NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 736 Alternative Triple-Double Data

Back when Dirk Nowitzki hadn't yet developed into the "King of the Mavericks," he was just like Karl-Anthony Towns is now—afraid of mismatch defense. Of course, even before he became the "King of the Mavericks," Nowitzki was the Mavericks' star player, an MVP award winner, something Towns can't compare to today. What we're saying here is that their playing styles are somewhat similar; both are big men who are strong offensively but weak defensively, and capable of shooting.

We all know what happened next. Nowitzki developed the one-legged fadeaway jumper and redeemed himself in the 2011 NBA Finals, defeating the Heat, who had a super team including Kevin Durant, and winning that precious championship... But before that, he couldn't break down the tight mismatch defense at the high post, and was even upset in the playoffs, earning him the nickname "soft"...

If Towns can't make significant progress in ball handling to break through this defense, he'll need to develop an offensive weapon like Nowitzki.

The reason why the one-legged fadeaway jump shot is difficult to defend is that, especially when facing a smaller, close-marked defender, the shooter can take advantage of their height. This type of jump shot, with one leg bent, naturally creates some offensive space. In addition, the fadeaway jump shot is naturally difficult to block, making it hard to interfere with. It almost depends on the shooter's own touch.

In basketball, there are many established and objective rules. For example, when a taller player plays against a smaller player, the simplest approach is under the basket, where the bigger player has a clear height and weight advantage. But what if it's at the high post or on the perimeter? The best approach isn't a face-up drive, because the bigger player is easily swatted away and easily interfered with by help defense. The best approach is to shoot, using the height and wingspan advantage to shoot, which is very difficult for the opponent to block. But why didn't accurate shooters like Towns and Nowitzki shoot directly? It's because if the opponent closely guards you, a direct shot is too easily interfered with, making it difficult to guarantee an accurate shot.

This is why many players need to learn post-up skills and footwork. With excellent post-up skills and footwork, combined with a good shooting touch, they can post up and beat smaller players in most positions on the half-court.

Towns' problem is that while he has some post-up skills, his post-up game isn't outstanding. It's enough for him to exploit mismatches against smaller players under the basket, but it's not his forte when he uses his post-up game in the high post combined with a jump shot.

Although Paul George was out, the Clippers' defense completely shut down Towns and Edwards, effectively limiting the Timberwolves' offense.

After three quarters, the Timberwolves had only scored 55 points, trailing the Clippers by 25 points.

The score wasn't too dramatic, but judging from the course of the game, the Timberwolves didn't seem to have any hope of catching up.

The situation didn't improve much in the final quarter, with the Clippers' starters barely playing, but the result remained unchanged. The Clippers ultimately won 75-106 at home, a 31-point victory over the Timberwolves, taking Game 1 of the series!

The Clippers' offense was actually quite average in this game; 106 points, even in the playoffs, isn't considered high in today's league. Moreover, they scored 31 points on fast breaks alone, even though the Timberwolves defended their half-court offense very well. The Timberwolves' offense was indeed too poor, scoring less than 80 points in a single game, which would have been extremely difficult to win even in the 90s NBA.

贾飞全场贡献32分10个篮板7次助攻10次抢断4个盖帽的数据，完成了另类的三双！

Who would have thought that Jia Fei's triple-double wouldn't be based on 10+ assists, but rather 10+ steals! This seven-time consecutive league steals leader continued to showcase his outstanding stealing ability in the playoffs, once again paying tribute to his idol, Allen Iverson.

Jia Fei's 10 steals in a single game also broke his NBA playoff career single-game steal record, which was previously 8!

Jia Fei's 10 steals instantly became a trending topic that night. It's worth noting that 10 steals is a very rare feat, especially since 6 of those steals came against number one draft pick Edwards...

Edwards was completely outmatched; he was out of form in this game, committing 10 turnovers and getting easily dominated by Jia Fei.

After the game, Edwards declined interviews and left the arena early to return to his hotel. Tonight wasn't his night; he was completely outplayed. Fortunately, he's still young and has many years of professional career ahead of him. Losing to Jia Fei isn't shameful, because nobody in the league can beat him.

The Clippers defeated the Timberwolves in Game 1, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Even without Paul George, their advantage over the Timberwolves was too obvious based on the first game. After this game, many media outlets adjusted their series predictions, with more predicting the Clippers will advance 4-0 or 4-1, rather than the previously widely predicted 4-1 or 4-2!

April 22nd, Clippers vs. Timberwolves, Game 2 of the series!

Clippers star Paul George continued to miss this game due to injury.

Paul George has already participated in the team's full-court scrimmage. He is actually capable of playing, but the team has decided to let him rest for another game.

The Timberwolves made a lineup change in this game!

Vanderbilt has been relegated to the bench, and Prince has become the starter.

This Prince is not the old Prince of the Pistons, but the Prince of the Hawks.

This Prince looks a lot like a Chinese internet celebrity basketball player named Kai Kai. They really do look alike. You can look him up yourself if you don't believe me!

Prince is a decent 3D player, but as a 3D, his 3 is not stable enough, and his D isn't that strong. He looks dark-skinned, but he's not the kind of dark, tough guy; his combat skills are average, he just looks tough.

In terms of defense, Prince is not as good as Vanderbilt. Besides being a good defender, Biao Ge also has a good offensive rebounding ability and is more versatile on defense than Prince.

But Prince has a three-point shot, while Biao Ge doesn't.

Biao Ge's three-point shooting is probably similar to Westbrook's now. Opponents just leave him open. It's not that he can't shoot, but he has neither accuracy nor volume. If you encounter a player like this, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't target him in the playoffs.

In this game, the Clippers did not change their defensive strategy; they still prioritized defending the Timberwolves' two number one draft picks, Towns and Edwards. As for Prince and Beverley, they rotated them whenever possible, and if they couldn't rotate them all, they would leave one or two open. However, Russell could not be left open.

The Clippers aren't afraid of Beverley and Prince's three-pointers; both of them do have the ability to shoot threes, but they're not lethal.

This proved to be true; Prince hit three three-pointers in the game, but it still couldn't change the Clippers' defensive strategy.