NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 431 The Season Ends

The pivotal Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals will be played on May 26 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, the home of the Warriors.

The Clippers players who left Los Angeles showed no signs of relief; losing Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals had laid bare the gap between the two teams.

Question 2: Clippers' Jia Fei is double-teamed, who is the second scoring option?

It's clear that Harris can't be the second scoring option for a championship-contending team. He's more like a decent piece of the puzzle, capable of scoring but not of breaking down defenses, and while he can defend, his abilities are limited.

Question 2: How exactly does DeAndre Jordan defend against pick-and-rolls?

With the opposing team fielding a small-ball lineup, DeAndre Jordan had to face Curry's pick-and-roll when guarding Green. Neither double-teaming nor Beverley's screens could solve the problem of being exploited by the opponent. Jordan couldn't execute switches or create significant delays; he was even worse than Love in this regard. This traditional center was completely outmatched by a modern, top-tier guard like Curry. The worst part was that Coach Doc Rivers didn't dare to bench him and had no other options, leading to a stalemate.

"If you don't change, you'll die; if you change, you might not survive. So why change?" — That's Old Li's mindset. Besides, he doesn't even know how to change! The opponent's "death lineup" is too abnormal. He couldn't even figure out the Rockets' random lineup and got turned around. How could he possibly understand such a high-level lineup as the "death lineup"?

Do you expect an elementary school student to be able to do calculus?

Neither side made any changes to their lineups during the game at Oracle Arena on the evening of the 26th.

Coach Li has completely handed over the reins to the players, making his position entirely transparent. Isn't that democratic enough?

As for the outcome, that's beyond his control. He's been given pep talks and his authority has been delegated. What more do you want from me?

Even if they lose, he has his reasons. The opponent was so strong, and he has already led the team to set new team records in both the regular season and playoffs. That's more than enough!

The game unfolded much like Game 4. For the Clippers, Jia Fei tried to lead his teammates and break through defenses, but no matter how hard he tried on offense, DeAndre Jordan would simply give away points on defense. He was already outnumbered, and with incompetent teammates and a terrible coach, the outcome was predictable.

Ultimately, the Clippers lost to the Warriors on the road, suffering their second consecutive defeat and falling behind 2-3 from a 2-1 lead in the series.

The away team's locker room was completely silent after the game. Even the usually motivational speaker, Lao Li, was at a loss for words. This game was like a repeat of Game 4. As the head coach, don't you bear any responsibility at all?

Jia Fei had done his best. He was so tired after the game that he didn't want to talk. All the problems were laid out on the table, but Lao Li remained unmoved.

Two days later at Staples Center, Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

If the Clippers lose this game, their epic season will officially come to an end. Ending doesn't mean losing hope, nor should it be despair. Losing in this way is too frustrating and hard to accept.

That night, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was still there to cheer on the team. He truly loves basketball; among the 30 teams in the league, he may not be the biggest fan, but he's certainly among the top few.

It's worth mentioning that the Clippers didn't change their lineup in this game.

When the starting center lineup still featured DeAndre Jordan, the arena erupted in boos. Even Clippers fans couldn't help but boo Doc Rivers, saying, "You've fallen twice in the same spot already, are you planning to fall a third time?"

The game unfolded as usual. At halftime, the crowd chanted "Rivers out!" in unison, making Rivers blush with embarrassment. He hadn't expected this to happen, given the Warriors' dominance and the fact that they hadn't committed to the game. What the fans couldn't accept was his complete lack of adaptation, sticking to the same lineup and clinging to DeAndre Jordan. It was obvious to everyone that they were losing whenever Jordan was on the court, yet he insisted on using him. This was truly intolerable!

In the second half, Jia Fei went on a scoring spree, racking up points despite being double-teamed, and almost erasing the deficit.

But at crucial moments, Durant and Curry both stepped up. One hit a difficult three-pointer after a pick-and-roll against DeAndre Jordan, while the other called out JJ Redick and hit a game-winning mid-range jumper.

At this point, the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.

Ultimately, the Clippers lost to the Warriors at home, suffering three consecutive defeats and being eliminated from the series 2-4, thus failing to reach the NBA Finals.

When the final whistle blew, Jia Fei knew that the season was over...

He had tasted the pain of defeat in his first season with the Hawks. This loss was even more unbearable because he himself was truly exceptional. He was certainly aware of the gap in strength between the two teams, but the pair of star players, Doc Rivers and DeAndre Jordan, really dragged him down.

Even after the match, very few fans or experts criticized him anymore. Aside from professional haters, normal people wouldn't criticize him. He truly went all in!

Jia Fei didn't stay in the locker room long, nor did he listen to head coach Li's season summary; he wanted to go home and have some peace and quiet.

Back home, Jia Fei went straight to sleep; he was exhausted and needed a good night's rest.

He slept until noon the next day, and when he checked his phone, he saw many missed messages and incoming calls. He dialed his best friend Art Mayor's number, and Art Mayor's anxious voice on the other end of the line warmed his heart.

The two agreed to go out for a meal. At the swimming pool of a high-end villa hotel in Los Angeles, Jia Fei, who had just finished swimming, dried himself off and accepted a fresh coconut from the waiter.

Jia Fei drank a fresh coconut juice and asked Art Mayor, who was wearing sunglasses next to him, "Art, our offseason has begun. Get ready for an earthquake!"

Art Mayor didn't seem to care about Jia Fei's first sentence, but the second sentence piqued his interest: "What earthquake?"

Jia Fei answered without batting an eye: "Our team will be making moves this offseason!"

“Yeah, get rid of Doug and DeAndre as soon as possible. I don’t want to see them for another day!” Art Mayor said bluntly.

"Don't worry, they'll leave!" Jia Fei smiled slightly. In his opinion, as long as the management didn't make a mistake, at least one of Old Li and DeAndre Jordan would leave this offseason. If both left, that would be even better. Relatively speaking, DeAndre Jordan was easier to trade, but Old Li was harder to trade.

DeAndre Jordan's current contract is a four-year, $87.6 million deal signed in 2015, with a player option for the final year. All told, he has two years remaining on his contract (assuming he doesn't opt ​​out in the final year). Considering his current excellent form, he certainly wouldn't be considered a negative asset if he were put on the trading block.