Chapter 1768 The Semi-Finals Heading Towards the Finish Line

The 12-point gap seemed small, but it was enough to make Thunder fans feel desperate. When the game whistle blew, many die-hard fans still refused to leave for a long time. The DJ's slow and deep tone sounded like the whole audience. Fans predict when the next game will be.

The Thunder players came to a standstill. Westbrook said nothing, Ibaka was crying, Harden was confused, and Durant stood in the middle of the field with his waist in his arms, looking up at the data on the big screen. :

The first is the Lakers. Ji Feng’s icon is ranked first. Tonight’s Ji Feng is enough to make people despair. Judging from the data, the audience made 11 of 15 shots, 3 of 4 three-pointers, and 7 of 7 free throws. He scored 32 points and shot 73% from the field, 3%. This terrifying shooting rate turned out to be the lowest shooting rate in a single game in the playoffs. Isn't this desperate enough?

Of course not. At the same time, Ji Feng sent out 10 assists and 11 rebounds, scoring triple-doubles in 4 consecutive games, tying his personal best record in the playoffs last season.

This is not all. The 4 steals and 3 blocks in the game were also the most, which completely overwhelmed all the defenders and insiders. According to Barkley, he felt ashamed after seeing these statistics.

"No one does it better than him, not even Jordan."

This sentence naturally made many fans of Mr. Qiao feel unhappy, but with the data in front of them, it was not their turn to refute.

Smith said with some gray humor: "Looking at it normally, there may be only one mistake and three fouls that tell us that Ji Feng is not perfect."

Thunder fans said: Thank you, I was not comforted. If one mistake and three fouls can become a black mark, James next door has averaged 5.8 mistakes per game in the playoffs so far. He should apologize to the fans around the world, and the roar of retirement has long been Tianzun will also be pulled out and beaten repeatedly. Whoever commits him will receive several times more technical fouls than others.

The most disappointing thing is that such data cannot reflect Ji Feng's full value on the court, such as matchup defense, assist defense efficiency, etc., which cannot be fully reflected with a few simple data.

But victory doesn't lie. With Ji Feng's performance, the Lakers have no reason to lose.

What's more, there are many strong men around Ji Feng.

Kobe had 24 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, Gasol had 20 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, Bynum had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Artest had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Fisher had 6 points, Farmar had 5 points, and Blake had 5 points. points, Powell had 3 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. All the Lakers rotation players scored.

It's no wonder that Durant only sighed silently after watching it. They didn't lose unfairly. If the Lakers hadn't been too far ahead and let the Lakers play too laxly, the final point difference would definitely have been more than 12 points.

But the Thunder tried their best.

Durant had 27 points and 4 rebounds, Westbrook had 20 points and 7 assists, and Harden had 14 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. This was the best of the three Thunder semifinal games. The three of them also hit a total of 7 three-pointers. Score the ball.

But as ESPN said: "This kind of performance is enough if you want to deal with the Trail Blazers, but it is far from enough if you want to defeat the Lakers."

Moreover, what the data did not reflect was the confusion of the Thunder in the second half of the second quarter and the first half of the third quarter. At that time, the young Thunder players under heavy pressure had almost forgotten how to play, and they made continuous mistakes and made mistakes. It ruined the opportunity and ended the suspense of the game.

Maybe it's also the suspense of the entire playoffs.

No team can complete the comeback after falling behind 0-3, not to mention that the Thunder did not lose a game by less than 10 points in this set of games, and because of the 42-point defeat in the second game, the average loss per game reached a terrifying 23 points.

As Director Zhang said in his summary after the game: "The difference between the victory and defeat in a series has been around ten points, which has proved that there is a gap in strength between the two teams, let alone such a big difference. The Thunder The current strength is not enough to defeat the Lakers, even one game will be difficult.”

"Yeah, let's see if the Thunder can fight for honor and cause some trouble for the Lakers in the fourth game. There are a lot of newcomers in this year's playoffs. I originally thought they would have a chance to have an impact on the Lakers, but in the end, this should count. This is the easiest playoff game for the Lakers." Yu Jia also expressed some emotion.

The media carnival before this year's playoffs. The rise of the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Thunder made them seem to see hope of reshaping the era. Many people felt that this would be the beginning of a new era.

To a certain extent, this is indeed the case. The veteran Spurs were incredibly defeated by the Grizzlies. To be honest, this defeat was a major blow to the Spurs, and it was also the beginning of the careers of Popovich and Duncan. Waterloo will even have a certain impact on their historical status. After all, they were hacked twice in three years. This is the second time in NBA history. Only the Mavericks and Spurs are worse.

But here with the Lakers, everyone experienced what it means to be a strong team. The Thunder, which was so powerful, fell behind 0-3 so tragically. Before the game, absolutely few people could have imagined it.

But for the Lakers, this is certainly reasonable.

First of all, the Lakers' own strength has reached its peak. Ji Feng is getting stronger every year. Although Gasol and Kobe are over 30, they are still at their peak. Artest and others are also the same, adding fresh blood. The depth of the bench is unmatched in the league.

After several seasons of running-in, the Lakers also have no problems with cooperation and tacit understanding, and their skills and tactics have reached the most mature stage.

Secondly, the Lakers tried their best to solve the impact of injuries and physical fitness. Although they struggled in the regular season, the struggle was useful. Kobe's unprecedented practice of 15 regular season games proved to be a very effective decision.

The three consecutive championships have also filled the Lakers with the temperament of a king. This kind of thing cannot be learned.

Other teams, such as the Suns, Spurs, Jazz, Nuggets, Rockets and other teams that competed with the Lakers in previous seasons have failed this season due to various reasons. Only the Mavericks are left struggling to support themselves, and the experience of the rookie team , the strength has not yet reached its peak, which means that this season's Western Conference is indeed the weakest Western Conference the Lakers have encountered in four years.

For the Thunder, although it is a bit cruel, it is also a fact that they have to accept. In front of them, this may be the price that youth needs to pay.

Of course, it is impossible to give up. Thunder players Westbrook and Du Shao both came to the press conference, which was also a performance of shouldering the loss together.

"It's a pity that you lost the game." the reporter asked.

"Yes, we lost, but we haven't been eliminated yet and we still have a chance." Durant said.

"In two seasons, you have been defeated by the Lakers seven times in a row." Reporters are reporters, and they are good at uncovering scars.

"So what, every game will be a new beginning." Westbrook replied.