From sparring to superstar

Chapter 290 288. The Angel City battleship is in hot condition, Kidd is not serious anymore
The first goal, Li Ao wanted to get rid of this mission.

He hasn't even had 1+ points in one playoff game, so you want him to average 40+ points per game?

Fortunately, this is not a task that must be completed for all goals.

"...

Goal 2: The host must average more assists per game than Chris Webber in this Western Conference Finals.

Complete either of the two goals and you will be rewarded: either Peja's running, catching and shooting level 1 training method or Weber's breakthrough level 1 training method.

Both goals are completed, both training methods are obtained at the same time, and the training method is upgraded to level 2.

Goal 3: Defeat the Kings to advance to the Finals.

Goal 4: The scoring average in the series must be higher than that of the Kings.

Reward: Insight level 1. If you advance within 6 games, you will be awarded an additional level 4 skill upgrade card. If you advance through sweeps, you will be awarded an additional level 5 skill upgrade card. "

In the first half of the task, Li Ao felt that the probability of completing it together was low, but it was still possible to choose a reward for completing one of the goals.

The Kings don't guard him well. If they want to flank him, he will have the opportunity to pass the ball.

He is their team's biggest advantage against the Kings, and this is a consensus within their team.

When the media, experts, and well-known fans analyzed and predicted the Western Conference Finals, they also regarded his advantage in this area as a breakthrough for the Clippers to break down the Kings' defense.

Good at running, catching and shooting, fast, good vision and quick to distribute the ball.

When James Worthy was invited to participate in TNT Sports' celebrity roundtable, he said: "The players who raise the ceiling of a team are not just Jordan and Bryant. Spider-Man also has the ability to raise the ceiling of a team. Without Jordan and Bryant, Bryant is so simple and easy to use, but if he is paired with the right teammates, his role is no worse than those two, and the Clippers' lineup is very suitable for him, just like when playing the Lakers, no matter how hard Bryant defends How good, how well the Lakers did in their defense and assistance. As long as he receives the ball and is not blocked, he has the ability to shoot the ball, and his height and wingspan make it difficult for him to be blocked."

In the second half of the task, Li Ao felt that there was something wrong with goal 4 at first glance, but when he thought about the series in which the Pistons eliminated the Hornets, he thought of a situation - they beat the Kings, maybe by a single-digit margin, and the Kings charged up. To beat them, the point difference in one victory may be higher than if they win two or three games.

The focus of the second half is to win the Western Conference Finals, at least 4-1, in order to get extra rewards...the goal is to win all the rewards!

It doesn’t matter whether you get it or not. Set the goal first.

...

The starting lineups of both teams are still the same, with their respective offenses and defenses being the most balanced and powerful lineups.

At 8 p.m., the first game of the Western Conference Finals begins!
O'Neal beat Divac to win the jump ball and the Clippers went first.

The Kings players had already anticipated this. Divac took off with his toes off the ground and retreated quickly after landing, moving faster than the forwards on both sides.

Li Ao ran to the frontcourt at a constant speed and launched a sneak attack at the beginning of the fast break. This was a regular season attack on a weak team. Against the opponent in front of him, he charged at the beginning. He probably couldn't even affect the opponent's defensive formation. He could still save a little energy. a little.

As a person involved, he knows best that a big reason for being able to reverse the Lakers is physical strength. Kobe took 7 minutes of rest in 6 games, and O'Neal took 7 minutes of rest in 10 games. Even if they are two iron men, it will be difficult for them to be as good as the first four in G6G7. Play a sustained explosive performance like this on every field.

In this Western Conference Finals, he did not really regard himself as the first scoring point, but as a threat that could last the entire game and continue to affect the opponent's defense.

He thought so, and did so. After Bibby advanced to the frontcourt, he began to run at a regular speed. He did not seek to directly run for scoring opportunities. He was purely disruptive. Bibby would initiate an attack in a pick-and-roll or Jordan would play in singles. Initiate an offense, and when the ball comes, he will shoot or pass it without knocking it down.

This time it was Bibby who initiated the attack. He and O'Neal set up a pick-and-roll and pulled Divac out.

Li Ao cut into the bottom line, and Weber received the position, and together with Peja, he successfully blocked Li Ao's attack on the frame, and helped Peja continue to pursue Li Ao after Li Ao completed the baseline slide.

But as soon as Li Ao came out from the basket, Matt Halprin went straight to the inside...

Webb reacted quickly and moved up in time, but was knocked away by Matt Halprin who rushed up...

Matt Halprin's football-style charge and violent layup!

Adelman put on a mask of pain at the beginning and asked them to guard against Kobe, Carter, and Iverson. None of them felt so uncomfortable.

These three are all singles scorers. They must have the ball in their hands first, have the ability to attack forward, and give the defender a chance to prepare.
Spider-Man here, after catching the ball, threw it away without touching it.

Normally it's okay, but after seeing Li Ao averaging 25+ shots per game against the Lakers, they really didn't dare to let Li Ao catch the ball and make a shooting move.

This guy really dares to throw!The 2 points scored in the penultimate game of the regular season are still fresh in my mind.

Fortunately, he was mentally prepared for this situation and prepared for emergencies, and gestured towards the team members.

When the Kings attack, they also start the attack immediately!

Weber caught the ball and jumped to avoid the defense, and hit a close jump shot from the front of the basket.

After carrying O'Neal for a long time, O'Neal felt quite fresh when he met another No. [-] pick who was floating around. However, the two opponents also had something in common - they couldn't guard him.

When the Clippers attack, Jordan continues to hang around on the wing, Li Ao continues to run, and Bibby continues to initiate attacks with O'Neal in pick-and-rolls.

But this time it was Webb who followed Matt Halprin to defend the pick-and-roll for several seconds, while Divac stayed close.

Jordan immediately moved in the direction of Matt Halprin. When Matt Halprin received Bibby's ball, Doug Christie, who was guarding Jordan, was already in a position to make up for it, but he did not move.

Matt Halprin caught the ball at a 30-degree angle from the left and hit a two-pointer!

The opponent actually let Matt Halprin take a mid-range shot. Gentry, who was watching from the sidelines, was confused, but when the Kings continued to attack with all their strength, he quickly understood the opponent's intention.

It's not difficult to analyze the opposing coach's thoughts. Doug Collins next to him also saw it and said: "Adelman wants to start the confrontation from the beginning."

Gentry responded: "Yes, relying on their eight main players to have strong personal abilities and high continuity, they can directly fight a war of attrition. This is his common tactic."

"Confrontation consumes Matt, blocks Mike's three-pointers and Michael's mid-range shots, and defends the basket. Very good tricks. How do you deal with them?"

"It may be useful for him to consume the big Q, but it consumes our captain... Hum, Matt is a tough guy who can maintain stability when fighting against the OK combination, so he can do whatever he wants."

Doug Collins watched the players on the field begin to actively create scoring opportunities for Matt Halprin and use the opponent's tricks. He nodded. As the head coach said, if the opponent uses this strategy, they can really let the opponent casually. toss.

It's not that Adelman's method is bad, but that Matt Halprin has made great progress after experiencing the Los Angeles Derby. As far as the Kings' confrontation is concerned, there is no way to compare with the Sharks' terrifying rim defense.

Thinking of this, Doug Collins sighed and said: "Matt's value has increased a lot after playing for the Lakers. His contract does not have the priority to renew with the parent team. We may be very passive during the offseason."

Gentry responded: "It's not just Matt, the values ​​of many of our players have increased a lot because of the last round. It was previously rumored that the Jazz were prepared to provide Mike with an average annual contract of 800 million. I heard that the Jazz are now preparing to provide Mike with an average annual contract of 1000." Wan’s contract will definitely be targeted when Jermaine’s contract expires next summer…”

Gentry mentioned most of the main players in the team, except Li Ao, Odom, and Jordan.

Of these three, Li Ao is the one they will keep no matter what. Other teams can give non-Birds maximum salary at most, and they can give more.

Odom has been promised a maximum salary, and there is no room for increase. He also has the priority to renew his contract with his parent team, which he cannot dig out.

Jordan... is currently earning a maximum salary. God knows how many more years he will play. Other teams can't recruit him. Where he chooses to play has little to do with his salary.

All in all, it is certain that Li Ao and Odom will stay on the team, and it is hard to say for others. After all, people's hearts are the hardest to grasp.

Doug Collins sighed: "It is not easy to build a championship team. Good draft selection, good training of new players, and adequate recruitment of role players... are still not enough, and you have to face the opposition of other teams. When I was with the Bulls, It was like this when we were in the team. After we finally cultivated a player who was suitable for us, other teams came to poach him. Even though it was obviously not suitable for them, they still wanted to poach him. Fortunately, Claude was very capable..."

Speaking of this, Doug Collins was stunned. He thought of the past that he didn't want to look back on - the Bulls had just built a championship lineup and he was fired...

He pinched himself, put aside the sad memory, and asked: "But why didn't we negotiate contract extensions with Matt, Mike, and Jermaine earlier? Then we wouldn't have to worry about other teams offering high prices. ”

After asking, Doug Collins felt that Gentry looked at him like he was a fool.

Gentry responded speechlessly: "Of course it is to preserve salary space in the offseason. We don't know if Michael will play after this year. As for the salary issue, have you forgotten who our big boss is? , and we have Spider-Man... There will definitely be someone who leaves. Players value more than just salary. We can't stop this. We just need to focus on winning. The joy of winning is more important to many players than The little salary we pay is more important, and we can only do this well."

Doug Collins was stunned when he heard this. He seemed to have thought too much and actually forgot that the big boss was Ballmer.

It's all the fault of the Microsoft tycoon. He doesn't come to the office even once every three or two months, and even when he's watching football on the sidelines, he yells like a crowd of spectators.

Even in the NBA, which has strict salary regulations, high salary can solve most of the problems...

...

On the court, the Kings players were a little furious with Hung Hung.

The head coach's defensive strategy is not working well!

It's true that Weber's physical fight against Matt Halprin had an effect, but after Matt Halprin made a long shot, he went straight to the basket on the next offense.

Weber moved to the high post to defend the pick-and-roll, and there was no one on the wing to block him. Divac was also frightened when he encountered the impact of Matt Halprin. If he moved early, he could block it in place, and he had the ability to defend against O'Neal Jr.'s cut. But it is impossible to take into account the defense of Li Ao around the bottom line.

As long as Divac doesn't delay Li Ao, Li Ao will come out around the baseline and directly accelerate out of the gap to catch and shoot without mercy.

And Matt Halprin is very active in cutting, and the more he cuts, the more excited he becomes.

In the last round, O'Neal protected the frame and the opponent's basket was airtight. Matt Halprin was almost exhausted.

This time when he met Divac, he was able to rush forward, but he tried to hit Divac with all his strength, as if he wanted to make up for the number of times he missed the basket in the previous round.

Adelman's defensive strategy did not play a substantial role. Instead, it caused Divac to foul early in the first half of the first quarter, laying hidden dangers for the subsequent games. Not only that, Weber's defensive movement range also got bigger.

This strategy is not worth the gain!
Fortunately, the Kings played well offensively. They were very experienced in dealing with the Clippers' defense cut off in the middle, and the expansion Princeton operated smoothly.

打到首节6分37秒，国王队13比14落后快船队1分，靠进攻把比分咬住。

Entering the official timeout, Adelman gave up the strategy of physical exhaustion.

He can now see that the Clippers, which played the Lakers for 7 games and won, are very different from the regular season.

The opponent has become accustomed to high-intensity confrontational games. Instead, they played 4 games with the Mavericks easily and happily, so they suffered a bit in this regard.

The opponent actually used Matt Halprin as the first end point. This was something he didn't expect. It didn't follow the routine at all. Bibby, Li Ao, and Jordan were not using three clear advantages, but Matt Halprin was used. Even if O'Neal is used as the main attacker, Adelman can figure it out.

The opponent's head coach's adaptability and confidence were greatly improved in the Los Angeles Derby.

This kind of coach who is still in the improving stage is an opponent Adelman does not want to encounter.

He is not the leading Zen master in the analytical ability league. When encountering an opponent who doesn't play by the rules, if the opponent's response is effective, it is often difficult for him to come up with a targeted solution.

For example, now, he doesn't think about how to deal with the opponent's changes, but directly switches to his regular play style, takes the kingly route, and competes with the opponent's strength.

But when the strength is strong enough, this kind of emergency response can really solve most problems.

At least it's okay this time.After returning from the timeout, the Kings played a balanced offensive and defensive style. This adaptability surprised Gentry, who was carefully observing on the opposite bench.

It's really hard for Gentry to adjust to the opponent's contingency strategy.

However, the fans on the court reacted quickly and directed Bibby to adjust his playing style and smoothly start an offensive and defensive battle with the opponent.

When your opponent makes unexpected changes, it is the best choice to respond with a stable play style.

Although Li Ao and Adelman are not on the same line at all, their response methods are surprisingly unified because their Clippers are also strong enough!

The players are very good at adapting to their own needs, and Gentry is not idle either. In his opinion, beating them like this will definitely lead to losses for the Lakers and Magic, but at least they can carry it for a while. He must hurry up and create something with the players. time to think about changes.

But the situation on the field was very different from what he expected...

Adelman also believes that as long as he switches back to his regular style of play, the opposing lineup with both Jordan and O'Neal replaced will not be their opponent. That is to say, their side will play harder because their opponents are too familiar with their style of play. It’s just that it’s a bit tiring and consumes a bit more.

But the actual situation is that after being beaten 4-0, the Clippers beat the opponent 12-7!

As Bibby broke through White Chocolate, he hit a throw from close range and caused an extra penalty for Peja's foul. The score came to 26 to 24, and the Clippers took a two-point lead!

It wasn't over yet. When the Kings were on offense, Li Ao flew to steal Weber's pass as Turkoglu cut into the basket. Looking back, Bibby singled out White Chocolate and hit a three-pointer with a step back.

The score came to 29 to 24, the Clippers' lead expanded to 5 points, and Adelman called a timeout again!
...

Adelman is panicking now.

I didn't see it in the starting stage, but when it came to the rotation stage, when Turkoglu and Scott Pollard came on to replace Peja and Divac, it was very obvious.

Their condition is not as good as their opponent!

The opponent only had two days of rest after the tiebreaker, continuing the state of the Los Angeles Derby stage.

The Clippers were in surprisingly good shape in the Los Angeles Derby tiebreaker, overwhelming the Lakers for the entire game.

And they have rested for too long. After resting for 9 days, their physical condition is very, very good. This is why Adelman is not afraid of exhaustion and uses royal tactics.

But when they played the Mavericks in the second round, they played too easily. Now he doesn't take the initiative to arrange his players to engage in hand-to-hand combat, and the intensity of the confrontation cannot be tightened. They scored too easily in the second round. Now they encounter the Clippers' high-intensity defense, and they are obviously defeated. !
And the opponent is used to high-intensity confrontation, and the confrontation they give is like paper to the opponent. Bibby is so excited that he doesn't even need to pick and roll during the rotation stage, and just plays singles. This is the 4 times they played against each other in the regular season. Never appeared before!
On the other side of the bench, Gentry was extremely surprised.

It's not that he hasn't considered the advantages in this regard, but things are always relative.

Jordan's condition was average during preparations for today's game. Seven fierce battles in the Los Angeles Derby had a great impact on him.

Therefore, Gentry did not regard this as an advantage during the preparation stage.

Now he discovered that the advantage in this area was greater than he expected!

And now he looked back at the first half of the first quarter and found that even if Jordan only made one shot, most of the time the offensive end was like a goat, walking with arms akimbo, but the opponent still did not dare to relax its defense against Jordan, who performed well in the second round.

Of course, Gentry must take advantage of this situation!
Don’t hesitate, rush!Attack directly with all your strength!
During the Los Angeles Derby, he had already figured out that the Clippers were not a strong old team, but an emerging team dominated by young players. Their rushing energy was their strongest strength. At!If you have the conditions, you must rush!

...

After returning from the timeout, Adelman made no adjustments and did not change the lineup.

He is not like Doc Rivers who rushes into trouble when he encounters an unsolvable problem. Instead, he chooses to do nothing.

He has won 71 games this season. There are many difficult games. If he does nothing, the probability of winning is even greater. Over time, he has developed a habit.

However, playing poorly is not always a good choice. During the official timeout, it was considered a good choice. Before a mistake occurred and Bibby hit a three-pointer, they were not in a good state with the Clippers. The opponent scored 11 to 12, back and forth.

This time it was not a good choice. In the last two minutes of the first quarter, the Clippers rushed the Kings 8-4!

After the first quarter, the Clippers led the Kings by 37 points 28-9!
In the second quarter, Adelman had to choose to fight. If this continues, the game will be gone.

He really doesn't want to compete with the Clippers for key goals.

The Lakers were able to take a 4-3 lead in the first four games by relying on key balls, relying on Kobe, Fisher, and Horry.

The key shots of their Kings team, let alone compared with Kobe and Horry, may not be as powerful as Fisher alone.

Not only others think so, but their own perceptions in this regard are deeply ingrained.

This is a terrible thing. They were dragged to Game [-] by the Timberwolves in the first round. Except for Garnett and Tenke Webb, no one on their side was Billups' opponent at critical moments. They were compared at every critical moment. Lupus pressed and hit.

But the young players of the Clippers, who had already shown momentum, did not allow the Kings to regain the situation in the second quarter. Their momentum even drove Jordan.

The Kings' desperate offense and defense in the second quarter only lowered the Clippers' score from 37 points in the first quarter to 32 points, and their own score was a little lower than in the first quarter, only scoring 27 points.

After halftime, the Clippers led the Kings by 69 points 55-14!
In the third quarter, the Clippers' offensive firepower dropped, not as fierce as the first two quarters.

But then Peja relented.

With a score difference of close to 15 points, he became frightened during the halftime break. When he came to the court, the boos in the sky failed to stimulate him.

If a teammate steps up to score at this time, stabilizes the situation and gives Peja some confidence, he may be able to score the ball.

But he didn't have such teammates. Weber, who played the entire first half and scored 20 points in the half, also showed weakness in this quarter.

The Clippers relied on their momentum to score 25-20 in a single quarter, extending their lead to 19 points, with a score of 94-75!

In the final quarter, Weber, who had rested for half a quarter in the second half of the third quarter, regained his strength and scored 12 points in a single quarter, helping the Kings score 31 points in a single quarter.

But even so, the Kings didn't see any hope of winning.

The Clippers' feel further declined in the final quarter, but they showed something that the Kings had never seen when they played against them in the regular season - unstoppable momentum!

Clippers players rushed inside like crazy and seized opportunities to counterattack.

Divac got fouled not long after the start. By the 9th minute of the third quarter, he had already committed 4 fouls. He played the entire fourth quarter and was timid on the defensive end. But the more so, 6 The fouler left the field sooner, leaving Scott Pollard to be destroyed by Matt Halprin and Li Ao.

The Clippers scored very little from the outside in the fourth quarter, but relied on attacking the paint to score 25 points in a single quarter. They steadily withstood the Kings' counterattack and fixed the point difference at 13 points at the end of the game!
韦伯全场23投11中，外加13中10的罚球，拿到全场最高的32分，以及9板5助攻2抢断1盖帽，依旧无力回天。

When you have the team's best pitcher next to you who scored 19 points on 6-for-17 shooting, not to mention Webber, O'Neal and Duncan would have to shake their heads.

For the Clippers, Bibby made 20 of 10 shots, including 7 of 4 three-pointers, plus 5 of 5 free throws. He scored a team-high 29 points, plus 5 assists!
李敖今晚出手机会不多，对方如预料中那样，防死他这个史上最年轻的60+先生，他13投6中，其中三分球5中2，加上8中7的罚球，拿到21分7板8助攻2抢断3盖帽。

奥多姆拿到8分7板3助攻、马特-哈普林拿到20分刷新个人季后赛单场得分纪录、小奥尼尔15分10板、乔丹13分3板3助攻……

119 to 106, the Clippers defeated the Kings, leading 1-0!

...

The first game of the Western Conference Finals surprised fans who didn't watch the game.

Fans have analyzed the possibility of winning by a large margin in the Western Conference Finals, but when analyzing, they always regarded the Kings as the winner.

Different from the Kings' Princeton's balanced approach, the Clippers first go on defense when encountering a strong opponent. This is people's inherent understanding of the two teams.

Unexpectedly, the Clippers beat the Kings.

But those who watched the game will know that the Kings did not lose unfairly.

A group of forwards from the Clippers rushed to the basket like animals, and they were in excellent condition. Matt Halprin had a rugby charge, and everyone was pulled down, but he still threw the ball in, making the score 2+1.

Bibby shined tonight, taking full advantage of Jordan's containment, Li Ao's threat, and Matt Halprin's explosion, scoring 5 points with a 29% shooting rate!
In addition to scoring, he also did a good job in distributing the ball in his main job. When Li Ao reached the support point, he delivered the ball to Li Ao in time. Without his pass, Li Ao would not have deliberately brushed the ball, and his assists would have been half as much. .

Although the Kings responded poorly in this game, their overall performance was still very strong and worthy of the title of 'the best basketball team in the world in terms of regular performance'.

But the Clippers were too strong tonight.

On the second day, the attention of the media and fans returned to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Although the Western Conference Finals is popular, it is very different from the Los Angeles Derby. Ticket prices and live broadcast ratings are both cut in half.

After the first game in the Eastern Conference Finals, where the TT combination faced off against the genius Kidd, it attracted as much attention as the Western Conference Finals.

Such changes make the Clippers players quite uncomfortable.

Even Li Ao, who didn't pay much attention to the news during the playoffs, was a little uncomfortable.

But Jordan and Gentry feel good about it.

To play the Lakers, they need extra motivation and passion.

But against the Kings, they need to be calmer.

In G2 of the Eastern Conference Finals that night, McGrady missed a buzzer-beating three-pointer. The Nets narrowly defeated the Magic 87-85 and took away the home court advantage.

Li Ao watched the live broadcast. If his son hadn't been around, he would have been beaten by his parents for swearing. He would have cursed.

The Nets can win mainly through defense.

今晚邓肯19投仅8中，罚球也不多，5中3，只拿到19分16板2助攻3盖帽。

魔术队得分最高的是17投9中拿到25分的麦迪，除了他们俩，魔术队只有13分8板的霍雷斯-格兰特得分上双，拿到13分。

But the Nets can win not only by defense, but their overall offense is also very poor. Only three players on the team scored in double figures. The Magic guarded everyone they should guard, and Kenyon Martin took 3 crazy shots. times, he only scored 18 points. Another player who scored in double figures was Kittles of the 14 golden generation.

只是……基德今晚20投11中，其中三分球10中4，加上5中4的罚球，拿到30分13板6助攻2抢断……

Jibu scored the highest score in the game and killed Duncan with his shooting!

Although Kidd took 20 shots, at least 10 were completely missed, and seven or eight times he successfully got a gap and took the shot before the defense was in place. There were almost no serious singles... But Kidd can score so many goals without attacking. Very unseemly!

Kidd played in the playoffs for the sixth time, dozens of games, and this was the first time he made more than 6 field goals in a single game!
The Magic's performance can be said to be quite stable. The opponent's defense limited their scoring, and their defense limited the opponent's normal scoring even worse. It was simply because Kidd shot to death!

……

……

Today I was busy preparing barbecue at home. I’ll make this short and I’ll make up for it later~
(End of this chapter)