The inter-section break is over and the second quarter begins.
The Thunder's lineup in the second quarter was: Harden, Seflosa, Durant, Yin Baka, and Muhammad.
Although Durant's physical strength is average, he can play about 40 minutes in each game.
Moreover, the situation on the court is not good for the Thunder. It is impossible for head coach Brooks to leave Durant on the bench to rest. It will be used to death anyway.
The lineup the Warriors sent in the second quarter was: Bledsoe, Moreau, Sun Yi, Battier, and Arab League.
The second quarter started with the Thunder attacking first.
Harden dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and when he saw that Durant did not reach out for the ball and signaled him to play it himself, he was very excited.
This is his first game in the playoffs, and he also wants to perform as brightly as Sun Yi and Curry.
Within a few minutes of his appearance in the first quarter, he didn't have the ball. He was divided between his eldest brother and his second brother. He just came up to be a tool for controlling the ball.
Now the opportunity has come, and Harden has to seize it.
As a result, Harden continued to crossover and step back, and then jumped out of the three-point line to shoot.
Bledsoe's center of gravity was shaken and he was unable to immediately rush to interfere.
Swish!
Hollow into the net!
25:27!
The Warriors served quickly, and Sun Yi quickly advanced after receiving the ball.
Sevlosa immediately stepped forward to intercept, delaying Sun Yi's advancement.
When Sun Yi saw Seflosa coming up to him, he changed the direction of dribbling from behind, accelerated and rushed past Seflosa.
Durant, who was retreating, immediately ran forward to cover the defense.
As Durant stepped forward to cover the defense, the Thunder's defense was ripped open, allowing the Warriors to seize the opportunity.
Sun Yi quickly passed the ball to the right side of the three-point line with quick eyes and hands.
Battier received the pass and immediately took off to shoot.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball hit the net and shot through the heart!
The Warriors responded with a three-pointer!
Not to be outdone, the Thunder quickly returned the favor.
Harden used his teammates' pick-and-roll to break through to the free throw line, hit a mid-range jumper, and scored 2 points.
The Warriors immediately served up a fast break.
Morrow made a chasing three-point shot, but unfortunately he failed to hit.
The Thunder launched a counterattack, and Durant made a long pass to find Harden on the fast break.
Harden received the pass, entered the penalty area from the right, took a European step to get past Bledsoe, and threw the ball towards the basket.
At this moment, Sun Yi came back to the basket from the middle. Zeng jumped up, instantly reached the highest point, stretched out his arms and grabbed the rising basketball.
The fans in the audience gasped when they saw this scene.
Jumping so high!
The Warriors' bench also became excited, waving towels to cheer Sun Yi.
On the court, after Sun Yi landed, he immediately threw the ball forward.
Ah Lian, who had just reached the midline, received the pass and immediately dribbled toward the basket.
Facing the undefended Thunder penalty area, the UAE made a powerful two-handed dunk.
This attack and defense completely knocked out the morale of the Warriors.
In the next round, the Warriors relied on their active defense to successfully prevent the Thunder's offense.
Sun Yi dribbled to the frontcourt, signaled his teammates to open up space, and then made a forward change of direction and rushed into the three-point line.
Sevlosa immediately moved sideways to block the ball and stuck to Sun Yi's side.
Sun Yi, who broke through with the dribble, took three steps directly with the ball in his arms, easily knocked away Seflosa and hit a jump basket.
At the same time, the referee blew the whistle and sentenced Sevlosa for a blocking foul, and Sun Yi received an additional penalty.
On the Thunder bench, head coach Brooks saw that the Warriors were gaining momentum and immediately requested a timeout and called the players back to the bench to adjust.
Not long after, the timeout ended and the game continued.
The Thunder made substitution adjustments and replaced Westbrook, Yin Baka and Perkins.
The Warriors also made substitution adjustments and replaced Teacher Tony.
After the substitution adjustment, Sun Yi stood on the free throw line, received the referee's pass, and steadily hit the extra penalty.
The ball was transferred and the Thunder made a baseline kick.
Westbrook dribbled the ball quickly and came to the top of the arc to organize the offense.
Perkins ran up and set an off-ball screen for Durant.
Durant bypassed the screen and received the pass, facing the UAE's defense, and hit a pull-up jumper.
After the ball hit, the Thunder temporarily stabilized the situation on the court.
It was the Warriors' turn to attack. Sun Yi dribbled to the frontcourt, waved to Ah Lian, and asked for a pick-and-roll.
After the pick-and-roll was ready, Sun Yi bypassed the screen to attract a double-team from the Thunder, hitting the ball to the ground and passing it to the inward-cutting Arab League.
Ah Lian, who was running, received the pass, took three steps directly, came to the basket and easily put the ball into the basket.
Looking back, Westbrook forced the basket, causing a foul on the Arab League thugs, and got two free throws.
Under the interference of the fans in the audience, Westbrook made one of two free throws and scored 1 point.
In the next few rounds, the two sides fought back and forth, but no one took advantage, and the score also failed to open up.
When the game lasted about 6 minutes in the second quarter, Nelson replaced David Lee and Chandler, who had been resting for a long time.
After the substitutions and adjustments, the Warriors adjusted their offensive methods, using Sun Yi's organizational ability to launch the offense and creating opportunities for David Lee to end the offense.
The tactics were executed very successfully, and David Lee lived up to expectations and became the Warriors' second scoring point.
On the other hand, the Thunder's offense has problems.
Durant was affected by the decline in physical fitness, his shooting percentage dropped sharply, and he was unable to continue to help the team narrow the point difference.
Westbrook, Harden and others were tightly guarded by the Warriors and were unable to help the team open up the situation.
In this way, the Warriors relied on their strong defense to launch a 7-0 offensive climax, opening the point difference to double digits.
Thunder coach Brooks saw that the situation was not good and immediately requested a timeout.
After returning from the timeout, the Thunder's offense improved and did not allow the Warriors to continue to widen the point difference.
At the end of the half, the score displayed on the big screen was 56 to 45. The Warriors led by 11 points entering the second half.
After a short 15-minute intermission, the second half began.
As soon as the game started in the third quarter, the Warriors suddenly exerted their strength, not only increasing their defensive intensity, but also strengthening their offensive firepower.
Most of the Thunder players were playing in the playoffs for the first time. They were immediately confused when they encountered this situation and made many passing mistakes.
The Warriors seized the opportunity, played defensive counterattacks, scored frequently, and further expanded their lead.
When the game entered the second half of the third quarter, the Thunder adjusted.
Under the leadership of Durant, they fought back hard and recovered the point difference by a few points.
At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a 15-point lead.
The short inter-section break ends and the fourth quarter begins.
The Warriors held the lead, slowed down the pace of the game, and at the same time increased physical confrontation, consuming the Thunder's vitality.
After more than 30 minutes of high-intensity competition, Durant, Westbrook and others suffered a serious decline in physical fitness, their shooting postures were deformed, and their shooting percentages dropped significantly.
The Warriors relied on Sun Yi's personal ability to score points, slowly grinding away against the Thunder little by little.
Seeing that there is not much time left in the game, the Thunder can only make a desperate move and bet on touch on the outside.
The Warriors naturally expected this to happen and had already made full preparations to strengthen their perimeter defense.
The Thunder's three-point shooting was already poor, and coupled with the Warriors' interference, the shooting rate was terrible, and the opportunity to overtake the score was completely lost.
In the end, the Warriors defeated the Thunder 98-86 and won their first victory in the playoffs.
In terms of statistics, 4 players from the Warriors scored in double figures.
Sun Yi's performance was beyond doubt and he was elected the best player of the game.
In 42 minutes on the court, he scored 32 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
David Lee scored 18 points and 8 rebounds; Battier made 3 of 4 three-pointers and scored 11 points and 3 assists; Chandler scored a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Thunder's best player is Durant.
In 44 minutes on the court, he scored 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.
Westbrook played quite poorly and was an important "contributor" to helping the Warriors win.
In the 42 minutes he played, he scored 16 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. His shooting percentage was around 30%, and he also made 5 turnovers.
If the Warriors hold a celebration banquet, Westbrook will definitely take the main seat.
After the game, Sun Yi came to the sidelines to be interviewed by media reporters.
When asked if he was confident in leading the team to the Western Conference semifinals, Sun Yi was not arrogant and said: I am already thinking about my opponents in the second round!
Although the Warriors suppressed the Thunder throughout this game, the Thunder were not as weak as they imagined. As long as they adjust, they can still defeat the Warriors.
After answering the reporters' questions in a decent manner, Sun Yi returned to the locker room under the escort of the staff.
