259: Explosion in place
Link stole Griffin and dunked a one-stop, silenced the entire Staples.
Los Angeles no longer remembers this. This is the Grizzlies No. 0 has caused Staples to panic this season. First, they were strangling Kobe in death, but now they will steal Griffin and dunk on his head.
Suddenly, these Los Angeles fans remembered what Kobe said.
"If Link can't become an All-Star player, it would be a humiliation for me."
From this point of view, Kobe is right. He did not lose to an ordinary person, he lost to an All-Star forward!
After this goal, the Grizzlies widened the gap to 3 points. In the last round, Griffin failed to continue the Clippers' score.
When Griffin saw that the Grizzlies were sending Guy to play the fourth position, he thought that his chance to ravage the basket was coming. However, it turned out that whether an opponent could be defeated was not just about his height and weight.
This time, the dunk after being stolen seemed to ignite the "lead" in Griffin's heart.
"The Grizzlies want to suppress us by offense, we must take the lead. Let's cheer up, let the Grizzlies taste the feeling of being defeated by defense." Seeing that their teammates were a little depressed, Paul loudly encouraged him.
Paul and Link have no personal grudges. Although they were defeated by Link last season, Paul is not so vengeful.
Moreover, because of Kobe's football game, the two nodded a little. But Paul is a person with a strong desire to win. Now the Clippers' record is so urgent and just lost to the Lakers in the last game, so Paul naturally wanted to stop the decline. Therefore, Paul is so fierce today.
He knew very well that he could not accomplish such a thing by himself alone. What he had to do must be done with him! To keep his teammates focused, he had to motivate them from time to time.
Paul is like a head coach wearing a jersey and knows how to make a team better.
Seeing that the boss had spoken, the Clippers players naturally did not dare to slack off. They pressed forward with the disadvantage of 3 points and were still in a state of turmoil.
Griffin didn't ask for the ball again this time, and he knew he had to slow down. The basketball game was a marathon, and temporary victory and backwardness could not determine the final result. Link's steal just now made Griffin know that even without Randolph, the Griffs' forward line would not be easy to deal with.
Griffin temporarily cut off the burning lead, but it is not certain whether the wire will be ignited again.
Now, Chris Paul has become the focus of attention. Whether he can recover his form after returning from injury in the second game will determine the Clippers' final fate.
Although Paul gave 12 assists in the last game, he only scored 4 points and had a low shooting percentage, which could not be washed away by any number of assists.
Today, after seeing Griffin being targeted, Paul decided to step up. Didn’t he successfully score a goal on Conley just now?
Paul used the same trick again and called for cover. But this time, he did not walk from the side with cover, but deliberately accelerated to the side without cover!
Although Paul suffered from injury, his speed was still very fast! You should know that Paul was completely healthy, but he competed with Kobe and Garnett for the existence of MVP in the third grade. Paul was finally ranked second in the MVP voting, and the number of votes was not much worse than Kobe.
Such a terrifying player is still the first step to be the top-level defender even after experiencing injuries!
Paul successfully made a breakthrough, and Conley could only try his best to chase back and be wary of his emergency stop jump shot at any time.
As a result, this time, Paul did not stop quickly, but directly entered the penalty area and then threw the ball!
Conley was caught off guard again. Gasol, who was guarding the inside, immediately took the defense, but to no avail.
Paul's soft little throw made the basketball pass over the Spanish vagabond in front of him and enter the net hollow!
"Chris Paul, he is really a decisive needle! As the Grizzlies were about to take shape, Paul pulled the Clippers back with his own hands. The Grizzlies are only one point ahead. Can they hold on?"
In this kind of game, it is really about who has more perseverance. Whoever loses the chain in this tough showdown first will be thrown away.
The Clippers have Paul who has extremely stable attacks, but they are afraid it will be difficult for them to lose their chains.
In this way, the first quarter ended with a back and forth attack and defense. Although Link's dunk on Griffin's head was talked about, the Grizzlies were only three points ahead of the Clippers after the first quarter.
Whenever the Grizzlies have a tendency to open the score, Paul will immediately stand up. Whether it is passing or steady shooting, it can always help swimming and maintain the lead.
At the beginning of the second quarter, both sides withdrew most of the main players, with Link and Paul among them.
Griffin began to become irritable in the second quarter. Without Paul, he still scored a lot of points on the bench. Spetz was flexible for most four positions, but this advantage disappeared in front of Griffin.
And Spets' offensive ability also prevented him from eating Griffin alone like Guy.
Griffin's repeated dunks gradually made him regain his confidence, and at the same time, the players of the Clippers found confidence. It seemed that he was finally about to start to justify himself. : :
But at this critical moment, Hollins interrupted Griffin's performance with a "discord". At this time, just four minutes into the second quarter, Hollins decided to send his main force to play!
Link, Tony Allen and Guy all returned to the field, and the Clippers also sent Paul to stabilize the situation. Computer::/
Hollins changed his defensive strategy this time, and he asked Tony Allen to personally mark Paul, so that Link could pay attention to double-teaming Griffin at any time.
"You will get in touch with Blake more times, but I need you to stay calm, Link. But if you have the chance... you can try to make Griffin uneasy." Before the game, Hollins pulled Link and whispered a few times.
Looking at the stingy smile on Hollins' face, Link nodded silently.
You are an indecent person!
"Blake Griffin's performance in the past few rounds is very good. Randolph and Spetz's approach to partnering with the inside doesn't seem to work. Now, coach Hollins has taken Rudy Guy again. I hope he can continue his performance in the first quarter."
Griffin thought the time was almost over, and he had hardly attacked since being intercepted by Link in the first quarter because he felt he had to slow down first. But now, after he slammed a few on Spetz's head and regained his confidence, Griffin thought his chance had come.
The No. 1 pick became active again, but he did not just want to play singles with Guy at a low post. This time, Griffin covered Paul's side, and immediately opened it after the cover and cut into the basket!
When Link saw the pick-and-roll appear, he abandoned Caron Butler and headed straight for Griffin.
Sure enough, the next second, Paul passed the ball! Link didn't know how many times he and Griffin's cover attack!
But if you stretch out your hand directly, Link will most likely not be able to touch the ball. So Link jumped forward suddenly, like a goalkeeper on the football field, and threw the still-flying basketball under him!
"I was stolen again!? What kind of weird way to steal this is??" Kenny Smith was stunned. This is a blocking shot. That guy Link had gone to the wrong set.
Link didn't expect the action to turn out like this, because the only thing he thought about at that time was that the ball could not be sent to Griffin. If Griffin received the ball, Conley, who had just switched to the past, would not stop him from raging the basket.
In desperation, Link made a reflexive move to fall to the ground and "save". After thinking about it, Link felt embarrassed.
But regardless of whether the movements are regular or not, at least Link stopped the Clippers' attack. On the ground, Link encountered Caron Butler's crazy grab. However, Link held the basketball tightly, and in the end, Caron Butler only got one chance to jump with Link.
The result of jumping the ball was that Link kept the ball. After a serious knee injury, Butler was no longer the all-rounder Xiaoqian who could fly and escape from the sky. It was not difficult for Link to jump over him.
"It's so unlucky!" Griffin cursed angrily, and Link's steal made all the ducks he got ran away.
"What an excellent defense. Link interrupted Griffin's great momentum as soon as he came up. Although the two did not match up today, their confrontation was particularly exciting. The Grizzlies' offense, let's see what the Grizzlies will do."
What else can I do? Guy continues to beat Griffin. Griffin was pulled out to the middle distance by Guy, and Jordan Jr. was also led by Gasol Jr.
Just when everyone thought Guy was going to pull again, he suddenly passed the ball to Link. Link had cut in at this time, and Caron Butler, who had slowed down a lot, was powerless!
At this time, Griffin and Jordan Jr. were not in the penalty area, so Link easily dunked the ball. The Grizzlies were still three points ahead, and Griffin also suffered another downturn.
Why did that guy score again?
The speed of the lead burning is accelerating.
"Beautiful dunk, Link has scored 8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists so far. Blake also scored 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. It seems that Link Griffin is not a big deal today."
"No, no," Barkley smiled when he heard Kenny Smith's remarks, "Look carefully, Griffin can't even catch the ball."
Griffin was originally planning to use the cover of no ball to throw away Guy, but as soon as he threw it away, Link changed.
According to the tactics, Griffin had to pass it, but this time he finally got a singles match and Link scored. Griffin couldn't even get rid of his previous shame!
"Blake Griffin slowed down. He was going to play Link alone at the low post! Here, the formal match between the two finally came late!
Just as Griffin was working hard to eat Link alone, Gasol raised his arms and clamped it up, and double-teamed it!
This is a defensive trap!
Cut off the connection between Paul and other Clippers players, so that the Clippers' combat effectiveness will be beyond expectations.
Let’s look at how Griffin performed in the previous few games before Paul’s comeback. It was a big car accident scene.
Griffin's pass is not right now, nor is it attack. In the end, he could only lean on Link's basket and hook his hand.
But with the help of Gasol Jr., Griffin's hook only added a rebounding data to Link.
"Without Chris, you can't play good numbers at all." After getting the rebound, Link did not forget to spit out a trash talk at Griffin, and this sentence completely burned out the lead in Griffin's heart!
"bo!", Griffin finally exploded on the spot.
Griffin pushed Link angrily, and the scene immediately became chaotic!
Link staggered back a few steps exaggeratedly, then sat down on the ground with an innocent look on his face. So the next second, the referee immediately gave Griffin a technical foul without hesitation!
Griffin ignited the powder keg, but in the end, he still injured himself.
Randolph, who was sitting off the court, looked at the extremely painful one second before. Seeing Griffin getting up immediately after consuming T, he couldn't help but shake his head. Link was acting like that, he was so shameless!
Link successfully stimulated Griffin, and the mentality of the No. 1 pick in the league has completely collapsed. The Grizzlies' defense has also successfully cut off Paul's connection with others, which has led to Paul having to take the offense by himself.
But is Paul, who has just returned from injury, able to carry the Grizzlies' offense?
This is going to be a big question mark.
Chapter completed!