NBA: I am the card dealer

This is Xue Liancheng's last breath for the team. As for whether they can hold on until the decisive battle, it depends on whether his teammates can recover.

Jeff Van Gundy: "Xue Liancheng's two sudden three-pointers really boosted the morale and kept the Nets' hopes of winning. If they had dragged the score difference of 13 points into the fourth quarter, it would have been a disaster for the Nets."

Mark Jackson also agreed: "Yes! Xue Liancheng's role is too important. He not only drives the team's offense, but also stands up and scores when the team encounters difficulties. Without Xue Liancheng's active performance, the Nets simply don't have the ability to compete with the Warriors."

Mike Breen: "Maybe you guys are too optimistic and we won't even make the playoffs?"

As soon as these words came out.

The other two were silent.

Everyone knows that Xue Liancheng has unparalleled dominance, but isn’t it a bit exaggerated that a finals team can’t even make it to the playoffs because of the lack of one person?

But the Los Angeles Lakers seem to have proved it again this season. Without Xue Liancheng, they did not even make it to the playoffs.

The fourth quarter begins quickly.

The Warriors' offense did not slow down, but became more and more fierce. The Nets still could not open the three-pointer, and the situation became increasingly unfavorable. The score difference came to 13 points again, and it was about to reach 20+.

Just when Xue Liancheng thought that everything was over, the situation took a turn.

After he used up his last 100% hit rate skill, Anunoby finally came to his senses and made two consecutive three-pointers.

This immediately brought the score difference back to single digits.

Sabonis Jr. and Vonleh began to make some contributions, and the two sides started a tug-of-war over the score difference of 10 points.

The Nets were unable to close the gap, and the Warriors were unable to pull away.

Then the stalemate continued until the end of the game.

In the end, the Nets lost the game 114:124 at home.

Xue Liancheng made 23 of 12 shots, 12 of 5 three-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws, for a total of 35 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds. His performance was already quite good, but he still couldn't lead the team on an offensive frenzy and was eventually pinned to the ground by the Warriors and was never able to get up again.

Anunoby scored 8 points in a row in the last quarter and got a total of 16 points and 6 rebounds. His performance was decent, but his efficiency was average. He shot 17 of 7, which was a bit eye-catching.

But this is already the second highest scoring player on the Nets.

小萨博尼斯14中6，拿到了15分9篮板3助攻，表现也差强人意。

Feng Lai made 13 of 6 shots and scored 15 points. After working with Xue Liancheng for so many years, he knows Xue Liancheng's playing habits and characteristics best. He did an excellent job in cutting to the basket and setting screens, and he was still very aggressive in attacking the basket. However, his three-point shooting was not very good, and his 5 of 1 was really not good enough.

Covington made 8 of 2 shots and 5 of 1 three-pointers, scoring only 5 points, which was indeed a bit ugly.

David West became the mainstay of the bench today, scoring 7 points and 4 rebounds with 9 of 5 shots.

Joe Harris, Crabbe, Hart, James Johnson and others performed quite averagely and were not able to show off anything. So many people only scored 10+ points.

This is one of the biggest reasons why they lost.

of course.

Xue Liancheng's left and right arms all performed inefficiently, and they also have an unshirkable responsibility.

With Anunoby shooting 17-of-7, it's hard to imagine that he's the second-leading scorer on a championship-contending team.

Sabonis Jr. was not much better, only 14 of 6! As an inside player, this performance was obviously not up to standard.

However, they are the most trustworthy teammates besides Xue Liancheng.

One can imagine how difficult it was for Xue Liancheng to play this game.

In addition, there is another important reason, that is, their overall three-point shooting is very poor, with 42 of 11, and a hit rate of only 26.1%.

Xue Liancheng alone made 12 of 5, Anunoby made 11 of 3, Vonleh and Covington both made 5 of 1. Just looking at the shooting percentages and numbers, it was really terrible.

There was no way to create space at all, and it was extremely difficult for Xue Liancheng to break through. Only Sabonis Jr. made another tactical arrangement in the low post, but the effect was not outstanding.

and so.

It was not surprising at all that they lost this game.

For a team that relies on three-pointers for its offensive firepower, if they lose the three-pointer, their offensive ability will be reduced by more than half.

Sometimes Xue Liancheng has to run around and create space as a three-point shooter, because he is the only one in the team who has the three-point deterrence.

Warriors here.

Curry was wild, shooting 23 of 11, 11 of 5 from three-point range, and scoring 29 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. His performance was definitely outstanding.

When Xue Liancheng led the team to catch up again and again, Curry stood up, transformed into a fire hero, splashed water again and again, and successfully resolved the crisis.

杜兰特号称死神也拿到了26分，不过投篮是22中8，三分也不好，7中1，只依靠罚球10中9才拿到这26分的。

From this we can see that the Nets' front line has a great influence on Durant. If Durant was not so lethal, it would be hard to say who would win or lose this game.

Thompson made 16 of 8 shots, 10 of 5 three-pointers, and scored 24 points. He also played an active role. As an important member of the Splash Combination, he did not completely lose his luster because of Durant's arrival, which is enough to show Thompson's quality.

After the game.

Mark Jackson was very happy: "It turns out that what I said was right. They are still a long way from the Rockets, but you just don't believe it, which hurts me."

As the former coach of the Warriors, he is still nostalgic. This lineup and playing style was also figured out by him. Curry and Thompson were also carefully trained by him. It is no exaggeration to say that the Warriors are like his children, and he watched them grow up.

Although he was eventually kicked out by the Warriors and was picked by Ke Er, he would still favor the Warriors no matter what.

Van Gundy Jr.: "The loss in this game did expose many problems of the Nets, but Xue Liancheng did not turn on his crazy mode. The Nets' overall three-point shooting was also abnormal, and the two helpers around Xue Liancheng did not perform well. If any of these were avoided, the result might have been different."

Mark Jackson: "There are not so many ifs in the world. Is it possible that the poor performance of Anunoby and Sabonis is a normal phenomenon, because they are still very young and have not reached the level of carrying the banner?"

"Also, Xue Liancheng didn't explode. Could it be that the Warriors did a lot of planning and targeted defense? They studied Xue Liancheng's characteristics. Of course, even if Xue Liancheng could explode, he couldn't be so crazy every game, right?"

"The last three-point shooting problem? For a team that shoots three-pointers, you are relying on luck and touch. You have shot so many times, but none of them went in. But you didn't try to correct it. This shows that you don't have any other tactics besides three-pointers. If you leave everything to chance, you will definitely not go far."

"Besides, the Warriors are also a three-point shooting team, but since Durant came, they have changed their bad habit of relying on fate. Now they have a stable finishing point, which is very important, but the Nets don't have such a person."

This series of rebuttals did make some sense, and Van Gundy Jr. didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Mike Breen quickly followed up: "I have no objection to the rest, but I think there is one point that needs to be corrected. The Nets do not have their own finishing point. On the contrary, they have the most stable finishing point in the entire league, and Xue Liancheng is the most reliable one."

Mark Jackson smiled bitterly: "I mean except Xue Liancheng."

Mike Breen said in a joking tone: "I thought you were talking about the super finishing point that is separated from the complete tactical system?"

This time.

It was Mark Jackson's turn to be silent.

Because what he meant was to separate the stable finishing point from the tactical system, rather than the stable finishing ability of a certain player.

Van Gundy finally came up with a rebuttal: "A true superstar cannot be restricted. If he can be restricted, then he is not a superstar. Xue Liancheng is the league's top scorer and a historic scorer. Once his three-point shooting touch opens up, he can beat any team, just like in the seventh game of the Western Conference semifinals last year. He is unstoppable."

Mark Jackson was not afraid: "Come on! The series is seven games, how many games can you burst out?"

Jeff Van Gundy: "As long as Xue Liancheng wants to, he can score 40+ easily. 50+ is not impossible. I think this is already a breakthrough, right? From the new century to 14, a player scoring 40+ in a single playoff game was already very impressive, an absolute superstar-level performance. 50+ is really a god descending from heaven, and Xue Liancheng can do this often. In the playoffs last season, he averaged 40+ in three consecutive series. What a terrifying performance this is, I don't need to say more."

Mark Jackson smacked his lips and was speechless again.

Because this is also true.

Not to mention the distant past, just in the past decade, there have been only a handful of superstars who have scored 40+ points in the playoffs, let alone such historical-level data in the finals.

For example, Kobe made it to the finals for three consecutive seasons in 07-08, 08-09, and 09-10, but his 40+ points were only scored in the first game of the 08-09 finals.

You can imagine how difficult it is to get 40+ in the finals.

But now, Xue Liancheng is scoring 40+ points as easily as cutting melons and vegetables. Maybe everyone is used to it, so different standards have been derived. People think that Xue Liancheng's 30+ is normal performance, 40+ is outstanding performance, and 50+ is a breakthrough.

But in fact, throughout the history of the NBA, the only person who can perform at this level in the finals is Xue Liancheng.

This shows how valuable his championship win last season was.

Mike Breen: "But overall, the Warriors still have a certain advantage. At least now they have the home advantage, which is very important."

Mark Jackson: "Yeah, if the Warriors win another game in two days, then it's basically settled."

Van Gundy Jr. had no objection to this conclusion.

After all, losing two home games in a row in the finals is simply a death sentence, and it is almost a sign of having one foot half in the coffin.

How can you play away if you can't beat them even with the support of your home team?

After the game.

The discussion was overwhelming.

"Haha! I knew this would be the result of giving up the home court."

"The Warriors will not give Xue Liancheng another chance this time."

"Can you show the energy you showed last season when you were the core of the team? Why not? Is it because you don't want to?"

"In the second round last season, Green was injured, which gave the Lakers a chance. Plus, George was still there, and they took the lead in three games in a row. You thought he was good enough, but what's the truth? The truth is that you were just lucky and won the final game. If you were only leading 2:1, you wouldn't have won the championship last season."

"Are the Warriors kidding you? The Splash Brothers made at least 10 three-pointers, and Durant led the team. It would be a shame if such a historical lineup couldn't win the championship."

"Isn't a single core invincible? Why didn't he score 60+? There is no such thing as a single core."

"Let me see what happened? Hmm? I was pressed from the beginning to the end..."

"That's it. Xue Liancheng's championship monopoly is over."

These fans have been holding back for a long time. Ever since Xue Liancheng emerged, they have been suppressed.

Now that the Nets lost at home, they finally got some relief.

Because this signal is enough to show that the Warriors' overall strength is definitely above that of the Nets.

Then relying on the Warriors' outstanding performance, breaking Xue Liancheng's three consecutive championship reign is just around the corner.

This is like loosening a hole in their necks, allowing them to breathe freely, which is why they are so excited.

The Nets fans were naturally extremely disappointed.

"It's really unreliable to rely on Anunobi to share the pressure."

"Anunoby is a rookie, and Sabonis is a sophomore. They are really too young. If Xue doesn't explode in the next game, I think it will be difficult for us to win!"

"The main thing is that the three-point shooting is not accurate. Joe Harris is useful when he comes up, but he is just a burden at other times."

"Covington is no good either! I thought he was more reliable than Carroll, but he turned out to be just as good."

"Old man Feng Lai is the most reliable. Without him, we would have been beaten to a pulp long ago."

"I still have to develop my three-point shooting skills in the next game, otherwise I'm really going to die!"

A group of fans were lamenting.

0：2落后其实不是问题，迈阿密热火在06年总决赛也0：2落后，他们最终一鼓作气连赢4场登顶就是明证。

But the problem is, if you are trailing 0:2 at home, that would be terrible.

In your own home court, with fans cheering and cheering, and with a home whistle, you can still lose games in a row. Yes, you lose two games in a row. This is very different from losing just one game.

This shows that there is a certain gap in strength between the two sides. If adjustments cannot be made in time, everything will be over.

After all, you can't expect to win two games in a row at someone else's home court.

If you could win, you would have won a long time ago, and you wouldn't have won on someone else's field.

of course.

There are exceptions.

For example, an important player returns.

Another example is making lineup adjustments and changing tactics.

For example, the opponent's core player is injured.

Such or unexpected factors may lead to a reversal.