Today's NBA playoffs, the biggest "upset" is the Golden State Warriors who were stabbed by the Kings 123-126 on the road.
Originally facing the third and home side of the West, coupled with the momentum of the first playoff game in 17 years, the loss was not a surprise.
But after losing to the Nuggets earlier this month, the Warriors ended with three straight wins, plus Peyton Jr., Wiggins and other players returned. Eight percent of last year's championship rotation was recovered before the playoffs began. Only one Porter was released, but with Divichenzo earned, coupled with Kuminga's maturity, the strength seems to be steadily rising.
As a result, many warrior fans are enthusiastic in their hearts:
The playoffs are not the same as the regular season. Your "daddy" is back.
It's really different,
The Kings on the opposite side took out the Warriors in a very different way than they did in the regular season.
In the regular season, Kings All-Star center, interior core Sabonis Jr. averaged 19.1 points, 12.3 boards and 6.1 assists per game, which is the second largest interior core in the league after Jos, while Sam Jr. assists 302 three-point points.
It is with Sa as the axis that this king team has the highest offensive efficiency in league history (118.6 points per 100 rounds).
Today's Sam, 5-of-17 shooting, 12 points, 16 boards and 2 assists, is the team's second-to-last -9. Almost "scrapped" the attack under the joint forces of Chasing Dream and Looney.
Along with the Kings' two outside guns, Hult and Kigan Murray went 0-of-8 from three-point range and scored just eight points. You know, the two combined to contribute 28 points to the team in the regular season.
To be able to contribute to the opposite core and the two main players in the game to such a point.
At least in terms of pre-match tactical arrangements, it is really difficult to demand the coaching staff headed by Cole.
But a team hungry for victory, a coach with real tactical skills, a star who is really capable of dominating the game.
It is absolutely impossible to carry only a single tactical targeting and containment.
So in the first half, Sabonis, Murray, Huert and Barnes combined for 7 of 28 to score only 18 points, while Monk alone on the bench scored 15 points.
Coach Mike Brown, who has been on the Warriors bench for six years, decisively adjusted his thinking:
If you can't get rid of Sabonis, then I'll poke you with two daggers in hand.
One dagger is Monk, the Kings' ruthless sixth man this season, averaging 13.5 points per game this season.
One dagger is called Fox, probably the fastest guard in the league, the King's real sharp knife, averaging 25+6 per game this season and the king of key balls (averaging 5.0 points per game).
So at the beginning of the second half, although the Warriors still led 61-55, they did not play the familiar "three madness", but were dragged down by the King.
This quarter Fox scored 14 points in a single quarter. Especially when with 2 minutes and 18 seconds left in the third quarter, the Warriors led 86-78, and Kerr replaced Curry for the rest as usual, and the Kings played a wave of 13-4 in more than two minutes to overtake the score.
Perhaps Steve Kerr is still using the first game of the first round as a training ground for the transition from the regular season to the playoffs,
But for the Kings after 17 years away from the playoffs, they can't miss every chance to win.
The warrior is playing, the king is playing with his life.
Then in the fourth quarter, the two sharp blades of Fox and Monk could not stop the "killing".
The Kings at this time are already very simple, they don't need Sabonis's high position, they just need him to protect the rebounds inside, today one alone contributed 16, Dream Chase and Looney combined 18.
The Kings were Fox and Monk taking turns firing without giving the Warriors a chance to breathe, and the tacit understanding they formed in Kentucky was not lost to the Splash Brothers in the fourth quarter.
Fox 15 points, Monk 13, Curry 13 and Klay 6.
This time the game was lost, and the Warriors can be said to be convinced.
All of them lead by up to 10 points, but the King can instantly wipe it out with the firepower of his league first,
They've never played a playoff game in Sacramento, and they don't know that fans here can boo the "OK combination" back then.
They were in the final section of the "Ace Fight" battle, and the splash did not bombard the "Kentucky Double Fire".
Be willing to gamble and lose.
They still have a lot to improve and look forward to,
Wiggins, for example, can return to the starting lineup very quickly, last year he locked up Morant, Doncic and Tatum, and this year he still needs to solve the toughest attackers on the opposite side.
Curry was a bit slow to heat up today, and he didn't start full power in the first half because of the team's smooth sailing, giving the Kings a chance to last until the end.
Coach Kerr is still a bit big, the Warriors' rotation is still similar to the regular season, and he shouldn't let others play without addressing the team's lack of control when Curry is off.
When the two points are not even shortcomings or defeats in normal times, they are just that today's king is too good.
Of course, the king also has room to continue to improve.
Sabonis can't always be a "rebounding machine" in the rest of the game, and as a three-team center in the league this season, second only to Jos. and the Great, he needs to have a better offensive performance.
Kigan Murray and Hult, who have also been "supplied with ammunition" by him, should have done better, and today Lyles' 4-of-6 three-point shooting should have been their job.
After losing the first game, the Warriors are not desperate, after all, the next game to win back home advantage will still return to their hands, back to the home court can successfully win the 3-1 advantage.
If you win the first game, the Kings can't be complacent, if you really want to finish off the Warriors in a series, your home court must be held, and today's victory is only a matter of responsibility.
It's just that today's wonderful game told some people:
This series is definitely not as simple as you think.