Chapter 7

On the 7th, the Lakers faced the Clippers at home in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals.

Before the game, pointing at Green in the Clippers' lineup, Su Feng specifically told Adams, "Be extra careful when fighting for rebounds tonight, Steven."

In Su Feng's previous life, in that famous Western Conference final series between the Thunder and the Warriors, besides Klay's divine performance, the most famous event was probably Draymond Green's "ball-grabbing incident" in which he kicked Adams in the nuts with a high leg.

Therefore, in order to prevent Adams from becoming an incomplete man after this Western Conference semifinal series...

Su Feng felt it necessary to remind Adams.

On the court, after the warm-up, the big screen showed the starting lineups for both teams tonight.

Clippers: Ezeli, Green, Parsons, McCollum, Lillard.

Lakers: Gasol, Garnett, Su Feng, Kobe, Rondo.

It has to be said...

In this life, as the timeline was completely disrupted...

Looking at the Clippers' starting lineup tonight, even Su Feng, who always liked to complain, didn't know where to start.

In the center of the court, Ezeli and Gasol were responsible for the tip-off to start the game.

This season, as one of the most underrated players on the Clippers, don't let Ezeli's average stats of just 8+5 fool you, his excellent mobility allows him and Green to form an indestructible steel defense.

The Clippers' fifth-place ranking in the regular season was no accident.

Because from the perspective of the lineup structure, this Clippers team is essentially a "poor man's version of the Warriors" in Su Feng's memory.

On the court, Gasol won the tip-off for the Lakers, and the Lakers attacked first.

At this moment, as the close-up lens focused on Chandler Parsons, who was closely guarding Su Feng...

Many of Parsons' "face fans" realized in a daze...

That in front of Emperor Feng, Parsons' appearance could barely reach the passing line.

Although over the years, time has taken away the youthfulness on Su Feng's face...

But after years of accumulation, this man has become even more charming!

On the sidelines, at this moment, Abby, a famous Lakers fan, had already turned her eyes into "heart shapes."

"It is said that men are like wine, the longer they are aged, the more mellow they become.

Comparing them through close-ups tonight, Parsons has clearly lost to Su Feng in terms of appearance," Yu Jia said with a smile on CCTV.

And Zhang, who was more concerned about the game itself, said, "Let's look at this ball first, Rondo found Kobe, oh, McCollum really dared to step up!

But with his small frame, can he withstand Kobe?"

After entering the playoffs, compared to the Mamba Snake who often floated on the outside to shoot in the regular season...

Obviously, Kobe, who likes to stay in the low post, is the "Philadelphia Malone" that Su Feng is most familiar with.

As for the treasure that the Clippers found in the draft last summer, because the current head coach of the Clippers is Terry Stotts, the head coach of the Trail Blazers in Su Feng's previous life at the same time...

Plus, with the influence of the early arrival of the three-point era, McCollum's rookie season performance is significantly better than in Su Feng's historical period in his memory.

But...

With McCollum's small frame that doesn't even weigh 90 kilograms at this moment...

How could he withstand Kobe's pair of iron elbows?

In the low post, after squeezing with force and then turning backward, Kobe agilely and elegantly scored the first two points of the game for the Lakers.

Back on the other end, it was the Clippers' turn to attack.

As one of the "pearls" that were overlooked in the second round of the 2012 draft, in this life, in similar circumstances, Green has become the offensive and defensive core of the current Clippers team.

The reasons for Green's rapid progress are, besides the fact that John Davis' interior spacing theory is deeply loved by countless young coaches in the current version of the NBA game...

The main reason is that Green is indeed a player with high "ambition."

As everyone knows.

Character determines destiny, and environment affects growth.

In the NBA, the reason why the vast majority of talented players ultimately fail to make it is nothing more than insufficient motivation and too many injuries.

And this is also the main reason why Kobe's attitude towards Jokic changed when the Lakers tried him out before.

Admittedly, in some professional qualities that professional players should have, Jokic is a bit out of sync with others.

But, you cannot deny that this Serbian fatty is a highly competitive player who is very confident in himself.

Therefore, in Su Feng's previous life, the view of Warriors fans that Green may not be able to play well after changing environments is not entirely correct.

Because for people like Green...

As long as he can get an opportunity, he will definitely grab that pole called opportunity and climb up desperately.

At the high post, with the help of Green's screen, Lillard immediately used his signature move after finding an angle:

Forceful ball-handling + step-back shooting.

According to the "Rangers" in Su Feng's memory, Lillard's final shot only accounts for 10% of the credit.

Because without Green's solid pick-and-roll...

How could Lillard easily shoot in front of Rondo?

Swish!

3 to 2.

On the court, Lillard, who always believes that his fate is up to him, quickly responded with a three-pointer.

In Su Feng's previous life, although Lillard was often ridiculed as a "poor man's version of Curry", there is one thing that Curry can never compare to Lillard.

That is...

In Su Feng's original timeline, Lillard was the first player to score "45+10" at the Staples Center after Kobe's retirement.

Don't ask.

Just know that Lillard has been headstrong since he was a child.

On the court, it was the Lakers' turn to attack.

At this time, an unexpected episode suddenly occurred on the court.

It turned out that Garnett was taunted by Green after passing the baseline ball: Yo, yo, yo, isn't this Kevin Garnett? How come you're so bad now?

Hearing this, how could Garnett, who has always "bullied the weak and feared the strong"... ah no! Who has always been "iron-blooded and tyrannical", possibly endure it?

And so it was.

After a "friendly exchange" between Green and Garnett, the referee quickly stopped the game.

On the court, Garnett, who was waving his fists and shouting "Come and fight if you have the guts" at Green while being separated by the referee, hated that the referee intervened too early.

Otherwise...

With Green's annoying appearance, wouldn't he have beaten Green to death?

And on the Clippers' side, although Green was still cursing after being separated by the referee, even more extreme than Garnett was...

This guy retreated behind McCollum at the first moment.

Good guy!

Are you two "fighting and retreating" here?

Fortunately, after Su Feng, who was full of martial virtue, asked each of them with a puzzled look, "Fight, why aren't you fighting?", the players from the Lakers and Clippers quickly calmed down.

Because unlike most players in the 21st century who prefer to resolve conflicts with their mouths...

Su Feng, this veteran who has been playing since the 90s...

Is really capable of hitting people.

Staples Center, the fans who originally thought there would be a show to watch suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon.

Because shortly after Su Feng intervened, Green and Garnett staged a scene of "burying the hatchet with a smile."

Play ball, play ball.

We are NBA players.

How can we just start fighting at the slightest disagreement?

On the court, the game continued.

This Clippers team has good offensive firepower.

The interior defense is also quite tough.

But the perimeter defense is obviously a competition to see who leaks more.

Lillard.

McCollum.

Including Parsons.

In front of the Lakers' experienced "geriatric combination," the defense of these three is like Lays potato chips packaging—seeing who has more air in their bag.

Before playing the Grizzlies, because the Grizzlies only had Conley, who could go toe-to-toe with anyone on the perimeter, this weakness of the Clippers was not obvious.

But in this game, under the successive attacks of Su and Kobe...

"5 for 5, my performance tonight is just so-so." At the end of the first quarter, on the Lakers' bench, Kobe said to Su Feng with a look of Versailles.

Hearing this, after spreading his hands, Su Feng said, "Although I missed two shots, 6 for 8 is just barely passable!"

One is just so-so.

One is just barely passable.

I wonder if Clippers coach Stotts, who was troubled by Su Feng and Kobe's combined 29 points in the first quarter, would be angered to death after hearing this.

Staples Center.

The score between the two teams in the first quarter was 31 to 44.

As expected by Coach Lue before the game, because the Lakers perfectly restrained this Clippers team in terms of style, in Coach Lue's view, the focus of this series for the Lakers was not on winning by how many points, but on trying to ensure that Su Feng and Kobe could have sufficient rest time before the Western Conference Finals.

In the second quarter, the fans who accurately timed Su and Kobe's rest time to go to the bathroom were dumbfounded.

Because for the entire quarter...

Su Feng and Kobe did not play.

"I mean no offense to Terry Stotts and this Clippers team.

But according to my plan, in these four games with the Clippers, I will not let Su and Kobe's playing time exceed 25 minutes."

On the sidelines, with his hands folded calmly, at this moment, Coach Lue was simply the Lakers' Auerbach.

On the court, for the Clippers players who were still thinking before the game that they might be able to upset the Lakers...

This was definitely the biggest blow they had ever received in their lives.

Because the Lakers...

Didn't even regard them as opponents.

But what made the Clippers players even more uncomfortable than being "looked down upon" by the Lakers was...

Under the leadership of Middleton, Livingston, and Green...

The Lakers won another 9 points in the second quarter alone.

At halftime, the score between the two teams was 55 to 77.

After the mid-game break, in the third quarter, the Clippers players, who were stimulated by head coach Stotts's sentence "Are you willing to be looked down upon by your opponents like this?" during the mid-game break, all fought bravely.

But what Stotts and the Clippers players didn't know was...

The Lakers were only strategically looking down on the Clippers.

What a joke!

For a team with Su Feng and Kobe...

How could they slack off in games other than when they were padding stats?

Moreover, because before the start of this series, Su Feng and Kobe were informed of their playing time by Coach Lue.

Therefore, do you know how rushed Su Feng and Kobe were at this moment?

"No! We clearly agreed to compete fairly!

How can you have 5 more shot attempts than me?" After three quarters, Kobe, who was 9 for 11, including 2 for 4 from three-point range, and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, scoring 24 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Lakers, was unhappy.

Because in the second half of this quarter, when faced with a double-team from the Clippers players, Kobe never expected that Su Feng would not pass the ball!

"What's wrong? Didn't I make my shots? Is there a problem?" After three quarters, Su Feng, who was 11 for 16, including 3 for 6 from three-point range, and 7 for 7 from the free-throw line, scoring 32 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 2 blocks for the Lakers, shrugged his shoulders and said to Kobe.

Kobe: "..."

"Ball hog"!

Feng, how can you be so shameless?

"Tsk! Unknowingly, my lead now has reached 33 points, how can someone catch up now?" After taking out his notebook and calculating his recent total score, Su Feng said to Kobe.

Hearing this, Kobe secretly vowed in his heart...

In the remaining games of this series...

He would be a dog if he passed the ball to Su Feng even once!

In the end, the final score of this Western Conference Semifinals Game 1 between the Lakers and the Clippers was 110 to 141.

Because in the game, Su Feng and Kobe only played the first and third quarters.

Therefore, the Lakers' substitutes, who finally got the chance to play, could be described as playing more desperately than the other.

After the game, Clippers coach Stotts already felt a deep sense of despair for the remaining games of this series.

Because at the end of the first half, Stotts, who was still angry about being looked down upon by the Lakers, didn't realize until after the game...

That the Lakers not only had not looked down on the Clippers.

On the contrary, they knew this Clippers team far better than he did himself.

On the 9th, 12th, and 15th.

In the remaining three games of this Western Conference Semifinals series, the Lakers easily won by a margin of more than 20 points.

Especially in the last two games.

Although nominally it was the Clippers' home court...

Even the DJ showed signs of "betrayal" when introducing the players from both teams.

After sweeping the Clippers with a score of 4 to 0, the Lakers also became the first team in the Eastern and Western Conferences to advance to the Conference Finals.

In the East, because the Celtics were up 3-0 and the Bulls managed to win back one game, theoretically the Bulls still had a chance to advance.

As for the Lakers' number one enemy, the Warriors?

"I've said it before, Kevin is at least two Vins better than Tracy!"

"Russell is worthy of being my successor! Good job, Russell!"

On the 15th, on the same day that the Lakers took the lead in advancing to the Conference Finals.

The SuperSonics, who had previously lost three straight games to the Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals, suddenly exploded.

With Durant and Westbrook combining for 88 points...

In the game, the Warriors, who had been playing too carelessly, now had to return to Oakland to resolve this series.

And reality once again proved...

That the playoffs are indeed a stage for superstars...

In short!

The Lakers were undoubtedly the biggest winners this night!

What Su Feng found very incomprehensible was...

Why did Kobe just hide behind him and "woof, woof, woof"...

...

ps: Too short, don't praise.