I feel hot in the NBA

Chapter 313 The Three Thunder Masters Who Are Not Restricted

Brooks is satisfied because the Thunder's bench has fulfilled their duties. For the Thunder's bench, they don't have such high requirements. Their task is always to fight the opponent. As long as the bench is [-]-[-] during the rotation, then for Brooks, this is the best performance.

The reason is also very simple. For the Thunder, their main force and trump card will always be their starters. As long as the bench can last until they rest, the victory is already in their hands.

The same is true for the substitute rotation in this game tonight. Fairy has already achieved a balance of power, which means that the Thunder have already taken the initiative in this game.

After all, it can be seen from the game situation in the first quarter that when the Thunder started against the Mavericks, they played very calmly!

And this is precisely the reason why Carlisle looked so bad.

Originally, his requirements for Lin Yang were not as high as they are today. Like Brooks, he only asked for a stalemate on the field. Although Lin Yang, Jason Terry and Caron Butler can always blow up the opponent's bench, the Mavericks' starting lineup did not have any very scary opponents in the past, including when they met the Thunder in the regular season.

However, he also has to admit that Westbrook and Kevin Durant's performance in the first quarter can actually be seen from the reunion of the two teams. These two guys have grown to varying degrees in the first two rounds of the playoffs, which makes them even more difficult to deal with!

This is why Carlisle asked Lin Yang to open up the situation!

It’s just that he can also see that the offensive ability of the Thunder’s substitute rotation on the field is not weak, and the entire Mavericks’ substitute rotation is really not a good defensive lineup in terms of defensive energy.

Lin Yang is a player who knows how to defend, but his personal physical fitness and lack of strength make it difficult for him to become the core of the defensive end without the help of his teammates!
It is also for these reasons that the Thunder's entire bench rotation has played very well on the offensive end.

Carlisle looked at the stalemate on the field and sighed slightly. Another reason for his bad look was that he knew the weaknesses of the Mavericks on the field, and he also had a solution. For example, letting Stevenson play now and cooperate with Lin Yang would definitely be able to restrict James Harden, and restrict the core of the Thunder team as a substitute.

It’s just that he knows that he knows it, but he can’t make such a substitution, because Stevenson played the entire game in the first quarter, and he needs to help defend Kevin Durant and Westbrook in the next period.
In short, Carlisle wants to change the current situation on the court, but he is powerless, so he can only wait for the end of the substitute rotation time.

Since Lin Yang can't play any big advantage with the substitute lineup, he can only hope that the latter can lead the team to play a bigger advantage when he plays with the starting lineup!

"beep!"

The Thunder started to make substitutions at 4:30 of the second quarter, and both Westbrook and Kevin Durant were taken directly by Brooks.

Seeing these two guys standing in the player waiting area, Carlisle didn't hesitate, and went up and down, replacing all the other players on the Mavericks field except Lin Yang.

Jason Kidd originally wanted to take it up and play a double point guard tactic with Lin Yang, but Jason Kidd, who played for 12 minutes in the first quarter, really hasn't recovered yet!
The 37-year-old veteran is indeed more likely to get tired at this intensity, and he can only wait a few more minutes before bringing him up.

When both the Thunder's main players and the Mavericks' main players are on the court, the scores of the two teams are tied!
This also means that the two teams did not gain any advantage in the end!
Reggie Miller: "With nearly 5 points in the second quarter, the two teams still maintain the same score. From this, we can actually see that the strengths of the two teams are really similar. As for who will win in the end, I'm afraid we will have to wait until the second half to find out!"

In Reggie Miller's view, the game is still at a stalemate. Obviously, it is not easy to tell the strengths and weaknesses. The rest of the second quarter is probably also in this stalemate.

But just after he finished speaking, Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who had just come up from the Thunder, made efforts one after another, helping the Thunder complete a 3-13 scoring wave in the next 6 minutes with consecutive goals, and opened the point difference to 7 points again!
"See, this is the starting Gemini of our Thunder team! How can the Mavericks block such an offensive ability?"

"The Oklahoma City Thunder will definitely enter the Finals. In fact, we can see such signs from the first quarter of the game. It's just a pity that some people just don't believe it! But now I have to believe it or not!"

"Hahaha, why is the Mavericks lagging behind again? My Thunder's starting second youngster hasn't worked hard yet! Can you hold on? If this continues, the Western Conference Finals will be very boring!"

The Thunder fans watched their two core players work hard and easily opened the score. They also couldn't wait to speak on the real-time message board one by one, mocking the Mavericks.

Before the start of the game, the fans on both sides were still arguing fiercely, and at this time, the Thunder had gained such an advantage, as Thunder fans, naturally they would not let go of the opportunity!

"Come on! We still have a chance, it's okay!"

"The Thunder's offense is too fierce. Should we change to other methods? Since we can't defend, we might as well fight against them! Anyway, we also have a lot of scoring points, or we should really play fast!"

"Lin, hurry up and start the miracle moment! Now only you can save this team!"

The fans of the Mavericks were naturally very impatient at this time, and began to encourage their own fans on the message board, and some were talking to themselves and talking on paper!

They are really anxious!

After all, the Thunder's twin stars can quickly open the score as soon as they are on the court, which is not a good sign.

……

"The Mavericks really should change their style of play. The Thunder are most afraid of positional battles. From their second-round game against the Grizzlies, we can actually see that when they fall into a positional battle, they often don't know how to cooperate and fall into singles. If it weren't for the Grizzlies' overall offensive ability is really limited, relying on Zach Randolph alone, maybe the Grizzlies will eventually enter the Western Conference Finals. I think the Mavericks can also play a little more calmly!"

While the Mavericks fans in front of the TV and computer are making suggestions for the Mavericks, the Mavericks’ on-site commentary is also explaining their personal views on the Mavericks’ offense. In his opinion, the biggest problem for the entire Mavericks right now is that the offense is not as ruthless as the opponent’s. The connection between the Thunder team's offense is the best choice to fall into a single fight, and this commentary recommends positional warfare.

It can actually be seen from the various statistics that the Thunder are really not good at playing positional warfare!
Carlisle also noticed this problem, but he didn't choose a positional battle. He directly chose two people to double-team Kevin Durant, so that he couldn't get the ball well.

And even if he gets the ball, he will force him up immediately, leaving Kevin Durant with no choice but to move the ball quickly!
This change didn't work out very well at first, and the Thunder still hit the offense in the first two offenses that double-teamed Kevin Durant!

The point difference once reached 10 points, a double-digit point difference!

In this season, the Mavericks fell behind by more than double digits. I really can't remember which game on which day. They haven't had such a big disadvantage for a long time!

It's just that after these two rounds, the Thunder's role players could no longer continue to hit the ball into the basket, and they failed to grasp several opportunities.

The Mavericks seized this opportunity and narrowed the point difference to 6 points.

The reason why role players are role players is that they do not meet the standards of core players in one aspect, especially their stability.

They might score in one or two plays, but if they're asked to score all the time, their efficiency can plummet.

In the last round of the series, Carlisle emptied Barnes in this way, which made the Lakers' offense fall into a passive state.

And now, he also used this method to bring the entire Thunder's offense to a standstill. Kevin Durant and Westbrook are indeed the Thunder's strengths. This is something that any commentary will emphasize no matter it is any game at any time!
But the prominence of these two points of the Thunder team made the management of the entire Thunder team build a team around them. Only these two guys have a strong scoring ability. After that, the only scoring ability in the starting lineup is Ibaka.

This also makes it less likely that other role players can keep scoring when Kevin Durant is double-teamed!
And the facts prove it.

Seeing that the score difference gradually narrowed to 6 points, Westbrook stepped forward, and he began to strengthen his personal offense.

Lin Yang couldn't stop his impact, but he didn't flinch in this game, he stood in front of Westbrook every time, and he was very smart, he directly chose to throw the shot, standing two steps away from Westbrook, this distance is impossible to reach Lin Yang in an instant even if Westbrook, who is super explosive, starts, which gives Lin Yang a buffer time for judgment.

And the result of this is that Westbrook became tricky in the process of breaking through Lin Yang, and was even caused an offensive foul by Lin Yang once!
This forced him to choose jump shots, but although his shooting ability is not bad, it is definitely not good. Anyway, it is the kind of shooting ability that he will definitely choose without hesitation if he chooses to give up defending one of his offensive methods when there is no other way.

This is why Westbrook chose to continue to break through after knowing that Lin Yang gave up his shooting defense.

Another reason why Lin Yang gave up defending his shots is Westbrook's offensive choice: Westbrook has always chosen to break through from the beginning of the second quarter, and his shooting touch has long been destroyed by himself.

This is impossible!

The fact is that Westbrook himself did not dare to choose to shoot!

The Mavericks solved the problem of the Thunder's twin stars only by double-teaming Kevin Durant. This is something Carlisle didn't expect!

Just, is it that easy?

The Thunder seemed to be really at a loss. In the following time, the Mavericks all completed the overtake in the score, and they still did not make any changes.

Until 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the second quarter, Brooks, who had been silent for a while, suddenly asked for a substitution and brought James Harden on the court. As soon as the latter came up, he hit a three-pointer, helping the Thunder to overtake the score by 1 point and announcing the end of the entire difficult period for the Thunder.

Carlisle very honestly made Stevenson give up the idea of ​​double-teaming Kevin Durant only after James Harden hit this three-pointer.

James Harden is not a player like Ibaka, and the title of "Three Young Thunder" is not for nothing. If James Harden really makes his shots feel good, then today's game will completely lose any suspense!

So Carlisle dare not try to empty out the idea of ​​​​James Harden.

The entire score situation turned in a favorable direction for the Thunder in an instant. Carlisle made a few more attempts in the following time, but when the "Three Young Men of the Thunder" were all on the court, their shooting end points were indeed a bit too much.

At the end of the halftime game, the Thunder once again opened the point difference to 7 points and entered the second half with a 57-50 lead.

(End of this chapter)