After the pre-game warm-up, the Thunder held a grand pre-game entrance ceremony. Fans wearing blue Thunder-themed short-sleeves burst into waves of cheers and screams after the Thunder players came out. , as if tonight is not a regular season game, but a finals tiebreaker between the Wizards and the Thunder.
The Wizards' starting lineup remained the same as before, and the Thunder's starting lineup was quickly displayed on the big screen above their heads.
Point guard Russell Westbrook, shooting guard James Harden, small forward Kevin Durant, power forward Jeff Green, center Nenad Krstic.
It is worth mentioning that Durant is obviously taller than his brother-in-law Green and has much better physical fitness, but the power forward position still has to be given to 206 Jeff Green.
The match between the two sides soon started with the referee's whistle.
Brac and Krstic jumped the ball. Facing this older white center from Serbia, Brac, who was in peak physical condition, easily passed the ball to Li Kaiming, and the Wizards won. The first possession of the ball.
The ball was given to Hinrich and dribbled to the frontcourt. Facing Westbrook's defense, Hinrich did not act rashly. Westbrook has a nickname called "Little Rose", which shows that this guy is not only muscular but also fast. Also very first class.
Hinrich is a point guard who relies on rhythm and brain play, so he will not choose to force a breakthrough to Westbrook, but will call an inside pick-and-roll.
Blatche came up and blocked Westbrook. Westbrook has too many problems on the defensive end. First of all, his defensive attitude depends on his excitement. When he is excited, his defense is very active. But when his mood is not positive enough, his defense can easily become lax.
There is a bigger problem, that is, Westbrook's individual defense is pretty good, at least ranked in the middle and upper reaches of the league's starting point guards, but when defending the pick-and-roll, Westbrook can be said to be defending a bunch of defense!
He didn't know how to communicate well with his center on the defensive end. In too many cases, he was picked and rolled by his opponent, and then he ran to the same position as his center and put the empty basket under the basket. Left to the opposing defender.
As for him this time, the same thing happened. The Serbian guy from the Thunder had already warned him early and asked Westbrook to squeeze into the screen, but Westbrook was still successfully stuck in the back by Brac.
After seeing this scene, the Serbian guy sighed, and then immediately stepped forward. Players like Hinrich are very confident in attacking within half court, so when Westbrook is blocked from behind, As a center, he must step up to help Westbrook delay.
However, Westbrook once again committed an old habit. After being blocked by Brac, he did not immediately catch up and return to his defender. Instead, he directly started to defend Brac on the spot without notifying Serbia at all. Completed a defense change under the circumstances of my brother!
This situation is exactly what the pick-and-roll tactic is most willing to see. Isn't the purpose of playing the pick-and-roll just to create mismatches? Is there anything bigger on the court than the mismatch between positions 1 and 5?
So Brac seized the opportunity and strode directly into the penalty area. Hinrich also knew what he was doing and hit the ball directly to Brac's hands.
No matter how good Westbrook's physical fitness is, he can't guard a center like Brac, who is 2.13cm tall. What's more, at this time, Brac's speed has fully increased after receiving the ball, and it is too late to stop him. Got it!
So Blatche dunked directly with both hands and scored the Wizards' first point!
0 to 2!
Li Kaiming acted as a decoy in the first round and stood outside to open up space. He was very happy to see Hinrich and Blatche use such simple tactics to create an attack.
You Durant are awesome, I thought the team's defense was so good! As a result, the defense is at this level? You don’t even need to take action, my little brothers can overthrow you!
The Thunder served Westbrook from the bottom line, and the latter quickly dribbled to the frontcourt. Facing Hinrich's single defense, he stretched his head directly, then held his neck and forced a breakthrough inside!
It has to be said that Westbrook is simply the most savage man in the NBA. Whether it is his temper or his style of play, from the inside out, his temperament stands out in two words, barbaric!
Of course, this kind of savagery does not mean that he has no quality. As a top student from UcLA, Westbrook's quality is still very good. His savagery is the kind of savagery of a stupid man who doesn't take anything to heart and has a straightforward temperament.
Of course, the same goes for playing basketball. When others break through, they will first make a few smooth changes to provoke the opponent's defense. After feeling that it is almost smooth, they will then gently insert into the opponent's defensive formation with freehand feelings and romance.
This kind of attack will feel very comfortable for both you and your opponent. In short, it can be put in two words, silky smooth!
However, Westbrook didn't need any foreplay. He just went straight to the deepest point. Hinrich on the outside cried out that he couldn't guard against it, and Brac on the inside felt uncomfortable under the fierce impact.
Westbrook is indeed a man who looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and his body is like a sewer brother, with solid muscles, and this is only the third-year Westbrook.
However, just after the break, although Westbrook's breakthrough was very fierce, it also lacked a bit of softness. For example, when launching at the end, if he rushed too hard, he would easily miss the correct position.
This time Westbrook successfully broke through to the basket. After a confrontation with Blatche, his layup missed the basket. Li Kaiming quickly picked up the rebound with quick eyes and hands.
Seeing that his ball was not scored, Westbrook was furious. After landing, he immediately began to press Hinrich and prevent him from catching the ball.
But Hinrich is also very single. Otherwise, if I catch the ball, I won’t catch it. Do you think I am the only one in our team who can dribble?
Li Kaiming held the ball directly through half-court. As soon as his back foot crossed the center line, Jeff Green, who was responsible for guarding him alone tonight, immediately came up to him.
It seems that the Thunder did a lot of homework before the game, even taking into account Li Kaiming's long three-pointer, and they still defended like this from the beginning, which shows that they are very well prepared.
But no one stipulates that Li Kaiming must shoot from outside the three-point line. Facing Jeff Green's pressing, he directly twisted his hip, then pushed the ball forward with his right hand, and at the same time pushed the ground with both feet to exert force, and passed in one step. Dropped Jeff Green!
Jeff Green is stupid!
Of course he had watched the video of Li Kaiming before playing, and thought that the latter, given his height, would be the first person above 210cm even if he was fast, but he had the body of a small forward, and he was still the 5th player in 2007. With the draft position and the physical talent of a lottery pick, there is no problem catching up with a center's size, right?
However, the reality is different from what Jeff Green or the Thunder team thought. Li Kaiming didn't even use any difficult rhythm changes or any fancy dribbling moves, just a simple hip turn. Then he pushed the ball and passed Jeff Green!
Because Jeff Green's position was too far outside, after Li Kaiming dribbled past him, the rest of the Thunder team did not dare to help him defend, because even if Li Kaiming completely passed Green, he was still far away from the three-point line. There is still some distance!
I don’t dare to help defend at all!
There is no difference between guarding and completely missing one's own people to help defend. If Li Kaiming missed it, it is Jeff Green's problem. If one of his own people missed it, then it is his own problem...
So Li Kaiming easily reached outside the three-point line, and then directly pulled up and threw a three-pointer without any defense!
Uh-huh!
With a crisp sound of brushing the net, Li Kaiming scored the first point of the night!
0 to 5!
The atmosphere at the Oklahoma City Stadium was a bit gloomy. After all, Thunder fans bought high-priced tickets to see their home team abuse others, not to see their home team being abused. Of course, it is not ruled out that some people with bad physiques like it. Seeing their home team being abused, there is no doubt that such people are in the minority.
The Wizards scored 5 points in a row, but their own side failed to score a single point. The temperamental man from the Thunder couldn't bear it any longer.
After the Thunder's serve reached the frontcourt, Kevin Durant, one of the protagonists tonight, finally stood up and took the initiative to ask for the ball in front of the folks in Oklahoma City.
Seeing Durant asking for the ball, hope rose in the eyes of Thunder fans. Yes, this man who looks like noodles is their biggest savior in Oklahoma City!
The person guarding Durant was Sun Yue. Seeing Durant who was a head taller than him, Sun Yue was also a little frightened. Although Durant played the position of small forward, his figure was completely He has a center body.
This is also the inexplicable aspect of a player like Durant, with his center size, guard speed and dribbling, coupled with his rather superb shooting skills...
Hey, this description seems a bit familiar...
Li Kaiming: Yes, I’m talking about you!
Going too far, Durant held the ball and faced the Chinese small forward who was a head shorter than him. Then he dropped the ball and dribbled it twice, taking advantage of his long legs to break through to the mid-range of the waist, and then suddenly stopped for a jumper!
Sun Yue tried his best to block the ball in Durant's hand, but no matter how hard he tried, he was still two hands away from Durant's shot height...
No, this is no different from misalignment. Sun Yue felt like crying without tears!
It’s completely out of reach!
Durant's shot flew into the basket with a clang, stopping the Thunder's bleeding and breaking the team's scoring drought.
2 to 5!
The Oklahoma City Stadium has been silent for a long time. The fans who had been holding back for two minutes can finally cheer and roar!
"Good job! Kevin, fuck me!"
"Blow up that Chinese guy!"
"Tonight, that Chinese guy will be in the crosshairs of Kevin Durant, and Kevin will score 40 points on his head!"
"Keep it a secret, brother, look at that Chinese guy's face, at least it's 50 points!"
"I can guarantee that that Chinese guy was so scared that he wet his pants!"
…
A wave of cheers and discussions came from all around, making Sun Yue's face turn red and white.
Li Kaiming, who was standing nearby, was a little speechless. Why, do you Oklahoma City people like to open champagne at halftime so much? You just scored 2 points and started celebrating?
