The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 454
The first round of the Spurs playoffs has been settled, and all they have to do is to maintain their state and wait for their next opponent, but their next opponent does not seem to be so easy to produce.

In the fifth game between the Clippers and the Jazz, the six Jazz scored in double figures and defeated the Clippers without Griffin to win the match point.

Without Griffin, the Clippers' inside line suddenly became a short board. Under the Jazz's excellent defense, their offense was not able to play.

Paul lost his temper in an interview after the game. He had had enough of losing.

After calming down, Paul said that he would go all out for the next game, and Clippers coach Rivers even said that they would go to the next game with the determination to die.

As a winner, the Jazz feel completely different now.

Jazz coach Snyder said: "I think we played a very beautiful performance on the defensive end."

"I don't think we care about home advantage," Snyder said. "I'm more concerned about the next game. I know they are doing very well here. I don't care about home advantage other than winning on the road. Any other additional views, I also understand that this is a challenge for us."

"We all know how hard it is to win a series, especially against such a good team, and we still haven't achieved anything. We're just going to compete and experience, and I love that."

In another group game in the West, the Rockets won the Thunder 4:1 and became the Warriors' next opponent.

Westbrook once again played beautiful data, but couldn't prevent the team from being overturned in the final quarter.

The Rockets' bench lineup once again helped the team, and they are undoubtedly the team with the strongest rotation.

After the game, Westbrook looked lonely and said helplessly: "The Rockets are a strong opponent, and the Thunder have done their best. The cohesion of the Rockets team is even better. We are far behind. Harden is my favorite team. Good brother, he has found the secret to winning the playoffs, bless Harden, bless the Rockets!"

Harden also expressed respect for Westbrook in an interview with reporters after the game, "He played an incredible season, I respect his game, he is a warrior."

The game in the west ended relatively quickly, but the east side was a little more tangled.

In the battle between the Wizards and the Eagles at Tianwangshan, the Wizards had the last laugh.

The main players of the two sides fought fiercely, and the Wizards narrowly won because the substitute performed better.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Hawks are more than that. They haven't used Howard well this season, especially in the playoffs.

"Whether it's Ersan Ilyasova or Mike Muscala playing, or Paul Millsap leading a big or four small lineup, it's a case-by-case decision," Hawks coach Budenholzer said. Sometimes you need to play a lineup that can space the floor."

"Players who can space the floor, shoot better, move faster will get more minutes because we need more tempo and more space, and sometimes we don't play that effect."

"Mainly on the offensive end, we need more open space. Although we didn't do a good job defensively in transition, the Wizards put a lot of pressure on us on the court. At the same time, this requires a lot from Howard. He needs to ensure offensive rebounds. , to get a second shot or even a third shot."

"I believe in our team," Howard said when facing reporters. "Whoever the coach puts on the court, he thinks is the best choice in that situation. I believe in my teammates."

As the dominant side, Wizards coach Brooks doesn't need to explain anything. He said: "We played more tactics, which helped us win. At the same time, on the defensive end, we executed the game plan very well. They couldn't Haven't been able to make shots, but our efforts on the defensive end will limit them."

"Schroder had a great [-]-pointer today, he made it in transition, he made it off a screen, and he made it near the end of the shot clock. He got to the rim very fast, but he chose tonight. Shots, you have to take those shots."

"Malchin grabbed a lot of rebounds and protected our offense. He tried to get more shots, but they didn't want to give him because Dwight Howard was in the paint. He also set some screens. I I like the way he plays. In short, the final score is more important than individual data."

On the Celtics and Bulls side, the Celtics won three consecutive games and won the match point.

This time the Bulls are not only defensive, but also have problems with their offense.

From being full of confidence at the beginning to being at a disadvantage now, the Bulls not only lost Rondo, but also had problems with their spirit.

Jimmy Butler was restricted, which also made fans question his ability to lead the team.

Bulls coach Hoiberg said after the game: "They defended the home court, so in the next game we have to do the same thing and defend the home court."

"We played very well in the first three quarters, but in the last 10 minutes the opponent took over. Also, they had three very good wing defenders."

As the reporter's questions became more and more difficult, the Bulls coach who lost three games in a row and was in a very bad mood actually left in a fit of anger, which became a joke for a while.

Wade, the Bulls' best performer today, said of Bradley, "Everyone knows he is a good defender, but tonight he played an offensive game."

"You want him to keep doing what he does defensively, but tonight we let him score 24 points, and that hurt more than anything else tonight."

Celtics coach Stevens also praised Bradley, "Jimmy Butler is a difficult guy to defend, Wade is also a difficult guy to defend, you don't expect to be able to guard them, you Just try to limit them as much as possible, and Avery did a great job."

"I tried to prevent Jimmy from going to the free throw line. This is my goal, and I think I did it." Bradley is also very satisfied with his performance.

Fortunately for the Spurs, they don't even care whether their opponent is the Clippers or the Jazz in the next round.

Originally, the Clippers might have caused them trouble, but after Griffin was injured, even if they were lucky enough to enter the second round, they would be killed.

As for the Jazz, their offensive lineup happened to be targeted by the Spurs, and they couldn't find anything.

However, the team's training is still very serious. Zhang Xiaotian was arranged to use different tactics in different positions. Although it is a bit bad to say this, the Spurs are not only for the second round.

Of course, there are also targeted tactics. The Clippers and Jazz are relatively easy-to-target teams. Popovich's tactical board has long been hungry.

(End of this chapter)