On May 6, the second game of the series between the Clippers and Kings arrived.
Since Barkley was looking forward to it, Li Ao responded positively.
At 7:40 pm, during the entrance ceremony, Li Ao walked out of the player tunnel expressionlessly, without making any unnecessary movements or even showing an expression. Barkley in the studio was so speechless that he narrowed his eyes. His partner -Kenny Smith started laughing like crazy.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, when the game started, the Clippers directly focused on defense, regardless of the integration of offense and defense. With the experience of G1, Gentry knew that he was overthinking.
On the Jazz side, they were all defensive when they were playing against the Kings, but he actually wanted to make a difference.
Now he doesn't have those illusions, is down to earth, and plays the basketball his team does best.
The Kings also played more cautiously this time. Adelman upgraded the rotation from 8 to 9 players, and Scott Pollard re-entered the rotation.
The score was 19-24 in the first quarter and 18-22 in the second quarter. The Clippers trailed the Kings by 9 points 37-46 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Clippers took advantage of the Kings' defensive decline and outscored the Kings 26-23. The score narrowed the point difference to 6 points, but the Kings defense tightened up again in the final quarter. Although they were defended and only scored 20 points, they also defended the Clippers to only 19 points.
In the end, the Clippers lost to the Kings 82-89, with a score of 0-2.
Li Ao made 6 of 19 shots tonight and scored 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. His shooting percentage was only 31%, but others on the court were not much better. The Clippers made 29 of 83 shots. With a shooting percentage of 34.9%, the Kings made 32 of 88 shots and a shooting percentage of 36.4%.
The three-pointers of both teams were all wasted tonight. The Kings, who had better three-pointers, were more affected, otherwise the Clippers would not be able to hold on to the score.
Peja hated the Big Spider even more. The Big Spider simply defeated him. He made 3 of 13 in the game. He only scored 10 points by making 4 of 5 free throws. He made all 6 three-pointers.
Odom had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, O'Neal Jr. had 13 points and 12 rebounds, Maggette had 16 points, and Matt Halprin had 12 points... The Clippers team tried their best, but they still couldn't match the overall strength gap.
…
On May 8, the NBA officially announced this year's best lineup.
All-Rookie Team.
Li Ao leads the rookie first team, along with Mike Miller, Maurice Peterson, Kenyon Martin, and Mark Jackson (center).
Rookie second team, Big Q, Chris Mihm, Desmond Mason, Marcus Fizer, Darius Miles were selected together.
There are only four players in the two All-Rookie Teams who scored in double figures. Among them, Mark Jackson was a second-round pick in the 1997 class and only entered the NBA this year.
Seeing this list, fans can't help but wonder - if Spider-Man stays in college for another year, how should he choose the best rookie this season? Is it possible to give Kenyon Martin, who averages 12+7 per game? How to match a pie-eating big man with a 44% shooting rate.
You can't give it to Mike Miller!
Best lineup.
First team: Iverson, Kidd, Webber, Duncan, O'Neal.
Second team: Li Ao, Kobe, Carter, Garnett, Mutombo.
Third team: Payton, Ray Allen, Tracy McGrady, Nowitzki, Ben Wallace.
All-Defensive Team.
First team: Payton, Kidd, Garnett, Duncan, Mutombo,
Second team: Doug Christie, Kobe Bryant, Li Ao, Bowen, O'Neal.
After the All-NBA team was announced, major media headlines - Spider-Man became the youngest player ever to be named to the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams!
In the 1998-99 season, at the age of 20, Kobe broke Magic's record of being the youngest person to be selected to the All-NBA Team at the age of 22.
Now, another talented star in Los Angeles has broken this record again!
At the same time, Li Ao also became the youngest double-team player.
The record was broken by Kobe again... Lakers fans cried and fainted in the toilet.
Last season, when the 21-year-old Kobe was on the second team and the first defense, the media's evaluation at that time was that it was a record that could not be surpassed.
Two years ago, in the 1997-98 season, when Duncan was on the first and second defense at the age of 22, it was also regarded as an unsurpassable record.
At the age of 21 or 2, it is already very good to be able to have one of the best teams in offense or defense. He is as strong as the god of basketball. He was only selected to the best defensive team for the first time at the age of 25.
Dameng was only selected for the second defense in his rookie year. After he increased his offensive investment in his second year, his defense declined. He was only selected for the second team that season and was not selected for the All-Defensive Team.
Now Li Ao has lowered the record for the youngest double team player to 19 years old. The media once again gave the same evaluation as Duncan and Kobe did when they first played double team players. They really couldn't imagine how this record could be broken.
In the rookie double team, Li Ao was still a 19-year-old rookie double team. Li Ao received higher attention and more discussion than when Duncan played in the rookie double team in 1998.
But the controversy was far greater than it was at the time of Duncan.
To be precise, Duncan was not controversial that year.
If we have to talk about controversy, Pippen, who only played 44 games and his defensive efficiency dropped from 5.3 to 3.3, was selected for the first defense. Duncan, who played full attendance in his rookie season and had a defensive efficiency of 7.2, was only selected for the second defense. It really caused a lot of controversy at the time. dispute.
Although the defensive efficiency of inside and outside lines cannot be directly compared, there are definitely fewer players who can score inside than outside lines, and one-on-one defense is also better.
But when he was selected as a first-defense outside linebacker, Payton's defensive efficiency was 4.7, and Jordan's was even 5.4.
Pippen only played 44 games in that crucial season...Duncan didn't get to double the team in his rookie year, and many fans complained about him at the time.
Li Ao was selected into the double team, which caused great controversy.
There is no controversy about his selection to the second defense, but his selection to the second team was criticized by many people.
The most mentioned thing is that his ability to attack with the ball is poor, and his efficiency in the regular season is not high. In the playoffs, he "revealed his original shape" and his offensive efficiency continued to plummet...
There is also the fact that his All-Defensive Team voting was placed in the forward position, avoiding competition with guards such as Payton, Kobe, Kidd, and Doug Christie. That bunch of forward competition.
This clearly shows that NBA officials are supporting Spider-Man!
…
In his rookie season, Li Ao received a total of 75,000 achievement points in three teams, including 20,000 for the best rookie, 5,000 for the first-team rookie, 20,000 for the second-team defense, and 30,000 for the second-team.
The depression caused by being behind 0-2 in the series has eased a bit.
He asked about the rewards for other lineups in the system, and received the reply that the third team was 10,000, the second team was 30,000, the first team was 50,000, the second defense was 20,000, the first defense was 50,000, the rookie first team was 5,000, and the rookie second team was 3,000.
His goal for next season - 50,000 against the first defense!
As for the All-NBA Team, he realized after entering the NBA that the early 2000s was not an era of "four shooting guards" at all. It was an era of forwards.
He learned about it and found that for more than 50 years in the NBA, the shooting guard position has been the least conspicuous for a long time.
The league has always been dominated by point guards, forwards, and centers. Shooting guard has become the hottest position now because of the emergence of Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant only continued Jordan's glory, and after Kobe, shooting guard declined directly. .
Not to mention ten years later, the current shooting guard position is actually only supported by those few people. The top scorer of most teams is still a forward or point guard.
Jordan's brilliance has also led to the decline of point guards in recent years. Many point guards have gone to play shooting guards, such as Allen Iverson and Terry, who are in the 180s, and larger point guards, Francis, Balang- Davis' technical characteristics destined them to be unable to play shooting guard, but they were unwilling to only play point guard. The two of them created a new position-'combo guard'.
If he went to compete with that group of people at the forward position, he originally thought that it would be good to be selected for the third team. Only with the blessing of 51 wins could he be able to compete for the third team at the forward position.
He didn't expect that he would be put in the guard position to compete for the best team, so he would have a huge advantage. Marbury, Payton, and Francis had poor records, and Baron Davis and Nash had not yet completed their rise...
As for the controversy, let's fight. Anyway, he got the trophy.
On May 9th, after two days of rest, the Clippers ushered in Game 3 of the series against the Kings at home.
Tonight, Adelman made an adjustment - 11-man rotation.
Against the Clippers' defense, the Kings played too hard.
They felt that the Clippers' defense was not as strong as that of the Jazz, one of the top five strong teams in the league, but they couldn't stand it. The Clippers were young, full of energy, and had a very deep lineup, with a bunch of players who could start on a weak team. The players, led by Spider-Man, all tried their best to snipe them.
This is a great test for their physical strength. His goal is not only to win the second round, but also to prepare for the Western Conference Finals.
So, something went wrong for the Kings tonight.
The Kings led the Clippers by 7 points 25-18 in the first quarter. With only seven players on the court, they continued their dominance in the first quarter.
But in the second quarter, after the number of rotations reached 10, the Kings' continuity collapsed!
The Clippers scored 20-19 in the second quarter, chasing the score to 38-44.
In the third quarter, Odom scored 7 points and 6 assists in a single quarter, while O'Neal Jr. had 4 points and 6 rebounds. Li Ao had O'Neal's offensive rebounding guarantee and Odom's passing. He made 4 of 8 shots in a single quarter, including three-pointers. 1 of 1, plus 2 of 2 free throws, got 10 points!
The three led the Clippers to a 28-22 score in the third quarter, tying the Kings 66-66!
Tonight, the Clippers forced out the Kings' fatal flaw - no one can control the situation when the situation is unfavorable!
In the final quarter, Weber made 1 of 9 shots in a single quarter under the defense of Matt Halprin and Odom. Peja made 4 full iron shots under the defense of Li Ao. Including free throws, the two of them only scored 7 points.
In addition to them, Divac scored 2 points, Doug Christie scored 2 points, Bobby Jackson scored 2 points, Turkoglu scored 4 points, and the team only scored 17 points in the final quarter!
Although Adelman made timely adjustments in the fourth quarter and only used 8 main players, the young lads of the Clippers simply couldn't hold back their momentum.
Li Ao continued to contain 10 points in the third quarter, and scored 3 points and 4 assists in the final quarter. Odom scored 4 points and 1 assist, Maggette scored 6 points, O'Neal Jr. scored 5 points, and Big Q counterattacked and dunked to score 2 points. Score 20 points in a single quarter!
As Peja missed the fourth three-pointer after catching the ball under Li Ao's pursuit, the final whistle sounded.
Li Ao made 7 of 16 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers, plus 5 of 5 free throws. He scored 20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Odom had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, and O'Neal Jr. had 11 points and 17 Board, Maggette 15 points.
86 to 83, the Clippers defeated the Kings at home and refused to go 0 to 3!
…
The two days of the 8th and 9th were the happiest days for Clippers fans in this year's playoffs. Spider-Man's best double team defeated the Kings, a real championship candidate team.
As the second round progresses, the eyes of the media and fans are focused on the Lakers.
After winning by more than 20 points in G1, the Lakers once again easily defeated the Trail Blazers 108-96 in G2. In G3, the Trail Blazers and Lakers, who returned home, fought in overtime, but in overtime, Kobe Bryant scored 12 points, three times the total score of the Trail Blazers. In the end, with Kobe's 50 points in a single game and O'Neal's 31 points and 16 rebounds, the Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers 119-111, a big score of 3-0!
Kobe, who was only selected to the second team and second defense, went crazy tonight and became the third player to score 50 points in a single game in the playoffs this season. The first two players were Carter in the first round and Ivor in the second round against the Bucks. Sen.
Against a team competing for the championship with 55 wins, OK still crushes its opponents, and the cry of 'OK is number one in the world' reappears.
Spider-Man Next Door followed this and became hot news again.
Although the second team is controversial, the rookie's second defense and playoff offensive performance declined due to the impact of the overall offense, but he also averaged 3+ assists per game.
Fans of other teams are thanking the logo man for not killing him. Adding Spider-Man to the OK combination may not lead to a direct ending!
A very strange thing has happened. The more invincible the OK group is, the more times Li Ao is mentioned...
The time came to 10:27 pm on May 13th at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. The Clippers' journey this season came to an end at this time and place.
The day before yesterday, in Game 4 of the Clippers' home court, Adelman didn't dare to make blind adjustments anymore. He continued to rotate eight players to deal with the Clippers' stubbornness and win the game 92-86.
Today, the Clippers were behind 1-3 and fought hard, but the Kings still suppressed the game strongly and finally won the game 98-90.
Facing such a cautious Kings team, the Clippers failed to win another game.
In these two games, Li Ao scored 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 1 block, and 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals respectively.
After the final whistle sounded, Li Ao took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
By this time, although he still fought hard for every ball when he was on the court, his mood had calmed down a lot.
The gap in strength can be seen from the first game. Although the top four in the Western Conference and the bottom four in the Western Conference are collectively called the 'Western Power Teams', the gap between teams is still very large.
Looking at Da Q who was about to cry, Li Ao patted his back. Da Q burst into tears. Li Ao didn't try to persuade him. He didn't speak, which was the best comfort.
Worry and uneasiness are matters of courage, which can help teammates adjust.
But it's not a good thing to suppress emotions.
When you win a game, you should be happy.
But when you lose, let your emotions out when they need to.
Victory or defeat, happiness or frustration in this season, stay in this season.
Let’s start again next season!
Out 1-4, Spider-Man's rookie season is over!
Asking for a monthly ticket!
(End of chapter)
