No one doubts that the Spurs, who already have three match points, will not advance to the Western Conference finals.
Therefore, before the fourth game of their series with the Trail Blazers has been played, everyone is basically talking about the Western Conference Finals.
This made the Spurs players a little helpless. When the fourth game of the series started, when they walked into the arena, everyone almost started chanting the slogan of the Western Conference Finals.
This is crazy.
Jiang Hao shook his head.
"Boys, for us, it is indeed a blessing to be recognized by the fans, but I have to remind everyone that the semifinals with Portland are not over yet, and I don't want to go to Portland again.
, so please stay in awe.”
Assistant coach Messina said to Jiang Hao and others in the locker room.
Popovich nodded to Messina, who said what he wanted to say.
"Don't worry, we don't want to go to Portland more than you do. I hate flying."
Manu Ginobili ran over and hugged Messina, and they looked more like flirting friends.
Half an hour later, when the large electronic screen above the arena showed the starting lineups of both teams tonight, many fans were surprised. That was No. 35, who had been performing well since the playoffs, and was Jiang Hao's substitute for this game.
Already.
Because Jiang scored 30 in the last game, he was triggered passively and was directly pushed to the bench?
Many fans said it jokingly, but they obviously knew that this was not what Gregg Popovich really thought.
"Greg Popovich's thoughts are always unpredictable. Maybe he has a lot of considerations in doing this, but one thing is for sure, it must be related to the upcoming Western Conference Finals."
In the stands, Sean said carelessly to the fans around him. Frankly speaking, because of his relationship with Jiang Hao, Sean now has a very strong presence in the Spurs fan club, and his remarks quickly gained support from many people.
That's right, Popovich is preparing for the Western Conference Finals.
Everyone quickly reached an agreement, and everyone also recognized Popovich's approach. There is nothing wrong with preparing for the Western Conference Finals in advance.
What's more, if Jiang Hao doesn't start, can't the Spurs handle this game? If that's the case, it might be of no use to them even if they advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Behind with a big score of 0:3, on the court, when the game started, no one could see the smiles on the faces of the Trail Blazers players. Everyone has a sense of shame. Obviously, for the Trail Blazers players, they can
Accept being eliminated, but never accepting being swept out.
Therefore, in the locker room before the game started, led by Lillard, everyone gathered together. They would fight for honor in this game.
Therefore, when the referee blew the whistle to start the game, McCollum, who had performed very poorly throughout the series, took the lead. He hit Dejounte Murray, who started instead of Jiang Hao in this game, with a three-pointer.
ball.
Whoosh!
When the basketball hit the ball steadily, Spurs fans didn't even see any celebration from the Trail Blazers players.
"It can be seen that the Trail Blazers, who were forced to the edge of the cliff, already understand their situation very well. In this case, perhaps their condition will be the best."
Before Matt Bonner could finish his words, Lillard immediately confirmed his remarks with a three-pointer from the left corner.
Well, the atmosphere in the entire atat center is a little quiet, and everyone doesn't want to see any surprises.
Since Kawhi Leonard's comeback, it feels like his strength is still there, but it's just that he's still a bit unable to open up and isn't as solid as he was before.
Therefore, in this case, when he responded immediately on the offensive end facing the menacing Trail Blazers' double guns, the atmosphere in the entire arena was instantly mobilized.
At the top of the arc, after crossing from the left baseline, Leonard directly chose to take action when facing Aminu who was following him.
Whoosh!
He helped open up the Spurs' offense.
The next story is very simple.
Even though the Trail Blazers performed very well as a team, under the leadership of Leonard, the Spurs always firmly controlled the game situation.
After the second quarter, it was 53:41! The Spurs maintained a 12-point lead. As for Leonard, he had already scored 19 points in the half, which was very efficient.
The home fans breathed a long sigh of relief. Leonard was still the same Leonard. When he went all out, even the Trail Blazers' double guns didn't seem to be on the same level as him.
"So Kawhi is also building up his strength for the Western Conference Finals?"
Some fans raised such a question.
Needless to say, after everyone thought about it carefully, they felt that it was really possible.
To say that last season's Western Conference Finals was unfortunately eliminated, the person who suffered the most was probably Leonard.
Leonard is a player with a strong desire to win. It is impossible for him to have no memory of the scene when he was injured. On the contrary, many years later, he will always think of that scene.
As the team's strength improves this season, it is really normal to make some preparations in advance for things that were not done last season.
When fans think about this, they are undoubtedly more looking forward to the upcoming Western Conference Finals.
Jiang Hao only played 5 minutes in the entire first half. It wasn't that he didn't want to play or that he was in poor condition, but Popovich didn't let him play.
Of course, Jiang Hao also understands the old man's good intentions in doing this, he just needs to cooperate well.
After the start of the third quarter, Jiang Hao, who only played 5 minutes in the first two quarters, started, while Leonard sat on the bench.
Everyone doesn't know what Popovich is selling in his gourd.
But what can actually be seen is that under the leadership of Jiang Hao, the Spurs quickly launched a 9:0 offensive climax, and the point difference quickly expanded to 20.
And this also means that this series is basically over.
The Portlanders, who were unwilling to play, gave up the game in the second half of the third quarter. Neither Lillard nor McCollum had played since the Trail Blazers' third timeout in the third quarter.
Trail Blazers head coach Stotts looked like he was defeated and sat on the bench dejected.
It was a difficult experience for him, with the players having a game against each other, and the head coach having a head coach game.
There is no doubt that he was completely on the losing side in Gregg Popovich's game. Throughout the series, from beginning to end, he felt like he was being led by Popovich.
Maybe, he will no longer be the head coach of this team next season. Stotts is not confident that he will continue to stay in Portland.
Chapter completed!