On May 18, 2013, Game 6 of the conference semifinals was completed.
In the West, the Spurs, who returned home, did not give the Thunder another chance. They relied on their excellent offense to win the game 125:119, eliminated the Thunder with a total score of 4:2, and met the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
Westbrook's performance in this game was average, and his shooting touch was not as good as the previous game.
Precisely because of his lack of touch and repeated missed shots, Westbrook became impatient and began to break through, trying to score points in the penalty area.
You dare to leave me alone?
Do you think I can only shoot?
I just want to rush in!
If it were a different opponent, Westbrook's rampage might still be effective, but when the opponent is the Spurs, Westbrook's attack like this won't work.
The strongest point of the Spurs is their discipline. The tactics laid out before the game will be executed perfectly by the players on the field, especially on the defensive end!
The offensive end is related to talent and luck and cannot be forced, but the defensive end is different.
On the defensive end, as long as the players work hard and the coach arranges it properly, there will generally be no major problems.
With Popovich's coaching level, he will not make mistakes.
Popovich knows the Thunder’s destiny, and that is Westbrook!
Durant is a constant, so we can only try our best to limit him and prevent him from exploding, while Westbrook is a variable. As long as he is not allowed to feel comfortable and Westbrook is not allowed to rush, the Spurs will have a high probability of winning the game.
In order to prevent Westbrook from rushing forward, we have to give him a chance to make a mid-range shot.
Therefore, the Spurs contracted obviously when Westbrook played the pick-and-roll, nakedly leaving Westbrook open.
Westbrook didn't feel good in the hand, but he still pushed in hard, and as a result, he got a lot of hats!
Although Duncan is older, his ability to block shots is still the same as before.
In the first half, Westbrook had three big blocks and made five turnovers, which also gave the Spurs a good chance to counterattack.
In the second half, Westbrook was still stubborn and gritted his teeth and rushed forward.
Then something unexpected happened.
Towards the end of the third quarter, Westbrook was blocked during a breakthrough. When he landed, he accidentally stepped on his teammate's foot. He screamed and fell to the ground.
The team doctor came up to check and immediately pushed Westbrook out.
Soon, news came from the front that Westbrook suffered a serious sprain and ended his season ahead of schedule.
Unexpectedly, the Thunder, which lost Westbrook, turned on the offensive end and even took the lead early in the fourth quarter.
However, the experienced Spurs quickly stabilized the situation. They started defensively and found their touch on the offensive end, regaining control of the rhythm of the game within a few minutes.
In the last three minutes of the game, the GDP combination showed their strength. They made sudden shots from inside and outside, scored consecutively, and led the Spurs to a 15:5 score, directly sealing the victory.
By winning this game, the Spurs also successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals. Their opponent was the Warriors who had been waiting for a long time.
After the series, the Spurs were filled with joy, while the Thunder were extremely depressed.
Obviously, Harden's departure has greatly reduced the Thunder's strength, which is a very big blow to them.
Kevin Martin was okay in the regular season, but he was useless in the playoffs.
Without Harden, the Thunder's bench is completely vulnerable, and they can only rely on beating Durant and Westbrook to ease the situation.
This also increases the risk of injury to Mr. Dewey.
In addition, Westbrook's shortcomings in shooting are becoming more and more obvious.
In the first few years after his debut, Westbrook could still do whatever he wanted with his impact, but once everyone understood his style and targeted defense, Westbrook's role was greatly reduced.
The essence of basketball is shooting, that is, how to put the ball into the basket efficiently!
Only when you have a shooting threat can you attract your opponent, and then you can break through and score closer to the basket!
Not the other way around!
This is Westbrook's problem, he does not have a stable mid-range shot, let alone three-point ability, only breakthroughs and passes!
When everyone on earth knows that you are going to break through, can you still break through?
If someone takes two steps back, how can you make a breakthrough?
No matter how high you jump, can you still be higher than the big center?
Once your breakthrough becomes difficult, your passing will lose its power.
This is also the biggest difference between Westbrook and Curry!
It's useless without the ball in Westbrook's hands, and it's even a burden to his teammates, because the opponent will defend himself from five to four because of Westbrook's presence!
We can rest assured that we will give you a chance to shoot!
This is why everyone always jokes that "only Westbrook can guard Durant"!
On the contrary, Curry is different. Curry is a huge threat with the ball, but even more difficult to guard without the ball. The opponent must pay attention to him at all times!
As long as Curry is on the court, the opponent must be under strict supervision. Even if he stands motionless outside the three-point line, the opponent will not dare to let down his guard!
Regardless of whether Curry's touch is good or not, opponents dare not let Curry shoot!
"I would rather let others dunk than let Curry shoot a three-pointer!" - This is the defensive strategy of many teams when facing the Warriors!
This is how Kuyou Gravity was called!
With the comparison of Curry, Westbrook's shortcomings become more obvious.
For the Thunder, Durant determines the Thunder's lower limit, while Westbrook determines the Thunder's upper limit.
As long as Westbrook's shooting doesn't improve, it will be difficult for the Thunder to go far.
Of course, for the Thunder management, they had no time to think about this, because there was something more important, and that was Westbrook's injury.
Westbrook's injury is serious this time, and the doctor's conservative estimate is that he will be out for most of the season, which means that Durant will need to play alone for at least half of next season.
This is a bit annoying for the Thunder.
But there was nothing they could do. Now that their playoffs were over, it was impossible to seek treatment from Deng Fang.
Moreover, they had already sought treatment from Deng Fang once before, and had already spent a lot of money, so it would be too much for them to seek treatment from Deng Fang again.
Therefore, the Thunder will basically lose the possibility of competing for the championship next season.
There is no way, the competitive arena is so cruel!
…
In the East, the Pacers, who returned home, did not give the Knicks another chance. They defeated the Knicks 106:99, eliminated their opponent with a big score of 4:2, and met the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
This game was very intense. The Knicks' Tyson Chandler, Kenyon Martin and Shumpert committed six fouls and left the game. Anthony scored 39 points, but his physical strength declined in the final quarter, and he missed many shots and made consecutive mistakes.
So much so that he lost the game.
Everyone in the Pacers teamed up, with 5 players scoring in double figures. George had 23 points, West had 17 points and 5 rebounds, Hibbert had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Stephenson had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Hill had 12 points and 4 assists.
For the Knicks, Anthony made 15 of 29 shots and contributed 39 points and 7 rebounds. Shumpert scored 19 points, including 5 of 6 three-pointers. Chandler had 2 points and 6 rebounds. Felton scored 2 points on 0 of 7 shots.
6 assists, Smith 15 points, 10 rebounds, Copeland 9 points.
