super small forward

Chapter 235. The First Battle
Durant thought that the Lakers were starting to worry because the score had been anxious, so he ran away and bombed. He felt very happy that he finally had a chance to play.

But who knew it wasn't the same thing at all!
The Lakers are better defensively than when they started!
Westbrook was completely defended by Liu Ren. Durant held the ball on the outside and was double-teamed by Nash and Antetokounmpo. And flexibility, and the body of a power forward, the hands are longer than Durant!

On the other side, Lamb, who replaced Sefolosha, was stuck by Green. Both Ibaka and Adams had no shooting ability on the inside. Durant could only make a bet on the outside.

Durant decisively missed a three-pointer with Antetokounmpo's super long arm. He can only look forward to Ibaka's offensive rebound.

but!

Whiteside forcibly took off the rebound on the heads of Ibaka and Adams and threw it to Green. The kind of action that seemed relaxed and freehand and did not want to spend a little more effort to get the rebound made people look angry but also Nothing to do!
The moment Durant made a shot, the Lakers started to counterattack. Liu Ren and Antetokounmpo counterattacked in two lines. Green made a long pass to Antetokounmpo. At the basket, Liu Ren got the ball in the air and dunked the ball into the basket.

The Thunder looks very strong, but in fact it all depends on three points: Durant's ability to attract double-teams from the outside line, Westbrook's impact and Ibaka's inside vitality.

Although Ibaka is injured, it is still possible to maintain explosive power for ten minutes. This can be seen from the seven games between them and the Warriors. What happened was Durant bit the score, and Ibaka broke out in the crucial few minutes.

At the beginning, Ibaka planned to stop playing and save his best form at the critical moment, but the Lakers had to find out that he was playing alone, so he had to go all out from the beginning. In one quarter, I used up the rest of my explosive power.

After playing at full strength for seven or eight minutes, Ibaka felt a dull pain in his knee.

At this time, the Lakers replaced the giant tower of Whiteside. If Ibaka was in his prime, he could fight Whiteside in the interior, but now he can only watch Whiteside with one hand in the interior. Overshadow the sky.

With the guarantee of rebounds and inside defense, the other four Lakers actively double-teamed, and Nash, Liu Ren, Antetokounmpo, and Green fought back with confidence.

The situation on the court is firmly controlled by the Lakers!
Since Harden left the Thunder, they have started to go downhill. Now Durant is the only one who is completely healthy. Ibaka can only guarantee a few minutes of state. Although such a team D'Antoni said very solemnly, in fact, as long as they play steadily and steadily according to the established tactics, it is not difficult to win!
Mark Madsen couldn't help sighing when he saw that the head coach who could only run and gun has become a little different through this season. He has heard some rumors that both the management and the players have changed their attitude towards this. The coach is very dissatisfied.

But these things have nothing to do with him as an assistant coach. Mark Madsen sighed and continued to adjust the rotation according to D'Antoni's instructions, using a deep lineup to ensure the strength of the lineup anytime and anywhere.

The Thunder team is in a bad situation now. It's better for Durant to throw off his arms and attack alone. Their head coach Brooks is afraid to replace Westbrook and Ibaka when the point difference is getting bigger and bigger. Durant played even more awkwardly!
The Westbrook and Ibaka that Durant is used to are the flying Westbrook and Ibaka, who is the league's number one inside defender and the top rushing ability.

Durant's ability to break double-teams has always been poor, and his outside organization ability is also poor, but when Westbrook was there before, he would help him attract players who double-team, and he and Westbrook's pick-and-roll will make the players defending him Had to double-team Westbrook, and he was free. At this time, Westbrook passed the ball to him and forced other defensive players to guard him, so he had a chance to pass the ball and get an assist.

But now Westbrook is completely unable to play the role of attracting double-teams. In the Thunder's first-round series with the Warriors, Durant gave up playing pick-and-rolls with Westbrook.

Durant didn't even think about the problem of breaking double teams when Ibaka was healthy. When he was double-teamed, he only needed to choose a strong shot. The offensive rebounds rank among the top five in the league. Don't look at him averaging only about 8 rebounds per game, but 3 of them are offensive rebounds!Ibaka's rushing ability is extremely powerful.

But when neither of them can do what they did before, Durant has no idea how to play.

The entire second quarter was a dark time for the Thunder. The Lakers, who have never been known for their defense, played 35 to 9 in a single quarter, directly widening the point difference to 30 points and leading 67 to 37.

In the second half, D'Antoni chose the safest style of play, not seeking to continue to expand the score, but to maintain the score.

So, with a big wave of D'Antoni, Marshall and Nash took turns leading young players such as Nick Young, Liu Ren, Antetokounmpo, Green, Bazemore, and McCollum to run and bomb.

The biggest feature of D'Antoni's running and bombing is that as long as the fight is successful, the defense of both sides will be gone.

After halftime, the game lost its suspense. The rotation of the two sides continued to score points, but the point difference remained at more than 20 points.

In the end, the first game of the Western Conference semifinals was a big victory beyond everyone's expectations. The Lakers beat the Thunder 139 to 111.

……

It's so easy to win!

Even the Lakers themselves did not expect this result. Even Kobe and D'Antoni, who planned Ibaka's collapse plan, did not expect that the Thunder's three juniors would have such a great influence on each other, let alone that once the Thunder's three juniors performed abnormally, they would have no resistance at all. Ability, you must know that even if Ibaka and Westbrook played less than half of the games in the regular season, the Thunder still won 57 wins, the third record in the league.

"It's really unpleasant! This way of winning is too uncomfortable. I want to fight Durant one-on-one! It's not like we can't beat them!" Liu Ren said dissatisfied when receiving physical therapy.

To comfort this unlucky child again, Kobe really felt like a nanny.

"Liu, I can understand your feelings, but we can't consume too much strength before meeting the Spurs!"

(End of this chapter)