The outstanding performance of the Trail Blazers' second team continued until the end of the first half.
Especially on the offensive end, Lillard and Aldridge ensured the team's scoring base. Jokic served as a high-position beacon at the center. His playing style was similar to Wang Zelin in the second season. The Trail Blazers were on the court.
Played with the Princeton system for the first time in a long time.
Coupled with the two accurate outside turrets of Connett Lee and Old Carter, whenever there was an open opportunity, he basically never missed a shot.
The Warriors' impact in the second quarter couldn't be described as fierce. Curry and Thompson played another 8 minutes and scored 23 points together. If Kerr hadn't been worried about their physical fitness, they would have played the entire first half.
It's a pity that due to the outstanding performance of the Trail Blazers members, the Warriors couldn't even get closer!
The Warriors scored 35 points in a single quarter, and the offensive firepower of the five small teams was clearly demonstrated, but the Trail Blazers were not bad at all, and their overall performance was even better, with the team scoring 37 points in a single quarter.
69:57!
At the end of the first half, the Trail Blazers further expanded their lead to 12 points.
Facts have proved that the Warriors' mini-rotation is not necessarily more advantageous than the Trail Blazers' usual passing and substitution.
Once again, the Golden State Warriors were suppressed!
Weber looked at Cole who was nervously deploying tactics and couldn't help but shook his head and said: "This may be the most difficult 10 points for the Jingzhou Warriors to equalize this season!"
After returning from the first half of the game, Curry and Thompson gradually adapted to the Trail Blazers. Even when facing an unlimited defensive lineup led by Wang Zelin, they were able to maintain a good shooting percentage.
But even so, the Warriors still couldn't take advantage of the Trail Blazers.
The lethality of Trail Blazers No. 36 under the basket has refreshed people's understanding time and time again. He can always stage a show of challenging three consecutive Warriors defenders in the penalty area.
As the game progressed, Cole's shortcomings of manipulating the main force for two consecutive games finally came to light.
In such a fierce opportunity, the seven-man rotation lineup must have advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that the team is very fast and the players are very skilled in cooperating with each other. As long as they seize an opportunity, they can quickly trigger a snowball effect, continuously expand the score, and may even take away the game in one wave.
The disadvantage is that it is a big challenge to the players' physical fitness, and intense competition often increases the chance of players getting injured.
After all, seven-man rotation is not a long-term solution. It's okay for one or two games, but it can't be like this every time!
Generally speaking, in order to ensure that the core players have enough time to rest and adjust, the team must increase the number of people in the rotation.
After all, the playoffs are not short, and the intensity of the competition is much higher than that of the regular season. On this level of stage, the two sides are not only competing in strength and tactics, but also competing in rotation lineups.
Take now, for example, after the crazy squeeze in the last high-intensity game, Cole repeated his old tricks tonight, trying to drag down the Trail Blazers with the mobility of the five small players.
But this time, Cole shot himself in the foot. Because the Trail Blazers' one-fourth-small lineup is as mobile as the Warriors, and Coach Terry dared to play five up and five down, ensuring the players' stability.
Physical fitness.
As a result, the Blazers' high-intensity defense has been maintained, but as for the Warriors, with the possible decline of the main force, open long shots from outside the three-point line have begun to be hit, and the offensive efficiency has inevitably declined.
As for the Blazers' offense, Wang Zelin's presence is enough to ensure the team's offensive firepower. In the 10th minute of the third quarter, he had already scored his 30th point of the game!
On both offense and defense, the Trail Blazers did a pleasing job. As the game progressed, Warriors coach Steve Kerr's heart slowly fell to the bottom.
In order to avenge last year and for the team's championship dream, he has been preparing for a full year. He is confident that after the Warriors win the championship this season, he will bring subversive changes to the entire league.
Not only is it for the Warriors to replace the Trail Blazers and become the new ruler of the league, it is also for the entire league to complete a new round of evolution in its style of play.
The backward era in which the center was the core of winning the championship, and the offensive end could only rely on the center to fight in the position and slowly penetrate the opponent to score points should have been eliminated long ago. The next era should be the era when three-pointers are king!
But what about now? The five-small lineup he was so proud of doesn't seem to be that effective anymore. Sometimes it's suppressed everywhere, and it seems like there's a big deviation, but it just can't be balanced anyway.
8 points, 9 points, 10 points, 11 points... In the third quarter of the game, the score difference between the two teams has been hovering between these numbers.
In the last few seconds of the third quarter, when Wang Zelin used a beautiful hook near the free throw line, facing the three-man defense of Green, Iguodala and Thompson, he hooked the ball into the basket at the buzzer, successfully pulling the score.
When it reached 13 minutes, Cole closed his eyes in despair.
In order to restrict Wang Zelin, he had already figured out a way to play this game. After every timeout, he thought his adjustments should be effective.
But without exception, all he gets is disappointment.
When too much disappointment accumulates, quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes, which inevitably turn into despair!
…
131:120!
At the end of the final whistle, the Trail Blazers relied on unlimited defensive changes to suppress the Warriors throughout the game, and finally defeated their opponents by 11 points and gained another victory.
After this game, the series score between the two sides reached 3-1, and the Trail Blazers had the match point.
In the next game, the battlefield between the two sides will move to Portland. The Trail Blazers only need to win one more game at home, and they will be able to eliminate the Warriors and enter the Finals for the third consecutive year.
The long-awaited dynasty dream is one step closer to them.
Looking at the Blazers celebrating crazily not far away, looking at Wang Zelin who efficiently scored 36 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks in a super triple-double in just 31 minutes tonight, the Warriors were silent, and several main players were even more silent.
Full of confusion about the rest of the series.
Including the handshake after the game, Cole forgot how the entire process was completed?
But fortunately, Cole is a coach with an extremely strong heart after all.
After the game, he asked the management to inform the media in advance that the Warriors would cancel post-game interviews today.
Oracle Arena.
After the opponents and fans dispersed, Kerr brought all the Warriors players back to the arena for a centralized training session.
When Curry and Thompson stood still, he immediately conveyed his tough attitude to the players.
In this series, he asked everyone to hold on until the last moment no matter what.
"It's not time to give up, it's not time to admit defeat yet! After a whole season of hard work, we have been pushed behind by the Trail Blazers! From the second place in the regular season to the second place in MVP votes, we have always been the damn second place.
Name! Always the damn number one loser!"
"Please remember, this is our last chance to win against the Trail Blazers this season. No matter what, we have to fight until the last minute! Believe me, the goddess of victory will definitely favor the warriors who never give up!"
"So, all the warriors present! Please maintain your desire for victory, and let us go to Portland in three days to continue fighting!"
Cole slammed the tactical board to the floor and roared loudly. He had reached this point and was unable to help the team make changes at the tactical level.
The only thing we can do now is to boost morale as much as possible!