Everyone on earth knows that the third quarter is Warriors time, and the Warriors are unstoppable. Of course Rivers knows this too.
In order to prevent the Warriors' attack, Rivers took the initiative to remove DeAndre Jordan and replaced him with Darren Collison.
The Clippers took a small lineup, and the main purpose was to defend, but Rivers forgot that the Clippers' lineup was too small!
Paul and Collison in the backcourt, Griffin at center, Redick and Matt Barnes at forward!
Although Griffin is not short in height and weighs enough, his wingspan is short and he has always been weak on the defensive end. He is just a decoration when he stands at the center position!
Not to mention Collison and Redick!
But there is nothing Rivers can do. The only ones left by the Clippers are Jamal Crawford, Danny Granger and Glen Davis who can use them!
Danny Granger's size is okay, but after a serious injury, he lost his speed and is not as useful as Collison on the defensive end!
The three-pointer was inaccurate and the defense was leaky. It was also for this reason that Granger was immediately waived after being traded to the 76ers by the Pacers.
The Clippers were short of forwards, so they quickly picked up this smoked cigarette butt...
As for Jamal Crawford and Glen Davis, these two don't have to think about defense at all and can only attack.
But isn’t playing against the Warriors in the third quarter just looking for death?!
So Rivers is also very helpless.
The weakest link of the Clippers has always been the forward line. It is also for this reason that the Clippers have a very difficult time when encountering the Thunder - because they have top small forward Durant on the opposite side.
But the strongest part of the Warriors' defense is the forward line!
Barnes, Hayward, Iguodala, Tucker, Middleton, Azubuike, Klay Thompson, these guys are all defensive warriors with both offense and defense!
There is a saying that goes well, the playoffs are all about matchups. If you have a weakness in one position and a loophole on the defensive end, then I will keep hammering you on this point until you die!
What if there are no weaknesses?
Then use the pick-and-roll, forcing you to switch defenses, and then play in mismatches!
The great thing about the Warriors' frontline defensive players is that they have both offense and defense, can play both inside and outside, and can defend from one to four without any problem!
It's even okay to let people like Barnes and Tucker take over the fifth position occasionally!
There is no defensive weakness and unlimited defense changes. It is not an exaggeration to say that this kind of defense is impregnable!
Although Curry is the most eye-catching player of the Warriors, followed by Klay, in fact, the reason why the Warriors win is their defense!
There is no weakness, both the hardware conditions and the team spirit are impeccable!
If you have the opportunity, take a bold shot! If you fail, it’s all mine! Curry, you can shoot whatever you want in this game, and you have unlimited right to fire!
Deng Fang can say this because he has confidence in his team's defense!
Even if you fail to make a shot, it’s no problem even if you waste two!
Because looking back we can take precautions!
The reason why the Warriors often take away the opponent in one wave in the third quarter is because the Warriors have a lot of players. After half the game, the defensive intensity is the same as in the first quarter, or even stronger. Suddenly the opponent cannot hold on!
Trailing by 17 points at halftime, Rivers knew something was wrong, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Hard power is not enough. It is useless to just feed chicken soup to make the team members grit their teeth!
In the competitive arena, you have to rely on strength to win!
As an experienced coach, Rivers' premonition was very accurate. He only played 3 minutes in the third quarter and the Clippers couldn't hold on!
The Warriors have unlimited defense changes. As long as the Clippers make mistakes or miss a shot, they will throw three-pointers like crazy. The pace of the game is very fast!
Only one of the first four 3-pointers was scored, and the Clippers still had a chance to breathe. Later, Clay and Curry scored three 3-pointers in a row, and the Clippers suddenly couldn't hold on!
Rivers quickly called a timeout. During the timeout, he kept pouring chicken soup, but the players didn't seem to be cold, except Paul!
There is no way, our skills are inferior to others, what do you want us to do?
Desperately?
Is it worth it if you can't win even if you fight to the death?
Besides, this is just a game, so what if you lose?
He was supposed to lose in the first place!
There are two reasons why Paul is different from others. One is because he is very competitive and must stand up as a team leader, and the other is because of Curry!
Before Curry entered the league, Paul was the number one point guard in the league, there is no doubt about it!
But after Curry entered the league, Paul immediately abdicated!
The All-Stars no longer have a starting lineup, they can’t make the All-NBA team for a while, and their attention has dropped sharply, all because of Curry!
Colleagues are enemies!
You can lose to anyone, but you can’t lose to Curry!
So Paul is gritting his teeth and insisting on playing the game!
The timeout ends and the game continues.
The Warriors replaced Bogut and replaced him with Green, who is faster and more defensive.
The Clippers held on for more than 2 minutes, but soon they couldn't hold on anymore!
After Curry found his touch, he threw two three-pointers against Paul in succession, and then attracted double-teams and sent out four assists!
These four assists are all three-pointers!
A wave of three-pointers from the Warriors directly opened the point difference to more than 30 points!
The game has completely lost its suspense!
In the end, after the third quarter, the score between the two teams became 118:79, with the Warriors leading by 39 points!
Curry only played two quarters of the game, but he exploded in both quarters, directly knocking the Clippers' spirit away!
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors did not start the starting lineup. They were all substitutes. Paul came up and played for two minutes. However, the Warriors guarded him tightly and did not give him any chance to improve his statistics, so Paul had to leave the game and rest.
There was no suspense in the game, and there were no competing players on the court, so the game was played very quickly.
Although it is garbage time, Oracle Arena is still very lively!
Is it boring to be ahead by 40 points?
No, very interesting!
As long as you win, it will look good!
Give me a hard hammer on the Clippers!
If Rivers is not convinced, then give him a hammer!
Since the Warriors took the lead from the beginning, the entire game at Oracle Arena was a sea of joy!
The final score was fixed at 147:105. The Warriors defeated by 42 points and won the first victory in the series!
Curry played the full two quarters, feeling hot, and finally scored a triple-double of 34 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds!
He even had 3 steals!
The Clippers' best performer was Griffin, who played 38 minutes and scored 36 points, 3 assists and 11 rebounds.
Under the tight defense of the Warriors, Paul performed extremely poorly. He played for more than 30 minutes and only scored 6 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds.
Even Paul's best steals were only 2!
All statistics are at a disadvantage, and none is better than Curry!
Facts have proved that Paul is not as good as Curry!
Regardless of whether it's because his teammates are better, Curry is not even a little bit better than Paul!
In terms of team statistics, the Warriors also won by 42 points!
"We not only want to win, we also want to win by more than 20 points!"