30, the Cavaliers eliminated the Green Army and advanced to the finals
For the Spurs, although they were unhappy after losing the second game, they were also satisfied - after all, this was an away game, and the opponent was Universe Yong after all!
Any team, any player, and any fan will have a certain degree of confidence in themselves and always feel that they have a chance to defeat their opponents. This is inevitable.
It is also for this reason that historically, Spurs fans were devastated after Pachulia stepped in for Leonard, claiming that Pachulia's stepping in directly cost the Spurs a championship.
It's understandable to think this way. Indeed, Pachulia's incident of stepping on Leonard was unexpected and had a great impact - at least for the Spurs.
Objectively speaking, if Pachulia hadn't stepped on Leonard, and if Leonard had finished the series healthy, the Spurs would have still had hope of defeating the Warriors, but the probability was only 1%!
Although it is only 1%, there is always hope, and die-hard fans are always irrational and fanatical. Therefore, in the eyes of many die-hard Spurs fans, it is not impossible for the hope to expand dozens of times to 50%!
If Parker is not injured, objectively speaking, the Spurs still have a 2% chance of defeating the Warriors in this series.
However, historically, Parker was reimbursed for the season, and Leonard only played less than one game due to the stepping incident, so the Spurs' probability of defeating the Warriors is only 0.01%!
Therefore, historically, after Leonard was injured, the Spurs were eventually swept out 0:4, without any suspense.
Of course, both increase the probability by 1%. It does not mean that Parker is as good as Leonard. It just means that the Spurs are short of people, especially point guards. At this point, Parker's importance is not much worse than that of Leonard.
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Although the 1% hope is small, it is still a hundred times higher than 0.01%%. This is why Spurs fans always feel that they can beat the Warriors in this series!
"Look, Leonard is so good. He alone can increase the Spurs' probability of winning a hundred times!"
"So if Leonard is here, the Spurs can win!"
"Yes, that's a hundred-fold increase!"
This is a symptom of a diseased brain. They only saw a 100-fold increase, but they couldn't see how small the absolute value was after the increase!
The only real strength of the Spurs team, and the only player that poses a threat to the Warriors, is Leonard.
But you have to know that no matter how good Leonard is, he is at best on an equal footing with Durant!
Offensively, Durant is better than Leonard:
In terms of movement control, Durant is better than Leonard. Durant is better in forced three-pointers. They are about the same in open three-pointers. They are about the same in mid-range shooting ability. In terms of passing organization, the two are equally matched. Leonard is the only one.
The advantage is sufficient strength.
Generally speaking, Durant is better than Leonard on the offensive end.
Defensively, Leonard is better than Durant:
Leonard has unusually big hands, plenty of strength, rich defensive experience, accurate position selection, is very calm on the court and rarely makes mistakes.
Durant is tall, has long arms, moves quickly, and blocks shots first-rate. Compared with Leonard, he lacks strength.
Generally speaking, Leonard is better on the defensive end than Durant.
If the two are combined, Durant and Leonard are equal, or Durant has a slight advantage - after all, the offense is advantageous and the defense is always in a passive position.
For a team, the core is almost always the leader on the offensive end, so most superstars are the ones who are better at the offensive end.
What the Spurs lack most is not defense, but offense, so if given the choice, Popovich would definitely prefer Durant and Curry, not Leonard.
No matter how powerful Leonard is, he can only offset Durant, but if you take away Durant, the Warriors still have Curry!
Therefore, it is impossible for the Spurs to win against the Warriors, regardless of whether Leonard is injured or not - of course, if you consider the probability of 1% or 0.01% as possible, then the Spurs are also possible.
…
On May 20, 2017, the third game between the Warriors and Spurs started at the AT&T Center.
Back at home, the Spurs were full of confidence and beat the Warriors 12:1 in the first quarter.
However, the Warriors did not panic and continued to fight as they should. They just increased their defensive intensity.
Slowly, the Spurs' outside touch dropped, but the Warriors found their touch, and the point difference was instantly smoothed.
After the first quarter, the score became 29:28, and the Warriors were one point behind.
In the second quarter, the Spurs' defense was strong, the Warriors made several more mistakes, and the Spurs once again opened the point difference to double digits.
However, Curry suddenly found his touch before halftime. He scored three three-pointers in two minutes. Coupled with Durant's breakthrough and fouling, the Warriors went on a 13:2 spurt to overtake the score.
At halftime, the Warriors led by two points, 62:60.
As soon as the third quarter started, the two teams started a physical battle. Popovich knew that the third quarter was a lifeline, and the preparations were very good, and the main players had enough time to play.
However, the players on the Spurs are still much older. They can hold on for a while, but they won't work if they hold on for a long time.
With more than 4 minutes left in the third quarter, the Splash Brothers suddenly found their sense and made several unreasonable three-pointers to directly open the point difference to 15 points.
Popovich called two timeouts in a row, but still could not limit the Warriors' offense.
The Splash Brothers were watched closely, and Durant immediately stepped forward. Just as he was about to flank Durant, Curry threw in two more three-pointers!
This is the advantage of having so many stars - no one can be left out, and no one can be left out of a double attack. As long as you leave one out, the other one will immediately let you know how good he is!
Unable to guard against the Warriors' offense, the Spurs themselves struggled on the offensive end. After all, they consumed a lot of energy on the defensive end, and the offense was a bit out of their depth for these old men.
This is the great thing about this Warriors - the offense alone is enough for the opponent!
After the third quarter, the Spurs trailed by 21 points.
The Spurs held on for several minutes in the fourth quarter. Seeing that the point difference was still gradually widening, Popovich stopped struggling and went directly to the substitutes to give up the game.
In the end, the score was fixed at 121:98. The Warriors defeated the Spurs, and the series score became 2:1.
Curry had the best performance, making 8 of 13 three-pointers, scoring 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Durant's performance was "mediocre", scoring "only" 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Leonard is the Spurs' leading scorer. He made 8 of 19 shots and 11 of 13 free throws. He scored 31 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Aldridge was limited by the Warriors' poor performance, scoring only 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists.
