Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 238 About to be swept away?

"We'll fight back next game, I promise!"

When interviewed by reporters after the game, the expressionless James said so.

Then three days later, the second game of the finals still started at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, which is home to the Thunder.

Perhaps it was because the gap between the two teams was too wide in the last game, which made the alliance a little dissatisfied. After all, if there is no suspense in the contest, it is obviously not a good thing for the alliance. The sharp drop in ratings and attention will also affect the income and plans of the alliance.

Although the president's office probably also hopes to win a new king this year, the Thunder and Durant are just right, but according to their plan with their partners, they definitely don't want to make the process so easy.

Although the Thunder's record this season has attracted a lot of attention, especially the Western Conference Finals, which has brought great ratings, it has also continued in the first game of the finals. The ratings of ABC and TNT live broadcasts have directly created new records for the ratings of the finals in recent seasons.

This is also a proof of the current popularity of the Thunder. They are equally popular in the United States, or anywhere in the world to watch the NBA.

The popularity of Durant's four scoring champions, Westbrook's legendary comeback this year, the growth of rookies, and Li Sheng, a very special young coach, have made the Thunder full of topics in all aspects.

Americans like this kind of team with stories, and hope to see them reach the top.

So even though the opposite is James, who is now the second most trafficked player in the NBA, the momentum of the Thunder's supporters is not weak at all.

The alliance is naturally willing to stand on their side. It is also in the interest of the new president to support the Thunder. After all, the champion who just came to power needs to attract new faces.

It's just that they hope that the process can be more "dramatic", and the Thunder's overwhelming advantage in the first game made the league executives a little worried.

So in this game, the referee caused them a little trouble.

Ibaka committed two fouls in the first quarter, and James, Wade, and even Bosh were able to kill the inside and cause damage frequently. This also made the Heat even beat the Thunder by 2 points after the first quarter.

But this is the Thunder's home court after all, and the referees don't dare to be too blatant. What's more, they just need to add some suspense to the game. If they really want to make things happen, they have to wait until they return to Miami. Therefore, starting from the second quarter, without the referee's help, it will be difficult for the Heat's offense to be effective.

The Thunder are also gradually able to give full play to their advantages on the defensive end. Through the raids of Ibaka, Robertson and Antetokounmpo on the flanks, James and Wade are cut off from their teammates.

In the second quarter alone, the two made six turnovers together, and were frequently counterattacked by the Thunder. In the end, they could only use tactical fouls to stop them.

In the end, the Thunder won by 12 points in the second quarter and led by another ten points at halftime.

The highest scorer in the first half was James, who scored 24 points with nearly [-]% shooting, which can be regarded as fulfilling his previous promise.

But the problem is that Wade is restricted today, and Bosh's blockade against Ibaka, Gobert, and Perkins in the interior can't be effective.

After all, the game is not a shooting star, and it is impossible for him to have an easy chance to get a shot.

Two of the Big Three were held down, and it was Lewis who could provide the greatest help to James. He hit two three-pointers and at the same time pulled the high screen to give James room to break through.

The Heat actually played their own offense, and the overall efficiency was not bad, but apart from the mistakes, one was that they couldn't defend against the Thunder's offense.

How can the old arms and old legs of the first team keep up with the crazy impact of Thunder, a group of young and strong guys?

Facing the same group of old men against the Spurs in the previous life, they played them around by passing the ball. Now the Thunder can run and jump better, and even pure talent can be said to crush them.

If the Heat's lineup was at its peak, the two sides would probably still be able to fight, but now they are indeed at the end of their battles. Battier can't play at this time. Two years ago, he was able to follow Durant's defensive experts. Now he can't keep up.

This will naturally cause him to consume a lot of physical strength, and then this hidden danger will become apparent in the second half.

It is said that James is a physical monster. In fact, even his physical talent can't escape the problem of declining efficiency after the loss of physical strength. In the second half, he obviously didn't even focus on defense. In addition, too many mistakes made him hesitate on the offensive end, and his performance plummeted.

In the third quarter, because James was also held down, the Thunder took advantage of the situation and played a 29:18, leading to 20+ points in two consecutive games and three quarters. By this time, the game basically lost suspense.

In the end, although James scored 35 points, Durant, who focused on scoring, also scored 39 points, and after attracting double-teams, he frequently passed the ball to assist his teammates, and scored 10 assists in the fourth quarter.

In addition to the 34 points in the previous game, Durant averaged 36.5 points in the two games. The key is that the efficiency is quite high. The three shooting percentages reached the "200 club", that is, 60+45+95.

Westbrook also seems to know his supporting role in this series. At the beginning, he frequently played for Durant, and then he received an assist from Durant to score points. In the end, he also got 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists similar to the last game.

For the Heat, Wade was in a sluggish state, with more turnovers and fewer shots. He only scored 15 points, Bosh 18 points, Lewis 17 points, and no one else scored in double figures.

In the Thunder, Ibaka, Antetokounmpo, Gobert and Reggie all scored 10+ points, and Lamb also scored 9 points in garbage time.

"The Thunder successfully rewritten the big score to 2:0, and firmly grasped the home court advantage. Next, they will go to Miami as a guest. As long as they win one of the two away games, there will be no suspense in this round of the series..."

This sentence sounds a bit familiar, and then the Spurs fans feel pain, it hurts too much, and they have experienced such a time back then.

And it's even harder to think that they've experienced hope and then disappointment.

However, in comparison, Heat fans are actually a lot more Buddhist. If you really want to say that it is still "struggling", only James fans are left. In fact, everyone else basically recognizes the huge strength gap between the two teams.

Losing two consecutive games is so ugly, adding up to a total of more than 40 points and close to [-] points. Is this what the finals should have?

If it is still like this in the future, is it going to break the record for total points lost in the finals?
After this game, even James had nothing to say, he just said that the series is not over yet, and he will "look again" when he returns to the home court.

Wade, who used to be very angry, seemed to have accepted the result and lay down at this time, even revealing the taste of congratulating the Thunder.

Seeing such heat, the fans feel very strange, but the media can't help but start discussing whether it is going to be swept?

After the end of the third game, this kind of voice became even more clamorous, because just like in the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder made another victory in Miami and once again took a 3:0 lead.

(End of this chapter)