The next day, after the team trained in the rented arena, they returned to the hotel to watch the second game of the Western Conference semifinals.
The match between the Spurs and the Clippers.
The Clippers 'opponent in the first round of the playoffs was the Grizzlies. The two teams played seven games and the Clippers won the series.
The Clippers had a luxurious lineup. They had Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe on the outside, Caron Butler on the front line, and David Griffin and Jordan Jr. on the inside.
The Spurs 'lineup was even more eye-catching. Although the SPD was said to be old every year, their strength was based on the top strength of the league. On the front line, although it had not fully grown, Leonard was a monster on the defensive end. Danny Green was not the Iron Forest of the future. The only weak spot of the Spurs might be their center position. Splitter's performance was more struggling, so he was basically a fake starter.
This game was in San Antonio, the home of the Spurs.
At the start of the game, Gregg Popovich stood on the sidelines with a cold face. Popovich was determined to win this game. You couldn't get him excited for a team like the Clippers. You had to beat him until he was confused at the start.
Tiago Split won the jump ball, and the Spurs immediately began to attack.
Tony Parker made a hand gesture, indicating for his teammates to play tactics.
Then Tony Parker cut in with the ball, and Danny Green quickly cut out in an arc. After a cross cover, he took away the defense of David Griffin and Eric Bledsoe.
Tony Parker passed the ball, and Tim Duncan shot from a 45-degree angle. It was a hit!
The Spurs scored two points first.
Following that, the Clippers attacked. Danny Green stuck to Paul, who was holding the ball. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard were on the outside. In addition, Tim Duncan guarded the inside. The Spurs 'defense looked very solid on paper.
Just like that, after half of the first half, the Spurs led by 21 points, 56:35.
The head coach of the Clippers, Dale Nigro, shook his head helplessly and called a time-out.
Popovich also came out of his state of hugging his chest on the sidelines. The game had reached this point, and they were leading by so much that they could make a large-scale rotation.
With such a big lead, the Spurs replaced all the players who had played more than 10 minutes on the field, except Leonard.
The game resumed, and Griffin began to dig into the paint and easily scored.
On the sidelines, the assistant manager, who had been chatting and laughing with Popovich, suddenly frowned. He glanced at the Spurs 'lineup and said,""Gregg, we have to protect Tim as much as possible now. If it was the regular season, we could still use some water fountain players, but now it's the playoffs. We've changed the perimeter twice, but we can only use Tim, Tiago, and Diao inside.”
Popovich nodded and sighed."" Yeah, DeJuan has put on weight again this season, and he can't lose any weight. The intensity of the regular season is so high that he can only sit on the bench, let alone the playoffs. Although Matt is a player inside, his role on the team is more like an outside player.”
The match continued.
When defending against Caron Butler, Leonard directly went up and used his body to make it difficult for Caron Butler to make technical movements. He stuck close to Caron Butler and did not give his opponent any chance. Soon, Caron Butler had no choice but to pass the ball. He passed the ball to the substitute point guard, Landifoyer, who had just come on the field.
Off the field, Popovich nodded in satisfaction.""Coway's defense is still very good. His future is probably limitless. However, the offensive training for him cannot be stopped. No forward player can become a superstar by relying on defense.”
It was the Spurs 'turn to attack again.
Corey Joseph cut in with the ball. After Leonard made a cross cover, Leonard cut out in an arc and received Corey Joseph's pass.
Then, he dribbled the ball a little unsmoothly and cut in!
He successfully charged in!
At this time, Randy Foye quickly came to defend.
This missed Gallini on the outside.
Leonard immediately passed the ball, and Galinier received the ball. He made a three-pointer and hit it!
Faced with the Spurs 'offense, the Clippers had no way to deal with it. However, they still played well on the offensive end in the second half. In addition, after the Spurs took a big lead, their main players took turns to rest. Therefore, they did not lose by more than 20 points. In the end, they lost to the Spurs 92 - 108.
…………
After watching the game, the faces of the players on the Los Angeles Clippers became very serious.
"What do you think of the two teams in the Western Conference semifinals?" McBrown asked with his arms crossed.”
"The Spurs 'DPS combination is very strong and doesn't look old at all, especially Duncan. He almost overturned people's impression of the veterans!”
"Yes, I think so too. Although Duncan didn't play more than 30 minutes in today's game, he still played very well.”
"Parker and Ginobili's offensive ability is outstanding, and their defense is an overall defense. They rely on the system to make up for the lack of individual defense!”
"It's difficult to play. Although our team has Paul and Li Ze in the paint, it's difficult to face the Spurs 'defense. Li Ze, what do you think?”
Li Ze thought for a moment and said," The Spurs 'defense does rely on the defensive system. Their overall defense is very strong, but this also reveals a problem. Their single defense is a big problem! Their defense inside relied more on Duncan's unmoving defensive ability, but only his single defense ability was good. Diao and Split seemed to be a pity, but Duncan was already 36 years old. No matter how strong he was, it was impossible to maintain such a good state for the entire game!”
Hearing Li Ze's analysis, everyone nodded and fell into deep thought.
"Alright, alright!" Mike Brown clapped his hands and said," It's fine as long as everyone understands it. Now go back and have a good rest. We haven't completely taken down our most critical opponent yet!”
The most important thing now was their opponent, Team Thunderclap.
Although they had won the first match and it was an away match, they could not be careless.
It was still the same sentence. The series was not over. Anything was possible!
…………
Daily life
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