Seven Hundred and Sixty-One: The First Point Guard of the Embarrassed League

Chris Paul also started to miss from beyond the three-point line, and his only proud three-pointer today has also lost its magical aura.

The Clippers' offense was a mess, and the fourth quarter didn't get them back on track. In other words, their performance in the second half is the real normal performance. The offense in the first half was simply too miraculous to replicate.

After Link blocked Paul's three-pointer, he immediately ran to the front court. The defensive counterattack has become the Grizzlies' main scoring method.

Paul didn't have time to be upset, he caught up immediately, hoping to prevent Link from continuing to widen the point difference.

Link received Gasol's long pass, Paul didn't jump to steal, he didn't plan to take risks. Paul walked to the basket next to Link like this, but Paul, who was 1.85 meters tall, could not do anything against Link's impact.

However, Paul had a way to deal with it.

Just as Link was about to take off for a layup, Paul jumped up and hung on Link's shoulders. This was the only way he could stop Link.

He would rather let Link make a free throw than let Link make an easy layup.

But what Paul didn't expect was that Link threw the basketball firmly to the backboard under his pull!

Link and Paul both rushed out of the baseline, the referee's whistle blew, and at the same time, the basketball rubbed the backboard and fell into the net.

Paul watched the basketball go into the net, and put his foot on the cushion on the backboard in disappointment!

He actually failed to hold Link with all his strength!

When a player can't stop his opponent with a foul, the defense is sure to feel extremely frustrated.

"2+1, Link in the counterattack will not be stopped by anyone. Although Paul fouled in advance, he still can't change the fact of losing points!"

In the shouting of Hubie Brown, Link raised his arms fiercely and showed his biceps. Paul looked at the flamboyant Link, and only chose to swallow it up.

Throughout the second half, he was completely destroyed.

At this point, the game will be over with only 2 minutes left, and the Clippers are 9 points behind. No, after Link's goal just now, the Clippers are already 11 points behind. If Link hits the penalty again, it will be 12 points.

Chasing 12 points in 2 minutes is an almost insurmountable gap for the current Clippers and Paul.

Paul, sweating profusely from exhaustion, watched Link step onto the free throw line. He was so scared that Link would suddenly take a free throw with his eyes closed to himself.

Fortunately, Link didn't use that trick to humiliate Paul. He just took two deep breaths, and after calming his breath, he made a steady free throw.

12 points, 2 minutes, Doc Rivers stopped the game.

The fans at the scene finally had time to pay attention and looked at the stats of the players on both sides on the big screen.

Paul scored all assists and scored a 30-point double-double. At first glance, this is already a very good performance.

However, 26 of Paul's 31 points came in the first half. Throughout the second half, Paul was guarded by Link with only 5 points.

And Paul's 11 assists also included as many as 6 turnovers! Among them, 4 times came from the second half, from Link's defense!

As an efficient point guard who has averaged around 2.5 turnovers per game, Paul's control of turnovers today was undoubtedly a failure.

And those mistakes,

Most were converted to points by Link again...

What about Link? He came from behind, the game has scored 35 points, 7 assists and 12 rebounds. Among them, the data of 3 blocks and 4 steals are even more eye-catching!

A day ago, when the NBA officially announced that this year's Defensive Player of the Year award belongs to Link, everyone was questioning.

Link? His defense is indeed excellent, but can his dominance on the defensive end really compare to Noah, Jordan and Hibbert and other post players?

And today, Link gave everyone the answer.

A player's dominance on the defensive end is not determined by height.

"Nice job, Link, we came back to life today." Jogel patted Link's shoulder hard. To be honest, seeing Paul play so well in the first half, he thought it was over.

But Link's defense against Paul in the second half completely subverted everyone's judgment of the game.

"Hopefully we don't have to play so hard next time." Link wiped the sweat from his forehead and could see that he wasn't playing as easily today as he did in the first round.

Although Paul's statistics in the second half of the game are ugly, only Link himself knows how hard he has worked for it.

When defending Paul, Link never missed any detail or any possible confrontation opportunity.

In the case of putting 100% of your energy into defense, you must also ensure the success rate of each counterattack.

Although the score is not anxious now, Link doesn't think the game will be easy at all.

"Don't worry, we won't get any harder than today. Paul can't play the offense like today, but you can play defense like today at any time, can't you?"

Jogel smiled confidently. With Link around, he was not afraid of an opponent like the Clippers at all!

After two minutes, the Grizzlies still did not remove all the main force. This is the Western Conference semifinals, even if it is the last two minutes, it has to be treated with caution.

Seeing that the Grizzlies are still so serious, the Clippers were the first to give up their resistance.

In the end, the game hit a high score. The Clippers' defense was completely destroyed by the Grizzlies, and the Grizzlies regained their advantage on the defensive end in the second half, preventing the Clippers' crazy increase in scoring in time.

1 to 0, the defending champion narrowly kept the home field advantage. The Los Angeles Clippers were so close to winning, but they forgot that the Grizzlies would not give up until the last minute.

After the game, Chris Paul didn't plan to give Link or any of the Grizzlies a high five or hug. With his head down, he hurried to the tunnel, like a rat crossing the street.

The loss of this game was undoubtedly a huge blow to Paul. He was so embarrassed by a sworn enemy that anyone would be depressed.

"Chris, can I hold you for a few minutes?" However, the reporters certainly won't let Paul go.

In the first half of the game, Paul's performance was so good, but the power was suddenly cut off in the second half. His topicality today is undoubtedly the highest in the audience.

Paul stopped and looked up slowly. He also wanted to walk right past the reporter, but that seemed like he couldn't afford to lose.

"Can you tell us what happened in the second half of the game?" The reporter immediately asked when Paul stopped.

"Our offense is not so efficient, we didn't seize the opportunity." Paul shook his head, thinking of the scenes in the second half of the game, he was still very depressed.

"What made your offense so ineffective? At the end of the first half, you said the Grizzlies defense didn't give you any trouble."

"I ... wrongly estimated their defensive capabilities."

"Link is the best defensive player, even so, you still underestimate his defensive ability?"

"I......"

"Is this the toughest half you've ever played? In front of Link, you seem to be doing nothing and fighting back. How do you rate his defense? You think Jordan's defense is better than Link's. ?"

Paul's face was gloomy due to a wave of questions from the reporter, and he was at a loss for words. If I knew it earlier, I would have just left.

It's better to be considered unbearable by others than to be directly humiliated in front of the camera.

The league's first point guard has never been so embarrassed in front of the camera.