High scoring versus Biao, this is the first quarter of Lei Yong’s battle.
There is no obvious gap in the strength of the two teams.
Although trailing by two points, Coach Brooks was very satisfied with the Thunder's performance.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both played the entire first quarter, and they were greatly exhausted.
Brooks is satisfied, but Mark Jackson is not. His original intention was to use the second team to draw points, but now he can't draw points, and then Curry and Thompson have to rest at the beginning of the second quarter.
If a shooter's physical fitness declines significantly, his efficiency will also be affected to a certain extent.
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"The second lineup led by Zhao Chen is stable and did not fall behind in the starting lineup against the Biao Warriors."
"16 points and 6 assists in a single quarter, this is his super performance."
"The Thunder's defense still didn't do a good job, allowing the Warriors to score close to 40 points."
The fans were excited to watch the first quarter of the game. The offensive quality of both teams was very high.
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"Give the ball inside, David, you take the lead!"
"Attack their inside line."
Mark Jackson continues to explain the layout of the second team.
On the Thunder bench, Brooks praised Zhao Chen, and then continued to encourage Westbrook and Durant.
Zhao Chen alone cannot perform well in this game, others must step up.
The game in the Western Conference Finals is too powerful, and it is difficult for one superstar to affect the outcome of the game.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Westbrook and Durant led the second team on the court, while the Warriors were led by Barnes, David Lee, and Green.
"You can let those two guys shoot." Zhao Chen shouted to the Thunder players on the court.
Those two guys are Draymond Green and Iguodala.
Green and Iguodala's three-pointers during the Super Warriors period were pretty good, but apart from this stage, their three-pointers at other times were terrible.
Just let them go, one or two in can't kill them.
After explaining to his teammates, Zhao Chen returned to the bench. The team doctor continued to relax Zhao Chen's muscles.
Although they are both rotational lineups for both teams, the lineups retain a large number of starting players from both sides.
At this point, the rotations of both sides are short rotations, and eight or nine-man rotations are standard.
After the start of the second quarter, Westbrook and Durant played eye-catchingly and quickly led the team to overtake the score.
The Warriors' outside splash was no longer available. They wanted to play inside but encountered a double attack.
However, the referees were very harsh in this game, and the Warriors frequently got to the free throw line by causing fouls.
Every time a teammate scores a goal, Zhao Chen will stand up and cheer.
After the score went ahead, Mark Jackson quickly stopped the game.
However, after returning from the timeout, they did not make any substitutions and remained with the initial lineup of the second quarter.
The Warriors' inside line began to come out to open up the situation. Green and Iguodala no longer took outside shots, and they frequently cut to the basket.
Green's passing is indeed good. Whether it is Iguodala or David Lee, he can send some feeds.
The result of the Warriors' frequent attacks inside is an increase in physical conflicts between the two sides.
Both Adams and David Lee had moments when they both fell to the ground.
Westbrook's layup was directly knocked away by Green, and Westbrook was knocked to the ground.
It can be seen that Green is targeting Westbrook to cause trouble. He hopes to anger Westbrook like Beverley.
Ibaka took the lead for Westbrook, and he also dropped Iguodala who was about to break quickly and received a flagrant foul.
After this round, the actions on both sides became more and more intense, the referee blew the whistle frequently, the Thunder's offensive rhythm was disrupted, and the original advantage was equalized.
Mark Jackson sent Curry in time, and Curry hit a three-pointer as soon as he came up.
With 6 minutes and 53 seconds left in the second quarter, the score reached 52-49, and the Warriors took the lead.
Brooks asked for a timeout when he saw the situation was not going well.
After the timeout, Zhao Chen also came on the court, and the Warriors also sent Thompson.
Basically, the core players of both sides are on the court again.
Thunder offense.
Zhao Chen dribbled the ball to the frontcourt.
Westbrook and Durant both opened up space for Zhao Chen.
The two of them attacked for a long time and wanted to change the rhythm a little.
It is Iguodala who defends Zhao Chen.
Iguodala did not let Zhao Chen dribble comfortably, but constantly used his body to fight against Zhao Chen.
He made a big move, but the referee just didn't blow the whistle.
Zhao Chen was also angered. He stopped passing the ball and signaled to pull away.
Iguodala watched Zhao Chen come to play singles. He gritted his teeth and clapped hard: "Rookie, now I'm going to play with you for real."
Zhao Chen said: "If you can't prevent it, you can't prevent it. What excuse are you looking for!"
It's not like Zhao Chen never beat Iguodala in isolation in the first quarter. For Zhao Chen, although Iguodala's defense was strong, he couldn't lock him down.
Iguodala didn't argue anymore, but defended seriously.
Outside the right three-point line.
Zhao Chen began to change directions and dribble continuously.
Iguodala tried to reach out for Zhao Chen's ball.
Seeing such an opportunity, Zhao Chen did not hesitate and directly held the ball with both hands and shot Iguodala's right hand for a jumper.
"Beep beep beep!!"
Zhao Chen jumped from a position outside the three-point line, and the referee stretched out three fingers.
After the referee blew the penalty, Iguodala still didn't take his hand out, but pushed forward hard.
Zhao Chen stopped and immediately pushed Iguodala back.
Seeing that the two were about to clash, the fans at the scene booed and the referee blew his whistle frequently.
Ibaka and Perkins also quickly rushed into the middle to protect Zhao Chen.
We can't let Zhao Chen do things like fights.
The conflict did not escalate.
The referee did not give a technical foul, but warned both sides.
Before the free throw, Zhao Chen opened his hands and kept beckoning the fans to cheer.
"Well done!"
"Just fuck him like this."
"Zhao, you are too MAN."
Zhao Chen stood on the free throw line and easily made three free throws, tying the score again.
After Zhao Chen hit three free throws, the game once again fell into a tug-of-war.
Zhao Chen did not become the main point of attack in this quarter. Durant's touch was very hot. Zhao Chen also deliberately distributed the ball to Durant every time he encountered a double attack. Zhao Chen's assists came up very quickly.
Durant made multiple hits from beyond the three-point line.
The Warriors are still attacking from the Splash Brothers.
Zhao Chen's defense is very strong, but it is still difficult to completely restrict them.
Curry and Thompson can always respond to Durant in a timely manner.
In the last two minutes of the second quarter, the offense of both sides stalled slightly, and they didn't score much. Otherwise, the two teams would have scored more than 80 points in the first half!
70 to 72.
The Thunder entered the locker room with a 2-point advantage.
Zhao Chen scored 26 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds in the first half.
In the locker room, Brooks didn't scold the players, he just kept emphasizing defense.
The Warriors are different from their opponents in the first two rounds. Their offense is too sharp and combines both inside and outside. The Thunder need to do every detail well to be able to limit them.
For the Thunder, one must not be impatient.
