When pride still matters

Chapter 604 Supernova Explosion

The defeat in the third game was devastating, not only because of the 0-3 deficit, but also because of the way they lost.

Kobe's buzzer beater gave the Lakers a glimmer of hope, but it left the Clippers with 1.4 seconds, which was countered by Yu Fei.

Coming into the fourth game, the Lakers had lost their spirit.

The result was naturally a crushing defeat.

4 is better than 0
The Clippers defeated the Lakers without any difficulty and advanced to the Western Conference Finals with a perfect record.

Kobe looked calm. He was no longer the reckless teenager who made consecutive misses in the playoffs and sent his team packing.

Instead, Anthony acted particularly indignant, as if they lost 3-4.

"Since you won, you have to keep going." Kobe said to Fei, "Don't be like last year."

Yu Fei asked: "Am I the person who has received the most kindness from you among all the people who have defeated you in the playoffs?"

"Believe me, I want to bite you to death." Kobe made a cold joke, "But I can't do that."

Yu Fei smiled and walked towards the next person.

Anthony wanted to say something harsh, but when he thought about how he was defeated 4-0, no matter what he said, it would not be convincing.

"Da Fei, wait for you next season!"

Anthony still said something harsh.

Yu Fei shrugged, expressing his helplessness: "Whatever you say."

Although the Lakers have become more competitive after acquiring Anthony, this strength is only temporary.

Kobe will be 38 next year, and Anthony doesn't have a particularly long shelf life. If any one of them has any problems, the Lakers' competitiveness will be affected.

So, even though the Lakers are doing well this year, they may not be able to do well next year.

The Clippers won the Los Angeles derby again.

This result was a devastating blow to the Lakers believers in the city.

The Clippers defeated the Lakers for two consecutive seasons and reached the Western Conference Finals, and they have a chance to advance to the Finals this year.

The other Western Conference semifinals was a fierce battle between dragons and tigers.

The Warriors and Spurs were tied 3-3 in the first six games of the semifinals.

Both sides had to go to a tiebreaker to decide the winner.

The Spurs are the only team from the last generation that has remained strong into this generation, and their peak period is over.

This Spurs team began to transform after 2008. Popovich gradually freed Duncan from the absolute core position and tried to give the ball to the outside.

Then, the Spurs were lucky enough to draw Paul George and Kemba Walker. The rise of these two young newcomers made the silver and black team so strong in 2013 and 2014.

They also took advantage of their strong period in the past two years to improve their record against the down-and-out GOAT.

The Spurs are the only team in history to defeat Yu Fei twice in the playoffs.

However, the foundation of this strength is not only the growth of young people, but also the strong and healthy Duncan and Ginobili.

Ginobili has aged to a certain extent now, and his level is basically fixed. There will be no huge decline, nor will there be any obvious improvement.

On the contrary, Duncan was troubled by plantar fasciitis in his early years, which ended his peak period early. Over the years, relying on his basic skills and long-term effective playing style, he has obviously declined significantly, but on the surface he looks no different from when he was young.

Because when he was young, he only needed to exert 70% of his strength to maintain his output. After being affected by injuries and aging, he needs to exert all his strength to maintain the 70% output of his youth. On the surface, there is no change, but the endurance is insufficient.

Now that Duncan is getting older, he can't play like he did when he was young even if he uses all his strength.

This season, Duncan averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds per game, and his score dropped by 5 points compared to last season. Spurs fans thought that this was because George and Walker shared the offensive firepower, and Duncan no longer had to bear so much scoring responsibility. However, the semifinals with the Warriors proved that this was not the case.

After several years of hard work, the Warriors' young core has gradually grown, and the addition of Blake Griffin has made up for the lack of interior. New head coach Steve Kerr boldly promoted Draymond Green to the starting lineup, fully stimulating the team's potential.

In the seventh game, Duncan was as youthful as Kobe in the third game of the Clippers, scoring 15 points in a single quarter and 22 points in the first half. This was his best performance in the semifinals. He overcame the influence of age and played at an extraordinary level.

However, Lillard's three-pointer, Leonard's tight defense on George, Griffin's inside impact, and Joe Johnson's almost unstoppable singles caused the Spurs to suffer a wave of impact in the third quarter and collapsed instantly.

This was not a classic game 7. The Spurs relied on Duncan's heroic performance to hold on for half the game, but the young players failed to step up, Ginobili's magic failed, and facing the Warriors' young talent, the situation quickly turned to the opponent.

The final score was 117 to 99, and the Warriors eliminated the Spurs 4 to 3 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

ESPN's Mike Breen exclaimed: "This is the eve of a new era!"

Yes, a new era is dawning. It is 2015.

Even the players who entered the league in 1999 have been fighting in the league for 16 years. This era no longer belongs to them.

Nowitzki lost in the first round, Kobe and Duncan lost in the second round. Other veterans of the once glorious 96 golden generation either did not make the playoffs or have become insignificant.

The situation in the east is similar.

The Heat promoted Curry as the new core in the middle of the season, and the team has since swept away the decline. In the semifinals, facing the isolated Cavaliers, the Heat swept 4-0 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they met the Knicks led by Durant.

Before the Western Conference Finals began, Yao Ming and Yu Fei talked about the current situation of his peers.

Yao Ming was surprised to find that there were only a few players from the 2002 draft class still active in the league. After counting, only himself, Nene, Stoudemire, Tayshaun Prince and Boozer were still playing.

Yu Fei sneered, "That's because the quality of your draft class is not high."

Yao Ming responded unconvincedly: "How good was your class?"

"Much better than you. At least we have more 2001 players playing in the playoffs than you still have in the league." Yu Fei said with a smile.

This is true. The Clippers alone have three players from the 2001 class: Yu Fei, Brown and Jefferson.

The Warriors had Joe Johnson, and the eliminated Spurs, Mavericks and Grizzlies also had Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Zach Randolph respectively.

However, it is undeniable that there are indeed fewer and fewer veterans.

This sport is ultimately a young person's game.

"The loneliest situation I can think of is a person playing until he is 45 and then finding out that his contemporaries have all retired," Yao Ming said. "It's like a person living to be 100 years old."

Not to mention 45 years old, even playing until 40 years old is an unimaginable situation for Fei.

This may be an evil seed planted in his heart by Wizard Dan.

He saw how the genius Dan damaged his reputation in his later years. Why did an undisputed GOAT in his heyday end up like that? Yu Fei, who is now in the same position, never wants to repeat the same thing.

"Will you play until you are 45?" Yu Fei asked Yao Ming.

Yao Ming said meaningfully: "I can't make it to that time. What about you?"

"When I get that age, I will have already bought the Rockets and become the boss." Yu Fei suddenly changed the subject, "Then I will hire you as the GM!"

The two old men talked about the future, while their opponents were ready for battle.

There is a barrier in front of the Warriors, and that is the Clippers.

Last year, when they were on the rise, it was the Clippers who stopped them.

Now, Griffin, who played an important role in last year's series against them, has gone to the Warriors, and Thompson, who was a big loser in that series, has come to the Clippers as a war criminal.

This is a typical combination.

After the series is over and we see who wins or loses, we will know who the real criminal is.

Yu Fei was very wary of the Warriors.

This is a team with good luck.

Even if they didn't select Curry, they still managed to put together a lineup of Leonard, Lillard, Thompson (Griffin), Green and Joe Johnson.

Although these people lack a top ten star in history like peak Curry, Leonard has a very high ceiling, and Lillard is also very fierce as long as he doesn't meet Curry. It's just that Thompson has been replaced by Griffin, and Green is still the same Green.

Luck may indeed exist, but it is not omnipotent.

Because Yu Fei himself has taken away the luck of many people.

If he wants to have a perfect farewell in Los Angeles, it will be impossible for him to let the Warriors become the boss of the West like in his previous life.

Therefore, the second match after a year is crucial.

Time is on the Warriors' side, but also on the Clippers' side, except for Yu Fei and Yao Ming.

They must strike hard at their opponent before he or she becomes fully fledged.

The game was tense from the first game.

The Clippers wanted to score points, but the Warriors dragged them into the quagmire and fought on defense.

Seeing the other party doing this, Rivers slapped his head and said: The other party is seeking death!
It is true that the Warriors have good defensive resources. Leonard and Green are both DPOY players with higher DPOY candidates than Yu Fei but they did not win the award in the end.

However, Leonard needs to take on the responsibility of offense in the Warriors, so he will be distracted on the defensive end. Green's main problem is one - he has to face Fei. The Clippers are not afraid of not being able to use their strong points on defense, and they have to fight on defense. Their defensive resources are richer than the Warriors.

When Yu Fei played against Green in the low post, it felt like a father teaching his son a lesson. Green couldn't defend against him in the low post attack; he called for double-teaming and Yu Fei passed the ball to the outside for a three-pointer; he let Joe Johnson and others use their mobility to assist in defense, but this highly deceptive defense was just a trick to fool a child in front of Yu Fei, who had become an old man.

Yu Fei continuously slaughtered Green like a pig in the low post, and finally defeated the Warriors. They couldn't hold on in the fourth quarter and were completely defeated.

When Kerr saw that Green finally couldn't fly, he thought it was a size issue, so he waited until the second game and let Griffin defend.

Griffin has the physique and physical fitness, and he also has the experience of being teammates with Yu Fei. Who could be more suitable to face off against Yu Fei than him?

Apparently, Griffin didn't tell Kerr that when he was in Los Angeles, he couldn't beat Yu Fei in the paint.

Now meeting Yu Fei again, Griffin was obviously resentful.

When Griffin was traded last year, Yu Fei said nothing.

After Thompson came, Yu Fei immediately tweeted to welcome him, and was happier than during the Chinese New Year.

Doesn't this mean something?

All of this is manipulated by GOAT behind the scenes!

After Griffin went to Golden State, he said this to everyone he met.

But this did not bring any negative reputation to Yu Fei, because the person who was mainly responsible for the firepower at that time was Arn Tellem. After the new season, when the Clippers' new lineup took effect, what happened in the summer was not important. What mattered was that everything was fine for them now.

Yu Fei and Griffin started a real man battle in the interior at the beginning of the game.

The intensity of the melee is comparable to the muscle basketball of the 90s.

However, Griffin's problem of insufficient lower limb strength has not been solved to this day. He is at a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat. Seeing this, Green comes to help.

Although this limited Yu Fei's personal offense, Yao Ming was liberated.

In order to prevent Yu Fei and Yao Ming from continuing to connect, the Warriors need to mobilize more people to assist in defending Yao Ming, so that there will be open spaces on the outside.

Klay Thompson, who truly harbored a deep hatred for the Warriors, took action at this moment.

A year ago, the Warriors' inside line was blown up.

A year later, their inside line was still blown up.

Because the inside combination of Yu Fei and Yao Ming is obviously stronger than the inside combination of Yu Fei and Griffin.

After the Clippers won two games in a row, the Warriors held an emergency meeting and finally decided not to target Yu Fei because he was someone who could not be targeted.

Their subsequent decision was to destroy Yao Ming with three-pointers and keep switching defenses to force the Clippers to solve the problem one-on-one.

This decision worked in Game 3, as the game was dragged to the last minute, with Lillard's three-pointer breaking the Clippers' unbeaten streak in the playoffs.

After the loss, Rivers and the coaching staff had a brainstorming session.

Yu Fei reminded: "They can't be so accurate in every game!"

Rivers calmed down and asked, "So we stay the same?"

"No, we still need to be prepared." Yu Fei suggested, "If necessary, let me control the ball and let Giannis play inside."

Rivers was shocked: "Giannis plays the four position?"

"That's his destined position," Yu Fei explained. "We can't let him play the No. 1 position forever. When his body is ready, let him go back to the No. 4 position."

"Is he ready now?" Rivers asked uneasily. "Is he physically fit?"

It may not work for the power forwards in the muscular basketball era at the beginning of the last century, but it is still possible to deal with weaker players like Green and Griffin.

"Just try and you will find out."

Rivers nodded and accepted Yu Fei's suggestion. Seeing the light rekindled in Lao Li's eyes, Yu Fei felt more at ease.

Although Kerr's actions at the end of the Warriors dynasty disappointed many Warriors fans, he is still better than Rivers in terms of coaching and on-the-spot response.

A coach's sense of smell is innate. Some coaches are good at seizing opportunities, while others can only think of chicken soup at the critical moment.

Rivers' situation is even more serious. When faced with a critical moment, his brain will be overloaded and his responsibilities as a coach will disappear without a trace in an instant.

By the fourth game of the series, Kerr was worthy of being called a coach who "peaked as soon as he debuted", bringing new changes in every game.

They maintained a man-to-man and unlimited switching defensive style, forcing the Clippers to play singles. At the same time, they pulled out James Jones and Lillard from the bench and played pick-and-roll crazily. When Antetokounmpo had the ball, they restricted his breakthrough through double-team defense; when the ball reached Yu Fei, they used Leonard's arm span to cover two passing areas.

In short, they have only one goal: come on, let’s fight one-on-one, GOAT!

At the critical moment, Rivers finally played his trump card, letting Yu Fei play point guard and Antetokounmpo play the power forward position.

Yu Fei dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and faced Green who was defending at the top of the arc with a harmless smile.

Do you like one-on-one fights?

He waved to Thompson to set a pick-and-roll, and the one who switched defense was Lillard! Lillard glanced at Yu Fei, and the next second, the GOAT hit a three-pointer over his head.

"Shh!"

When Yu Fei plays the power forward position, his playing style is completely different from when he plays the power forward position. At the power forward position, Yu Fei is more inclined to serve the team and even play for the inside line when needed. However, once he plays the point guard position, the domineering aura he developed in his early years in Milwaukee will return to him.

The Spurs in 2003, the Lakers in 2004, and even the Mavericks in 2006 and the Spurs in 2007 were all deeply engraved with Yu Fei in this state.

The Golden State Warriors don't understand, so they dare to push open the devil's door.

Green began to doubt whether they could really stop Yu Fei.

After Yu Fei made three consecutive shots, Kerr had to send Leonard to defend.

However, Yu Fei seemed to have transformed into a larger version of Allen Iverson and knocked Leonard down with a big change of direction in front of his body.

At that moment, Oracle Arena rang out: "No no no no no!!!"

This wailing sound seemed to appear from the perspective of the victim in many movies.

After Yu Fei knocked Leonard down, he glanced at him calmly and spread out his left hand, as if asking, "Are you falling down now?"

Then he made a jump shot from the spot and continued to hit the target.

His offense completely disrupted the Warriors' defense, and then he began to mobilize his teammates.

Not one, not two, but every teammate on and off the court.

If someone is out of position, he'll call them out. After he assisted Antetokounmpo on a dunk, he yelled at the fans in the stands, "Didn't you eat? Won't you cheer for us?"

The soul of the ball tyrant has awakened, and everything that happens on the court must be done according to his will.

The Warriors' defensive strategy gradually collapsed.

One-on-one defense? Yu Fei will beat everyone, including Leonard.

Double team? He won't miss any open teammates when he attacks from the top of the arc.

They were helpless. Unlimited switching was a set strategy, and since they had chosen this path, they had to carry it through to the end.

The Warriors' defense kept changing: one-on-one, double-team, defending shots but not breakthroughs, and finally desperately defending breakthroughs but not shots, even setting obstacles in Yu Fei's breakthrough route.

However, Yu Fei broke in again and again, creating opportunities, creating open shooting opportunities for his teammates and transferring the ball to the weak side.

Even though the Warriors knew he would do this and would shrink their defense in advance and no longer defend against breakthroughs, Yu Fei would still break through whoever he saw.

"Decades from now, we'll be describing tonight's game like this - Fry Yu single-handedly took out the Golden State Warriors!"

This is a game Golden State cannot lose. If it loses, it will be behind 1-3 in the series, and the road trip will be dangerous.

They made detailed arrangements, targeting the strengths and weaknesses of each Clippers player, but forced out the strongest Yu Fei.

Because they can't target an unstoppable player.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors were already trailing by 16 points.

Yu Fei changed direction and shook off Leonard, like a lion rushing into a herd of buffaloes, and rushed straight to the strongest Blake Griffin. He soared into the air like a warrior fighting a dragon in mythology, knocked Griffin down, and then completed a violent dunk.

A roar like a supernova explosion was heard at the scene.

“!#@￥@￥%”

After Yu Fei landed, he looked down at Griffin and said softly, "Don't take it to heart, Blake."

Then he turned and left, the emotions that had been suppressed all night finally burst out, and his teammates ran towards him shouting.

Giannis Antetokounmpo jumped up and down, shouting, "Ubuntu! Ubuntu! Ubuntu!"

This was the day when Doc Rivers' coaching philosophy was at its most correct.

Tonight's Los Angeles Clippers are indeed great because of others!
(End of this chapter)