Jordan split the ball and opened up, Tianzun and Reuben Patterson followed suit. When Li Ao cut in from the middle, there was an empty space, and he easily put the ball into the basket against Bunchy Wells's high shot.
Even if he is 38 years old, even if he does not play well in the first quarter, Jordan's intimidation is still there!
When the Trail Blazers attacked, Derek Anderson launched the offense. He knew a little bit about all skills, but he was not proficient in any of them. Facing Big Q's single defense and Li Ao's assist defense, he failed to successfully execute the tactics.
Finally the ball came to Rasheed Wallace.
Facing Odom's defense, Tianzun took a step back, turned around, grabbed a gap, and made a straight-arm jump shot...hit!
They are both goals, but the two goals of Li Ao and Rasheed Wallace are completely different in difficulty.
The next few rounds also demonstrated this very well.
The Clippers use the defensively focused Big Q to guard the top arc, Li Ao connects the inside and outside defense, Jaylon Collins protects the frame, and Jordan and Odom are responsible for physical consumption and flank defense.
The Clippers' lineup is actually designed to defend. Otherwise, if the corner shooter is replaced by Piakowsky and the center is replaced by Sean Lukes, the offensive firepower will be even stronger.
With both Flying Squirrel and Pippen resting, the Trail Blazers encountered this lineup, and the team offense was completely unable to open up. In the end, the ball could only fall into the hands of Bangzi and Tianzun. They ended the offense in singles, and their efficiency was not very good.
When the Clippers attack, it's difficult for the Trail Blazers to defend.
The best defensive player on the field for the Trail Blazers is Reuben Patterson. Paul Allen did not hesitate to risk more intense conflicts within the team and was poached by the middle class. As far as his single defense ability is concerned, he is actually better than Pippen is stronger at this stage.
But Pippen could limit Jordan, but Ruben Patterson couldn't. Ruben Patterson couldn't compare with Pippen in terms of game experience and understanding of Jordan.
The Trail Blazers' second-best defense on the field...is Wells.
It’s not about how good his defense is. It can only be said that his defense is not slowing down, he is motivated and active enough, and he ranks second. It’s because other players on the Blazers’ defense are too poor.
Kemp can rely on his weight to defend the center under the basket. The current center of the Clippers is Jaylon Collins, which means that Kemp has basically no role on the defensive end. He is not even active in defensive rebounding.
Derrick Anderson was once a shooting guard with the 13th pick in the first round who was extremely physically fit. He once dunked on Bradley in his rookie year.
But two serious injuries destroyed his athletic ability. On the offensive end, he relied on hard training and became a skilled player who can do everything. He can play positions 1-3, but is a hindrance on defense.
Tianzun is a magical player. When he was not responsible for singles in the first quarter, his defensive performance was excellent. He led the team to limit the Clippers to only 14 points in a single quarter. However, after becoming the main offensive point in the second quarter, the defense almost turned into a black hole. The defense was timely, but there was no recovery. As long as he went to make up the defense, his own defender was absolutely missing. He was completely different from the first quarter.
In these few minutes, the Clippers have the advantage! At 4 minutes and 22 seconds of the second quarter, the stick hit the iron with a long shot.
Seeing Odom using Jordan's position to grab the defensive rebound, Li Ao quickly stepped down and received the ball when he rushed to the three-point line. With Derek Anderson retreating, he rushed to the right side of the basket and hit a running hook. !
With 4 of 7 shots and 3 of 3 free throws, Li Ao scored in double figures, reaching 11 points!
Derek Anderson pulled off the collar of his jersey and shook his head.
This Spider-Man is too cautious!
He thought Spider-Man would dunk him like Pippen did, and he was ready to cut the ball, but the opponent actually used a running hook like an old man... Wait, does this second-year Spider think he is not worthy?
Derek Andersono(╥﹏╥)o
Back then, he was also the hottest shooting guard with the 13th pick in the first round...
Just as he was preparing to receive the serve and advance, the Trail Blazers called a timeout.
The current score is 24-20, and the Clippers are 4 points ahead of the Trail Blazers. After the start of the second quarter, they went 10-5!
Maurice Cheeks made a mistake in his prediction. He thought that his senior brother Gentry would strengthen his offense in the second quarter. Unexpectedly, the opponent continued to defend and increased the intensity of defense.
It was not too late to make amends. After returning from the timeout, Maurice Cheeks replaced both Pippen and Olowokandi.
Playing defense, the Trail Blazers players have nothing to fear!
Especially now that the intensity of confrontation has reached this point, experience plays a higher role than system integrity!
In the middle and later stages of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers' defense once again had the upper hand.
Gentry did not panic and matched the defensive lineup based on the core lineup on the offensive end.
Jordan was replaced after playing 10-5, and Gentry was replaced by the core combination of Bibby + Odom, with three supporting points and defensive pillars: Li Ao, Matt Halprin, and O'Neal Jr.
In the last 3 minutes of the first half, Bibby + Li Ao + Jordan's outside singles combination came on the court, and the inside sent out the frame-protecting twin towers of O'Neal Jr. and Jaylon Collins.
The Clippers' defense is not as good as the opponent's, but on the offensive end, relying on Gentry's excellent micro-management, they have made good use of the independent offensive capabilities of the three cores and Li Ao's shooting ability to maintain good offensive firepower!
At the end of halftime, the score reached 34-31, and the Clippers continued to maintain a 3-point lead!
…
Entering the halftime break and on the way back to the locker room, Gentry found Li Ao and asked about Li Ao's physical condition and whether he could hold on. Li Ao jumped a few times and said that as long as he was not allowed to guard against the flying squirrel, he would be fine. That's no problem.
Gentry was speechless. In the beginning, he arranged for Spider-Man to guard against Flying Squirrel. At that time, he needed to try to see if he could suppress Flying Squirrel.
But when the Flying Squirrel came on again in the second quarter, he did not arrange any more defense changes.
The Clippers have finished exhausting wing shooters such as Bunchy Wells, Reuben Patterson, Pippen, and Rick Bronson. As long as the little flying squirrel breaks out, they can just shrink their defense. This way After the confrontation, the Trail Blazers' wing shooters could still score, and they recognized it.
Back in the locker room, while the players were resting, Gentry took the time to watch the live broadcast.
As he expected, although the Clippers took the initiative with a score of 20 to 16 in a single quarter, the commentators from Time Warner and Fox were more optimistic about the opposite Trail Blazers.
Reason - the Trail Blazers are more of a team.
In the commentator's mouth, 'team' always seems to be something more advanced.
No, their analysis is reasonable - after the Trail Blazers were beaten 10-5 at the beginning of the second quarter, they relied on team defense to stabilize the situation and beat the Clippers 11-10.
In fact, Gentry also feels that the 'team' is more stable, but he will not blindly pursue 'stability'. He reviewed the first half and felt that the advantage was already obvious!
(End of chapter)
