Original title: Offensive slump and thrilling escape from the birth of G4 World War I sounded the alarm for the warriors
The Grizzlies’ official update on Morant’s absence came an hour before the Grizzlies-Warrior series began. Although it is said that during the regular season, the Grizzlies won 20 wins and 5 losses without Morant, but in this round of series Morant was absent, the Grizzlies scored 80 points and lost 130 points in 100 possessions. Absolutely not cheating. Yes, the Warriors have a huge advantage at home.
But in the early days of the game, the state of the Warriors shocked everyone. A large number of mistakes caused the team to lose the offensive rhythm early. The first 15 three-pointers were all missed, and the entire first half of the game only scored 38 points. In Game 3, the Warriors scored 38, 37 and 41 points in the last three quarters alone.
“This is basketball, we got a little rusty in the first six minutes, that set the tone for an ugly offense, we didn’t make even open shots. But credit to our defense, we got energy from the home fans, they To keep us in the game, they kept the Grizzlies shooting 40 percent, which is below average for the Grizzlies.” Curry said after the game: “That’s why we have a chance to get through this,” Curry said after the game. Porter made the big 3, Klay made the corner, Poole got to the free throw line, and that put us in a rhythm.”
In fact, the Grizzlies’ defensive intensity in this game is not high. In terms of confrontation intensity, the G4 battle can even be said to be the most peaceful game in the Grizzlies and Warriors series. The intensity of the physical confrontation was not intense, and the players on both sides were also very stable, and their attitudes were even quite friendly. After Curry landed on the layup, Jaren Jackson Jr. took the initiative to reach out to protect, and after Bane fell to the ground on the offensive end, Curry would also take the initiative to help. And this kind of friendliness may not be a good thing in the playoffs.
I still remember that at the beginning of the second half, at 11 minutes and 24 seconds into the third quarter, Bane was countered by Green on the offensive end and fell to the ground with the ball in his arms. ball. At this time, Curry stood calmly in front of him, only interfering with his arms, and did not make any active grabbing movements, which was a little surprising. Are these really two teams hyped as rivals? Is this really a physical confrontation, and there is an injury or expulsion in the battle of the bears? Is this really the Western Conference semifinals where the ball must be fought? If it’s Smart, if it’s Lowry, if it’s Paul, when Bane falls to the ground and the ball is exposed to his chest, will these players fall to the ground as soon as possible and press on to fight for a scrimmage? ?
In fact, in the first three games of the series, when there was a fight for neutral ball rights or a chance to scramble for the ball, Wiggins, Curry, Thompson, Looney, Green, all the players of the Warriors would immediately rush up and twist their opponents. together. This purest desire to win was completely absent from the Warriors in at least the first 45 minutes of the game today. Human beings will always release the most primitive animal nature when they are forced into a desperate situation. If the first three games were two teams fighting to survive in the playoffs, then in this game, everyone put on tuxedos, carried red wine, and played civilized basketball. It may be because of Morant’s injury and the bloodliness of the Warriors, which is greatly reduced compared to the first three games in which almost all of the scramble statistics have won against their opponents.
Morant was unable to play due to injury. This was originally a game with a big gap in strength. In the end, the Warriors became the side that was cornered. The nearly full Warriors, with Dillon Brooks, who went 5-for-19, were pushed back to the brink by the Grizzlies without Morant. And when it comes to the real decisive moment, Curry still has to stand up and solve the problem. “We didn’t shoot well tonight, but the defense was ok, we did a good job defending. We kept it close in the closing stages, and then Curry came out and he hit the big shot, it was amazing, we worked hard Go win this game,” Wiggins said.
Before taking to the court in the fourth quarter, Curry swapped out the orange commemorative Seg sneakers he had worn in the first three quarters for the purple versions he had used in the previous game. This change of shoes has given Curry a new look. Curry, wearing orange sneakers, scored 6 of 18 in the first three quarters, 2 of 10 from three points, and only scored 14 points in 29 minutes; in the last quarter, he changed to purple sneakers, 4 of 7, 2 of 4 from three, and 8 of 9 free throws , 8 minutes 18 minutes. In this game, Curry assisted or directly scored 50 of the Warriors’ 101 points, and scored 10 points at critical moments, 2 points more than the Grizzlies scored. In assists, his teammates made 8 of 12 shots when they received a pass from Curry. “Curry has shown us why he is Curry, and despite the disrespect of a lot of people on the outside, he has shown why he is Curry. He played in the final moments of the game, we played well on both ends of the floor and won game,” Green said.
“When you go into the fourth quarter and your team can’t get the ball rolling on offense, but the difference is three or four possessions behind, that’s when you get that feeling, there’s some extra motivation. “We’ve been in this situation before and we know how to end a game like this, whether the comeback happens or not. It’s about how you handle a game like this, and we did it today,” Curry said. According to statistics, so far in the playoffs this season, Curry has shot 53% from the field, 39% from three-point range and 90% from the free throw line in the final quarter. So far in the playoffs, Curry has averaged 9.2 points per game in the final quarter, ranking first in the league.
“The great thing about Steph is that he’s supposed to be the easiest superstar to work with, he’s always so confident. He’s always thinking about what to do next, so I don’t have to tell Curry to go all out in the endgame. I didn’t tell him anything.” Brown said: “Curry has a bad memory because he has the ability to forget his bad shooting touch early in the game and then fire it up in the final stages.”
“Curry just has a mentality that he thinks he’s the greatest shooter of all time, just needs to make a shot, just need a good shot and his touch will open up. Today, Poole and Curry Nope, we didn’t hit the rim as much as we hoped, but I just feel like we’re going to win the game, I just have that feeling. It’s an ugly game like this, but at this time of year, winning That’s what matters,” Thompson said.
On the defensive end, the Warriors really recovered in the final five minutes of the game. Wiggins almost locked up Bane and Jones who played very well in this game. Green also woke up like a dream, blocking Jackson’s shot at the countdown stage to seal the victory. In normal play, the Warriors didn’t get their first lead until about 45 seconds left, the latest in the franchise’s last 30-year playoff run.
The Warriors can win in a state of misfiring offense. Apart from Curry, the most outstanding thing is the defense against Bane. In the last round against the Timberwolves, Bane averaged 23.5 points per game and shot 49% from three-point range; in this series, he averaged 9.5 points per game, and the combined shooting rate dropped from 50% to 37%. There may be an injury factor, but the Warriors’ defense is also critical. The other is Dillon. In the three games of the series, Brooks made 8 of 35 shots, with a shooting rate of 23%, and 4 of 18 three-pointers, with a poor shooting rate of only 22%. Curry also spoke highly of Green’s final defensive performance: “No one can do that. You know how important he is to defend at critical moments, and he accepted the challenge.”
After the game, Curry walked into the player tunnel and said: “Major victory! We must go all out in the next game, go all out! We need to win one more game, let’s continue and win another game!”
Yes, the Warriors are now one game away from returning to the Western Conference finals. (Sports Weekly)Return to Sohu, see more
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