Superstar Athletes’ Black Tech Systems

The situation in the East and West soon became clear. The two groups in the Western Conference semifinals, the Clippers played against the Trail Blazers, and the Spurs played against the Warriors; the two groups in the East, the Pacers played against the Nets, and the Heat played against the Wizards.

To Xiao Hua's disappointment, in the first round of the eight-group duel, only one group reached the tiebreaker, which was a series between the Raptors and the Nets.

In the end, the Nets were more experienced and skilled, and successfully won the life-and-death battle in Toronto and entered the next round.

The game between the Clippers and the Trail Blazers will start at Staples on May 5.

For the Blazers, after Oden was selected in 2007, the era they expected to belong to the Blazers did not come after all.

The injuries of Oden and Roy made everything come to naught.

However, the speed of the Blazers' reconstruction is indeed amazing. The older rookies Lillard and Aldridge, who are not optimistic, have become the new core of the team together, and they have achieved results very quickly.

Before the start of the playoffs, many people were more optimistic about the Rockets. They did not expect the Rockets to be so vulnerable and ended their playoff journey in a very embarrassing and ugly way.

The Blazers entered the semifinals with confidence, ready to challenge the 70-win Clippers.

Li Liang has been training very actively and hard these days.

He doesn't care at all whether the Trail Blazers or the Rockets make it to the semifinals.

In his eyes, the only opponent in the West is the Spurs, and he doesn't care about the Thunder.

Defeated!

And never expected that the Thunder would fall in the hands of the Warriors.

The Warriors really have two skills. The ability of Curry and Thompson to show cold-blooded pitchers in the series allows people to see the new forces in the NBA.

And every time he played against the Warriors in the regular season, Li Liang could feel the team's vigorous potential.

They will definitely be a powerful force in the West in the future.

Do you want to join them?

Li Liang hasn't made up his mind yet, he doesn't want to think about the next season for now.

After a few days of serious training like an ordinary player, the semi-finals will begin.

On the evening of the 5th, the Staples Center was full again.

For the Clippers, this is definitely the closest they are to the conference finals.

The semifinals were always lost before, and the semifinals are about to become the curse of the Clippers and Paul.

In the locker room before the game, the Clippers players were silent, only Rivers was talking.

As a champion coach, Rivers knows the importance of confidence to a team.

No matter how well you play in the regular season, once you lose confidence in the playoffs, you may fail.

The Cavaliers and Pistons are good examples.

The Clippers are not a confident team, they need morale and confidence.

But no matter how much Rivers said, it couldn't compare to Li Liang's words.

When he was about to play, Li Liang got up and said to everyone: "We are sure to win this round of the series. Believe me, the Portlanders are vulnerable in my opinion. We should prepare well for the Western Conference Finals."

What Li Liang said was undoubtedly a little crazy.

But in competitive sports, you can’t be arrogant. Could it be possible to say, "We have a 50-50 split with the Blazers?"

No team can play 50-50 with the Clippers this season, not even the Heat.

Li Liang needs to let his teammates understand this.

As a player with rich experience in the playoffs and finals, for Li Liang, a mere semi-final counts as a goal?

When it was time to warm up on the court, Li Liang did not forget to joke with Paul, "Watch me take you to the Western Conference Finals and touch the floor of the Western Conference Finals."

Paul smiled and said nothing. He was the player who was blocked from the Western Conference Finals three times. The name of the Western Conference Finals even made him feel more magical than the Finals.

Of course, without Li Liang, this magical power would continue to grow.

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. PT, with the Clippers wearing their home white jerseys and the Blazers wearing a black set tonight.

The Clippers' starters have not changed, while the Blazers' starters are Robinson, Aldridge, Batum, Matthews and Lillard.

This is a very competitive starting lineup. From the perspective of functional configuration and player ability, it can be said to be quite good.

Before the start of the game, the Blazers players were also full of confidence. After all, the 4:1 elimination of the seemingly strong Rockets gave the Blazers the confidence to wrestle with the super strong team.

Lillard even boasted in the pre-match interview, "The Blazers are not without a chance of winning against the Clippers. I think to some extent, we are a better team."

Confidence is good, but confidence is not so good.

At the beginning of the game, Jordan won the ball in the jump ball, and the offense was initiated by the Clippers.

The opening first attack was initiated by Paul.

After repeated pick-and-rolls, he dribbled into the paint and missed a throw.

Immediately after the Blazers counterattacked, Batum's layup was also interfered and missed.

Li Liang also launched a counterattack immediately after getting the backcourt rebound. Facing Matthews' defense, he hit a two-point jumper with an emergency stop from the wing, which also caused Matthews' defensive foul.

To be punished!

Matthews' defense against Harden in the first round can be said to shine.

With his close defense, endless harassment and high-intensity physical confrontation, Harden's two-point shooting percentage in the regular season dropped from 45% to 37%, and his three-point shooting percentage dropped to 29%.

As a comparison, Li Liang's two-point shooting percentage in the first round was 46%, and his three-point shooting percentage was maintained at a high level of 44%.

Of course, this is related to the Clippers' better backcourt configuration, but it also shows that Matthews' defense is indeed very effective.

It's just that in the semi-finals, Matthews tried to deal with Li Liang the same way he used to deal with Harden, but it didn't work.

Among other things, Li Liang has an absolute advantage in height, 10 centimeters taller than Harden.

So if Matthews wants to use any tricks, he has to consider Li Liang's wingspan and shooting point.

Of course, against Li Liang, the Blazers mainly use Batum.

But Batum also faces a problem-he will be guarded by Li Liang during the offense.

Li Liang's defense is still very well-known in the league. He is famous for being cunning, treacherous, and "deceitful and fearful".

What do you mean by bullying the weak and fearing the hard?

That is to say, if you are a super attacker, such as Anthony and Durant, Li Liang probably has nothing to do with you.

If there is a way, it is also crooked.

But if you are not a super attacker, but just an ordinary offensive player, then I'm sorry, Li Liang will definitely bully you.

The reason is also very simple, because Li Liang's defense is very solid, very solid.

He practiced step by step visible to the naked eye from various systematic tasks and training.

Unless you have the skills and talent to go beyond this kind of solid defensive ability, then if you want to break out on Li Liang, it is really too difficult.

It is impossible for a player like Brewer to score 51 points on Li Liang, 15 points is the best.

The same is true for Batum. He is also considered an important 3D player in the Trail Blazers, but every time he meets Li Liang, he will be deflated.

The first goal just now was interference at the basket and almost got a cap.

Afterwards, Li Liang made a serve and the Blazers attacked for the second time. Batum didn't dare to attack by himself.

Handed the ball to Aldridge, and the low post shot missed.

In turn, Griffin relied on offensive rebounds to score a goal, starting 5:0.

The Clippers are in very good shape tonight.

In fact, it was more than good. After five minutes in the first quarter, the Clippers beat the Blazers 10:0.

The Blazers went scoreless for five full minutes.

As for the Clippers, if it weren't for Li Liang's lack of touch, it would definitely not be just a 10:0.

The Clippers players are still a little puzzled, why does it feel like the Blazers are not as strong as the Lone Ranger?

The two teams are somewhat similar in terms of personnel structure, and their offensive tactics are also very similar, because Stotts was an assistant coach for the Mavericks back then, helping the team win the championship in 2011.

But the Blazers are different from the Lone Ranger in several points.

The first one is defensive experience. After all, the Blazers players are still younger, and their defensive and game experience is not as mature as the Lone Ranger.

Lillard was blowing loudly before the game, but he was a little confused when the game started. Paul defended him and made 0 of 3 shots.

Secondly, the Blazers' starting lineup is younger and more balanced, but the substitute is not as good as the Lone Ranger.

If the weak team wants to overcome the strong team, the substitute must perform at a super level and provide key assistance.

As a result, after 10:0, Stotts switched to the second team and wanted to improve the offensive situation.

Well, it turned out that Griffin was off the field for the Clippers, and Li Liang switched to the position of power forward, and his touch immediately opened.

After the timeout, the defensive end first double-teamed Lillard with Paul, forcing Lillard to make a mistake.

Then he counterattacked and received a pass from Paul, and hit a three-pointer at the top of the arc, 13:0.

Only now did the Trail Blazers know that this was the Western Conference semifinals, and the opponent was the league's first Clippers.

After Li Liang scored the goal, the subject wiped his hands on his chest, and said to Lillard who passed by: "Enjoy yourself, there is not much time."