After the semifinals, it will be the conference finals.
Deng Fang didn't care about the previous first round and semi-finals, because no matter how they played, the Warriors would easily pass, but it was different in the semi-finals. The Warriors' opponents were quite formidable.
Historically, the conference finals in 2015-2016 were quite exciting and will be talked about by many fans many years later.
The most important thing is that the conference finals of this year in history directly determine the trend of the NBA league in the next few years or even more than ten years!
Of course, in comparison, the conference finals in the Western Conference are more exciting and have a greater impact on future generations!
The two opponents in the Western Conference finals were the Warriors and the Thunder. The Warriors had the best record in the league and ranked first in the Western Conference. The Thunder had a worse record and ranked third in the Western Conference. However, in the semifinals, they defeated the powerful Spurs in six games, allowing people to see their strength.
strength.
Although the coordination is average and the team combat is not good, and the offense is almost all singles, the Thunder team is very young, has excellent physical fitness, can jump, is fast, has good strength, and is strong in defense. Just with their incredible physical fitness
It also makes it difficult for opponents to resist.
The Warriors emphasize team fighting, focusing on peripheral shooting and flexibility, but compared to physical fitness, the Thunder are indeed much stronger.
Take a look at the starting lineups of the two teams——
The Warriors are physically inferior to the Thunder in almost every position, and the gap is even greater at the point guard and small forward positions!
Even for the two positions of center and power forward, Adams is younger, faster and stronger than Bogut, and Ibaka has better bounce and height than Green.
Even in the matchup between Klay and Roberson, although the Warriors have the advantage, Klay still suffers in terms of pure physical fitness.
Although Robertson has a huge shortcoming on the offensive end and has almost no shooting ability, his defense is quite strong. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the strongest outside defender in the league!
Even if the defense switches to the inside, it will be difficult for Green to challenge Robertson alone!
It can be said that with their absolute physical advantage, the Thunder have a huge advantage on the defensive end.
The scariest thing is that after the semifinals with the Spurs, the entire Thunder team has improved, has more confidence, and is better defensively.
The Thunder's strategy is very simple. On the offensive end, Durant and Westbrook are the two of them. Once they attract a double attack, they will distribute the ball and shoot. At the same time, they will use their physical advantages to actively fight for rebounds. Once they do not get the rebound, they will quickly retreat.
Positional defense resolutely flanks Curry, or switches defenses to force the Warriors into singles, allowing the Warriors to fall into the same singles rhythm as the Thunder, and then defeat the Warriors with their rich experience in singles and chaotic battles!
Generally speaking, if a team dares to fight for offensive rebounds, retreating defense will definitely have an impact. If a team flanks the opponent, the rotation will inevitably be slower, giving the opponent an open opportunity. However, because of its extremely strong physical advantage
, the Thunder actually did well in both aspects!
Grab offensive rebounds and retreat quickly!
There must be a double attack, and Splash will not give a chance to shoot, but everyone else cannot shoot from wide open positions!
This is very scary. No matter how well the Warriors team works together, it still gives them a headache.
It can be said that in terms of physical talent, this Thunder team is definitely a historically strong team!
Historically, this round of conference finals lasted seven games, and the Warriors narrowly won the tiebreaker, which was very difficult.
On May 16th in history, the Warriors faced the Thunder in the first game of the Western Conference Finals at home.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Thompson turned over and jumped into the net, taking the lead to help the Warriors open the pot, but Durant assisted Robertson and succeeded in a layup, and the Thunder responded. After that, the two sides started a tug-of-war, Durant hit a fadeaway jumper, and the Thunder 10-
9 lead. In the middle of this quarter, while Westbrook was fighting for a rebound with Bogut, he was slapped in the face by the latter and fell to the ground in pain. After reviewing the video, the referee team gave Bogut a 1
A flagrant foul. But after the interlude, the Warriors' offensive touch was stimulated. Curry made a jump shot and scored 6 points in a row. The Warriors opened the point difference to 7 points. Before the end of this quarter, the two sides started to rotate and fell into a tug of war again.
Ezeli succeeded in a layup. At the end of the single quarter, the Thunder temporarily trailed 21-27.
In the second quarter, Livingston and Iguodala scored consecutively, and the Warriors launched an 8-0 attack wave, widening the point difference to double digits. But soon, Adams succeeded in a layup, and Durant also hit a dunk.
The Thunder returned a wave of 7-0 climax. After that, the two teams started to see each other again, and the score difference has been hovering around 6 points. But at the end of this quarter, the Warriors used a super small lineup, and the power of this lineup also became apparent.
, Thompson hit consecutive three-pointers and a reverse layup. The home team had an 8-0 climax and widened the point difference to 12 points. Westbrook was violated again when receiving the ball, and he was knocked over by Thompson's strong sprint.
He was on the ground and almost injured. Next, Curry hit two three-pointers in a row, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer. With these two goals, Curry's career three-pointers in the playoffs reached 180, surpassing Nash and rising to 180.
No. 16 in NBA history. After halftime, the Warriors continued to lead 60-47.
After changing sides, the Thunder set off a climax of chasing points under the leadership of Westbrook. In the middle of this quarter, Westbrook made a three-pointer and the Thunder once closed the point difference to 2 points. But soon, Curry hit two difficult three-pointers in a row.
Split the ball to help the Warriors stabilize the situation. With these two goals, Curry surpassed Dan Marley, the sharpshooter who once played for the Suns and Heat, and rose to 15th on the NBA's historical playoff three-point shooting list. But this time
In the latter part of the quarter, Durant exerted his strength and helped the Thunder get closer to the score. With Durant's successful throw, after three quarters, the Thunder were only 3 points behind the Warriors 85-88.
In the last quarter, Durant and Waiters hit consecutive three-pointers, and the Thunder successfully reversed the score. After that, the Warriors' offense did not improve, but the Thunder continued to exert force. Westbrook made a pass and Adams hooked into the net, and the visiting team's lead reached 8 points. At the critical moment, Ku
He stood up and hit the net with a three-pointer to help the Warriors stop the bleeding. Green made a layup and Barnes turned over and hit a jumper. The Warriors chased the point difference to 1 point with 2 minutes left in the game. But then Curry's
The magical three-point show did not appear, but the Thunder relied on Westbrook's free throws to secure the victory 108-102, making the series a good start.
After the whole game, Thunder coach Westbrook scored 27 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds and 7 steals. He also became the first player in a single game in the playoffs since the NBA began to have complete technical statistics in 1984.
The player who completed the miracle.
Among other players, Durant had 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, Adams had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Ibaka had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Waiters had 10 points.
For the Warriors, Curry scored 26 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, but also made 7 turnovers.
Curry's 10 rebounds refreshed his personal playoff career single-game record. The previous record was 9. After this game, Curry's career playoff assists total reached 323, surpassing Rick Barry to become the Warriors.
The first player in team history.
Among other players, Thompson scored 25 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Green had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, and Barnes had 12 points.
Obviously, the Thunder were well prepared. When the Warriors took the lead in the first half, the Thunder did not panic. Instead, they played a good game in the third quarter, which the Warriors are best at, and successfully closed the gap.
After chasing back, they directly took the lead in the final quarter, and finally maintained the victory with their tenacious defense.
The Warriors thought a little too simply. They played too easily in the first two rounds, which made them underestimate their opponents. This was also the main reason why the series was fought until the last minute.