game started, the Grizzlies players did let the Lakers fans in the scene see their attitude towards this round of the series.

It was at the end of the first quarter that Curry suddenly started a three-point rain at the Staples Center......

The Grizzlies players on the court have fallen into a state of numbness.

Wang Shuo's previous life, in the NBA, if you want to choose who has the strongest instantaneous explosive ability, then everyone will definitely have the strongest super scorer in their minds.

But......

If you choose whose instant burst will be the most demoralizing of the opposing defender.

No matter how many times he picks, Wang Shuo will choose Stephen Curry.

At the end of the first quarter, when the Grizzlies players were concentrating on defending on the court, Curry was first a meter away from the three-point line, and then sniped out after borrowing Gasol Jr.'s cover.

Before Curry made a shot, the Lakers' offensive time was only 4 seconds.

However, in front of the defense, which couldn't find a problem even if Larry Brown came this time, Curry's three-point shot was hollow into the net.

Then, in the next offensive round, after receiving Kobe's breakthrough point, Curry did not make adjustments, and scored another difficult three-pointer in front of Milicic, who had already assisted in defense, on the outside.

On the court, when Curry hit the three-pointer, the Grizzlies players on the court all had helpless expressions.

But what is more helpless than helplessness is......

In the next offensive round for the Lakers, Stephen Curry dribbled past half court and suddenly hit another three-pointer for the Lakers without warning near the logo area.

CCTV, Yang Yi, who was in charge of commenting the game, sighed: "After half time, Stephen Curry's attack range is over, how do you let the defenders defend?" ”

When Curry's hand is smooth, don't look at his "Xia Jiba throw", Wang Shuo also wants to rush to the court to give him a kick......

But you have to admit it.

Once this kind of three-point goal is scored, it will be a devastating blow to the morale of the defense.

But do you think that's the end of Curry's performance?

In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers' last attack, because there was little offensive time left, I saw Curry shoot directly after receiving the ball in the backcourt.

This ball, when Curry used all his strength to push the ball into the sky, the fans in the Staples Center all stood up in the arc of the basketball flying in the air.

And then......

They witnessed Curry's long-range three-point shot into the net.

Generally speaking, this kind of backcourt three-point is in the NBA......

People will call it a balloon.

But as an NBA backcourt three-point professional, when the backcourt long-range three-point meets Curry, it's hard not to say that this is a kind of strength.

Wang Shuo is very clear that Curry will often practice this kind of backcourt long-range three-point in addition to shooting training.

And the most outrageous thing is......

Curry even consistently hits back-to-back three-pointers in practice.

At the end of the first quarter, with Curry's three-point rain, the Lakers entered the second quarter with an 11-point advantage.

In the second quarter of the game, Ellis's success in staggering the peak caused the Grizzlies players to feel further despair.

The defensive system of veteran coach Hollins in the face of the fierce output of the Lakers' outside line can only be described as being beaten to the point of doubting life on this night.

In the G1 game of the Western Conference finals, the Lakers didn't even need Kobe Bryant's shot to build a 25-point lead in the first half.

At halftime, Miami, because tomorrow will usher in the Eastern Conference finals with the Pacers, Riley, who is taking the young Shuai to study the Lakers, is "jade" in an instant.

Boy!

We are fighting for the blood in the east, but you are here to formulaically chop melons and vegetables?

In Riley's view, compared to the desperate Knicks back then, because the Lakers are still in the evolutionary stage, there are many heroes in the East who can touch them.

But here's the problem......

After fighting his way out of the too involuted east......

Even if the Eastern heroes, whose overall strength will inevitably be damaged, can get to the Lakers, they will definitely not be in a full state.

So, do you want to say that any success in this world is inseparable from "time, place, and people"?

In the G1 game of the Western Conference finals, the Grizzlies and Lakers finished with a score of 101-124.

A day later, in the G2 game between the two teams, the Lakers defeated the Grizzlies again with almost the same script.

Compared to G1, the Grizzlies resisted one more section this time.

But with the second half of the second quarter, Kobe Bryant suddenly found the feeling of scoring, scoring 14 points in a row for the Lakers, and this G2 game suddenly lost its suspense.

Two days later, the Lakers-Grizzlies Western Conference Finals moved to Memphis.

This time, the Grizzlies, who were sitting at home, finally relied on the advantage of their home court to play the decisive moment of the final quarter with the Lakers.

Milicic and Jefferson both played at their level this time.

The former shot 9-of-19, including free throws and three-pointers, for a total of 27 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the Grizzlies.

The latter shot 10-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line to finish with 27 points, plus 14 rebounds.

It's a pity that at the last moment of the last quarter, Green's unfinished "Grimm fairy tale" killed the game for the Lakers in one fell swoop.

With 1:31 left in the final quarter, Green first received a pass from Kobe Bryant and hit a key three-pointer for the Lakers.

Then in the next offensive round, Green, who was ambushed in the bottom corner, received another ball from Garnett and fired again for the Lakers.

These two three-pointers made the score gap between the Grizzlies and the Lakers on the court from 4 points to double digits.

In the end, 118-108, the Lakers captured Memphis on the road, and the series led 3-0.

After this game, the morale of the Grizzlies players completely fell to a low point.

On the 29th, in the G4 game of the Western Finals between the two teams, the Lakers were not polite to the little brother of the Grizzlies, and won another game with a score of 135-106, and completed the sweep of the Grizzlies with a total score of 4-0.

Three-round series, 4-0 in three rounds.

The defending champion Lakers made it to the Finals in this year's Western Conference playoffs!

And at the same time......

In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat and Pacers unsurprisingly tied each other's first four games 2-2.

This season, the Eastern teams that have been moving forward with a heavy load are in stark contrast to the Lakers who have been quiet for years.

Although in terms of overall strength, the Heat are stronger than the Pacers.

But in the face of the Pacers players chanting "friendship, youth, bond", even though Anthony and Wade turned on the "Shen Zhao Yun" and "Shen Ma Chao" modes respectively......

In this round of the series, it will be difficult for the Heat to pass easily.

According to the schedule, the battle between the two teams will be held on May 31.

Right now......

Wang Shuo can take out snacks again and start a new round of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight.

If you don't understand, just ask, is this the NBA playoffs?

How does it feel......

Is it easier for the Lakers than to play the regular season?