Chapter 316 The first round of the playoffs VS Clippers
Now, when faced with Wang Feng's defense, James will basically only attack inside or rely on teammates to break through in pick-and-rolls, in addition to passing the ball.
Wang Feng's defense is getting more and more difficult, but although he has an ability value of 90 in interior defense, it is still quite difficult to face a low-post offensive master like James without the assistance of badges.
On the first attack, James did not choose to call for a pick-and-roll screen. Instead, he squeezed into the inside with Wang Feng's back and relied on his flexible inside steps to turn around and score a layup.
2:0, James took the lead for the Clippers.
But Wang Feng immediately counterattacked with a pull-up three-pointer from outside.
2:3.
…
"At the beginning of the first quarter, Wang Feng and James were inextricably linked. Both sides continued to use their own methods to score points on the offensive end, refusing to give in to each other. No one wanted to lose this game."
In the TNT studio, celebrities such as Barkley, O'Neal and Kenny Smith are providing live commentary on this game.
"Charles, which side do you favor in this game?" Smith asked.
"Do you still need to ask? Of course it's the Lakers. Their lineup is more reasonable and has depth. We need to give some respect to the team with the best regular season record." Barkley said without hesitation.
"I feel the same." O'Neal rarely unified his views with Barkley. "Although I like LeBron very much. It's really amazing that he can lead the Clippers with such a lineup in the Western Conference into the playoffs. But LeBron
After all, you are just one person, and it is really difficult to defeat the Lakers on your own."
"Besides, the Lakers also have Wang Feng. In recent years, Wang Feng has been the best player to defend LeBron alone. There is no other player. LeBron has not looked good when facing top forward defenders such as Leonard and George.
It was like this against Wang Feng, he had to be forced into the inside before he would take action."
"If the Lakers eliminate the Clippers and go all the way through the playoffs to win the championship trophy, maybe LeBron's title as the number one player in the league will change."
"Oh oh oh, wait a minute, the Lakers win the championship?" Barkley couldn't help but interrupt O'Neal's praise. "I'm sorry, have you forgotten those five guys in Golden State? Or Shaq, what do you think?
Is this Lakers team capable of facing a five-star Warriors team and still winning?"
"It's hard to say this kind of thing." O'Neill shook his head and said maturely: "Everything is possible."
"Yes, but judging from the betting odds of winning the championship, it doesn't seem to be the case." Barkley said: "The odds of a Warriors team winning the championship are higher than the remaining four teams behind them.
Even higher! And the Lakers are not the team with the second best odds of winning the championship, they are only ranked third, and the second best team with the best odds of winning the championship is the Milwaukee Bucks!"
O'Neal narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Barkley and said: "Charles, I think we can make another bet when we are in the Western Conference Finals, because I think the Western Conference Finals will basically be the Lakers VS Warriors, and then the Western Conference Finals will begin.
Before that, let’s predict the team that can enter the finals and win the championship.”
"Okay, who's afraid of whom?" Speaking of betting, who was Charles Barkley afraid of? A typical person who loves fun and fun.
During the discussion between the two, the game on the field continued.
Relying on the advantage of lineup depth and Wang Feng's explosive scoring power, the Lakers began to gradually take control of the initiative on the court.
The Clippers replaced Beverley and replaced Lou Williams on the court to increase their scoring ability. After the fast-breaking and impactful Lou Williams came on the court, the Clippers' problem of insufficient offensive firepower was slightly alleviated.
.
Although he can only serve as the team's sixth man for most of his career, Lou Williams's scoring ability is indeed very strong. This season he is the Clippers' second scoring point, averaging 19.8 points and 4.4 points per game.
Assists, second only to James who averaged 27 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game.
And Lou Williams is also the point guard Rondo is least good at dealing with because he is too fast.
When he was young, Rondo was also a dexterous point guard, very fast and with a keen sense of steal.
However, as he gets older, Rondo's speed and explosive power continue to decline, and now it is difficult to defend against most of the fast small guards in the league.
Lou Williams took over the ball from James and frequently attacked the frame with the ball, helping the Clippers stabilize the situation.
After the first quarter, the score between the two teams was 33:29, with the Lakers leading by 4 points.
Wang Feng made 5 of 7 shots in a single quarter, 2 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 12 points and 3 rebounds.
James did not compromise on his personal statistics. Although he made 4 of 8 shots and scored 9 points including free throws, which was slightly lower than Wang Feng, he still had 3 assists.
Lou Williams scored 8 points on 3 of 5 shooting and 2 of 2 free throws.
Although the Clippers held on to the score in the first quarter thanks to the performance of Lou Williams, once the game entered the second quarter, the point difference began to widen uncontrollably, because the Lakers not only had Wang Feng
, second-in-command Jimmy Butler also began to exert his strength.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Butler continuously cut into the basket from the bottom corner to catch the ball and succeeded in a layup. Then he hit a mid-to-long-range shot, broke through with the ball and rushed into the basket to create a killing foul free throw.
In 5 minutes, Barrett scored 8 points alone. Wang Feng, in line with the principle of killing you when you are sick, hit two three-pointers from the outside, directly widening the point difference between the two teams to 12 points!
The Clippers called two timeouts in a row, but still failed to curb the Lakers' offensive momentum. All James can do is rely on his offensive ability to score continuously and give the Clippers a chance to comeback and win.
But it's still too difficult.
Wang Feng's scoring is as steady as an old dog, and Butler's performance in the first playoff game was not bad at all.
In another time and space, Jimmy Butler, who was supposed to be with the Philadelphia 76ers this season, will play 12 games in the playoffs, averaging 19.4 points, 6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, while shooting 45% from the field.
Although the scores are not very high, they are basically scored at critical moments at the end of the fourth quarter, as steady as an old dog.
What impressed Wang Feng most was the 7-game battle between the 76ers and the Menglong in the Eastern Division semifinals. At least 5 of those games featured Leonard and Butler's scoring surge and offensive and defensive moments in the final quarter.
Although in terms of personal statistics in the series, Leonard, who averaged 34.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4 assists per game, completely surpassed Butler, who averaged 22 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, but in the direct offensive and defensive battle in the final quarter, Butler was not at all.