NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 484 The Undefeated Death Five Small Lineup Arrives

With Green struggling to find his three-point shooting touch, adding another player without shooting ability will only make the offensive spacing even more difficult.

If we disregard Looney's weaknesses on offense, such as average finishing ability and lack of shooting, he is actually a very good small-ball center. He's fast, can switch on defense, can keep up with the Warriors' fast breaks, doesn't demand the ball, is excellent at offensive rebounding, and provides adequate rim protection and help defense. He's also willing to do the dirty work.

The problem is that the Warriors' power forward is Draymond Green, a player whose three-point shooting ability is often lacking. In today's era that emphasizes spacing, having two big men who can't shoot threes standing there forces the opposing big men to stay in the paint, greatly impacting the Warriors' passing and cutting offense. It makes it difficult to get the ball to the basket and increases the risk of turnovers.

Almost everyone in the league knows the Clippers' interior defense is their weakness—average rim protection and rebounding. However, none of the Warriors' big men are low-post scorers; their centers are all utility players, and their power forward, Green, is a master at passing from the top of the key. Furthermore, the Warriors lack a dominant penetrator, and their core players are almost all jump shooters, making it impossible for them to truly inflict heavy losses on the Clippers' interior defense.

In this game, the Warriors increased their double-teaming of Jia Fei and Paul George, forcing them to pass the ball.

The Clippers' response was to have role players take open shots, increase Olynyk's ball-handling, and have Jia Fei and Paul George play more off-ball, making it harder for the opponent to double-team them.

Although Curry and Durant both played at an extremely high level, Jia Fei and Paul George also performed admirably. With the role players shooting well, the Clippers secured another victory at home, 108-114, taking a 2-0 lead in the series.

With a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals and two home wins, the Clippers now hold a significant advantage. While there have been instances of teams overcoming a 0-2 deficit in the NBA playoffs, the majority of those comebacks ultimately end in defeat.

There has been much discussion about this, with many experts believing that it's only a matter of time before the Clippers reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Jia Fei doesn't think so. He doesn't believe the Warriors are finished. Only when the "Death Lineup" starts and is completely defeated will the Warriors be truly finished. It's too early to say that now.

The Warriors haven't revealed their trump card yet, but it should be very soon. They will definitely use it in Game 3 when they return to their home court; that's for sure.

Because Jia Fei had mentioned this in the locker room before, the Clippers were not blinded by the victory. If they were leading 3-0, they might be complacent, but 2-0, especially with two home games, doesn't necessarily mean they can beat their opponent.

Keep in mind that their opponent was the Warriors, a team with a phenomenal history! They defeated the Thunder, a team with Durant and Westbrook, after being down 1-3 in the series. They were the team that forced their star player to join them! They were a phenomenal team that hadn't lost a single playoff series since Durant joined!

This team has absolute confidence. Losing 0-2 is not the end of the world. They are confident they can come back!

In the East, the Celtics, with home-court advantage, also lead the Cavaliers 2-0, a rare situation where the East and West are completely aligned.

Few people paid attention to the Eastern Conference. Even though the Cavaliers were down 0-2, many still believed they could advance to the Finals. The Eastern Conference was generally weak this season, especially the top teams, which were no match for the Western Conference. So everyone's focus was on the Western Conference Finals, and the consensus was: the Western Conference champion = the NBA champion.

On May 20, the Clippers team set off for the Bay Area.

Since both are located on the West Coast and in California, the journey from Los Angeles to the Bay Area is very short, so the Clippers team did not face any travel fatigue.

After settling in San Francisco, Jia Fei treated everyone to a meal to catch up.

Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals will be held on May 22. After the routine practice on May 21, Coach Buden approached Jia Fei and asked him to come to his room to discuss the game.

In Coach Buden's room, the two began discussing the course of the series.

When asked about Game 3, Jia Fei stated confidently, "The Warriors will start with their 'death lineup' in Game 3!"

Jia Fei was so certain, and Buden thought so too. He nodded and said, "Game 3 is very important to them. They absolutely will not allow themselves to lose this game again."

Jia Fei nodded, a playful smile suddenly appearing on his face: "Coach Kerr is very confident. His lineup has never completely lost in a series. He has the right to be confident. With two MVPs in their prime on the team, such a good lineup is indeed hard to lose."

"Jia, should we use that lineup in Game 3 as well?" Coach Buden asked Jia Fei.

Jia Fei smiled and shook his head slightly.

Coach Buden looked at Jia Fei with a questioning gaze; he wanted to hear Jia Fei's opinion.

Jia Fei didn't keep the head coach waiting long: "Coach, that lineup is also our trump card. In Game 3, the opponent will likely go all out and the league will help us, so there's no need for us to use it. The regular lineup will do. Let's see how our regular lineup performs against the 'death lineup'! We're not on the brink of elimination yet, it's not time to go all out!"

Jia Fei's explanation convinced Coach Buden. Indeed, the league didn't want to see a 0-3 deficit; they naturally hoped the series would go as long as possible, ideally to a Game 7, which would greatly boost viewership. The gap in strength between the two teams wasn't so large that any behind-the-scenes manipulation was necessary; a little help could have completely changed the outcome.

"Jia, I agree with your idea!" Coach Buden smiled. He wasn't a stubborn coach; he would listen to the advice of the team's star players and wouldn't actually do something as foolish as "openly entrusting the team with their own resources."

The Clippers aren't strong enough to easily sweep their opponents. Even in the first round against the Spurs, they meticulously planned their game, taking many unexpected possibilities into account. To ensure victory, they needed to account for numerous unforeseen circumstances.

On the evening of May 22, at the Oracle Centre Arena in Oakland.

Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals is about to begin.

In this game, the Warriors adjusted their starting lineup again, and Jia Fei and his team were right: the "Death Lineup" would start!

The Warriors finally pulled out their best lineup; after losing two games, they couldn't afford to lose again in this one!

The Clippers are sticking with their old roster, and those who predicted they would make roster changes were wrong.

For the Warriors, this is a must-win game. Since the NBA playoffs adopted the best-of-seven format, no team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit to win.