Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 713

On April 4, the Warriors hosted the Oracle Arena and ushered in the first playoff game of the new season, and it was a playoff game without Li Weisi.

Payton stepped on the floor of the Oracle Arena, chewing gum in his mouth, but his face was a little cold. He was not as happy as other teammates for Li Weisi's absence from the game. On the contrary, he felt pity and unwillingness.

This season, especially after George Karl joined the Supersonics, Payton has entered a period of rapid growth, and George Karl is also discerning, giving Payton more freedom to play on the court.

Payton did not disappoint Karl, not only the average data soared to 16 points and 6 assists per game, but also the leadership temperament exuded by him became more and more obvious.

The Supersonics this season have many good players in the team, including veterans Ricky Pierce and Eddie Johnson, as well as potential rookies Sean Kemp and Derek McGee. Kill the warriors.

Although Payton was dissatisfied with Li Weisi's absence from the game, so that he stared at Li Weisi before the game, but when the game started, he still focused on the court.

In this game, the Warriors' starting lineup has not changed much. It is still Curry, Richmond, Mullin, Rodman and Divac.

For the Sonics, the starting lineup is: Gary Payton, Ricky Pierce, Drake McGee, Sean Kemp and Michael Cage.

After the game started, Pierce and Kemp were the first to attack the Sonics.

In the Supersonic lineup, everyone can actually attack and defend, but the team's offensive starting points are still Payton and Pierce, especially Pierce, who has the most possessions in the Supersonics except for Payton.

As a veteran who has played in the league for 10 years, Pierce's playing experience is naturally extremely rich. Facing Richmond, Pierce first used Kemp's pick-and-roll, and then passed the ball to Kemp who was running down. Dunk.

Rodman's physical fitness is definitely at the forefront in the NBA. However, compared with Kemp, he is far behind in terms of height, wingspan and jumping.

Therefore, when Kemp took off, Rodman had no idea of ​​​​blocking the shot at all, because it was out of reach, unless he fouled.

But paying his own foul on such a must-score goal, Rodman would not do such a loss-making business.

Facing the menacing Supersonics, the Warriors' offense also played impressively.

On the offensive end, despite the extremely tight defense of the Supersonics, the Warriors still relied on a hand-off pass from Divac to help Richmond get rid of the defense, hit a mid-range jumper, and chase the score to 2:2 .

Then, the Supersonics attacked, and Payton broke through and gave the ball to Pierce. Pierce returned the color from the middle distance, 4:2.

Looking back, Mullin passed Curry in seconds, but when Curry made a layup, Payton succeeded in cutting the ball first, and then passed the ball to Pierce who was on the fast break. Pierce made a long pass to find McGee who was rushing up the court. McGee dunked with both hands and scored another 2 points, 6:2.

It was the Warriors' turn to attack again, but at this time Curry was almost collapsed under Payton's defense.

Of course, Curry is about to collapse not because of Payton's defense, but because of his trash talk buzzing like a fly.

Although Payton is also a very famous trash talker in later generations, the route he took is different from the murderous trash talk like Bird and Jordan. Payton took the route of controlling the full amount.

If it is said that Li Weisi needs braces to play and Jordan needs tongue to play, then Payton needs saliva to play.

After a game, the water Payton drank was not enough for him to talk.

Moreover, the most important thing is that Peyton's trash talk is really rubbish, always follow other people's next three ways, similar to "your kid's personal defense is not as tight as the girl I had last night" Such words caused athletes from many countries to jointly protest when he participated in the Olympic Games in the original time and space.

Curry is suffering from Payton's hair dryer mode at this time. Curry is too embarrassed to repeat those dirty words to others.

Coupled with the fact that one was successfully defended by Payton just now, Payton was even more proud at this time, talking nonsense.

Fortunately, Curry's mentality is relatively strong, and he has also played in the league for five years, so he resisted the urge to beat Payton into a pig's head, concentrated on running tactics, and looked for opportunities.

However, during this period, Curry inevitably suffered from Peyton's interference, which led to this offense and failed to get a chance. In the end, Mullin made a throw and chased the score to 4:6.

It has to be said that Mullin's playing style today has undergone tremendous changes from his style when he first entered the league.

Today, he not only takes more three-pointers per game, but also has more offensive methods. Because he is a left-handed general, it makes it more difficult for defenders to defend whether it is throwing shots or jumping against defenders.

However, judging from the scene after the start, the Supersonics are undoubtedly the active side. He scored more points and was in better condition, which led to the Supersonics leading by 8 points in the first quarter.

It is the Warriors' bench lineup that narrows the point difference.

Compared with the Warriors' bench, the Supersonics' bench obviously does not have the depth of the Warriors' bench.

However, this does not mean that the Sonics' bench is not good. In fact, although the Sonics can play less than the Warriors, Nate McMillan, Eddie Johnson and Ben Oit Benjamin on the bench But they all have great strength.

Needless to say, McMillan, as the starting point guard of the Sonics before Payton, not only has excellent organizational skills, but also has excellent defensive skills.

Although Benjamin was the No. 85 show in [-], it seems a little watery at present, especially compared with his previous two No. [-] rounds, the gap is even more obvious.

But Benjamin himself is not a parallel importer. As a defensive insider, his ability is quite good. This season, he can contribute 14 points and 8 rebounds per game. He is definitely a qualified NBA insider.

As for Eddie Johnson, despite turning 32 at this point, he's still one of the best bench players in the entire NBA.

Although the data has declined this season, he can still average 17.1 points per game, which is higher than the starter Payton.

It can be said that his only shortcoming is his name.

The surname Johnson is the second most common surname in the United States, with about 200 million people, and Eddie is a very common name, leading to a player with the same name and surname in the NBA.

It’s just that Johnson, who obeys the law and is a model citizen, is different from the other Johnson, who can be said to have all kinds of poisons. After 86, he often commits various crimes such as Western drugs, rape, arrests, etc. that will be harmed. .

The most hateful thing is that in the original time and space, in 2006, the case of surname assault on a young girl was widely criticized, and even the "Chicago Tribune" directly used Johnson's photo without investigation in order to rob time, which made him become an overnight Object of contempt.

Johnson, who was on vacation in Hawaii at the time, was completely unaware that he had to explain to everyone on his return that he was not that guy.

This feeling is like the one who committed the crime is Wu Zhi, and everyone ran to scold Tang Maru...

Although the "Chicago Tribune" later apologized, there are still people who don't understand and continue to scold Johnson.

In short, the three substitute players for the Supersonics are all very good players, but even they are still at a disadvantage when facing the Warriors' substitutes. At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors were only 30 behind with 32:2. point.

(End of this chapter)