The reason why the Spurs were so hated back then was because they allowed you to play in any direction, and I remained unmoved.
The Spurs are very good at controlling the rhythm and taking the initiative in the playoffs, and are rarely led by their opponents. If they want to win against the Spurs at their peak, they must win head-on. If they want to be opportunistic and use strange tricks to seize the initiative in the series, the mentality of interfering with the Spurs is Very difficult thing.
The Spurs' several major losses were mainly due to injuries, talent, luck, and some mistakes by Popovich. In terms of hard power, they have no problem.
Their hard power really started to decline in 2008, when they defeated the Hornets in the semifinals and lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, which meant that Duncan and the Spurs were on the decline together.
They started climbing again, and by 2014, they were already a brand new team in terms of tactics.
It's a pity that they met the Clippers, a team that has grown up to be more solid and stable than the peak Spurs, especially in the third year of this year.
After experiencing the baptism of the first round, the Clippers entered the playoffs. In the first game, the Spurs were suffocated to death by holding their heads in the water.
In the second game, the Clippers didn't make any changes. Randolph, who didn't play well in the previous game, was still starting, so I used Fat Blue, and as expected, Fat Blue still didn't perform well and couldn't beat Duncan. The Clippers trailed by 3 points.
Entering the third quarter, the Clippers' defensive hinge became tighter and tighter, and the offensive success rate became higher and higher. The Spurs began to gradually fail to keep up with the Clippers' pace. They were panting, and the 3-point advantage was fleeting. The Clippers used solid The misplaced attack gradually widened the point difference with one goal after another.
At the end of the third quarter, Curry hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. The Clippers led the Spurs by 10 points entering the fourth quarter.
The script is almost the same as the previous game. The two teams ran a long run. The Clippers were all at the same speed from the start to the halfway point. The Spurs ran very fast at the beginning, but in the middle of the lead, the speed became slower and slower, and the Clippers were also behind. If you don't try hard to catch up, you just keep running forward at a normal speed. Keep running until the Spurs can't keep up. At the end, the Clippers will win.
This is purely a gap in hard power. The Spurs' shortcomings at the small forward position are infinitely magnified in the game. The fans may not see it clearly, but Popovich, as the team's head coach, sees it clearly.
Rudy Gay is guarded very hard by Leonard and George on offense, but on defense there is no role for the Clippers' three forwards. The Clippers always have one or two all-around players on the front line, and they defend individually inside and outside. , and assisting defense are all top-notch, allowing the Clippers' defense to have no big holes, while the Spurs' offense is struggling.
At the end of the game, the Clippers began to control points again. Anyway, the gap was about 10 points. If you can't catch up, I will give you face and not open up. Let's solve it peacefully and surrender and lose half.
Although the Spurs have a dark history, they used to let Bowen play dirty tricks, let Holly rush Nash, and did a lot of dirty tricks. However, after the transformation in the past few years, the Spurs' overall style of play is still quite upright, especially GDP. All three are relatively clean players.
Regardless of the regular season or the playoffs, the Spurs often play official timeouts with their opponents. There are no fouls in the middle, and there is no dispute about the penalties. It is very smooth. Maybe it is because they have done too many bad things before, and they are embarrassed to change their nature.
Popovich didn't struggle anymore this time. He couldn't beat him. He really couldn't beat him. With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, he shot directly and replaced the main players to rest. Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker all had eyes full of joy. Confused.
Is this what it felt like for the teams we defeated like this before?
In the end, the Clippers easily defeated the Spurs at home with a 9-point advantage of 99:90, and the big score reached 2:0.
This kind of smooth winning game makes people feel the growth and changes of the Clippers in the past three years.
Looking back on the 2012 championship season, the games the Clippers won were often magnificent and exciting. The big wins were hearty and the reversals were thrilling. Until they fell behind 0:2 in the finals, they completed a shocking turnaround and showed the youngest championship team. Vigorous and invincible.
In 2013, the Clippers added Mike Malone's defensive elements and became more balanced in the playoffs. They were invincible in the east and west. They were good at both offense and defense and exerted 100% of the lineup's energy. They were well-deserved to be the strongest of the season.
By 2014, the Clippers began to feel like they were good at fighting without great achievements. At least they had this feeling in the first two games against the Spurs in the semifinals. The most like this before was undoubtedly the 72-win Bulls in 1996. After the season He didn't use his full strength from the beginning to the end of the race and ran at a constant speed throughout the race, killing all his opponents.
Returning to San Antonio for the third game is a desperate fight for the Spurs. If they can win this game, there is still hope for the series. If they can't win 0:3, they will take a vacation early to go fishing. Duncan will go home early to take care of his children.
Popovich was also racking his brains before the game, trying to find ways to add tricks to the starting lineup. He used Diaw to replace Split in the starting lineup. The Spurs played a small lineup in the hope of stronger performance on the offensive end.
In the end, the effect of this move was really good. Randolph was still the starter for the Clippers. Randolph obviously had a lot more firepower against Diaw, but the Spurs' offense was really smooth. They scored 34 points in the first quarter and 31 points in the second quarter. 65 points at halftime, leading the Clippers by 9 points to end the first half.
But the fans and players of the Spurs didn't dare to say that they were safe at all, because the Clippers fell behind at halftime in the first two games, and they gave you a big comeback in the third quarter.
Popovich's response strategy is to attack each other, you attack and I attack, canceling each other out in terms of offensive efficiency, until the end of the game.
Diaw's imaginative passing and three-pointers from outside really activated the Spurs' offense. Their passing was smooth and their three-pointers were the best in the series.
In the middle of the third quarter, the Spurs once extended their lead to 15 points, giving the impression that the Spurs were finally stable.
As a result, the Clippers replaced James Harden after a timeout. Harden used three-pointers and ball-handling breakthroughs to tear apart the Spurs' defense, sounding the clarion call for the Clippers' counterattack.
Harden makes a three-pointer, breaks through, breaks through, breaks through again, makes another three-pointer, free throws, breaks through again, makes extra free throws, throws another three-pointer...
Harden is not Kobe, and he uses these two routines every time he attacks, but the Spurs have nothing to do with Harden. They continuously screen from the outside and can always be misplaced. When Harden is misplaced, he rushes and shoots. He felt very good offensively tonight.
The Spurs can't find anyone at the second or third position to deal with Harden. Everyone who can deal with Harden is standing next to Harden!
Harden relied on 21 points in a single quarter to wipe out the Spurs' 15-point lead. The two sides entered the fourth quarter evenly!
Of course, it is enough for Harden to highlight one quarter tonight. In fact, Harden has only highlighted this quarter in the entire series so far. His performance in the first two games can only be said to be average, but this is enough.
Returning to the same starting line in the fourth quarter, the two teams entered into a fight. At this time, the Clippers used the ultimate offensive lineup with one large and four small: Anthony Davis, George, Leonard, Curry and Bart Le.
The three frontcourt players appeared at the same time. The Clippers' frontcourt formed a steel defense line, while Curry was alone in the backcourt and was weak and helpless. Fortunately, he was mainly responsible for attacking and throwing three-pointers.
The Clippers launched infinite mismatches in their offense. They must be misplaced when changing defense. If they are not misplaced now, they will be misplaced again later.
Curry hit Duncan twice in a row in a one-on-one high post, turning Duncan into a background. Butler, Leonard, and George all misplaced the ball and attacked with the ball, rushing in unreasonably and directly attacking the basket.
By the fourth quarter, the Spurs' interior defense had been shattered. They were fouled all over, their physical energy was exhausted, their defensive feeling and morale were low, how could they still hold on?
If you bring back the peak David Robinson and pair it with Duncan, you may be able to stand up, but now you really can't stand up.
Duncan was sent off for six fouls at the end of the fourth quarter, Spotley had five fouls and Diaw had four fouls.
The Clippers used an almost brutal method to complete the comeback in the fourth quarter, 121:115, with a 6-point advantage and forced a victory in San Antonio.
3:0, the Clippers lead the Spurs with an absolute advantage and are close to winning the series.
Especially in the third game, a sudden reversal in this way, three consecutive reversals, directly destroyed the confidence of the Spurs team.
At this time, the Clippers can already consider their next round of opponents.
To the surprise of the Clippers coaching staff, the Thunder and Warriors tied 1:1 in the first two games of the series.
The Warriors stole an away game and successfully seized the home court advantage.
(End of chapter)
