One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty-Nine. Angry!

The Warriors called a timeout a little early and entered the official timeout. This detail was used well.

Upon hearing the official timeout whistle, players who have become accustomed to being replaced during the official timeout in the first quarter will feel psychologically that "it's time for me to take a rest," and then physically relax a little.

Although the Grizzlies do not necessarily do this in every game during an official timeout in the first quarter, they do so most of the time.

Players like Paul George, Yi Jianlian, and Richard Jefferson all have such psychological and physical habits to a greater or lesser extent.

The Warriors, who were only 1 point behind even if Sun Ce made two free throws, were only 3 points behind. At this time, the Warriors' new assistant coach Alvin Gentry suggested calling a timeout for this purpose.

They were not significantly behind. Even if Sun Ce made two free throws, they still had a chance to tie the score with a three-pointer, but they called a timeout in advance.

If the Grizzlies rotate now, they can save some time against this Grizzlies lineup, even if it is just a minute or two, it is important.

If the Grizzlies don't rotate, it would be better if luck really disrupts the Grizzlies' offensive rhythm.

Even if there is no effect at all, it is not a loss to enter the official timeout early. The official timeout always has to be entered, and they can also make defensive adjustments.

Coach Hollins doesn't quite understand the opponent's initiative to call a timeout. He always feels that there is something wrong and has to speculate, but there is no big problem.

However, they did not have a clear advantage in the starting period. This is a troublesome thing. The opponent's combination is really powerful. The wild record of 22 wins and 6 losses after the All-Star Weekend allowed the Warriors to gain in two aspects: coordination proficiency and confidence. A huge improvement.

The key is to have a good lineup!

Originally, Coach Hollins wanted to use the inside combination of Amir Johnson and Larry Sanders from the regular season and replace it with a defensive lineup. The opponent would definitely have one senior and four juniors, and the opponent's backup power forward and Clay -Thompson is as tall as a smaller player in the eyes of the Grizzlies.

The Warriors' rotation is relatively rigid. Mark Jackson is not a coach who dares to take risks, but Coach Hollins is!

…

After the timeout, for the Warriors, Harden takes a rest first, and the combination of Curry, Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Jermaine O'Neal comes on.

Mark Jackson is definitely a regular rotation player, just as Coach Hollins expected.

But what Mark Jackson didn't expect was that the Grizzlies replaced Whiteside, who was blown away by a pick-and-roll in the last meeting of the regular season! And Yi Jianlian didn’t play!

The combination of Sun Ce, Beverley, Klay Thompson, Yi Jianlian, and Whiteside is on the court!

Sun Ce walked to the free throw line, made the first hook, and made the second hook!

However, when Whiteside was blocked by O'Neal Jr., he was stunned to get the ball before Drummond and Harrison-Barnes. He relied on his height and wingspan advantage to hit the ball first, hit the ball on the backboard, and bounced in. Basket!

The Warriors feel so crazy about this advantage in offensive rebounds. Since Rodman, there has not been a player like Whiteside. The offensive rebounds are too strong! Reggie Evans, DeAndre Jordan, Drummond, Adams, Stoudemire and other offensive rebounding masters are inferior.

Moreover, Whiteside has a height advantage that Rodman does not have. This is a serious 213 cm big center.

16 to 13, the Grizzlies lead the Warriors by 3 points.

When the Warriors attacked, Iguodala saw Whiteside and remembered Curry's last encounter in the regular season. Curry used the pick-and-roll to attract flankers. Although Curry didn't score much personally, he helped Green get 9 assists in a single game. After halftime, Give the ball to Curry and continue to open up space to cut in or catch the ball and shoot.

Iguodala didn't care about statistics. After receiving the four-year contract, he let himself go and averaged 10 points per game.

Curry looks for O'Neal to pick and roll!

O'Neal's pick-and-roll skills are very solid. People remember Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, Duncan, and Boozer's pick-and-roll skills from the beginning of the century.

But it is easy to ignore O'Neal, who was selected to the All-NBA team three times in the four years before the incident at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

This is an all-around center who is excellent in pick-and-roll, catch-and-shoot, mid-range face-up and even post-up. In the 2003-04 season, he won two best-of-the-month awards in one season and almost stole Garnett's award. vp.

Now O'Neal is no longer as brave as he was in the past. He is 35 years old, but his pick-and-roll cooperation with Curry or Harden is still very good. This season, he averaged 88 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists and 11 blocks per game.

The last time they met, facing Whiteside, O'Neal and Curry's pick-and-roll cooperation beat the Grizzlies hard.

But this time after Curry and O'Neal Jr. picked and rolled, Beverley and the expanded Yi Jianlian directly attacked Curry!

Curry was about to look for O'Neal when he found Sun Ce coming in from the left sideline to cover O'Neal! At this time, Curry wanted to run to Iguodala at a 45-degree angle on the left. He was flanked by Beverley and Yi Jianlian. The long pass from this angle was likely to be intercepted. Only Draymond Green on the left baseline There is a gap there.

Curry quickly passed the ball, and Draymond Green received the ball and stepped inside to run and shoot... Before the ball was about to reach the highest point, Whiteside rushed forward and grabbed the ball directly!

Coach Hollins secretly yelled "Oye" from the sidelines.

The temporary change of formation, at least the first defensive effect was very good!

Curry is a first-class passer, but he is obviously different from the top. If he is given absolute ball rights, he can average 8+ assists per game, but in that case, the Warriors' record will definitely not be as good, and their strength will not be as good. How strong he is, he is a versatile guard who is comprehensive on the back line and whose strongest point is shooting.

Unlike Sun Ce, who mostly observes two teammates when passing the ball and can take care of up to three or even pay attention to the overall situation, Curry, like other ball carriers with first-class passing awareness and accurate passing, has obvious "choices" when passing the ball. ", that is, you must first see your teammates have opportunities.

This is the second biggest gap between Curry and Sun Ce in organizing offense. The first is the gap in vision.

Like Iguodala and Harden, they can observe more teammates, but Curry only finds out that the first passing target is covered before looking for other teammates who are left empty, although the time difference may be only 1 second or even 05 seconds. But even if the Grizzlies' defense has declined this season, they are still good at switching and covering defense on the perimeter, forcing Curry to pass to Draymond Green.

Draymond Green, who averaged only 40% shooting per game this season, entered the basket and was directly grabbed by Whiteside.

Draymond Green, who was caught, pressed forward to steal the ball. He was obviously angry and moved very loudly. Whiteside's temperament has improved a lot now, but his temper is still there. Draymond punched him and directly swung the ball. Elbow!

Draymond Green took advantage of Randolph's absence to get bold and act wildly. Who knew that Whiteside was more reckless than him, and the two immediately became entangled.

The referee reacted quickly and immediately separated the two men and stopped other players who were surrounding them.

Iguodala hugged Whiteside and pulled Whiteside away, and Draymond Green was already pulled away by Curry.

Iguodala has always been a good person. His move to pull Whiteside away was not regarded by the referee as a fight. For Iguodala, the referee would not think that way at all.

Whiteside and Draymond Green each received a technical foul, which was offset and there were no free throws.

In fact, the referee was about to blow the whistle when Draymond Green punched Whiteside. He noticed Draymond Green's little move, but Whiteside's reaction was too violent.

Fortunately, the two players who had the conflict were not stars yet, and it was the Grizzlies' home court, so the referee did not punish Whiteside for swinging his elbow. If Draymond Green hadn't dodged that move quickly, , went directly to the eyes.

After calming down, Whiteside was a little scared, but when he saw Sun Ce coming up with a smile and punching him in the chest, Whiteside was no longer afraid. He was worried that his uncool behavior would be blamed by his teammates and coaching staff, but Sun Ce's actions were obviously not to blame, but to appreciate!

After a brief intermission, the game continued.

The Grizzlies continued to attack, and Beverley received the serve and advanced towards the frontcourt.

The scene has become frantic due to the conflict just now! Grizzlies fans were originally very wary of the rising Warriors, and now they are even more unhappy with them!

Obviously, it was Draymond Green who made a small move first, which almost caused the precious center they discovered to be sent off. Now Grizzlies fans already hate Draymond Green, an unknown rookie in the 12th class.

Beverley arrived in the frontcourt and encountered Harrison Barnes' defense. Sun Ce went up to help Beverley block Harrison Barnes, and Beverley took the opportunity to break through!

Sun Ce pulled away to the right after the pick-and-roll. Harrison Barnes and Iguodala both made up for Sun Ce who was pulling away. Beverley reached the free throw line and made an unguarded throw...

Missed!

But Whiteside grabbed the offensive rebound over O'Neal and Draymond Green!

Whiteside, who grabbed the offensive rebound, had a weirdly good passing vision. It was completely different from him finding someone half a day after grabbing the defensive rebound, and he immediately passed it to Beverley.

At this time, Harrison Barnes and Iguodala, who had taken back to help protect the rebound, both rushed towards Beverley. Beverley passed the ball to Sun Ce who ran to the right side of the top arc. Sun Ce received the ball in the open space and made a three-pointer. Take action...

In!

Sun Ce's most accurate point is that he is extremely confident in shooting from open positions!

This wave of offense and defense used a defensive strategy that Coach Hollins had thought of before to perfection!

There are many flaws in this defensive method, too many to count. It is the kind of flaw that links one link to another, so it is not regarded as a tactic by Coach Hollins and has not even been practiced in training. But if it is simple, just use the outside line. Zone defense, double attack, switching defense, completely ignoring the basket.

Point to Whiteside to defend the basket, and you may even have Whiteside to defend one against two at the basket, with one person guarding the opponent and two people cutting in.

But once Whiteside guards the basket, the Grizzlies can defend very well without the Splash combination on the court at the same time!

Whiteside, who was irritated by Draymond Green's little moves when he first appeared on the playoff stage for the first time, immediately exploded!

Whiteside defended the basket very well, and even once faced Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes when they were cutting in, he interfered with their layups twice in a row, although he was able to defend the basket well. The first defensive rebound was not blocked, but Whiteside's defense at the basket was too horizontal!

The Warriors were forced to shoot from the outside. The Grizzlies directly defended 4 and 3 from long-range shots on the outside. Draymond Green, who only made 07 shots per game outside the three-second zone, made long-range shots. He was directly let go. He didn't step in the shit tonight. He missed two shots and his teammates didn't pass to him.

Coach Hollins's operation caught the Warriors off guard. In more than 5 minutes, the Warriors only scored 10 points!

On the other hand, on the Grizzlies side, Sun Ce, Beverley, Klay Thompson, and Yi Jianlian, whoever has a mid-range shot opportunity, will directly throw it, trying to open up the space so that Whiteside, who is in a irritable state, can have better space to rush for rebounds.

With the best offensive rebounding rusher, no matter whether they can grab it or not, the Grizzlies are confident anyway! The throw is decisive and the shot is also okay.

At 10 minutes and 55 seconds in the first quarter, Sun Ce singled out Iguodala's top arc three-pointer in the second offensive round after Klay Thompson hit a three-pointer, and also caused Iguodala to foul!

The goal is valid and there is a penalty!

32 to 23, if Sun Ce makes the free throw, the score difference will be widened to 10 points!

With 1 minute left, the Warriors coach made another substitution, replacing Iguodala with Harden. Previously, Gerald Wallace had replaced Draymond Green, who was upset by Whiteside.

Draymond Green likes to bully honest people, but he is completely helpless against Whiteside, who is better at rebounding than him, better at three-second zone defense than him, and has a weirder temper and a hotter personality than him.

It's a pity that Sun Ce didn't make the free throw this time. In the last minute, Harden made two consecutive layups against Whiteside. On the Grizzlies side, Yi Jianlian and Klay Thompson made a three-pointer.

35 to 27, the Grizzlies led by 8 points into the intermission, but unfortunately they were just a little bit away from widening the gap to double digits.

...

Entering the intermission, Sun Ce was replaced.

Sitting on the bench, looking at his own data of 10 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal on the big screen, 3 of 7 shots was not bad, and 2 of 5 free throws were a bit miserable. Although his shooting was not affected too much, the increasingly strong confrontation made him unable to control the muscle tension well when he was more relaxed.

But it didn't matter. The opponent had no way to cope with their lineup changes in the second half of the first quarter.

Whiteside played for 6 and a half minutes and got 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. He interfered with the opponent's shots under the basket many times and played very well!

The last time the two teams played against each other, the Warriors won. To some extent, the Grizzlies had more room for adjustment in this game, because they lost, naturally they encountered more troubles and had more problems to solve before they lost.

The winning side will suffer in this regard.

Of course, not all problems and troubles can be solved by thinking of ways. If there is no strength, the coaching staff does not have that thinking, and there are many disadvantages, they dare not try boldly, and they cannot solve the problems when they encounter them.

But tonight, the Grizzlies at least played a tactic in the second half of the first quarter that the Warriors can't think of a solution for now.

Unfortunately, the two important players of this tactic will go down after the first quarter, and Sun also has to rest.

Also, Whiteside can't defend Harden's layup. Harden's confrontation is no worse than Whiteside's, and Whiteside's continuity is not enough. He can perform amazingly in terms of data every time he plays, but his physical strength is really average. In the last minute, the defense under the basket has obviously declined. Harden's last two forced layups were scored, helping the Warriors to control the score difference within 10 points.

However, Whiteside can do what he can do so well, which is already very good. Just these 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks are already worth it. There is no other center with a base salary of more than 1 million US dollars who can be as good as Whiteside.

After the intermission, the Grizzlies sent out a combination of Beverley, Tony Allen, Paul George, Amir Johnson, and Larry Sanders to defend with speed.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Warriors sent out a combination of Harden, Bazemore, Jordan Crawford, Speights, and Thabeet. This lineup was just Harden's alone.

On the Grizzlies side, this lineup's defense under the basket is not as good as when Gasol was there, nor as good as when Larry Sanders and Randolph were paired, but the rotation defense is very strong. Without Curry, the Warriors' outside shooting has weakened, and the defensive role is still very good. The offense feels a bit like a tank army.

Originally, the Grizzlies would not send out such a combination to play against the Warriors. Such a combination can only hold the score tightly and prevent the opponent from playing an offensive **, but the offense is very poor and can only be supported by Paul George.

However, the Grizzlies had an 8-point lead in the first quarter, and the Grizzlies have the capital to play!

Moreover, Paul George is in hot form tonight!

In other words, in the playoffs, Paul George is just like last year, and his condition has improved significantly!

Compared with Harden, Paul George is a level weaker in personal offense, but better in defense. If Sun Ce hadn't dragged his feet and failed to connect the overall defense, the team's record would not be one of the top four teams. Otherwise, in this season where there is no defensive expert to lock in the best defensive player, Paul George would have had a chance to rush for the best defensive player.

And tonight, Paul George exploded with mid-range and long-range shots!

He had a good feel at the beginning, and in the second quarter when Harden was doing his best to avoid the Grizzlies' team defense and was very efficient, Paul George held on!

With 8 points and 2 assists in half a quarter, Paul George created more rest time for Sun Ce and Klay Thompson when Harden scored 11 points in half a quarter.

After 6 minutes and 28 seconds in the second quarter, the Grizzlies still led the Warriors by 7 points at 48 to 41 when they called a timeout for substitutions!