NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

On February 21, the Spurs visited Staples Center to challenge the Los Angeles Clippers.

Half an hour before the game, the Clippers' Big Three brought all the players to the court to warm up. During this time, a reporter from TNT got the opportunity to interview 2009 No. 1 pick Blake Griffin:

"We can see that the team has not been in good shape recently, and suffered a six-game losing streak before the All-Star Game. But after the All-Star Weekend, you defeated the Grizzlies and the Knicks. What do you think is the reason for this contrast?"

Shafen's answer was simple, and his tone was serious and firm. It is hard to imagine that"Shiba Inu Finn" had such a high"awakening" during this period."：

"We experienced a serious wave of injuries in January and February, and the lineup was not well coordinated, which led to our poor performance for most of the month.……"

"But now, after our own adjustments and the desire for victory that Mr. Vinny has always emphasized, we have become a perfect whole, which is also the main reason for our recent recovery!"

(Note: Vinny Del Negro, a former NBA star who once played for the Spurs and is now the head coach of the Clippers, can be understood as another Spurs coach）

"So for tonight's game against the San Antonio Spurs, the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, are you confident that you can lead the team to defeat them?"

The reporter's question seemed"ordinary", but in fact it was also a trap for Griffin.

Unlike Paul, who was shrewd, Griffin quickly took the bait.——

"Yes, this is a very rare opportunity to challenge the first in the West……"

Shafen suddenly put on a"smiley face""：

"After all, so far this season, we are the only team that has given the Western Conference No. 1 two losses!"

"I don't think any team in the league knows how to deal with San Antonio better than us.……"

Griffin's"arrogant" words soon reached the ears of the Spurs players who had just walked out of the visiting team's locker room. As expected, the GDP trio, Popovich, Joey and others all remained silent. Even when the reporter"seemingly" wanted to emphasize Griffin's"provocation" in front of them, they only got a few indifferent answers. They did n't even intend to respond to Griffin...

Is this the usual style of the San Antonio Spurs'"Silver Gray Army"?

Low-key, introverted, and only like to speak with facts...

The development of the next thing is indeed as they expected.

The aggressive home team Clippers were stunned by the"Silver Gray Army" who changed their formation from the beginning.

Joey played as the starting power forward, and repeatedly used his shooting range and high-post pass ability to"trap" Griffin in the area from the free throw line to the three-point line.

Once the latter is moved away from the inside, all the harmful"fangs and claws" of this"inside beast" at this stage of the league will be completely removed!

Griffin was exhausted on the defensive end time and time again, and was completely blocked on the offensive end by Joey using his surging power and the bonus brought by several defensive badges - he played 39 minutes, made 4 of 19 shots, scored 12 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block, and at the same time Joey prevented him from making 4 turnovers.

This is arguably the game in which Griffin struggled the most this season, bar none!

As the Clippers' leading scorer (averaging 21.1 points per game during the season, and falling to 18 points per game at the end of the season), his performance was so"poor", and the rest of the players, including the Clippers'"court commander" Chris Paul, were naturally not much better. The

Clippers under De Negro's coaching had relied on the"three talents" to gain a foothold in the Western Conference, which was full of powerful teams. On the surface, the Clippers' tactics were basically centered around Paul and Griffin.

But if you really watched the Clippers' games during this period, you'll find that the so-called Clippers' tactical system is actually"one trick to conquer the world.""——

That is, the outside line hoards a large number of chaos masters to increase the upper limit, and the inside offense creates opportunities for Griffin and other players with strong finishing ability to attack, ensuring the lower limit.

In short, this is a set of"three axes", but De Negro also knows this, and he just wants to play it to you.

Unless you are a team like the Heat on the South Coast and the Thunder in Oklahoma City, which have the league's top offensive firepower, even if you encounter a team with both offense and defense like the Spurs and the Pacers, the Clippers will play the"Youth Storm" set for you.

After all, in the league at this time, the so-called defensive strong teams are just good at defensive positional warfare.

Otherwise, you can ask them to defend against the Heat and Thunder, which pay attention to the"five-second offense".

Take the Grizzlies for example.

You can see that the Memphis team has played the Heat and Thunder four times this season, and the score was pulled away in all four games.

This does not mean that the Grizzlies are no longer good, nor does it mean that these two teams are very good at defeating the Grizzlies.

It’s just that the regular season is not the playoffs. Both sides don’t care about the life-and-death game of the playoffs where you have to"go fishing" after losing a game. What they care about is to find out whether the Grizzlies, in addition to the"quagmire" defense, have been able to catch up with some teams and start preparing some players who can reverse the score in key games.

(In the original history, no one was optimistic that the Grizzlies could beat the two talented teams of the Clippers and Thunder, but Conley’s outbreak and the two heroes were still in their prime, which allowed them to meet the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Although they were swept 4-0, this also revealed a truth, that is, the so-called"talented team", injuries and experience are the biggest reasons why they can’t go far in the playoffs.)

In the end, the Spurs and the Clippers played the third game of the season, and the Spurs won with a score of 123:96.

Paul was obviously at a disadvantage in the battle with Parker, contributing 4 points and 3 assists in the whole game (this really happened in history!). If it weren’t for the veterans Billups and Caron Butler who stood up at the end of the second quarter, they would have led the team to win.���The team chased 7 points in a row, and the team was going to enter the second half with a 20-point difference.

The Spurs continued the"style" of the previous game against the Kings. Using the space and ball-conducting ability created by Joey as a power forward, the GDP trio played very"smoothly".

Duncan scored 12 points and 18 rebounds, and Joey became a"card master", contributing at least 7 rebounds to the No. 21 rookie's rebound data tonight;

Parker and Manu scored 51 points together, turning the Clippers' outside line composed of Paul, Flounder, Barnes and Bloody into a"ragged" rag;

Green and Neal were also completely"released" by Joey, making a total of 7 of 16 three-pointers in this game, contributing 13 points and 14 points respectively;

Leonard started as a small forward and partnered with Joey on the front line. The"death front lock line" formed by the two did not disappoint the fans, contributing a total of 5 steals and 3 blocks, and the"defensive counterattack" on the offensive end did not fall, allowing Los Angeles fans to witness what real"team basketball" is!

After the game, Sha Finn, who was beaten badly, did not even join in the greeting session between the two teams. He covered his face with a towel and rushed into the player tunnel - he really paid the price for his arrogance this time. After the disastrous defeat of"27 points", he still said stupid words like"no one knows how to deal with the No. 1 team in the Western Conference better than them."

The Shiba Inu fainted in the locker room bathroom...

Paul, who played extremely poorly in this game, shook hands with Joey, who was wearing the No. 3 jersey of the Spurs, with a complicated expression.

It was this rookie who wore the same number jersey as himself again... This

Pao brother who was robbed of the All-Star starting position and lost the AMVP in history has long had an inexplicable"sense of loss". This feeling has always been lingering in his heart, and it is the strongest every time he sees the rookie Joey - it's like his existence makes Paul feel extremely insecure.……

"You're awesome, rookie.……"

"Your contribution to the team on both offense and defense cannot be reflected by statistics!"

Paul hugged Joey, patted his back, and whispered in his ear.

Joey's personal statistics in this game were"only" 7 points, 13 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block. It is true that his statistics are not very"good"."……

Joey smiled and responded with"kindness". He just covered the bruises and wounds on his waist caused by Paul's"elbow" during the game, and silently took note of this account in his heart...

The reporters who were using the spotlights to"click, click, click" to record this beautiful scene of"seniors and juniors sympathizing with each other" in the league beside the venue had no idea of the two's psychological activities. They just felt that this scene of one big and one small was extremely"heartwarming"."——

It's like... a father hugging his son and expressing his infinite"expectations" for his son's future!

(Paul: MMP! You'd better watch your knees!)