I’m Really Playing Basketball - Chapter 887
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On May 18, 2022, the home court of the Golden State Warriors, the God of Basketball Arena, at this time, the players of the Warriors and the Lakers had warmed up and walked to the court.
At this time, the starters of the two teams were also played on the big screen at the scene.
The Lakers on the road will start with center Jokic, forward Lowe, Siakam, guard Leonard, and point guard Paul George.
The Warriors’ starting lineup is center Chen Xiao, forward Marvin Barkley, Wiggins, guard Herbert Jones, and Klai Thompson.
This year’s Western Conference finals is the fourth consecutive year that the Warriors and Lakers meet in the Western Conference finals.
For the first three years, the Warriors lost to the Lakers in the end.
So, for the two teams, they are all too familiar with each other.
Therefore, on the Lakers side, they did not start with Lowry or Wade Jr., and on the Warriors side, they also did not start with Morant.
Let’s just put it this way, for the Lakers, it’s understandable not to be a point guard. After all, Lowry is also old now, and Lowe’s current strength is indeed worthy of the starting lineup, and also worthy of the Lakers’ starting system.
The point is that the Warriors didn’t start Morant, which was a surprise.
After all, Morant is the Warriors’ second-in-command.
And this season, Morant has shown his excellent ability on the defensive end and excellent control of the game in the duel against his fateful opponents Curry and Trae Young.
Although Morant’s ability has not increased much this season, his control of the game has indeed improved greatly.
But obviously, in the Western Conference finals in the past three years, the matchup between the Warriors and the Lakers, Morant is indeed a very unfavorable point for the Warriors.
Morant’s characteristic is that he can assault, break through, and impact.
But Morant’s shooting ability is not stable enough.
But against the Lakers, such a rush is useless, because the Lakers don’t give you any space to rush.
Jokic is guarding at the basket, surrounded by Siakam, Leonard, Lowe and Paul George. There is simply no small guard in this world who can beat the Lakers defense with a breakthrough.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Morant, or James Harden, or Rose, or Westbrook.
Against the Lakers, you have to have good and consistent shooting in everyone.
For the Warriors, playing the Lakers, offense and outside shooting are the lifeline of the team. If the offense can’t be opened and the defense is hard, no one can beat the Lakers.
The classic finals between the Lakers and the Bucks last season ended 4-2. How did the Bucks beat the Lakers?
Is it on defense?
No, it depends on the offense. The offense of the team’s Big Three, Durant, Antetokounmpo, and Curry. The three of them scored 40+ 6 times in six games.
Yes, Antetokounmpo, restrained by Durant and Curry, used a breakthrough to burst Paul George and Siakam.
Coupled with the great power of Durant and Curry, the defense of the Lakers, the strongest defense team, was directly crushed by the Bucks’ offense.
Morant, it’s impossible to be like Antetokounmpo, this is still on the offensive end, and on the defensive end, Morant is farther away from Antetokounmpo.
In the Finals last season, Antetokounmpo was able to guard five Lakers players by himself, and the defensive end was everywhere.
But Morant, facing the Lakers’ five players, may not be able to defend one.
Therefore, Morant is very acceptable to substitute for himself, and Kerr did not lie to him. The victory or defeat of the Warriors in this series really depends on the rotation he leads.
To be honest, even if the Warriors line up such a starting lineup, Kerr has no confidence in whether he can beat the Lakers in the starting lineup.
It should be said that the Warriors have a great chance of not being able to fight for the starting lineup.
In this case, the rotation of Morant, Poole, Alexander, Michael Porter Jr., Anthony, pj Tucker, Jeff Green becomes extremely important.
By the way, PJ Tucker, should not be considered a rotation, he will rotate with Herbert Jones and Wiggins.
The trio is very important to the Paul George Leonard defense.
Whether it can be prevented or not is not important. What is important is consumption. It consumes the two of them, so that they cannot help Lowry and the Lakers in the bench rotation stage.
As long as these two don’t play productively for 40 minutes a game, the Warriors have a chance to use their absence or inability to play productively to their roster advantage.
The Warriors played the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals this time, and they fought for the thickness of the lineup.
Let’s just put it this way, this Laker is one of the teams with the thickest lineup that Chen Xiao has ever stayed for. It’s about the same.
So, after clarifying these things, it is clear how the Warriors should play this game and this series.
Therefore, as soon as this game came up, the Warriors’ starter directly increased the intensity of the Lakers.
When defending, Chen Xiao was even wrestling with Jokic.
Just like pj Tucker defending Durant, your athletic ability, height and bounce are not as good as your opponents, you can only fight fiercely, of course, casual fierceness is not enough, you need to rely on defensive skills for support, pj Tucker, leopard print It’s all defensive.
Therefore, Chen Xiao, who has lost his bounce and sufficient explosive power, needs to have enough strength to consume these big centers when defending Jokic’s tall inside lines.
This is on the defensive end, but on the offensive end, because Jokic didn’t dare to guard, the Warriors can shoot each other, so five-on-four outside, no matter how strong the opposing defensive rotation is, there is still a chance. Chen Xiao faces West Asia. Cam, Leonard and Paul George, Lowe’s one-on-one defense, it’s not easy to play any one of them.
But as long as you cooperate a few times and pass the ball out, you can find teammates with a little vacancy.
As long as these teammates are decisive enough when attacking, they can seize this opportunity.
Therefore, this requires enough confidence in his shooting. If it is Morant, as long as he is not confident in his shooting, the Lakers’ defense can rotate in place, and the Warriors’ offense will not be able to play.
This is the defensive strategy of the Warriors in this game, this series, on the defensive end, desperately defending at the expense of physical strength and consumption, and on the offensive end, the role players must be decisive and confident to make crazy shots when they receive a pass from Chen Xiao.
If you make a move, you will have a chance to get in. If you don’t make a move, you won’t get in.
As for the starting lineup of the Warriors, to what extent they can finally play, it can only be seen by the sky, and it is up to the people to obey the destiny.
If the starter shoots, the game is won.
If you can’t shoot, try not to lose too much, and the bench lineup can still catch up.
Of course, the Warriors are very well prepared for this series and know the Lakers very well. Similarly, Kobe and the Lakers are not clear about the Warriors.
So, the key to the Lakers winning this series is simple.
On the offensive end, singles, Jokic used his height to single against Chen Xiao, Paul George and Leonard used the pick-and-roll to single against the Warriors’ soft persimmons.
Siakam and Lowe, on the other hand, used their athletic ability and rebounding ability to frantically search for opportunities to grab a second attack.
Let’s just put it this way, the Lakers’ three-person singles and two-person rebounds and second-offense tactics were specially prepared for the Warriors without a big center and a high inside line.
In the past three years, the Lakers have used this trick to kill the Warriors for three years.
This time, the Lakers will definitely do it again.
After all, this trick is too useful.
On the defensive end, the Lakers are also simple, that is, Leonard, Paul George, Siakam and Lowe, run faster, and don’t give the other players of the Warriors the slightest space.
In the end, let the Warriors put the attack on Chen Xiao, and let Chen Xiao face Leonard, or the defense of Lowe, Siakam, Paul George, and crazy strong shots.
Therefore, for the Lakers, the goal of this series is also simple, offensive end, grab, defensive end, run!
Therefore, these two teams, who know each other so well, meet again in the playoffs, and this series is almost like an acceleration.
Since there is no room for adjustment every game, pundits and fans don’t expect any adjustments from either team.
This set of two teams is to finish this series.
In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers players worked **** the defensive end. On the offensive end, Siakam and Lowe also won Marvin Bagley and Wiggins after Jokic suppressed Chen Xiao. , the Lakers beat the Warriors 118-110.
In this game, the Lakers did a very good job both offensively and defensively, especially on the defensive end.
For example, Robert Williams, the defensive end sent four blocks in this game. You must know that the Warriors players are decisive enough to receive a pass from Chen Xiao, but they can still be blocked by Lowe four times, you can see How fast his defense rotates.
In this game, the Warriors actually lost because the offense was not turned on, and the defense could not grab it, which is predictable.
And against singles, the Warriors are also very good at defending. Leonard is 10 of 24, Paul George is 7 of 17, and Jokic is 8 of 16. These are actually acceptable.
Wiggins, Herbert Jones and PJ Tucker all did a good job defending, and Klai’s defense was a surprise.
Kelai’s athletic ability has declined, but his defensive skills have become even better. Leonard was frantically looking for Kelai to play in this game, but Kelai’s strength is strong and his height is not bad. In addition, Leonard His athletic ability is not so strong. In the face of Kelai, who has excellent defensive skills, the effect of singles is average.
So, in Game 1, the Warriors lost on the starting offense, Wiggins was 5 of 15, Claire was 6 of 14, Marvin Bagley was 3 of 12, and Herbert Jones was 2 of 6.
Except for Chen Xiao, the other four did not open the attack.
Even Chen Xiao was forced to make a lot of strong shots in this game, and he only made 10 of 25 shots when he felt okay, and 7 of 15 three-pointers, yes, 10 of 2-pointers. In 3, with Chen Xiao’s mid-range ability, his hand feel is okay. With such a hit rate, it can be seen how strong the Lakers defense is in the three-point line.
Chen Xiao made a mid-range shot. Not only was there a defender in front of him, but there was always one or even two long hands on the side to interfere.
The less accurate his teammates are, the stronger the defense around him.
It can only be said that in this game, Chen Xiao made 10 of 25, 7 of 15 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored the highest 33 points in the game. This is really trying his best.
In G2, the Lakers and the Warriors fought again. In this game, neither team changed their style of play, and the players of the two teams almost continued the state of the previous game.
The Lakers’ offense can’t be played in singles, and even after the last game, this game was more strictly defended. If the player’s hand does not break out, the opponent is more familiar with you, and it is naturally more difficult to play.
So in this game, the Lakers’ two singles players, Leonard and Paul George, only shot 9-for-20 and 8-for-20, while Jokic was the fastest to drop. , In this game, there was only one day off. Jokic even felt that he had not recovered, and his hand was very poor. The audience was only 3 of 10, and all kinds of storms were missed.
In this case, although Siakam and Lowe are not restrained by the three heads, it is difficult to grab better.
After all, your family’s three main singles defenses are enough. Naturally, it is impossible to attract help defenses. Wiggins and Marvin Bagley are not distracted, and they can concentrate on protecting rebounds.
Therefore, the Lakers grabbed 8 offensive rebounds in this game.
The offense did not open, but the defense, the Lakers still did a good job.
The Lakers players ran at all costs, allowing Chen Xiao to score 9 of 24, 6 of 18 three-pointers, 8 of 8 free throws, and scored 32 points with a very low hit rate.
This hit rate appears on Chen Xiao, and it appears twice in a row. This is an incredible thing.
As for Chen Xiao’s teammates, the offense was even worse in this game. Klai was 4 of 19, Wiggins was 4 of 12, Marvin Bagley was 4 of 10, and Herbert Jones was 0 of 3.
As far as the offensive situation of the two teams in this game is concerned, the last two teams will definitely not get 100 points.
But in the end, the Warriors beat the Lakers 109-98 at home.
The reason is simple, of course the rotation won.
Morant went 8 of 14 and scored 17 points.
Poole, Anthony and Michael Porter Jr. and Alexander combined for nine 3-pointers.
In the case of the Warriors’ main force losing to the Lakers, Morant led the rotation, and this game greatly defeated the Lakers’ rotation.
At their own home, relying on a stronger lineup, they tenaciously pulled back to a big score of 1:1.
However, for the Warriors, losing a home game is a very dangerous thing.
If you can’t get a game back in the Lakers away game, there is a risk of being 1-3 behind.
Therefore, the next two home games of the Lakers will definitely be up for grabs.
On May 22, Staples, the Lakers’ first home game, gave the Warriors a blowout!
The Lakers players who returned to the home court for this game were very excited. UUkanshu www.uukanshu.com spared no effort on the defensive end. The Warriors’ starting offense still failed to open, and the touch did not explode. Once again, the main force could only rely on Chen Xiao to attack.
The Lakers players returned to the home court, Leonard, Paul George, Jokic, all three scored 25+ in this game, and the three of them opened up, directly starting the offense of Siakam and Lowe.
In the end, the Lakers’ main force can be said to be the main force that slaughtered the Warriors.
In the final game, the Lakers defeated the Warriors 120-105.
When the game ended, the Warriors fell behind 1-2, and the entire public opinion fell one-sidedly to the Lakers.
Even the fans of the Warriors are already a little desperate.
To be fair, G3 can be said to have magnified the Lakers’ advantage to the extreme.
The Lakers’ offense was fully opened, three main singles were opened, and two role players followed, and then the substitute Lowry performed well, and the defense was also blocked.
It can be said that the Lakers in this game played everything that should be played, and it seems that the Warriors cannot win at all.
Therefore, the public opinion is so pessimistic at this time.
However, for the Warriors, the interior is still relatively calm.
Because Chen Xiao smiled and told everyone at the end of the game.
“The Lakers can’t be better next game, and we can’t be worse.”
Yes, when Chen Xiao said with a smile that we still had a chance, the Warriors players believed it.
Moreover, in the past three games, they could still win one game when they were so strong, which was actually beyond their expectations.
Their future can’t be worse!
“Yes, we still have a chance!”