When the game went to the final 9.4 seconds, the Warriors trailed 112-115, Curry was wrapped and had to take the ball, watching Poole miss a two-meter shot from beyond the three-point line.
How he wished that standing there was still that thin and cold Grim Reaper.
Poole was already great today, scoring 21 points on 6-of-11 three-point shooting, throwing in four in the first half to keep the situation from collapsing, and firing again in the fourth quarter to help the team chase 109-112.
Without his magical play, the Warriors would not have survived the final 14-0 chase.
But Poole is not Durant after all, he is not a player on the court equal to LeBron James and Curry.
In the 2017 Finals, Curry had 26.8 points, 8.0 boards and 9.4 assists, and James 33.6 points, 12.0 boards and 11.0 assists.
But the Warriors also have a Durant with 35.2 points, 8.2 boards and 5.4 assists,
In the 2018 Finals, Curry had 27.5 points, 6.0 boards and 6.8 assists, and James 34.0 points, 8.5 boards and 11.0 assists.
But the Warriors still have a Durant with 28.8 points, 10.8 boards and 7.5 assists,
In those two years of the Finals, it was not LeBron James who lost to Stephen Curry, but he lost to Curry + Durant.
Two fists are difficult to fight with four hands, the first in the world has not fought the second + third in the world.
Who knows.
And today's game, everything is reversed.
When 38-year-old James met 35-year-old Curry, this time he had a 30-year-old thick eyebrow beside him.
30 points, 23 boards, 5 assists and 4 blocks, as if a Godzilla crashed into the Golden Gate Bridge.
Only the great Tim Duncan in history has played this 30+20+5+3 stat in the playoffs.
In previous matchups, Curry had Durant, but this time LeBron has thick eyebrows around him, as well as a deeper lineup.
In this game, both sides did their homework and made the most of their strengths.
After the opening, the Warriors fired from Wiggins' three-point line to kick off the three-point bombardment.
This season, the Lakers have been sticking to the defensive logic of squatting under the basket and using the squeeze of the outside to force opponents to shoot from the distance.
From the perspective of the entire season, it gave the Lakers good defensive data, but when it comes to a specific game, I am afraid that the opponent's three-point shot will explode.
Who in the league can shoot three-pointers better than Curry and the Warriors?
So in the first quarter, the Warriors were 5-of-12 from three-point range, and the splashes opened the scoring account.
However, the Lakers also had their own response, and after the Warriors contracted the basket in the opening game and tried to shoot a few long-range shots, the Lakers began to assault the basket one by one.
To be precise, it was Thick Eyebrows who used Dream Chase and Looney as toys again and again.
In the first quarter, the thick eyebrows bombed 14 points and 4 boards, and Rivers and Hachimura also entered the box one by one.
The Warriors' three-point shot depends on the feel, but the height and stature of the Lakers are constant.
In the first quarter, the Warriors led 31-29 with one inside and one outside.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the thick eyebrows took a break, and the Warriors also sent a bench rotation, giving the Lakers an opportunity.
Kuchai Tangzuilu's championship-winning five-man group is the Warriors' biggest competitiveness, and once one player is off, the Warriors' roster will decline significantly.
The Lakers and LeBron naturally knew that under the leadership of James, outside attackers such as Rivers and Schroder took turns to shoot, and the early return of thick eyebrows allowed the Lakers to grasp the initiative on the court, once overtaking the point difference to 48-44.
Fortunately, the Warriors Poole felt good today, hitting four three-pointers in a single quarter, including a 3+1, and without his efforts to turn the tide in the second quarter, perhaps the suspense would have ended in the first half.
At halftime, the Lakers rallied 65-64.
In the third quarter, it was the Tianwang Mountain where the two teams fought for their lives.
The "Three Festivals" are still powerful this season, but unlike their rush to clock in at their peak, today's Warriors are too old.
The aging core lineup left them limited in the final quarter when they ran out of stamina, so they wanted to rush to kill their opponents in the third quarter.
But today's Lakers didn't give them a chance.
After a short entanglement, the Lakers took the lead in opening the scoring account, and the thick eyebrows' inside killing, James' three-pointers, especially Rivers' eight consecutive points directly knocked the Warriors out.
The point difference stretched to double digits (86-76), and although the Warriors fought desperately at the end of the quarter, the Lakers still entered the final quarter finale (96-88) with an eight-point lead.
In this quarter, Curry (3 points), Klay (4 points), and Poole (3 points) felt exhausted, and the Warriors no longer had firepower, and they were still grabbing seven with the King 48 hours ago.
Physical disadvantages and stature brought about the collapse of this section.
In the final battle, the warriors' physical problems were gradually revealed.
Originally, this year's team's lineup matching was "more guards, fewer forwards", "big less, more small", especially for the Lakers, who have fully upgraded their forward line after a big trade, so that the pressure on the team on confrontation and defense is increasing with the decline in physical fitness.
The Lakers continue to use their physical talent to eat singles, LeBron, Thick Eyebrows and even Schroder can easily score, while the Warriors' firepower is getting weaker and weaker,
With 5 minutes and 58 seconds left in the game, with James hitting a shot, the Lakers were already leading by 14 points at 112-98, and it looked like the big picture was decided.
But the reason why the Warriors are Warriors, and the reason why Curry is Curry, is the tenacious resilience and terrifying scoring explosiveness in their games.
Wiggins replaced Looney in the previous round, and Kerr put out the "Death Five" of Splash + Poole + Wiggins + Dream, and the defensive end used a joint defense to target the thick eyebrows that had played for 37 minutes and were also physically strong.
And the inertia of the Lakers after the lead also gave them a chance, so Curry's strong burst 2+1, Klay's three-pointer, Curry another layup, and then two three-pointers with Poole.
In just 3 and a half minutes, the Warriors returned to the Lakers a 14-0!
But that's the end of it, the Lakers' physical and physical advantage is still stable, Russell a key layup to stabilize the situation, then Curry layup thick eyebrows blocked, LeBron fast attack was fouled two free throws, 115-112.
However, it is the scene at the beginning of the article, Poole, who made great achievements in the whole game, missed a three-point shot, and the Warriors' last-minute rally failed,
The Lakers eventually defeated the Warriors 115-112 to take a 1-0 lead and regain home-court advantage.
Match Look:
(1) The thick eyebrows are the points that the warriors cannot handle, and it is the existence of much higher than the little Sabonis.
Unless the Warriors change their defensive strategy to focus on him, he will be the nightmare of this series forever.
As long as the thick eyebrows are healthy, the Lakers can always look at the high Warriors.
He is now the "Durant" between LeBron and Curry.
(2) The Warriors need to make sure that their 21-of-53 three-pointers are the "constant" of this series.
The Lakers did not play at a high level today, and even made a mess of three-point shooting, still relying on talent and physical superiority to win.
The Warriors must always have such three-point production or even higher, otherwise their "steady firepower" is far inferior to the Lakers.
(3) The referee is definitely the focus of this series
The 29-6 free throw ratio was certainly caused by the difference in the style of play between the two teams, with the Lakers slamming inside and the Warriors obsessed with shooting.
But if there's a game where the Lakers don't get so many free throws, there's a noticeable drop in offensive efficiency.
The first game between the two teams was so fierce that the league certainly didn't want it to end hastily.
In the next G2 game, it is estimated that it will be the turn of Lakers fans to spray referees.
But the core of this series is,
LeBron + AD > Curry,
Just like five years ago, Curry + Durant > LeBron
It's a truth.
Feng shui rotates, and heaven and earth are good reincarnation.