Although they lost, the 33-point gap was not unacceptable to the Trail Blazers.
After all, the Clippers lost twice in the first round by more than 40 points!
In terms of team strength, the Clippers are stronger than the Trail Blazers!
Of course, the Trail Blazers' starting lineup is not bad at all, but what's bad is the substitutes.
Moreover, the Trail Blazers have another advantage in starting, and that is Aldridge, which is a great threat to the Warriors' small lineup.
It is precisely for this reason that the Trail Blazers, who had a poor bench, did not lose by more than 40 points!
The Warriors have Bogut, the main inside man, and the strongest forward group in the league, so they are not afraid of post players who sit in the low post, but they are afraid of shooting-focused post players like Aldridge.
Make a fake move when catching the ball and use your height advantage to directly pull it out!
Bogut is slow and Hayward is short, making him annoyed no matter how he defends him.
In fact, the Warriors can limit Aldridge mainly by relying on their own offense, not defense!
I won't let you play comfortably, let's fight from the outside!
Double attack, decisive double attack, double attack after dribbling, or simply double attack after catching the ball!
Anyway, we have a lot of people playing ball and have sufficient physical reserves, so why are we bullying you?
You have advantages, and so do I. It just depends on who performs better!
So, in the final analysis, the Blazers are not a big threat from outside!
If the Blazers have the Splash Brothers on the outside and their three-point shooting percentage is high enough, then the Warriors will definitely not dare to defend like this!
To put it bluntly, this also reflects the gap between Curry and Lillard.
Lillard is just not as accurate as Curry, and the threat is just not as great as Curry!
No matter how many long-range three-pointers you have, or how many times you have killed your opponent at critical moments, in short, your opponent's attitude towards you can reflect your true strength!
Of course, Clay is also more accurate than Matthews, but the most important thing is the gap between the leaders, Curry and Lillard!
Does Lillard dare to take action at critical moments?
dare!
Does Lillard have a big heart?
yes!
Is Lillard's three-point shooting percentage high?
Not low!
But that’s all!
Could it be that Curry doesn't dare to take action at critical moments?
dare!
Doesn’t Curry have a big heart?
yes!
Curry’s three-point shooting percentage is not high?
Lillard is a lot taller!
So why do people feel that Lillard is very powerful and amazing?
Why does it feel like Curry’s performance at critical moments is less impressive than Lillard’s?
Because everyone’s expectations for Lillard are not high!
Because everyone has different evaluation standards for Curry and Lillard!
Because Lillard doesn’t have that many negative fans!
Because Lillard has not yet reached the level of a super giant and does not pose a great threat to other super giants, there are not so many negative fans!
To put it bluntly, he doesn’t deserve it!
That's all!
…
Two days later, the second game between the Warriors and Trail Blazers started again.
This game was still played at Oracle Arena.
Learning from the lessons of the previous game, Trail Blazers head coach Stotts increased the number of Lillard's shots in this game and gave him a lot of autonomy.
Aldridge is very strong, but there are many restrictions on interior offense, and the Warriors' defense is very good, so it is difficult for Aldridge to exert his full strength.
It's okay to let Aldridge attract flankers and create opportunities for the outside, but that would also result in a lot of mistakes and would be unfavorable to Lillard's performance.
For a player like Lillard, the mentality of being a protagonist and a supporting role are completely different!
Since the Warriors Aldridge has made targeted arrangements for this, it is better to change the strategy and start from the outside!
Anyway, Aldridge poses a great threat, and you don’t dare to go short, so I’ll use him as a check point to see how you defend yourself!
This is the same as Landlord Fighting. Sometimes two farmers have to cooperate with each other to make wedding clothes for their partner. Sometimes the best way is to ignore him and think of yourself as the landlord and move forward!
You and the landlord have lost both sides in the fight, and it would be nice for the guy to come out and clean up the mess.
Of course, Stotts also had his own little motive for doing this, which was to fulfill Lillard's needs.
After the first game, Stotts clearly understood the strength gap between the two teams. He understood that it was unlikely that the Trail Blazers would win this series.
Curry only played two quarters of the game, the Warriors didn't use their full strength at all, Aldridge did a great job, and the Trail Blazers still lost by more than 30 points!
Now that there is no suspense about the outcome of the series, we have to find a way out for ourselves from another angle.
Of course it would be best if you can win the series. If you can't win, then you have to let the management know your other values.
For example, the training of star players, such as the relationship with the star player!
There are two cores of this team, one is Aldridge and the other is Lillard, but Stotts knows best that the future leader of the Blazers must be Lillard!
No matter from the perspective of the league's trend of paying more attention to outside players, or from the playing style and personal temperament of the two people, Lillard has the status of a superstar!
Aldridge is more suitable to be a second-in-command!
In this case, Stotts must create a better platform for Lillard, give him more opportunities to shoot, and let him play better data!
Only when Lillard is satisfied will his position be secure!
The first game was about winning, but Stotts changed his mind at the beginning of the second game and gave more control over the team to Lillard.
Lillard has been waiting for this moment!
From Lillard's point of view, what he is waiting for is an opportunity, an opportunity to become the boss himself!
"Whatever Curry is so great about, I can do what he can do!"
"As long as you give me a chance, I can prove that I am no worse than Curry!"
"Curry's teammates are stronger, but they will also take away a lot of Curry's shots. My data can't be worse than his, right?"
With this idea in mind, Lillard went crazy as soon as the game started!
He forced a three-pointer against Clay!
A long three-pointer two steps beyond the three-point line!
A super long three-point shot just after passing the center line!
A dunk into the restricted area after worshiping Buddha!
…
In the first three minutes of the game, all the Blazers' shots came from Lillard!
Due to his thorough preparation, Lillard also had a good shooting percentage. He hit 3 three-pointers in three minutes, and also deducted one, scoring 11 points!
Driven by Lillard, the Trail Blazers also had high morale and achieved extremely high efficiency on both offense and defense.
The Warriors did not expect that the Trail Blazers would do this. They were caught off guard and were beaten 11:1 by the Trail Blazers!
The only point came from defensive three seconds and technical free throws.
Of course, the Trail Blazers' defense is good, but the main reason why the Warriors didn't score was because they didn't have the touch.
Curry took two shots and missed one, and Klay threw a three-pointer and missed.
Even Barnes' dunk was blocked by Lopez Jr.!
Seeing the Warriors falling behind, commentator Barkley became excited: "Wow, the Warriors are in trouble! Lillard is furious!"
A Smith was not so excited: "I'm still more optimistic about the Warriors."
"No, no, no, Lillard is not an ordinary person!"
"Yes, Lillard is indeed not an ordinary person, but he is far from Curry!"
"Okay, I'll wait and see who is better, Curry or Lillard!"
