This Forward is Not Serious

Smart looked back and saw the moment Kobe Bryant scored, and couldn't help but slap his thigh in frustration.

It can be seen from his reaction that he is very involved in defending, but it is precisely because of this investment that he feels annoyed.

Tatum tried another single in the frontcourt, but this time Durant defended him completely.

Tatum had no room to shoot and tried to break through to the basket.

But compared to his shooting, his breakthrough is indeed a lot less interesting.

Lin Ying saw the opportunity to help defend and cut the ball, and directly cut the ball from Tatum's hand.

The Nets played a fast break, and Bradley received a long pass from Lin Ying during the fast break and made a layup.

In the transition from offense to defense, Howard asked for the ball in the low post for a single.

He went to the Hawks for a while, but in the end he left the Celtics because of Thomas and Butler, and finally returned to Boston.

He held the ball and hit Jokic hard. There was a physical confrontation between the two, but he didn't take much advantage.

Jokic was tortured by several consecutive coaches, and his muscle thickness increased a lot.

Howard finally chose the still stiff hook shot.

The basketball also hit the rim hard and bounced out of the frame. It was caught by Jokic and then put into his arms.

This time the Celtics retreated well. The Nets advanced to the frontcourt and continued to hit Kobe's point.

Kobe VS Smart rematch.

Smart opened his legs and pressed down slightly. He hit his chest and then opened his hands to get into a posture.

Whether it's Kobe's generosity or Smart's shame, these are all emotions off the court.

Kobe was ready to tell Smart why so many people respected him, and Smart was not affected by off-court pressure and went all out as he said in the previous recording.

This was a controversy fermented by fans on social media. The two parties did not break out into a war of words, but they were both tit-for-tat on the court.

Things seemed to get exciting at this time.

It just depends on whether the 39-year-old Kobe can break through Smart's defense again.

Kobe just took a look at Smart's defensive style while holding the ball, and then chose to attack with his back to the basket.

It's the familiar post-up play again.

Smart played very smart at this time. When Kobe was cutting him, he took half a step back. When Kobe finished cutting him, he immediately took a half step forward to fight.

The purpose of this is to disrupt Kobe's back-up rhythm.

As mentioned before, Smart has defensive experience that he should not have at his age.

Kobe didn't have a good chance to turn around and shoot.

But at this moment, he showed everyone another signature in his arsenal: up and down steps.

He turned back and faked a shot. After moving Smart's center of gravity, he turned around and took a step forward.

Smart didn't stumble, but he lost his defensive position when he regained his focus.

This is the function of Kobe's up and down steps, to get rid of the defender and then complete the quick shot to score.

People who are familiar with him will be wary of this, but it is obviously difficult for Smart, who has only been in the league for a short time, to react.

"boom!"

Before Howard could help defend, Kobe quickly hit the board and sent the ball into the basket.

4 to 12!

In the blink of an eye, the Nets hit a spurt and widened the point difference to 8 points.

Well, Gemini still hasn’t exerted its strength yet!

This time the Celtics are under a lot of pressure.

Head coach Stevens held his chin in his hand and frowned.

Kobe is in this state tonight, can you believe he is 39 years old?

Almost 29 years old!

But that's just state, because in terms of movement rate, Kobe has indeed dropped a lot from his peak.

But Kobe's desire to win tonight was very strong, which made many of his moves flow smoothly, making him feel like he was back at his peak and looking down on the world.

If I had to make an analogy, it would be like the feeling of Huang Zhong riding down the mountain from Dingjun Mountain wielding a machete.

Even though you are old, you can still go!

Murderous and unstoppable!

He unconsciously looked at Smart again.

Obviously, all this has something to do with Smart's recording.

Kobe probably wasn't really angry because of the tape, but after the incident, he needed this kind of performance.

Then he did it.

This is Kobe.

At the critical moment, it was Tatum who stood out for the Celtics.

A feint mid-range jump shot after receiving the ball still hit the basket steadily with a hint of Kobe's charm.

Jayson Tatum!

No Irving, no Horford, no Hayward, not even Brown!

How do you think this Celtics squeezed out the Cavaliers and entered the playoffs because of Tatum!

Tatum averaged 23.7 points per game this season. He took responsibility earlier than in history and broke out earlier!

However, it was still Kobe, still Kobe. A back-up fake shot finally deceived Smart, and he hit the inside and scored a flying dunk!

This is, getting high!

Kobe was also very excited after dunking and immediately acted to listen!

Barclays Center is on fire again.

Mamba is unstoppable tonight!

…

The Nets fought back and forth and finally defeated the Celtics 113-91.

The culture of the Celtics has always been a defensive culture.

Otherwise, even if Tatum breaks out earlier than in history, it will be difficult for him alone to bring the Celtics into the playoffs.

But it is obvious that they failed to guard Kobe at the beginning tonight, and they also failed to guard the Gemini in the subsequent games, so the loss was understandable.

According to the statistics after the game, Tatum performed exceptionally and contributed 29 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in his first playoff game, which was very eye-catching.

For the Nets, most of the main players only played three quarters. Lin Ying scored 27 points, Durant 21 points, and Jokic 12 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Kobe performed well and scored 23 points, including 16 points in the first quarter.

After the game, Kobe looked satisfied.

That's not just because he fulfilled what he said to Lin Ying before the game and let the world know that the 39-year-old Kobe can still play.

More importantly, he once again surpassed Jordan.

The 39-year-old Jordan failed to help the Wizards reach the playoffs, and even played in exhibition games at the end of the season.

But at the age of 39, he scored 20+ in the first game of the playoffs!

This will be something he can brag about with his daughters in the future!

What could be more joyful than this!

And all of this is really thanks to Smart.

For players of this age group, an opportunity is always needed to break out.

So after the game, when the two sides shook hands, Kobe said a lot of encouraging words to Smart.

Looking at Smart's ashamed and secretly clenched fists, Lin Ying suddenly felt that one day Smart might really become what Kobe called dpoy.

…

G1 of the series between the Nets and Celtics has basically determined the trend of this series.

The Celtics are simply not strong enough to withstand the Nets.

In addition to G3 returning to Boston, relying on their home court advantage, the Celtics dragged the Nets into the final quarter.

In the remaining three games, the Nets basically took away the game in a devastating way.

4-0, without giving any chance, the Nets easily defeated the Celtics and advanced to the second round. They were also the first team to advance in this year's playoffs.

Whether it's the big score or the process, this Nets team is announcing one thing: they are very strong this season, unusually strong!

Not long after the Nets' series ended, the first rounds of the Eastern and Western Conferences also ended one after another.

In the East, the second-round opponent of the Nets that fans are most concerned about is finally determined.

The game between the 76ers and the Bucks was also a fierce battle. The 76ers quickly scored a 2-1 score. The youthful combination of Simmons and Embiid overwhelmed Antetokounmpo on the Bucks.

However, the Bucks began to resolutely shrink in the following games, and Simmons, as a point guard, had no outside three-pointers, which was infinitely magnified.

Facts have proved that in this era, a point guard without shooting, and also a core point guard, faces huge challenges to survive.

But it's unrealistic to expect Simmons to suddenly come to his senses.

With such adjustments, the Bucks won two consecutive games in the next two games, changing the score to 3-2, one step away from promotion.

If nothing else, the accident happened again.

The head coach of the 76ers, Brown, the head coach of the Spurs, made a temporary change and moved Simmons directly from the point guard to the power forward position.

As a result of this adjustment, Simmons failed to perform as Brown expected.

Although Simmons is large enough to play power forward, at this position, his height and size advantage has completely disappeared, and he lacks low-post offensive skills, so his performance is still struggling.

But this adjustment made Embiid feel alive!

Facts have proved that in this era of declining centers, having a big man with both flexibility and dominance in the paint is very advantageous.

Embiid scored 30+10 in two consecutive games, completely dominating the Bucks' penalty area.

Antetokounmpo has become much stronger than he was a few years ago, but he is obviously not strong enough to compete with Embiid in the paint.

So in the end, unlike what many outsiders expected, the second battle between the Bucks and Nets did not come. The Nets' opponent in the second round will be the 76ers.

Embiid also burst into tears at the press conference after the game, and once again said his classic saying in another way in front of the camera:

“Trust the process.”

In the past few years, the 76ers have suffered from injuries, and they selected Embiid and Simmons as the top picks. However, both top picks were reimbursed due to injuries in their rookie seasons. This also made the 76ers the target of ridicule by many media and fans. .

"Are the 76ers still in the league?", "The 76ers selected the No. 1 pick based on whether he is sick?", "Hinkie is the worst general manager in the NBA" and so on.

Even Hinkie couldn't stand the pressure and was forced to resign.

One can imagine how much pressure Embiid, who was originally regarded as the core of the reconstruction and has been plagued by injuries, is under.

But this time, they did it.

Believe in the process, because as long as you work hard, the process may take longer than you imagine, but don't give up, you must believe that success will always come.

Embiid’s words were widely shared on social media and were very positive.

Because of the 76ers' experience in recent years, this sentence really fits best.

However, their opponent in the second round will be Mount Everest standing in front of them.

The other semifinal matchup in the Eastern Conference was between the Raptors and the Hornets. They each defeated the Heat and Pacers to advance to the semifinals.

On the east side, although the process was a bit tortuous, there was no situation where the bottom overcomes the top.

But not only did the Western Conference appear, but the score was even more outrageous.

The Pelicans directly swept the Trail Blazers 4-0!

Cousins ​​suddenly stood up in front of the Trail Blazers, and the perimeter defense combination of Holiday and George also made Lillard completely lose himself.

While this result was surprising, it also made fans look forward to their performance in the second round.

Because the Pelicans' lineup is relatively restrained against the Warriors.

The combination of Holiday and George on the outside can make Lillard and McCollum uncomfortable, and it will naturally make the Splash Brothers uncomfortable.

Moreover, the Warriors' interior is not much worse than that of the Trail Blazers, and Cousins ​​also has a lot of room to play in the interior.

The Pelicans beat the Warriors early in an upset? It's not impossible for this to happen!

And if that's the case, the Lakers' summer operations can be regarded as giving themselves the strongest assists.

The remaining three groups, the Warriors, Lakers and Timberwolves all advanced to the second round.

Warriors VS Pelicans, Lakers VS Timberwolves.

The matchup between these two groups in the Western Conference is also very exciting.

…

Before the start of the second round, the league announced the second batch of awards for the season, the best defensive player and the best rookie.

The best defensive player went to Gobert of the Jazz.

This is also the last time he has won this honor after losing to Green last year.

Although the Jazz have been eliminated by the Lakers, Gobert's role in the Jazz is still very obvious. He alone supports the team's defensive system.

The Rookie of the Year went to Ben Simmons.

Although he suffered a season reimbursement like Embiid in his rookie season, he averaged 15.8+8.1+8.2 per game in his rookie season.

In addition to the weakness of not having outside shooting, he can be said to have full potential at the point guard position.

This result also triggered intense discussion among fans.

You must know that Simmons' performance in the last round was not very good, especially as a point guard who had no shooting, which was very fatal.

As strong as Rondo, the original champion point guard who competed with Paul, could only become a role player in his peak season.

However, before the start of the second round, Embiid also supported his partner in front of the media.

Moreover, it is also done in a very personal and representative way.

“Trust the process.”

Yes, Embiid is addicted!

And unlike the tears two days ago, he said it with a smile this time, a smile that came from the heart.

It can be seen that he is in a very good mood now.

The meaning of his words is also easy to understand.

Everything requires a process, just like his injury, and like the 76ers' experience in recent years.

Therefore, he believes that even if Simmons does not have outside shooting ability now, he will definitely develop it in the near future.