Warriors 102-98 Nuggets, big score 4-1 elimination of the Nuggets to advance to the Western Conference semifinals!
The last loss was an opportunity for the Warriors, an opportunity to bring Curry back to the starting lineup. After all, it is too outrageous to let a superstar play four consecutive bench games in the playoffs, that is, the Warriors can do this, that is, Curry can agree.
But Kerr wanted Curry to return to the starting line and Poole to come directly to the bench, so he chose a compromise method, with looney as a substitute for the five starters. Originally, the Nuggets were small against the Warriors, and Kerr's starting five small swing made the Nuggets' height advantage on the three, four, and five positions more obvious.
The Warriors play small and fast, the Nuggets play high inside, and both sides play each other, and the game is more interesting.
First, do your best to dig for gold
The Nuggets are a team with Mr. Yo as the absolute core, so they want to have a chance, first of all, they have to play to the fullest.
About the teacher scored 12 of 18 in the whole game, cut 30 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, and really tried his best. If Mr. Yo can turn this 30-point quasi-triple-double into a real triple-double, the Nuggets can win this game.
Mr. Yo's first three quarters of stats may be more telling, he shot 7 of 11 in the first three quarters, 18 points, 19 rebounds and 8 assists. 11 shots in the third quarter show that he did not have too many strong attacks in the first three quarters like in the first four games, but Patton had the most shots in the team in 12 times, Gordon and Morris each had only one less than Mr. Joe, and Cousins on the bench also had 9 shots.
His 18 points, though the highest on the team, were not broken with other teammates, with Cousins and Gordon both having 15 points, Button 13 and Morris 11. Aside from Cousins' 15 points, the others' points were mostly related to his eight assists.
This is Mr. Yo's favorite model: he doesn't need to shoot too many times, pass the ball to bring up his teammates, and finally if he needs to come out to end the game, then he still has enough physical strength, if he doesn't need himself, it's better to lie flat and drink Coke.
It was because the Nuggets played such a game in the first three quarters that by the end of the quarter, Mr. Yo had enough physical strength to withstand five fouls, with a strained right thigh hamstring — he had obvious signs of not daring to exert himself and moving further — and scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, helping the Nuggets save the suspense for the end.
Cousins also tried his best, cousins played what was probably his best playoff game since the big injury, playing in the early 15 minutes, scoring 19 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal.
Although he will be targeted on the defensive end, he can always find the field on the offensive end, and his and Hyland's blocking is the source of the Nuggets' bench attack, and whenever the tactics can't be played, the Nuggets give the ball to Cousins, and there are always some good things that will happen.
It is also thanks to Cousins' excellent performance that the Nuggets' connection section can be stalemated with the Warriors, and even once had an advantage in the first three quarters.
Gordon also tried his best, and the Nuggets made it clear today that they wanted to cut the Warriors' inside line, and Gordon was the pioneer officer. The Nuggets' first offense was when he broke through to the inside and caused Green to foul.
He played nearly 40 minutes, four seconds less than Barton, the second highest on the team; he grabbed 9 rebounds, second only to Joe, but 6 of the 9 rebounds were on the frontcourt, accounting for almost half of the team; he scored 15 points, only less than Jokic and Cousins.
Of course, he was also Curry's main defender, following Curry for a whole game. Of course, Gordon has some bad playing, such as the last moment about the teacher to pass the basket to let him play Clay, he returned the ball error, and then for example, he finally lost the position in a row to let Curry break through, but the Nuggets' style and hardness are supported by Gordon's vitality, rebounding and breakthrough.
The Nuggets almost played the perfect performance that this lineup can play: they slowed down the pace of the game, so that the Warriors could not play a bright offense, they took advantage of the height and hardness of the front, dragged the Warriors into the mire and wrestled with them, but in the end they could not hide the lack of talent in the lineup.
Some gaps are indeed not something that can be crossed with hard work.
Second, see the warriors who have broken down the moves
In fact, the Warriors' series has been played so far, and the Sun playing pelicans is a bit similar, all of them are short to high, small to big.
The Suns said after the Pelicans G4 two days ago: "The small lineup wants to win the big lineup either fast or accurate." But fast is based on quasi-based, because there is no space, no matter how fast it is, it cannot burst in. ”
Therefore, the Warriors must be accurate in the face of the Nuggets, if not accurate enough, the military training can not be about the teacher, the Warriors this outside line 31 in 13, shooting 41%. The Nuggets only have 6 of 29 shooting, shooting 20%, and the Warriors' shooting rate is twice that of the Nuggets, is it accurate enough?
But still only won the Nuggets by 4 points, if the Nuggets were a little more accurate on the outside line, Murray and Porter had one to support on the outside, and the teacher would not be so tired.
As long as the Warriors get up, the Nuggets have a problem that can never be solved: about the teacher's defense.
You see in the last half of the ball about the teacher came back with five fouls, the Warriors used the cover for each ball to find the teacher, Curry looked for Clay, Klay looked for Curry again, endlessly.
Teacher Yo as a big center originally moved slowly, this time with 5 fouls and hamstring tension, how do you let Teacher Yo defend?
So the whole logic becomes like this: Teacher Yo as the core can not go down, but Teacher Yo was beaten in the field, and when he was beaten, he could only find it back on the offensive end, but the Warriors defensive end surrounded Teacher Yo, and the Nuggets' outside line did not echo and had no solution.
Finally, the Nuggets were forced to hurry, and Coach Malone asked Mr. Jo to defend Payton Jr., while the outside began to encounter cover clipping Curry.
Then Curry passed to Peyton Jr. in the crack;
Curry himself broke through Gordon with the ball, because the cover would encounter a pinch attack, so Curry simply broke through and scored;
In the next round, seeing that the Nuggets' pinch was about to force the Warriors out of 24 seconds, Payton Jr. finally shot a three-pointer;
In the end, Curry and Green blocked and found Morris, the shortest on the field, Morris participated in the pinch and could not clip Curry, but blocked the route of Gordon's pursuit, and finally Curry scored a basket in front of Morris's eyes and sent the teacher home to sleep obediently.
Overall, every step of the Nuggets' game, the Warriors have made the right response to it. The root of the strain is to expose the lack of defensive and Nugget offensive talent of Teacher Yo.
The Nuggets tried their best, but they didn't lose.
In the end, Curry cut 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, personally sent the Warriors to the Western Conference semifinals, and it has been three years since they left the stage.
Thanks for reading it all!