NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 490 Explosive Center Statistics

The Clippers' small lineup dominated the Warriors' small lineup. If someone had told you this before the game, you would have thought they were joking.

Will the Clippers use a small-ball lineup? If so, who will be the center?

As we all know, in addition to having a ball handler and a 3-and-D player, a small lineup also needs another extremely important position: the center.

On the offensive end, it doesn't really matter whether you have a center forward or not. If you're playing a small lineup and don't need to worry about defense, you can even play five defenders.

Guards generally have some ball-handling ability, and very few guards can't shoot, so offensive spacing isn't a big problem. However, guards have a natural weakness: defense.

It's not that guards can't defend, but rather that their size makes them naturally easier to target on the defensive end. This is especially true in the paint, where guards are rarely particularly tall, so their rim protection and rebounding are likely to be inferior to those of forwards and centers.

Therefore, the Achilles' heel of small lineups has never been offense, but defense.

The Warriors didn't invent the small lineup, nor did they create run-and-gun or pass-and-cut offense, but they were the ones who truly built an invincible small lineup into a formidable force.

The Warriors' small lineup is so powerful not only because of their strong offense, but also because they have excellent defense.

The key to small-ball defense is the center!

Whether in ancient or modern basketball, the area under the basket is always a fiercely contested zone, because the closer you are to the hoop, the higher your shooting percentage. This is an objective law, which is why defending the paint is of paramount importance in basketball games of all eras.

The Warriors' defensive strength lies in their possession of a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber small-ball center, Draymond Green, an excellent perimeter defender like Andre Iguodala, and above-average defensive presence on the wings like Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. Combined with the coaching staff's excellent coaching, this makes the team's overall defense exceptionally strong.

The Clippers previously didn't believe they could play a small-ball lineup because people thought they didn't have a small-ball big man like Draymond Green from the Warriors. If you don't have a suitable small-ball big man, your small lineup might be great offensively, but if your defense can't hold up, it's not worthy of being called a "death lineup."

The Rockets' small lineup is also very strong, featuring 58, Harden, round-faced Harden, Ariza, and Tucker. The tallest player, Ariza, is only about 2 meters tall, and the rest are all under 2 meters. Tucker, who plays center, is only 198cm.

So why didn't the Rockets make it to the end? It wasn't that 58 and Harden were bad; it was that they lacked a true small-ball center. P.J. Tucker was already incredibly good; he overcame his height disadvantage to defend Durant, chased Curry, could hold his own against big men in the low post, was tough on offensive rebounds, and was very energetic.

However, Tucker still couldn't hold up the paint, and the Rockets' huge height disadvantage made them more exhausted when they were fighting against the Warriors' small lineup. As the battle dragged on, they were the first to give up.

No one expected Jia Fei to anchor the Clippers' interior defense. His rim protection and help defense rotations were truly outstanding. Standing at a solid 2 meters tall, his 220cm wingspan, excellent jumping ability, and speed made him a mini-KG. Perhaps he couldn't withstand the traditional low-post power play of a center, but the problem was that opposing teams simply didn't have one. He excelled at defending passing and cutting, and was adept at quick, agile offense. His ability to control fouls effectively while making steals, blocking shots, and protecting the rim was his key to surviving in the paint.

The Clippers didn't make any substitutions. They usually bring in Lou Williams and Harrell with five or six minutes left in the first quarter, but they didn't make any changes until there were still over two minutes remaining. The Warriors, on the other hand, made adjustments first, replacing Green and Klay Thompson with Livingston and Looney.

"Teacher Su, the Clippers have been playing this small lineup for so long, are they going to reduce the playing time of Harrell and Lou Williams?" Wang Zixing asked.

Su Qun nodded and said, "That should be true. This lineup is very effective on both offense and defense. Harrell and Lou Williams were targeted and couldn't perform in the last game. Their defense was not good, and their offense was limited, resulting in more points lost on the court and low plus-minus values. It is normal for them to play less in such a crucial game. If the score difference is not big in this game, I think Jia Fei's playing time will exceed 40 minutes."

Su Qun was right; Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell's playing time was significantly reduced in this game. Even though the Clippers' starters were winning, they didn't get much playing time.

As for former starting center Olynyk, he only played off the bench, and only against the opposing team's rotation. He was benched as soon as the opposing team switched to their small-ball lineup. Meanwhile, Art Mayork, another center previously in the second unit, fell out of the rotation altogether…

Both Buden and Jia Fei had spoken to Art Mayor about him being dropped from the rotation, and he didn't object to it and readily accepted the arrangement.

The Clippers used an 8-man rotation in this game, with the five starters excluding Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Kelly Olynyk as substitutes.

The Warriors used a nine-man rotation, with the starting five being the "death lineup," and the bench players being Livingston, Looney, David West, and Nick Young.

However, both David West and Nick Young had very little playing time, which was roughly the same as the Clippers' eight-man rotation.

Both sides played their main players for the full duration of the game, and both brought out their best.

At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers led by 5 points, 25-20.

At the start of the second quarter, Lou Williams and Harrell were only on the court for a short time before Jia Fei and others returned to the game. Clearly, the Clippers were serious about this game and determined to win.

Both teams played small lineups, but their scoring was low. The defensive strategy and intensity of the game were astonishing.

Curry started to explode in the second quarter, but Paul George also exploded on the Clippers' side, and the two sides traded blows.

At halftime, the Clippers led by 4 points, 54-50.

In the third quarter, the Warriors began to fight back, but Jia Fei scored 20 points in this quarter, completely dominating Iguodala and laying the foundation for the victory in this game.

In the final quarter, Jia Fei controlled the game perfectly, maintaining the lead until the end, defeating the Warriors 107-98 and winning this crucial game.

贾飞本场比赛出战了42分31秒，砍下全场最高的45分，外加15个篮板7次助攻4个抢断6个盖帽，完美的表现帮助球队获胜。

In this game, Jia Fei's 15 rebounds set a new NBA playoff single-game rebounding record (the previous record was 14), and his 6 blocks also broke the record (the previous record was 5).

His outstanding performance in such a crucial match is a testament to his formidable strength.