NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 320 Iguodala's Defense

The Hawks' starting lineup remains unchanged. For them, as winners, sticking to the status quo is a safer approach.

Clearly, bringing in Iguodala was to add another player to defend Jia Fei, increasing defensive flexibility and limiting the Hawks' ball movement. It was specifically designed to counter Jia Fei and your five-outside lineup.

Since the start of the playoffs, no team has truly contained the Hawks' five-outside lineup. Most teams simply don't have that kind of roster configuration. If you play a small lineup, what about your rim protection and rebounding? If you play a big lineup, what happens if the center switches to defend the perimeter and then drops back to the basket?

Now, having the 2-meter Green play center could theoretically limit the Hawks' five-outside lineup. Defensively, he can guard Horford, switch on the perimeter ball handler, and recover quickly after a delay. Even if he goes out to contest, he has enough speed to get back to the basket and protect the rim.

After the game started, the Warriors' offensive and defensive strategies were noticeably different.

On offense, they increased their off-ball movement, moving the ball faster and distributing and cutting more quickly. This cost the Hawks from their strategy of double-teaming Curry. The Hawks realized that the Warriors' changes from small to large lineups weren't just on defense, but also on offense.

On the defensive end, Iguodala guarded Jia Fei one-on-one, avoiding double-teaming him easily, and switching on pick-and-rolls directly. In short, he prevented Jia Fei from using double-teams to create opportunities for his teammates, forcing him into one-on-one situations.

Against the other Hawks players, use man-to-man defense, switch players when there is a screen, and don't help defend easily unless you penetrate deep into the paint.

If the Hawks miss a shot or make a turnover, they will regain possession and speed up the counter-attack, avoiding a set-piece offense.

The referees were lenient in this game, and many of the Warriors' aggressive defensive moves went uncalled, causing the Hawks to make frequent mistakes.

Jia Fei initially wanted to play off-ball and team basketball with the team, but after a series of missed shots and frequent turnovers, he fell behind and had to step up and forcefully score points.

Iguodala's defense was very targeted. It was as if Jia Fei saw a mirror. He used Iverson's signature crossover and change of direction to break through several times, but Iguodala guessed it correctly, and his success rate in one-on-one was very low.

In the previous two games, Iguodala had also defended him, but not from the very beginning like this. Also, his teammates were in excellent form then, so he didn't need to play as many one-on-one games, and therefore didn't have such a deep understanding of the situation.

With Jia Fei effectively contained, the rest of the team struggled offensively and committed numerous turnovers. Conversely, Curry regained his rhythm for the Warriors after opponents became less inclined to double-team him, scoring repeatedly.

The game turned into a one-sided affair, with the Hawks getting completely dominated by their opponents, and the players looking extremely disheveled.

Coach Budenholzer was extremely anxious. He had used up almost all of his timeouts in the first half, but still couldn't change the course of the game. The sudden turn of events caught him off guard. He hadn't expected that the Warriors' lineup change would leave them feeling suffocated, as if their Achilles' heel had been seized.

The second half didn't improve much either. The Hawks made a comeback in the final quarter but ultimately couldn't catch up and conceded defeat early, giving up on the game.

The Hawks ultimately suffered a crushing 96-117 defeat to the Warriors on the road, bringing the series score to 1-2.

贾飞本场比赛表现非常一般，17投只有6中，只得到15分10个篮板2次助攻2个抢断，还出现了4次失误。

The Hawks shot only 27.6% from three-point range in this game, their lowest since the start of the Finals, and committed a staggering 17 turnovers...

The series score is now 1-2. Although the Hawks are still leading, opinions have changed dramatically after this game.

The nickname "Death Lineup" began to appear. When the Warriors used this lineup in this game, their plus-minus was as high as +29, completely outclassing the Hawks' lineup.

The away team's locker room was very quiet after the match. Before the match, it was a peaceful place, but just three hours later, such a huge change occurred, which makes people sigh at the cruelty and ruthlessness of competitive sports.

The veteran captain was fulfilling his responsibilities as a locker room leader, offering psychological support to everyone. Head coach Budenholzer also said many comforting words.

Jia Fei was also in a bad mood, and not entirely because of the loss. The loss was predictable; could they really have won 3-0? It was difficult to predict, given the significant difference in strength between the two teams. But losing in this way was indeed hard to accept.

What truly upset him was his performance tonight; it was absolutely terrible, utterly awful. This was his worst performance of the year so far in the playoffs, bar none.

He could foresee the media storm that would rage after the game. As the team's core player, he had to take responsibility for the team's loss.

But more important than taking responsibility is finding a way to break down Iguodala's defense.

Since entering the league, Jia Fei has faced off against Iguodala before, but he has never felt as uncomfortable as he does now. With his speed and AI's signature crossover, he should be invincible, but who knew he would be so difficult to defend against.

Of course, Jia Fei's low efficiency wasn't solely due to Iguodala. His drives into Green's help defense made things particularly difficult for him. Horford's lack of consistent shooting from Game 2 allowed Green to be more decisive in his help defense, which was also a contributing factor.

Jia Fei still attended the post-match press conference.

"Jia Fei, you were restricted by Andre Iguodala tonight, resulting in a low shooting percentage. Is it because you have no way to defend him?" The reporter's question was so direct and sharp.

“I’ll find a way! Andre defended me very well tonight; he’s an excellent defensive player,” Jia Fei replied.

"You lost this game, who do you think should take responsibility for the loss?" another reporter asked.

"I take responsibility. My terrible performance led to the team's loss. I take responsibility!" Jia Fei said firmly.

After the press conference ended, Jia Fei didn't go out for a stroll; he went straight back to his hotel room.

"Jia, don't be discouraged, we're still in the lead!" Art Mayor encouraged him.

Jia Fei took off his shirt and threw it on the chair: "I'm not discouraged, I'm just in a bad mood."

"Your prediction was absolutely amazing! They really did come up with a terrifying lineup!" Art Mayor exclaimed.

Jia Fei nodded: "Yes, this is their trump card. They haven't used this starting lineup since the playoffs. We forced them to reveal their trump card. But there's nothing to be proud of. How to break this lineup is what we need to consider."