The Thunder were also surprised by the major adjustment of the Clippers' starting lineup.
It's rare to make such a big starting change in the postseason.
Seeing James Harden starting, Kevin Durant stepped forward and joked: "James! They actually let you start? Is it as compensation for the last game?"
The referee's call at the end of Game 3 made the Thunder extremely dissatisfied.
Thunder general manager Presti protested to the league and criticized the referees for being unfair.
As a result, he was fined US$20,000 by the league, which made Min Congda jealous.
It made him want to stand up and speak out for the Thunder.
Faced with the provocation from his past boss, Harden did not respond.
Harden is not a trash-talking player.
But anger also burned in his heart.
Just because he doesn't want to talk trash doesn't mean he's not competitive.
Harden and Curry are quite similar in this regard. Both of them are gentle people.
They will hide their competitiveness in their hearts and express it with actions.
Instead of swearing or provoking others at every turn.
They are better at responding to provocations from others.
Harden knew that Min Congda personally put him in the starting position.
As for the reason, it is very simple. He must be hoping that Harden can break his inner demons and build up his self-confidence!
Harden does have some inner demons. In the Thunder, he is the third child behind Durant and Westbrook.
As a substitute and a support player, he knows his position very well, so he is naturally a bit shorter mentally.
And not only does he feel shorter than Durant and Westbrook, but he also feels inferior when compared with Ibaka.
After all, Ibaka is really tall, and anyone else would shy away from him.
After coming to the Clippers, Harden found that no one seemed to be the real boss here.
Curry is the No. 1 pick, but he is very humble. You see, when he was asked to be a substitute in this game, he sat on the bench.
Baron Davis was once considered the boss, but his ability is no longer the absolute core.
Randolph and Gasol are both capable players, but they don't have the heart and temperament to be the boss.
If you have to say who is the boss, it is General Manager Smart. He is the real big brother.
In the Clippers, he can be said to rule the sky with one hand, and the boss must listen to him.
The general manager asked the coaching staff to change the starting lineup with just one sentence.
Harden remained silent, but Baron Davis stood up and spoke for Harden.
"Keep your mouth shut, little bamboo pole. You guys will know today exactly how we lost, and we won't give you any more excuses."
After all, Balang is a famous star in the league, and his behavior has always been fierce.
Although Durant is a bit handsome, he is still a young man after all, so he needs to restrain himself temporarily when facing the big brother.
After the game started, Durant didn't restrain himself anymore. He hit consecutive mid-range jumpers against Tucker at the beginning.
It can be seen that Durant has a strong desire to attack. He was unwilling to lose in the last game. This time the team will rebound.
The Clippers' starting lineup may seem unconventional, but in fact Harden has started in the regular season.
During Curry's absence, Dunleavy tried a variety of lineups.
This includes starting Harden and partnering with Baron Davis to form a bearded combination.
The disadvantage is that they are slow. These two guys are not as nimble in playing as Curry.
Harden's off-ball movement is obviously inferior, and C&S is not what he is good at.
The advantage is that it has strong impact. Both battering rams can rush in. The two of them hold the ball and take turns to attack the opponent in pick-and-rolls. It is called a simple and rough game.
Harden is only in his second year, and his physical strength is already stronger than many second positions in the league.
In the future, he will become stronger and stronger, and his offensive power with the ball will become more and more powerful.
At the beginning, Baron Davis held the ball and charged in, not afraid of Perkins and Ibaka.
Gasol and Randolph both have mid-range abilities, opening up space for the two sledgehammers to rush in.
PJ Tucker squats in the corner, or rushes for offensive rebounds with Randolph.
The whole style of the Clippers, which used to play pass-cut coordination and take a light route, has changed.
Suddenly it became thick and brave.
Harden continuously hit the basket in the first quarter, causing defensive fouls on Ibaka and Perkins respectively.
During a breakthrough layup, the headband Harden was wearing was swung away, but he still tried hard to take the shot, causing his opponent to foul and go to the free throw line to score.
The Thunder gradually felt that the Clippers were a little different from the first three games.
The intensity of the game has kept up, the offense is extremely ferocious, and the defensive stickiness has been greatly enhanced.
Especially Durant, after hitting two mid-range shots at the beginning, it became difficult for him to score.
PJ Tucker's defensive style is completely different from Ricky Davis.
Ricky Davis just started transforming into a 3D player last season.
He chose to take a strategic route and defend his opponents reasonably through good positioning and early prediction.
Davis himself is an offensive master, and after transitioning to 3D, he knows how to defend offensive arrows.
But this defensive strategy is of no use to Durant. Due to his height and wingspan, even if you have good defense, it's still almost the same as not having any defense at all.
It doesn't matter if your eyes are sealed, if I raise my arms you can't reach them.
Ricky Davis really caused trouble for Durant late in Game 3.
He used his upper body to invade Durant with borderline foul moves, causing Durant to make mistakes and interrupt his rhythm.
Of course, this move depends on whether the referee will give him face. Obviously at Staples Center, the referee will.
PJ Tucker is different. He can survive in the league mainly because of the face given by Min Congda.
I felt that no team wanted him and he must be a parallel import, so I signed him.
Unexpectedly, this short striker from Kong Wu played very hard, he was like a desperate Saburo.
He was also the core of the team in high school and college, playing in Europe and winning the MVP role.
When he arrived at the Clippers, he just squatted in the corner to look for three-point shooting opportunities, grabbed offensive rebounds, and defended desperately.
His defense sticks to Durant like candy.
Tucker is only 1.9cm tall, much shorter than Durant.
So he doesn't try to reach out to block shots and interfere with him at all.
It's useless. For pitchers of Durant's caliber, whether or not someone reaches out in front of them won't affect their shots at all.
Tucker's defensive method is to push the ball down and prevent Durant from easily catching the ball or making easy movements.
Even if Durant doesn't have the ball, Tucker still keeps an eye on him and never gives Durant a chance to catch the ball easily.
In the first quarter of the game, Durant made 2 of 6 shots and scored 6 points with two mid-range shots and two free throws.
The two sides scored 27:25, and the Clippers led by 2 points in the first quarter.
James Harden scored 8 points in the first quarter on consecutive shots and free throws.
In the first quarter, the Clippers played surprisingly well and brought the game into a completely new situation compared to before.
The Thunder are in trouble, and they've encountered a new situation.
Cole couldn't help but said to Dunleavy: "Mike, Mr. Smart's adjustments are effective, but we have to wait and see in the second quarter."
Dunleavy nodded and rotated in the second quarter. He replaced Baron Davis with Curry and asked Harden to partner with Curry.
Then, an important inside substitution was made, with Matt Bonner replacing Marc Gasol instead of Milicic.
(End of chapter)
