Chapter 172 The Western Finals Begin
Radar won the regular season MVP, double team, and became the player who gained the most this season. The Spurs also felt the long-lost championship taste. The Western Conference champion team, the Southwest Division champion team, Radar made the Spurs, and the Spurs also made Radar
.
The Spurs, who are waiting for work, will start the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers at home.
How difficult is the Western Conference Finals? Chris Paul fought hard for it, but he only made it to the Western Conference Finals once and failed. Since the late 1990s, when the Celtics gradually declined, the league has always been in a situation where the West is strong and the East is weak.
, the Western Conference team also has the most wins in the All-Star Game.
Breaking down the league championships after 2000, the Spurs have five GDP championships, the Lakers have won three consecutive championships, the Lakers have won two championships from 2008 to 2010, the Mavericks have won one championship, and the Warriors have three championships. In recent years, it has been the Lakers again, and the Clippers have won two more championships.
, the number of championships in the Eastern Conference is only one-third of that in the Western Conference.
Therefore, if a Western Conference team wants to enter the finals, it is most difficult to break out of the Western Conference. After breaking out of the Western Conference, there is more than half a chance of winning the championship.
This season, as strong as the Clippers, the Rockets have also suffered defeats one after another. In the past, whichever team James was on, whichever team had the hope of entering the finals, but this year their opponent is the San Antonio Spurs, a brand new Spurs team whose offense
and defense are better than the GDP era.
The first match between the San Antonio Spurs and the Lakers in the regular season. Because Radar had just entered the league less than a month ago, he was not so open-minded. Even if he turned on super aiming and performed an amazing performance, he still failed to cross the threshold of the five-star Lakers.
In the following games, Radar became more mature and made significant progress. He led the team to a difficult victory over the Lakers. After the Christmas game, Radar, Wu Hao, Towns, Aldridge, Danny Green and others joined forces to show their strength.
Not losing to the five-star Lakers at all, the Spurs also won consecutively.
The Spurs have the home court advantage, and the AT&T Arena was packed at the G1 game. San Antonio fans have never seen the Western Conference Finals played at their home court since 2014. How could they not come to support their team?
Lakers lineup: Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Pope, Howard, Kuzma, JR Smith
, the Spurs traded Belinelli, Forbes.
Belinelli and Forbes have not been reused since they came to the Lakers. After all, the depth of the Lakers' lineup is here. These two people are really dispensable, and they cannot take on big responsibilities.
The Spurs still have Radar, Danny Green, Wu Hao, Aldridge and Towns in the starting lineup.
Before the game, LeBron James hugged Radar and Wu Hao cordially. The little emperor used to like Radar very much. In his eyes, rookie Radar was a player of the level of Kobe and Iverson. In the All-Star Game, he
He gave his chance to play to Wu Hao, and Wu Hao performed equally well, which made him like Wu Hao even more. He believed that Wu Hao was the most likely to become a player like him.
Of course, James mainly wanted to congratulate Radar for winning the first regular MVP of his career and the double first team.
No matter how good the relationship is off the court, when it comes to the game, everyone must take it seriously, just like in previous years between Kobe, James, and Wade. The more familiar they are with each other, the clearer they are about their strength. No one dares to slack off in the game. Now James
, radar, and the same is true between Wu Hao.
Cousins fought for the ball for the Lakers. Towns faced the inside line guarded by his cousin and the thick-eyebrow brother, plus a substitute Warcraft Howard. The pressure on him in this game was very high.
Director Rondo once again faced off against Radar. He knew in his heart that Radar, who had just won the MVP, was not as good as him, even at his peak. Therefore, Rondo was very smart. He did not compete with Radar in terms of speed or shooting. He just wanted to compete with Radar.
Make every ball a positional battle and his mission is accomplished.
Once the Spurs and Lakers fall into a positional battle, the Lakers can use their inside advantage to open up the situation. With Rondo and James on the court, their ability to move the ball is also very strong.
Rondo handed the ball to James, and Wu Hao stepped forward to defend. In front of the experienced James, Wu Hao was still a little immature. Faced with James' bulldozer-like advancement, Wu Hao could only fight and retreat.
James, who entered the paint, gave the ball to Brother Big Eyebrow, and without saying a word, he made a shot.
Although the Spurs gave people the impression that they were just on the radar, Wu Hao knew very well that it would not be easy for them to defeat this Lakers team. The key to the problem was that the Lakers' inside line was too strong.
Radar began to organize the offense. Popovich also knew the advantage between the two teams, and his arrangement was to open up the situation on the outside.
Radar's dribbling also encountered Rondo's tenacious defense. When it came to the Western Conference Finals, he fought hard again.
Radar used his speed to open up space with Rondo and gave the ball to Wu Hao. Wu Hao also had a hard time in this game. The thirty-year-old man was looking for close friends on the court and he valued Wu Hao very much, so he defended very seriously.
Wu Hao took advantage of the explosion to start a breakthrough, and James followed him closely. If the thirty-year-old man works together, he will still be the No. 1 player in the league.
Wu Hao's shot almost drifted out, and James's block failed, and he hit a two-pointer.
James smiled, it was really good.
The Lakers attacked. James received a pass from Rondo in the midfield and started sprinting directly. Sparks and lightning were unstoppable, and he hit Towns with a dunk.
Next, the Spurs' offense encountered a problem. Radar broke through and passed the ball to Danny Green. Huang Ama followed the instructions of Mr. Pop and took the position in advance, but he shot a three-pointer.
Green spread his hands and said that the tactics were good, the position was good, and the timing of the shot was good, but it was still too much, there was nothing he could do, he was used to it.
This is why Klay Thompson is a better 3D player than Danny Green, and his three-pointers are more accurate.
Closer to home, the Lakers' offense was once again scored by Cousins in the paint. The first three goals were all scored near the basket. The Lakers took full advantage of their inside advantage.
The Spurs' outside touch was really lacking today. Radar made the ball on his own, with the help of Wu Hao's screen, and shot a three-pointer from a 45-degree angle on the left. Because of Wu Hao's screen, James was misplaced to defend the radar, and the radar was interfered with.
Three-point strike.
Fortunately, Aldridge got the rebound, hit the big-browed brother with his back, turned around and shot a German-style mid-range shot, but still nothing.
The Spurs attacked 4 times, hit the iron three times, and got off to a bad start. When Radar's touch is not going well, the Spurs will have a more difficult time, and other teammates, like him, have no touch. Even the most stable Ade appeared due to the tough defense of Brother Big Eyebrow.
The situation where the CIC failed.
Chapter completed!