NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 330 Oracle Center's First Victory

The team leading in the score certainly doesn't want a Game 7. Anything can happen in a Game 7. And the best way to prevent that kind of unpredictability is to win Game 6.

For the Hawks, there are two main difficulties in winning Game 6: First, the opponent is playing at home, and the Hawks have not yet won Oracle Arena in this series, which gives them a psychological advantage. Second, match point games are always the hardest to win, especially in the Finals, because not only will the opponent fight back fiercely, but it is also difficult to guarantee that your own mentality will not change.

But no matter what difficulties you encounter, you sometimes have to go through these things in order to win the championship.

Upon arriving in the Bay Area, the Hawks did not practice but instead rested and held a brief pre-game tactical meeting.

During the meeting, the team finalized the starting lineup for Game 6, clarified specific tactics and defensive strategies, and made preparations for tomorrow night's game.

On the evening of May 17, at the Oracle Centre Arena in Oakland.

The moment Jia Fei stepped into the stadium, he felt an unprecedented surge of energy. There was no doubt about the immense value of winning this game.

Many celebrities attended Oracle Arena that night. Aside from Jia Fei's close friends, other well-known NBA stars were also present.

What excited Jia Fei the most was that the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the NBA championship trophy symbolizing the highest honor for an NBA team, was also present on the sidelines.

This is the first time the Larry O'Brien Trophy has appeared since the start of the Finals. The NBA, as a commercial league, is exceptionally professional, and even if this game doesn't ultimately determine a champion, all the necessary preparations must be made.

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced. The Warriors will continue with their "Death Lineup." The Hawks' starting lineup remains the same as in the previous game.

Just as Jia Fei predicted, the Warriors' trump card is their "death lineup"—the small-ball lineup. Even if they ultimately lose this series, they won't bring Bogdanovic back into the starting lineup. If you can't win with your strongest lineup, that's one thing, but if you repeatedly experiment with different lineups and still lose, then the head coach can't escape the blame.

Today, Oracle Arena resembled a golden ocean, with an amazing home crowd atmosphere.

Curry chewed on his mouthguard, looking completely bewildered, as if this wasn't a do-or-die game, but rather a preseason match.

Green was clapping and shouting wildly, encouraging his teammates. Players like him are liked by their teammates but disliked by their opponents.

The match has begun, and this highly anticipated competition has officially commenced.

From the start, Jia Fei relentlessly guarded Klay Thompson, relentlessly defending him from the moment he received the ball. The legendary "Game 6 Klay" from his previous life was legendary; sometimes you have to believe in the superstitious because it actually happened. Klay's shooting touch in Game 6 was just unpredictable; who could argue with that? The best way to stop a shooter like him is to deny him the opportunity to receive the ball. If he doesn't get the ball, he doesn't have a chance to shoot; if he doesn't have a chance to shoot, he won't have his explosive moments!

The Warriors started the game with decisive shots, taking shots without hesitation when faced with the Hawks' switches, resulting in a surprisingly high shooting percentage. Defensively, they continued to have Iguodala guard Jia Fei one-on-one, only double-teaming him if he penetrated deep into position.

Between the two poisons of attacking Jia Fei from both sides and defending him individually to limit the others, they chose the former.

Jia Fei is still in great form. Whether it's Iguodala or Barnes, he can continue the form from the last game and steadily score in singles.

However, the Hawks' other players, whether affected by the opponent's defensive strategy or due to too much pressure on the road, had a very low shooting percentage from long range.

As a result, the opponent begins to gradually tighten their defense, protecting the paint area and giving you some open/half-open three-point opportunities.

The Hawks struggled to hit three-pointers, allowing the Warriors to close out their defense further.

The Hawks were dominated by their opponents, and only if their defensive system hadn't collapsed, and if Jia Fei hadn't used his superstar abilities to force points and keep the team alive, would the opponent have been able to pull away.

The Hawks' situation remained unchanged in the second quarter. Apart from Jia Fei hitting a three-pointer, the rest of the team went 0-for-11 from three-point range, with no shooting percentage.

Faced with the deafening cheers from the Oracle Arena, the Hawks players seemed a bit flustered. While they were still able to maintain their composure on defense, they were hesitant to even take a shot on offense.

In this situation, the first half ended with the Hawks trailing by 9 points, 45-54!

Halftime, away team locker room.

Jia Fei addressed his teammates: "Guys, we only made one three-pointer in the first half, while our opponents made eight, but we were only down by nine points! Our shooting percentage can't be this bad all game. Don't put any pressure on yourselves, just take the shot when you have the chance. I'll take responsibility if we lose! Keep fighting, the game isn't over yet, we still have plenty of time to catch up!"

After Jia Fei finished speaking, the frustration in the locker room eased somewhat. Today's game was indeed a bit unusual; the Hawks' shooting touch was terrible, while their opponents scored a lot of incredible shots, sometimes it was just impossible to reason with them.

But that's the element of chance in a game, which is why miracles often happen during March Madness, but rarely in the NBA playoffs. A best-of-seven series minimizes the element of chance, making it highly likely that the stronger team will win.

After the start of the second half, the Hawks seemed to regain their fighting spirit. Their defense became more aggressive, constantly increasing the intensity. Although their shooting percentage didn't return, their opponents' shooting percentage began to decline, and they committed more turnovers, giving the Hawks numerous fast break opportunities.

When the Hawks, apart from Jia Fei, started hitting three-pointers, the momentum of the game began to shift significantly. Towards the end of the third quarter, Horford hit his first three-pointer of the game, giving the Hawks their first lead of the match.

In the final quarter, the Warriors' energy began to wane, and they missed many shots on offense. The Hawks, on the other hand, played more and more freely, with Jia Fei's isolation plays, Middleton's isolation plays, Horford's outside pop and Teague's drives all coming into play.

By the halfway point of the final quarter, the Hawks had extended their lead to double digits.

Ultimately, the Hawks defeated the Warriors 99-87 on the road, winning their first game of the series at Oracle Arena and ending the series!

With a score of 4-2, the Hawks defeated the Warriors, who were the top seed in the Western Conference this season, to win the 2014-15 NBA championship!

"Champions! Champions!" Coach Zhang exclaimed joyfully in the sports channel studio. With that, the 2014-15 season came to a perfect end!