One Thousand One Hundred and Ninety-Three. The Morale that Never Drops

Average 2.3 three-pointers per game, 44.3% of catch-and-shoot three-pointers, this is Leonard's catch-and-shoot three-pointer hit rate in the 7 games in the second round. He almost never played single three-pointers, and his singles were all mid-range facing or back-to-basket.

But playing next to James, Leonard's catch-and-shoot three-pointer is very good! And he found the feeling of this style of play in the tug-of-war with the Spurs!

The reason why Marion sat firmly in the starting position in the playoffs is that his threat to pull to the sideline after the pick-and-roll can help James deal with the opponent's inside defense. Marion averaged 8.6 points in the second round, which is the most stable point of the Lakers besides the James-Kobe trio.

James was able to play with ease against the Spurs, and Marion and Leonard played an important role. Of course, Kobe's threat is the foundation. On this basis, Marion and Leonard raised James' operating space.

Nene's athletic ability has declined quickly. He can do it if he is asked to connect with the fast break and layup, or to force a dunk when eating the cake. But it is a bit difficult for him to be the fast break spearhead and go straight to the opponent's basket like in previous years.

When playing against the Grizzlies in the regular season this season, the cooperation between James and Nene was restricted by the Grizzlies.

Old Bickerstaff always finds a way. Marion didn't have many opportunities to play in the regular season, averaging only 11 minutes per game, and only played 45 games, but Marion's role in the playoffs was immediately revealed, and he was very useful against the Spurs and the Grizzlies!

This is also due to fate. Ed Davis was injured in the first round against the Jazz. This was originally nothing. The Lakers have power forwards, but Boozer can only play center now. Others can't limit Duncan at all, and then Marion was activated. Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected surprise. Old Bickerstaff immediately used Marion's characteristics and has been using them until now.

Although the current Lakers are not good at playing team fast breaks, and fast breaks are limited to defensive counterattacks, they retreat quickly and are also good at suppressing the rhythm. The Grizzlies cannot rely on the speed advantage of the three-man team on the outside to counterattack.

The Grizzlies expected this, but they did not expect that the opponent would make better use of Marion's characteristics after reaching the Western Conference Finals, making James's choice of organizing offense more diverse.

But the Grizzlies like to play against the Lakers. Young teams like the Warriors like to play some tricks, especially speed up, and can speed up, crazy fast pace, crazy Grizzlies can't stand it.

But the Lakers are different. Although old Bickerstaff is unpredictable, when Kobe is on the court, old Bickerstaff will not speed up blindly. Kobe can rely on rhythm changes, time difference, and explosive speed to create shooting space in positional battles, and he doesn't look slow.

But if Kobe really plays fast offense and defense... then the opponent will be very happy.

Paul George pushed to the frontcourt and fell into the positional battle steadily. First of all, he gave the ball to Aldridge.

At the beginning of the second round of the playoffs this season, Aldridge understood his shortcomings. Who told him that he had never played so far in the playoffs before, and he didn't know that he was not developed enough in the low post, which was a shortcoming in the playoffs.

Marion learned the defense of Gerald Wallace and Sullinger. Aldridge played very uncomfortable, and he didn't create space when he turned over. He missed the jump shot with a strong back jumper!

James protected the defensive rebound. A mid-range shooter of Aldridge's level knew that the shot would not go in, so he quickly retreated. He has made up his mind to strengthen the low post this summer. Although he will be 30 years old in July and has not made much progress in the low post in 9 years, this kind of thing is not afraid of being late, but afraid of not wanting to change, not daring to change, wanting to change, daring to change, and making it clear that the goal of change will be better, as long as you do it, it will not be bad!

The Grizzlies fell into a passive position at the beginning, and the Lakers used the pick-and-roll cooperation between James and Marion in the positional battle to create long-range shooting opportunities for Kobe or Leonard.

Because of Sun Ce, the Lakers reduced their mid-range shots, and Kobe and Leonard shot from outside the three-point line.

It's a bit extreme, but the Lakers played so well in the last three games of the second round, and they had a good feel. They dared to bet like this, and they bet right!

The Grizzlies' offense was hindered by the positional battle. From the Warriors to the Lakers, many fans of the Grizzlies understand why Aldridge is such an excellent inside swingman. When he was in the Trail Blazers, no one mentioned him in the playoffs. They all mentioned Roy, Lillard, and even Batum and Matthews. Aldridge was easily overlooked.

Although his shooting area is close to Nowitzki and Garnett, Aldridge's high-post shooting is still slightly inferior to these two. When it comes to the tough playoffs, he stands out! His hit rate plummeted. He could play beautiful offense in some games, but when he was in the Trail Blazers, he had no veterans or excellent coaches to guide him to use his physical advantages, that is, his arm span and touch to develop low-post techniques. He concentrated on strengthening the high-post space shooting power forward's play style written in the scout report during the draft.

He is really not suitable for tough battles now. The Trail Blazers did not go far in those years. Aldridge, the core of the inside line, actually had to bear a lot of responsibility. However, the most fundamental reason was that he was not valued by the Trail Blazers coaching staff and management like Roy and Lillard. The only thing to blame was that those two were too good.

Look, Aldridge was beaten badly by Salinger and Gerald Wallace in the second round, just like in the 2009 playoffs, he was blocked by Artest and couldn't get into the basket, didn't have many good opportunities from the outside, and couldn't grab rebounds. Now he is targeted by the Lakers.

The Grizzlies can only let Sun Ce and Paul George attack. Fortunately, Aldridge's fixed-point mid-range threat is there, and his off-ball cuts can also contain the opponent's defense. He also found his own problems after the second round. This problem can't be improved for a while, so he started with the style of play. After two singles didn't work, he actively helped the team with off-ball containment.

The Lakers took the initiative at the beginning, and the Grizzlies fell behind by 6 points at the beginning, and then they could only rely on Sun Ce and Paul George to attack to keep the score tight.

The attack started by Aldridge failed again. Marion played for more than 4 minutes and rested. Wesley Johnson took over...

Fortunately, at 5 minutes and 11 seconds, the Grizzlies took the initiative to call a timeout and replaced Aldridge with Yi Jianlian. The space was opened up more, mainly because Yi Jianlian's cut-in threat was much stronger than Aldridge. Sun Ce was activated. When the score difference was pulled to 9 points, he scored two three-pointers in a row, and also led Klay Thompson to score a three-pointer. The two played a wave of 9 to 4, narrowing the score difference to within 5 points again, but Kobe made a three-pointer before leaving the court. At 10 minutes and 3 seconds in the first quarter, the Grizzlies were 7 points behind 18 to 25, and the Grizzlies called a timeout again.

Entering the timeout stage, Coach Hollins did not let Sun Ce continue to play this time, but prepared to change the routine. Livingston, Tony Allen, Paul George, Pierce, and Larry Sanders were replaced.

The Grizzlies are under a lot of pressure now. They didn't play well at home at the start, scoring only 9 points in the first 6 minutes. After the timeout, it was thanks to Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll cut-in threat that Sun Ce got a chance to shoot a three-pointer, which kept the score close. This dealt a blow to the Grizzlies' originally high morale. The Lakers had Kobe and Leonard, one cold-blooded and brutal with a strong leadership aura, and the other with a cool poker face and calm. The Lakers were not affected too much by Sun Ce's "King of the Western Conference Finals" BUFF.

However, although the Grizzlies' morale was hit, they were still high-spirited. Sun Ce's "King of the Western Conference Finals" buff still worked to strengthen this aspect.

After four ups and four downs, the Grizzlies regained their momentum. Facing the Lakers' singles lineup of Wayne Ellington, JR Smith, Leonard, James, and Motiejunas, the Grizzlies played very hard!

What can't be broken at this time is fighting spirit and confidence. With Sun Ce, teammates have confidence, and the buff effect of "King of the Western Conference Finals" strengthens the fighting spirit and confidence of his teammates.

In the last minute of the first quarter, the Grizzlies played a wave of 6 to 2! During this period, the Grizzlies fought desperately, worked hard on singles and offensive rebounds, and limited the Lakers to only two points.

Tony Allen's defense against JR Smith, Pierce's defense against James, and Paul George's defense against James played a crucial role!

After the first quarter, the Grizzlies fell behind the Lakers by 3 points 24 to 27 and entered the intermission.

...

Narrowing the score difference is definitely a happy thing. At this time, the buff effect of "King of the Western Conference Finals" strengthened this emotion!

After the second round, the Lakers rested for two days and continued to play the Western Conference Finals, and their state was maintained very well.

And the Grizzlies, they have a much longer rest time and have more time to prepare, but they are a beat slower than the opponent to get into the best state.

But in this situation, they still relied on their tenacious fighting spirit to hold the score tight and narrowed the gap before the opponent started to gain momentum, curbing the opponent's momentum. If James hadn't forced a layup under the basket at the last moment of the first quarter and put the ball into the basket against Larry Sanders and Pierce, the Grizzlies would have narrowed the gap to 1 point!

This made the Grizzlies full of confidence. Although they didn't get into the state as fast as the opponent, the coaching staff had a very good grasp of the rotation timing. They sent out a strong single defense lineup to deal with the opponent's singles lineup at the last moment of the first quarter. The coaching staff made a very successful prediction, and the players successfully narrowed the gap...

This means that their pre-match preparation was very effective!

They firmly believe that if they continue to play like this, they will definitely have an advantage in the first game with more preparations completed after a longer rest time!