One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty-Eight. The Stubborn Warrior Strikes Again!

On the evening of May 2, the Spurs and the Mavericks, who returned to their home court, had a 48-minute intense and exciting battle!

In the first quarter, the Spurs played their usual crazy start. Despite the Mavericks' excellent defense, they still played a 30-25 start. The Spurs' title of the strongest first quarter in the league is not given for nothing.

But in the second quarter, the Mavericks, who played away, returned the Spurs a single quarter of 30-27. After halftime, the Mavericks only trailed by two points at 55-57 and entered the halftime break.

In the third quarter, Duncan and Nowitzki, the two strongest players in this round of the series, had a long rest time. Both teams played defense very well. The Spurs' lead was reduced by 1 point in this quarter, trailing 22-23. After three quarters, the Spurs only led the Mavericks by 1 point at 79-78 and entered the last intermission.

In the final quarter, Duncan and Nowitzki played the full game. The two teams mainly used team offense, and the two fossil-level veterans helped the team by playing key balls.

Duncan made 11 of 16 shots and 5 of 5 free throws in this game, and scored 27 points in a single game! Among them, the 11 points in the final quarter were extremely amazing!

Coincidentally, Nowitzki also scored 27 points in a single game, 9 of 15 shots, including 5 of 6 three-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws.

The two teams played until the last moment. The Mavericks were only two points behind the Spurs at 109 to 111 with 9 seconds left. In the fourth quarter, the Mavericks and the Spurs played a score of 31 to 32. The Mavericks had a chance to kill or tie the score!

At this time, the Spurs' signing that was questioned last summer played a key role!

At the last moment, the Mavericks put Conley, Ellis, Nowitzki, Bosh, and Chandler on the court. Conley and Chandler played pick-and-roll. At this critical moment, Rondo stole the pass from Conley to Ellis, and then Ellis passed it to Bosh who was in the open position. He ran to the front court and spent the rest of the time.

Although Duncan played well tonight, he was not the best player of the Spurs tonight. The best player was the playoff center Rondo!

Rondo, who played for 36 minutes, almost completely pressed Parker on the bench. In 36 minutes of playing time, Rondo had 12 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists, and 4 steals. In addition, he relied on his steals at the critical moment to help the Spurs beat the Mavericks 111 to 109 and advance to the second round!

The Spurs became the seventh team to advance to the second round. The Mavericks fought for the entire series until the last 9 seconds, just one goal away, but this goal made them join the ranks of the fishing team!

…

After watching the seventh game between the Spurs and the Mavericks, Sun Ce felt that the Mavericks and the Spurs were stronger, even though the media and fans seemed to prefer the Warriors and Thunder.

If the two teams were placed in the East and West respectively, both teams would have the possibility of reaching the finals, and it was not low!

Sun Ce was a little sorry that the Mavericks were eliminated. Although he hoped that they could easily advance in the first round and prepare for the second round, if he could choose, he would rather play against one of the Spurs and the Mavericks in the first round, and even hoped that the Lakers, the Mavericks, the Thunder and the Warriors would play all at once...but there are only 4 rounds of playoffs in a year.

Just like not being able to see the battle between Deron and the Thunder last year, Sun Ce regretted it, but he could only accept it.

The main reason is that the two fossil-level veteran superstars of the Mavericks and the Spurs will play one less year.

However, luck is also part of strength. There was a time when the East had six favorites to win the championship, including the 76ers, Hawks, Celtics, Pistons, Bucks, and Knicks, and they rubbed Jordan, who had not yet played the triangle offense. In those years, it was difficult for Jordan to enter the top four in the East.

Later, the East was defeated by Jordan, and now it is the turn of the West to go wild.

It has been wild for more than ten years since the end of the last century.

Deep in the West, if you can break out of the West, you can have a very good state, because it may not be easy in every round of the Western playoffs, and then adjust your state to the best, but the possibility of being eliminated before breaking out of the West is also very high, even if you are the biggest favorite to win the championship, you may be eliminated early.

Risks and opportunities go hand in hand. There is no absolutely fair thing in this world. It is good to be relatively fair.

However, although I think the Spurs and Mavericks are stronger, Sun Ce is more looking forward to the seventh game between the Warriors and the Thunder... It's really good!

Everyone thinks that the Spurs and Mavericks have strong systems and excellent team combat capabilities. However, when you really watch the Spurs' games, you can't really see anything special. Often you see relatively bland running, passing and cutting... Without a certain foundation in basketball tactics, you can't really understand the details.

The Spurs or Mavericks' games look good at first, but if you don't understand the details of the play for a long time, it will be a bit boring. Sometimes they are too good and too stable, and it is difficult to find surprises.

But the Warriors and Thunder's games are different. There are surprises everywhere, such as Westbrook's super triple-double and Iguodala's magical performance in desperate situations.

The strong performances of Durant, Curry, and Harden can only be said to be normal performances. There are constantly stars standing up to solve problems, and such games are more exciting to watch.

So far, three sets of matchups have been released in the second round. The Lakers and Spurs meet again in the playoffs, and the duel between Kobe and Duncan, the NBA's enduring big IP, appears again.

The lineups of the Bulls and Heat have changed a lot in the past few years, but they have been fighting each other. Last season, the Bulls were beaten by the combination of Paul, Wade, Chandler, and Josh Smith. Last summer, the Heat Luol Deng was also poached. Originally, the two teams were old rivals in the 1990s. Unexpectedly, 20 years later, the Bulls would still face the Heat in the new championship era. This was worse than the two teams in the first round. The series will be even more exciting.

The Hawks and the 76ers met... The Hawks were also miserable. They clearly had the best record in the Eastern Conference, but not many people were optimistic about them in the second round. They were too similar to the Nuggets in the 12-13 season, and none of them could really win. A superstar who works alone, no one can stand up to solve the problem at the critical moment.

Now only the tiebreaker between the Warriors and Thunder is left to decide the last place to advance to the second round.

…

It’s May 3rd, and there is only one day left before the start of the second round. Tomorrow is the 4th. The series between the Bulls and the Heat, who advanced first in the Eastern Conference, will start first, and the Lakers and Spurs will start on the 5th. The two-group series between the Grizzlies, the Eagles and the 76ers begins on the 6th, and the first game of the series between the Grizzlies and one of the next round opponents, the Warriors and Thunder, begins on the 6th.

After a good rest during the day, the team did not arrange training today, and Sun Ce himself did not practice any more. The balance between work and rest is still very important. In the evening, after having an early dinner, Sun Ce was ready to go to the arena to join the coaching staff and teammates. Watch the Warriors game tonight.

Before going out, Zu'e stood on a stool to help Sun Ce adjust his collar: "Brother, you are so patient now! I remember that the year before last, after you finished the last round of the series, you couldn't wait to play in the next round..."

After hearing Zu Ge's words, Sun Ce recalled that it seemed like this was true. He didn't even notice it. Compared to the past, he was less impetuous. Although he was still often restless, impatience and restlessness were two different things.

After arranging his collar, Sun Ce took Zugoose off the stool and placed it on the ground before heading to the arena.

At 6 o'clock in the evening Eastern Time, the last game of the first round started.

Relying on Iguodala's superb performance in Game 6, the Warriors, who equalized the score on the road, played super defense!

The Thunder took 91 shots in 48 minutes and only made 35 hits, with a hit rate of less than 40%! Although Durant made 10 of 19 shots, including 3 of 7 three-pointers, and made all four free throws, scoring 27 points with the highest scoring efficiency in the game, the Thunder only scored 88 points!

Westbrook, who took 27 shots, made only 7 of 27 shots. Although he had 19 rebounds, he only had 4 assists.

This is really not because Westbrook wants to go wild, but that except Durant, no one else can make a shot! Ibaka made 2 of 11 shots, Andre Robertson made 1 of 8, Adams made 3 of 8, Dion Waiters made 3 of 9, and Morrow shot 4 of 7, but the Thunder only had Durant and Moreau. Luo Zhun, the opponent can even pursue the two of them without the ball and use the second defensive player to cut off the passing line!

Thabeet became the key to this game. In the 34 minutes he played, his super defensive formation with Draymond Green and Iguodala prevented the Thunder from scoring only 9 points in the three-second zone, while the Thunder The team only scored 25 points inside the game! Far lower than the 42 points averaged in the first six games!

With 2 points, 9 rebounds, 7 blocks and 1 steal, Thabeet had the best playoff game of his career!

For the Warriors, although the entire team's offense was not very good, the Wave combination exploded! Harden made 6 of 12 three-pointers, 13 of 24 from the field, and 5 of 4 free throws. He scored 36 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Curry made 6 of 11 three-pointers and scored 21 points and 11 assists, helping the Thunder to complete the game. Scored 95 points in the game and led the Warriors to defeat the Thunder 95-88 to win the tiebreaker!

…

After watching this game, Sun Ce and his teammates were under pressure.

The top six teams in the Western Conference are not on the same level as the other teams in the Western Conference!

After the first round, two favorite teams in the entire NBA have been eliminated!

Perhaps the strength is slightly inferior to the Spurs, but the performance of the Warriors is enough to make Sun Ce and his teammates fearful.

Obviously, the Warriors started to get into their best form after playing the first six games with the Thunder.

But whether it is the Warriors or the Thunder, it will be difficult to play in the playoffs. The victory or defeat in the regular season will bring a certain psychological advantage, which is very important. Next, what they have to do is to win in the next two days. During the preparation time, prepare well for the second round match against the Warriors!