Chapter 364 Crazy crushing (10,000-word chapter)

On May 8, the semifinals continued. The Clippers took two days of rest and set off for San Antonio in the morning.

However, the fans were more concerned about the evening game that day. The completion of the two semi-finals once again aroused heated discussion among the fans.

At 96:99, the Bulls, playing at home, defeated the Cavaliers with difficulty.

With three seconds left before the end, the Bulls sent a sideline ball from the frontcourt. Derrick Rose faced the defense and hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc, killing the Cavaliers!

The United Center exploded instantly, and Bulls fans celebrated wildly.

Rose, who completed the buzzer-beater, had an expressionless face and a calm look, once again showing off his superstar style.

After losing the game, LeBron James seemed a little helpless. He had tried his best in 44 minutes of playing time.

8 of 25, 1 of 7 from beyond the arc, 10 of 11 free throws, 27 points, 8 rebounds, 14 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 7 turnovers. Although the efficiency was not high, James did support the Cavaliers' offense.

As a rookie in the playoffs, Kyrie Irving performed poorly, shooting 3 of 13 and only scoring 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 turnovers.

This was completely different from the playoffs he had imagined. A lot of physical confrontation, coupled with the Bulls' wide range of home penalties, made Irving completely lost.

Jimmy Butler still plays the longest time on the Bulls. In 44 minutes, he made 7 of 17 shots and scored 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals and 1 block. As head coach Thibodeau’s favorite, Butler’s performance was impeccable.

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Tucker felt helpless. Perhaps because of his height, he still failed to squeeze into the starting lineup. Coach De Nagro seemed to position him as a rotation player.

Although the Clippers unexpectedly reduced their numbers, with a super scorer like Li Ze, digesting the ball is not a problem at all. Therefore, everyone continues to be optimistic about the Clippers. With 73 wins, this winning rate represents dominance!

Under this circumstance, TNT's program began to compare the 72-win Bulls and the 73-win Clippers. Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong, the fans' favorite!

Today’s topic is “The Strongest Team in History.” Host Ernie Johnson naturally turned the topic to O’Neal:

"This is the strongest backcourt combination in the league. I finally understand why Chuck and the others don't like super teams!"

At this time, there was no cheering sound in the AT Center Arena. The Spurs fans saw that the score difference had become 20 points and completely lost their emotions.

Head coach De Nagro is very satisfied with the state of the players. He has tried and tested the ball on his thighs. As long as the hit rate can exceed 50%, he will be done with it!

Without this link, Jokic currently has no specific low-post tactics, and Jordan is a forward, so the low-post job belongs to Li Ze.

"Kayce is truly a superstar in the league, with unparalleled stability. No player currently can come close to his performance."

The bad old man's poisonous milk did not have any effect. He lost two consecutive games by big scores. Physical fitness was certainly part of the reason, but the core problem was that Leonard and Parker were misfiring.

With 6 minutes and 46 seconds left in the first quarter, Parker used Split's screen to get rid of Paul's entanglement and broke through the middle into the paint.

Breaking through to the elbow area on the right side of the free throw line, the advancing Paul held the ball in his right hand and moved in and out. After a simple shake, he stepped back laterally and drifted to the right to shoot a fadeaway jumper!

"Whoa!" The two-pointer was hit steadily!

Reggie Miller on the side couldn't stop at all, he blew it and it was over!

The Spurs retreated very quickly. Paul just stabilized the rhythm and immediately gave the ball to Jokic at the top of the key.

Tyronn Lue was a little speechless. He always felt that Denagro and Li Ze were too ruthless, but he couldn't refute it.

The Spurs fans cheered loudly and finally scored another goal. The Clippers didn't care and quickly sent out baseline kicks to continue to speed up the pace of the game.

Leonard saw Li Ze holding the ball in his left hand and moving toward the top of the arc, and subconsciously slid to the right. Li Ze reacted very quickly, and suddenly changed direction in front of Leonard's defense.

Seeing that O'Neal was about to bring the topic to him again, host Ernie Johnson quickly asked:

After catching the ball, Duncan feinted, but found that the second-round pick in front of him didn't seem to react, and just tried his best to squeeze his offensive space with his body.

Curry was a little depressed. For such an efficient performance, the final evaluation he received was:

As the sideline ball came out, Leonard forced a shot from the left wing outside the three-point line, and the first quarter ended.

It was the Spurs' turn to attack. Tucker's forward defense failed and Duncan easily hit two points. Li Ze didn't care, took the baseline ball and made the same offensive gesture again.

The continuous shaking caused Spurs fans to subconsciously scream in surprise. Seeing Leonard being thrown away again, they could only boo.

What makes Bulls fans happy is Derrick Rose's performance, 10 of 26, 30 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 turnovers. Their familiar superstar is finally back!

The series score was 2:1, and the Bulls had a chance to get the match point at home. In this case, America's sports media collectively turned into idiots and turned into Ross.

Paul and DeAndre Jordan led the team and slowed down the pace of the game. On the other side, Parker and Duncan led the team and tried their best to speed up the game.

"Honor and victory all belong to him. Think of this scenario, you should defeat him!"

Jokic was overjoyed and didn't expect that he could play the entire first quarter.

In the first round of Li Ze's appearance, at the top of the arc, with the help of Jokic's pick-and-roll, he easily got rid of Leonard's defense. Facing Split who switched defenses, he held the ball with his left hand and quickly pushed the ball to change direction.

Protecting the ball with his back and not giving Leonard a chance to cut the ball, Li Ze noticed that the Spurs did not choose to double-team on the line. He immediately lowered his center of gravity and blasted the ball vigorously on the spot. After shaking his body forward, he suddenly changed hands and turned around.

The familiar sound of cheering seemed to cheer up everyone on the Spurs team. Diaw, who had just appeared on the field, immediately came to the top of the arc to set up a pick-and-roll for Parker.

"There is no need to worry about losing points on defense. In the first season, you will be fine if you can adapt to the game."

The Clippers' rotation cleared the three-second zone, with Jokic standing on the free throw line and Crawford standing outside the three-point line, near the left sideline.

He just needs to wait for the opponent to double-team, seize the opportunity to play more and less, and complete simple goals. Paul feels that the Clippers' current style of play is more suitable for him.

Popovich requested a timeout, and the old man was a little confused. He felt that the Clippers were playing more and more unrestrainedly. Without a main force, the offense became more fierce.

Chris Paul also felt that the game was easier. Without Griffin's low-post attack, the rhythm improved again. The most important thing is that Li Ze's ability to digest the ball is too strong.

"Kayce easily digested Griffin's ball rights. I have to say that having a super scorer in the team can indeed solve many problems!"

Before O'Neal could speak, Charles Barkley immediately took over:

"I don't want to see Kayce continue to break records, hey! Players watching the show, you have to work harder. It's very uncomfortable to be dominated by one player for an era."

"I'm not good at dunking! It was a wonderful score just now."

Stephen Curry broke out in the third quarter, shooting 7 of 10 in a single quarter, 4 of 4 from beyond the arc, and scored 19 points.

On the other hand, Leonard, who was looking straight-eyed, made 1 of 5. Except for a three-pointer after the opening game, he did not score any more 3 points. All other statistics were zero. In these few minutes, only Diaw and Duncan scored points.

"If you want to rely on outside three-pointers to chase points, you must first defend the defense. This is very difficult for the current Spurs. Jokic's pick-and-roll quality is very good, which has caused a lot of damage to Leonard's defense.

Troubled.”

As the Clippers players have become more cooperative, the quality of pick-and-rolls has also improved a lot compared to the previous two years. Leonard was unable to squeeze through the screen, and faced a mismatch, the Spurs were doomed.

In the next few rounds, the Spurs were still scoring points, and for the Clippers, Li Ze and Crawford also scored easily.

At 115:80, the Warriors finally defeated the Rockets and regained the initiative. The series score reached 2:1, and the Rockets lost a good game.

When talking about the 1995-96 season, everyone will think of the Bulls sweeping the Magic 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals and Shaq becoming a Shaq. This is O'Neal's most unpleasant memory.

Seeing the teasing looks in the three people's eyes, O'Neal said very frankly:

"In comparison, I still think the Bulls are stronger and have more resources on the defensive end."

Tucker and Ingles stood in the left and right corners respectively, stretching the offensive space on the court and forcing the Spurs to no longer double-team Li Ze.

Leonard watched Li Ze holding the ball in his right hand, moving to the right wing, and immediately chose to step forward to defend.

"Let Jokic take a breather. Although he has good physical fitness, a lot of turning back is not something he is good at."

Walking to the bench, Paul bumped fists with Li Ze in greeting, and the two briefly discussed the rhythm of the court.

Jokic nodded, this job is not difficult, this is also the advantage of a big man, his field of vision is wider.

Jokic only scored 2 points in the first quarter and his defensive performance was average. Hearing Li Ze's words, he was still in a bad mood:

"Why does the NBA have a three-second zone? I don't like this rule. If it were the NBA in the 1990s, I could always stand in the paint and my defense would definitely be much better than now."

Statistics such as 12-for-18, 12-for-19, etc., are almost all labeled as Li Ze. Football commentators are used to it, and the fans' requirements have also been raised a lot. In contrast, everyone still likes to see James.

Unlucky to see the Clippers pull their hips.

The sudden burst of silence from the AT Center Arena was for both Li Ze and Leonard.

As Li Ze was double-teamed in several rounds, the Spurs not only failed to close the point difference, but instead completely activated other Clippers players.

The half ended quickly as the Spurs scored piecemeal.

Things happened very quickly on the court. The Spurs fans were still cheering. In the blink of an eye, they found that Paul had controlled the ball and the Clippers launched another transition attack.

The atmosphere in the AT Center Arena was no longer fiery, and the cheers from Spurs fans were much quieter.

Charles Barkley's eyes widened and he said with a very firm tone:

"In at least three games, the Warriors will never give up easily. I am optimistic about them. Stephen Curry will prove himself!"

In the whole game, he made 12 of 19 shots, including 7 of 9 three-pointers and 9 of 10 free throws. He scored 40 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 turnovers. Curry once again showed his crazy shooting ability.

Jokic, who was still panting, shook his head quickly. He finally made it to the starting lineup. He didn't want to give the coach the impression of being out of shape.

"The Clippers lack outstanding forward players. Although Kayce is very strong, he still prefers to play the 2 position. The 1996 Bulls were the stronger team."

"Shh!"

It's just that for such data, the media simply praised it after the game and seemed very calm.

The ball instantly moved from the paint area to the left corner. With a wide open space, Tucker took aim at the basket and scored an open three-pointer!

In contrast, the Warriors established the victory at halftime, 62:37, leading by 25 points at halftime, and had an offensive efficiency similar to that of the Clippers.

Spurs fans were very disappointed. Although the team had difficulty winning in the first round and everyone was mentally prepared, looking at the score of 38:21, it was still difficult for everyone to accept.

Tyronn Lue suddenly thought of the situation of his future club, the Cavaliers, and suddenly felt that the situations of the two teams were somewhat similar:

"LeBron James should be easy to get along with!"

At 70:46, the Clippers completely sealed the victory.

Noticing Jokic's defensive position, Parker still chose to break through and score the ball.

Witnessing Li Ze's performance in the past two years, ball commentators have become immune to the high efficiency of 40 points.
To be continued...