You should cross the mountains like a brave man

Chapter 412 The Setback in Salt Lake City

In the first round of the four groups of East and West, some were exciting, some lacked suspense, and at the same time, some people thought that the four rounds should have ended, but unexpectedly happened that the top horse was overthrown by the bottom horse in the first round.

The upset happened in the West. The No. [-] Mavericks defeated the Warriors in the first game of the first round of the playoffs.

Under the leadership of Don Nelson, the three musketeers of the Warriors exploded with amazing fighting power and fighting spirit.

Baron Davis's performance did not disappoint his UCLA background at all. He completely exploded the Mavericks' guard line, and even scored 57 points, 33 rebounds and 14 assists with a 8% shooting rate.

The offensive firepower is fierce, and the number of rebounds pays tribute to Jason Kidd, and it also makes people see clearly what the correct activation method of the U-line guard is.

Mavericks fans have good reason to be uncomfortable.

Not only were they aggrieved by the loss, the leader of the team, Dirk Nowitzki, played in a mess, and even scored 16 points and 4 rebounds with a sluggish performance of 12 of 12.

If the name is covered, the Mavericks fans will probably scold the street: "How dare Eric Dampier take 16 shots? Who gave you face?"

Oh Dirk Nowitzki, that's fine.

Except for the Mavericks, the other matchups are generally reassuring, and nothing unexpected happened.

Two days later, the Lakers and Jazz will meet again at the Staples Center.

The Jazz showed their determination to let the Lakers give up their illusions. From the very beginning, they were determined to make the game a physical confrontation, muscle collision, and an iron-blooded battle that had to be prepared to be brought down if they wanted to score.

The league has been seeking changes. The iron-blooded and hardcore style of play in the 90s is no longer suitable for today's rules, but it will take time for referees and players to fully adapt to the new rules.

Before the moment that changes everything comes, the players will still bring their style to the old-school way, especially when the two teams are playing against old coaches who have been in the league since the end of the 80s. The coaching style is classic hardcore.

Andrei Kirilenko is back healthy, and his defense has caused the Lakers more trouble than expected.

At the same time, Deron Williams is determined to prove in this round of the series that Wish and Sao Paulo are not the only rookies in the 2005 class. Experts can ignore Bogut's stick, but they cannot ignore him.

Deron intends to do something on the offensive end.

His problem is not offense, but the Lakers do not play cards according to common sense.

From the first game, Phil Jackson was worried that his own son would be ravaged by Deron, so he let Weixia, who had played a swingman for a season, play the No. [-] position.

But he can't even remember the tactics of the number one position, how to fight?
To resolutely implement Wei Xia's arrangement to play the No. [-] position, the price the Lakers have to pay is to give up most of their regular season tactics.Does it sound creepy?But does anyone think Smush Parker can activate the Lakers' full range of tactics?No, even if he came, he would only do a little better than Wei Xia under normal conditions.That being the case, the Lakers can't live by pointing to his state, let him start the risk of being overwhelmed by Deron, so it is better to put him off the court and let Weixia go to the first position.

Wei Xia's position as No. [-] is a good card against Deron.

Deron's biggest advantage is that body that crushes all traditional small guards, and his sense of offensive rhythm that is almost incomprehensible under the same height.

His two advantages coincided with Wei Xia's strengths.

Wei Xia defended against him and didn't consider putting pressure on him at all. Deron's ability to fight was not inferior to him.The best way to deal with him is to cover his sight and let him retreat.

Under Wei Xia's full defense, Deron only took one shot in a single quarter.

His pass activated Boozer, and Boozer dominated the space outside the paint zone with 15 points in a single quarter through a tyrannical offense.

In addition, Wei Xia and Kobe's shooting touch both fell, and the existence of Kirilenko brought big trouble to their breakthrough.

In the first quarter, the Lakers trailed the Jazz by 8 points.

In the second quarter, the Lakers changed their formation. Turiaf played against Boozer at the fourth position, and Bynum played at the fifth position to protect the basket.

Turiaf has earned the nickname the Butcher for his wild looks and aggressive approach to the rim, and he's the best defensive player against Boozer, also a mid-size player.

The offensive efficiency of Weixia and Kobe is still not high, but the Jazz's offense initiated from the inside is limited, and Deron's performance is mediocre.

The Lakers recovered 7 points.

At halftime, the two sides were only 1 point apart.

"If you can't throw the ball in, our players should attack the basket like an arrow from the string." Jackson told the media.

He's playing the game, telling the Jazz plainly to attack the rim.

The Jazz have no countermeasures, because they play at the Lakers' home court, and the style of play, rhythm, and non-oiling conditions are up to the Lakers.

Jackson will never talk about it. The Lakers made only 6 free throws in the first half.

In the second half, Wei Xia gave a sample to all his teammates.

They found that in the eyes of the referee, as long as the defender broke through the penalty area and had physical contact, the whistle would be sounded immediately.

This discovery made the Lakers ecstatic, as if holding the key to open the door to victory.

In this quarter, the Lakers bravely made 16 free throws and hit 14 of them.

Kirilenko, who brought a lot of help to the Jazz on the defensive end, encountered a foul crisis.

The Jazz turned on the red light again.

Kirilenko's influence no longer exists, but the Lakers still have no signs of recovery. What should we do?Of course, continue to run to the basket where free throws are made at the first touch.

The fourth quarter was more exaggerated than the third quarter, and their team made 18 free throws.

Through the strength of the back line and the home court advantage, they skillfully secured the victory and successfully won the second game.

Just look at the data and efficiency of both sides, the Jazz should not lose.

The Jazz team hit 45.2, grabbed 43 rebounds and 26 assists.

The Lakers team shot 35.2%, rebounded 50, slightly better than the Jazz, but had only 12 assists.

A team that scored 98 points only had 12 assists, which shows that their points come more from personal ability.

What allowed them to seal the victory was the free throw ratio.

The Lakers made 38 free throws;
The Jazz only made 17 free throws.

The Lakers' final winning point was 7 points.

After the game, Jerry Sloan angrily accused the referee of favoring the Lakers, claiming that the Staples Center is the darkest away game in the league, and they will take the necessary measures.

Their so-called necessary means are only to edit the part of the referee's double standard in the game into a video and send it to the league and the referee association to complain about the referee on duty.

By the way, the video they sent was 4 minutes long, so it was convincing.

The Jazz, who failed to win from Los Angeles, need to go back to save their two home games.

On the other side of the game, Mavericks fans breathed a sigh of relief.

The performance of the Warriors in the second game seems to prove that the first game is just a joke, don't take it seriously.

They were skinned by the calf's cramps, but the superficial victory still hides some interesting phenomena that make fans feel interesting.

The winning Mavericks did not rely on Nowitzki's outbreak, and the Germans still didn't play well.

For the Warriors who lost, the top two scorers in the team were Stephen Jackson, who had no sense of presence in the first game, and second-year star Monta Ellis.

The Giant Assassins, who performed amazingly in the first game, tightened their edge.

Should the Mavericks be happy about it?

Not at all, because once there are more people who can score, the Mavericks' defense may not be able to take care of them.This kind of team with offensive players everywhere is the scariest, because as long as they are in the state, it doesn't matter whether you are the number one in the league or the bottom one in the league, you can kill them.

The Lakers not only care about the dynamics of the Jazz, but also pay attention to the confrontation between the Mavericks and the Warriors.

If they pass the Jazz, the opponent in the second round is one of the Mavericks or the Warriors.

In terms of public and personal strength, they all hope that the warriors will fight the big devil bravely.

It's best to expose Nowitzki's hidden tricks and flaws, and don't expect them to win. If the Lakers are lucky enough to succeed in the game, they will also give credit to the Warriors. They are both California teams.

Before arriving in Salt Lake City, the Lakers were prepared to face difficulties.

But their preparations are still insufficient, and what awaits them here is an extremely tough team.

In the third game, the Lakers encountered difficulties from the beginning, and the Jazz returned to the home court with an offensive and defensive intensity beyond imagination.

The Lakers can still get a lot of free throws, but the difficulty is super double compared to at home.

The physical contact that the Lakers will blow at home will not blow on the road.

The free throws that are easily available at the Staples Center require a hard-working attitude and thinking to get them.

The shooting percentages of Wei Xia and Kobe were both suppressed to below 40%.

In the regular season, Kobe, who scored 40 points in a game as easily as drinking water, scored less than 30 points in two consecutive games.

The Lakers made 10 more free throws than the Jazz, but ended up losing by 19 points.

"Are the Lakers a formidable enemy? Yes." The Jazz, who had won back a city, accepted the interview with extreme arrogance, "but obviously they are not super powerful."

"You know what? They're not super-level."

The Jazz think the Lakers are in their league, and they have the advantage.

This is their freedom, because of their speech, the fourth game, the two sides spelled out the flames.

Kobe carried the high pressure and scored 52 points with a 32% shooting rate, but the Lakers still couldn't win because Wei Xia's offense was locked again.

The Jazz are different from last year's Suns. Their defense priority is far greater than offense.

They also know very well that the key to defeating the Lakers is the two superstars and supernovas in the backcourt that Los Angeles has expected for the future.

Weixia's sluggish offensive end failed to provide effective help to Kobe.

97 is better than 90
The Jazz won two games in a row, and the big score was tied 2-2. In the next Tianwangshan battle, they will return to the Lakers' home stadium, the Staples Center.

Walking out of the Energy Solutions Center when you lose is a completely different mood.

Wei Xia felt that he was breathless. His offense, which averaged 47 points per game with a shooting rate of 20% in the regular season, could not be fully utilized in the truly high-intensity playoffs.

He couldn't help but doubt himself a little.

"Over the past year, has my offense improved?"

(End of this chapter)