In the East, the Bulls had a fierce battle with the 76ers on the road, and finally lost the game 74:79.
Although Rose's injury has completely healed, he still has not found his touch. The 76ers tasted the sweetness of leaving Rose short in the last game, and they still adopt the same strategy in this game.
Rose missed too many games at the end of the season. This game was only his third game back. In addition, Rose's shooting was not good, so he struggled throughout the game.
Holiday took two big steps back to defend. Should he shoot or not?
If you don't shoot, people are waiting inside, so rushing in is an offensive foul!
Shoot, you know your own three-point shooting percentage best!
Of course, Rose can also choose not to hold the ball, but in that case the 76ers will almost ignore him!
This is the embarrassment of inaccurate shooting!
Whether Rose will play or not will give Thibodeau a headache.
In addition, the 76ers' defense is also very good, which gives them the confidence to compete with the Bulls.
Defense relies more on hard work and hard work, so in the elimination stage of the playoffs, the defensive intensity will increase a lot.
Both teams focused most of their energy on the defensive end, and coupled with each other's different offensive talents, their final shooting percentages were very low.
The Bulls made 4 of 14 three-pointers and their shooting percentage was 28.6%. The 76ers were even lower. They made 1 of 14 three-pointers and their shooting percentage was a pitiful 7.1%!
The 76ers won mainly because of better free throws and defense. They took 33 free throws and made 26 of them, while the Bulls only took 23 free throws and only made 14 of them.
In this alone, the 76ers scored 12 more points!
The home field advantage is on full display here.
In addition, the 76ers also caused the Bulls 15 turnovers, while they only had 8 themselves.
Through more free throws and better defense, the 76ers finally won the game at home, and the score between the two teams became 2:1, with the 76ers leading.
…
The No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference lost, but the Heat, No. 2 in the Eastern Conference, were much more stable. They defeated the Knicks on the road through defense.
In this game, the Heat increased their defensive intensity, guarding the Knicks with a shooting percentage of only 31.9%, and only scored 70 points in the game!
The Knicks' top scorer was Anthony. He made 7 of 23 shots and scored 22 points, which was very inefficient.
The Heat didn't score many points, but James performed much better than Anthony. He made 9 of 21 shots and 12 of 13 free throws, scoring a game-high 32 points. Wade also scored 20 points.
In the end, the Heat scored 87 points and defeated the Knicks without any suspense.
The big score between the two teams became 2:1, with the Heat taking the lead.
…
In addition, the Pacers, third in the Eastern Conference, also won the Magic 97:74 on the road without any suspense.
The Magic's shortcomings without Howard were fully revealed in this game. The Pacers expanded their defense unscrupulously and did not give the Magic any outside opportunities.
In the end, the Magic made 5 of 15 shots from outside, with a shooting percentage of only 33.3%.
The Pacers made 8 of 20 shots from the outside, with a shooting percentage of 40%!
In addition, the Pacers also grabbed 46 rebounds, 13 more than the Magic!
The rebounds were missed, the perimeter was inaccurate, and the Pacers were all on the ball, with five players on the team scoring in double figures. It was no surprise that the Magic lost by a huge margin in the end.
After this game, the score between the two teams became 2:1.
…
The battle for fourth and fifth place in the Eastern Conference was also fierce. In the end, the Celtics won the Hawks 90:84.
Although this game was played at the Hawks' home court, the Celtics were obviously more experienced. They defended well, made more fouls, and got a lot of free throws.
In addition, Ray Allen returns in this game, which is a good thing for the Celtics.
Although the Celtics' three-pointers were not very good, only 4 of 13 shots, the Hawks were even worse. They only made 4 of 20 three-pointers, with a lower shooting percentage.
After winning this game, the series score between the two teams became 2:1, with the Celtics taking the lead.
…
On May 7, 2012, the fourth game between the Warriors and the Mavericks started at the American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks were already 0:3 behind, and there was no suspense in the series.
The Mavericks' only thought is not to be swept!
To put it bluntly, we are fighting for dignity!
We all hang out in the arena, and we all want to save face!
It’s okay to lose, but you can’t lose too miserably and you can’t lose without temper!
Especially in front of the home fans!
So there is still no problem with the morale of the Mavericks. They tried their best from the beginning and were very strong on both offense and defense!
But the warrior is not afraid!
Strength is the most important thing in the arena!
Only when the strengths are about the same, morale will come into play and home field advantage will be meaningful!
The difference in strength is too big, no matter how high your morale is, it will be useless!
Just like the last game, the Mavericks were able to compete with the Warriors in the first few minutes of the first quarter, but slowly, the Mavericks couldn't keep up with the Warriors' rhythm!
A group of old men in their thirties and a group of young men in their twenties were running all over the place. It was impossible not to suffer in terms of physical fitness.
Carlisle made personnel rotations in advance.
However, this strategy is of no use.
Although the replacements Haywood and Delonte West have sufficient physical fitness, they are still far behind Nowitzki and Kidd in terms of strength.
The score difference between the two teams gradually widened.
At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors led by 5 points.
As soon as the game started in the second quarter, both teams came on the bench, and the Warriors' advantage became even more obvious.
The five of Lowry, Azubuike, Hayward, Tucker, and Lopez are completely crushing in terms of strength!
The score difference quickly widened to 15 points!
Carlisle had to call a timeout and then changed into the starting lineup.
But this is of no use.
We were behind by a huge margin in the series, with our backs against a cliff, and now we are behind by more than ten points. The team is on the verge of elimination, and it's useless no matter how hard the head coach tries to pump him!
The army was defeated like a mountain, and this did not depend on the will of the commander!
The strength of the Warriors' second lineup on both offense and defense is no worse than that of the starting lineup!
The difference is slowly widening.
Finally, at the end of the second quarter, the score became 79:58, with the Warriors leading by 21 points!
The game lost its suspense again.
In the third quarter, the Mavericks only played for more than 5 minutes in the starting lineup. Curry and Clay went crazy. The two of them threw a total of 5 three-pointers, and the score difference quickly reached 35 points!
The game has completely lost its suspense!
Carlisle waved his flag and replaced the starter, admitting defeat!
The second half of the third quarter and the fourth quarter all turned into garbage time.
Finally, the final whistle sounded and the score was fixed at 132:98. The Warriors won by 34 points!
Curry played only 18 minutes in total and scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
By winning this game, the Warriors also swept the Mavericks 4-0, taking the lead in advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.
