I’m Really Playing Basketball

On May 14, 2019, the much-anticipated G1 of the Western Conference Finals started at Oracle Arena.

Before the game started, the Warriors, who were first in the Western Conference in the regular season, and the Lakers, who were second in the Western Conference, both had a large number of supporters.

Let's put it this way, the predictions of experts and media celebrities in this playoff between the Lakers and Warriors are really amazingly similar.

This is a true 50-50 series.

There's no way, the two teams' playing styles and personnel compositions are too similar.

Leonard is Ron Howard's apprentice and younger brother, Paul George is Wade's apprentice and younger brother, and Jokic is Chen Xiao's apprentice and younger brother.

Such a team led by three superstars is so similar in style and style that it is difficult for people to make a choice.

In G1 of the finals, two teams that were very similar and very familiar with each other did not change their starting lineup.

The Lakers, who are playing away from home, will start this game with center Jokic, power forward Siakam, small forward Leonard, shooting guard Paul George, and point guard Lowry.

As for the Warriors, center Chen Xiao, power forward Big Eyebrow, small forward Jaylen Brown, shooting guard Klay, and point guard Devin Booker.

It can be seen from the starting lineup of the two teams.

The centers of both teams can attack and pass.

The power forwards of both teams can run, jump, and finish.

The small forwards of both teams can also defend and attack.

The shooting guards of the two teams are very powerful offensively and very nervous, and at the same time their defense is very top-notch.

The point guards of both teams can attack unreasonably. Relatively speaking, the styles of point guards Devin Booker and Lowry are more different. Although both of them can attack unreasonably, Lowry's Organization, defense, and physical confrontation are significantly stronger.

Therefore, it is definitely not a joke when so many people say that the two teams are similar.

If possible, the Warriors actually hoped it was a joke.

The Warriors actually don't want the Lakers to be similar to themselves.

If Wade and Ron Howard are both at their peak, the Warriors hope that the two teams will be similar, so that the stronger one can completely surround the other side, and the other side will have almost no chance of winning the series.

Let's just say that when two similar teams compete, the weaker one will suffer a great loss.

He knows everything you know, and he's better than you. Isn't this just a pain in the ass?

Just like the first quarter of this game, neither team held back from the start.

Even in the first quarter of G1 between the two teams, almost all the data on shots, three-point shots, rebounds, and assists were exactly the same.

So much so that the commentator of this game, Maizi, said: "It's like two identical teams are playing!"

But in the final result, the scores between the two sides in the first quarter were not similar.

After the first quarter, the away Lakers led the Warriors by 11 points 34-23.

Although the two teams had the same statistics in the first quarter, their shooting percentages were different.

The Warriors only had 33.3%, while the Lakers had 52%.

The reason for this is that the Warriors' perimeter players are inferior to the Lakers in terms of hard power.

Jaylen Brown and Kawhi Leonard.

Klay and Paul George.

Even Devin Booker and Lowry are at a disadvantage. This is not because Devin Booker is not as strong as Lowry, but because Lowry is very strong. After the two faced off, Devin Booker really suffered.

In this case, in the first quarter, Klay made 0 of 2 shots and 0 of 2 three-pointers. It was very uncomfortable to be entangled by Paul George.

Jaylen Brown and Devin Booker also went 0-for-2 and played very uncomfortable.

Although the Lakers players on the opposite side were not easy either, they were not so miserable.

Leonard made 3 of 6, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 9 points.

Lowry made 2 of 3, 2 of 3 three-pointers, and scored 6 points.

Paul George made 4 of 7, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 9 points.

It can be seen that the Warriors' three outside shots did not take many shots in the first quarter, while the Lakers took many outside shots in the first quarter.

Because in the first quarter of this game, two similar teams had completely different focuses on the offensive end.

The Lakers know that they are stronger on the outside, so they play crazy on the outside. Leonard, Paul George and Lowry are very strong offensively.

The Warriors know that they are weak on the outside, so they attack the inside more.

There is actually nothing wrong with this strategy.

The problem is that the thick eyebrows made 2 of 6 in the first quarter and only scored 4 points.

Although Chen Xiao made 5 of 8 in the first quarter, 2 of 4 three-pointers, and scored 12 points in a single quarter, this could not fill the hole that appeared both inside and outside.

From the fact that Chen Xiao didn't make a single free throw in the first quarter, we can see what the Lakers' defense was like against Chen Xiao.

With Chen Xiao in the paint, Jokic used his height to influence him, without fouling or relaxing, making full use of his height advantage.

When Chen Xiao went outside, Siakam pulled him out. He also did not give Chen Xiao a chance to easily catch the ball or shoot an easy shot, and covered Chen Xiao one-on-one.

The Lakers' defense is not aggressive at all, the essence is to cover.

Because the Lakers' forwards Leonard, Paul George and Siakam are too defensive and move too fast.

With three such forwards moving, the Lakers' defense has no loopholes at all. The one who helps defend is quick and the one who switches defense is also quick.

The Warriors players, including Chen Xiao, can shoot, but if you want to find an open opportunity to shoot that simple blue, that's definitely not possible!

Therefore, in the first quarter, the Warriors' offense was very difficult.

This is also the reason why the Warriors shot 33.3% in the first quarter. Chen Xiao was able to shoot 5 of 8. That’s because the Lakers’ defense against Chen Xiao was one-on-one. Although Chen Xiao was not easy to attack, Chen Xiao Xiao's one-on-one ability is there, the strongest in history. Therefore, no matter how difficult one-on-one is, Chen Xiao can score efficiently.

But Clay, Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker and even thick eyebrows do not have such strong personal abilities.

In fact, the Warriors' defense is also like this, with thick eyebrows, Klay and Jaylen Brown's forwards are also very mobile, and the Lakers actually don't have many opportunities to attack.

But judging from the first quarter, the Lakers players' personal abilities are higher than those of the Warriors when facing an offense that has no chance.

In the second and third quarters of this game, the two teams continued to fight fiercely.

The Warriors' bench led by Luo Ge and Wade is definitely stronger than the Lakers' bench.

But Kobe obviously deliberately shortened the rotation time in this game. In this game, Klay, Paul George, Lowry, Jokic, and Siakam all played 40 minutes.

Good guy, you can really do whatever you want when you are young!

I have to say that as the head coach, Boss Ke really has the style of Boss Qiao back then. Not to mention his technical and tactical abilities, his judgment of the game is really good.

The Lakers' rotation is actually very strong, with Nick Young, Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson, McGee, Zubac, Lowe, Hart, etc.

But you can tell from the names of this group of players that when the Lakers' rotation lineup explodes, it really explodes. Anyone can defeat it, but the stability is indeed not good.

When this group of players does not explode, then reduce the rotation time.

Under Kobe's strategy, the two teams played evenly in the second and third quarters.

When the game entered the fourth quarter, the Warriors were trailing by 7 points. From trailing by 11 points at the end of the first quarter to trailing by 7 points in the fourth quarter, the Warriors chased by 4 points in these two quarters. It has to be said that this It's thanks to the rotation time of Wade and Luo Ge.

According to the situation of this game, and the fact that Kobe used all his main players in the fourth quarter, before the start of the fourth quarter, Warriors fans actually felt that the team was already in danger.

Many experts and celebrities think so too.

But at the end of the game, the score was 118 to 110, with the home team in front. The Warriors actually completed a great reversal in the fourth quarter!

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors scored an explosive 42-27 in a single quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers collapsed.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors exploded!

So much so that at the end of the game, Warriors fans themselves were left in the dark.

In the fourth quarter, Jokic was 0 for 3, Siakam was 0 for 3, Paul George was 0 for 4, and Leonard was 0 for 5.

Throughout the fourth quarter, except for Lowry, who made 5 of 7 shots and 3 of 4 three-pointers, no one else on the Lakers scored in a sports game.

Then he was pushed wildly by the Warriors to counterattack.

Give up the victory directly.

After the game, Lian Ke couldn't understand why the Lakers' perimeter players, who had the advantage in the first three quarters, collapsed in the fourth quarter.

In the end, Boss Ke could only say: "Maybe they were afraid of God when they saw it. Other than that, I don't know any other reason."

Boss Ke, this is definitely an exaggeration. Did Chen Xiao perform well in this game?

Very outstanding. As a 37-year-old player, he made 15 of 27 in the game, 6 of 15 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, 38 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks, and 0 turnovers.

This performance is already very, very incredible.

As for the Lakers' defense in this game, although Chen Xiao was single-handedly defended, every offense was a super magical offense.

Under such defense, he could score 38 points so efficiently and block 5 shots on the defensive end. With Chen Xiao's current height and jumping ability, he would actually be at a disadvantage when facing Jokic and Siakam in the paint. .

However, Chen Xiao still completed the task of assisting defense very well by relying on his God's Eye prediction.

Although the Warriors were grabbed 60 rebounds by the Lakers in this game, Chen Xiao really tried his best.

Yes, trying your best is not about turning the tide.

Everyone who watched the game knows that although Chen Xiao performed extremely well in this game, the Lakers cut off the connection between him and his teammates. They defended Chen Xiao alone and cut off his teammates, leaving his teammates unable to organize and falling into singles.

This made Chen Xiao's outstanding performance actually unable to drive his teammates.

The thick eyebrows were 7 of 16, Klay was 4 of 12, 1 of 6 three-pointers, Jaylen Brown was 3 of 9, 1 of 6 three-pointers, Devin Booker was 3 of 12, 0 of 6 three-pointers...

This is the performance of the Warriors' four starters. If you say that this game can be won, it is really because the Warriors are smoking in this game.

The Lakers' inexplicable power outage in the fourth quarter also brought down the Lakers' starting numbers. For example, Leonard shot 10 of 26 in this game, Paul George made 6 of 20, Siakam made 2 of 11, and Jokic shot 4 of 11. .

In addition to Lowry, who made 10 of 15 in this game and 7 of 9 three-pointers, who is as amazing as Chen Xiao, the performance of the Lakers' other four starters was also very poor.

It's just that the Lakers' four starters were badly affected by a sudden power outage in the fourth quarter, which is different from the Warriors' four starters who were all powered off.

The Lakers' four starters were able to keep the power going in the fourth quarter. This was unexpected.

But the Warriors' four starters suddenly lost power, so this is no accident.

Before Wade and Luo Ge came to the Warriors, the Warriors had been lacking a second player besides Chen Xiao who could stabilize singles.

Now, the way Kobe and the Lakers are playing is testing whether the Warriors have such a player.

Wade and Luo Ge were both good before, but now that Wade and Luo are old, who can step up?

If no one can step up, the Warriors will be in real danger in this series.

Therefore, even though he lost this game, Kobe was joking cheerfully.

The reason why Cole's face was solemn even though he won.

Then just as Kerr feared, in G2, the Warriors lost to the Lakers 122-128 at home.

In this game, Chen Xiao's performance was still outstanding. Although Chen Xiao was defended alone, although there was no space, he relied on his offensive ability to still make 9 of 17, 5 of 10 three-pointers, 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 26 Points, 23 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Chen Xiao fought for a full 45 minutes in this high-intensity game of attacking and defending!

But except for Chen Xiao, the thick eyebrows scored 5 of 16, 0 of 3 three-pointers, and 2 of 5 free throws, scoring 12 points, and finally committed six fouls.

Jokic keeps switching positions to attack the thick eyebrows. The pressure on the thick eyebrows is really great. Jokic stares at the thick eyebrows and Chen Xiao switches defense. This kind of role is completely reversed. Boss Ke really has two brushes.

Klay was 3 of 16 and 2 of 6 three-pointers, Devin Booker was 3 of 16 and 1 of 6 three-pointers, Jaylen Brown was 3 of 11 and 1 of 7 three-pointers.

It can be seen from the three-point shooting ratio of these three outside players that they played one-on-one and were finally forced to shoot three-pointers. Then the defenders in front of them were Leonard, Paul George, Lowry...

If there wasn't a miracle, would you have made the shot?

Based on the individual performance of these four players in this game, how did the Warriors delay to the end and only lose by 6 points?

Cole was forced to have no choice in this game, which increased the playing time and tasks of Luo Ge and Wade. In this game, Luo Ge made 7 of 9, 3 of 4 three-pointers, and 7 of 7 free throws. He scored 24 points, stuck. Jordan's single foul miracle reappeared.

Wade, on the other hand, made 8 of 17, 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 20 points.

Two old men aged 37 and 38 really fought hard in this game.

Both players played 37 minutes in this game.

Let's put it this way, if it were two years ago, this Laker would never be a match for the Warriors.

but now……

Although the big score was 1 to 1, everyone knew it.

"This time, the Warriors are really hanging in the balance..."

“Even, maybe a gentleman sweep with four losses in a row!”

Dream Chasing Green was a little excited.

Judging from the content of the previous two games, the big score of 2-0 is actually more reasonable than 1-1.

You know, this is the home court of the Warriors!

"This Western Conference Finals, God, will there be the shame of losing four games in a row for the first time in my career?"