warrior godfather

No matter how angry and worried the fans are, the game must go on.

On May 5, the second contest between the Warriors and the Clippers started at the Oracle Center.

This can be said to be a life-and-death battle for the Warriors. If they lose 0:2 at home and then play at the Clippers' home court, it will be hell-level difficulty.

At this time of crisis, fans in the Bay Area gave strong support to the Warriors. The Oracle Center was full of seats. Nearly [-] spectators wore bright yellow T-shirts, and the golden ocean reappeared. They will always stand with the team.

At seven o'clock in the evening, as the referee blew the whistle, Jordan jumped to the ball first and dialed it to the Clippers' backcourt, and the game officially began.

Both teams continued their G1 starts. The Warriors have Livingston, Clay, Leonard, Green, and Chandler. The Clippers have Paul, Redick, Iguodala, Griffin, and Jr. Jordan.

The Clippers attacked, Paul came to the top of the arc, and played a pick-and-roll with Jordan Jr., Chandler didn't switch defenses, but sank back, and Clay went around to cover.

Paul got a short open opportunity, but he didn't take the first shot, but took the ball into the three-point line, trying to find an opportunity to connect with Jordan.

This is Rivers' pre-game arrangement. Using his G1 experience, he focused the Clippers' offense on the inside.

In the third quarter of the last game, the Clippers relied on Griffin's strong attack inside and Paul's mid-range dislocation after the pick-and-roll to maintain the firepower on the offensive end. Taking advantage of the Warriors' scoring shortage, the Clippers opened up the score in one fell swoop. .

But the Warriors didn't switch defenses today, and Chandler's attention has been on Jordan. Paul didn't find a chance to pass the ball, but was re-entangled by Clay.

In the end, after Paul dribbled the ball, he didn't get rid of Clay's defense and passed a pot throw to Redick on the outside. Redick made a shot against Livingston's interference and missed a three-pointer. The rebound was protected by Chandler down.

The Warriors attacked, Livingston dribbled the ball through the front court, and gave the ball to Green in the low post. Chandler lifted up and covered Clay. Clay went from the weak side to the strong side at 45 degrees. The Warriors played a classic The three people cooperate with tactics.

The Clippers still switched defenses at every screen, and Jordan jumped straight out, but his footsteps were still a little slower, giving Clay a gap, and Clay shot the ball as soon as he caught it, deliberately raising the arc, and the basketball was almost wiped Jordan flew between and went into the net hollow, 3:0.

"Yes!"

After scoring the goal, Clay clenched his fists and let out a low growl, his expression excited. He knew the goal was going to be scored as soon as he made a shot. He knew that his touch had finally returned!

The Clippers sent the baseline ball, Paul and Griffin played a pick-and-roll, Green still didn't switch defenses, and Clay went around the screen, just not giving the Clippers a chance to get inside.

Paul didn't hesitate anymore, and directly used the cover to shoot a three-pointer, but it missed a little bit, and hit the front frame. The long rebound bounced high and fell into Green's hands.

Green immediately dribbled the ball and pushed forward. The Warriors launched a counterattack. Clay and Leonard advanced from both sides, but the Clippers were not slow to retreat. Iguodala followed Green, Redick stuck to Clay, and Liffin chased Leonard, not giving the Warriors a chance to go straight.

Green took the ball all the way to the free throw line and was forced to stop by Iguodala. He looked up and quickly scanned the surroundings, saw Clay following up on the left, immediately hit the ground and passed the ball.

Clay didn't stop after receiving the ball, he pulled it up and shot. Redick hurriedly jumped up to interfere, and his hand was already sealed to Clay's face, but Clay ignored its interference, raised his hand and dropped it, and hit a three-pointer, 6 :0.

"nice shot!"

"Nice job, Clay!"

Two consecutive three-pointers made the Warriors fans quite excited. Curry, who was wearing a baseball uniform on the bench, also raised his arms and shouted. If he hadn't been injured, he would have definitely jumped up.

Round transition, Paul decided to play it safe and passed the ball to Griffin.

Griffin singled Green with a face-to-face frame, turned from front to back, leaned on his body and entered the inside line hard, and succeeded in a small throw, 6:2.

Green tried his best to interfere, but Griffin's explosive power was too strong, which made him lose his defensive position at the last moment.

The Warriors sent out the baseline ball, Zhang Yu got up and came to the sidelines, crossed his left and right index fingers in a cross shape.

At the Livingston meeting, he raised his left hand and raised four fingers. After the Warriors saw it, they immediately started running.

Leonard came from the corner to the top of the key and caught a pass from Livingston, who ran to the weakside corner and took Paul.

Clay and Green came up and made a double screen for Leonard. The two stood very close. The Clippers’ defense was a little overwhelmed. Redick didn’t want to switch to Leonard, and Griffin wanted to switch. Communication emerged messed up.

At this moment, Green turned around and set a screen for Clay. Leonard passed the ball over immediately. Clay got an open opportunity, caught the ball and shot it. Hollow into the net, 9:2.

This time, the Oracle Center was completely boiling. Clay made three consecutive three-pointers on the court, detonating the audience. Within 3 minutes of the opening, all the Warriors fans stood up, cheering loudly, shouting Clay's name .

"Di-"

Rivers couldn't sit still anymore, and directly called a timeout. The Clippers players, who were already a little flustered, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Clay clenched his fists, screamed to the sky, walked to the bench, and clapped vigorously with the teammates who came up one by one, venting all the depression and unwillingness to lose in the last game.

He is very aware of the evaluation of him by the outside world in the past two days, but he didn't say anything, and he didn't say anything harsh, because he knew that only the performance on the court can make people shut up, and no amount of talking is better than playing a good game ball.

But today, he has absolute confidence, and he will be ashamed!
……

When Klay finds his touch, what will the Warriors' game look like?
According to statistics, in the past four regular seasons, whenever Clay scored more than 30 points, the Warriors had a record of 32 wins and 6 losses, with a winning percentage of 84%.

In the playoffs, whenever Clay scored 30+, the Warriors' record was 4 wins and 0 losses, and they have never lost a game.

Today, Clay's hands feel as hot as in the first round of G2, and the basket is as vast as the sea in front of him. This is a night that is destined to belong to him.

After returning from the timeout, Rivers stepped up his defense on Klay, but it didn't help.

Clay's name is a shooting guard, but he is 2 meters tall and is a forward figure, which means that he does not have that high requirement for shooting space. As long as he wants, he can forcefully pull up against the defense.

When he doesn't feel good, it's a wild shot, but when he feels hot, it's generally called a pixie ball.

Clay doesn't even need any space now. He just needs to find his own rhythm through running positions, use the screen to get a gap to complete the shot, and then catch the ball and shoot to score.

The Clippers deployed heavy troops on the three-point line, and Clay would catch the ball and shoot two-pointers. Anyway, his offensive area was all over the half court, without dead ends, and he was not obsessed with magic balls.

When Clay's touch recovered, the Warriors' defense also made changes.

In the last game, the Warriors changed their defenses infinitely, but today they greatly strengthened the protection of the inside line. They defended against pick-and-rolls and screened. , Jordan scored in the penalty area.

Zhang Yu's adjustments have had a very significant effect. Rivers obviously did not expect the Warriors' defensive changes. He completely copied his G1 winning experience. Misplaced singles.

But the Warriors locked the inside and the middle distance, and it was very difficult for the Clippers to get in. Chandler, Green, and Leonard blocked the breakthrough route of the Clippers players. Olynyk, Parsons, Yi Jianlian, Antetokounmpo also resolutely shrank, not giving the Clippers a chance to hit the basket.

In the first half, the Clippers also tried to storm the inside, but Griffin was blocked 3 times, was intercepted 1 time, and had more shots interfered with.

Paul can't break through either, his athletic ability has declined sharply, and he can't take advantage of young people like the Warriors.

Jordan was completely misfired. After he lost the space to eat cakes, the only offensive threat left was a second offense to grab offensive rebounds, but the Warriors' rebound protection was also very strict, and he was not given such an opportunity.

In the second half, Rivers made a change, and he had to make a change. The Warriors only gave the Clippers a chance to shoot three-pointers, and the Clippers could only shoot three-pointers.

But unfortunately, Paul and Crawford's long-range shots today are not good, and Redick is under the strict supervision of the Warriors, and there are not many open opportunities. Only Iguodala made two three-pointers, but It's just a drop in the bucket.

In the end, the Warriors defeated the Clippers 96:90 by virtue of Clay's outstanding performance and the complete blockade of the penalty area, tying the big score at 1:1.

全场比赛下来，克莱23投12中，三分15中7，罚球2中2，砍下33分4篮板6助攻1抢断3失误。

As the game progressed, the Clippers' defense against him became tighter and tighter. He passed a lot of balls to his teammates and created his career playoff record with 6 assists, but he also inevitably made 3 turnovers. After all, he is not a player who is good at passing the ball.

The Warriors team sent out a full 12 blocks, 4 of which were given to Griffin, 2 to Jordan, and the remaining half were given to the Clippers guards who insisted on hitting the Warriors' restricted area. The limit is below 50%. Compared with Clay's explosion, this is the key to the Warriors' victory.

After the game, Cole and Zhang Yu embraced each other. In the noisy arena, he said loudly:

"Ronan, we bet right! The Clippers really can't make a three-pointer!"

On the second day after losing G1, Zhang Yu proposed the strategy of shrinking the inside line and releasing the Clippers for three points. The Warriors coaching staff had some doubts at first, but they were still persuaded by Zhang Yu.

The result of today's game proved that Zhang Yu was right. The Clippers' three-point shooting percentage was only 27.2%, which was completely inaccurate.

This is a very rare thing for the Clippers, which has extremely fierce firepower and ranks first in the league in offensive efficiency in the regular season.

After winning G2, the pressure in Zhang Yu's heart also eased a lot. He let out a long breath:

"This is the credit of the whole team's defense. Fortunately, Clay feels good enough today. Without Stephen, the team's offense is too sluggish. With such a good defense, we still only beat the Clippers by 6 points..."

Cole is also very worried. After winning the game, the fans can be happy until the day they lose, but the coaching staff can only relax for a moment, and then start thinking about the next game until the end of this round of the series.

Before Curry comes back, the Warriors' offense is an unsolvable problem, and Cole can only hope for Klay:
"Maybe the next Clay will be as accurate as today, and other people will stand up. In short, we still have a chance..."

……

When Zhang Yu was interviewed after the game, the reporter asked about Clay's performance today. Zhang Yu said:

"Klay played great today, as good as G1, he did the same thing in these two games, the only difference is that he made a shot today, but he didn't make a shot in the last game, that's all. We lost to the Clippers in the last game Finally, I saw a lot of fans criticizing Klay. They should be more patient. Klay has been doing the right thing on the court whether he makes a shot or not. He strictly implements the team's tactics. , shouldn’t be blamed. Maybe next game he won’t make another shot, but that’s okay, he’s playing well, and that’s enough.”

Clay also personally responded to the fans' doubts:
"I missed a lot of shots in the last game, but I know, that's not normal me, I will get back to my form, I don't understand why those people are blaming me like crazy, I'm playing strictly according to the boss's tactics, I There is no random shooting, they have no reason to question my shooting, maybe the next time I hit the iron, they will continue to blame me, but let them go, I don’t care, the boss pays me to go on the court and shoot!”

Those Warriors fans who criticized Klay before immediately changed their tone:
"Before I spoke a little loudly, I apologize to you today!"

"Brother, there were so many people just now, I knelt down for you..."

"I was slapped in the face, but I am willing to be slapped in the face. As long as the Warriors can win, I would rather be slapped in the face every day!"

"I won't spray you anymore, until Curry comes back, it's up to you!"

The atmosphere in the Warriors zone was very harmonious. Those who criticized Clay before were busy apologizing, Clay fans were elated, and no one blamed Leonard anymore. Winning really can cover up all conflicts.

But two days later, the Warriors came to Los Angeles and followed the tactics of the second game, shrinking the inside line. Clay let go, but he didn't have the magic touch. He used 18 shots and scored 22 points.

Instead, the Clippers started to shoot three-pointers. Rivers arranged a lot of off-ball tactics for Redick. Paul held the ball and shot three-pointers. With the ball, the Clippers finally beat the Warriors 13:107, leading 92:2.

The Warriors Zone once again fell into a bloodbath, and the peaceful atmosphere disappeared.