RNP Chapter 586
Chapter 586
Chapter 586
The Clippers defeated the Grizzlies very easily with a 4:0, won the Western Conference championship for the second consecutive year, and reached the finals.
In Game [-] in Memphis, the Grizzlies tried to save face with a win, but the results were clearly futile.
They were still ambitious before the game, and they wanted to pull the Clippers off the horse, but they lost all confidence in the fourth game.
No way, the gap between the two sides is really too big, and the Grizzlies that people thought would use the quagmire defense to cause trouble for the Clippers did not appear.
On the contrary, the Grizzlies themselves were trapped in the quagmire. Their four-game offense has not been effectively organized and connected in series.
It is often the first quarter of the game that starts to fall behind, falls into the pit, and then struggles to chase points. As a result, the point difference gets bigger and bigger, and it is impossible to catch up.
After playing three games like this, the Grizzlies knew from the players to the coaches to the fans that the gap was too big to beat.
The fourth so-called face-to-face battle is also meaningless, and delaying another one is nothing more than lingering.
Of the Grizzlies, only Blake Griffin struggled from the start.
He hasn't lost his fighting spirit since the first game, and he has always expected to get a victory over the Clippers.
However, if you have more than enough heart but not enough strength, you really can't win.
The Clippers have entered the playoff mobilization state since April, and after the first two rounds of debugging, the state has reached its best.
The Clippers took away the victory with a defensive victory. Griffin sat on the bench in pain and returned to the locker room to shed tears.
In the Clippers locker room, everyone was very relaxed, high-fiving each other, hugging, congratulating briefly, and taking a group photo in front of the silver trophy of the Western Conference champion, that's all.
Compared with the madness when they defeated the Lakers to win the Western Conference championship last year, everyone is much calmer this year. After all, the Western Conference championship is only the prelude to the finals.
What's more, Mr. Smart didn't look good from the beginning to the end of the whole series, and everyone felt that there was nothing to be happy about winning.
It's too easy to beat the Grizzlies.
After three rounds in the Western Conference, the Clippers lost one game, the first to the Jazz.
The Thunder were destroyed by injuries, the Spurs died of old age, and the Grizzlies were too young.
The so-called Wild West, under the crushing strength of the Clippers, is nothing more than that.
After reaching the finals, the media praised the Clippers, almost to the sky.
But the morale of the Clippers is quite stable, so what should everyone do.
Harden, Curry, Butler and others won the Western Conference championship after the fourth game, and they also practiced three-pointers for an extra hour at the FedEx Arena.
Instead, apart from the Grizzlies on the ball, the players went to bars, nightclubs or other places to enjoy and carnival.
After all, reaching the Western Conference finals they have completed the task.
There is no problem with everyone's contracts for next season, you should still make money.
As for the championship, there is only one in a season, and many people will never reach the finals in their lifetime.
There are very few bonuses for winning the playoffs, or there is no money at all. What kind of life is there?
Grizzlies coach Hollins sighed after the game, "The Clippers team gives me the feeling that it is different from other NBA teams. They are very strong, but at the same time they have something very special in their bodies. There are some things that are incompatible with the NBA style. Of course, I am not saying that this kind of thing is not good, I think on the contrary, this is what the current NBA teams and players lack. They are very united, very team, and the league is full of enthusiasm. Le Dao's individual heroism is rarely seen in them. They are willing to share the ball, whether it is offense or defense, everyone is involved. Seriously, I haven't met such a team for a long time. Their performance, It’s incredible to me that they exist.”
Hollins gave the Clippers a very high evaluation. These words he said were not compliments, but the current status of the Clippers.
Not only did Hollins say that, the hosts of the TV station, some celebrities, such as Barkley, Van Gundy and others, all praised the Clippers.
"I saw the potential of a great team in the Clippers."
"They are a unique flower. It is a miracle that such a team can be born in the soil of the NBA."
"If the Clippers' roster moved to the next team, I guess they would have disintegrated in the middle of the season."
This kind of praise has been circulating in the news media during this period of time, making Min Congda not want to watch TV these two days.
Of course Min Congda was in a bad mood, but it wasn't too bad.
After all, he had already been mentally prepared. Because of this, he went crazy more than once before.
This time, he just entered the finals, so how could he be knocked down so easily?
His willpower has long been tempered like steel, and no amount of difficulties and failures can frustrate him.
It's just that occasionally when he wakes up in the morning, he will still feel a little dazed, lying in bed silently in a daze for a while.
Thinking of his long-awaited life goals and the hardships he had encountered along the way, he felt pity for himself.
Because no one can share his pain and joy, no one else can.
Now, Min Congda's only life-saving straw is the eastern team.
His adopted son, James, shoulders his hope, and the special commissioner Cole he sent out is responsible for making the knight strong again.
As a result, after the first four games of the Eastern Conference finals, the Heat and the Cavaliers drew 2:2.
The Heat took the lead first, and then the Cavaliers won two games in a row. In the fourth game, they had a chance to take an absolute lead of 3:1 in the series.
But in Cleveland, the Heat burst out with powerful energy, but the Cavaliers once again fell into the usual vicious circle-turning off at critical moments.
With the team's poor offense and the defensive end unable to contain Howard's raging at the basket, the two sides tied and entered the crucial battle of Tianwangshan.
At this time, the Clippers have already eliminated the Grizzlies, waiting for his opponent in the finals.
Before the fifth game between the Heat and the Cavaliers, Min Congda made a special call to James.
To be honest, Min Congda was not satisfied with James' performance in the playoffs.
He didn't stick to the regular season style of play, but returned to the ball-handling style of the past.
Min Congda told him on the phone that if he can reduce his ball possession in the game, let Irving be more of the core of the offense, and if he participates in defense more, the Heat will not be able to beat the Cavaliers.
Although the Heat's lineup is more luxurious and looks terrifying, both Howard and Nash have major flaws. If Nash's defensive problems are seized, Irving will be called more, and Howard's offensive problems will be used to force him to play more singles. Chance.
But James said on the phone that he didn't want to listen to Min Congda's opinion. He said bluntly, "Your Clippers have entered the finals again, so you now point me to the finals, and then kill me, right?"
What James said was full of grief and indignation, and Min Congda didn't know how to explain it to him for a while.
how to say?It can't be explained. The Cavaliers' lineup this year can't beat the Clippers even in the finals.
All aspects were defeated by the Clippers, but the Heat had a chance to beat the defending champion.
But even so, Min Congda still hopes that James and the Cavaliers can enter the finals.
Not for anything else, just for the relationship between the two, Min Congda is a person who attaches great importance to emotions.
But he really couldn't explain it, he could only leave a sentence: "LeBron, I am for your own good, sincerely."
"If you're really doing it for my own good, you should let the Clippers disband and go bankrupt!"
James let out an angry roar, then hung up the phone, leaving only the beeping sound.
Min Congda let out a long sigh, thinking to himself why didn't I think so and do it again?
Damn it, it's not my fate.
The day after the two men finished their phone call, the Cavaliers and the Heat launched a crucial Tianwangshan battle in Miami.
James played very well in this game. He scored 41 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists at the American Airlines Center.
However, the Heat still maintained their suppression of the Cavaliers throughout the game. Until the end of the game, Howard blocked James' three-pointer.
Wade made a fast break and made a layup. The Heat took a three-point lead at 97:94.
At the last moment, James passed the ball to Irving, and Irving missed a three-pointer. The Cavaliers lost this extremely critical game.
James' scoring plus assists, the points related to him accounted for more than half of the team's points.
The Heat played more evenly, only Wade scored 20 points, and everyone else made contributions in their areas of expertise.
Dwight Howard deserves to be the man who once could replace James alone. In this Eastern Conference Finals, he made James dream back to 2009.
Although he only scored 10 points in the game, he contributed 17 rebounds and 4 blocks, firmly guarding the Heat's basket.
After watching the game on TV, Min Congda must admit that this year's Heat were well trained by Spoelscola.
Each of the players in his hands has relatively fatal problems.
Wade is old, suffering from knee injuries, and is no longer the Flash.
His attacking ability has declined sharply, and his playing on the court has become very slippery.
But he still has the ability to explode on a single point in the playoffs, and he can explode in certain games, scoring 30 or 40 points.
So for Wade, Spoelstra pays great attention to his protective use, reducing the pressure on him in offense and defense, so that he can play reliably at critical moments.
Howard was affected by the back body, lost weight, and the so-called low-post attack power, and the threat plummeted as the tonnage dropped.
The key is that Howard still hopes that he can become a top low-post center and regards himself as a historical insider.
Spoelstra and Riley jointly persuaded Howard to reduce low-post offense and concentrate on defense. After all, the Heat have too many people who can attack.
Riley has dealt with too many super centers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ewing, O'Neal, Mourning, so his words are deterrent.
When Howard concentrates on defense, his role on the court is more prominent, and he makes up for Bosh's various problems on the defensive end.
Bosh was liberated on the offensive end, gained a better offensive experience, and was able to do what he was better at on the defensive end.
As for Nash, Spoelstra let him play for about 20 minutes per game, playing efficiently and sorting out the offense, leaving most of the rest of the time to Norris Cole.
The most important role of the point guard in Spoelstra's system is fixed-point three-pointers and a certain amount of defense. Just don't become a big loophole.
Nash's injuries and defensive problems were well covered up, and for a veteran, any injury would be fatal.
As for the Heat's forward and defensive line, the all-powerful and all-powerful Odom, the seriously slumped Lewis, and Ray Allen who doesn't know how much oil is in the box.
Spoelstra tried his best to let them play out their remaining energy, weaving a set of suitable defensive systems, and blending these former big men together.
Although the Heat are a galaxy battleship in terms of lineup, any galaxy battleship in history is often full of gold and jade, and it can't last long.
When the team formed this galaxy battleship, they all knew that it might only have the ability to move forward at full speed for one season. How to keep it from falling apart is a headache for every coach and every management.
There are very few who can succeed.
The Celtics in 08 can give a good demonstration because the Big Three are still at their peak, in good condition, and the keel of the boat is strong enough.
The Heat's situation is worse. Various problems such as injuries and play style can finally be sorted out. It is not easy to win 58 wins in the regular season.
After the fifth victory in the playoffs, the morale of the Heat reached its peak, and the advantage of the series has completely come to the Heat.
They successfully won the sixth game and will be able to enter the finals.
If you can't win, you can still return to the home court to play the tiebreaker with the Cavaliers, which still has the advantage.
James once again came to the same situation as in 2012 and was cornered.
But in 12 years, they won the sixth game and they could return to Cleveland.
This year, even if they fight for the sixth game, they still have to go to Miami.
More importantly, James felt his motivation drain.
The hard work of the whole season seems to be in vain again.
Ten years, a full ten years, he has received many honors.
This year's regular season MVP was in his pocket again.
This is his fourth regular season MVP, and he has already won enough of this award.
All he wanted was the golden trophy, but as time passed, the distance became even further away.
Does he really have a chance in the cursed place of Cleveland?
Once a basketball player begins to doubt himself, it will be fatal in a high-intensity competitive arena.
What's more deadly is that not only James, but also Steve Kerr doubted himself.
He is eager to prove himself with results in the Cavaliers, especially if he can reach the Finals against the Clippers, that would be even better.
However, there was a disagreement between the coach and the general, and a crack appeared in the relationship between the two.
Kerr is a person with a very strong personality. He cannot be a nanny coach like Mike Brown.
Cole was quite upset that James violated his strategic and tactical intentions in the playoffs, but there was nothing he could do.
This is James' team, not his Kerr's team.
In fact, there are many people in the Cavaliers who support Kerr, but under the pressure of James, no one can stand up.
As a result, in Game 100, the Cavaliers failed to perform miracles in Cleveland and were defeated by the Heat 90:10, with a [-]-point gap.
James, who scored 27 points, withdrew early from the game with groin discomfort two minutes from the end of the fourth quarter.
It also ended his slightly chaotic 2012-2013 season ahead of schedule.
The Heat successfully reached the finals and joined forces with the Clippers.
(End of this chapter)