Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 787
On May 5, the first game of the Western Conference Finals officially kicked off at the Oracle Arena, home of the Warriors.

As the opponent of the Warriors, the Rockets are undoubtedly respectable. They have eliminated the second and third in the West from the sixth in the West, which can be described as the biggest dark horse of the season.

However, the reason why such astonishing results can be achieved is, in the final analysis, strength.

As a veritable dual-core team, both Olajuwon and Drexler are future Hall of Fame stars.

Not only that, both of them have entered the finals when they led the team respectively, and their strength is obvious to all.

In addition to these two stars, the Rockets' starting lineup is equally strong, and the point guard is Kenny Smith.

To be honest, the guard nicknamed "Jet" is hard to associate with the word star. The offense is not invincible, and the defense is not airtight. It seems that he is just a qualified starting vacancy. .

However, only the feet know whether the shoes fit. For Olajuwon, Kenny Smith may not be the best vacancy, but it is definitely the most suitable for him.

Kenny Smith has two unique skills, tireless running and a heart-piercing three-pointer. With him on the court, opponents dare not easily double-team Olajuwon.

It can be said that Smith plays an irreplaceable role in Olajuwon's Rockets.

At shooting guard, the Rockets' starting guard is Vernon Maxwell.

Like Kenny Smith, Maxwell is naturally not a star, but he also has an excellent long-range shooting ability and is born with a big heart.

In addition to his role in offense, Maxwell is also a very strong defensive master on defense. It can be said that he is the core defensive figure of the Rockets' perimeter.

Finally, at the power forward position, since Olajuwon's old teammate Otis Thorpe was traded away as a bargaining chip when trading Drexler, the Rockets can be said to be at the power forward position. The weakest point is currently Tracy Murray, a newcomer traded from the Blazers.

Although Tracy Murray is currently averaging only 4.8 points per game, as a space four with a 46% three-point shooting percentage, he can help the Rockets as long as he is on the court.

It can be said that although the Rockets' lineup is not star-studded, each position performs its own duties and can complement each other's strengths, so their strength is by no means what their regular season rankings show.

Compared with the Rockets, the Warriors still have a regular lineup tonight. As a strong team, they have this confidence and will not easily change their lineup for the sake of their opponents, because they all believe that their lineup is the strongest .

In the jump ball stage at the beginning of the game, although Olajuwon was 32 years old and his height was still lower than that of Divac, he still easily won the jump ball with Divac.

To win the first offensive opportunity for the team, Kenny Smith was very cautious, and did not launch a fast break to catch the Warriors by surprise.

Of course, this is also related to the Warriors retreating quickly.

As a team that launches fast breaks all day long, naturally no one knows fast breaks better than them, so they were ready to retreat as early as when the two sides jumped the ball.

Well, there is no disrespect for Divac's bounce here.

And when Smith got the ball, three Warriors had already retreated, so even if Smith wanted to launch a fast break, it was too late.

After dribbling the ball for halftime, Smith stopped and watched Olajuwon enter the inside to get a good position for the ball, and then he distributed the ball to the inside.

Although Olajuwon's body has passed its peak, his skills and tactics and his understanding of basketball have reached the peak of his life. Therefore, when Olajuwon got the ball, his whole state appeared to be in perfect condition. Loose and fairly casual with the ball.

But it was this way of handling the ball as he wanted, which made Divac behind him break out in a cold sweat, because in Divac's view, almost every move of Olajuwon was a threat, and the huge force produced after the matchup The pressure made Divac even breathless.

Divac and the four major centers have faced each other. It stands to reason that after these years of fighting, they are already very familiar with each other, but the momentum shown by Olajuwon at this time makes Divac feel that he is facing It's not Olajuwon, but Li Weisi or Jordan.

This aura of an absolute strongman made Divac a little at a loss.

I saw Olajuwon dribbled twice in a row, and seeing no one around him double-teamed him, he immediately launched his own offensive.

He first shook his shoulders to the left, then turned to the right, and made a fake shot. At this time, Divac, who was nervous, jumped up without any surprise.

Therefore, Olajuwon took advantage of the situation to receive the ball, without moving his pivot foot, took a step forward with his left foot, and easily put the ball into the basket.

The whole process was smooth and smooth, and once the dreamy footsteps that had been accomplished were used, the defender was either shaken into a fool, or seemed to be a cripple who couldn't jump.

The Rockets' offense is clean and it seems to be very easy to score. The Warriors seem to have nothing to do.

Then it was the Warriors' turn to attack.

Facing Olajuwon, who has the best defense in history, Divac is quite self-aware. He doesn't go into the penalty area at all. When he comes near the three-point line, he stops.

Li Weisi seemed to be planning to hand the ball to Divac after halftime, and even this fake action made Kenny Smith, who was defending him, think so.

But this was just a fake move, Li Weisi suddenly pulled the ball to the right, and then took advantage of Smith's inattention, and completed a breakthrough from Smith's right.

A successful breakthrough does not mean that Li Weisi can sit back and relax, because he is facing Olajuwon who came to help defend.

As a big center with a height of 213cm, he can actually get 1.8 steals per game this season. This steal is placed on the outside, which is also a very good steal data.

This is due to the reaction speed trained as a goalkeeper when he was a child, coupled with his excellent lateral speed, projectile speed and core strength, he has a defensive area far beyond ordinary people.

When he met Li Weisi, Li Weisi couldn't break through Olajuwon's defense at all with a crossover. Due to the delay in breaking through, Li Weisi had to slow down, causing Smith behind him to catch up.

A moment later, Li Weisi actually fell into the situation of being double-teamed.

But at this moment, Li Weisi suddenly hit the ground and passed the ball from Olajuwon's crotch.

"Oops!" Olajuwon's expression changed immediately, because he already understood that Li Weisi did it on purpose, using himself as a bait to make a noise.

And when Olajuwon turned around, he saw that Divac had easily layup with the ball, 2:2, just after the start of the game, the stars of the two teams refused to give in to each other, each showing their unique skills.

(End of this chapter)