After the sixth game between the Clippers and the Warriors, on another venue, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Wizards in Washington in Game 6, defeating their opponent with a big score of 4:2 and advancing to the Finals one step ahead.
Although everyone knows that the Hawks' entry into the finals is a matter of studying with the prince, but for Atlanta fans, this is still a moment worthy of joy.
This year, they won 60 games in the regular season. In the playoffs, there were no tigers in the mountain, and the monkey was the king. They passed all the way and reached the highest stage. You must know that the last time they reached the finals was in 1961.
At that time, the Hawks were still a Western Conference team and their home game was in St. Louis.
Things have changed, more than 50 years have passed, and the Eagles have finally had the opportunity to touch the championship trophy again.
Now, the eyes of the United States are focused on the Clippers and Warriors.
This tiebreaker is likely to determine not only the Western Conference championship, but also the championship.
As important as this game is, at the end of the day, it's a playoff game and a 48-minute basketball game.
There are many games in NBA history that are as important as this one, or even more important than this one.
Fans are always anxiously waiting for the results before the game. Some concerned fans even dream about their favorite team winning the game.
When the game actually starts, more than 2 hours of game time will pass quickly like running water, and in the end it will inevitably end with one family happy and one family sad.
The Clippers, from players to coaches to management, all took a dim view of this. For them, at this point in the series, they have an advantage, both tactically and psychologically.
Even if they lose the series, the three consecutive championships are enough to leave a mark in NBA history.
On the contrary, it is the Warriors. The whole team has a strong belief in revenge. After losing the game against the Clippers at home in Game 5, the mentality of the whole team has begun to undergo subtle changes.
Of course, before the game started, everything looked the same as usual.
During the warm-up, the Warriors players were expressionless, while James and Lillard were still talking and laughing.
Durant seemed to have a good touch, and his test shot was quite accurate. He didn't miss a single shot in five minutes.
Steve Kerr accepted an interview with reporters by the way and talked about his views on the tiebreaker.
"This is a very crucial battle, and it is also a very ordinary game. We have won three games before, and we have to get back the experience and feeling of winning three games before. The Clippers are a formidable opponent. I expected the Game 7. It is good news for us that such a game can be played at Oracle Arena and at our home court!"
Cole said a few simple words, which were all polite and official words, with nothing to chew on.
Since the commercial value of the NBA has become higher and higher, everyone from players to coaches has become more and more cautious in speaking.
All of them are at the level of United Nations spokespersons. They speak flawlessly. When they open their mouths, they say "great" and when they shut down, they say "amazing."
Even a coach as full of personality as Cole needs to restrain his emotions during courtside interviews.
In fact, he was anxious and frightened inside. He had a huge fear about losing to the Clippers in the seventh game.
Kerr could feel that this fear was actually spreading within the Warriors, but he couldn't expose it or say it out loud.
After Game 6, on the way back to Oakland on the plane, the whole team didn't talk much.
From 3:1 to 3:3, the blow to the team's morale was huge. At this time, someone must stand up to reverse the situation and change the psychological state.
This is what the head coach should have done, but Cole was disappointed to find that it seemed difficult for him to do it.
Especially when Min Congda woke up the players in Game 5 by wearing a Clippers jersey and wanting to play in person, and finally getting himself sent off, Kerr asked himself that he couldn't do it.
In Game 5, before the end of the first half, Cole felt that the Warriors were on the verge of the finals. According to the situation in the first half, the Clippers were about to be psychologically crushed.
But he never expected that Smart, a person who doesn't play by the rules, would have this skill and be able to play like this. The Superman transformation boosted the morale of the Clippers and left the Warriors at a loss.
Even Cole himself was at a loss. At this time, he really wanted to ask Min Congda, "If Smart were you, what would you do? How can we make the players regain their confidence?"
It's a pity that he couldn't ask, and Min Congda couldn't tell him that they were enemies, the kind of life-and-death kind on the court.
No matter how warm and friendly NBA players become in public opinion now, for those who have a strong desire to win in their hearts, what they want to do most when they come to the court is to kill their opponents, from the outside to the court. Within, completely destroy the other party.
Unfortunately, Cole felt like he was about to be destroyed, or at least on the verge of being destroyed, and he was still struggling.
After the warm-up, the opening national anthem performance, the players' appearance ceremony, and the game started on time at 3 p.m. Pacific time.
Tie-breaks are usually scheduled in the afternoon.
On the Clippers side, Gasol is still missing due to injury, and Jokic continues to hold the center position.
Anthony Davis, Leonard, Butler, and Curry form a balanced offensive and defensive lineup.
James Harden was benched by Min Congda. Harden's performance in the first six games can only be described as so-so.
His role on the offensive end is undoubted. He is the second scoring point after Curry and an important playmaker.
However, his loopholes on the defensive end are a harm to the Clippers' overall defense.
In particular, he couldn't keep up with Klay Thompson, which resulted in Thompson's stable performance in each of these six games.
After weighing the situation, Min Congda still promoted Butler to the starting lineup and asked Harden to serve as the sixth man.
Harden is still very satisfied with his role as the sixth man.
He is equivalent to Ginobili of the Spurs. He has no problem with starting or sixth man.
The Warriors have also made major adjustments to their starting lineup. The starting five are Bogut, Green, James, Durant and Thompson.
Lillard was assigned to the substitute position, and the starting number one position was replaced by James, allowing James to control the ball and organize the offense.
This is a bold adjustment made by Cole. Lillard is a good young player, but he has performed well in the first four games.
However, in the last two games, Lillard has become more and more a loophole on the court. Apart from three-pointers, he has given too little help to the team.
It's not that he is too bad, but that this game on both sides is too high-end, especially Lillard's defense was riddled with holes when facing Curry.
In the five-small lineup, one Green was suppressed by Jokic, and one Lillard was beaten by Curry. It became full of loopholes that neither James nor Durant could stop.
Therefore, Cole asked James to play the No. 1 position. James played PG as a rookie. Coupled with his passing and controlling ability, he can be a core defender.
Min Congda saw Cole's adjustment and thought, Cole got inspiration from watching "Slam Dunk", right?
When Lingnan played Hainan, coach Tian Gang asked small forward Xiandao to play the core defender, and achieved good results against Amu.
But look at James like this, how does he look like an immortal?
And Min Congda was still thinking: "Steve, aren't you afraid that LeBron will go back to the way he played in the past? Don't you know how dangerous that is? It will destroy all of you Warriors."
Cole is indeed making a dangerous decision. James has been trying a new style of play all season, reducing holding the ball, directing in the middle, and increasing off the ball. He has put in a lot of effort for this.
His efforts are worthy of admiration, and he has indeed made many changes, which have had results. However, in this most critical game, the risks of letting him return to the familiar but failed style of play are obvious.
Jokic and Bogut jumped the ball in the middle circle, and the game began.
The Warriors took the lead in getting the ball, and James received the ball and started dribbling across half court to organize the offense.
At this moment, he hesitated and hesitated for a moment. For a moment, he felt as if he was back in Cleveland.
With the ball in his hand and looking at the nine remaining people on the field, he had time to think quietly about what to play next and who to pass it to.
At this moment, he is the dominant player on the court, and everyone is a supporting role - this is what he has been thinking when he steps on the court for many years.
When a person occupies too much space in his heart, there is less space left for other people and other things.
The basketball court is very big, and every corner and every player has many, many details.
Steve Kerr once told James to focus more on places other than himself and the ball, on his teammates, on his opponents, and on corners that are not easily noticed.
James did so, and he had an extremely successful regular season, just like Wilt Chamberlain no longer only scored but also learned to pass. James could pass the ball, but he had to do more and be more detailed. , become more comprehensive.
But why is it still at a dead end?
Why do we still have to play this extremely cruel tiebreaker?
Why, the ball ended up back in his hands.
Is he still going to hold the ball, head towards the basket, and launch a desperate charge towards victory?
This is the question that echoed in James's heart before the game. Until the game started, he held the ball and faced everything.
"Pass the damn ball! Pass it!"
After dribbling around on the outside for a while, the Warriors' tactics still didn't come out because the ball was still in James' hands.
Steve Kerr couldn't help shouting, reminding James, and then James gave the ball to Durant who came over to respond.
There wasn't much time. Durant caught the ball and made a loop, hit Leonard from the left, and then stopped for a jump shot...
The ball didn't go in and the attack time was about to come. Jokic got the backboard and the Clippers' offense started.
It is Thompson who defends Curry. The defensive pressure Thompson puts on Curry is much stronger than Lillard.
The Clippers' first attack also failed. Leonard finally took a hasty shot and hit the ball out of the basket.
In the tiebreaker, the defensive intensity of the two teams was very high, and at the same time, the physical energy consumption of both sides was very high.
It has become extremely difficult to score goals on the offensive end. Both teams are constantly hitting the iron, giving people the feeling of returning to the meat grinder-like playoffs in the Eastern Conference in the 1990s.
Like the tiebreaker of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, when the Knicks played the Pacers, the score was 17:14 in the first quarter, with 10 Kobe Bryants fighting on the court.
Tonight, the two sides were evenly matched. In the first three minutes, the two teams, which are known for their strong offensive firepower and ranked first and second in points per game during the regular season, failed to score a single point.
The 0:0 score remained until the first official timeout was about to come. The referee finally couldn't stand such an ugly game and whistled Jokic for three seconds when the Warriors were attacking.
Then Thompson stood on the free throw line and made a free throw. The Warriors led 1:0 and finally scored.
But James' throw after breaking through with the ball from the outside still failed to score, and Davis did a very good job of assisting in defense and interference.
Leonard got the backcourt rebound, dribbled through the frontcourt, and went straight to the basket for a layup, causing Green to foul.
Two free throws were made at the free throw line, 2:1, and the game entered an official timeout.
The first quarter started for nearly 5 minutes, and the score was actually 2:1. The defensive intensity of the two teams was staggering.
Every matchup on the Clippers' side is not easy. Jokic playing against Bogut and Davis playing against Green are not easy to play.
Thompson stared at Curry, while James and Durant faced off against Butler and Leonard.
From a matchup perspective alone, the Warriors have an advantage, but it's not easy for the Warriors to score on the Clippers.
After returning from the timeout, the Warriors took the lead in scoring in a sports game. Durant beat Leonard one-on-one, and the Golden Rooster hit an independent fadeaway jumper to break the deadlock on the court.
The Clippers also made adjustments. Jokic and Davis repeatedly provided Curry with pick-and-rolls. Butler suddenly cut to the basket, received the ball and made a layup with his left hand - he successfully threw away James.
When he made the layup, James was still looking at Curry.
With both teams scoring goals in sports matches, the offense of both sides began to flow more smoothly.
At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers trailed the Warriors by 2 points at 13:15.
The combined scores of the two teams were not as many as the first team scored in one quarter of the previous game.
The players drank gulps of water off the court, and both sides began to mobilize their troops.
In the second quarter, the two sides continued to struggle fiercely on the defensive end. Harden and Lillard came off the bench respectively, bringing some vitality to the offenses of the two teams.
Harden used his breakthrough to open up the situation for the Clippers. With his strong body, he hit the basket hard and made consecutive free throws, scoring 4 points in a row.
And Lillard also hit consecutive mid-range hits. The scores of the two teams increased alternately, and the defensive intensity gradually relaxed. After all, it is very difficult to maintain high intensity, and the physical exertion cannot keep up.
At the end of the second quarter, it is often when the two teams compete for points. At this time, the score between the two sides is 32:35. The Warriors are still 3 points ahead of the Clippers. They play very vigorously with the strength of their home court.
When the main players of the two teams reappeared, the Clippers suddenly made an adjustment and replaced Jokic with Zach Randolph. Randolph and Anthony Davis partnered inside.
This created a problem for the Warriors inside - apart from Randolph's brief appearance in the first game, Min Congda almost forgot about the veteran later on.
At this time, Randolph was suddenly replaced, and Green defended? Or should Bogut defend?
The result of the on-court communication between the Warriors players was that Bogut went to defend. As a result, the fat man came up and pulled to the bottom. He caught the ball and hit a mid-range jumper, scoring two points.
Then the Warriors wanted Bogut to hit him in the low post. Randolph resisted Bogut. Bogut turned around and the fat man pulled his stool. Bogut slipped and was sentenced to walk.
After a mistake, the Clippers quickly counterattacked. Randolph cut in from the middle, received Curry's lob pass, the basket shook continuously, and still put the ball into the basket, which also caused Green's defensive foul!
After scoring the goal, Randolph clenched his fists and roared, roaring all the anger in this series. After all, this veteran will come in handy.
If you let him play for a long time, he will become a vulnerability on the defensive end, but if you use it occasionally to grab points, it will definitely be useful.
As Randolph made a free throw, the Clippers took the lead!
By the end of the first half, the Clippers were 39:37, leading the Warriors by 2 points!
Looking at the statistics table, LeBron James, the main player, only scored 4 points and 2 assists.
Min Congda looked at James' wandering performance on the court and thought to himself: "LeBron, are you still unable to break your own demons? Or are you controlled by defeat and destruction and unable to break through yourself?"
They haven't had any communication for more than a year, but Min Congda still misses him in his heart, this once very good friend.
(End of chapter)
