On May 2, the tiebreaker between the Spurs and the Grizzlies finally decided the winner.
The Grizzlies relied on their iron-blooded defense to upset the Spurs, eliminating the Spurs with a total score of 4 to 3, successfully advancing to the second round, and completing the Black Eight Miracle.
At this point, the first round series is over, and the second round lineup has also been released.
Eastern Conference: Bulls vs. Hawks, Heat vs. Celtics.
West: Warriors vs. Grizzlies, Mavericks vs. Lakers.
The first game between the Warriors and Grizzlies will officially begin on May 5.
When the Warriors players learned that their next opponent was the Grizzlies, they were overjoyed.
Not only do they have home field advantage, they don't have to travel to the away game.
And it's definitely easier to play the Grizzlies than the Spurs.
The Warriors coaching staff is not as optimistic as the players.
Being able to defeat the Spurs, the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, the Grizzlies naturally have some strength.
Immediately, Nelson immediately held a temporary meeting to inoculate the players and told them not to take it lightly.
After the meeting, the Warriors players adjusted their mentality and actively participated in preparing for the game.
…
On May 4, the second round of the playoffs kicked off.
There are two games starting tonight, namely: Heat vs. Celtics, and Mavericks vs. Lakers.
The game between the Heat and the Celtics was extremely tense, and the winner was not decided until the last minute.
At this time James stepped up and took over the game.
Yes, this James is naturally James Jones!
In this game, James Jones performed superbly, making 5 of 7 three-pointers and scoring the team's second-highest score of 25 points, helping the Heat win the game with difficulty.
Relying on the sudden explosion of James Jones, the Heat won their first victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
In another Western Conference semifinal, the Mavericks suppressed the Lakers from beginning to end.
Even if Kobe scored a game-high 40 points, it would be difficult to change the outcome of the game.
Nowitzki and Dayao teamed up to score 52 points and 21 rebounds, destroying the Lakers inside and leading the Mavericks to an easy victory over the Lakers and their first victory in the Western Conference semifinals.
Two consecutive exciting semi-finals made the fans hooked and looking forward to the next two sets of matches.
…
May 5, Oakland, Oracle Arena.
The auditorium was packed with fans, wearing Warriors home jerseys, looking like a golden ocean.
Amid the roar of the on-site DJ, players from both sides ran onto the court from the tunnel.
When Sun Yi entered the stadium, the fans in the audience chanted MVP slogans.
They know that the league will award Sun Yi the regular season MVP trophy tonight.
Therefore, there is no problem in congratulating Sun Yi in advance for winning the MVP.
"Now let's invite the Oriental magician Sun Yi to come on stage to receive the award!" the DJ at the scene roared loudly.
On the field, the lights suddenly dimmed, and the spotlight shone on Sun Yi.
Amid the cheers of the fans, Sun Yi came to the center of the court and received the MVP trophy from NBA Vice President Mark Tatum.
Immediately afterwards, Sun Yi gave his acceptance speech, and then under bursts of flashing lights, he raised the MVP trophy with both hands.
After the award ceremony, the staff cleaned up the competition venue.
Not long after, the referee signaled the starting players from both sides to come on.
The starting lineup sent by the Grizzlies is: Conley, Mayo, Gayon, Randolph, Gasol.
The Warriors have not made any personnel adjustments and still have the starting lineup of Morrow, Tony Allen, Sun Yi, David Lee, and Chandler.
After all the players have arrived, the referee blows the whistle to start the game and throws the ball into the air.
Amid the cheers and shouts of the fans, this much-anticipated Western Conference semifinals officially started!
Chandler jumped up hard, hit the basketball first and moved back to the backcourt, giving the Warriors the first opportunity to attack.
After Morrow got the ball, he immediately passed the ball forward.
Sun Yi, who was on a fast break, received the pass and accelerated towards the Grizzlies penalty area.
Gai Yin, who retreated quickly, immediately moved sideways to block the ball.
Seeing this, Sun Yi directly took three steps to join the ball, knocked away the defensive Gai Yin, and flew for a layup.
At the same time, the referee blew the whistle and awarded Gai Yin a blocking foul.
Amid the cheers and shouts of the fans in the audience, Sun Yi stood on the free throw line, received the referee's pass, and steadily hit the extra penalty.
The ball transitions and the Grizzlies attack.
Conley dribbled to the frontcourt and frowned when he saw the Warriors' defensive formation.
The Grizzlies are a team with weak offense and strong defense. On the offensive end, they mainly focus on inside offense and are not good at outside three-point shooting.
Now the Warriors take advantage of this weakness by shrinking their defense toward the paint.
Just when Conley couldn't make a move, Gasol quickly ran up and cooperated with the pick-and-roll.
Chandler did not follow out, and still stayed near the penalty area to guard the basket.
Conley used the pick and roll to get rid of Morrow's defense and broke into a position one step inside the three-point line. Seeing that the inside was too crowded, he chose to shoot a long jumper.
Swish!
Hollow into the net!
2:3!
The Warriors quickly sent a baseline ball. After receiving the pass, Sun Yi accelerated, reached outside the three-point line and threw it directly.
Gai Yin, who was retreating, did not expect this to happen and failed to pounce in time to interfere.
The three-point attribute of 80 points, coupled with the effect bonus of [T-Mac's shooting bag], if there is no interference, the shooting rate is quite high.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net and made a steady hit!
2:6!
Looking back, the Grizzlies attack.
After Conley cooperated with Gasol in the pick-and-roll, he continued to shoot long-range jumpers.
But this time Morrow squeezed through the screen and caught up, interfering with Conley's jumper.
"when!"
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
Under the basket, Chandler got in position to grab the rebound, and immediately found Sun Yi and passed the ball over.
Sun Yi received the pass, accelerated towards the frontcourt, and launched a defensive counterattack.
The Grizzlies players retreated very quickly, following their defender closely.
Sun Yi dribbled to the outside of the three-point line, made a fake move to worship Buddha, shook Gai Yin away, and then accelerated towards the basket.
Gai Yin was a little annoyed and immediately turned around and chased after him.
Gasol, who was near the penalty area, immediately rushed back to the basket and raised his arms to interfere.
Sun Yi, who rushed into the penalty area from the right, did not stop when he saw this situation. Zeng jumped up.
He used his inertia to make a 360° turn in the air, successfully avoiding Gasol's interference. When he saw the basket close to Chi Chi, he picked up the ball with his little hand and put the ball into the basket.
The fans in the audience gasped when they saw this scene.
After they were shocked, they immediately shouted the MVP slogan loudly.
On the Grizzlies bench, head coach Hollins had a huge headache.
Who the hell can defend against such an outrageous style of play!
But he knew very well that if the Grizzlies wanted to win, they had to solve Sun Yi's problem.
Sun Yi is in a hot state at this stage, and he certainly cannot be allowed to continue playing.
Immediately, Hollins immediately requested a timeout and called the players back to the bench to adjust.
