against the front

Chapter 368
On April 2011, 4, after two days of rest, the NBA playoffs officially kicked off. The Eagles all played extremely fiercely, and once again made everyone realize what the playoff mode is.

In the middle and late season, Thunder coach Scott Brooks, who had already started preparing for the playoffs, is obviously in a bad mood now.

Since the middle of the regular season, the Kings and the Thunder have been occupying the fourth and fifth positions in the Western Conference. It was from that time that Scott Brooks had a premonition that the Thunder would have a high probability in the season. In the first round of the playoffs, they encountered the Kings.

In order to deal with the King's powerful inside line, Scott Brooks persuaded the team's management to hoard a large number of big men through multiple transactions and prepare to encircle Yan Hua in the playoffs.

Scott Brooks, who has observed the Kings for almost half a season, was still very confident in the series with the Kings. After a long season, the Kings were afraid of the weaknesses of the strong outside teams, which had been infinitely magnified, while the Thunder It also happens to be a team with strong perimeter strength. In addition, the Thunder has prepared a large number of center players in advance, so the Thunder are very confident to send the Kings to fish.

But the final match of the regular season severely damaged the confidence of Thunderclap. Dwight Howard, who was slightly weaker than Yan Hua, could beat Thunderclap, so what about Yan Hua?Especially in the first game of the playoffs, Dwight Howard scored 48 points and 19 rebounds in the game against the Hawks. Scott Brooks was terrified.

Yan Hua is stronger than Dwight Howard, and now it is the consensus of the entire league. Howard is so fierce, so how much should Yan Hua be stronger than Howard?

In line with the principle of lenient to the enemy, Scott Brooks had to examine Yan Hua from the most dangerous angle, but the more he thought about it, the less confident Scott Brooks was.

"Lian, what should we do?"

Watching the video of Yan Hua holding Howard on the TV screen, Scott Brooks, who seemed to be unable to do anything, turned his head and asked the assistant beside him.

"Scott, I don't think we should be so pessimistic. Dwight's outbreak is an occasional event. Dwight can play like this, but it doesn't mean that guy can play like this, and a round of series is very long. No one is going to be in good shape for the entire round, we just have to do what we plan to do, pinch him hard, or foul him and send him to the free throw line."

"Well, and we have Kevin and Russell, the two of them are no worse than that guy." After the assistant coach talked endlessly, Scott Brooks was a little relieved , and then thinking that he still has Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in his hands, the two big killers, Scott Brooks has more confidence.

"Scott, let's go to bed early. There will be pre-match training tomorrow morning." Looking at Scott Brooks, who has red eyes and has drunk an unknown number of cups of coffee, assistant coach Ryan Keefe sitting on the side Persuaded again.

"Okay, tomorrow morning, let's try the planned lineup and see how they are."

On April 4th, the Kings sat at home and ushered in the first matchup of the series against the Thunder. Since John Salmons left the team, the Kings' perimeter, both offensive and defensive, has declined significantly. , and this weakness was also seized and hammered by almost all outside strong teams in the regular season.

In the four regular season games against the Thunder, the Kings lost three games, and the only game they won was a 3-point victory after a tough overtime.

Scott Brooks is having a headache about how to limit Yan Hua, and Reggie Troyce is also worrying about how to not be blown by the Thunder's perimeter.

In the two seasons in the league, Jrue Holiday has been improving almost every day. However, compared with Russell Westbrook, there is still a big gap. Danny Green, who was put on the starting lineup this season, also performed well. It's getting better and better, but letting him play against Kevin Durant is obviously similar to delivering food. In four matchups this season, Kevin Durant scored 33 points per game on his head, far exceeding the season average score.

After thinking about it, and after thinking back and forth with the assistant coach for several days, Reggie Toyce finally decided to arrange Tony Allen to start, partner with Jrue Holiday, push Kevin Martin to the 3 position, let Tony - Allen goes to defend Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka helps defend from the side, as long as he can pinch Kevin Durant, half of the series is already won.

As for Russell Westbrook, Reggie Toyes is going to let him let go in this round of the series. Westbrook's offensive efficiency is not as good as Kevin Durant. Sbrook is another guard who likes to break through and has average shooting ability. With Yan Hua and Serge Ibaka sitting on the inside, he can't make any waves.

After making up his mind, Reggie Toyes quickly came up with this lineup in pre-match training, and at the same time asked Tony Allen to try to defend against a player who was about the same height as Kevin Durant in training. Dante Green, to familiarize himself with the defensive rhythm in advance.

At 6:[-] p.m., after a lapse of a year, Arco Arena ushered in the playoffs again. The atmosphere was extremely high. When the players of the home team began to enter the arena, all the audience in the Arco Arena got up and left their seats. , while applauding and cheering, and at the moment when Yan Hua walked out of the players at the finale, the atmosphere in the Arco Arena exploded instantly, and nearly [-] spectators in the audience shouted the slogan of MVP in unison.

"A man should be like this!" Seeing Yan Hua's high-pitched introduction from the DJ and the cheers of the audience, he walked past the Thunder's bench with open arms, and Russell Westbrook, who had already played ahead of schedule, He muttered in a low voice with envy.

Westbrook and Yan Hua entered the league in the same year, and their draft picks were higher. But now, Yan Hua has put on the championship ring, and has been awarded the MVP of the Finals, making him one of the top players in the league. He just entered the All-Star game this season, and the game against the Kings was Westbrook's career playoff debut, let alone a championship and Finals MVP.

"One day, I will be like you!" Seeing Yan Hua's proud appearance, Westbrook clenched his fists secretly.

(End of this chapter)