Chapter 604 Supernova Explosion
The defeat in Game 3 was devastating, not only because of the 3-0 deficit, but also because of the way it was lost.
Kobe Bryant's buzzer-beater gave the Lakers a glimmer of hope, but left the Clippers with 1.4 seconds, only to be defeated by Yu Fei.
By the fourth game, the Lakers had lost their temper.
The result was a natural defeat.
4 to 0
The Clippers sent away the Lakers without any blood and advanced to the Western Conference Finals with a complete victory.
Kobe looks calm. He is no longer the reckless boy who sent the team away with three consecutive non-stick shots in the playoffs.
On the contrary, Anthony acted particularly indignant, as if they lost 3-4.
"Since you won, you have to keep going." Kobe said to Fei, "Don't be like last year."
Yu Fei asked: "Am I the one who has gained the most goodwill from you among all the people who defeated you in the playoffs?"
"Believe me, I want to bite you to death." Kobe said a cold joke, "But I can't do that."
Yu Fei smiled and walked towards the next person.
Anthony wanted to say harsh words, but thinking that he was sent away 4-0, no matter what harsh words he said, they were unconvincing.
"Da Fei, you are waiting for next season!"
Anthony still said harsh words.
Yu Fei shrugged and expressed helplessness: "Whatever you say."
Although the Lakers have become more competitive than before after acquiring Anthony, this strength is only temporary.
Kobe will be 38 next year, and Anthony is not a star with a particularly long shelf life. If there is any problem with any of them, the Lakers' competitiveness will be problematic.
Therefore, even if the Lakers are doing well this year, they may not be able to do it at all next year.
The Clippers once again won the Los Angeles Derby.
This result was a heavy blow to Lakers believers in the city.
The Clippers have defeated the Lakers for two consecutive seasons and reached the Western Conference Finals. Moreover, they have a chance to advance to the Finals this year.
The other group of Western Conference semifinals is a battle between dragons and tigers.
The Warriors and Spurs were tied 3-3 in the first six games of the semifinals.
The two sides had to come to a tiebreaker to decide the winner.
The Spurs are the only team in the last generation that is as strong as this generation, and their peak period is over.
The Spurs began to transform after 2008. Popovich gradually liberated Duncan from the absolute core position and tried to hand the ball to the outside.
Then, the Spurs were lucky to draw two lottery tickets in Paul George and Kemba Walker. The rise of these two young talents made the Silver and Black Army strong in 2013 and 2014.
They also used the strong period of the past two years to improve their record against the down-and-out GOAT.
The Spurs are the only team in history to defeat Yu Fei twice in the playoffs.
However, in addition to the growth of young people, the basis for this strength is also the strong and mature Duncan and Ginobili.
Ginobili has now aged to a certain extent and his level is basically fixed. There will be no huge decline or significant improvement.
On the contrary, Duncan was troubled by plantar fasciitis in his early years and ended his peak period prematurely. Over the years, he has relied on his basic skills and his perennial four-two-two-pound playing style, which has caused him to decline significantly, but on the surface he still looks the same as when he was young. No difference.
Because when he was young, he only needed to use seven points of power to maintain output. After being affected by injuries and increasing age, he needed to use all his strength to maintain the output of seven points of power in his youth. On the surface, it looks unchanged, but the battery life is insufficient.
Now that Duncan is aging further, he can no longer play like he did when he was young even if he exerts all his strength.
This season, Duncan averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds per game, a drop of 5 points compared to last season. Spurs fans believe this is because George and Walker share the offensive firepower, and Duncan no longer needs to bear so much scoring responsibility. However, the semifinals against the Warriors proved that was not the case.
After several years of hard work, the Warriors' young core has gradually grown, and the addition of Blake Griffin has made up for the shortcomings inside. New head coach Steve Kerr boldly promoted Draymond Green to the starting lineup, fully stimulating the team's potential.
In the tiebreaker, Duncan was as rejuvenated as Kobe Bryant in Game 3 of the Clippers, scoring 15 points in a single quarter and 22 points in the half. This was his best performance in the semifinals. He overcame the effects of age and played at an extraordinary level.
However, Lillard's three-pointer, Leonard's tight defense of George, Griffin's inside impact, and Joe Johnson's almost unsolvable singles caused the Spurs to encounter a wave of shock in the third quarter. , collapsed instantly.
This is not a thrilling classic tie-break. The Spurs relied on Duncan's heroic performance to survive halftime, but the young players failed to step forward. Ginobili's magic failed. Facing the Warriors' young talent, the situation quickly turned against their opponents.
The final score was 117 to 99. The Warriors eliminated the Spurs 4 to 3 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
ESPN's Mike Breen lamented: "This is the eve of a new era!"
Yes, a new era is coming. This is 2015.
Even players who entered the league in 1999 have been fighting in the league for 16 years. This era no longer belongs to them.
Nowitzki fell in the first round, and Kobe and Duncan fell in the second round. Other once-famous veterans of the 1996 golden generation either did not make the playoffs or have become insignificant.
The situation is similar in the east.
The Heat established Curry as the new core in the middle of the season, and the team has been in decline ever since. When facing the isolated Cavaliers in the semifinals, the Heat swept 4-0 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals to join the Knicks led by Durant.
Before the start of the Western Conference Finals, Yao Ming and Yu Fei chatted about the current situation of his players at the same time.
Yao Ming was surprised to find that very few players from the 2002 draft class were still active in the league. After all, only himself, Nene, Stoudemire, Tayshaun Prince and Boozer are still playing.
Yu Fei laughed and said: "That's because the quality of your draft is not high."
Yao Ming responded unconvinced: "How good was your class?"
"It's much better than you. At least we have more players from the 2001 class playing in the playoffs than you still in the league." Yu Fei said with a smile.
This is true. The Clippers alone have three players from the 2001 class: Yu Fei, Brown and Jefferson.
The Warriors have Joe Johnson, and the eliminated Spurs, Mavericks, and Grizzlies also have Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, and Zach Randolph respectively.
However, it is undeniable that there are indeed fewer and fewer veterans.
This sport is ultimately a young man's game.
"The loneliest situation I can think of is for a person to play until he is 45 years old and then find that his contemporaries have retired." Yao Huang said, "It is like a person living to be 100 years old."
Not to mention the age of 45, even playing until the age of 40 is an unimaginable situation for Fei.
This may be an evil seed planted in his heart by Wizard Dan.
He saw how Wizards Dan hurt his reputation in his later years. Why did an undisputed GOAT in his heyday end like that? Now that he has reached the same position, Yu Fei never wants to have the same thing happen.
"Will you fight until you are 45?" Yu Fei asked Yao Huang.
Yao Huang pointedly said: "I can't beat that time. What about you?"
"When I get to that age, I will have bought the Rockets and become the owner." Yu Fei instantly tilted his head, "I will hire you to be the GM then!"
The two old men talked about the future, while their opponents stood ready.
There is a barrier in front of the Warriors, and that is the Clippers.
Last year, when they were rising, it was the Clippers who stopped them.
Now, Griffin, who played an important role in blocking their series last year, has gone to the Warriors, while Thompson, the biggest loser in that series, has come to the Clippers as a war criminal.
This is a typical permutation.
When the series is over and we see who won or lost, we will know who is the real criminal.
Yu Fei is very wary of the Warriors.
This is a team with great luck.
Even if Curry was not selected, they still assembled a lineup of Leonard, Lillard, Thompson (Griffin), Green and Joe Johnson by accident.
Although these people lack a top ten star in history like Curry at his peak, Leonard has a high ceiling. Lillard is also very fierce as long as he does not encounter Curry, but now, Thompson has been replaced by Griffin , Green is still the same Green.
Luck may indeed exist, but it is not omnipotent.
Because Yu Fei himself has taken away the luck of many people.
If he wants to have a perfect ending in Los Angeles, then it is impossible for the Warriors to become the boss of the Western Conference like they were in their previous lives.
Therefore, the second battle after a year is crucial.
Time is on the Warriors' side, but it's also on the Clippers' side, except not on Yu Fei and Yao Wei's side.
They must defeat the other side before it reaches its full potential.
The game was tense from the first game.
The Clippers wanted to score points, but the Warriors dragged them into the quagmire and struggled to defend.
Seeing what the other party did, Rivers slapped his head: The other party is seeking death!
It is true that the Warriors have good defensive resources. Leonard and Green both have strong DPOY players who have higher DPOY calls than Yu Fei but did not win the award.
However, Leonard needs to bear the offensive responsibility in the Warriors, so the defensive end will be distracted. Green's main problem is one-he has to fly against him. The Clippers are not afraid of being weak on defense and having to fight hard on defense. They have more defensive resources than the Warriors.
Yu Fei plays Green in the low post, which feels like a father teaching his son. When attacking in the low post, Green can't guard him. He calls for double-teaming, and Yu Fei passes the ball to the outside for a three-pointer. He allows Joe Johnson and others to use their mobility to swipe the cards. However, this extremely deceptive defense is just a trick to deceive a child in front of Yu Fei, who has become an old man.
Yu Fei kept killing Green like a pig in the low post. In the end, the Warriors were knocked off their feet. They couldn't hold on in the fourth quarter and the whole team was defeated.
When Cole saw that Green couldn't fly anymore, he thought it was a size problem, so he waited until the second game and asked Griffin to defend him.
Griffin needs to have a good body, good physical fitness, and the experience of being a teammate with Yu Fei. Who else is more suitable to play against Yu Fei than him?
Apparently, Griffin didn't tell Kerr that he couldn't fly in the paint when he was in Los Angeles.
Now that he met Yu Fei again, Griffin was obviously resentful.
When Griffin was traded last year, Yu Fei said nothing.
After Thompson arrived, Yu Fei immediately tweeted to welcome him, and he was even happier than during the New Year.
Doesn't this mean something?
All this is controlled by GOAT behind the scenes!
After Griffin went to Golden State, he said this to everyone he met.
But this did not bring any negative reputation to Yu Fei, because the person who was mainly responsible for the firepower at that time was Arne Traim. When the Clippers' new lineup takes effect in the new season, it will not matter what happened in the summer. What matters is that they are okay now.
Yu Fei and Griffin had a real man battle in the paint at the beginning.
The intensity of physical combat rivals the muscle basketball of the 1990s.
However, Griffin's problem of insufficient strength in his lower limbs has not been solved to this day. He was at a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat. Seeing this, Green came to help one after another.
Although this limited Yu Fei's personal offense, Yao Huang was liberated.
In order to prevent Yu Fei and Yao Huang from continuing to connect, the Warriors need to mobilize more people to help defend Yao Huang. As a result, there will be vacancies on the outside.
Klay Thompson, who really had a deep hatred for the Warriors, took action at this moment.
A year ago, the Warriors' interior was blown apart.
A year later, their inside line was still blown.
Because the inside combination of Yu Fei and Yao Wei is obviously stronger than the inside combination of Yu Fei and Griffin.
After the Clippers won two games in a row, the Warriors held an emergency meeting and finally no longer chose to target Yu Fei because he was a person who could not be targeted.
Their subsequent decision was to use three-pointers to destroy Yao Huang and maintain unlimited defense changes to force the Clippers to solve the problem one-on-one.
This decision worked in the third game. The game was dragged to the last minute, and Lillard's three-pointer broke the Clippers' undefeated streak in the playoffs.
After the loss, Rivers and the coaching staff started a brainstorming session.
Yu Fei reminded: "They can't be so accurate in every game!"
Rivers calmed down and asked: "Then we stay the same?"
"No, you still have to be prepared." Yu Fei suggested, "If necessary, let me control the ball and let Giannis play inside."
Rivers was surprised: "Giannis plays the fourth position?"
"That's his destined position," Yu Fei explained. "We can't let him play the No. 1 position forever. When his body is ready, let him return to the No. 4 position."
"Is he ready now?" Rivers asked uneasily, "Is his body okay?"
For those power forwards in the muscle basketball era at the beginning of the last century, it may not work. But against weaker players like Green and Griffin, it's still okay to barely cope.
“You’ll know after you try it.”
Rivers nodded and accepted Yu Fei's suggestion. Seeing the renewed light in Lao Li's eyes, Yu Fei felt much more at ease.
Although Cole's operations at the end of the Warriors dynasty disappointed many Warriors fans, he is still better than Rivers in terms of coaching and on-the-spot response.
A coach’s sense of smell is innate. Some coaches are good at catching opportunities, while for others, all that comes to mind at critical moments is chicken soup.
Rivers' situation is more serious. In a critical moment, his brain will be overloaded and the coach's responsibilities will disappear without a trace in an instant.
In the fourth game of the series, Cole is worthy of being a coach who "reached the peak at his debut", bringing new changes in every game.
They maintained a defensive style of man-marking and unlimited defense changes, forcing the Clippers to play one-on-one. At the same time, they took out James Jones and Lillard from the bench and played pick-and-rolls like crazy. When Antetokounmpo holds the ball, they use zone defense to limit his breakthrough; when the ball reaches the flying hand, they use Leonard's wingspan to cover two passing areas.
In short, they have only one purpose: Come on, let's challenge each other, GOAT!
At the critical moment, Rivers finally played his trump card and asked Yu Fei to play point guard and Antetokounmpo to play the fourth position.
Yu Fei dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and faced Green, who was defending at the top of the key, with a harmless smile.
Do you like duels?
He waved for Thompson to come to the pick-and-roll, and the man who switched defense was Lillard! Lillard glanced at Yu Fei, and the next second, GOAT hit a three-pointer on his head.
"Whoosh!"
Yu Fei, who plays the fourth position, has a completely different playing temperament than when he plays the first position. Yu Fei, who is at the fourth position, is more inclined to serve the team and even provide strength for the inside when needed. However, once he gets to point guard, the ball-dominant aura he developed early in Milwaukee will return to him.
The Spurs in 2003, the Lakers in 2004, and even the Mavericks in 2006 and the Spurs in 2007 are all unforgettable because of Yu Fei in this state.
The Golden State Warriors didn't understand, so they dared to push the devil's door open.
Green began to doubt whether they could really stop Yu Fei.
When Yu Fei hit three consecutive goals, Cole had to send Leonard to defend.
However, Yu Fei seemed to be transformed into a big Allen Iverson, using a large change of direction in front of his body to knock Leonard down.
At that moment, Oracle Arena rang: "No, no, no, no, no!!!!"
This cry seems to appear from the perspective of the victim in many movies.
After Yu Fei knocked Leonard down, he glanced at him indifferently and spread his left hand, as if asking: "You fell down now?"
Then he hit a jump shot on the spot and continued to hit.
His offense completely disrupted the Warriors' defense, and then he began to mobilize his teammates.
Not one, not two, but every teammate on and off the field.
If someone is not in the right position, he will shout it out. When he assisted Antetokounmpo to complete a dunk, he shouted to the fans in the audience: "Didn't you eat? Won't you cheer for us?"
The soul of ball dominance has awakened, and everything that happens on the court must be done according to his will.
The Warriors' defensive strategy gradually collapsed.
Single defense? Yu Fei will blow up everyone including Leonard.
Double team? He won't miss any open teammates when he attacks from the top of the key.
They were helpless. Unlimited defense changes are an established strategy. Since you have chosen this path, you must implement it to the end.
The Warriors' defense kept changing: one-on-one, double-teaming, preventing shots but not penetrations, and finally desperately preventing penetrations but not shots, and even setting up obstacles in Yu Fei's breakthrough route.
However, Yu Fei broke in again and again, created opportunities, created open shooting opportunities for his teammates and moved the ball to the weak side.
Even though the Warriors knew that he would do this, shrinking their defense in advance and no longer guarding against breakthroughs, Yu Fei still saw who could breakthrough.
"Decades from now, this is how we'll describe tonight's game - Frye Yu single-handedly took out the Golden State Warriors!"
This is a game that Golden State cannot lose. Once it loses, the series will be 1-3 behind, and the road trip will be unlucky.
They made detailed arrangements based on the strengths and weaknesses of each Clippers player, but they forced out the most powerful Yu Fei.
Because they can't target an unsolvable player.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors were already 16 points behind.
Yu Fei changed direction and threw Leonard away, like a lion charging into a herd of buffaloes, charging straight at Blake Griffin, the strongest one. He jumped into the air like a warrior fighting a dragon in mythology and knocked down Griffin. , and then completed a violent dunk.
There was a roar like a supernova explosion.
"!#@￥@￥%"
After Yu Fei landed, he looked down at Griffin and said softly: "Don't take it to heart, Blake."
Then, he turned around and left. The emotions he had been holding in all night finally burst out, and his teammates yelled and ran towards him.
Giannis Antetokounmpo jumped up and down shouting: "Ubuntu! Ubuntu! Ubuntu!"
This was the day Doc Rivers' coaching philosophy got the most right.
Tonight's Los Angeles Clippers are indeed great because of others!
(End of chapter)