super small forward

Chapter 523. 523. The First Round of Polarization

On April 4, after the game between the Pacers and the Bucks, the NBA regular season was over, and all the major data lists were also said to be settled.

In fact, as early as March, No.1 in the major data lists is unlikely to change, but there is still a cutscene.

Liu Ren played 79 times this season, which is enough to win the scoring champion. He won the scoring champion with an absolute advantage of 35.8 points per game. He is the only player who averaged more than 30 points per game this season. There has been a decline, but the number of shots has increased a lot, mainly due to more mid-range shots and more hits. The three-point and basket shooting percentages are still very stable. The three-point shooting percentage reached 50.00%, and the basket shooting percentage reached 30.00. Seventh, although he can't keep up with those insiders, Jordan's overall shooting percentage has reached 60.00% this year, but Liu Ren's shooting percentage at the basket among outside players is second only to James's 70.00% one.

The second is Westbrook of the Thunder, averaging 29.1 points per game, the third is Harden, averaging 28.2 points per game, the fourth is James, averaging 27.2 points per game, and the fifth is Anthony Davis averaging 25.5 points per game , the sixth is Cousins ​​and Curry, both averaging 24.7 points per game, the eighth is Aldridge, averaging 24.2 points per game, the ninth is Lillard averaging 22 points per game, the tenth is thirteen, Thompson, Gerry Finn and Irving both averaged 21.7 points per game.

There are 20 remaining players averaging more than 4 points per game, namely Wade, Jimmy Butler, Kobe and Rudy Gay. They all have more than 20 points but less than 21 points.

This year, there are only 20 players who averaged more than 16 points per game. If Durant is reimbursed for the season after playing for more than a month, there are only 17 players who averaged more than 20 points per game.

At the Toyota Center in Los Angeles, the Lakers are doing tactical drills for their first-round playoff opponents, the Pelicans.

The Pelicans really can't pose any threat to the Lakers. The Lakers have easily won three times this year. The only one they can pose a threat to the Lakers is Evans. As for Anthony Davis... the statistics are very good. It is estimated that he can still advance for a while, but he can't make any waves by himself.

So everyone was chatting during the Lakers tactical drill. D'Antoni emphasized several times not to underestimate the opponent. The opponent is very strong. This is the playoffs, and the opponent is likely to explode...

Well, D'Antoni said too much and he didn't believe it...

This year the Lakers, except for someone Liu who scored very exaggeratedly and scored 36+ 40 times, the statistics of the others are very mediocre.

No way, except for Liu Ren, the Lakers averaged 24 shots per game. Kobe's 15 shots per game was the highest. Although Kobe averaged only 20.8 points per game, his scoring efficiency reached the highest in his career. 50.00% is also the first time in his career.

The same Lakers team is very efficient, and the team's overall shooting rate has reached an astonishing 40.00%40.00, which is higher than the Warriors' [-]%[-] shooting rate.

但同样的湖人队其他人数据都很平均，除了刘仁场均35.8分7.9板2.9助攻外，科比场均20.8分3.6板3助攻，加索尔场均11分6板5助攻，科沃尔场均11分，这还有在老鹰时期的场均13分拉趁着，尼克-杨场均9.7分，林书豪场均8分4助攻，怀特塞德场均9分13.8板，克拉克森场均11分4助攻，格林场均6分6板8助攻，阿德托昆博场均7分5板5助攻。

However, due to Kobe and Gasol often resting, Korver joined later, and Nick Young was also injured for two months, so the Lakers averaged 116 points per game this season.

The same Nash, Thackeray, and LaVine who averaged less than five points per game, did not have many playing opportunities, and did not play many games, did not have much impact on their scoring average.

The Warriors rank second in scoring, averaging 112.5 points per game.

This season, the teams averaged more than 110 points per game are these two teams, and they are far behind other teams.

The Rockets ranked third with 106 points per game, the Knicks ranked fourth with 105.5 points per game, the Mavericks and Clippers both ranked fifth with 105 points per game, the Cavaliers averaged 104 points per game, and the Eagles averaged 103.5 points per game... …

In the past two years, the Spurs' team system has swept the NBA, and Cole and D'Antoni once again drove the offensive wave, so the overall score this season has increased a lot compared to the past few years.

But at the same time, due to the popularity of team basketball and the increasingly serious grouping, the individual scores of players have dropped a lot.

In this way, Liu Ren's scoring average is really outstanding!In this era of star groups, the main members of the Lakers team are young people, and it is the group of people who are not optimistic about other teams and are willing to sacrifice themselves to play in the Lakers. Liu Ren can feed such a score.

However, most people will not look at how you got this score, many people will only see that you have scored so many points, you are amazing.

Yes, Liu Ren is such a person.

"Hahahahahahaha, Kobe, did you see that I am higher than your highest scoring average year!"

Looking at Liu Ren's despicable appearance and Kobe's face full of black lines, why did this bastard suddenly become lively again?How good would it be to quietly be a hesitant little man?This is also recovering too quickly!
"Hehe." Kobe gave another flattering smile, then shook his head and left.

It seems that it is difficult to find a sense of superiority from Kobe, so Liu Ren rushed to Whiteside.

"Oh, Hassan, I've won the scoring title. Where's your rebounding title?" Liu Ren deliberately didn't mention Whiteside's blocked shot title, but the rebounding title that Whiteside cares about the most.

The Wizards' Wall is the assist leader, and Paul, who averaged 10.5 assists per game to beat 10.3 assists, won the scoring leader.

This year's rebounding leader is Jordan Jr., who averaged 15 rebounds per game, followed by Drummond, who averaged 14.5 rebounds per game, and Whiteside, who averaged 13.8 rebounds per game, only ranked third.

Whiteside said he didn't want to talk to Liu Ren.

This is the best object to find a sense of superiority!Seeing Whiteside's displeased expression, Liu Ren went to practice the low position contentedly.

Liu Ren's low position was completely figured out by himself. Of course, how easy it is to figure it out by himself, how can it be the simplest?Of course O'Neal played like that!
If he is defending him from the outside, just hit him directly.

When Kobe, a low-post master, saw Liu Ren's special low-post singles effect was good, he didn't care about him. First, everyone has their own suitable style of play. Streaming low-post singles is simple and simple, but it can be very complicated if you say it is complicated. Don’t you see that some people can’t learn to play back-up for a lifetime. Liu Ren can find a suitable method by himself. From Kobe’s point of view, there is no need to interfere. Ren will talk about it when he thinks about the technical flow.

……

……

The Lakers' three-day break after the regular season passed quickly, and the playoffs have already begun.

The first to start is the series between the Warriors second in the West and the Grizzlies seventh in the West, the Spurs fourth in the West and the Clippers fifth in the West, the Eagles first in the East and the Bulls eighth in the East. , the Cavaliers third in the Eastern Conference and the Celtics sixth in the Eastern Conference.

All four series will be played on April 4, and the rest will be played on April 19.

The Grizzlies are worthy of being the famous playoff crap. Relying on their ability to play fast and slow, to be strong, to break fast, and to be extremely tenacious, they played against the Warriors for the first place in the playoffs this season. In one overtime, Iguodala, who finally recovered from the playoffs, scored 5 points in overtime. The Warriors won the first victory 109 to 106 without any risk.

The first game between the Spurs and the Clippers was equally exciting. Although the Clippers are fifth, they have home court advantage. Sure enough, in the playoffs, the Spurs regained their championship-level strength, although compared to last season. A little, but the Clippers did not have the invincible attitude in the middle of last season. The two teams played evenly, and the winner was determined at the last moment. The Clippers maintained their home court advantage 113 to 108 and won their first playoff victory.

The series between the Eagles and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference was just like that. It wasn’t a good show. The battles went on and on. In the end, the Eagles were much stronger than the Bulls and won easily. The final score was 97-80. It disappointed many fans who thought it was a fierce battle.

The first game of the series between the Celtics and the Cavaliers was really hot. The two teams were extremely jealous when they met. Several conflicts broke out in the game. James and Bradley both got technical fouls. Ollie Nick and James Jones were sent off after a conflict broke out, and the Celtics once played evenly matched with the Cavaliers.

However, the Celtics lost because there was no superstar who could end the game. Irving and James on the Cavaliers repeatedly stood up and scored consecutively when the Celtics were about to overtake the score. In the end, the Celtics won 87 to 80. people.

This comparison reveals the characteristics of the East and West. Although the East is in decline, it is still dominated by a slow pace, and the score is low. The West is still more important in offense, and the score is much higher.

On April 4th, the Lakers are about to usher in the opening game of the playoffs. Naturally, they sit at home with the highest regular season record in history.

When interviewed before the match, Liu Ren said unceremoniously that he wanted to sweep the opponent and was already thinking about the second round.

But when the media frantically pressed the shutter because of his big mouth, he suddenly felt like a bit of a loser, so he added another sentence: "The Pelicans are very talented, and Anthony Davis may be one of the best centers." One, but they're too young..."

The media has black lines on their faces. Is there a core lineup younger than your Lakers?Almost all of them are from the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th classes!

But Liu Ren just loves to talk nonsense in front of the media, and the reporters are used to it.

Entering the stadium at the Staples Center, Liu Ren found a group of Clippers players sitting on the sidelines.

Liu Ren is considering his opponents in the second round, and the Clippers, who may become the Lakers' opponents in the second round, are also considering their opponents in the second round.

The Clippers are very confident that they can beat the Spurs. In Liu Ren's memory, the Clippers can also beat the Spurs this season. From the situation Liu Ren saw when he watched the live broadcast of the first game, it seems that it is different from his impression. Not much, the Spurs are old and strong, but they are still old after all, and the Spurs mainly rely on the troika. Leonard has not yet become the first core. Without becoming a superstar, there is still such a gap. Compared with the Clippers, which are gaining momentum this year, they are at most half a catty, and the longer the series drags on, the greater the disadvantage of the Spurs.

Liu Ren still decided not to think too much about the second round, but to focus on the upcoming opponent first.

It's all agreed to compete for the championship, but we can't capsize in the gutter in the first round.

The Lakers players have a good relationship with Anthony Davis and Evans of the Pelicans, but it may be because of Liu Ren's violent abuse of Holiday last time, which made the friendly atmosphere between the two teams a bit awkward, due to his teammates To save face, Anthony Davis and Evans, who came to Los Angeles two days ago, did not come to play with their acquaintances from the Lakers.

The series is about to start, Liu Ren quickly entered the state.

The great man once said, despise the opponent strategically, but pay attention to the opponent tactically.

Although D'Antoni doesn't think the Pelicans will be a threat, he still attaches great importance to his opponents and is ready to quickly defeat the Pelicans and get more rest time.

The only two players on the Pelicans side who can pose a threat to the Lakers are Evans and Anthony Davis, so the defensive strategy designed by D'Antoni and Bickerstaff is aimed at them.

After the start of the first game, the Lakers had an absolute advantage from the start without much suspense.

Anthony Davis is great. He averaged 25 points + 12 rebounds + 3.1 blocks per game this year.

But the shortcomings are too obvious, lack of confrontation, being too thin leads to fear of physical contact, and the shooting is extremely unstable when there is physical contact. Green and Antetokounmpo stick to him on the defensive end. There is no other way to hit the basket.

And the Lakers have Gasol who has been playing for a whole year at the basket this year and seems to have reached the peak of his physical fitness again. Gasol should have averaged 18+12 per game in the Bulls this year and became the number one in the Eastern Conference. Inside, but he stayed with the Lakers and played the most efficient power forward this year. He averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in 5 minutes per game. The defense is also very advantageous. Since the newly promoted shot-blocking king Whiteside is on the bench, Gasol can fight the opponents in the interior when he is on the court.

Anthony Davis's interior defensive strategy when he encountered the Lakers was basically useless.

Evans on the perimeter, he is indeed the most threatening point for the Pelicans this year when he bottomed out and counterattacked, so D'Antoni asked Liu Ren to deal with it.

A player like Evans who can shoot, pass, and average 20+5+5 data per game is really not something that can be defended against. The main reason is that the height of 1.9 meters [-] does not suffer when dealing with small forwards. , the speed is not slow, and the flexibility is good.

However, the Lakers strangled Anthony Davis to death. Evans had only two teammates left. Asik was just a decoration on the offensive end. Ledi and Cunningham are two passers.

And Cunningham is shooting [-] percent from three this season...

Holiday had a certain degree of accuracy, but the ball couldn't come out of his hands. After being deprived of the mastery, he began to seize power by himself.

The Lakers are doing very well on the defensive end, and the offensive end is unstoppable.

The Pelicans' defense is only good on the inside, Asik is still able to guard the basket, Anthony Davis is also doing a good job defending everywhere, but that's all, Liu Ren, Kobe, Nash, Nick Young , Korver, and five outside shooters alternately played, and no matter what else he shot, he had such a big advantage in inside rebounds. The league's first average of 46 rebounds per game in the regular season is not a vegetarian.

In the starting stage, the Lakers played the Pelicans 19 to 4 at the beginning. When the rotation came on the field, the Pelicans got better. They had Norris Cole, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Anthony - With Davis' four helpers, Evans organized the offense much more smoothly.

But even so, the Pelicans can only maintain a situation comparable to the Lakers' second team. In the second half of the second quarter, the Lakers replaced Clarkson, Korver, Liu Ren, Green, and Whiteside. At the time, the Pelicans were completely out of control. At halftime, the Lakers led 64 to 40 by more than 20 points.

The gap in strength was not so large. The Pelicans lost their fighting spirit and were beaten by the second team of the Lakers in the second half.

Fully prepared, and the team's strength is absolutely leading, the Lakers won their first victory without any suspense.

127 to 90, the Lakers won the first victory in the series with an absolute advantage.

……

……

"Jamal, what do you think of the Lakers' game today?" Paul asked Crawford.

Crawford replied: "Very powerful, better than us..."

Crawford didn't finish, Paul knew.

Paul originally wanted to ask Griffin, but the relationship between him and Griffin has quickly cooled down since the injury incident last season. After all, a man doesn't want to be a brother-in-law, although the woman has nothing to do with them.

But the indifference of the relationship started from the very beginning.

Moreover, Griffin now needs to attack with the ball more and more, and the Clippers can set sail but rely on Paul's organization, so the two are bound to have a ball possession one day.

However, the Clippers have performed really well this year. If the Warriors and Lakers hadn't risen directly to occupy the first and second places in the Western Conference, and the Clippers had basically lost all their battles against these two teams, otherwise they would have been fighting for the first place in the Western Conference. possible.

With a good record, all contradictions can be temporarily suppressed, and it also proves that Paul holding the ball is more beneficial to the Clippers, and Griffin also needs Paul to feed the ball, so the two still seem to be a very harmonious pair.

Today, a group of six Clippers players came to the Staples Center to watch the game, but the six people were divided into two groups without knowing it.

Redick, who needs Paul to feed the ball, is naturally with Paul, and does not need an inside pick-and-roll, and Crawford, who is the leader of the second team and does not need to grab the ball with Paul, is also with Paul.

Griffin's Jordan is naturally with him, and the small conflict between Jordan and Paul has long been made public.

Paul looked down on Jordan's clumsy offensive ability and golf quotient. Every time Jordan did something stupid, he would be scolded by Paul.

And Jordan is the highest-paid player in the Clippers. At the beginning, the Clippers almost begged him to go back, but when he came back, he won the rebounding title and entered the ranks of the players with the best defensive efficiency. He was scolded. Naturally, the relationship with Paul is not good where to go.

(End of this chapter)