Chapter 416: Chasing Points by Defense
Even at night, there's not the slightest chill in the air in Oklahoma. Author "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info Compared to Minnesota and Toronto, Oklahoma's climate is inherently mild and pleasant. So even if you're out and about now, just wear a short-sleeved shirt.
What's more, the atmosphere in Oklahoma tonight can be directly described as frenetic. In the square at the entrance of the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma, the Thunder officially set up a giant screen stage there, and Thunder fans who could not grab tickets to watch the game will be able to watch everything happening in the stadium through the huge LED screen outside the Chesapeake Energy Arena in the atmosphere of professional DJs.
Now the game is about to enter the fourth quarter in the blink of an eye, and the Thunder have taken a seven-point lead at the moment. In the first three quarters of the game, the Thunder team was forced to draw at most, and they have never been passive. For the fourth-quarter match between the two sides, Oklahoma City fans are very confident. The first three quarters of the game were won, and the mighty Thunder had no reason to lose the fourth quarter!
Durant, the scoring champion, was in the limelight today, scoring 19 points in just three quarters. Westbrook's impact not only forced Anjie to leave the game early, but also allowed him to score a high score of 21 points! Although the efficiency is not as good as Durant, such a high score is indeed the main reason why the Trail Blazers are now passive.
Bledsoe and Batum have been killing the confidence of the Trail Blazers' second team, and Ibaka and Morris have been doing a decent job defensively. In short, no matter how you look at it, the Thunder have the advantage. Today, on their home court, Oklahoma City fans can't wait for the Thunder's first win in the Western Conference Finals.
Anjie's performance is indeed worthy of respect, and Anjie's many wonderful goals in this game also won him the applause of the Thunder fans. It's just a pity that for the victory of the Thunder team, An Jie can only sacrifice.
"Watch out for their passes and breakaways, now I want you to defend one-on-one. Forcing them to make mistakes, forcing them to give up their chances!It's time, it's time to let the game come to us!" Rickard glanced at the Thunder's bench on the other side, and it was good that the bunch weren't complacent with a seven-point lead.
In this way, the anxiety will definitely spread in the young Thunder. Fatal mistakes will definitely occur frequently in the next games. Rickard arranged everything and fell silent for three quarters. Now, it's time to show fans around the world what the Trail Blazers are capable of!
"Ann, they'll be going to keep attacking you later. Pay attention to the number of fouls you make, I want you to hold on until the last second!" Before coming on the court, Ricard also reminded Anjie that his foul count had accumulated to four, and if they lost Anjie, even if they had Aldridge in excellent form, they would not be able to compete with the Thunder team.
"Understand, don't worry. Angel winked at Ricard and turned to play. Westbrook was staring at An Jie at the moment, and seeing that An Jie also saw him, he tilted his head and spread his hands.
"It's over Russell, your show time is over. An Jie thought in his mouth, what he couldn't do in college, he must do it today!
This time, Van Gundy directly put Westbrook and Bledsoe on the court at the same time, coupled with Durant's pull and the assistance of Ibaka and Morris, the Thunder's offensive firepower is unprecedentedly strong.
Bledsoe and Westbrook are both the kind of defenders who are perverted in physical condition and full of impact. The two of them will definitely not make An Jie feel too uncomfortable.
With Ibaka's high pick-and-roll, Westbrook once again "soared." "But this time, the person who made up for the basket was no longer Anjie, but Aldridge!
"Are you going to help Ann carry this offense?" Westbrook had wanted to pass the ball back to Ibaka and let the big Congolese man shoot. But this guy suddenly thought about it and decided to fight Aldridge!
Aldridge's defense is not bad, but it is still a significant gap compared to Angela. With a goal, force Anjie to defend himself, this is Westbrook's intention!
Raymond Felton felt like his legs were about to break, but he could only watch Westbrook get closer and closer to him. There's nothing he can do to defend this time, and he can only pray that Aldridge can stop the damn Zero.
Westbrook didn't dodge at all, leaning on Aldridge's body and trying to force a layup. Aldridge didn't jump for fear of a foul, he just stood in place with his hands held high, slowing down Westbrook's impact and the difficulty of hitting the frame as much as possible.
"It's too soft!" Westbrook, who made physical contact with Aldridge in the air, didn't care about this level of blocking at all, and he continued to push harder, squeezing Aldridge away in the air and shooting the ball!
Westbrook was smiling before he even hit the ground. This goal, he is bound to win!
However, just before Westbrook's basketball fell, a long arm and a large palm suddenly appeared from behind Aldridge. Westbrook's smile froze, he knew who it was, and this guy was the only guy on the court who could block this kind of layup except for Ibaka.
"Smack!" the basketball swooped against Westbrook's scalp. Wesley Matthews was already in the front court, and when he received the basketball, everyone was still looking behind him!
Westbrook looked at Angel in disbelief, so much so that when Wesley Matthews completed the dunk there, he didn't react in the slightest.
"You can't beat you like this again, I'm not going to let you get away with it again. Anjie patted Westbrook on the shoulder, Ricard was right, the frivolous Westbrook is easy to be negligent at a critical moment! This ball Anjie has long been ambushed behind Aldridge, and Aldridge stepped forward to help Anjie bear Westbrook's impact.
When Westbrook let his guard down and thought he could take Aldridge, Anjie's chance came.
Completing the block through Aldridge is one of the most ornamental in the center's defense. Back then, O'Neill used a lot of ways to stifle the opponent's attack, and now, Anjie perfectly replicates those scenes.
"You've always been behind us like this before...... Wait, I'm not going to be scared!" Westbrook was no less competitive than Anjie, and he stepped back beyond the three-point line to start his next round of offense.
Inadvertently, Anjie has used his words to arouse Westbrook's desire to score. In doing so, it would indeed make Westbrook, which was already very dangerous, even more dangerous. But the upside is that Westbrook's coolness can be wiped out!
Westbrook gave the basketball to Durant this time, and Durant was about to break through Gerald Wallace's defense, but suddenly made a pull-up jump shot in the process of breaking.
In the first three quarters of the game, he used this trick repeatedly. But Gerard Wallace is not a fool either, having been teased by Durant so many times, how could he not be alert?
So Durant's pull-up jump shot was greatly interfered with by Gerard Wallace. The basketball didn't fit gracefully into the frame again, but bounced out.
Morris jumped with all his might, but instead of catching the offensive rebound as he wished, he clicked the basketball again.
At the moment when Morris couldn't complete the second jump after landing, Anjie jumped high, straightened his long arms, and controlled the rebound in the backcourt. It wasn't until everyone on the Thunder retreated to the other half of the defense that Angel handed the ball to Raymond Felton. To force the Thunder to make mistakes, first of all, they can't make mistakes themselves. Therefore, Anjie is also very cautious.
The position is attacking, but this time An Jie no longer stays in the low position as soon as he comes up. He played more flexibly, mentioning high posts for Filton's pick-and-roll.
Felton tried to break through with the help of the pick-and-roll, but found that Westbrook was still haunted by him. When Westbrook practiced anti-blocking and pick-and-roll, he practiced with An Jie. Therefore, in this league, Westbrook is the best at winding around, which is Anjie's blocking!
However, Felton, who was stopped, was not in a hurry, his calm wrist flicked, Morris quickly turned around, but Anjie had already received the ball and broke through!
"Defend it, defend it!" Morris shouted, no matter what, he couldn't get Anjie close to the basket. So Durant stretched out his long arm, but didn't cut the basketball. Serge Ibaka moved sideways to the basket, but the Thunder scored.
There is no doubt that when Ibaka was drawn to the basket, Aldridge was naturally let go. Aldridge, who is feeling hot today, also added another assist to Anjie's statistics.
The Trail Blazers scored two more points, but the Thunder were slow to respond.
On the last offense, Durant's forced breakaway shot didn't allow Westbrook to get much time on the ball. He thought that Durant would pass it back to him, but KD actually shot directly.
Westbrook, who was already in a hurry to score and beat Anjie, is now even more impatient. When he was still in the Thunder, Anjie lost a lot because of Westbrook's hot head. Now, Westbrook's problem remains the same. Maybe this guy's personality is like this, and he won't change for a long time.
Westbrook made a second run towards Anjie's box, and Aldridge moved sideways to the basket as usual, but Westbrook didn't care so much and threw himself into the air again.
However, before jumping to the highest point, the ball in Westbrook's hand suddenly lost control!
Looking down at the basketball in a panic, Westbrook realized that Gerald Wallace had been lying in ambush for a long time, just waiting for him to go to the basket to cut away!
"Westbrook's turnover, the Trail Blazers' transition offense, Raymond Felton's three-pointer!! The Thunder's seven-point advantage since entering the fourth quarter was wiped out in an instant!" Mike Brin couldn't believe that the Trail Blazers, who had been committed to playing slow-paced positional battles, could quickly tie the score in a short period of time.
But unlike other teams that score quickly, the Trail Blazers are able to score quickly not by offense and fast pace, but by their defense!
Forcing Westbrook and Durant into defensive traps in a row is exactly what Rickard wants!
"Hmph, well done, keep it up. Rickard folded his hands and looked at the masterpiece he had created with satisfaction.
The Trail Blazers, who were low-key in the first three quarters, did not intend to continue to be satisfied with biting the score in the fourth quarter.
Win the game, that's why Ricard and his boys are here!
Anjie high-fived Aldridge and Filton in turn during the retreat, this big man in a black jersey No. 00 has changed from the guardian of the Chesapeake Energy Arena to the most dangerous saboteur of the Chesapeake Energy Arena!
"Ann, this kid...... Come on, he's not unbreakable!" Durant patted Westbrook's butt, and Westbrook took the ball from Morris and ran towards the front court again.
No one will choose to give up, whether it's the Thunder or the Trail Blazers, whether it's Westbrook or Anjie. If you want to win, you have to fight to the end.