On the way to the final, “Tampa” met serious resistance only in 1/2, when before that opponents could not impose a fight on such a powerful team. Lightning easily defeated Florida and Carolina in the quarterfinals (4-1). The Islanders were the only club that could fight back the Lightning. Despite the rather difficult fights, Tampa was still the favorite, as they showed the game a little more confidently, which was also reflected in one of the fights, where John Cooper’s charges defeated the Islanders with a score of 8:0. Indeed, “Lightning” are in excellent shape and have every right to qualify for the cup.
This time, the Clippers failed to break the opponent’s defensive redoubts. The Phoenix players were not allowed to shoot on their ring, so Paul George and company showed a terrible game in attack. In total, 32.5% of shots flew into the target. This is much less than that of the opponent. It is worth noting that the leaders of the sailing ships, Paul George and Reggie Jackson, did not do their best. The first scored only 23 points in 37 minutes on the floor and also made four rebounds and seven assists. Jackson has 20 points, five rebounds and one assist. Now Tyrone Lew needs to change something urgently, because with such a game they can end the battle ahead of schedule.