Chapter 353 [The East is One-Sided, the West is a Life and Death Battle]
The East was one-sided after the start of the division finals, and the Nets swept the Pistons 4-0.
Billups was in poor form with an injury, a bit ugly against Kidd, and the No. 4 game, veteran Clifford Robinson couldn't defend against the brutalist Kenyon Martin.
The Nets, who already had Finals experience, were solid, and although they didn't score much, they were always able to beat the Pistons by a small margin.
Only the Nets scored more than 100 points in the fourth game between the two sides, and the Pistons scored 88 points in the most games, unable to enter the restricted area, and relied on shooting. During the regular season, a group of people said that Ben Wallace was the "soul of the team", and when he entered the playoffs, everyone would find out that it was an "undercover agent", and as soon as he hit the free throw line, everyone who supported the Pistons panicked.
Everyone says O'Neal is poor at free throws, but in fact, O'Neal has shot more than 50% of his free throws for many seasons, Big Ben's free throw shooting rate in this series is 39.7%, and some outside players known as "Blacksmiths" have a higher scoring efficiency than him.
The bad news for the Nets is that veteran Mutombo is injured and in a slump of form, playing only 33 games in the regular season before returning early in the playoffs to help the team compete for a championship.
Mutombo, who was originally not moving fast, is now playing on the ball, and he cannot defend against Duncan, and the Nets' plan to send Van Horn away to strengthen the defense of the restricted area has failed.
The first four games of the Western Conference Finals were tied 2-2, with each side losing one home game.
The difference between the two teams in this series is not close, there are no key shots and stunners, the Suns players are unstable, the second game is smooth, the away win is 18 points away from the Spurs, and the third game back at home is the same way of playing, and the crazy iron loses by 20 points.
In the "Battle of Tianwang Mountain", the Suns defeated the Spurs by 10 points again and were in an extremely advantageous position.
Nene went crazy and played 26 minutes off the bench, shooting 10-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line to finish with 24 points and six rebounds. He finished out Spurs veteran David Robinson, who played 24 minutes, shooting 1-of-3 from the field and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line to finish with just five points, six rebounds, two assists and four blocks.
Parker was also exposed to Guo Xu, playing 37 minutes, 3 of 7 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, and 7 points and 6 assists.
Guo Xu scored 27 points, 5 rebounds, 14 assists and 2 steals in 39 minutes, although the shooting rate was only 40%, and he shot 2 of 7 three-pointers, but he broke through sharply in the counterattack and hit all 11 free throws.
People are beginning to be optimistic about the Suns winning the championship, Guo Xu is the most popular star in the world, and the topic is exploding.
"The rebuilt Suns' major rotation is all first- and second-year rookies, and they've played to this extent. The success of the Nets and Suns proves the value of a super point guard. I just want to ask one question now, just how poisonous is Marbury? ”
"During the Bulls dynasty, the shooting guard was the strongest star in the league, and now the era of the point guard is coming."
"If I could do it all over again, I think the Lakers would be willing to send both Kobe Bryant and O'Neal away in order to keep Jason Guo."
"If you win one more game, Guo Xu and the Suns will create a miracle."
In Game 6, the Suns' home court was packed, and the players wore the white retro jerseys of the '93 Finals, and the management hoped to use this way to get good luck and sharpen their swords for ten years before reaching the Finals again.
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the players, they were unable to take out the Spurs at home, losing 94-101 and the overall score became 3-3.
The Suns newcomers played with their lives in the fifth game, running actively at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, constantly confronting, and this state was affected. The newcomers are not good at adjusting their form, and this flaw was exposed during the regular season, and the ups and downs of several games were too great.
Si is nowhere near the level of 2005, and Duncan is at an all-round disadvantage, as long as there is a big man in the box who resists his interference shooting, his shooting percentage will drop, and the air cut is blocked and the pass is dominant.
Nene and Smalls have a similar style, only one majestic, and today they were under pressure to win and be afraid of losing, and only made 7 shots, made 4 shots, and added two free throws to score 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Guo Xu and Marion played almost the whole game, and chased points most of the time.
Guo Xu made 12 of 26 shots, 4 of 10 three-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 33 points and 8 assists; Marion shot 7-of-15 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range to finish with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocks and no free throws.
Today, Guo Xu found that he couldn't bring his teammates in the first half, so he had to choose to shoot more by himself, and the last quarter was one move short.
Newcomers who are not playing well are required to pay tuition. In Guo Xu's previous life, the 76ers and Timberwolves selected many high-pick rookies, but they failed to make the playoffs several times. No matter how good the talent of young players is, they also need to accumulate game experience, and they have to watch the stars play hard, and Xiao Si, Nene and Joe Johnson are unreliable.
On the side of the Spurs, Duncan shot 8 of 20, 2 of 4 free throws, and scored 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks.
Stephen Jackson was the key to the Spurs' victory, and he had a convulsion, scoring 24 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals on 8-of-14 shooting, 5-of-7 three-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws. Joe Johnson and Kirisek were both unsuccessful in defending him, and Marion was useless for a while, and he went in with the crowd.
Also pumping was veteran guard Steve Kerr, who played just 13 minutes on 4-of-4 shooting, all three-pointers, and finished with 12 points and three assists. Kerr played the same offensive style on four occasions, relying on off-ball coverage to get rid of, Duncan responded to the ball in the high post, he received the ball and threw it, and the Suns No. 2 player chased the defense slowly and had an accident.
The tie-break will be played at the home of the Spurs, and now most people are optimistic about the Spurs again, and Jiang is still old and spicy.
Even Guo Xu has an ominous premonition, the rookies in the sixth game failed to withstand the pressure to play their strongest strength, and they can adjust their mentality? The NBA's little action is everywhere, but not just on the court.
Sure enough, at the press conference, ** Vicky took the initiative to provoke a war of words.
Pre-game verbal fights in the NBA are very common, especially in key games, and it is best not to take what the opponent says before the game, whether it is a player or a head coach. There are those who deliberately show weakness, those who despise their opponents, those who provoke their opponents, and those who reveal misinformation, as long as they can confuse their opponents, they can be said to do everything they can.
The most thorough thing to do in this is Spurs coach Vicky, and those who are familiar with Vicky know that as long as it comes to the upcoming game, what this old man says publicly has little credibility.
** Vicky first faced the media and said that the Spurs may have to play tactics in the next game, saying that they would wrap up Guo Xu and let others shoot, so that they could beat the Suns, they relied too much on the play of the stars.
Then he began to put pressure on the Suns' young players, listing five weaknesses in the rookies in one breath, saying that the Suns were lost.
Listening to Vicky's tone, the rookies are simply useless in the playoffs, they are just dragging their feet on the court, which is obviously nonsense.
Experienced veterans can scoff at this and ignore it, but the mentality of the rookies can really be affected. Therefore, D'Antoni and Guo Xu were interviewed, and what they said was to boost morale, hoping to play a role.
"San Antonio is not the home of the devils, we have won two games there in this series, and of course we have the quality to win a third," D'Antoni said. ”
Unfortunately, a day later, the newcomers couldn't withstand the pressure, and the Suns lost 93-108 in the tiebreaker......