Chapter 115 The second round against the Blazers with double guns
(Sorry about family matters, there are only 2 updates today. I will find a way to make up for it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.)
Curry + Thompson VS Lillard + McCollum, this matchup can be regarded as a very eye-catching game in the second round of the playoffs.
Most media generally believe that the Warriors will definitely win the series, but the battle between the backcourts of the two sides will definitely be quite fierce.
However, the Warriors have no intention of presenting such a matchup to the audience.
"Wang Feng, in the game against the Trail Blazers, you will be responsible for guarding Lillard, and McCollum will hand it over to Clay." Cole looked at the players and carefully explained the details that needed to be understood in the game against the Trail Blazers.
"Such an arrangement can minimize the pressure on Stephen on the defensive end, allowing him to devote all his energy to the offense. You must limit the opponent's offense as much as possible."
Wang Feng has long been accustomed to defending the opponent's sharp outside players.
During the regular season, Wang Feng often switched defenses with Curry to guard some small guards with strong offensive abilities. Although his double 90 speed and agility were always at a disadvantage when facing most first-line guards, his height and physical advantages
Coupled with the defensive shock, death coil and other badge skill effects, Wang Feng's effect on defending small defenders is also very good.
Of course, Lillard is different from Barnes in the first round. This is a first-class defender with a total ability rating of close to 90. Moreover, he will not be reckless when facing Wang Feng. Even he cannot completely defeat Lillard.
Completely restricted.
…
On May 1, the first round of the playoffs between the two teams began at the Warriors' home court.
As soon as the game started, Wang Feng took the initiative to find Lillard for defense.
Obviously, the Trail Blazers had anticipated the possibility of this happening. Lillard held the ball in the top arc and calmly raised his hand to call for a pick-and-roll.
The Trail Blazers' inside players immediately pulled out to the outside to provide a pick-and-roll screen for Lillard.
The pick-and-roll tactic is a required course for defenders, including Curry, who often uses the pick-and-roll to avoid the opponent's stronger defensive players.
Taking advantage of the faster speed of the smaller guard, during the pick-and-roll gap, Lillard took the lead and rushed to the basket, facing the defending Warriors interior player for a layup.
2:0, Lillard took the lead at the start.
On the Warriors' side, Curry attacks with the ball.
Different from the Warriors' targeted tactical defense changes, the Trail Blazers are guarding Curry at the same position as Lillard.
There is no way, the Blazers have no choice.
Wang Feng defends Lillard, and Curry can guard Maurice Harkless of the Trail Blazers at the small forward position, because the opponent is just a role player with poor offensive ability. Curry only needs to keep an eye on the opponent and not let the opponent easily shoot open shots.
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But if Lillard switches defense and lets someone else guard Curry, then he will have to guard one of Thompson or Wang Feng.
Both Thompson and Wang Feng are over 2 meters tall, much taller than Lillard, who is 1.91 meters tall. In addition, their outside shooting accuracy is also quite high. It would be worse for Lillard to defend them.
Defending Curry is easy.
It's just that ease here is only relative.
Curry dribbled the ball and suddenly broke through from the left side. Lillard quickened his pace to follow the defense, but Curry suddenly stopped, took a step back and took a shot from outside the three-point line.
"Brush!" the basketball responded and hit the net.
…
At the beginning of the game, Curry and Lillard scored consecutively, and the scores of both sides increased alternately. It seemed that the game was inextricable.
But it didn't take long for the Trail Blazers to start to run out of money.
"Damn it..."
Lillard dribbled the ball slowly, looking at Wang Feng standing in front of him with an expressionless face, he couldn't help but think to himself, "This guy is too difficult to deal with!"
Relying on pick-and-roll tactics, Lillard can still score efficiently under Wang Feng's defense, but after the pick-and-roll, he can only break toward the basket and score layups, with almost no chance to score outside the three-point line.
Although Lillard's breakthrough is very strong, extremely fast, and explosive, his strongest scoring method is the same as Curry's, which is also a three-pointer!
In the regular season, Lillard averaged 8.2 shots per game from beyond the three-point line, hitting 3.1 goals, and his three-pointers accounted for nearly 40% of his total points.
Although this ratio is not as high as Curry's, it is still a very high ratio among outside players, close to Thompson.
However, with Wang Feng keeping an eye on Lillard, he couldn't find a particularly good outside shot opportunity for several minutes.
There is no way. Not all players in the league can do the way Curry uses the pick-and-roll player to cover, stand directly behind the pick-and-roll player and shoot one step away from the three-point line.
Lillard's side could only score through breakthroughs, but Curry's side considered both inside and outside. After several successful three-pointers, the scores of the two teams began to gradually widen the gap.
A three-pointer is worth one point more than a two-pointer. This is something even a fool understands.
"This is not the way to go..." Lillard had no choice but to try a three-point shot from the outside.
However, under the influence of Wang Feng's even defense and the defensive shock badge, all the shots missed in several attempts.
Lillard's three-pointer was strangled, and McCollum couldn't count on it. McCollum, who has emerged this season, is best at mid- and long-range shooting. Although his shooting rate from outside the three-point line is very good this season.
, reaching more than 40%, but the number of shots was not many.
Moreover, McCollum was defended by Thompson, who had excellent defensive ability. Under targeted defense, his scoring range was also limited to the three-point line.
In the first quarter, the two teams battled to 34:28, with the Warriors leading by 6 points.
In the second quarter of the game, the point difference widened further, reaching 11 points.
In the third quarter, the Trail Blazers lost another 4 points, and the point difference became 15 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Blazers, who wanted to fight to the death, began to fire frequently from outside the three-point line. However, the Blazers, who did not get many three-point shooting opportunities in the first three quarters, felt bad. Instead of being able to recover the point difference, they
To add insult to injury, the score difference was further widened.
At 116:98, the Warriors won their first victory in the series.
Throughout the game, the Warriors did not suddenly burst out to take away the opponent. Instead, they relied on their advantage from beyond the three-point line. Bit by bit, like killing people with a blunt knife, they gradually widened the point difference and finally established a winning streak.
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Both Lillard and McCollum performed pretty well. The former, despite Wang Feng's defense, still scored 30 points with a 42% shooting rate, most of which came from layups and free throws.
McCollum also scored 23 points, but the two took a total of 13 shots from beyond the three-point line, but only hit 3 goals. They were seriously unqualified from beyond the three-point line.
On the other hand, for the Warriors, Curry made 7 of 14 three-pointers, Thompson made 3 of 8, and Wang Feng made 4 of 7, with a three-point shooting rate of 48%.
This situation makes it useless no matter how hard Lillard and McCollum work inside the three-point line.