In the Battle of Tianwangshan in the Finals, the Warriors ended the Green Army's unbeaten record after losing in the playoffs, and the Green Army's second game record after losing in the playoffs reached 7 wins and 1 loss, and this was also the first time that the Green Army had a losing streak in the playoffs this season. After the end of G5, Warriors coach Kerr also spoke passionately in the locker room, cheering all the players on and threatening to go to Boston to end the series. Obviously, in the first three rounds, the Warriors had enough advantages to "release water" and earn one more round of ticket money, but now, the whole Team of warriors is eager to lift the O'Brien Cup in the next game. With a broken elbow and a strong hunch that it will help the Warriors win the championship and defend to win the championship, Kerr trusts your contribution more than Poole.
In the game of Tianwangshan, fans even ridiculed the rest of the Warriors carrying Curry forward, when Curry almost single-handedly led the Warriors to win the away game, his state ushered in a slippery slope, but the Green Army failed to seize this precious opportunity, but let the other players of the Warriors play a performance. Wiggins is still the most solid player on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, Klay's 5 three-pointers helped the Warriors to the bottom, Poole's magical play at the end of the third quarter passed the most difficult stage for the Warriors, and Green also announced that he did not just play the opponent's mentality. However, the most surprising thing about the Warriors this game was their backup guard Payton Jr., who shot 6 of 8 shots in the whole game, and Peyton Jr. scored a top 15 points on the bench, even one more point than Poole.
84.5%, which is the true shooting rate of Payton Jr., the first in the game, and his +16 plus-minus is also the highest in the game, that is, when Payton Jr. came on, the Warriors won the Green Army by 16 points, and when Payton Jr. came off, the Warriors lost 6 points, and the net efficiency of his presence or not reached +22. Payton Jr. can return, which must be a huge improvement for the Warriors' defensive end, to a certain extent, he makes up for the gap in Iguodala's aging, in the game, Payton Jr. is a player that Kerr often sends to defend Tatum, and Tatum when facing Petton Jr., except for some forced dry shooting, he really does not have a very good offensive method.
Tatum's play in these games can be said to be completely limited, his main defender is Wiggins, the other is Payton Jr., in the opening stage of the first and second half, Tatum can also name Curry to play for a while, and in the game stage, when Peyton Jr. came out, Tatum's offensive efficiency was seriously reduced, because he could not find a breakthrough, it seems that no matter who he faces, Tatum can not find the angle of attack. Another angle can illustrate the importance of Payton Jr., whose playing time (27 minutes) in this game is the fourth in the team, after Curry, Clay, Green and Wiggins, the four core members.
Among the substitutes, Payton Jr. has the most playing time, and after his comeback, a large part of Poole's playing opportunities were divided by Peyton Jr., who only played 14 minutes in this game. Since Payton Jr. returned to G2, the Warriors have won three of the four Finals he has played, and in two of those winning games, he has played the most of the bench. To put it mildly, if Cole had sent Peyton Jr. in the late G1 quarter, the series might have been over by now. When Payton Jr. was injured in the Western Conference Semifinals, many people thought he would miss all the next games, but Payton Jr. stubbornly recovered before the Finals, even if there was still a slight pain in his elbow, but it was nothing compared to being able to play.
After determining the comeback, Peyton Jr. wrote an open letter to the Warriors, revealing his thoughts after the injury, in addition to returning to the court with a strong premonition that can help the Warriors win the championship, Xiao Admire also said that his first thought after the injury was not to return to the locker room to check the injury, but to stand on the free throw line to complete the free throw, I have to say that Peyton Jr.'s mentality is indeed admirable. It's hard to imagine why such a heavily underrated defensive player was only really discovered at the age of 29, and he should have had a chance in the NBA long ago, except that none of the coaches who have worked with Peyton Jr. have a clearer understanding of him.
In these finals, Payton Jr. once again proved his ability, his state was not affected by the fracture of the elbow, although the season is not over, but Payton Jr. can get a longer and larger contract is already a sure thing, some NBA reporters have reported that some teams, including the Lakers, are interested in Payton Jr., who can not only get a formal NBA contract in this offseason, but also this contract can reach at least $6 million (a middle-class exception), Some teams may even offer The Peton Jr. the full middle class, a title puzzle that any team dreams of.