Chapter 387 Destined to Be Fierce

On the night of October 31st, Staples Center, after six o'clock in the evening.

There is still an hour and a half before the start of the game between the Clippers and the Warriors.

Tonight, Staples' LOGO and the floor were all replaced with the Clippers' logo, from bright yellow to red and blue.

This is the Clippers' first home game of the new season. They don't have a championship ring award ceremony like the Lakers, but the Clippers officially organized a grand home opener to cheer for the team's new season.

The Clippers fans at the scene each received a red T-shirt.

This is the case for small teams. There is really no way to attract fans, so they give clothes to fans.

It's like the Thunder, who often post that if you are a fan of this kind of team, if you don't pay special attention to clothing, you don't need to buy T-shirts every summer.

In terms of attention, this game is not as popular as the Clippers vs. Lakers.

But judging from the strength comparison, this game is destined to be a wonderful game.

The Lakers vs. Clippers are more of a gimmick, and the Lakers have already been hollowed out. After a few more games, the aura of last season will be lost.

The Warriors are different. In the summer, they were fighting hard, and young people like Curry and Thompson continued to grow.

At the same time, the team has strengthened, and the most important operation is the exchange of Iguodala from the Nuggets.

It can be said that the arrival of Iguodala has made up for the Warriors' previous loopholes in the forward position.

This operation is obviously prepared for forwards like Li Liang, James, and Durant.

The Warriors also let go of the sixth man, Jack, to clear the "obstacles" for Curry's growth.

In the first game against the Lakers, Curry's performance was mediocre, scoring only 10 points.

But this is obviously not Curry's normal level. This time against the Clippers is the time for Curry to play.

Coincidentally, on the Clippers side, Paul's last game against the Lakers was also mediocre.

He scored 12 points and sent 5 assists in the whole game, and Li Liang stole all the limelight.

Not only has the limelight been taken away, but Paul has also been scolded a lot. It can be said that he has held back a lot of energy and will break out in the first home game of the new season.

During the entrance ceremony, Li Liang was the penultimate one to appear on the stage.

But the cheers at the scene reached their peak, even surpassing Chris Paul who played last.

The popularity of Mr. 60 points in the finals is so high.

Li Liang is now in Los Angeles, and both jerseys are selling well.

Especially for the Lakers jerseys that have been discontinued, the prices have soared.

Because it is likely to be out of print.

The game is about to start, and the starting players of both sides stand on the court and shake hands with each other.

Li Liang stepped forward to give Curry a high-five, but neither of them spoke.

Good friends off the court are good friends, and there will be no mercy on the court. This is the basic principle of playing in the NBA.

The Clippers started the same as the previous game, while the Warriors started with Bogut, David Lee, Iguodala, Thompson and Curry.

This lineup is also quite balanced, even somewhat similar to the Clippers.

At the center position, there is a defensive gate, a core point guard, an offensive power forward, an all-around small forward, and a defensive shooting guard.

The Clippers are at the shooting guard position, and Caron Butler currently seems to be inferior to Thompson.

Butler no longer has the strength of 38 points in a single game.

But where Butler is not as good as Thompson, Li Liang can make up for it.

Amidst the shouting noise of tens of thousands of spectators at Staples, the game began.

Little Jordan can't do anything else, he is still very good at jumping the ball.

The Clippers took the lead in getting the ball.

At the beginning of the game, Paul gave the ball to Li Liang again, exactly the same as the opening of the previous game.

It looks like Paul is going to hand over power, which is not like Paul's style.

But it soon proved that Paul did not want to hand over power.

Paul ran without the ball to the right side of the ribs, directly stuck Curry with a low back, and asked for the ball toward the outside.

Li Liang knew that before the game, Paul said that he would play with all his strength and hoped that Li Liang would pass the ball to him.

Paul gave Li Liang a lot of opportunities in the last game, so of course Li Liang reciprocated in this game.

Li Liang passed the ball to Paul, and Paul forced Curry one-on-one with his back, taking advantage of his big butt to push in!

As a result, the referee blew his whistle and Curry fouled on the first ball.

Curry shook his head. It was only ten seconds into the first quarter, and he fouled himself?

Indeed, it can be seen from the first ball that Paul played extremely aggressively.

Turn around, turn around and kill the basket, and force a foul.

Paul played so aggressively. In addition to his poor performance in the last game, another reason is naturally that the outside world has been comparing Paul and Curry recently.

Most people of course still think Paul is the best point guard in the league, but some people think that Curry is more groundbreaking and will achieve more.

No way, Curry's style of play in the past two seasons is indeed very enjoyable.

Just like Li Liang, the three-point shot is fatal, "I dare to shoot this, can I score this?"

Li Liang's main reason is the long distance, while Curry's shot selection is tricky, and he can catch a gap that others dare not or cannot make a shot.

A person like Paul doesn't say anything, but he cares about this kind of comparison and evaluation in his heart.

This is not the same as Kobe. When Kobe was young, he would definitely say, "I am number one in the world, and I am invincible in the world."

Of course it's not so straightforward, but that's what it means in general.

Paul is relatively introverted, he mainly speaks by his performance on the court.

Standing on the free throw line, Paul made two free throws.

For the Warriors, it is not good news for Curry to receive a foul so early.

The Warriors attacked, Curry controlled the ball, and chose to pass it to Bogut under the basket.

Bogut caught the ball and chiseled his back, but did not chisel, turned around and missed the hook with his left hand.

Griffin scored a rebound from the backcourt and the Clippers counterattacked.

Paul advanced with the ball on the right and passed it to Li Liang who was following up on the left.

Li Liang catches the ball from the outside and shoots a three-pointer directly, and it hits!

Iguodala didn't lose the ball defensively, but Li Liang chose to catch the ball with a step outside the three-point line and throw it directly.

Iguodala has tried his best to interfere, but Li Liang still hits the ball.

Li Liang knew the ball was there as soon as he shot it, it was so smooth, there was no lag at all.

Even if Iguodala interferes with him, he still thinks he can get in.

Iguodala's defense is much better than Nick Young's.

With a 5:0 opening, the Clippers' current starting offensive power is really quite strong.

The Warriors immediately responded. David Lee ran in a circle to the ribs and asked for the ball in a good position. After receiving a pass from Curry, Griffin was strong with his back and hit a hook with his left hand.

Griffin was obviously stronger than David Lee, but he was easily hit from the back by David Lee, turned to the front, and scored a goal with a hook.

"Can you defend your back, use force, force! There is still a good shot!"

Li Liang taught Griffin how to defend against backs. Li Hao is a person who has had a hard time with Duncan in the system. He knows the most basic point of back defenses.

Griffin has a good frame and a strong body, but he doesn't know how to use them to defend against opponents.

But Griffin knows how to use his body on offense.

Paul dribbled the ball in the high post, turned around with a gorgeous dribble under the crotch, broke into the inside, and passed the ball behind the back to Griffin who was keeping up.

Griffin received the ball and dribbled a step forward. After pushing away David Lee, he hit the board with a high throw with his right hand.

The Clippers' offensive rhythm at the beginning was extremely fast, and all three offenses were completed in about 10 seconds.

This is the Clippers' strategy for the new season.

According to the team's lineup, Rivers believes that such a lineup does not play offensive basketball is really a waste.

Boss Ballmer also agrees with this idea, because the Clippers are an emerging team and need a beautiful offense to attract more fans.

The Clippers already had the title of "Loop City" before, and they played very beautifully on offense.

It's just that besides being beautiful, it lacks the ability to fight tough battles.

Now that Li Liang is here, he doesn't have to worry about this ability.

The Warriors were a little confused by a combination of punches from the Clippers.

As a result, Curry made a mistake when passing the ball from the outside. He wanted to pass the ball from a large oblique angle to Thompson in the bottom corner. The intention of this pass was too obvious and the ball was too long.

Li Liang dribbled the ball and launched a fast break, but the Warriors' defense was no better than that of the Lakers. Iguodala and Thompson stepped forward to block Li Liang's speed.

Li Liang can only distribute the ball to Paul and reorganize the attack.

Entering the position to attack, Li Liang began to intersperse and run.

Although he doesn't accept Rivers' tactical arrangement of making him an empty-handed running shooter, he is still willing to cooperate with Paul to run in the offense and tear up the defense.

Li Liang's movement threat is indeed great, and Iguodala has to follow Li Liang all the time.

Compared with the previous game, Li Liang received much more defensive pressure.

Iguodala is not a stump. He has excellent physical fitness and strong defensive ability. It should be said that he is one of the best defensive small forwards in the league.

Before the game, Mark Jackson told Iguodala to man-mark Bruce Lee with all his strength, and to go all out from the beginning, so as not to give him a feeling.

The 60-point performance in the finals is now like a shadow, always hanging over the coaches of the league.

Iguodala's defense worked. Paul didn't pass the ball to Li Liang. After giving it to Griffin inside, Griffin made a walking violation and made a mistake.

The Warriors' defense has improved from last season.

The arrival of Iguodala has made the team's outside loopholes smaller, and the inside can concentrate on dealing with opponents.

Afterwards, Curry tore through the Clippers' defense through continuous back-and-forth runs.

After he caught the ball from the outside, he attracted the defensive attention of the Clippers three. David Lee took the opportunity to cut to the basket, and Curry passed the ball to David Lee with a no look pass.

David Lee forced a layup, causing a defensive foul by Jordan Jr. who was defending.

This ball can see the difference between Curry as a point guard and ordinary point guards.

He didn't always hold the ball to organize by himself, but tore through the opponent's defense through running positions, then received the ball and waited for an opportunity to pass the ball or attack by himself.

This is due to Curry's good running awareness, as well as extremely sensitive footwork and speed.

David Lee made two free throws, and the Warriors obviously won't collapse in one quarter like the Lakers.

Their strength is quite strong, and this is destined to be a fierce duel.