warrior godfather

Chapter 397 Time is ruthless
"Warriors~Warriors~Yeah!"

After the start of the second quarter, the atmosphere in the Oracle Arena did not diminish the enthusiasm of the first quarter, and even exceeded it.

In the first round of the series, the Warriors can always take advantage of the transition by virtue of the depth of the lineup.

Today was no exception, the Lakers' rotation was led by Pau Gasol, Mike Brown sent Artest, Matt Barnes, Jordan Hill and Steve Blake, trying to come from the inside out Play out the situation.

The Warriors' rotation lineup is relatively stable. Jeremy Lin, Butler, Whiteside and Yi Jianlian played together, but Tony Allen did not play, and Danny Green took his place as a backup shooting guard.

When playing against the Mavericks in the first round, Zhang Yu needed Tony Allen to limit Terry’s performance. He is the chief substitute at the second position of the Warriors. He has to play at least 20 minutes in each game. It has improved Terry's scoring efficiency and is an important contributor to the Warriors' advantage in the transition period.

However, the outside line of the Lakers' connecting segment does not have the ability to attack independently. Matt Barnes and Steve Blake are both 3D-type backcourts, scoring very little, and they are pure supporting roles on the Lakers' offensive end.

Under such circumstances, it would be a bit of a waste to ask Tony Allen to defend them strictly. After Zhang Yu discussed with the coaching staff, he removed Tony Allen and put Danny Green on the bench. Position, give full play to his 3D attributes of both offense and defense, and open up space for Jeremy Lin and Butler.

Zhang Yu noticed that when he informed Tony Allen of the news, Tony Allen's expression was somewhat dissatisfied. He must be dissatisfied with losing his substitute position, but he still showed good professional ethics and did not go out of his way The reaction is to obey the arrangement of the coaching staff.

But Zhang Yu couldn't take Tony Allen's feelings too seriously at this time. His defense is indeed strong, but for the Warriors, he has not yet become indispensable. After all, he is limited by his height, and only outside single The level of defense can be called top-level, and it is difficult to play a role in assisting defense and frame protection.

The Warriors already have Chandler, Green, Butler, Leonard and other very versatile defenders. Their ability to restrict the backcourt is indeed inferior to Tony Allen, but they can help defend and protect the frame. , and can shoot three-pointers, unlike Tony Allen.

With such abundant defensive resources, Zhang Yu naturally has to focus on his scoring ability in the backcourt. Danny Green's defense is far inferior to Tony Allen's, but he is also above average, not holding back, and his offense is far better than Tony's. Allen, logically became the willingness of the Warriors to join the lineup.

And he immediately performed well after he came on the court. Since Danny Green had few chances to appear in the first round, he played in garbage time to make up for it. The Lakers coaching staff did not pay attention to his performance and did not understand the characteristics of his game.

After the start of the second quarter, the Lakers players were a little surprised by his appearance, but they still followed Tony Allen's plan, shifting the defensive focus to Butler and Jeremy Lin, shrinking the inside line, and mainly limiting the scoring of others. Danny Green is lax on defense.

Danny Green immediately seized the opportunity, made two open three-pointers, and made a successful steal once, scoring 8 points in a row, quickly helping the Warriors expand their lead.

Mike Brown saw that the situation was not good, and quickly called a timeout. After some adjustments, the Lakers never dared to let Danny Green go. However, Jeremy Lin and Butler's offensive space suddenly opened up a lot, and they frequently hit the Lakers basket. Caused two kills, Gasol and Jordan. Hill each backed a foul.

However, Gasol was in poor form in this game, and he couldn't gain much advantage against Yi Jianlian. He was even blocked by Yi Jianlian once. He was extremely sluggish and failed to play the role of a star.

When Mike Brown finally couldn't hold back and switched back to the main lineup, the Lakers had already trailed the Warriors by 30 points 44:14. The situation was precarious, and there was a risk of being beaten in the first half.

After the Lakers started playing, Kobe immediately took over the ball, and Butler succeeded in consecutive mid-range singles, bringing the point difference back to within 10 points, helping the Lakers stabilize the situation.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu no longer hides his clumsiness. He takes the initiative to call a timeout and replaces the main force on the field, but let Leonard replace Butler, and put Butler on the field to rest.

This is a characteristic of the Warriors' playoff rotation. Butler is the only player on the team other than Curry who has the ability to solve hard problems. Zhang Yu asked him to lead the rotation lineup to provide a foundation for the transitional offense. He will hit in the first quarter. At 4 minutes, replace Butler with Leonard, let him rest early, and then play at the beginning of the second quarter.

When the two sides returned to the main force in the middle of the second quarter, Zhang Yu asked Butler to rest, and then played again in the last 2 minutes of the second quarter. He continued to start in the second half and repeated it in the fourth quarter.

This will make Butler's playing time cut into pieces, which is not conducive to his cultivation of state, but when Zhang Yu arranges tasks, Butler has no complaints.

……

After the Warriors started back on the court, they quickly suppressed the Lakers.

Kobe's offense is still very sharp. The fledgling Leonard is very strong in single defense, but in front of Kobe, who is proficient in all offensive skills and proficient scoring methods, he has almost no parry power. He can only increase the difficulty of his shots as much as possible and limit him slightly scoring efficiency.

But the other players of the Lakers are sluggish, especially after Gasol and Butler were replaced by Mike Brown for a rest, Kobe was struggling on the offensive end, and only Ramon Sessions and Bynum could help a little If you are a little busy, other people will be burned if they don't hold back.

The Warriors are all soldiers, each performing their own duties, and everyone can contribute. Even if Curry did not have the power to dominate as in the first quarter, the passing and cutting tactics are still smooth, with various off-ball screens, hand-offs, and air cuts. Staged in turn, dazzling, so that the Lakers players are exhausted, the already tired body is even worse, and the physical consumption is getting more and more intense.

Kobe's singles is very strong, but the efficiency is not as good as the simple offensive opportunities that the Warriors found after patiently passing on. Soon, the Warriors reopened the point difference to about 15 points.

In desperation, Mike Brown could only shorten Gasol's rest time and send him back to the court. Although he is not in good form today, he is still a well-known inside star. The containment force, the ability to support, cover and protect rebounds are still there, which can relieve Kobe a lot of pressure.

After Gasol came on the court, the Lakers had both internal and external cores, and quickly stabilized their position.

With Mike Brown on the twin towers again, the Lakers' penalty area became airtight, and the Lakers' outside players had no worries. Chasing and defending the Warriors was much more aggressive when running without the ball, and they dared to let them enter the interior. With James and Gasol in place, the Warriors had almost no chance of an air cut.

However, if the pass and cut only have peripheral running and no threat to the basket, the power will be reduced by more than half, and it will be difficult to find opportunities even running outside.

This is the difference between the Lakers and the Mavericks. Bynum, Gasol, Nowitzki, and Haywood are different. They all have very good ability to protect the frame. They are real twin towers.

The Mavericks are just pseudo-twin towers, with height and no hardness. While losing mobility, the frame protection is also in a mess. The Warriors can easily find scoring opportunities in the penalty area, attracting the Mavericks to shrink, and naturally there are vacancies everywhere on the outside. Everything is going well, and Chuanqie is playing well.

This is a natural flaw in the Mavericks lineup. They have to pile up people in the penalty area to protect the frame. No matter how disciplined the defense is, it will not help. Later, Carlisle simply put up a small lineup to fight for his life. .

But the Lakers are different. The real twin towers block the restricted area airtightly. The Lakers' outside players will naturally be able to play the advantages of integrity and discipline, limiting the Warriors' passing and cutting.

But that's all. Curry just followed Zhang Yu's instructions, restrained his edge, suppressed his fiery desire to attack, restrained the Lakers' defensive attention on the court, and gave up the ball when the Warriors could pass and cut. Give it to teammates, let everyone pass and shoot, so that everyone's enthusiasm can be mobilized.

After the Warriors played for nearly 24 seconds in several rounds, Zhang Yu made a gesture to Curry, and he immediately took the ball from his teammates, no longer suppressing his desire to attack, Start attacking with the ball.

With Curry's three-pointer and pie feeding after a few pick-and-rolls, the Warriors' offensive efficiency quickly returned to the level it should be.

Mike Brown hesitated, but still didn't make up his mind to change the way of defending Curry, waiting for Curry to fail to make a super long three-pointer.

But in the second quarter, Curry disappointed Mike Brown. He made two super-long three-pointers after the pick-and-roll, which solved the Lakers' defense outside the Lakers' defensive system, and made Mike Brown fall into the trap again. into entanglement.

At the end of the second quarter, the Warriors led the Lakers by 63 points at 50:13. If Kobe hadn't faced Butler at the last moment and made a three-pointer, the Warriors' advantage would have been even greater.

……

During the halftime break, the atmosphere in the visiting team's locker room was very dull. Kobe sat in his seat without saying a word, looking stern, and the others were silent and breathing heavily.

Mike Brown stood directly in front of everyone, boosting fighting spirit and morale, but with little effect.

The day's rest time is too short. The Lakers players are still in the state of relaxation and fatigue after the tiebreaker victory over the Clippers. Their physical and mental states are very poor. They cannot be adjusted by listening to a few words from Mike Brown. Although he is usually very good at building a good relationship with players, he is very popular in the team.

In the end, Mike Brown simply stopped talking and began to arrange the tactics for the second half:

"We have to change the way we defend Curry in the second half. When he initiates a pick-and-roll from outside the three-point line, he immediately switches defenses. No matter how high the position of the pick-and-roll is, we can no longer give Curry an easy three-point shot! As for the offensive end , It’s still the same as the first half, Kobe, you have unlimited firepower, you and Paul take turns in the low post, and then decide how to attack..."

Mike. Brown still took out his most familiar offensive tactics-f*ck star.

……

After the start of the second half, the Lakers took the lead. To be precise, Kobe took the lead.

He has rich experience and knows that he can't procrastinate any longer. If the Warriors continue to play an advantage in the third quarter, the game will soon lose suspense.

As a result, Kobe dragged his increasingly tired body, and with the support of strong willpower, he launched singles consecutively on the offensive end. He wanted to use his own strength to catch up with the score and drag the game into a critical moment. Ability to fight for this victory.

But he is not the omnipotent Kobe before. In the first half, he was able to ignore the defense, forcefully score points, and still maintain a high efficiency. However, in the second half, he was still able to forcefully score points, but his efficiency dropped a lot. However, the Warriors still have a sharp offense.

On the one hand, this is because Kobe is 34 years old this year, his athletic ability and physical fitness have declined, and he cannot maintain the unparalleled mode of scoring as easily as cutting melons and vegetables like he did in his peak period.

On the other hand, although Butler can't guard Kobe, he can make every shot of Kobe into a difficult shot, giving Kobe a strong confrontation and making him consume more energy than usual.

Under the superposition of the two phases, Kobe's offensive efficiency in the third quarter has dropped a lot, and he is the only pillar of the Lakers' offensive end. His scoring efficiency has dropped, and the Lakers' offense has also fallen into a quagmire.

On the defensive end, the Lakers' defenses couldn't limit Curry's performance at all.

In normal times, Gasol's defense is definitely better than Nowitzki's, but since the start of the playoffs, Gasol's state has not been good. The seven fierce battles with the Clippers have made his physical condition even worse. After that, he was trained by Curry without any temper.

The entire third quarter was spent in the distance contest between Curry and Kobe, but the difference is that Curry's small attack on Gasol was extremely efficient, while Kobe played against Butler in singles or in singles after the pick-and-roll. Green and Chandler are not efficient.

After the third quarter, Curry scored 3 three-pointers in a single quarter and scored another 16 points. The Warriors further expanded their lead and led the Lakers by 91 points with 73:18, completely grasping the initiative of the game.

After the start of the fourth quarter, Mike Brown only allowed the main players to rest for 2 minutes, and then replaced them on the field, fighting to the death.

However, the Lakers lost three quarters in a row and had no morale. They couldn't even gain the upper hand when facing the Warriors' substitutes.

The two sides played back and forth for 3 minutes, and the point difference has been fluctuating around 16 points. The Warriors could not expand their advantage, and the Lakers could not narrow the point difference.

When Zhang Yu returned to the main force, the deadlock was broken. Curry succeeded in breaking through three times in a row. He scored 2 points in 6 minutes, opened the point difference to more than 20 points in one fell swoop, and completely killed the game.

Seeing that there was no hope of chasing points, Mike Brown had no choice but to replace the main player, and declared defeat, and the game entered garbage time.

In the end, the Lakers' third team recovered a little point, and the Warriors beat the Lakers 114:96, leading the series by 1:0.

　The head coach of the Lakers should be Mike Brown, corrected.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)