NBA Old Age Star System

Chapter 342 Sweep the Clippers and fight against the Rockets!
The day after the league ended its regular season, Su Tian came to Walton's office.

"Su, the playoffs are about to start, and the burden on you will be heavy again. You must take good care of your body during this time."

After speaking, Wharton gave a meaningful look.

"Hahaha, coach, don't worry, I know."

Wharton nodded after hearing this and said nothing else.

"The regular season is over, and the playoff schedule is out. Our first round game is pretty easy, against the Clippers, so we don't have to go back and forth between home and away games."

"However, if it can be solved early, don't delay it for too long, Su, do you understand?"

Su Tian nodded and said: "I know, I will fight quickly, the Clippers can't make any waves."

"That's good."

At this time, outside news reports about the Lakers' 75 wins have not stopped, and the Lakers' popularity is still high.

As a result, Su Tian's data was mentioned again.

"Su Tian wins the steals title again!"Assist king! 》

"ESPN predicts that Su Tian will dominate the steals and assists rankings in the next ten years! 》

"How did Su Tian become so almighty!" ? 》

"The biggest reason for the Lakers' 75 wins - Su Tian!" 》

"The Lakers are unstoppable, reminiscent of the OK era!" 》

The time soon came to November 4th.

The NBA playoffs officially begin, and the series between the Lakers and Clippers also begins on this day.

Before the game started, league officials began to hype up the Los Angeles Derby gimmick, but unfortunately, there are too few Clippers fans nowadays, and Lakers fans have an overwhelming advantage.

Players from both sides entered the court, and the Lakers maintained their starting lineup from the previous regular season.

The Clippers' starting lineup is Beverley, Shamet, Alexander, Gallinari, and Zubac.

The Clippers' starting lineup seems harmless, but their killer moves are hidden on the bench.

Harrell and Lou Williams on the bench are the Clippers' real scoring points.

Soon the game started, Nance took the initiative, and Su Tian got the ball and advanced to the frontcourt.

As soon as Su Tian came to the frontcourt, Beverly rushed forward to grab the ball like he was desperate.

Letting Beverley start against Su Tian also had the idea of ​​​​consuming Su Tian's points, but unfortunately, Beverley's defensive method did not work against Su Tian.

Su Tian resisted Beverley's interference and broke through with a single lunge, heading straight for the basket.

At this time, Zubac on the inside hadn't even reacted yet. Su Tian had already collected the ball, jumped up, and dunked directly.

2-0
"Oh!! Su's breakthrough dunk was so beautiful! Beverly couldn't stop it at all!!"

"The gap between the Clippers and the Lakers is still quite obvious. If the Clippers want to break the tie, they must make dangerous moves!"

The next few rounds seemed to confirm everyone's guesses, and the Lakers easily took the lead.

Doc Reeves reluctantly called a timeout and replaced Harrell and Lou Williams.

Although Harrell and Lu Wei are very strong, they have some flaws after all, so they have been coming off the bench.

After these two people came up, the Clippers did strengthen their offense a lot, but on the contrary, they began to lose ground frequently on defense.

At the end of the first quarter, the score reached 36-27, with the Lakers leading the Clippers by 9 points.

In the second quarter, Su Tian took a break, and Butler and George continued to lead the team.

Without Su Tian, ​​Lu Wei's offense was further strengthened, but it still did not help much in chasing points.

Halfway through the second quarter, Su Tian came on the court to replace George and Butler.

At the end of the first half, the Lakers' lead had reached 15 points.

"I think the result of this game should be obvious. It may not be that simple for the Clippers to come back." Kenny Smith said.

"Yes, the Clippers are far behind the Lakers on both offense and defense," Barkley said.

"Unless they do a miracle in the second half, there is still a chance of survival."

The intermission ended quickly, and the third quarter began.

There was no miracle for the Clippers. Su Tian carried the Lakers' brilliant momentum and pushed it directly.

At the end of the third quarter, the score difference reached 18 points.

At this time, Doug Rivsky had already given up, but in order to show his fighting will, he still sent in the Clippers' decisive lineup.

As for the Lakers, Su Tian still leads the bench lineup himself, and it has not changed because of the Clippers.

At the end of the game, the Lakers easily won the game 122-101.

However, Walton's expression after the game didn't seem very satisfied.

"Coach, how are you? Why is your expression so bad?" George asked.

"It's still my fault. I didn't control it well. So many points were wasted. I should have saved your energy and not allowed you to output at full strength."

George was speechless after hearing this.

The first game of the playoffs did not create any waves, and the results of the game were as everyone expected.

After a day's rest, on April 4, the Clippers and Lakers started the second game of the series.

This game was more crisp and clear than the first game. At the end of the first half, the score difference had reached 20 points.

In the third quarter, the Clippers players had lost the confidence to resist, so Walton began to consciously protect the main players and let the bench players play more.

In the end, the Lakers won the game 123-91, and the score came to 2-0
At this time, public opinion about this series between the two teams began to gradually become one-sided.

"There is nothing interesting to watch in the Los Angeles Derby. The only thing left to watch is whether the Lakers can sweep through and advance."

"Yes, although it is surprising that the Clippers have reached the playoffs, the gap with the Lakers is too obvious, and there is really no hope."

"Now the Clippers don't even dare to shout 'No to sweep' slogan."

"The Lakers won't have much of an obstacle in the first two rounds. It just depends on the series between the Western Conference Finals and the Warriors."

After the first two games against the Clippers, the Lakers had three days of rest.

Because there is no need to travel back and forth, the Lakers' team's physical strength is very well preserved.

On April 4, the third game of the series began.

It's still Staples Arena, except that the floor has been changed, the fans in the stands still have an overwhelming advantage for the Lakers.

In this game, the Clippers players also learned their shame and acted bravely. Lu Wei and Harrell made continuous efforts and almost caught up with the score before the end of the second quarter.

But after the start of the third quarter, Su Tian led the main force on the field and directly brought the Clippers back to their original shape with a 10-0 wave.

In the fourth quarter, Su Tian, ​​as usual, led the bench lineup to exert full output.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Walton put all the main players on the court, and the Lakers immediately sealed the victory.

The big score came to 3-0.

As soon as the whistle blew at the end of the game, the fans at the scene started shouting loudly.

"Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!"

"Advancement! Advancement! Advancement!"

The expressions of the Clippers players were very bad, because obviously these shouting fans were not cheering for the Clippers, but for the Lakers.

It seems to be the home court of the Clippers, but in fact everything is already controlled by the Lakers.

April 4, the fourth game of the series.Only half of the game was played, and the Clippers directly replaced all the starting players.

Because the point difference at this time was already 25 points, no matter how hard the Clippers struggled, they could not overturn it.

In the end, the Lakers easily won the game and successfully advanced with a big score of 4-0.

The banner of "sweep the promotion" raised by the fans was truly realized by the Lakers.

However, the Lakers' sweep to advance did not attract the attention of the media and the public, because to everyone this was a matter of course.

After the series with the Clippers ended, Su Tian began to observe the games of other teams, especially the Western Conference.

The Lakers' opponents in the second round will be born between the Rockets and Trail Blazers, but after the Trail Blazers have grown, they are not a weak team now.

The Rockets will have to put in a lot of effort to win over the Trail Blazers. The current record of the two teams is tied at 2-2.

At the same time, the Warriors lead the Spurs with a 3-1 advantage, and advancement does not seem to be a difficult task.

The other set of opponents is the Nuggets and Jazz. The Nuggets currently lead 3-1. However, it is difficult for the Nuggets to win these three games. It is difficult to say that the Nuggets will definitely advance.

After watching the battle in the west, Su Tian turned his attention to the east.

Compared with the West, the competition in the East is relatively clear.

The Bucks, like the Lakers, have eliminated the Magic 4-0 and are waiting for the next round of opponents.

The Cavaliers also swept the Nets 4-0 and successfully advanced to the next round.

In the game between the Raptors and the Pacers, the Raptors naturally lead 3-1 and have not felt a lot of pressure yet.

The most anxious group in the East should be Philadelphia and the Celtics. They are currently tied 2-2, but the Celtics have a slight advantage.

Generally speaking, the water in the east is clearer than in the west, and you can predict a similar result at a glance.

During this period, the Lakers have naturally not been idle and have been actively preparing for the game.

On April 4, the match between the Rockets and Trail Blazers finally came to an end, with the Rockets slightly winning 26-4 and successfully advancing to the next round.

After the Rockets advanced, the happiest people were of course the Rockets fans.

"The Rockets successfully advanced!! Defeated the Lakers!!!"

"As long as our Rockets are here, the Lakers can't even think about winning the championship!!!"

"The Lakers and the Warriors will all be stepping stones for our Rockets!!!"

Rockets fans are very excited, and Su Tian understands it very well, but there are also some people who, like Su Tian, ​​see the crisis hidden under the Rockets' glamorous appearance.

At the end of Game [-] between the Rockets and Trail Blazers, a big quarrel seemed to break out on the Rockets bench.

But regarding the specific content and personnel of the dispute, the Rockets chose to remain tight-lipped.

The main reason why the current Rockets can still maintain is because the Rockets can win.

Su Tian believes that as long as the Rockets do not win the championship this season, the "Light Bulb Team" will disband.

On April 4, the entire Rockets team came to Los Angeles.

Because it is still the playoffs, it is difficult for Harden to contact Su Tian directly, so he can only say a few words on the court.

After Su Tian came to the arena, he glanced at the Rockets bench from time to time and found that the atmosphere of the Rockets was very strange.

Soon, game time came and players from both sides began to take the field.

The Lakers' starting lineup is naturally the regular starting lineup, while the Rockets' starting lineup is Paul, Harden, Gordon, PJ Tucker, and Capela.

It is undoubtedly obvious that the Rockets' forward line is a flaw.

This is naturally what Walton emphasizes when arranging tactics, so in this series, Butler and George will take on more responsibilities.

Su Tian, ​​on the other hand, is responsible for defending the opponent's stars, James Harden and Chris Paul.

After the game started, Capela grabbed the basketball and Paul advanced to the frontcourt with the ball.

Seeing Paul coming, Su Tian didn't hesitate and stepped forward directly to activate the death coil.

Faced with Su Tian's death entanglement, Paul did not choose a radical play, but directly passed the ball to Harden.

Harden got the ball, faced Butler, and after dribbling under his hips, he broke through and rushed to the basket.

Capela inside had already opened up space for Harden. Harden resisted Butler's defense and forced a layup.

But unfortunately, Harden did not commit a foul. The scale of the playoffs is still different from the regular season.

The Rockets scored first, 2-0, and the ball was converted.

Su Tian advanced to the frontcourt with the ball. Facing Paul's defense, Su Tian chose to stand sideways to better protect the ball.

Just as the two were wrestling, Su Tian suddenly felt Paul's center of gravity shift forward, so he quickly turned around, threw Paul away and successfully entered the three-point line.

Before Capela's help came, Su Tian made a pull-up jumper.

Swah——

Hit steadily.

2-2
Su Tian successfully responded.

The fans at the scene were also excited by Su Tian's set, because Su Tian looked much more handsome than Harden when he was so relaxed and scoring goals!

Facing the enthusiasm of the fans, Su Tian just smiled slightly.

Harden curled his lips and thought to himself: "It seems like no one has fans."

The ball was given to the Rockets again. This time Harden had to pass the ball and advance to the frontcourt with the ball.

As soon as he reached the three-point line, Harden made a pull-up three-pointer.

Swah——

Harden's shot was too sudden, and Butler failed to interfere in time and hit a three-pointer.

Turning around, Su Tian came to the frontcourt with the ball and made an emergency stop outside the three-point line.

Paul thought Su Tian was going to respond to Harden, so he quickly stepped forward to defend.

But then Su Tian accelerated and directly broke through Paul's defense, successfully attracting Tucker's help in the bottom corner.

So Su Tian passed the ball accurately to George who was ambushing in the bottom corner. George received the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.

Swah——

George made a direct three-pointer.

When Su Tian returned to defense, he deliberately passed by Harden.

"Who can beat you in points? I'm the assist king! Compare assists if you can."

Harden looked at Su Tian with a disgusted expression.

"You are really shameless."

Harden is the Rockets' first scoring point. If Harden concentrates on assists, the team's scoring pressure will be huge.

But the Lakers are different. Even if Su Tian does not focus on the offense, Butler and George can perfectly distribute the scoring tasks.

This is the root of the gap between the two teams.

In the next few rounds, Su Tian worked hard to contribute his strength on the defensive and organizational ends, while Butler and George took responsibility on the offensive end.

Even in the middle rounds, Ingram can stand up and take the lead. The distribution of personnel tasks for the entire Lakers is very reasonable.

At the end of the first quarter, the score came to 34-26, with the Lakers leading by 8 points.

(End of this chapter)