The best teammates in the NBA

Chapter 457 Don't Join If You Can't Beat It (7300-word chapter)
On the night of April 4th, G29 of the Western Conference semifinals, the game progressed to the second half of the third quarter. There were rotation players from both sides on the field, and the atmosphere group had already appeared.

In the live ESPN commentary booth, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were also chatting about topics that were not very relevant to this game:

"I wouldn't be surprised if Lillard chooses to leave the Trail Blazers."

"Of course, I'm happy to see players stick to the team, but it takes more than one person to win a championship."

In the first two years, Lillard and the Trail Blazers reached a five-year $5 million contract, but Jeff Van Gundy felt that the Trail Blazers could not keep people.

The team's lineup in recent years is simply not suitable for this young All-Star guard.

Mark Jackson thought more about it. When the championship is hopeless, he believes that players will choose big contracts:
"Staying on the Trail Blazers is definitely a good choice. They need to add some defensive resources to make up for the disadvantage of the backcourt defense."

"I believe that Trail Blazers fans like Lillard very much. Playing is not only for honor, but also to give back to the fans for their support."

The two chatted farther and farther, and finally they simply talked about the team's locker room culture, and finally reached a consensus that the Trail Blazers lack a winning culture.

The owner of the Trail Blazers is not short of money. He also formed a luxurious lineup at the beginning, but the team's performance has not achieved much, and the championship is nowhere in sight.

The embarrassment of the team is that it is difficult for them to attract big-name players, and premium contracts often appear.

Mike Breen was still explaining the situation on the court, interrupting the conversation between the two from time to time:

"If the Clippers can end the series as soon as possible, it will also be a pressure on the other two teams."

"No one wants to face an energetic opponent. The strong performance of the Clippers in the regular season seems to have been greatly rewarded."

Just as the three commented on each other, the third quarter ended quickly.

At 27:29 in a single quarter, after three quarters, 63:101, in the Intuit Dome, Clippers fans no longer paid attention to the outcome of the game, and everyone began to enjoy the joy of victory.

"Great play, Norman! Keep playing like this, and you're sure to get a good contract!"

Li Ze, who had already put on his training uniform, and Norman Powell, who was leaving the field, bumped their fists. This cute newcomer is also in the contract year and is currently working hard for the next contract.

There was also a hint of joy on Powell's face. As a second-round pick, he got a lot of opportunities this season, and he also had a lot of playing time in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Although most of them are garbage time, Powell cherishes such opportunities. The times are different. If you want to get a good contract, you must have past data.

His role model is Ingles. As long as he can get a contract of tens of millions, Powell will be satisfied.

"The opponent doesn't seem to want to continue the game. I can see that their willingness to defend is getting weaker and weaker. They are really a group of guys who don't know how to cherish opportunities."

George Niang looked at the atmosphere of the Trail Blazers until his eyes turned green with envy. In the Clippers, even if he wanted to play during garbage time, he had to make a fuss.
Connaughton also showed envious eyes. The competitiveness at the end of the Blazers' bench is too small, and it is incomparable with the Clippers. Here, they face competition all the time.

There is nothing Li Ze can do about the encounter between these two newcomers. There are too many people who can play, and the players with the lowest abilities will have less playing time.
The Trail Blazers, who had no intention of playing, returned to the bench without saying a word, and Lillard didn't speak either.

After falling behind by 36 points at halftime, this guy seemed to have completely broken his defense, just watching the situation on the field.

McCollum wanted to comfort his partner, but when he thought of his performance of stretching his hips, he didn't say a word in the end, and followed everyone in silence.

18中5，三分线外9中2，罚球2中2，14分2篮板2助攻1失误，麦克勒姆确实没能打出预期中的表现。

19中6，三分线外10中3，罚球2中，2，17分4篮板4助攻1抢断2失误，利拉德也跟着拉胯了。

The Trail Blazers scored 31 points with both guns. It is naturally more difficult to win than to reach the sky!

Coach Storrs reminded the atmosphere group about to appear in the fourth quarter, and then returned to his seat, watching the game with a blank expression.

Compared with other coaches, he is not in danger of dismissing get out of class at present. The team management knows that with the current situation, it is difficult to win the championship. Naturally, the head coach does not have to take the blame.

Smiling after winning the game, Steve Ballmer wore a red cheering T-shirt, sat in his exclusive seat, and continued to cheer for the team in the fourth quarter.

The atmosphere group of the Clippers also worked hard, which made everyone in the Trail Blazers look darker and darker.

In the end, at 91:131, the Clippers beat the Trail Blazers, and the series came to 1:0.

At the end of the game, the atmosphere in the Intuit Dome was still hot. The fans in the front row were waiting for Li Ze to finish the interview and sign autographs for a group photo.

Some fans were shouting for Paul George and Jokic, and kept handing the jerseys to them.

Perhaps because the point difference was too big, the ESPN reporter didn't even ask about this round of the series. Instead, he smiled and asked Li Ze:

"Kayce, the Warriors have won an away game. Does this mean that the Clippers and Warriors will meet again in the Western Conference Finals this year?"

Li Ze shrugged helplessly. This kind of digging problem is very easy to offend people. In the end, he just responded formulaically:
"I won't think about who the opponent is now. I will fully focus on the current series. The Trail Blazers will bottom out and we will be ready for the next game!"

It seemed a little disappointed with Li Ze's answer, ESPN reporters stopped digging holes, and soon started a business mutual bragging mode
出场21分钟，13中11，三分线外4中3，罚球5中5，30分5篮板8助攻1抢断1盖帽。

Li Ze's performance tonight was mediocre. After the start of the playoffs, many sports media no longer cared about his statistics. He didn't even splash 30 points.

Tonight's traffic was sucked up by the Game [-] between the Pacers and Cavaliers.

The entire game was ups and downs. The Cavaliers led by 12 points in the first quarter. In the third quarter, the Pacers gradually closed the gap.

The two sides fought fiercely until the fourth quarter, and the Cavaliers finally had the last laugh.

101:105, with LeBron James' outstanding performance, the Cavaliers struggled to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

出场43分钟，25中16，其中三分球3中2，罚球15中11，高效砍下45分8篮板7助攻4抢断4失误。

LeBron James tried his best and was almost overdrawn.
Tyronn Lue's strongest tactic is very successful. Although many fans are complaining that James is playing more and more minutes, Lue knows what to do if he wants to win:
"Giving the ball to the most powerful person on the field, why isn't it a tactic?"

After winning the tiebreaker, LeBron James was very excited. After the game, he beat his chest and yelled.

The Quicken Loans Center arena is completely fried. With such a performance, James is their superhero!

That night, Amerika's sports media seemed to have a collective amnesia and resumed touting LeBron James.

Nobody said anything about the first round exit
The result of the tiebreaker in the series is that there is only one day for the Cavaliers to rest. On May 7, they have to fly to Toronto to challenge the Raptors away.

On the last day of April, the Eastern Conference semifinals also officially started.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the 76ers lost by a big score.

At 101:117, the Celtics at home easily defeated their opponents and ushered in a good start.

In this game, the 76ers made 26 of 5 from outside the three-point line. Mother Tie opened the door for Tie, and Tie is home!

In contrast, the Celtics broke out from outside the three-point line, 35 of 17, and shot 48.6% of the three-pointers.

Such outside performance makes it difficult for them to lose!

The most striking thing is not Griffin, but the mention of starting Terry Rozier.

18中11，三分线外9中7，高效砍下29分2篮板6助攻2抢断2失误的数据。

All five of the Celtics' starters scored in double figures, once again showing a terrifying lineup depth.

This also made the fans who watched the game that night very excited. After the game, social media was full of "Green Army champion!"

Both Embiid and Simmons played well, but they didn't play the same kind of basketball. +2 alone can't withstand the three-point rain.
After one game, critics felt that the Celtics would rush out of the East, the amnesia broke out again, and the Cavaliers became the underdog again.

On May 5, the Cavaliers, who had only rested for one day, once again demonstrated their dominance in the Eastern Conference.

113:112, after a bitter overtime, the Cavaliers finally won a precious away victory!

After falling behind by 14 points in the first quarter, the Cavaliers rallied to catch up and finally successfully counterattacked.

出场47分钟的勒布朗-詹姆斯差点又被累瘫了，30中12，砍下26分11篮板13助攻1抢断2盖帽1失误的三双数据！
Win the tiebreaker and give the Raptors a defeat, "How to Train Your Dragon" is online again!
DeRozan and Lowry are suffering. Everyone played well in this game, and the loss is simply because they couldn't beat it.
Of course, part of the reason is that the outside shooting is really hip, 28 of 9, 32.1% of the three-pointers, it is difficult to win the Cavaliers.

In addition to this game, the game between the Rockets and the Warriors has also attracted much attention.

At 105:124, the Rockets successfully protected their home court, and the two sides scored 1:1.

In this game, Durant still played steadily, 22 of 13, 7 of 3 from beyond the three-point line, 9 of 9 free throws, and scored a game-high 38 points.

Curry and Clay both performed hip stretching, one with 16 points and the other with 8 points.

Curry, who is 8-of-1 from beyond the three-point line, naturally became the target of verbal criticism from the America sports media.

In two consecutive games, Curry's three-pointers were pulled, which reminded everyone of the past and the experience of the Clippers in the playoffs.

"The most overrated player in the system, Curry has never proven himself in the playoffs. If he can be as stable as KD, maybe he will have led the team to the finals!"

"30 out of 9, Steve Kerr should leave the position of head coach. Have they forgotten how they lost in the previous two seasons? They even shot a lot of three-pointers when they missed the target"

In the Celestial Dynasty on the other side of the ocean, the old fire secrets have also fully recovered, smiling after winning the game, Huopu appeared again:
"This is the difference between an All-Star starter and an All-Star substitute. After Harden blasts Curry, even if Durant is found, the Warriors are useless!"

"Support Brother Deng to eliminate traitors! Meet Li Ze in the Western Conference Finals!"

"What is the league's No. [-] point guard! I'm going to blow up Curry, go and ask for slag-Pachulia."

"Harden made 15 of 3 three-pointers. I'm ashamed to brag here. When I was fishing a few years ago, I didn't see you so energetic."

"Who is 8 in 1? A system player who can only shoot three-pointers, what can he compare with Deng Ge?"

"Let's stop arguing, anyway, in the Western Conference finals, it's all free, the Clippers championship!"

"Li Ze is invincible, what's the fight for No.2!"

"."

This season the Rockets have played an outstanding record, and the old fire secrets of the Chinese dynasty are particularly active. Since they can't compare with Li Ze, let's step on the Warriors.

Since the start of the new season, everyone has had several battles on the forum. The Warriors fans lost in G1, and the fans of the Warriors lost a lot. When it came to G2, the old fans also directly celebrated the New Year.

Everyone had a great time playing the turn-based game, holding the board and stepping on the library. In the past two days, it is the turn of the old fire secrets to continue to output.

On May 5, there was only one game that night. Before the game, American sports media predicted that the Trail Blazers would lose by a large margin, but when the halftime game ended, the critics became interested again.

At 54:62, the Clippers led by only 8 points.

Lillard stretched as usual, 10 of 3 in the half, scoring 6 points, McCallum 11 of 5, scoring 11 points.

With double guns in the backcourt, fortunately, Aminu broke out and made 5 of 4 from beyond the three-point line in the half, scoring 12 points and 9 rebounds!

Stotts head coach adjusted his tactics and hit the ball more inside. Nurkic also scored 11 points.

Everyone in the Clippers didn't care about the opponent eating dumplings outside. As long as the opponent continued to play Nurkic, their tactics would not change.

After the start of the second half of the game, the mood of the Clippers fans on the scene was not affected, and they continued to shout loudly for the home team:

"Defense! Defense! Defense!"

The Trail Blazers took the lead in attacking. After Lillard dribbled through halftime, he used Nurkic's high pick-and-roll, dribbled from behind to his right hand, and accelerated the breakthrough.

Although the hit rate in the first half was hip, Lillard chose to continue shooting.

Only took two big steps, one step away from the three-point line, briefly got rid of Li Ze's pursuit, and beyond the top of the arc, Lillard made a long-range three-point jumper!

"Bang!" Another strike!
The intermission didn't seem to restore the touch. Lillard's mouth twitched slightly, watching Harris protect the rebound, and hurriedly shouted for his teammates to retreat quickly.

Compared with the previous game, the Blazers' offense was more decisive, basically throwing the outside line whenever they had a chance, without any hesitation.

The defense was also more resolute. The Trail Blazers almost gave up the offensive rebounds.

Harris, who advanced with the ball, came to the right flank, noticed that there was no chance to convert the offense, and immediately gave the ball to Jokic at the top of the arc.

Just after receiving the pass, Li Ze in the left corner pretended to move up the line, and Jaylen Brown on the left flank also moved down, pretending to cover.

Macklem's head got dizzy for a while, and Evan Turner, who was in charge of marking Li Ze, quickly slid to the left and stuck to Li Ze's side, ready to squeeze directly through the cover.

Both of them were ready, but they didn't expect that Li Ze would suddenly cut in along the baseline with a flicker, throwing off the defense in an instant
Nurkic at the top of the arc didn't notice the movement behind him, Jokic easily flicked the ball, and the ball flew straight to the basket.

When the ball arrives, Li Ze, who cuts to the basket, rises into the air, catches the ball with one hand with his right hand, and succeeds in dunking with one arm!

As soon as Stotts head coach saw the Clippers changing their offensive mode, he hurriedly made tactical gestures and shouted loudly:

"focus!"

But when Jokic frequently deals cards at the top of the arc or at the elbow, it means that the Clippers' outside four will cut more off the ball.

Nurkic was also a big head at this time. Although the coaching staff told him about the Clippers' tactical system, he really didn't have a good way to limit Jokic's passing.

The cheers at the scene seemed to remind the Trail Blazers that the point difference had reached double digits again. Lillard made a downward gesture to signal his teammates to stabilize.

Playing iron from the outside, this round the Trail Blazers learned from experience and decisively played Nurkic's low-post tactics.

A cross screen with Aminu in the three-second zone, Nurkic immediately came to the left block, received Lillard's ground pass, led the ball with his left hand, trying to carry Jokic's defense , go offline and break through.

This trick scored a few goals in the first half. Jokic was already on guard and immediately blocked off the line. Nurkic immediately turned his back, switched to his right hand, and hit his back again, trying to crush to the basket.

Returning to the left block position, Nurkic wanted to continue to exert force, but he did not expect that Li Ze suddenly retreated to defend, and wanted to join the ball directly in a panic, but Li Ze saw the opportunity and cut the ball Lose.

"what!"

Nurkic, who lobbed the ball, yelled and tried to make the referee whistle, but the scene was full of cheers, and Li Ze took the ball and rushed!
With the ball in his left hand, he continued to accelerate. Facing Lillard's defense, Li Ze took advantage of the opportunity to circle the ball behind his back, and continued to charge without slowing down after switching to his right hand.

Lillard, who wanted to slide to complete the defense, was staggered by the accelerating Li Ze, and then completely lost his defensive position
After hitting zero in the frontcourt, Li Ze came to the paint area and immediately took off with both feet. He changed hands in the air, with his head flat and fully stretched. He grabbed the ball with his left hand and pressed it into the basket!
"Boom!" The converted dunk was successful!
Li Zezhan's crotch-changing dunk suddenly ignited the atmosphere in the Intuit Dome arena. With the replay on the big screen above the court, the Clippers fans shouted happily.

54:66, the point difference came to 12 points.

Nurkic, who lost the ball, patted his chest, indicating that the ball was his problem.

McCollum also made a gesture of pressing down, so don't panic
As a result, in the next round, McCallum broke through and scored the ball. His overly obvious passing intention was directly intercepted by Harris, and then he threw the ball forward.

Li Ze rushed across the half court at the first time. After catching the ball, Lillard didn't care about the foul, and tried to delay the attack.

The two entangled all the way to the paint area. Li Ze, who was crushing and breaking through, was not fast. He approached the basket, held the ball in his right hand and suddenly changed hands behind his back. After dodging the defense, he broke through to the basket sideways.

Lillard completely lost his defensive position and watched Li Ze come to the bottom left of the basket to complete a reverse dunk!

"Boom!" Switch to attack and move on!
At 54:68, the head coach Stotts couldn't hold back and immediately requested a timeout.

"The Clippers are going to work hard. Kayce scored 6 points in a row after the start of the second half. It seems that he doesn't want to work overtime in the fourth quarter tonight."

The commentator Mike Breen only felt that the game was going to be spent again, and he could see that the Trail Blazers were going to score again
Jeff Van Gundy shook his head slightly, and said in a helpless tone:
"When Nurkic is on the court, the Blazers have some problems with the offensive space."

"But Jokic is different. His ability to drop the pick-and-roll and second-handle the ball is very good, which allows the Clippers to obtain excellent offensive space!"

"Jokic has the opportunity to enter the best team this year, and the Clippers' tactics are more mature and diverse."

Head coach Stotts blushed with depression, squatted on the ground, and loudly encouraged his players:
"Steady the rhythm, what we need is a goal, whether it's a free throw or a second attack, show our energy and send the ball into the basket!"

If they lose this game, they will only have one day to rest, and G3 will become a battle of life and death again.
This kind of deja vu failure is really annoying. The assistant coach took out the prepared tactical board, and the players are about to return to the field, and they are still constantly reminding them.

After the timeout, McCollum shook off Jaylen Brown, who was on the defense, and scored two points with a mid-range step-back jumper from the free throw line, helping the Trail Blazers stabilize the situation.

Only when the defensive end refocused on Li Ze, Paul George and Harris began to cut to the basket again, and at the same time, they also added misplaced singles.

Lillard, who switched to Paul George, tried his best to defend in the left block position, but was still pushed close to the paint area.

The same is pulling the ball back with his left hand and making a fadeaway jumper after shaking. Although Paul George does not have the height of Li Ze's stagnation in the air, he still sends the ball steadily into the basket.

"Shet!"

The defensive end was chased, and Lillard broke the defense again, and couldn't maintain his paralyzed expression. He cursed in a low voice while serving from the baseline.

As long as he sees Paul George chewing gum and smiling smugly, Lillard can't wait to go up and give him two old punches immediately.

The Blazers struggled to score, but the Clippers scored easily. In the Intuit Dome, the fans cheered loudly for the home team. Seeing the point difference widening, everyone knew that the game was completely stable.

The main lineups of both sides played the third quarter, and the head coach Stotts looked helplessly at the huge scoreboard above the arena.

At 73:100, the Trail Blazers only scored 19 points in a single quarter, and the game was over again.
After the three collapses of the Wolves, the Trail Blazers also embarked on this old road, and the offense was stretched in the third quarter.

Lillard scored 5 of 2 and scored 5 points, McCallum scored 5 of 2 and scored 7 points. The two scored 12 points together, but the role players were completely misfired.

The Clippers rotated their personnel again in the fourth quarter. Paul George simply changed into his training uniform. He seemed to think that the game was too easy. At this time, he swelled up again:
"We end the series the day after tomorrow, this year's schedule is too easy!"

Follow-up games will be played every other day, and Li Ze also thinks this arrangement is very good. If the Rockets and the Warriors tie for 7th, they will have nearly a week of rest:

"It's not necessarily a good thing to rest for too long, we still have to protect the home court!"

Jokic was also a little swollen at this time, and immediately covered his mouth when he heard Li Ze's words and said in a low voice:
"Continue to sweep? This year we should strive for another record of 16 wins and 0 losses. I think as long as we pass the Western Conference finals, the finals are really not difficult."

"."

On the other side of the Trail Blazers' bench, Lillard and McCallum just didn't say a word, lost!

Head coach Stotts felt quite helpless when he saw the state of the players. The schedule behind them was a bit rushed, which was very unfavorable to them.

Just thinking that the Clippers have a chance to sweep them, coach Stotts can only sigh secretly:
"Coaching the Clippers is an enviable job"

In the fourth quarter, the main lineups of the two sides did not appear again, after all, the point difference is too big.

The game time passed quickly, 100:128, the Clippers successfully protected the home court, and the big score of the series came to 2:0.

Steve Ballmer happily continued to cheer and celebrate with the fans at the scene. Sweeping the opponent did sell fewer tickets, but winning the game quickly and ending the series as soon as possible is definitely a profit for the Clippers!
采访的任务留给了约基奇，今晚白胖子8中5，三分线外3中1，罚球4中4，拿到15分8篮板8助攻1抢断1盖帽的准三双数据。

When asked if he regretted not getting a triple-double, Jokic smiled immediately, then raised his eyebrows, and said indifferently:
"I've never cared about numbers. In the playoffs, all I need to do is put the ball in the basket."

"Winning is the most important thing. I'm glad we did it again tonight!"

"."

The game between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers is not very hot. After all, everyone will know the result after watching the G1 game.

On the morning of June 6, everyone in the Clippers set off for Portland. As long as they can win G3, there will be no suspense in the series.

The team's official INS also quickly posted the boarding photos of the players. Everyone had a smile on their faces. Anyone could see that the players did not have a trace of nervousness.

There were two games that night, and the Raptors fans were completely overwhelmed.

At 128:110, the Raptors lost by a big score at home, and there were boos for a while after the game.

LeBron James, who has turned on the full-strength James mode, feels like he has followed the ZONE, no matter how he throws it.
28中19，43分8篮板14助攻1抢断1失误，“驯龙高手”再次上线！
In another game, the 76ers still failed to solve the problem of outside shooting.

103:108, the duel of talented basketball, the Celtics played steadily and had the last laugh.

On May 5th, at the regular press conference before the game, TNT sports reporters seemed to feel that there was little traffic, and asked an irrelevant question:
"Damien, if you continue to be out this year, will you choose to leave the Trail Blazers?"

Lillard was already at a loss, but when he heard such a question again, his heart was filled with anger, and he replied emotionally:
"I'm not going to join the team that beat me. I'm going to stay with the Trail Blazers. I love the Portland fans. I love playing in the Rose Garden."

The sports reporters in the audience don't buy it. It is understandable to join if you can't beat it these days, so Lillard has become a bit different
At 21 o'clock in the evening, the Rose Garden Arena was full at this time, and the fans of the Trail Blazers hoped to help the team stimulate their potential by cheering.

There was no rhetoric before the game, the Blazers' appearance ceremony was a bit dull, and the players seemed to have not recovered from the frustration.
Returning to the home court, the Blazers seemed to want to grab the start, but as the game progressed, the roles began to reverse, and the Clippers continued to score steadily.

Lillard is naturally doing his best. He really doesn't want to repeat the past story, but the gap in strength between the two sides makes him always fight
At 34:22, at the end of the first quarter, the Rose Garden seemed to be a library again.

Lillard, who scored 3 of 1 in a single quarter and only scored 2 points, broke the defense.

Back on the bench, Lillard's eyes were blank, and the head coach's words became deaf ears, but he kept silently chanting:

"There is still a lot of time, and I still have a chance to tie the score!"

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(End of this chapter)