Chapter 162 Advance to the Western Conference Finals
The Suns players have lost their fighting spirit, but this is not easy to see on the surface. At least on the surface they are continuing to play hard.
The Suns attacked, Barbosa moved very actively, and then shot a three-pointer.
Barbosa has played similar attacks several times, but in the past few times he was thinking about winning, but now he is thinking about scoring as many points as possible.
He wants to use this stage to show himself, get some good data, and strive for a big contract.
Barbosa was lucky and scored the goal.
64 to 63, the Suns were only 1 point behind.
The Lakers counterattacked, and Kobe hit Barbosa.
During the transition between offense and defense, Barbosa continued to take action, but his choice was not very good and the ball did not go in.
In fact, Barbosa's choice in the previous round was not good, but he scored, so no one thought there was a problem.
And now, D'Antoni has not replaced Barbosa for the time being.
As the game continued, the Suns' defense became worse again.
Zhang Zhiyuan and Odom got space to shoot with a pick-and-roll, and then hit a three-pointer.
69 to 63, the point difference is rapidly expanding.
When the Suns attacked, Nash did not pass the ball to Barbosa easily, but passed the ball to Laga Bell through observation.
Lagabell made a three-pointer, but unfortunately he couldn't continue his good touch and missed the ball.
In transition between offense and defense, Kobe relied on his strength to steadily provide firepower output.
D'Antoni had to replace Barbosa because he had too many holes in the Suns' defense.
This substitution was the right one, but it was too late.
The Suns attacked, Stoudemire hit the basket and scored two points with difficulty, but the Lakers responded immediately with a fast break.
73 to 65, the point difference reached 8 points.
The Suns attacked, Nash assisted Laga Bell and hit a long two-pointer, 73 to 67.
The offense and defense switched, and the Lakers finally lost power, but the Suns failed to seize the opportunity to narrow the point difference, and they also shot hard.
After several rounds, the point difference not only did not narrow, but increased again, exceeding double digits.
By the end of the third quarter, 89 to 80, the Lakers led by 9 points.
At the end of the first quarter, the Suns led by 9 points. But now, the situation has just turned around, and the fans at the scene have experienced great joy and depression.
Trailing by 9 points and with 12 minutes left in one quarter, it's not like there's no chance at all.
In the last quarter, the Suns still played the main team except O'Neal, and it seemed that they were determined to defend their home court.
For the Lakers, Odom and Kobe, who have been playing for a long time, are taking a break, with Zhang Zhiyuan and Fisher leading the team.
The Suns attacked first. Stoudemire was eager to score and rushed to the basket after receiving the ball. However, he made a mistake and let go of the basketball.
The referee couldn't help. Stoudemire's mistake was too obvious.
The ball was transferred, and the Lakers played steadily. In the end, Zhang Zhiyuan relied on his personal ability to make a turnaround jumper like Kobe, and he actually made it.
The Suns counterattacked, and Nash suddenly shot a three-pointer, but the ball missed.
In turn, Fisher hit a three-pointer.
This was an unexpected surprise.
The Lakers don't want to win points right now. As long as they can hold on until Kobe and Odom come back, they will have accomplished their mission.
As a result, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lakers actually won by 5 points.
For a moment, fans didn't know whether to complain about the Suns being too weak or to praise Zhang Zhiyuan for his ability to lead the team alone.
The game continued and the Suns' performance recovered, but it was too late.
The Lakers relied on playing steadily, and until Kobe and Odom came back on the court, the Lakers still maintained a 12-point lead.
This advantage is too great.
Seeing that the game time was getting shorter and shorter, D'Antoni replaced Barbosa again, giving up defense and betting on touch with the Lakers.
Barbosa threw a three-pointer as soon as he came up.
At this time, the Suns still have no other option except throwing three-pointers. It's impossible to rely on defense. They simply don't have that kind of defensive ability.
There is still a glimmer of hope in betting on the attack, but of course, it is only a glimmer.
Barbosa took the shot and scored.
101 to 92.
During the transition between offense and defense, Kobe was double-teamed and Zhang Zhiyuan was heavily guarded. Fisher passed to Odom, who made a short two-pointer and hit.
103 to 92.
The Suns counterattacked, and the three defenders ran in front, not caring about the two insiders behind.
After reaching the three-point line, Lagabel took off and shot without considering the rebound issue at all.
The ball goes in.
103 to 95.
The fans at the scene began to cheer again. Although they were still behind, the consecutive three-pointers gave them a glimmer of hope. If the Suns continue to keep up, a comeback is not impossible.
Unfortunately, the Suns can't keep it up forever.
In the next round, Barbossa lost power first, and then Lagabel also lost power.
Although Nash threw in a three-pointer, the efficiency of 1-for-3 is not high by any means.
The game time is getting shorter, and the point difference still fluctuates around seven or eight points.
With only two minutes left, 116 to 108, the Lakers still led by 8 points.
The sun has lost.
However, in order to express his determination to defend his home court, D'Antoni did not replace the main players, but allowed them to continue playing.
The Lakers are even less likely to replace their main players in advance, and they have to be just in case.
With the Suns' firepower, it's not surprising to suddenly score several three-pointers in a row. The Lakers must maintain continuous scoring to ensure victory in the game.
When the Suns attack, the Lakers defend very outside, focusing on three-point defense.
As a result, Nash threw the ball inside, and Grant caught the ball and scored a layup.
116 to 110.
The Lakers attacked, and Fisher patiently controlled the rhythm.
Nash stepped forward to press, Fisher dodged and passed the ball.
Zhang Zhiyuan did not rush to take action after receiving the ball. Laga Bell harassed him. Zhang Zhiyuan patiently dribbled the ball and took advantage of the moment Laga Bell stretched out his hand to initiate a breakthrough.
Zhang Zhiyuan successfully passed Laga Bell and broke into the basket.
Stoudemire made a foul and slapped Zhang Zhiyuan on the arm.
The referee did not call the call, but Zhang Zhiyuan still threw the ball to the basket based on his feeling.
The ball goes in.
118 to 110.
When Jackson saw this, he was too lazy to protest to the referee.
The Suns attacked and Barbosa missed a three-pointer.
This strike completely declared the Suns' failure. Those Suns fans who had illusions also gave up. Some disappointed fans simply got up and left the game early.
Watching the team you support lose three games in a row is not something to be happy about.
What's more, they still spent a lot of money to buy the tickets, which is equivalent to spending money to find trouble. Many fans are regretting it.
After two more rounds, the game was over.
No miracles, no reversals.
123 to 114, the Lakers beat the Suns by 9 points and won a valuable away victory. They led 3-0, which was almost equivalent to advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
After all, no team has ever been eliminated with a 3-0 lead, and the Lakers are obviously unlikely to be the first such team.
In terms of statistics, the Suns' best performer was Laga Bell, who made 11 of 20 shots, 6 of 11 three-pointers, and scored 30 points including free throws.
Nash performed quite well, making 7 of 14 shots, hitting 3 three-pointers, and scored 17 points and 11 assists.
Stoudemire's performance was average, making 8 of 19 shots and scoring a total of 20 points and 7 rebounds including free throws.
Barbosa scored a lot, but his efficiency was average. He made 7 of 17 shots, 4 of 10 three-pointers, and scored 18 points.
O'Neal had 11 points and 8 rebounds, Grant had 9 points, Diaw had 5 points, and Gordon had 4 points.
For the Lakers, Zhang Zhiyuan scored the team's highest score, making 12 of 21 shots, 7 of 13 three-pointers, and a total of 34 points including free throws.
Kobe made 10 of 22 shots, 2 of 5 three-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws, scoring 27 points.
Odom made 9 of 18 shots and scored 18 points.
Bynum had 9 points and 9 rebounds, Fisher had 12 points and 7 assists, Ariza had 8 points, Kwame Brown had 4 points...
"The Lakers' firepower is so stable, they can score 120 points in almost every game."
Buckley commented.
This is 120 points in the playoffs. Except for the Lakers, other teams don't even have to think about it.
Teams like the Pistons and Cavaliers only averaged about 90 points per game in the first round, and the Hawks averaged less than 90 points, a full 30 points difference.
"This also has something to do with the Lakers' opponents. The Nuggets and Suns are both offensive teams."
Smith added.
"Even so, 120 points is too many. If you can't prevent the Lakers' offense, it's impossible to beat the Lakers."
Buckley said nonsense.
On May 7, the NBA playoffs will continue.
There is only one game today, the Celtics play against the Cavaliers at home.
73 to 89, the Cavaliers lost another game, falling behind 0 to 2.
In this game, James continued to be trapped in double teams, shooting 6 of 24 with a shooting percentage of only 25%.
James' performance almost determines the Cavaliers' victory or defeat. If he scores high points, he may not win, but if he scores low scores, the team will most likely lose.
After losing the game, James' expression looked like he was crying.
Although he has lost before, at least he has never lost so miserably. But now facing the Celtics' three beasts chasing and intercepting him, James really has no choice.
As soon as he breaks through, he will get stuck into the crowd, and there won't be many whistles yet.
May 8.
Game 3 between the Hornets and the Spurs, the Spurs are at home.
99 to 110, the Spurs won.
Paul still performed extremely well in this game, making 15 of 25 shots and scoring 35 points and 9 assists including free throws.
It's a pity that it was useless. The Spurs' GDP showed its strength and the three of them scored 80 points together.
On the other hand, for the Hornets, only West gave Paul some help, but Peja fell behind.
However, the Hornets still led 2-1 and still had the advantage.
On the same day, the Pistons played Game 4 against the Magic.
90 to 89, the Pistons narrowly defeated the Magic by one point, leading 3 to 1.
Prince made a near-win shot at the last moment, and with 8 seconds left, Turkoglu hit the ball. Howard grabbed an offensive rebound and made a second attack but still hit the ball.
Things fell apart at critical moments, and Howard's evaluation began to lag behind Paul's.
Howard also played very poorly in this game, scoring only 8 points.
On May 9, the Lakers played Game 4 against the Suns.
I don’t know if the Lakers want to sell more tickets, or the Lakers are too proud, or the Suns are playing too well...
In short, the Lakers lost this game.
117 to 121, the Lakers lost by 4 points.
This made fans who like conspiracy theories have to doubt the result of the game, and unanimously believed that the Lakers were suspected of letting the team cheat.
It's a pity that based on their level, there is no trace of the Lakers letting go.
We lost, but Lakers fans didn't care too much.
Anyway, they still lead 3-1, and there is no suspense about advancing.
On May 10, the Celtics played Game 3 against the Cavaliers.
84 to 108, the Cavaliers won.
James' performance in this game was still not very good. The Celtics' interior defense was so abnormal that James' performance in this game was so bad.
Sai was forced to throw 7 three-pointers and miraculously made 4 of them.
However, this is not the reason why the Cavaliers won. In fact, their victory relied more on their home court advantage and they took more than a dozen free throws than the Celtics.
For a team like them that mainly attacks breakthroughs and scores two points, the penalty scale has a considerable impact.
On the same day, the Hornets played Game 4 against the Spurs.
80 to 100, the Spurs won another game and tied the score to 2 to 2.
In this game, Paul did not play as well as before. Although he scored 25 points, he only had 5 assists. The Spurs cut him off from his teammates.
The rest of the Hornets were held back, with Peja taking just eight shots.
Although he hit 4, the hit rate is not bad. But for a core pitcher like him, taking only 8 shots in a game is already a failure. It makes no difference whether he hits 4 or 5.
On the 11th, the Pistons played against the Magic.
86 to 91, the Pistons won the game at home and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a big score of 4 to 1.
The key to the Pistons' victory in this game was free throws.
Howard made 5 of 16 free throws.
For the Pistons, Hamilton made 16 of 16 free throws, McDyess made 5 of 6, and Stuckey made 5 of 6.
The Pistons' overall shooting percentage was only 31%, but they beat the Magic 48%.
This game once again exposed a shortcoming of Howard. From now on, in addition to cutting Shaq, the league can also cut Huo.
On the same day, the Lakers returned home and defeated the Suns, advancing to the Western Conference Finals with a score of 4-1.
This is also expected by fans.
Two of the four conference finals teams have been decided, and fans have turned their attention to the remaining two teams.
On the 12th, the Celtics played Game 4 against the Cavaliers.
77 to 88, the Cavaliers won again, tied 2 to 2.
This result naturally puzzled fans and disappointed Celtic fans.
The inextricable fight with the Eagles can be said to be careless, but what about now?
Everything seems to indicate one problem, the Celtics don't seem to be as strong as imagined.
On the same day, the Hornets played Game 5 against the Spurs.
79 to 101, the Hornets won the battle of Tianwang Mountain.
David West played well in this game, scoring 38 points and 14 rebounds.
Of course, this is a superficial reason.
In fact, the key factor that determines the outcome of this game is home field advantage.
The Hornets took 33 free throws, while the Spurs only took 18.
You must know that the Hornets only took 12 free throws in the last game. It is impossible for them to upgrade their ability to break through and cause damage after two days. This is the home whistle.
More importantly, because the Hornets' home whistle was too aggressive, the Spurs players did not dare to make any moves. As a result, Paul and West cooperated very comfortably, and they played like shooting training.
After losing this crucial game, Popovich was also very angry and spoke bluntly at the press conference. He bluntly said that the Hornets had taken too many free throws.
Although he didn't say it clearly, the fans understood it.
