NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

After the news came that the Spurs defeated the Lakers and won their first home victory in the series, the media soon reported the first round of the game between the Grizzlies and the Clippers.

The Grizzlies suffered their first defeat in the series at the Staples Center with a score of 92:112.

This game was a feast for the eyes of the fans. Under the leadership of the team commander Chris Paul, the Clippers used violent rim-rushing and gorgeous fast breaks time and time again to show the world what the"Alley-Oop City" is! The

Clippers, with all their players healthy, are a team that can challenge for the championship in every aspect!

It's just a pity that injuries have repeatedly blocked these fighters who are eager for the O'Brien Cup before the Western Conference Finals. In the six years since the establishment of the"Alley-Oop City", their best playoff result is only a second-round tour... There is a voice in the outside world that is optimistic about the Clippers' advancement, and some media experts even"spoke out" on the TV podcast column."——

"The Memphis meat grinder that all teams fear in the West is a thing of the past!"When these remarks came out, Joey didn't know what the black and white bears in the rural Tennessee thought...

But what he did know was that after watching the first game between the Grizzlies and the Clippers in the team meeting room that day, Popovich"arbitrarily" set the tone for this series:

"Teams from big cities always have trouble hiding their flamboyant and gorgeous playing style.……"

"They have no idea that in the eyes of Lionel (Hollins, Grizzlies head coach), all the teams in the Western Conference are the most favorable evidence to fight back against the outside noise!"

"How they tortured Tim at the FedEx Center two years ago, now they will torture Blake and DeAndre the same way!"

——————

On April 24, the second game of the series between the Spurs and the Lakers started.

Gasol's condition in this game was obviously much better. At the end of the first half, he had already scored 15 points and 11 rebounds over Joey.

Obviously, although Joey's inside and outside defense, as well as assist and backup defense capabilities at this stage were considered first-class in the league, he still lacked experience in defending the league's top inside players.

(Don't underestimate the 32-year-old Joey, you have to know that his career-high 46 points came when he joined the Bulls three years later.)

Fortunately, the Spurs are as"stable" as ever in the interior."——

In the second quarter, Duncan turned into a"low-post killer". With Joey's support and passing in the high position, he won three consecutive DPOY singles in four rounds. At the end of the first half, he made 7 of 9 shots and 4 of 4 free throws, scoring 18 points and 6 rebounds, helping the team lead by 7 points at halftime.

At the beginning of the second half, Joey got Popovich's approval and led Leonard and the three substitutes to play in his own way during the rotation.

"The"death striker" is back!

Artest, Nash and other Lakers' outside players are suffering. Almost every pass and cut transition must be carefully guarded against the big hand that may appear at any time.

Joey also played his"highlight performance" in this round of the series in this quarter."——

As soon as he came on the court, Joey played against Metta World Peace, and after changing direction under his crotch to create space, he took a step inside the three-point line and scored from mid-range.

In the subsequent transition offense, he became the"sixth man on the court". When Lakers substitute center Robert Sacre kicked the ball from the baseline, he took advantage of Nash's inattention and quickly stole the ball like"snatching food from the tiger's mouth" and dunked in front of two Lakers players. Kobe, who was watching the game off the court, was so angry that he slapped the bench. D'Antoni also had a gloomy face and called a timeout to replace Sacre.

Poor Sacre, he only played for one minute in this game!

After the timeout, the Lakers replaced the starting five. Popovich was calm and continued to send Joey + Leonard to lead the"five-out lineup" with three-point shooting range.

This lineup greatly weakened the Lakers' ability to protect the inside rim, because the red Mamba Bonner, who served as the Spurs center, had a three-point shooting rate of 37.9% this season. Both Gasol and Howard had to be pulled away from the three-point line, making it difficult to carry out inside sweeps.

This led to the beginning of the Lakers' collapse in the third quarter.

Joey's continuous change of direction and rhythmic breakthroughs made both former DPOY winner Ron Artest and the previous generation of"Wizards Twin Stars" Jamison, who started this game, unable to keep up with the former's pace of attacking the basket.

This led to the Lakers' most proud twin towers becoming a"cash machine" for the Spurs players.

Joey even played an"amazing performance" of 17 points in a single quarter!

Six minutes later, when Joey scored"2+1" on Gasol's head for the fourth time in this game, Popovich"actively" called a timeout and replaced the Spurs players on the court, leaving only Joey, who played almost all three quarters and was in a hot state, on the court.

When the timeout ended, the No.

21 rookie in the Spurs rode his French sports car onto the court and"surprised" to find that the difference between the two sides had reached 19 points at this moment, and the Lakers were nearly 20 points behind 51:70.

After watching the Spurs players on the court playing"bumping and cautiously" for a few minutes, the third quarter was not over yet, and the Lakers coach, who had already crushed countless paper cups on the sidelines, finally couldn't help it.

He called a regular timeout, a 100-second timeout.

What Popovich didn't expect was that D'Antoni's"anger" was so great that he directly"started" and replaced all the Lakers' main players, raising the white flag to surrender?!

And the Lakers boss Kobe, who was watching the game off the court, the NBA's famous"competitive maniac", did not object...

But strange as it was, Sima Laozei still valued the"loyalty" of his peers.

After the timeout, there were less than two minutes left in the third quarter. The fans watching the live broadcast of this game were surprised to find that the two teams had already replaced the players who could not play during their rotation time - the Spurs even sent that... no, that T-Mac who had just signed to the court!

In the ESPN live broadcast room, Mike Brin"evaluated" truthfully:

"Before the game, Greg said he should now worry about being eliminated by the Lakers in the first round.……"

"Ah——"

"This should be one of the biggest lies in the NBA this year!"

In the end, the Lakers lost the second game of the series 84:94.

The Spurs"successfully" defended their two home courts and turned the score to 2:0.

(A certain failed author: Why do I use"success"?)

Joey scored a game-high 26 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, successfully getting his first double-double in the playoffs.

After this game, both teams will also move to the"battlefield". The second to fifth games of the series will be played at the Lakers' home court, the Staples Center in Los Angeles!

Of course, this round of the series... it is not certain whether there will be a fifth game!