On May 25, 2009, at 7:40 pm, the Lakers and Trail Blazers entered the Portland Rose Garden Arena one after another.

Kobe, who was the first to enter the arena, looked at this familiar arena. It was his 13th year in the NBA, his 12th playoff appearance, and his 10th time playing against the Trail Blazers.

The Lakers did not make the playoffs in 2005. Except for that year, in the shortened season of 1999, the Lakers fell in the second round and failed to meet the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals; and then in 2003, the Trail Blazers were eliminated in the first round.

, failed to continue the showdown with the Lakers.

In the early years, the Lakers were always winners. In 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004, Kobe faced the Trail Blazers in the playoffs and won six consecutive series.

But starting in 2006, the situation changed, and the Trail Blazers defeated the Lakers twice in a row!

Finally, Kobe defeated the Trail Blazers again last season.

The current battle situation is 7 wins and 2 losses, and he wants to continue to expand his advantage!

Looking at the warden running out from the other side, Kobe knew that this guy was the most difficult to deal with.

27 years old, in his prime, at the height of his career... Kobe, who will turn 31 in the summer, feels intense pressure.

He must win the 4th championship earlier than this guy!

Otherwise, he believes that this murderer will definitely wear four championship rings when he goes to his house for dinner!

After the entrance ceremony, the greetings before the game were skipped this time. Both teams didn't have time to be polite, and now they both wanted to kill each other.

In the eyes of domestic fans, this is a normal situation. Even if there are three Chinese players on both sides, it is already the Western Conference Finals, and the remaining opponents are all the final four championship candidate teams. What the hell is there at this time?

Friendship first'.

It is more important to seize the time to check for leaks and fill them up.

Ten minutes passed quickly and the game was about to begin. The two assistant coaches informed the two teams of starting games.

Liu Xiu copied the talents of Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant. 'Splash' was bound to Ray Allen, and 'Marksman' was activated. When he came to the court, the mission was triggered!

"The host has reached the Western Conference Finals for the fourth time. Before this, he has never tasted defeat. His next opponent is Kobe Bryant, who is known as the 'King of the Western Conference Finals'. Let's surpass him... Superstar Series in Troubled Times"

Mission: Division Finals King Trigger."

“King of the Conference Finals:

Goal: Defeat the Lakers and win the conference finals.

Reward: Division Finals King (Buff).”

"King of Conference Finals (Buff): 1. When the host leads the team to the conference finals, no matter what the record is, no matter what the advantages and disadvantages of playing against opponents in the regular season, the host's strong self-confidence will infect his teammates, greatly reducing the

Negative emotions caused by various factors on and off the court (depending on the psychological quality of teammates); 2. The opponent will encounter psychological pressure due to playing against the host, which depends on the psychological quality of the opponent's star. The more fragile the psychological quality, the stronger the effect."

In this year’s three-round Western Conference series, the rewards are more severe than the last!

Liu Xiu felt that he still had to play against super strong teams and superstars!

…

Trail Blazers starting lineup: Liu Xiu, Ray Allen, Hill, Randolph, Kwame Brown.

Lakers starting lineup: Deron, Kobe, Ariza, David West, Wang Zhizhi.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, in the extremely noisy atmosphere of the Rose Garden Arena, Kwame Brown defeated Wang Zhizhi once to win the jump ball, and the Western Conference Finals began!

The Trail Blazers took the lead in launching an offensive, beating the Lakers 16-13 in the first half of the quarter, leading by 3 points into the official timeout.

After the official timeout, the Lakers changed colors and scored 19-13, leading the Trail Blazers by 3 points 32-29 entering the intersection break.

Liu Xiu made 2 of 4 shots in the first quarter and did not take any three-pointers. He had just made 7 three-pointers in a single game a few days ago. He was heavily guarded tonight. However, he made 5 of 5 free throws and scored 9 points in a single quarter.

As for the Lakers, Kobe scored 10 points in the second half of the quarter, making 7 of 10 shots in a single quarter, including 1 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 15 points.

Although he fell behind in the first quarter, Liu Xiu felt that it was not as difficult as the second round!

It's not that I think the Mavericks are necessarily better than the Lakers. The Mavericks, who don't have a good center and shooting guard, may not be as good as the Lakers.

Even if the Silver Horn King is as strong as a god coming down to earth under normal conditions, that Mavericks team may not be as strong as the Lakers team in front of them.

But Liu Xiu feels that his team's offensive coordination is even better!

Pressure can bring motivation. The Mavericks' overall defense is much better than the Lakers. After 7 bloody games under the Mavericks' defense, the Trail Blazers' tactical coordination has become better!

In the second quarter, Kobe died down and failed to perform as crazy as he did in the first quarter. The Lakers' overall offense also returned to normal amid the Trail Blazers' highly sustainable defense, scoring 25 points in a single quarter.

On the contrary, the Trail Blazers' offensive performance went even further, giving the Lakers 32 points in a single quarter!

61 to 57, the Trail Blazers went into halftime with a 4-point lead over the Lakers!

In the third quarter, Kobe Bryant scored 10 points in a single quarter and led the Lakers to 27 points, but the Trail Blazers had already missed their shots. Liu Xiu made 5 of 8 shots, including 3 of 4 three-pointers, plus 3 of 3 free throws.

, scored 16 points in a single quarter, leading the Trail Blazers to score 32 points in a single quarter again!

93 to 84, the Trail Blazers' lead expanded to 9 points!

In the final quarter, both Liu Xiu and Kobe faced tight defense, and both scored only 4 points. Neither team's offense could surge, and both scored only 25 points.

Kobe made 13 of 24 shots, including 3 of 8 three-pointers, plus 9 of 9 free throws, scoring 38 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block; Deron had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists; David West 23

Scored 9 rebounds and 2 assists; Wang Zhizhi had 12 points and 6 rebounds, Odom had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists...

Liu Xiu made 14 of 25 shots, including 5 of 9 three-pointers, plus 9 of 10 free throws, scoring 42 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists; Hill scored 17 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists; Randolph had 20 points and 9 rebounds; Ray

-Allen 19 points and 3 assists...

118 to 109, the Trail Blazers steadily defeated the Lakers and won the first game of the Western Conference Finals!

Liu Xiu scored 40+ points in a single playoff game for the 15th time in his career. Facing the Lakers, he surpassed the 14 times of Lakers legend Elgin Baylor and ranked third in the number of 40+ points in a single playoff game!

…

On the 26th, a rest day, early in the morning, the vice president and the coaching staff came to Liu Xiu's house to have a meal and discuss last night's game.

They had a beautiful offensive battle with the Lakers last night. They watched the video clip and it was much better than the second round game.

In the second round, their two-game series in the Western Conference was not bad to watch, but it was mainly focused on the battle of stars, which meant that it was "locally" enjoyable.

The Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Lakers, and Spurs all made adequate defensive preparations before the start of the series. The four teams' team offense was restricted, and in the end they were all fighting for stars.

If you watch the game, the gorgeous team offensive and defensive battles are more enjoyable to watch than the battle between stars.

This is how the Spurs gain fans.

The Troika have been performing very well since 2005, but at that time, except for Duncan, they were not liked by the fans. Now that they play a team offense and their overall style is good, they have begun to be popular among fans.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Trail Blazers' defensive preparations were no less than before the start of the second round. They could feel that the Lakers' defensive preparations were also more complete than the Mavericks'.

But they couldn't guard against each other!

So far in the playoffs, Kobe's combination of personal scoring ability and team offense, and Liu Xiu's combination of personal scoring ability and team offense have reached their best! Both teams have also entered the 'best' because of the state of their stars.

Best condition'.

After the meeting, Liu Xiu and the coaches came to the same conclusion - it was impossible to predict the direction of the next game.

You can only rely on rhythm control, rotation and tactical adaptability, and grasp of key balls!

To be more specific - just do it, there is no other way but to fight hard.

On the 27th, the second game day of the Western Conference Finals has arrived, and the Eastern Conference Finals will also start this afternoon.

Liu Xiu did not go to see the analysis of media experts or surf the Internet to watch. He just asked the staff to help pay attention.

At 6:55 in the evening, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals ended. The staff informed Liu Xiu that the Pistons lost 106-108. Yao Ming failed to make the final mid-range shot and failed to force overtime.

Yao Ming made 20 of 30 shots in this game, plus 9 of 10 free throws, scoring 49 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks.

But it is a pity that the Pistons still lost by two points and failed to seize the home court advantage in the first game of three consecutive series.

After reading the data, Liu Xiu felt that it was a pity. Yao Ming scored that goal. Not only was he expected to win in overtime, but he could also get 50+ points in a single game in the playoffs!

But a little bit is a little bit close. It seems like it’s only 1 point, but it’s actually an insurmountable gap.

However, this has surpassed O'Neal's 46 points and became the highest score in a single game by an active center in the playoffs.

For the Menglong team, Artest had 30 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Milicic had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, and Calderon had 22 points and 14 assists. The three of them performed extremely well, except for Milicic who was facing Yao Ming.

Although they suffered a loss in the confrontation, the Menglong team had a huge advantage in other positions.

Facing a stable point guard, Billups entered low-opening mode again. In the first game, he made 4 of 13 shots, including 3 of 10 three-pointers, and only scored 11 points, 1 rebound and 6 assists.

As long as he throws so many three-pointers and scores another, Yao Ming will not be allowed to join the empty-shooting group.

At 8 p.m., the Trail Blazers will face the Lakers in the second game of the Western Conference Finals at home.

The Lakers have streamlined the number of players tonight. In addition to Deron, Kobe, Ariza, David West, and Wang Zhizhi starting, Fisher, Vujacic, Luke Walton, and Odom came on the bench.

.

After streamlining the lineup, the Lakers' offensive efficiency has become higher, but the problem also arises - there are fewer changes.

Kobe benefited the most on the offensive end, making 15 of 26 shots, including 6 of 11 three-pointers, plus 2 of 3 free throws, scoring 38 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

Deron also scored 15 points and 13 assists.

But David West only scored 13 points, Wang Zhizhi 12 points, Odom 9 points, Fisher 15 points... the team only scored 106 points.

106 points is definitely not low in the playoffs, but the Trail Blazers scored 115 points...
To be continued...