Defending champion

Chapter 451 The Battle in the West
Chapter 23 Battle of the West
The focus of the Western Conference is the New Orleans Hornets vs. San Antonio Spurs. This is definitely the biggest chewing point in the Western Conference in the past two years.

When he first entered the league, Jack once boasted that he is the most outstanding power forward in the history of the league.

After that, Jack defeated San Antonio's soul man Tim Duncan countless times in terms of personal strength in the regular season.

However, in the playoffs where the team's destiny is absolute, the New Orleans Hornets led by Jack unfortunately failed in the first round of the playoffs.

Although the current Jack has surpassed Tim Duncan in terms of personal ability, Jack still needs to prove himself with a championship.That is to say, Jack only needs one championship, and his own championship can prove himself.

And this game is definitely an opportunity for Jack to prove himself.

This series is absolutely brilliant.

By an hour before the game, the stands were packed, with twice the number of die-hard fans filling the limited seats.

No fans sat and enjoyed the game, everyone stood, except for the flying flags in the stands.Only deafening singing.

At 07:30, Bias, the on-site host, had already started pre-match warm-up activities with the fans in the stands.Bias is rich in knowledge and full of loopholes in commentary, and has always been loved by fans.His questions and narrations aroused applause from the fans from time to time.There was a loud bang from the scene.

TNT also broadcast the game live across the United States, and the broadcast camera was aimed at the stands, but the eyes of the three commentators were aimed at the big men and beauties who appeared in the stands.

"That guy Michael is here too," Barkley introduced.

"David Robinson, George Gervin, Avery Johnson, some of the historical feats of the San Antonio Spurs have also come to the game." Kenny Smith continued.

"There are also Charlie Tycoon, Starbucks boss Schultz, British Sir Hope and others," Miller said finally.

"Charles, you are dressed so brightly today, which chick hooked your soul." After introducing this, Kenny Smith picked up Charles Barkley next to him and made fun of him, looking at Barkley who deliberately dressed up today road.

"That chick's name is Jack!" Barkley was in a good mood, and he cooperated with Kenny Smith's joke very much.

"Kenny, in fact Charles is in a good mood. He is fantasizing that he is Jack, and then he can wear the championship ring." Reggie Miller teamed up with Kenny Smith to besiege Sir Charles.

"Don't you want a championship ring?" Barkley shot back.The championship has always been a flaw in Sir Charles' mind. Now that Reggie Miller touched the scar in his heart, Charles Barkley immediately retorted.

"I think, but you're not Jack either? You're just Sir Charles." Miller replied solemnly.

"Haha, you remind me of a sentence, voyeurism is a crime, YY is not." At this time, Sir Charles quoted a very classic sentence on the Internet, which made everyone amused.

At this moment, there are still more than ten minutes before the start of the game, and the fans are already impatient.Time passed too slowly for them, and everyone hoped that the game would start immediately.

After the joke was over, the hosts on tnt also started to work seriously.

"Although yy is not guilty, but, Charles, I think you may have made a mistake with the object of yy. You should yy Tim instead of Jack. I believe that the one who can enter the finals will definitely be the San Antonio Spurs, not the New Orleans Hornets... ..." Kenny Smith deliberately provoked Sir Charles.

Sir Charles also showed a very unnatural expression on his face for this sentence.Because, he can't deny it.

Because, regardless of the factors in that aspect, it is a very unfavorable factor for the Hornets.

First: Play style PK and overview

The Spurs have a balanced offense and defense. The only shortcoming of the entire Spurs is that they are too balanced and stable, and there are almost no weaknesses in them.Another point is that the players around Duncan have their own characteristics, forming a three-dimensional combat pattern.

Especially in the game, their self-adjustment ability is top-notch. No matter how much they lead or how much they fall behind, they never get confused, and often turn the situation on the field or bury their opponents without making a sound.

The Spurs advocate half-court offensive and defensive tactics, and they are the best team in the league.Coupled with their maturity, rich experience in the playoffs and even the finals, they even theoretically have the possibility of sweeping the Hornets.

In a sense, the Hornets are still Jack's team.In the third game of the Golden State Warriors, this shortcoming was undoubtedly revealed.

Not only in this game, but in many games during the regular season, the Hornets relied on Jack's strong personal ability to solve problems at the last moment.

All of this also proves that the Hornets have improved this season.However, in essence, he is still Jack's team alone.

For a defensive master like the Spurs, the best way to deal with such a team.As long as Jack is blocked, it is equivalent to cutting off seven inches of the hornet snake, and no one else will be troubled.

It will be very, very difficult for the Hornets to beat the Spurs throughout the series.In any case, the Spurs are far better than the Hornets.

Taking a step back, even if the Hornets are not as good as the Spurs in terms of strength, the Spurs have the home court advantage, which is definitely a great disadvantage to the Hornets.

The Spurs defeated the Rockets Yao Da first, and shot down the powerful Suns in the semi-finals. It is really not difficult to defeat the New Orleans Hornets, who are ranked fourth in the West?
From another perspective, looking at the team's history, the Spurs have entered the playoffs 27 times, with a total record of 137 wins and 116 losses in the playoffs.Won the championship three times (1999, 2003, 2005).

However, on the side of the New Orleans Hornets, many of them can make it to the playoffs.However, those who can reach the Western Conference Finals.

Except for this time, has it never appeared in the history of the Hornets?

Now that the Hornets have entered the finals of the Western Conference, it has already created the history of the New Orleans Hornets, isn't it?
In addition to home court advantage being an unfavorable factor, the player's experience in the playoffs is also a weakness for the Hornets.

Compared with the experience of the finals, none of the main players of the Hornets team played in the finals of the Western Conference.Even though, Jack is just a rookie in the Western Conference Finals.

As far as the Spurs are concerned, not only the five main players, but almost all of them are masters in the finals.Even Ginobili, Hawley and others on the bench are veterans who have been baptized by the battles of the finals.In terms of experience, the Spurs, who have entered the Finals three times in five years, have an almost overwhelming advantage over the Hornets.

Then analyze from the player side:

Power Forward: Duncan vs. Jack
The power forward is the soul of the entire Spurs team. The reason why the Spurs will not have ups and downs is entirely because of Duncan's rock-solid performance.
With Duncan's superb performance, the Spurs' entire combat team has reached the best state of the entire season.

季后赛第一轮，邓肯20.2分10.6篮板的表现中规中矩。杀完太阳后数据飙升至23.8分12.3篮板4.1次盖帽。相信在西部决赛这一种至关重要的比赛，邓肯的数据可能也会飙升。

Duncan can attack and defend, and can even use the pass to make the Spurs blossom everywhere. He is terribly calm at critical moments.

At the same time, Jack is also the most important point among the Hornets. The peak match between Jack and Duncan determines the trend of the entire series.

Small Forward: Bowen vs. Peja Stockovic

Bowen is known as a defensive expert. In the playoffs, whether Bowen defended Tracy McGrady or frozen Nash or Marion, Bowen almost completed the tasks assigned to him by Popovich.

In the Western Conference finals, he will definitely take out all his boxed goods to greet Peja.I don't know if Peja at that time will still have the accuracy of the first two games.

In the offense, Bowen is very sure of the two bottom line three-pointers, which often brings unexpected surprises to the team. His three-point shooting rate in this playoffs has reached an astonishing 46.4%.

Point guard: Parker vs. Paul
Parker's speed and interior offensive skills will cause a lot of trouble for the Hornets' defense.
Parker's personal offensive ability is very good, and his breakthrough speed is very fast.In the two rounds, he contributed an average of 20.8 points, 5.7 assists and 1 steal, and 20.2 points, 6.8 assists and 1.6 steals. In this playoffs, his shooting percentage reached 45.7%. Parker's stable shooting and his breakthrough scoring ability make him look Like a shooting guard.

Parker vs. Paul will also be a self-proving battle for Paul.

Shooting Guard: Finley vs. Butler

For the championship, Finley played better and better, and there was no problem with his age at all.In this playoffs, he repeatedly came to the rescue and became an important firepower point for the Spurs.
In his past 16 playoff games, he's shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from three.

Although Butler's mid-range shots are of a certain level.However, compared with Finley, the gap is obvious.In the contest with Finley, apart from his age, he is far inferior to Finley in terms of height, experience, and ability to fight tough and critical battles.

The Spurs can be said to have a large number of soldiers and a wide range of generals, and the depth of the bench is unfathomable.All-Star Manu Ginobili is the Spurs' solid sixth man.

The trio of him, Duncan and Parker is the guarantee for the Spurs to win.When he is on the court with Duncan and Parker at the same time, either the Spurs are going to kill their opponents in one go, or the Spurs are particularly anxious, which shows his effect on the Spurs.
In addition to Ginobili, Hawley is another Spurs bench bandit.He is a player that almost no one dares to ignore.In addition, Barry, Vaughn and others are all players who are recruited and come to fight. These bench players are the solid backing for the Spurs to pass through.

In contrast to the Cavaliers, there are really limited people available on the bench.In addition to the best sixth man David. West available, the Hornets almost no one available.

In terms of strength, experience and even quantity, the Spurs' bench players have an absolute advantage.

If, according to this analysis, the Hornets will undoubtedly lose in the battle between the Hornets and the Spurs.

I know all this, but as a loyal fan of the Hornets, Sir Charles was extremely upset when he saw that the team that was saying goodbye was bound to lose, he laughed and said: "Hey, it's just you Some so-called experts' speculation is just, the Spurs can beat the Suns, why can't the Hornets beat the Spurs?"

"Hey, Sir Charles didn't expect that you would have a day that is not as good as a commentary?" Kenny Smith said.

"Everything is possible, don't you know?" Charles Barkley's reason seemed very far-fetched.

"Beep..." The long whistle sounded, and the battle between the Hornets and New Orleans was about to begin.

At this time, the Hornets players jumped together, shouted, and then put their hands together, shouting
"The championship is ours. Beat San Antonio!"

Hard battles, decisive battles, neither team can avoid it, only by defeating the opponent can they survive.

Now, this battle has finally begun.The two teams are all elites, and the two teams are already familiar with each other.

Now, the two sides are fighting again, not in an encounter, but because they are very familiar with each other, and they have made some tactical and psychological preparations for facing each other.

When Tyson and Duncan stood inside the center circle together, the famous bald referee Crawford blew his whistle and threw the basketball into the air.

(End of this chapter)