Curry's worries are not completely unreasonable. This situation often happens to many teams.
When a certain core player is there, the statistics are good and the game is good, but the team loses.
When this core player is absent and others take over, the team will perform better and the team will win.
Such players are often called "cancer" or "black hole".
Because basketball is a team sport after all, no matter how strong your individual ability is, if it conflicts with team operation and your performance affects the overall performance of others, then the team will definitely lose.
Curry wants to become MVP this season, and everyone feeding him the ball will destroy the original ball distribution system to a certain extent, which will naturally have some negative effects.
But from the perspective of scoring efficiency, Curry is not a black hole of ball rights, and his shooting rate is also very high, so where is the problem?
Is there a problem with defense? Or is it because the concentration of ball rights on him affects the team's overall offensive efficiency, which requires the whole team to work together to find the answer.
At this time, the game has entered the fourth quarter, and the Clippers lead 81:75 by 6 points entering the final battle.
The Nets relied on the offense of Kobe and Pierce to hold on to the score and did not let the game end early.
After the start of the fourth quarter, Livingston hit consecutive jump shots to help the Clippers regain a 10-point lead.
On the Nets side, after coming to the fourth position, Blatche became more comfortable in the water. He used his weight and feel to continuously kill the inside and succeed.
It feels a bit like Randolph, but Randolph's performance tonight was very average, and his offensive touch was not good. He seemed quite weak against Blatche, Garnett, and Plumlee.
It's normal to think about it. After winning two championships, Randolph's career with the Clippers can be said to be quite successful and he has no regrets.
He is 33 years old this year, and his physical and competitive condition are still very good, but he does not have a strong fighting spirit in the regular season.
When the Clippers were just starting out, he was the big brother of the team. He often held the ball in the low post at critical moments and shouldered the burden of the team by himself.
Later, these little brothers grew faster and faster, and became more and more capable. Randolph's tactical status gradually became marginalized, but he could still make major contributions at critical moments.
This is Randolph's contract year. It stands to reason that he should work hard to express himself and work hard for his next contract, especially if his data needs to be improved to a higher level.
But Min Congda gave Randolph an early contract extension early. The four-year contract is worth 52 million US dollars, with an average salary of 13 million, which is quite generous for a veteran like Randolph.
Randolph is also happy to stay in Los Angeles, where he has achieved everything he thought of, so he feels a bit like paddling in the regular season.
Tyronn Lue also understood Randolph's mentality. After Blatche scored consecutively, Lue called a timeout and replaced Randolph with Anthony Davis.
This season, Anthony Davis' playing time has increased significantly. The No. 1 pick has become more and more important in the Clippers' interior and is the team's key training target.
As soon as Davis came on the court, Blatche immediately lost his voice. His height, wingspan, and defensive awareness are really beyond what Randolph can match.
At this time, Harden and Kobe also reappeared. After Davis successfully blocked a shot by Blatche, Harden got the ball and launched a counterattack from the backcourt.
Harden changed from the previous three slightly lazy advances with the ball, and instead dribbled away and ran towards the frontcourt!
Harden made consecutive passes, rushed into the basket and forced a layup! While scoring two points, he also caused a defensive foul on Garnett! Additional penalties!
Compared with last season, Harden is stronger. His arms are like crab claws. Although he is only 1.96cm tall, he weighs 100kg!
This weight is nearly 20 pounds heavier than the current Kobe. No wonder Kobe has difficulty stopping Harden when defending one-on-one or in pick-and-roll defenses.
There is a 20 kilogram weight difference, how can I stop this? It has to be Pierce with a bigger ass to fight against.
However, Pierce is heavier and his speed is not good, especially his retreat speed. How can a veteran in his 30s keep up with Harden, who has good legs and feet?
With Harden's sudden acceleration, the Clippers began to speed up the offensive rhythm. It seemed that they were going to drag down the Nets in terms of speed, because the Nets are a team dominated by veterans.
In this case, the Nets did not choose to compete with the Clippers for rhythm. You speed up and I slow down. On the contrary, Kobe also speeded up and started a confrontation with the Clippers in the fourth quarter!
Kobe used the pick-and-roll to get to the basket. He used speed changes to move around, and his fadeaway jumper from close range hit the basket. This gave people a glimpse of Kobe's offensive look at his peak.
The Clippers immediately counterattacked, Harden quickly passed the half court, and the ball rotated back and forth in the hands of Livingston, Harden, and George, using passes, breakthroughs, and passes to tear apart the Nets' defense.
Under the huge offensive space, as long as there is a gap in the Nets' defense, the three of them will use their speed to beat the defender and rush to the basket, either directly attacking the basket or allowing Anthony Davis to complete the finish. .
This time it was Paul George. He caught the ball and drove in from the baseline. The Nets were surrounded inside. George threw a high ball to Davis. Davis jumped high and succeeded in an alley-oop dunk.
But the Nets immediately counterattacked. Kobe ran across half court with the ball, got to the basket to attract the defense, and returned the ball to Pierce who was following. Pierce caught the ball and hit a three-pointer!
The Nets continued to maintain the point difference at 10 points and did not give the Clippers a chance to widen the point difference.
"Kobe's choice is correct. If you blindly press the rhythm and speed, the Nets will most likely be finished early. Speed up and strengthen the offense, and the Nets still have a chance." Min Congda agreed with the Nets' decision from the sidelines.
Times have indeed changed, and Kobe's transformation is very clear.
A few years ago, in this situation, Kobe would definitely control the tempo, and the Lakers would choose to grind down the position, use defense to suppress the opponent, and slowly catch up with the position offense.
In just a few years, this style of play will only make the point difference wider and wider, because if you want to control the rhythm, you simply can't control it, but your offense will collapse.
And people often have a misunderstanding that the elderly team is suitable for playing at a slow pace and not at a fast pace. This is actually a misunderstanding.
In the early years, slow-paced games were indeed popular among veterans, but the prerequisite was that there were superstars in the team to watch one-on-four and have a lot of time to walk.
Wouldn't it be nice to take a walk? Not to mention that veterans like to take walks, young people also like to take walks.
But if it is a slow pace with high rotation and high-intensity defense, the veteran will not be able to adapt, especially in the long regular season.
This kind of game consumes a lot of money on the body, is tiring to play, and there are no data yet. Veterans, especially some veterans, don't like to play this kind of game.
The kind of young guy who has just entered the league and is just doing it when he comes on the court and whose physical strength is inexhaustible is the most suitable for this kind of game.
On the contrary, veterans like the fast-paced games where everyone attacks each other and can improve statistics.
It was different from the defensive battle back then. The defensive battle back then was fought to the end to see whose sharp knife could make the breakthrough first.
For example, when playing against the Detroit Pistons, they scored 60 or 70 points in one game. Everyone had no offensive skills and was in poor condition throughout the game.
In the end, if you want to win, if you have superstars, sharp knives, and score a few key points, you have a chance to win the game.
Today's confrontations place more emphasis on the continuity of the offensive end. You score a goal, and I score a goal. Everyone takes turns to score, and see who can't hold it off first and misses.
Such games are undoubtedly more enjoyable to watch, with higher ratings and higher requirements for role players. After all, the number of shots a superstar can take is limited.
Both the Clippers and Nets have many stars, and the players' personal abilities are very strong. Especially the Clippers, without two main players, are still strong.
At this point in the game, the scene was already extremely intense and beautiful. After Harden's breakthrough was blocked, Paul George stepped up and became the Clippers' top sharpshooter in the fourth quarter.
He broke through the baseline and made a backhand layup. He caught the ball in the middle and stepped forward for a one-handed dunk. Facing Kobe at the top of the arc, he dribbled under his hips continuously and then hit an emergency stop jumper.
As for the Nets, Kobe was in the middle directing the cards. Pierce singled out George with the ball and hit consecutive mid-range jump shots. Kobe assisted Garnett on an air cut and made a layup. Alan Anderson stole and counterattacked and dunked...
The two sides contributed high-quality offense. When the Nets were closest, they narrowed the point difference between the two sides to 4 points. Kobe hit a three-pointer (the fourth three-pointer of the game), and Anderson's steal and dunk gave the basket a chance. Net saw hope of overtaking.
But Director Lu immediately called a timeout. At this critical moment, Director Lu once again used one large and four small players, this time Gasol, Harden, George, Butler and Dragic.
Two European passing masters, plus Harden, paired with two crazy attackers, George and Butler, the Clippers will fully open the line when attacking, which is to give George and Butler space to break through and open the air. Cut and hit the inside of the Nets.
Garnett played until the last two minutes of the fourth quarter of the game, and was directly called off by the referee for six fouls.
Although Garnett seems to be fussing all day long, he has always been very good at controlling fouls.
There were some unnecessary fouls in the game. Garnett would not reach out randomly. He would just watch the opponent score. You can't guard every ball.
This is a compulsory subject for a top interior defensive core. If you have to fight for every ball and make big moves with all your strength, you will not survive until the end of the game.
But tonight, Garnett really had no choice. He moved from the fourth position to the fifth position, and was attacked by the Clippers players in turn, Harden, George, Butler...
They are no longer the young Karami who was not particularly strong in holding the ball last season, but a new star with strong breakthrough ability.
The Nets' defense obviously couldn't hold on any longer. With Kevin Garnett being sent off, Kidd had no choice but to replace him with newcomer Plumlee. How could Plumlee be able to make up for Garnett's absence? loopholes.
The Clippers beat the Nets 6:1 in the last two minutes. The Nets only relied on Plumlee's free throw to score 1 point. After he caught the ball under the basket, Gasol made a decisive foul and sent him to the free throw line.
With 30 seconds left in the game, the Clippers led the Nets by 8 points 109:101. The Nets didn't have much hope anymore, but Kobe still caught the ball and hit a three-pointer, bringing the point difference back to 5 points.
Kobe's score in this game also reached 30 points.
When Min Congda saw it, he cursed in his heart: "You shameless person, you have already lost, and you have to throw a three-pointer to get yourself to 30 points!"
Unexpectedly, the Clippers made a mistake when serving from the sideline. Harden received the ball unstablely and was intercepted by Kobe!
Kobe counterattacked and succeeded in a layup!
109:106, the Nets suddenly caught up to 3 points!
At this time, there are still 15 seconds left before the end of the game.
Harden performed well throughout the game, scoring 31 points and dishing out 11 assists.
However, the old habit of not concentrating at critical moments and loosely catching and dribbling the ball happened again.
Kobe scored this goal, and the whole audience was filled with joy, and everyone was cheering for Kobe.
Whether he wins or loses tonight, Kobe's performance is well deserved.
Tyronn Lue called a timeout and rearranged key serves.
The game that was originally a sure win suddenly became suspenseful again.
Everyone is looking forward to whether a miracle will happen.
Fortunately, the Clippers players made no more mistakes in the final stage.
After Harden caught the ball, the Nets fouled him. Harden was still very reliable when he stood on the free throw line.
Two free throws were made, and the point difference returned to a safe score of 5 points. Afterwards, the Nets attacked again. Kobe was double-teamed and out of the ball, Alan Anderson missed a three-pointer from the corner.
Under the basket, Gasol grabbed a backcourt rebound. At this moment, the last hope of the Nets was shattered. There was no hope of winning, and the game was over.
In the end, the Clippers defeated the Nets 111:106 at home and won this powerful dialogue.
Harden scored 33 points and Kobe Bryant scored 32 points. Showdowns like this between top shooting guards are becoming increasingly rare nowadays.
After Jordan retired, the trend of shooting guards started. As Kobe and Wade age, the trend is gradually coming to an end.
Although Harden performed very well, it can be seen from the way he played tonight that he is not at all the style of that generation of shooting guards.
No longer gorgeous, but moving towards efficiency and comprehensiveness, which may indicate a new direction for shooting guards.
Harden also won the best player of the game, showing his huge potential.
Kobe gave a wonderful performance, but overall, it still felt inadequate.
The final three-pointer, steal and layup seemed to be his last struggle. He tried his best but still couldn't win.
After the game, Kobe went to the Clippers locker room and said hello to Min Congda.
Kobe is still obsessed with the bet between the two on a long three-pointer in the summer - this guy is really petty.
"When's another round, Smart?"
"I'm just the general manager of the team. Can you let me go?"
"No, I must find a way to have another round with you. You can set the time. As long as I don't die, I will keep reminding you that I will win against you."
Min Congda was speechless. He didn't want to play anymore because he didn't want to lose money.
If Kobe Bryant bet against him, he would definitely bet $500,000 per game.
"How about if this doesn't happen, I'll make a trade suggestion to you, the Nets, and we'll be even?"
"Trade suggestion? You can trade Anthony Davis directly to us."
"I'm sorry, it's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't allow it."
"Not allowed? Who doesn't allow it?"
"Uh... it's not allowed anyway. Let me tell you, you need a good 3D small forward. You must get a high-quality 3D small forward."
Now the Nets do have the idea of continuing transactions to strengthen the team, but whether to add a high-quality inside line or an outside line is controversial within the team.
The management's tendency is to hire a serious coolie center to serve as a human shield for Garnett and make the Nets' interior defense more stable.
However, this idea is a bit too traditional. Thunder Perkins has already learned a bloody lesson. If the Nets continue to dig in, they will be in trouble.
Kobe patted Min Congda on the shoulder and said: "Thank you for your suggestion, I will accept it. But the duel is not over yet."
"Shet! Let's have a life-or-death showdown in the finals!"
(End of chapter)
