roccoschili Chapter 237 Advancing to the Finals
Chapter 237 Advancing to the Finals
Chapter 237 Advancing to the Finals
The Clippers lead three to zero.
This result shocked Lakers fans and neutral fans, and Clippers fans also found it unbelievable.
The major media, football stars, and celebrities expressed their opinions one after another. After all, they were summarized into two articles.
The first is that the Lakers failed to give full play to their inside advantage, especially at Bynum's point. In the first game, it was difficult to catch the ball. In the second game, they could not match the Clippers' offensive and defensive rhythm. In the third game, due to foul troubles, their playing time was extremely low. .
The second is that the Lakers lack another strong attack point with the ball. The Clippers can double-team Kobe at will. Even if Kobe passes the ball and completes the assist, it will also consume Kobe's physical strength, and the key three-point shooting rate is still very low.
At the Lakers press conference after the game, the reporter had two opinions and asked Phil Jackson if he agreed.
Phil said that the Lakers do lack one outside ball-handling master, and he also emphasized that every team hopes to have more ball-handling masters. As for the problem of the inside failing to play an advantage, he said that it does not exist. Bynum is just not in the right state good.
The reporter asked about Kobe's palm injury, and Phil replied that he needed a diagnosis from the team doctor.
In the early hours of the morning, several reporters broke the news that the Lakers confirmed that Kobe's palm gestures were aggravated.
It was originally just a dislocation of the middle finger, but now it has developed into a muscle tear. Kobe also used his wrist more because of his difficulty in exerting force with his fingers, which caused some minor problems in his wrist. The third game was basically based on muscle memory.
The news soon expanded the game, and the speculation that Kobe would miss the fourth game gradually increased. Fans predicted that the Clippers would sweep the promotion, all kinds of boasting that Su Yang booked the FMVP in advance, and even locked in the top [-] in history.
Waiting until the next morning, ESPN invited four commentators to discuss why there was a 3-0 result.
The views of the four commentators are surprisingly unanimous: the Clippers lineup and coordination are too strong. The first record in the league is definitely not good luck. The first two rounds of the playoffs have given enough development time and a lot of experience. The key is that there is no psychological burden. I think You can play whatever you want, win a game and earn money, and no one will criticize them for not being able to advance, so there is no pressure on their record.
In addition, the Clippers coaching staff obviously learned from the experience of other teams defeating the Lakers in the regular season, and reproduced it almost perfectly.
Regarding the host's question about how to help the Lakers, the four commentators also surprisingly agreed that only Bynum and Gasol can open up the situation, and they can't open the situation through mid-range shots, but must attract pincers from the basket.
Su Yang got up early and did morning exercises and saw the program, and sincerely praised the commentators for being good at summarizing afterwards.
According to the schedule, there is only one day between the two teams in G4. The Clippers coaching staff did not arrange joint training, but Su Yang and all his teammates rushed to the training base spontaneously, but did not start training, but maintained that indomitable momentum.
In the evening, the whole team watched the game between the Magic and the Celtics.
Jordan once again praised Doc Rivers as the "light of black coaches", and very much hoped that the finals would be able to fight the Celtics, but Van Gundy said that the Western Conference finals series has not yet finished, so don't think about other things for now .
It was a simple conversation in itself, but for some reason, Little Jordan showed displeasure on the spot.
Barnes and the others hurriedly rounded up the situation. The matter was not escalated, but the atmosphere was rather embarrassing.
The next morning, the Clippers team held a joint practice, and Jordan was obviously a little slack.
Su Yang felt that it was necessary to have in-depth communication and talk about the matter openly, but Xiao Qiaodan deliberately avoided it.
At noon, the reporter broke the news again that Kobe will play closed games for the fourth game.
All of a sudden, various discussions emerged.
Some people think it's not worth it, because there is a visible strength gap between the Lakers and the Clippers. It can only be said that there is no regret in playing closed games, but in fact it will not have any effect, and may even cause more serious damage.
Some people think it is necessary, because the second game of the Lakers has proved that as long as players other than Kobe can make due contributions, then the Lakers have a chance to fight the Clippers until the last moment, and it is impossible for Su Yang to hit every game lore.
In the evening, the game kicked off in the eyes of everyone.
Many big-name star lake fans attended as usual, and Harden and Westbrook also attended the game.
The two sides launched a defensive battle in the first quarter of the game, and their shooting percentages were almost the same. Although the Clippers hit more three-pointers and made fewer turnovers, the Lakers struggled to gain a 3-point lead by relying on extra free throws and rebounds.
The rhythm of the second quarter did not change much, but Bynum beat Jordan in the paint and helped the Lakers get a 5-point lead, so that the Lakers entered the second half of the series for the first time in a leading state.
At halftime, Van Gundy asked Jordan directly if he had any complaints against him.
Jordan said no, he just carried Bynum hard for several games in a row, and the physical exertion was too great.
I thought it was over like this.
Who would have thought that in the third quarter, Jordan was beaten by Bynum again, and many defenses were obviously useless.
The Clippers did not continue to lose points thanks to Su Yang's 5 points and 6 assists in a single quarter.
During the timeout between quarters, Van Gundy made an astonishing decision to drop Jordan for the entire fourth quarter.
He didn't say it directly, but he didn't mention Jordan's name once when arranging the rotation.
In this way, Kaman entered the battle ahead of schedule.
Although it was quite difficult to defend Bynum, he did not send points in vain, and caused Bynum to foul.
Soon, at the last moment of the game, Su Yang assisted Gordon to hit a three-point tie.
The Lakers requested a timeout, and when Kobe came back, Kobe caught the ball and made a strong shot, but Bynum easily grabbed the rebound above Kaman and completed the buzzer-beating dunk in just 2 seconds, helping the Lakers to turn the series into 1-3 .
After the game, the media and fans criticized Van Gundy's employment decision a lot.
After all, all fools know that Jordan should be used to guarantee rebounds at the last moment, but Jordan just sat there for a whole quarter.
Van Gundy did not make any response, only made a public statement in the team meeting, and the players cannot be allowed to deliberately slack off.
Jordan also frankly stated that he thought Van Gundy was jealous of him praising Rivers, deliberately told him not to think about the finals in advance at the party, and suspected that Van Gundy discriminated against black coaches because of white privileges.
Van Gundy didn't know how to explain it, so he could only say that he didn't have it at all. I hope Jordan doesn't think too much about it.
After the meeting, Su Yang found Xiao Qiaodan.
After an in-depth chat, I finally figured out why Jordan praised Rivers like that. The reason is that Jordan was not willing to be a blue-collar worker, and Rivers said in an interview that Jordan was underestimated, with an average of 20+10 per game. potential.
Jordan also mentioned that the next season will be the season in which the 08 rookie will renew his contract in advance. He wants to show more ability to win a bigger contract, and this trip to the playoffs is exactly for him to show himself. Great opportunity.
The core is still a matter of interests. Su Yang promised to help Jordan get a big contract, but the controversy needs to be put aside for now.
Jordan also made a promise, and Su Yang told Van Gundy that he hoped that the team's rotation would return to normal as soon as possible.
...
After a three-day break, the Clippers and the Lakers started Game [-], and Kobe continued to play closed games.
Jordan returned to normal, Bynum's performance was no longer brave, and the Lakers' offense was struggling again.
But the Lakers started an 8-man rotation and chose to defend the zone defense, which also restricted the Clippers' offense.
The two teams fought fiercely for three quarters, the Clippers led by 1 point, and the game showed a lore rhythm.
I thought, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the two teams had a battle off the bench. Because Kobe was not on the court, the Lakers' offensive and defensive strength was greatly reduced. The Clippers blasted a wave of 13-5 attacks, directly turning the lead into 9 points.
Kobe was forced to make an early appearance, but unfortunately, he missed three consecutive shots because he had no touch in the closed game.
With these three goals, the Clippers succeeded in three consecutive fast-break counterattacks, and the point difference widened.
Seeing that the game was about to be lost, Kobe gave up shooting and rushed in against the double-team every time he attacked. He personally scored 7 points in a row, and sent 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block, forcing the situation.
It's a pity that time is not enough. The Clippers finally defeated the Lakers 115 to 106 and advanced to the finals 4 to 1.
Kobe and Su Yang hugged each other, wished Su Yang the championship, and made an appointment to fight again next year.
Immediately after the game, a reporter broke the news that the Lakers will go all out to pursue Chris Paul in the offseason.
(End of this chapter)