NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 556 Foshan Shadowless Kick

"Oh my god, Mr. Yang, the Clippers are starting with a small-ball lineup! Does Coach Budenholzer still want Jia Fei to continue playing center?" Wang Meng asked in surprise.

Yang Yi twirled his pen and chuckled, "Let's break it down. The Clippers' strength lies in their forward line. Led by Jia Fei, their forward line is the core advantage of this team. The reason why the Rockets and Warriors couldn't capitalize on the Clippers' advantage is because the Clippers' forwards are not only capable of offense, but also excellent defenders. Jia Fei can defend, Paul George can defend, Dillon off the bench can defend, and that guy, Bridges, can defend. These guys can defend, and when there's a pick-and-roll, you can switch. Both the Warriors and the Rockets like to run pick-and-rolls and fast breaks, and these defensive players limit both of those teams."

"The Warriors also started with a 'death lineup' of five small players. Could the Clippers have predicted this?" Wang Meng pressed.

"I don't know about that, but the Warriors' strongest lineup is the 'Death Lineup,' so arranging the lineup according to that lineup is definitely a safe bet. The Warriors don't have a true inside player right now. Neither Looney nor Bogut can break down the Clippers' forwards, so it's better to just let Draymond Green play center!" Yang Yi explained.

As the starting lineups of both sides took to the field, the players stared at each other, and a chilling murderous aura seemed to fill the air.

Green glared at Jia Fei, Dillon glared at Green, Beverley glared at Curry, and Durant put his hands on his hips and looked up at the sky.

Jia Fei, on the other hand, always had a smile on his face, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Everyone has their own agenda, and this highly anticipated match is about to begin.

Jia Fei and Zhui Dan Green went to the center circle to prepare for the jump ball; the game was about to begin.

"Don't think you can win just because you play center. Stop dreaming. I'm not that trash Clint Capela, and we're not a team like the Rockets!" Green couldn't hold back his anger when he saw Jia Fei and kept spewing insults.

"Didn't we win last year?" Jia Fei asked Green a probing question.

Unexpectedly, Green was thick-skinned and retorted without batting an eye: "You were lucky last year, but you won't be so lucky this year!"

"Are you going to use the 'Foshan Shadowless Kick' again?" Jia Fei asked.

"What 'Foshan Shadowless Kick'?" Green asked, puzzled.

“Mr. Adams has a kind of ‘egg-like’ sadness…” Jia Fei prompted.

Green quickly understood: "Would you like to try some?"

"I kicked you before you kicked me!" Jia Fei said confidently.

Green felt a little uneasy. He didn't know where this guy's unfounded confidence came from. He had never seen this kind of confidence in his teammate Durant. Logically speaking, people from the Thunder should be very confident, but Durant sometimes seemed quite insecure, while this guy was truly confident to the core.

"Stop talking!" the referee reminded Jia Fei and Green, the game was about to begin.

Jia Fei is the league's top player, and Green is an All-Star, so the referees were relatively lenient. Frankly, referees are human too; they all work in the league, and they have to consider the players' feelings. If it were two rookies arguing incessantly, it might not have been a reminder, but a warning.

The jump ball begins, and Jia Fei lightly extends his arm and passes the ball to Pao Jiao!

Beverley dribbles the ball across half-court.

Cheers began to rise in the Staples Center, and the Western Conference Finals officially began!

Beverley passed the ball to Gallinari in the high post, and Gallinari and Jafle handed the ball to each other.

The Warriors switched defenses very quickly. According to their matchups, Curry guarded Beverley, Iguodala guarded JaVale, Klay guarded Paul George, Durant guarded Gallinari, and Green guarded Dillon.

As for why they defended him this way, it's simple: Dillon's three-point shooting is the worst among the Clippers' starters, so Green can choose to leave him open occasionally to protect the paint.

Facing Durant, Jia Fei made two consecutive crossovers, broke into the paint, and passed the ball to Dillon in the corner, facing Green who was helping on defense!

As expected, Dillon was left wide open by Green!

The Warriors' strategy against Jia Fei was one-on-one defense plus help defense in the paint. If he took a jump shot, they would continue to defend him one-on-one and not easily double-team him on the perimeter, because he passes the ball very quickly. The Clippers' small lineup has strong shooting and quick ball movement, so double-teaming him would be too risky.

Dillon missed that shot!

Durant grabbed the rebound and brought the ball over himself.

Durant brought the ball over to face Paul George, and suddenly stopped abruptly to pull up for a three-pointer—but he missed!

Jia Fei secured the rebound, brought the ball over, and faced Iguodala.

Beverley came over to screen, and it's clear that targeting Curry is standard practice in games of this caliber.

But Curry and Iguodala have great chemistry, and Beverley's small stature makes his screens ineffective, so the pick-and-roll plays don't come together well.

Clearly, after Curry was frequently called out by stars like Jia Fei, Running Man, and Harden in recent seasons, the Warriors have been constantly refining their defensive strategies. Now, Curry and Iguodala have mastered the "delayed recovery" defensive method, often completing their defensive tasks without switching.

Jia Fei simply stopped covering for him. For him, taking down Curry was easier, but one Iguodala wasn't enough to stop him!

Back in the 2014-15 NBA Finals with the Hawks, he was contained by Iguodala in two games, but he later found a way to break through Iguodala's defense. Now, four years later, he has grown into the league's best player, while Iguodala has gone from a 31-year-old defensive stalwart to a 35-year-old player.

Even if he maintains his best form, Iguodala's speed isn't what it used to be. You can't deny getting old! Even someone with superhuman physical abilities like a running man will find that at 35, his speed, jumping ability, explosiveness, and stamina aren't what they were at 30—that's the law of nature.

Jia Fei signaled to his teammates to spread out, and then took the ball to attack Iguodala.

Iguodala is very experienced on defense. Although he is old, his speed has not actually decreased much. A disciplined man is really scary.

Jia Fei has the ball, uses a crossover feint followed by an in-out, and then accelerates to break inside!

Iguodala reacted quickly and wasn't completely left behind!

But Jia Fei had already achieved his goal; he had secured a position and kept moving in!

Green came over to help defend again, and Jia Fei seized the opportunity to pass the ball to Dillon!

Dillon receives the ball and takes an open three-pointer – this time it's a winner!

After Dillon made the three-pointer, he went on a tirade against Green. Although this guy is not a shooter, he has a fearless personality. He is not afraid of missing the shot, but he is afraid of not daring to shoot. But he really dares to shoot and is not afraid to take responsibility!

The Clippers scored first!

Warriors on offense, Clippers on defense.

The Clippers' defensive strategy was to have JaVale guard Green, Paul George guard Durant, Patrick Beverley guard Curry, Dillon guard Klay Thompson, and Danilo Gallinari guard Andre Iguodala.