Five Hundred and Forty-Seven: Foul Crisis

Jordan was starting to get a little nervous. Although the Clippers still led by a point, the Grizzlies seemed to have entered a rhythm. The Grizzlies started scoring streaks, a red flag for the Clippers.

Link and Gasol's reverse high-low position made the Clippers at a loss. They either let Gasol shoot the ball or let Link and Matt Barnes one-on-one, these two options.

However, just a few rounds, no matter how the Clippers choose, their defense line is in jeopardy.

Off the court, Clippers coach Vinnie Denagro was a little flustered. In his plan, if the Clippers can seize the opportunity to widen the point difference to double digits, then the initiative in the game will be in the hands of the Clippers.

But he didn't expect that the 7-point advantage would be so useless. Link and Gasol simply played a high and low position, and they beat the Clippers all over the place.

Now the Clippers' offensive efficiency is not necessarily higher than that of the Grizzlies, and Link's threat in the low post is too great. Unless a real 4 guards Link, he'll just watch Link go downhill in the low post.

And the Clippers also need to increase their firepower now. Billups cannot help Paul share the scoring burden under such a tight defense of the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are accustomed to creating counter-attack opportunities with tight defense.

De Nagro then turned his head and glanced at the bench, and after a few more rounds, he was about to start adjusting the lineup.

This year is the final year of Denagro's contract with the Clippers. Until now, the Clippers have not mentioned the renewal of the contract. He is very clear that the Clippers are ready to make a decision after watching his performance in the playoffs.

In other words, this round of the series will be directly related to De Nagro's job, and he won't give in easily.

While thinking about it, the first quarter of the game is already halfway through. Under the threat of Link and Pau Gasol, the Clippers' defense took care of one thing and another. The Grizzlies have gone from a seven-point deficit to a five-point lead.

When Link's third turnaround jumper finally hit the ground and the Clippers got the ball, Denagro couldn't help calling a timeout.

You can't enter the second quarter with a disadvantage, you must keep pressing the Grizzlies at any time!

The Clippers players walked off the court one by one unwillingly, and Paul even slapped the bench hard on the bench, which shows how aggrieved he just played.

"Don't be discouraged, are you going to give up before the first quarter of the game is over? If you give up, can you still come back from a 0-2 deficit? We have survived such a big difficulty, and now It’s only 5 points behind, how can you give up so easily!?” Denagro first poured a bowl of chicken soup for the players, he knew that if the players had no intention of fighting, then the subtle tactics would be futile.

"Listen, we need to make some adjustments. Jamal, you replace Chauncey Billups. Butler, you replace Barnes. Defensively if Link goes down in the post, Blake, you go guard him! If Link gets out of the 3-point line, you and Butler switch quickly!"

Denagro said while writing and drawing on the tactical board. Of course, the main purpose of his suspension this time is not for defense, but for offense!

"Give me aggression on offense, don't let the fuck float around and shoot! Blake, I support you in developing mid-range shots, but you can't hide from mid-range all the time. You are a strong power forward, give me Hit the basket and kill me! Although the Black and White Bears are not as good as Link in statistics, you have all seen how strong their containment is. It can be said that many of the Grizzlies' tactics are not about Link, but It revolves around the black and white bears."

Speaking of which, the pause time is over. Denagro didn't add more, but made a wiping action at the players.

In an instant, the Clippers players understood. Create damage, force the black and white bears to foul, to force them to end, understand!

"The Clippers made a substitution, and the Clippers' super sixth man Jamal Crawford played. At the same time, Caron Butler also replaced Barnes.

It seems that the Clippers want to use the wheel battle to slowly grind with Link. On the Grizzlies side, it was still all starters and no substitutions. "

Barkley interpreted the lineup of the two sides. The Clippers are very targeted and obviously want to strengthen the offense.

Link didn't care who his opponent was, whether it was Barnes or Butler. Both guys are ruthless, and Butler even has a gangster background. But on the basketball court, only strength can determine the direction of things.

Link stood in front of Butler, conscientiously and relentlessly. Butler's three-point shooting this season is close to 40%, and letting him shoot is tantamount to suicide.

Just as Link followed Butler to the bottom right corner, the harsh whistle suddenly sounded.

Link looked back in surprise and found that Crawford was sitting on the ground, and in front of the referee was Randolph with his hands spread out and an innocent face on his face.

"Jamal Crawford's breakthrough is very fast, and Iguodala seems to have a little difficulty following up. Crawford's ability to get rid of defense is still very strong, if there is a gap, he can see the needle!" Kenny When Smith saw Crawford play, he knew the kid wasn't going to do nothing.

The sixth person must have the characteristics of the sixth person, and show his own characteristics within a limited time. This is the value of the sixth person. And Crawford's value lies in scoring.

Crawford got to the free throw line, and although Grizzlies fans tried to interfere, to no avail. As an old fritter who has been in the league for 13 years, Crawford doesn't care about these voices.

After two free throws, the Clippers narrowed the lead to 3 points. The most distressing thing is that Randolph got a foul on his back.

At first, the Grizzlies didn't care too much. For the attacking power of Jamal Crawford, the Grizzlies team was mentally prepared.

But when Crawford fouled Randolph for the second round in a row, everyone began to realize that something was not right.

The Clippers are deliberately causing damage!

"Foul again, Jamal Crawford is too fast, Iguodala is not suitable for guarding such a player. He may be able to guard James, he can guard Kobe. But this type of Iguodala is not at all. Can't keep up! Once Crawford breaks through Iguodala, Randolph has no time to react."

Barkley pouted, and the Clippers were really strong. When everyone thought that the Grizzlies were going to slowly open the score at their own pace, the Clippers stopped the bleeding in time.

No wonder they were able to come back from a 0-2 deficit to win.

Randolph is also very helpless. He is not a defensive gate at all. Compared with Gasol, he is more offensive. And dealing with this kind of defender who is known for his speed is precisely his shortcoming. But it happened that Crawford was going to stab him.

No matter how angry Randolph was, he finally accepted the ending of being substituted.

Darrell Arthur went into battle and saw that No. 00, who had experienced a ruptured Achilles tendon, played, Griffin's eyes lit up!

Chives are here!

Crawford continued to make free throws, although his shooting was inconsistent and a nerve knife. But on free throws, Crawford has always been at the top of the league. With the Blazers last season, Crawford shot 92.7 percent from the free throw line.

Although this season has declined, the 87.1% free throw percentage is not low.

Two shots, two points. The Clippers narrowed the difference to 1 point, and Randolph was not allowed to sit on the sidelines because of two fouls.

The Clippers took off immediately, and they were not overwhelmed by consecutive goals from Link and Gasol!

After that, the two sides entered into a fight of "you punch me, I kick you".

Blake Griffin, who was almost invisible at the beginning, stood up. On the offensive end, his athletic ability was enough to crush Arthur.

Arthur was an athlete before, but after a ruptured Achilles tendon, few athletes can return to the level they were before the injury, and Arthur is no exception.

Against Griffin, whether it is speed, confrontation or bounce, he is at a disadvantage overall.

Griffin also obeyed De Nagro's arrangement, instead of continuing to float mid-range shots, he bravely rushed to the basket.

Gasol made up and defended several times, but the effect was not good, and he was fouled by Griffin. In the case that Randolph has been protected for two fouls, Gasol's defense has also become hesitant and timid.

On the defensive end, Griffin was on the low post and Link's bar.

While Griffin's defense isn't top-notch, the strength and tonnage are there. Link wants to beat Griffin with his back, but it is much more difficult than hitting Barnes.

And now that Randolph is off the court, Arthur has no advantage over Barnes! Even if Link passes the ball, he cannot cause dislocation.

With just one substitution, the Grizzlies' reverse high-low post became less playable.

Therefore, every starter is extremely important to a team, and it affects the whole body.

In a basketball game, there are only five people on a team on the court. Therefore, the impact of a single player on the situation of the game is huge. This is the difference between basketball and football.

The fewer athletes involved, the more influence a single player can have on the situation.

In the eighth minute of the first quarter, Blake Griffin continued to attack, and also caused Gasol's second foul in the first quarter!

Even if Griffin hits two free throws, it can only be an equalizer. But the Grizzlies fans still covered their heads with their hands in annoyance, and both black and white bears encountered foul trouble, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to the Grizzlies.

Ultimately, the Grizzlies had to put the Ezeli + Arthur inside combination on the court. The Grizzlies' strategy is to keep at least one of the black and white bears on the floor most of the time, and rarely let Arthur and Ezeli play at the same time.

These two guys are not completely useless, but one's ability has greatly deteriorated, and the other is just a rookie, and it is still unstable after all.

But this time, the Grizzlies don't want to.

The Clippers then stormed the inside line, and Denagro even asked Lamar Odom to come up and play, and that guy really scored!

In the end, after the first quarter, the Clippers tied the score and entered the second quarter with a two-point advantage.

Griffin and Crawford became the key players in the first quarter of the Clippers' game, and the offense of these two guys allowed the Clippers to re-float strongly when they were about to fall into the water.

And Randolph and Gasol's foul troubles may continue throughout the game. At the end of the first quarter, the black and white Shuangxiong still can't be completely relieved.

Link originally thought that when he and Gasol played superbly, the Clippers had almost no confidence to resist.

But as he thought before, this round of the Western Conference semifinals may be more difficult than expected.