I just play ball

Chapter 475 Returning to Normal People
With a 3-0 advantage, the Lakers started the fourth game with the Clippers after a day off.

The momentum of the Clippers team plummeted. Griffin got a technical foul for deliberately pushing Landry at the beginning of the game. Paul's most stable field control attributes also disappeared. Clippers coach Rivers did not make any changes, and still carried out the rotation step by step, watching the Clippers trail behind by 12 points to end the first quarter.

Paul got better after re-appearing in the second quarter, but he couldn't hold back the loss of confidence of the Clippers team. Several exquisite passes, but none of them turned into assists. The Clippers fell behind more and more. Lost 27 points.

Perhaps it was Rivers' chicken soup master attribute that was brought into full play. After returning from the halftime break, the Clippers actually played an 8-0 offensive climax, but when Rivers shouted passionately, D'Antoni broke the routine and asked for a timeout.

That timeout was like pouring cold water on a hot iron. After the game resumed, the Clippers returned to the state of no momentum and lost confidence. Even Paul made a low-level error, and the game quickly entered the garbage time.

In the end, the Lakers won 119 to 98, and the series successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals 4 to 0.

On the same night, the Cavaliers defeated the Bulls 86-84, tying the series 2-2, and the battle of Tianwangshan was about to start.

...

After the promotion, the Lakers team had a half-day holiday.

On the afternoon of NO.11, the whole team gathered in the training hall to shoot and maintain their touch. After the end, they watched the Huoyong battle together.

Perhaps facing the threat of imminent elimination, the three superstars Harden, Howard, and Anthony broke out with super strength. The three made 15 of 12 shots in total. The defensive end also successfully restricted Curry and Barnes, winning the first quarter. 23 points.

Unexpectedly, the situation in the second quarter changed suddenly, and Curry became a pure runner. Thompson and Green made 13 of 11 shots in total, but the referee was crazy about the Warriors. Although Deng and others no longer feel good, the Warriors only won 10 points in a single quarter, which is far from reaching the point of reversing the situation.

After a half-minute break, the two teams returned to normal levels. With Curry getting five fouls and Green being forced to leave the game with a total of 6 fouls, the Warriors completely lost hope of chasing points. The Rockets finally won 128-115 and moved back to the One round.

Such a result is also in line with expectations. The Warriors did not lose to the Rockets, but to the league.

On the same night, the Eagles narrowly beat the Wizards, and they will also have a battle of kings.

...

Although the match between the Rockets and the Warriors has not yet been decided, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Rockets are not the Warriors' opponents at all, and they are three games behind.

The Lakers coaching staff began to collect relevant information about the Warriors this season. D'Antoni led Nash and others to analyze the Warriors' offensive routines, Madsen led Walton and several others to analyze the Warriors' defensive routines, and Li Yue and other players watched the technical analysis of the opposing players. In the video, all departments of the team regard the Warriors as the strongest opponent since the playoffs in the past three years.

After some research by the whole team, it was found that there are two biggest changes in the Warriors. One is the quality of defense, averaging 1.5 more steals per game and 1.0 more blocks per game, mainly due to Draymond Green; The number of three-pointers per game has increased from 23.8 to 27.2, and the shooting percentage has increased from 38% to 39.8%, mainly due to Curry.

Green's evolution, and Curry's growth, helped the Warriors become a team that could challenge the Lakers.

Most teams in the league adopt a strategy of emptying Green as much as possible while defending Curry with all their strength, but that is a pure gambling strategy. If Green feels hot, it is basically equal to giving points.

The Lakers have a strong defensive lineup, and there is no need to use gambling strategies, just study how to limit Curry with all their strength.

The infinite switch defense strategy was proposed again, and partial three defenses and two defenses were also mentioned, but no matter what kind of plan, the core idea is to increase physical confrontation and consume Curry from beginning to end. As long as Curry can't score consecutively quickly, everything will be fine. Take control.

...

In the evening of NO.13, Li Yuewo watched the fifth game between the Rockets and the Warriors on the sofa.

McHale took the initiative to change his strategy. After the opening, he arranged for Howard and Anthony to be the main players. Unfortunately, the two were a little lost amidst the crazy cheers of the Warriors fans. They made 9 of 3 shots and Harden only took 2 shots.

Fortunately, Curry and Green also performed poorly, and the Rockets ended the first quarter with a 5-point lead.

In the second quarter, Thompson and Barnes of the Warriors led the bench to show their power. The two made 12 of 8 shots, while Howard and Anthony continued to lose. Harden only took 3 shots. The Warriors won 11 points in a single quarter.

Back from the halftime break, McHale still didn't arrange for Harden to be the focus of the offense. Fortunately, Thompson and Barnes felt colder, and Curry and Green continued to play stretch performances, and the two teams actually drew.

In the fourth quarter of the game, Curry voluntarily gave up a three-pointer, changed to madly attacking the inside, and successfully made three fouls.

Harden still didn't have the right to shoot, the bench quarreled with McHale, and the Rockets completely collapsed.

In the end, the Warriors defeated the Rockets 104 to 90, and the series successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals 4 to 1.

Just after the game, Kobe posted a message in the group chat, reminding the whole team to enter the fighting state.

...

According to the schedule, there are still six full days to play in the Western Conference finals. The Lakers and Warriors are training in a low-key manner, but various media and fans start warming up in advance. The first highlight is ESPN's must-have for each round of the series predict.

Different from the completely one-sided state before, this time 21 experts cast a total of five results, and 14 predicted the Lakers' victory. No one predicted that there will be a 4-0 result, which is almost evenly matched.

Las Vegas's major bets on who the Lakers and Warriors can advance to are also relatively close.

ESPN launched a survey through Twitter and received nearly 24 votes within 80 hours. More than [-]% of the fans predicted that the Warriors would beat the Lakers.

With the Eagles and Cavaliers meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals, the executives of the other 26 teams in the league disclosed to TNT anonymously their predictions about their opponents in the finals. Only one predicted the Warriors and Cavaliers, and the others were all Lakers Cavaliers.

Experts, fans, and team executives, the opinions of the three parties are completely three results. It can be said that there are different opinions. Related topics occupy three hot search trends on Twitter, and last for four full days, accumulatively generating more than one million related comments.

The league then released a video interview about the predictions of current or retired players and coaches on the results of the two teams, including the two former Warriors coaches Nelson and Mark Jackson. The biggest reason for beating the Lakers 4-3 is that Cole has found a way to limit Li Yue.

The mysterious appearance of the two caused a lot of associations among fans. Cole said in an interview: "Our defensive plan is not to completely lock Li Yue, but to pull Li Yue from the altar and let him return to ordinary people."

(End of this chapter)