Before the game between the Clippers and Thunder started, at the pre-game preparation meeting, the Clippers coaching staff formulated a basic strategy and implemented a defensive strategy of wheel battle against Durant.
First, due to the competition in this game, the Clippers need a victory to ensure their top two position in the Western Conference and gain home court advantage in the playoffs.
When there is not much difference in strength, home field advantage can often determine the final outcome of the series.
Second, the Clippers need to conduct tactical experiments to see how effective the three forward brothers are in defending Durant.
Anyway, when playing against the Thunder, the targeted defense of Durant must be considered. This is a bright card. Whether you can win depends on whether you can contain this top scoring champion.
In the first quarter, Clippers Paul George and Leonard played one after another, and the effect was quite good, allowing Durant to only score 4 points.
During the break, Durant was so angry that he threw a towel on the bench with a depressed look on his face.
Obviously, neither Durant nor the Thunder were adequately prepared for the Clippers' defensive battle.
They thought it was just an encounter, with the home court waiting for work and the two sides going head-to-head, and the Thunder would not be afraid.
Who would have thought that the Clippers were well prepared, whether offensively or defensively, they had pinched the Thunder's Achilles' heel.
Defending Perkins and attacking Durant, as long as these two points are grasped, the Thunder will have a very, very headache.
If two points are grasped at the same time, Brooks's adjustment ability will be tested.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Brooks replaced Perkins and instead of Collison, he sent in Muhammad.
In Brooks' view, the team's strategy cannot be led by the Clippers.
The Clippers play a small lineup, and the Thunder follow suit and play one big and four small? That would probably kill him.
Therefore, Brooks still insists on strengthening the team's inside line and further shrinking the defense.
Slowing down the pace of the game and then slowing down, Eric Gordon is in the backcourt, allowing Gordon to start the mode of carrying explosives to the basket.
On the Clippers side, Durant is not available, and the three brothers are sitting on the bench watching the show.
Harden came to the court to organize the team's offense, and Gordon and he led the team to compete with each other.
Harden's offensive organization ability is stronger, and he leads the whole team to attack together.
Gordon mainly relies on his personal ability to attack by himself, continuously holding the ball to attack the basket.
The Thunder, with the strength of their home court, increased their defensive intensity and continued to engage in physical confrontations, turning the game into chaos and hand-to-hand combat.
This is the Thunder's advantage, and Brooks hopes the situation in the game can be disrupted to the benefit of both Westbrook and Durant.
Neither of these two guys are the kind of players who play in a regular and orderly manner.
They are very good at winning in chaos, one uses speed and impact, and the other uses abnormal shooting accuracy.
Often when the opponent is in a state of confusion, the opponent will be stunned by a sudden burst of thunder and bombardment.
Therefore, the more chaotic the situation, the more intense the confrontation, the less role players can play, and the more superstar scenes, the more advantageous the Thunder will be, and the more Westbrook and Durant can determine the trend of the game.
All of Brooks's tactical arrangements and on-the-spot dispatches are mainly focused on this purpose.
From this point of view, Brooks and his teacher George Karl can be said to be of the same strain.
George Karl's career masterpiece, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Denver Nuggets are both chaotic and passionate teams.
The SuperSonics have Kemp, the Nuggets have Anthony, and now Brooks has Durant, a better scorer than Kemp and Anthony.
While Brooks was looking at the situation on the court, he said to Durant next to him: "Don't take it too seriously in the first quarter. Adjust your style of play later, attack the opponent more in the ribs, reduce holding the ball appropriately, and attack directly. Basket. Score more points, focus on the basket, aim for the basket, and shoot the ball in!"
Brooks is a very good coach, very suitable for a young team like the Thunder.
Durant, Westbrook, and Gordon are all players who are dedicated to playing well.
In this regard, the Thunder and Clippers are quite similar. Everyone just plays well and doesn't have too many mistakes.
Brooks is the instructor of this young team. He must not only arrange the team's tactics, but also provide psychological massage to the young people.
Durant is a player with a sensitive personality and a deep mind. Brooks knows this, so he has always paid attention to guiding Durant to adjust his mentality.
Durant has been in the league for many years, but he still retains the habit of carrying a schoolbag for post-game interviews, as if he has not really grown up.
Facing the coach's guidance, he nodded, humbly accepted the coach's comfort, and quickly adjusted his mentality.
At this time, Kevin Durant, who was born in 1988, was only 24 years old, a very young age.
If he successfully graduates from college and joins the workforce instead of playing basketball, it will be his second year in society.
This year, there must still be many beautiful illusions about the world. For example, hard work will definitely pay off, loyalty is a good quality, consistency is a good story, etc.
Oklahoma City fans are very fond of this somewhat shy big boy. In the entire Oklahoma, he is almost the only sports superstar and a statewide idol.
After all, there is only one major league sports team, the Thunder, in the entire state of Oklahoma.
The NBA also takes great care of Durant. Nike signed him early and promoted him to a big star.
He was treated like a star wherever he went, and he was sure he would win a championship one day.
If I had to say which year it would be, the best would be this year. To be able to defeat LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Finals, win the championship, and take off the hat of being the second best player in the world. This is definitely the most perfect script. .
By then, he will bring the first professional sports championship trophy back to Oklahoma City and become a true basketball hero here.
What a basketball fairy tale, and Durant uses this sweet goal to motivate himself every day.
In the West, the Clippers are the Thunder's biggest thorn in the side, and there are three little pigs on the opposite side to cause trouble.
Although Paul George and Leonard have outstanding defense, they are still rookies after all. Durant has been a veteran for five years. How can the superstar scoring champion who started to get a maximum salary contract be easily locked up by two rookies? Woolen cloth?
As Brooks said, when the game entered a chaotic state in the second quarter, he seized the opportunity to launch an attack in the ribs, and no one could stop him from scoring.
For him, scoring 30 points in a game is very easy.
The Thunder's adjustments in the second quarter worked.
Brooks's idea is correct. He cannot follow the Clippers' rhythm and be led by the Clippers.
They have to play their own game, drag the game into chaos, and then Durant and Westbrook come on to turn the situation around.
Brooks specifically increased the rest time for Durant and Westbrook.
Waiting until the first official timeout in the second quarter, Brooks patted Durant on the shoulder and signaled him to come on.
At this time, the score between the two sides was 38:35, and the Thunder had caught up to 3 points.
The offensive efficiency of both sides is not high.
Harden returned to Oklahoma City tonight and was targeted by his old teammates again.
Anyway, he played just average, not as good as Gordon.
When the official timeout ended, Durant and Westbrook reappeared together.
As for the Clippers, the main force has not completely returned.
There's no way, the Clippers have a big rotation, and everyone's playing time is relatively long.
Curry and George were still resting on the bench, but when they came to Durant, the one who defended him was not George or Leonard, but another rookie, Butler.
Durant was a little angry inside.
Damn it, another rookie is sent to guard me?
How much do you look down on me, the league's leading scorer?
With so little cards, the second and first graders want to control me, a super scorer?
Compared to Leonard and George, Butler is inferior to them in physical fitness.
The height difference is not big, mainly due to wingspan. Butler's arms are obviously shorter than George and Leonard.
In defense, wingspan is very important. If the arms are longer, it will interfere with the opponent.
Butler's wingspan is shorter than George and Leonard, not to mention comparable to the long-armed monster Durant.
When it comes to basketball, physical talent is really insurmountable. One's height and one's wingspan are things that cannot be changed or improved through training and hard work.
Otherwise, why do some people always say that height is the greatest talent?
Otherwise, how could a parallel import like Thabeet be drafted into the top three?
Now he can no longer survive in the league and can't even serve as a substitute.
After Durant came on the court, he caught the ball in his ribs and made a pull-up jumper towards Butler, hitting it accurately!
The Thunder chased the score to only 1 point away.
Durant obviously didn't take Butler seriously.
George and Leonard can be said to be early picks in the first round.
George has also shown strong potential and can compete with the league's top small forwards.
Who is Butler? The 30th pick in the first round, the last pick, is basically the same as a second-round pick.
And this physical quality is simply not enough to defend Durant.
Durant knew that he had to gradually regain his form in this quarter and reverse the momentum.
But Durant was distracted. During the offense, Butler ran back and cut into the basket. He received Harden's pass and made a backhand layup!
Durant was careless with this ball. Is this guy still capable of running back?
The Clippers' offensive space is very wide, and there will be opportunities to slip through the back door at any time, making it difficult to guard against.
Durant immediately asked for the ball with his back in the ribs, caught the ball, dribbled, turned around, and shot an independent jump shot.
Hit again!
Durant's height, wingspan, golden rooster independence, and backward lean. Unless Chamberlain is alive, this ball cannot be blocked. Whether it goes in or not depends entirely on his own touch.
Butler, whose defense failed, remained silent and returned to the offense to attack the basket again.
This time Durant was on guard. Butler's air cut and reverse run failed, but Harden directly took the ball to the basket and hit a two-pointer.
The two sides began to enter an anxious tug-of-war in the second quarter.
The Thunder are eager to take the lead and reverse the unfavorable situation on the court.
The Clippers seemed to be taking their time and didn't seem to care much about the pursuing Thunder.
Tyronn Lue observed Butler off the court and thought: "This guy is still a little behind George and Leonard in terms of talent, but he has a good attitude, trains hard, and plays very seriously and hard."
Tyronn Lue never underestimates players who work hard.
In the Clippers, these young players train very, very hard.
If you have to pick the one who works hardest, one is Curry and the other is Butler.
Of course, Jeremy Lin, George and others also train a lot.
But Butler is always the last one to leave.
And Curry often turns on the small stove and comes very early.
At this time, Butler faced Durant for the third time in the second quarter, still in the ribs.
Butler began to increase the physical confrontation and kept squeezing Durant's waist, preventing him from catching the ball comfortably.
After Durant got the ball, he pushed back twice, made space, dribbled the ball, turned around and walked to the baseline!
But Butler predicted Durant's attack. He reached out for the ball and broke the ball from Durant's hand!
Durant was intercepted for the second time today!
Because he lost his center of gravity and slipped, Durant fell to the ground and almost did a split.
Before the ball flew out of the baseline, Butler jumped out and hit the ball on Durant and bounced out of the boundary.
The Clippers have the ball!
Durant has such long legs that once he falls to the ground, he is like a giraffe, unable to stand up easily.
Two people were asked to go over and pull him up. Durant was expressionless, but obviously felt a little embarrassed.
He complained to the referee, saying that Butler fouled the ball and clearly made a push.
The referee shook his head and said that this was a normal defensive action.
The referee tonight is Tony Blazes. He has always listened to the league. He has been officiating NBA games since the 1994-1995 season. He is experienced and senior, and the key is to listen to the command.
After Adam Silva took office, he made great use of this Mesozoic black referee, and he was the referee of some important games.
In other games, the referee might have blown the ball because Butler did make some pushing moves.
In a basketball game, how can the defense not have physical contact? It all depends on the referee's decision.
Durant is a superstar, and tonight is at the Thunder's home court. It is normal to call a defensive foul.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be ugly if Durant fell to his knees after being intercepted like this, which would be detrimental to the league's ability to maintain the star's image.
But tonight's game is a battle between the Clippers and the Thunder, but it is also Min Congda's comeback battle!
The referee almost went on strike because he was worried that Min Congda would come back to watch the game.
Adam Silva was sitting on the sidelines, how could he make a penalty that gave Min Congda the opportunity to attack?
Durant could only shake his head helplessly and ran back to defend.
The Clippers launched a quick counterattack, and Harden suddenly made a long pass from the backcourt to the frontcourt.
Butler dodged Durant, who was not focused enough, and caught the ball and hit the basket again.
Facing Perkins, the helicopter took off and came up with a two-handed dunk!
Immediately afterwards, the referee blew the whistle and called Perkins a defensive foul!
Two points count, plus a penalty!
The Thunder's home court was booed.
A defensive foul was not called, but the Thunder was called for a defensive foul.
It's five points inside and outside, and the point difference will soon be widened.
And Perkins is really pitiful. The last time he was dunked by George, George lost his confidence.
I was dunked by Butler again tonight. Looking at Butler roaring passionately, is he going to be activated too?
Perkins is truly a confidence pacemaker.
In the audience, Min Congda frowned and said to Silva: "This whistle is not good, right?"
Silva said: "There is nothing wrong with it. It is fair and just. I believe in the professionalism of the referees."
Min Congda thought to himself, this is too biased towards the Clippers! I'm going to curse!
But Silva thought, this guy Smart, isn't he satisfied with such a partial whistle? Can't it be too ugly?
Some people died, but not completely...
