unfinished glory

Chapter 135 Second Round

After winning the Nuggets, the Spurs became the first team in the Western Conference to advance to the playoffs. The games of other teams in the Western Conference are still in fierce battles.

Except for the Suns who achieved 3 wins and 1 loss and took the lead, the other teams in the upper half were miserable.

The Mavericks were beaten 1:3 by the Warriors and hovered on the verge of elimination. Old Nelson was too familiar with the Mavericks.

But until the end, no one dared to say that the Mavericks' playoff journey is over.

In the last two seasons, the Lakers also led the Suns 3:1. After the series, they were still overturned.

In the game between the Jazz and the Rockets, the fifth-ranked Rockets also had the advantage.In the fifth battle of Tianwangshan, they won the game and achieved a 3:2 lead.

But the problem of the Rockets has been exposed more thoroughly, that is, they have no second qualified inside defender except Yao Ming.

After Okur took it out to shoot, Yao Ming was a bit exhausted.

Okur averaged 5.1 three-pointers per game in this round of the series, and most of his shots were attacks away from the basket.If you don't follow up, it's like sending points.

If Yao Ming goes out to defend, then the interior will be empty, not only will he lose rebounds, but Boozer will seize the opportunity to play singles.

Coupled with Deron Williams' offense and go-betweens, the Jazz completely suppressed the Rockets in the next two games.

In the first few games, the Rockets could still rely on the firepower of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady to overwhelm their opponents, but after the Jazz tactics were played out, they were a bit difficult to support.Finley is so old that he can't bear the responsibility of the third pole.

In the crucial seventh game, Yao and Mai worked together and scored 42+36 points, but the opponents had more points, seven scored in double figures, and the Rockets were eliminated.

In this round of the series, Yao Ming is still the one who contributed the most, averaging 32.3 points, 13.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.

McGrady also scored 26.4 points, but his shooting percentage was only 39.4%. Kirilenko's defensive ability is very strong
After losing this round of playoffs, both Yao Ming and McGrady have been questioned.

The former's doubts mainly come from domestic professional fans who know too much about the game. They analyze how Yao Ming was "beaten" by Boozer, completely disregarding that Boozer and Yao Ming are not in the same position at all. Bit too.

McGrady was questioned because he never broke through the second round of the playoffs. Last season, Yao Ming led the team alone, eliminated the Nuggets, and reached the second round. Now that the two superstars are present, they stopped at the first round. wheel.

Before the semi-final match, Li Chongxiao received a call from Yao Ming, not surprisingly, he wanted to avenge him.

In fact, Yao Ming felt that he was quite useless for losing. He had already played extremely high efficiency and performed very well, but the players in the team failed to give him enough support.

Especially in the interior, he deeply felt the meaning of the idiom that a single tree can't support it. He didn't feel it when playing other teams, but facing the Jazz's interior play style, it really made it difficult for the Rockets to parry.

Moreover, the average playing time of 40.3 minutes per game made Yao Ming feel extremely tired, especially after the seventh game, it felt like it would take several days to recover.

He couldn't help but be thankful that he was self-willed and agreed with the Basketball Association early that he would not have to return to China to participate in the competition this summer.

In addition to talking about the game, Yao Ming also implicitly expressed his dissatisfaction with the current operation of the Rockets.I think that if the Rockets still cannot effectively strengthen next season, I may jump out of the contract and choose a good team.

……

The Spurs are full of fighting spirit, because their biggest opponent, the Mavericks, has fallen, and the road to the championship is more magnanimous.

After the fifth game was forced to continue, the Mavericks were still submerged in the Warriors' wild offense in the away game.After six games, the Mavericks were blacked out.

In the remaining matchup, the Suns eliminated the Lakers neatly.Kobe was at the peak of his personal strength, but he didn't have good teammates to accompany him.

In the first game of the semifinals, Duncan gave Boozer a blow.

Boozer has never been known for his physical fitness. Facing Duncan, who is much taller and has returned to flexibility after losing weight, he couldn't open it at all.

He is proud of his post-up singles skills, but he has no way to display it against Duncan, who is very experienced in defense.

On the defensive end, neither Boozer nor Okur can stop Duncan's skilled offensive skills. Whether it is a half-turn hook or a small throw, neither of the Jazz's insiders can resist.

Duncan continued his good form in the first round of the playoffs, scoring 28 points and helping the Spurs win the first game.

Li Chongxiao's performance in this game was mediocre, he encountered Kirilenko's defense.

Kirilenko is the most comprehensive player in the league, scoring, rebounding, assisting, stealing, blocking shots, everything is done very well, he once played 5x5x5x5x5 super data.

What's even more rare is that his defensive ability is very outstanding, and he often defends outside offensive players of other teams.

In the last round of the life-and-death battle with the Rockets, Kirilenko repeatedly showed his power and gave McGrady 5 caps in a single game. As a result, McGrady did not play and only scored 18 points.

In this game, Li Chongxiao was a bit restrained by the defense. Although the shooting sight was still there, the chances of shooting were much less, and he only scored 17 points.

After all, the Spurs have more players than the Jazz. Parker can't guard Deron Williams, but the reverse is also the same. Neither of them can guard the other, so the two formed a mutual explosion.

But on the bench, the Spurs are much stronger. The second team led by Ginobili beat Fisher to tears.

Li Chongxiao observed carefully on the field and found that every time Fisher was defending, he liked to lift his shorts, showing the momentum of "one man guards the gate, ten thousand men do not open". However, Ginobili stepped forward several times. Just swung it and it didn't work at all.

When it was Li Chongxiao's turn to play, he also tried to use the same method against Fisher, and it really was very easy.

Immediately after the second round, it was Li Chongxiao's turn to shine.

In the first round of the series, Li Chongxiao averaged only 20.1 points per game, which was less than his 23.4 points in the regular season, but today he was revived again.

Kirilenko's defense is familiar to him in one game, so he played more proactively in the second game.

He frequently picks and rolls with Duncan, using the Jazz's most classic tactics to attack.

Unlike the pick-and-rolls of Malone and Stockton, and also different from the pick-and-rolls of Boozer and Deron Williams, the reason why Li Chongxiao needs the pick-and-roll is to be able to shoot.

After Duncan gets in the way of his defender, use the time gap to make a quick shot, or drive past Boozer or Okur into the paint.

These two offensive methods, combined with Li Chongxiao's very good touch today, made every shot accurate and scored 36 points in a single game.

(End of this chapter)