Being tied by a three-pointer at the buzzer, and it was a three-pointer off the board, was very demoralizing.
They lost two games in a row on the road and were dragged into overtime at home, which also hurt morale.
Even though the Warriors have seen many big scenes, players will inevitably feel a little frustrated when encountering this kind of situation.
In the surrounding auditorium, all the fans had stood up to watch the game, but the shouts were much quieter. The 48 minutes of fierce competition in regular time, with several ties and several back-and-forth overtakes, have exhausted the fans' energy and their voices have become hoarse. The vendor selling drinks among the auditorium has become the busiest person at the scene.
After a short break, it entered overtime.
Overtime is only a short five minutes. If allocated, each team will only have seven or eight offensive opportunities, so every attack is particularly important.
Dai Li still hadn't arranged any tactics. At this time, he could only trust the judgment of the veterans.
The veterans chose to break through with the ball. Even if he cannot score directly, he still hopes to draw a foul and get a free throw. For superstar players with first-class skills, this is indeed the most stable way to score.
As for the Warriors, they continue to implement the previous tactics. They still focus on shooting from outside the three-point line. This relies heavily on the player's touch, but it is the most threatening way to score, because three-pointers are always better than two-pointers. One more point.
The two sides exchanged blows for four rounds, each scoring six points. The Warriors made two three-pointers, while the Clippers made four free throws and a layup.
Watching those veterans rush into the Warriors basket like a turret, and then twist their bodies for layups, my eyes couldn't help but get a little moist.
These old guys really want that championship ring too much.
It was not only Dai Li who was moved, but also the commentator and countless viewers in front of the TV.
"Wood directly collided with the Warriors interior player, and the guard went to find physical contact with the center. This was like committing suicide!"
"Hall still dares to lay up like this. Isn't he afraid that his knee will be ruined again?"
"Raymond made such a breakthrough, his body is twisted like this!"
"Vincent, he flew up. Oh my god, although he caused a foul this time, he fell so hard! He is already 39 years old..."
Everyone can feel that these veterans are really working hard, and their breakthroughs every time are like gambling on their careers! At this time, they are like soldiers who are willing to die. No matter how much sacrifice they make, they will still win.
"Crazy people, these crazy people! Let's play ball. Is it necessary to do this? Do you think you are a superman? If everyone plays this way, the medical insurance company will have to pay for it!" Dell thought to himself.
Dell has already won three championships at a young age, so for him, a fourth championship is just the icing on the cake.
Not only Dell, but other players on the Warriors also have this idea. Especially several of the main players have championship rings. They feel that they don't have to fight for what they have.
"These old guys have a red eye, it's better not to compete with them!"
"They are not afraid of injuries, but I am afraid of injuries! The season is almost over, and I don't want to spend a summer in the hospital."
"At the age of these veterans, they won't be able to play for more than a year or two before retiring, and my career is still very long! They are barefoot and are not afraid of me wearing shoes. Forget it, let's be cowardly!"
"I have reached the contract year, and I am still counting on signing a 100 million contract next year. If I get injured at this time, the big contract will definitely be ruined. No, I have to hold back. For the sake of the big contract, I also have to protect my health! Still! Just stay out and shoot three-pointers, it's the safest way!"
The Warriors players have different thoughts, but what they have in common is that they are unwilling to fight the Clippers.
As the saying goes, the brave will win when they meet in a narrow road. In the last two minutes of overtime, it was really a "narrow road", but the Warriors could no longer be "brave".
Sudden death!
That's what happened with the Warriors. One minute the game was in full swing and the score was tight. Then there were three consecutive rounds without scoring.
And they are the three most critical rounds in overtime.
It’s not surprising that a team that shoots three-pointers misses three consecutive shots. It’s a common occurrence.
But in the last two minutes of overtime, missing three consecutive shots would be fatal!
It was in these three rounds that the Clippers opened up a 5-point advantage. Two layups and one foul made two free throws.
The Warriors finally scored on their fourth three-point attempt, and then the Clippers didn't give the Warriors a chance to breathe. They broke through directly inside, drew another foul, and then made two free throws to close the gap. It was enlarged again to 4 points.
The score difference is 4 points, which is a very embarrassing number. It takes two rounds to equalize or overtake.
The Warriors quickly advanced after the serve, took ten seconds to score a quick two points, and then resorted to foul tactics.
It's time to test the Clippers' free throws.
The fans kept making noises and making all kinds of noises, trying to interfere with the Clippers' free throws.
Then the Clippers made two free throws, but the fans were quieted down.
As before, the point difference was still 4 points, and it still took two attacks to equalize the score, but the time was ten seconds shorter than just now.
This time, time no longer allowed them to score two quick points, they had to try a three-pointer.
The three-pointer at this time requires luck as well as strength.
However, the head coach of the Warriors does not have a lucky horseshoe, does not have the prayer skill, and does not have any improvement in luck.
The Warriors missed the most critical three-pointer, then the Clippers grabbed the rebound, and then the Warriors had to foul.
The Clippers went to the free throw line again and made one of two free throws, with a 5-point difference.
The Warriors called a timeout, served the ball in midfield, received the ball and immediately shot a three-pointer, and this time they made it. The score difference became 2 points.
Immediately after the Clippers served, the Warriors fouled again. The Clippers went to the free throw line again and made two free throws. The point difference increased by 4 points, but there were only 5.5 seconds left.
The Warriors used up their last timeout and then continued to serve in midfield and rush for three-pointers.
It missed, the Clippers got the rebound, and the Warriors fouled again, but this time the foul was meaningless.
There are 2.2 seconds left on the clock, a 4-point difference, no timeout, and an attack from the backcourt. Even if a goal is scored, these 2.2 seconds will be exhausted. What's more, even if they score a three-pointer, the Warriors will still lose by 1 point.
So in one game, the Warriors were completely disappointed.
…
When the sound of the end of the game sounded, the fans had already begun to leave in an orderly manner.
The big score in this series has become 3-0, and the Clippers have already got the match point. As for the Warriors, they can already say "goodbye" to this year's playoffs.
In the NBA, a team has never come back from a 0-3 deficit. If that team is trailing 0-3, it will already be in a state of surrender mentally.
In the fourth game two days later, Li Dai only allowed the main players to play for more than ten minutes. After warming up his hands to maintain the feel, he went into the non-rotation lineup. This is tantamount to calling the troops back in advance and voluntarily giving up the fourth game.
The Warriors faced the Clippers' water cooler keeper and easily won a victory, tying the total score to 1-3.
Although the Warriors won, the Warriors players were not happy at all. When they fell behind 3-0, they were trying to hold back their strength and prepare for a crazy counterattack to regain some face, but they didn't expect to be hit with a punch. On cotton.
Moreover, this game did not help the Warriors regain their confidence. They defeated the opponent's water dispenser manager. It felt like a two-meter-tall strong man beating a child. It would be embarrassing to lose, and there would be no sense of accomplishment in winning. .
In short, it is a victory without force.
The Warriors' coaching staff was a little depressed. They originally wanted to use this victory to boost the morale of the players, but they didn't expect that they had no intention of confronting them and just feinted to hide.
Dai Li acted matter-of-factly and answered the reporter's question directly: "Our players are older and have been somewhat exhausted in such fierce confrontations in the playoffs, so they need to rest. You always need to rest." We can’t let a group of nearly 40-year-old veterans work as hard as young people!”
Dai Li's statement left the reporters speechless. For a player of such an age, his long playing time is called "dedication", and everyone will definitely praise him, but if he plays a few games of health basketball, there is no way to make irresponsible remarks.
There is a virtue called respecting the old and loving the young, but in the NBA there is only respect for the old and no love for the young. It is normal for young rookies to be bullied, but respecting the seniors is politically correct.
…
For the fifth game, the two sides returned to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is also a team with a championship tradition. Although it is not the Lakers but the Clippers who have the chance to win the championship this year, this does not affect the enthusiasm of the fans. The entire stadium has nearly 20,000 seats filled, and there are many Hollywood fans. Famous movie stars came to the scene to witness the moment when the Clippers won the Western Conference championship.
The game hadn't started yet, and Dai Li was chatting happily with Xiao Dingtian who was sitting in the VIP seat.
"I didn't expect American sports to be so profitable. When I play football in China, I lose more than a billion dollars a year. But when I play basketball in the United States, I can earn more than 20 million U.S. dollars in one game!" Xiao Dingtian sighed.
Dingtian Football Club loses more than one billion every year as a normal operation, but for Dingtian Group, more than one billion is just the development of a few buildings, which is regarded as advertising.
When Dingtian Group acquired the Clippers, it didn't intend to make a lot of money, as long as it didn't suffer too much loss. But what surprised Xiao Dingtian was that you can really make a lot of money by playing sports in the United States.
The average ticket price for this game has exceeded US$1,000, creating the highest ticket price in the Western Conference Finals. Based on the 20,000 seats at the Staples Center, the ticket revenue for this game alone has reached 20 million. US dollars.
By playing one game, a quasi-star player has already earned a year's salary.
Ticket prices in Los Angeles are already relatively expensive. If it comes to the finals, the average ticket price in Los Angeles can exceed US$2,500.
Dai Li smiled and replied: "The commercialization of sports in the United States is indeed unmatched by other countries."
"What a pity, this stadium is not our own." Xiao Dingtian sighed again, and then looked at the surrounding auditorium.
Xiao Dingtian himself develops real estate, and Dingtian Group is one of the top 200 companies in the world's top 500 companies. This stadium is not his own, which makes Xiao Dingtian feel uncomfortable.
After developing real estate for a lifetime, I end up having to rent someone else’s stadium. This is intolerable!
Xiao Dingtian lowered his voice and said, "I plan to build a new stadium, our own stadium. If you win the NBA championship this year, the board of directors will definitely clear the matter of building the stadium."
There are 30 NBA teams with a total of 29 arenas. The Lakers and Clippers share the same Staples Arena.
Among these 29 arenas, only seven and a half teams have their own real home arena. These include: The Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Pistons, Verizon Center, home of the Wizards, Air Canada Center, home of the Raptors, Barclays Center, home of the Nets, Moda Center, home of the Trail Blazers, Pepsi Center, home of the Nuggets, and Weinstein, home of the Jazz. Special smart home arena. In addition, the Bulls' owner owns 50% of the United Center, the Bulls' home stadium, so the Bulls have half of their own venue.
In addition to these seven and a half teams, all other teams have to rent venues. For example, the Toyota Center, home of the Rockets, which Chinese fans are familiar with, is owned by the Houston Sports Authority.
"Building a stadium will cost a lot of money, right?" Dai Li asked subconsciously.
"I plan to give this number." Xiao Dingtian stretched out a finger.
$100 million? This amount of money cannot build an NBA basketball stadium in Los Angeles.
10 billion US dollars? Dingtian Group cannot afford so much money. Besides, it doesn’t cost so much to build a stadium.
So this gesture must represent 1 billion US dollars!
Spending 1 billion US dollars to build a stadium must be a high-standard stadium.
Most of today's NBA team arenas were built in the last century. The earlier ones, such as the Bradley Center and the Palace of Auburn Hills, were both built in 1988. The cost at that time has no reference value. .
After 2010, a total of three NBA arenas have been built and opened, including the Amway Center in Orlando, which opened in 2010, with a cost of US$480 million; the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which opened in 2012, with a cost of US$1 billion; And the opening of the Sacramento Golden One Arena in 2016 at a cost of $558 million.
In addition, the new arena built by the Warriors in San Francisco is also claimed to have an investment of US$1 billion.
The Barclays Center is located in New York, where land is relatively expensive, so it has a construction cost of US$1 billion. Land prices in San Francisco are also very high, so the cost of the Warriors' new stadium has also risen.
Land in Los Angeles is also very expensive. Building a new arena in Los Angeles will definitely cost US$7.8 billion. But if it costs 1 billion US dollars, it must be a very high-standard arena.
As for whether the cost can be recovered, Li Dai is not worried. When it comes to being a coach, Li Dai considers himself to be world-class, but when it comes to real estate development, Xiao Dingtian is also world-class. Since Xiao Dingtian is willing to use 1 billion to build an arena, there must be a way to profit from it.
…
Among the audience, many were not Clippers fans. They simply came to witness a new Western Conference champion. Of course, some came to witness the Warriors being eliminated.
The Warriors have entered the finals for four consecutive years and won three championships. This is the first time in five years that the Warriors have not entered the finals. It really needs to be witnessed.
And many fans also realize that this may be the last game for the Warriors' current lineup.
Some of the Warriors players are in contract years and hope to get a big contract. Some people have lowered their salaries for the sake of the championship, and some are about to enter their contract year. If there is a championship in hand, players' salary cuts and contract extensions will not be a problem, but if they do not win the championship or even enter the finals, then the Warriors' lineup is likely to disintegrate next year.
So after the Warriors lose this game, their players are likely to go their separate ways next season.
Even fans are aware of things, how can professional coaches and players not be aware of it
In this game, some of the Warriors' main players played with confusion about the future. Their minds are no longer on the outcome of the game, but on "I have to get a maximum salary next season" or "Which team should I play for next season?"
If people's hearts are broken, it will be difficult to win.
…
During the game, the Clippers and Warriors played back and forth, with both sides scoring exciting goals. However, in the eyes of basketball professionals, this game did not reach the intensity of the Western Conference Finals.
Even when the Warriors lost the game in the end, people did not see the frustration of being eliminated on the faces of the Warriors players. At best, they were a little disappointed, and some players even showed expressions of relief.
Perhaps for the Warriors players, championship is also a kind of pressure. The so-called high place is too cold! Now that we have not entered the finals, it feels more like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
The Clippers defeated the Warriors with a total score of 4-1 and were only one step away from the championship.
On the other side, the Eastern Conference Finals are still in progress.
To Li Dai's expectation, it was the Milwaukee Bucks who finally won the Eastern Conference championship.
The Bucks are also a team with a long history. They once won the NBA championship in 1971, but since 2000, the Bucks' strength has begun to decline, and it was only in the past two years that they became a strong force in the Eastern Conference again. Team.
But even so, before the start of the playoffs, there were still not many people who were optimistic about the Bucks. However, under the leadership of the team's core "Antetokounmpo", the Bucks overcame all obstacles and reached the finals.
I believe that before the start of the season, no one would have expected that the Clippers and Bucks would meet in the finals.
The day after the Eastern Conference Finals, the Clippers got on a plane to Milwaukee.
The first two games of the Finals are the Bucks' home court. Because the Bucks' regular season record is better than the Clippers.
This does not mean that the Bucks are stronger than the Clippers, mainly because the competition in the Western Conference regular season this season is too fierce.
The Western Conference has become a mess this season, especially in the first half of the regular season, with seven or eight teams taking turns to be ranked first in the Western Conference. Today the team is still the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, but if it loses a game tomorrow, it may fall out of the playoffs. This chaotic situation has caused the overall record of the Western Conference teams to be lowered.
The competition in the Eastern Conference is not so fierce. As in previous years, the top five or six teams have established their playoff spots early. Several other teams with a winning rate of less than 50% compete for the remaining playoff spots. The remaining teams are left behind. He started to mess up at the beginning of the season and became a point giver in the eyes of other teams.
Therefore, the top three teams in the Eastern Conference have better records than the top teams in the Western Conference.
…
In the first game of the Finals, the Clippers unknowingly took a double-digit lead.
The Bucks actually didn't make any mistakes, their tactics were executed well, and their shooting percentage wasn't bad, but they were lagging behind in terms of points.
This is the difference in strength!
The lineup is weaker and the experience is lower. When it comes to the finals, this gap turns into a score behind, and it is still the kind of behind that even if you want to catch up, you can't catch up.
Obviously they have done a good job, but they still have to lose. The Bucks really have no choice.
On the bench on the sidelines, Dai Li looked relaxed and comfortable, chatting with assistant coach Cassel:
"That young man is very good!" Dai Li pointed to the core of the Bucks, the "Antetokounmpo" with a very long name. To this day, Dai Li still can't spell out his name.
Li Dai's detection results show that this 24-year-old young man has S+ level talent and is likely to become the next generation ruler of the league. His average of 26 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists per game this season also makes People are impeccable.
Just listen to Li Dai continue to say: "Such a good young man should not stay in Milwaukee, he should go to a big city to develop."
"Are you planning to bring him over?" Cassel asked tentatively.
Li Dai did not answer, and Cassel continued: "His contract still has two years, but we are afraid it will be difficult to lure him to Los Angeles. He expressed in an interview that he is willing to stay in Milwaukee."
"He said this because he hasn't experienced enough failures yet! He is still young now and feels that his future career is still very long, and he is not so urgent about the championship. After he has experienced failure again and again, he will win again and again. Desperate, he will change his mind when he realizes that he can never win a championship in Milwaukee," Dai Li said.
"Indeed, Milwaukee is a small ball market, and it is difficult for them to attract superstars to join. And in the current NBA, if there are not enough superstars, there will be no championship!" Cassell answered honestly.
Milwaukee is not a small city. They have a population of nearly two million, which ranks among the highest among many cities in the United States.
But when it comes to basketball, Milwaukee is a small market.
People in this city prefer baseball far more than basketball. The Brewers of Major League Baseball have been at the bottom with more losses than wins for many years. However, in Milwaukee, the Brewers are always more popular than the Bucks. .
Just listen to Li Dai continue to say: "After this season, I plan to resign as the head coach."
"What?" Cassel swayed in shock and looked at Dai Li with an incredible look.
"Next year is the Olympic year again. I can't continue to focus on the team." Li Dai spread his hands and continued: "I plan to suggest to the management that you take over the position of head coach. Anyway, these two Over the years, you have been responsible for the team's tactics. Next season, I will only continue to be responsible for physical training."
"Let me be the head coach!" Cassel opened his mouth wide. He did not expect to receive such a big surprise on this occasion.
Anyone who is an assistant coach will definitely want to be the head coach, and the same is true for Cassell.
Moreover, what Li Dai left for Cassell was a championship lineup.
Cassel suddenly felt that his daughter-in-law of many years had finally become a mother-in-law!