Before the results of the Lakers and Rockets came out, another set of matchups in the Western Conference semifinals had been released in advance.

In the situation where the Spurs lost their home advantage in the first game, they eliminated the Clippers with a total score.

The reason for the Clippers' loss was simple. Paul suffered an elbow injury in Game 5 and directly withdrew from the game and announced the season's reimbursement.

Without Chris Paul, the Clippers would have no hope of winning.

Although Austin Rivers replaced Paul to fight to the death, he could not stop the Spurs from taking away the series at Stamps Center.

Just one day later, the Lakers advanced to Stamps, and the fates of these two teams are always staggered by each other.

However, for the Thunder and Warriors, whether it is the Spurs, Clippers, Lakers, and Rockets, they are just passers-by in the playoffs.

Both sides only have the other party in their eyes, and they are waiting to meet in the Western Conference Finals early to decide the ownership of the championship this season.

As for the East?

There is only a knight in the east.

For the Warriors, the Cavaliers are still worthy of attention.

For the Thunder, Durant and Westbrook must have wanted to take revenge on James.

But for Li Liang, fighting against James is basically equivalent to winning the championship.

After all, all three champions won by stepping on James' body.

James is indeed the strongest opponent Li Liang has ever encountered.

But when he meets the strongest, Li Liang himself can always become the strongest (cheat).

It was May, May 1st, in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the first game between the Thunder and the Lakers started in Oxford.

At this time, just one day had passed since the end of the Lakers' first round series, and the Thunder had been resting for a week.

The Lakers are a little tired, but the players are in a tight game state.

The problem with Thunder players being physically fit is that their bodies may not be in the game state.

The game started at 7 pm, and the first quarter proved that long rest is indeed not necessarily a good thing for players.

The Lakers played the Thunder at the beginning:, the first quarter:, led the Thunder.

Li Liang came on as a substitute in the middle of the first quarter and failed to completely reverse the situation because his own condition was average.

Two three-point shots from the outside were missed, and there were two pass mistakes.

The Lakers team is in good shape, and Leonard is in good shape after the first round of fierce battle.

He scored points in the first quarter, and his shooting percentage was 100%.

One of the important reasons is that Scott no longer lets Leonard defend Li Liang, but the one who defends Li Liang becomes another person - Kobe.

That's right, Scott also had the heart to let Kobe, who was about to retire, defend Li Liang, who was one number one bigger than him.

Of course, Kobe is not defending alone, but defending Li Liang together. Leonard was asked to play against Robertson in defense - basically he will have no pressure to defend alone.

Then Kobe played against Li Liang and asked Love to defend Durant. Leonard was asked to assist in defense against Durant or Li Liang.

This move really had a certain effect in the first quarter.

Kobe can indeed defend against a forward who is one of the number one bigger than himself. For example, defending James is what Kobe often does.

With concentration, his movements and predictions are top-notch.

As long as Li Liang gets the ball, Kobe will get involved, and then Leonard and Hibert will wait for an opportunity to stand by.

Throughout the first half, Scott's defensive matchup really worked. In addition, the team felt good, the Lakers led the Thunder in the first half, and both sides reached:.

This score is also low enough.

During the intermission, Donovan knew that adjustments had to be made.

The Lakers' defensive style is really something, which fully utilizes Leonard's assisted defense advantages and makes up for Hibert's bulkiness to a certain extent. It also gives Leonard more energy to deal with the ball on the offensive end.

The disadvantage of this defense is also obvious, that is, if Li Liang and Durant start unlimited singles and the two connect, Leonard will be unable to do anything.

For the Thunder, the most urgent task is to let Durant and Li Liang regain their shooting form.

Both of them shot badly in the first half, Li Liang made a three-pointer, and Durant even made a shot.

I rested at home for a week, but I don’t know what I did every day.

Whether Kobe defends against Li Liang or Love defends against Durant, they are all misplaced.

Li Liang has an advantage in height and strength over Kobe, and Durant has an advantage in speed and flexibility over Love.

Neither of these two advantages was used well in the first half, but instead he was not very smart.

Donovan criticized the two in the locker room, asking them to play more flexible in the second half.

Li Liang did not refute anything this time. He knew that Donovan was right. He did play a little rigid in the first half. This was not his style, but Kobe's style.

Could it be that he was pulled to the same level because he was defending it?

Very likely.

After the second half of the game began, Li Liang started directly.

This fake substitute is no longer disguised.

To be honest, the Thunder did not have any special tactics or routines during the offense.

When you have both Li Liang and Durant, just hand the ball over to them to deal with it.

As for Westbrook, it is definitely the best when he exists as a supplement and doesn't let him do it.

Before serving, Li Liang and Durant discussed the tactics, and after the decision, both nodded and entered the third quarter.

The routine discussed by the two is also very simple - pick-and-roll.

There is no team in the league that can deal with Durant Li Liang's pick-and-roll.

To crack their pick-and-roll style, it requires the joint efforts of the forward group.

Only the Warriors in the league meet the standards, while the Cavaliers barely meet the standards.

As soon as the second half came, Durant held the ball and Li Liang cut out from behind after pick-and-roll.

Love was blocked directly, and Kobe couldn't switch to Durant.

In the middle, Leonard came to assist in defense, and Durant passed the ball to Robertson in the bottom corner - this may be one of the Thunder's biggest offensive weaknesses.

But Robertson still made a decisive move in front of the huge open space and made a three-pointer!

When Robertson started to hit three-pointers, the Thunder's offense showed that it was still recovering.

Then on the defensive end, the Thunder began to increase their intensity.

If the Thunder's offense does not require training, then their defense was created by Donovan and Mike Brown, which is the foundation for their goal in the championship.

The key to the Thunder's defense is Li Liang, Durant and Robertson.

All three of them are high forwards, tall and long arms, excellent movement ability, assisted defense, single defense, and positioning. They each have their own advantages and have no obvious shortcomings.

Adams and Westbrook only need to concentrate on doing their own things, and these three people can almost help solve the remaining defensive problems.

Of course, Westbrook always wants to help grab rebounds or something.

In the playoffs, Li Liang did not allow Westbrook to rush to the three-second zone to grab rebounds, allowing him to concentrate on interfering with the opponent's backcourt on the outside.

The Thunder's defense line is in a form of -- overall. Adams sits at the basket and doesn't easily get out of the hole. Westbrook defends the three-point line and does not rush to the basket to grab rebounds to make loopholes.

Then Durant, Robertson, and Li Liang walked between the three-second zone and the three-point line, constantly interfering and hitting the ball-holder.

A large number of pinchs, delays, steals, and high-intensity physical confrontation are the basis for the Thunder to win.

The biggest flaw in the Thunder’s defensive end comes from Adams’ poor moving ability and defensive choices after pick-and-roll.

If the Thunder's center was not Adams, but an inside line with stronger mobile defense capabilities, their defense would be even more terrifying.

With such defensive intensity, the Lakers quickly couldn't stand it.

If Kobe was thirty years old, he would have the ability and wisdom to deal with defenses like the Thunder.

Now he only has wisdom and consciousness, and his body cannot keep up at all.

As soon as the intensity increased, Kobe's main controller began to make continuous mistakes.

The Thunder took the opportunity to launch a wave of offensive shock waves, destroying the Lakers in one fell swoop.

Li Liang made two consecutive three-pointers from the outside, and the fast break counterattack dunk at the basket also caused Leonard to foul, making extra free throws.

One person got points in a row.

Then Durant pulled up and made a three-pointer in the positional battle.

In the third quarter, the Lakers stopped the Lakers with four three-pointers.

Scott looked at the Thunder's rapid offensive and his mind was a little big for a moment.

How to deal with this?
Chapter completed!