Legend of Tomorrow

The Thunder attacked, Westbrook brought the ball to the frontcourt, and passed the ball to Daequan Cook who was running away.

The third-year Wei Shao is an ambitious young man who doesn't rebound in the backcourt and doesn't stick to the ball. As long as he doesn't get too hot-headed, he can play according to the coach's arrangements most of the time.

Dai Kuin, who is 196cm tall and weighs 95kg, has good physical fitness, is very fast, has the strength to fight against most swingmen, and can bounce 76cm on the side of his body. His offensive ability with the ball is average, and his main scoring method is jump shots. His three-point shooting rate this season is as high as 42%.

Precisely because of his ability to shoot three-pointers, DeQuin pushed DeRozan, who was in top physical condition, to the bench, and the Thunder's starting lineup was able to open up space.

Dai Quen did not have a chance to take a shot directly, so he took a step and passed it to Durant on the right side from a short distance. The two formed a weak side, and there were three teammates on the other side to attract defense.

Durant dribbled the ball with his back to Richardson and turned around in the middle. He shot a jump shot from the corner. His shooting point was too high. A person less than two meters tall could not even close his eyes because of his slow jump. The ball went in. . 2 to 2.

When the Suns attacked, Guo Xu passed the ball to Roy across the half court. He and Ibaka cut inside without the ball but did not get rid of Wei Shao, and then slid from the right to the left to run the baseline.

Roy lured away Sefolosha, the Thunder's best perimeter defender, and passed it to Richardson, who quickly moved the ball and formed a triangle with Guo Xu and O'Neal on the side.

Wei Shao felt very uncomfortable when encountering Guo Xu's style of play. He had fought Guo Xu many times and had never had a good way to deal with it.

He is impatient and likes to attack aggressively. Guo Xu is more famous than him and has better skills than him but he doesn't attack very hard. He feels uncomfortable handling the ball.

Guo Xu took a step and passed the ball to the low O'Neal. With this kind of ball, Wei Shao can only be anxious. It is impossible to leave Guo Xu open to help Horford defend O'Neal, and Dai Quen cannot retreat to the penalty area to help defend, so he has to leave Richardson open.

After joining the Suns, Richardson seemed to have returned to his peak, averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game and shooting 40.6% from the field. When paired with stars, Richardson was often left out. His overall shooting percentage reached 47.4%, and he easily averaged 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28 minutes per game.

O'Neal hit Horford with his back twice and turned around to hook the ball in the middle. 4 to 2.

His style of play does not give Guo Xu any assists, but his offensive efficiency is very high. The Suns' goal today is to win with all their strength, and Guo Xu doesn't think about brushing up statistics.

Durant received the ball and attacked. He faced the frame and stepped forward, then changed direction and broke through. Roy was double-teamed. He passed the ball to the baseline, and Sefolosha made an open mid-range shot. 4 to 4.

The Suns' offense was still the same. This time Wei Shao was blocked by O'Neal, and Guo Xu ran 70 degrees to the left corner to get rid of the defense.

Horford was already overwhelmed just by resisting O'Neal. He didn't go out to switch defenders. Guo Xu caught the ball and easily shot and hit a three-pointer. 7 to 4.

The Thunder attacked, and Durant received the ball and was double-teamed again, passing the ball to Sefolosha. This time the latter's open jumper missed.

Sefolosha is a defensive blue-collar player who cannot practice offense and can only play a little role on the bottom line. If it weren't for his poor shooting, the Rockets would not have given up on him and instead trained Afflalo.

This season Sefolosha averaged 26 minutes per game, only 5.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals, and averaged 4.2 shots per game. Today he has a super strong desire to attack and has already completed half of his shots in the game.

O'Neal gets the rebound,

The Suns had a chance to counterattack but failed to do so. Guo Xu retreated to get the ball, slowing down the pace and waiting patiently for his teammates to get into position.

He has speed and can slow down for his teammates when the team needs it.

O'Neal strolled slowly through half the court, and this time it was easier. Guo Xu ran to the left corner and stopped running. Roy lobbed the ball to O'Neal, who singled out Horford and leaned twice toward the baseline. He turned and hit the basket and missed, but caused a foul on Horford's beater.

O'Neal made one of two free throws, 8-4.

The Thunder attacked. After the players pulled away, Wei Shao hit Guo Xu because Guo Xu let him go two steps away to prevent the shot. Wei Shao, who has a height advantage, did not disappoint Guo Xu. He made a three-pointer from the middle and O'Neal grabbed the rebound.

Westbrook, who had just entered the league a few years ago, mainly relied on breakthrough layups to score. He dared to take shots from mid-range, and he took a lot of shots, accounting for 40% of his shots, but his shooting rate was less than 38%. He shot 33% from three-point range and only took 1.3 shots per game.

After reading Wei Shao's data, all teams know how to deal with him. They must guard against breakthroughs and not shots. Except for his shots in the penalty area, his shots from other positions are all blind spots.

In Guo Xu's previous life, Westbrook's shooting could not be improved. In 2018, Guo Xu was reborn as Wei Shao, and he was still at the level of really dare to shoot, but really don't score.

He only had three seasons where his average mid-range shooting percentage barely exceeded 40%, and his peak true shooting percentage in the regular season was only 55.4%. His true shooting percentage in the playoffs was even worse, around 50%.

There is no doubt that this kind of person is a data brush who can exchange high shots for points. Letting him shoot is much better than letting Durant and Horford take shots.

In the Suns' position battle, Guo Xu ran to the left corner to catch the ball. Horford saw that Wei Shao was blocked by the screen and quickly switched out. Guo Xu took the ball and took a feint step laterally, then hoisted the ball to the basket.

O'Neal pushed Wei Shao away, jumped up and dunked the ball in with one hand. 10 to 4.

When returning to defense, O'Neal smiled very happily and clapped hands with Guo Xu.

Zhang Lili sighed: O'Neal will be 39 years old in March next year. As long as he is given the ball, he can still dominate the penalty area, and his body cover is also very good.

Yu Jia said: O'Neal's scoring efficiency is still there, but his physical strength is not enough. He and Guo Xu have the same cooperation as when they played against the Lakers, and can help create opportunities for each other. It's just that Kobe was replaced by Roy.

Wei Shao and Horford played a pick-and-roll, breaking away from the basket at full speed. O'Neal was slow to change defense, and he quickly stepped up to the basketball and scored. 10 to 6.

Guo Xu stopped chasing as soon as he saw that he was blocked, and followed Horford in the middle to wait for an opportunity to steal, allowing O'Neal to deal with Wei Shao under the basket. The Suns' defensive strategy has always been to make plans by analyzing data and try to put opponents in positions where they are not allowed to shoot.

Horford is a player who cannot be left short. The Suns suffered in the first two games. His mid-range shooting percentage this season is over 50%, which still accounts for 52% of the total shots. He is one of the most accurate mid-range insiders in the league.

The Suns attacked, and O'Neal set a screen for Guo Xu just after halftime. Guo Xu got rid of Wei Shao, and Durant switched to the pick-and-roll.

This is a key point in the Thunder's small ball tactics. Durant switches defenses quickly and has extraordinary mobility if he plays as a power forward.

Guo Xu did not force a breakthrough and passed the ball to the right baseline. Richardson suddenly received the pass through an air cut, jumped up and scored with one hand. 12 to 6.

Dai Quin was squeezed away by Richardson, and Horford turned around and was a step too late to defend.

When the Thunder attacked, Westbrook repeated his old tricks, forcing a breakthrough after playing a pick-and-roll. This time O'Neal positioned himself later and retreated into the penalty area to prevent the breakthrough.

Wei Shao chose a pull-up jumper, dodged O'Neal's block, and the ball bounced out of the frame. He wasn't done yet, he even rushed to the basket to grab an offensive rebound.

O'Neal did not jump, but turned around and moved sideways to get stuck. Wei Shao bumped into O'Neal and staggered, unable to return to defense. Richardson grabbed a rebound in the backcourt and passed a long pass to Guo Xu. He would play like this in college and was a head coach in the NBA.

Guo Xu accelerated in a straight line and got rid of Horford to catch the ball. He jumped up with all his strength without any defense, turned around and pulled the bar back to smash the ball in. 14 to 6.

The Suns turned away and Brooks requested a timeout...