Some people say that Cole is crazy and that he is giving up on himself.
Some people also say that this change may put the Warriors on the line and be the most likely turning point to win the series.
Anyway, no matter who is playing against the Trail Blazers No. 36 at the basket, they will not be able to gain favor, and what the Warriors are best at is three-pointers, so they might as well expand this specialty infinitely, so that they can still give it a try.
In short, such an exaggerated combination surprised countless fans and media reporters who were watching the game.
Although as early as the end of last year, when the Trail Blazers and Lakers met for the first time in the season, Cole used this small lineup in the second half and caused a stir, almost interrupting the Trail Blazers' 20th consecutive victory.
But in that game, the Warriors were finally defeated by Wang Zelin at the buzzer. In that game, Wang Zelin scored 60 points, 22 rebounds, 11 blocks, 9 assists and 2 steals, a near-quadruple-double!
Against the backdrop of such epic explosive statistics, the Warriors' short-lived five-small lineup in the second half naturally didn't leave much of an impression on the fans.
What's more, in the last three games between the two sides in the regular season, the Warriors never used a five-small lineup. Even Wang Zelin sometimes wondered whether the "death five" was abandoned by Cole?
When it came to the conference finals, he could understand that it didn't work in the first game. After all, the first game was more of a test by both sides. But it didn't work for two consecutive games, which forced him to have such doubts.
Tonight, when he saw the five Warriors players in front of him at Oracle Arena, he frowned in a rare way.
He has only played in the playoffs this year, and he has faced his first real challenge!
But he quickly regained his confidence and smiled. In the original timeline, the Five Death Boys had ruled an era. He had waited too long for this battle.
Last time, the player who partnered with Green in the paint was Iguodala. This time, it was Livingston. He is looking forward to the power of the new five small players.
After the game started, Wang Zelin easily won the jump ball with his height advantage, and the Trail Blazers made the first attack.
With such a big gap inside, Lillard played very unrestrainedly. After reaching the frontcourt, he looked at Wang Zelin's position, threw the ball into the air, and threw an alley-oop.
"boom!"
Wang Zelin drove straight to the basket from the center, ignored Green's outstretched arms, jumped up to grab the ball, and dunked head-on.
Looking at Green falling to the ground, the Warriors fans in the stands immediately let out an overwhelming boo, but this did not hinder the Blazers' opening offensive.
Take advantage of his illness and kill him!
The Trail Blazers relied on the second offensive opportunity brought by their absolute inside height advantage to beat the Warriors to an 8-0 start.
At this time, countless people in front of the TV were laughing at Cole, thinking that he was driven crazy to do such an extreme thing.
Including some Warriors fans nearby, they gradually lost confidence in Cole.
If we keep playing like this, how many points will the Warriors lose tonight?
But after returning from the timeout, the Warriors immediately took full advantage of their small lineup.
The high-mobility offense made the pace of the game very fast. The other four positions of the Blazers were fine, but Aldridge found it very difficult to keep up with the pace.
The Death Five is originally a high-intensity lineup that continuously increases the pace of the game to achieve the goal of overwhelming the opponent.
Although the Warriors' penalty area has become Wang Zelin's back garden after giving up their big center, their entire forward group is very strong in individual defense and assist defense.
In particular, Green's unique attributes are simply tailor-made for the defense of the five small teams of Death.
He can pass the single defense, help defend against explosions, and can rotate defense from 1 to 5. He has the unique functionality of being able to defend the outside line and cover the inside line.
In the following time, Aldridge's game rhythm was completely controlled by the Warriors' ultra-fast pace, and he could only run around on the court for no reason.
When it comes to fast breaks, the Trail Blazers often face a five-on-four situation. Wang Zelin is very fast in assisting defense, but the Warriors' five small players are not slow to release the ball, and their accuracy is extremely high. Their ability to find open spaces is so strong that
The Trail Blazers always miss people on the court.
In a life-and-death battle, Curry and Thompson quickly entered a fiery state from the start, hitting consecutive three-pointers and quickly overtaking the score.
On the defensive end, Green, who returned to the home court tonight, made a lot of defensive moves and kept making small moves, but the referee always turned a blind eye. Although Wang Zelin still maintained a high shooting rate, he was also very annoyed by his harassment.
Relying on the mobility of the small lineup, there will always be one person from Barnes, Livingston and Thompson to double-team Wang Zelin with Green. Generally, Wang Zelin will pass the ball to his teammates, and other Warriors players can quickly switch defenses, causing the Blazers to
The results of several other shots were not very good.
Once the iron is struck, Wang Zelin has to rush for rebounds under the attack of at least three people under the basket. If he is a rebounding monster, there is no guarantee that every rebound can be protected.
Not to mention, sometimes even center Ku can't help but kick in, turning the penalty area into a meat grinder. Every time he fights for a rebound, people lose a layer of skin.
On the Warriors' side, no matter who grabs the rebound, they can quickly dribble across half court and start a fast break.
As a result, the pace of the game gradually became faster and faster uncontrollably.
Aldridge followed Green and Livingston for several rounds and almost vomited.
On the offensive end, it is difficult to participate in the team's offensive system, and on the defensive end, Curry has to face Curry's crazy pursuit of mismatched singles. The latter is definitely the first-tier player in the league who can play small and big.
This made his situation on the field quite embarrassing.
After the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were beaten 26:35, trailing by 9 points in the third quarter! By the time halftime was over, they were already 13 points behind the Warriors, 49:62!
The Trail Blazers were stunned when they were beaten.
The Warriors players ran too fast on the court, and the speed of distributing and shooting the ball was also very fast. People said that the Suns' "seven-second offense" shocked the league, but the Warriors' fast break was not bad at all, and even many people said that the Suns' "seven-second offense" shocked the league.
After watching the first half, I had a vague feeling that the Warriors' fast break speed was even faster than that of the Suns.
"It's incredible! Steve Kerr's weird lineup worked. They led the Trail Blazers by 13 points at halftime!"
"The Warriors, who were pushed to the edge of the cliff, launched a desperate counterattack. The small lineup that was considered a chronic suicide before the game actually played an extremely efficient offense! Are they finally going to win?"
"I have to say that Coach Kerr is really talented and bold! If the Warriors can reverse this series and reach the finals, then he will definitely beat everyone in the league hard after missing out on the Coach of the Year award this year.
s face!"
Before the game started, people were still questioning Cole's employment, but now, the whole world is obsessed with the Warriors' five-small lineup!
