Chapter 228: The Emperor's Reign

"The Thunder's interior defense was really tested today, O'Neal has scored twice in a row in the Thunder's three-second zone, and James hasn't started to attack the interior yet. When James also starts to attack, the pressure on their defense will only be greater!"www.biquge.info

After O'Neal scored that goal, all commentators were worried about the Thunder's once impregnable interior defense. O'Neal was too active today, a far cry from his previous "lifeless" performances on the offensive end.

But now, the Cavaliers also have to think about how to contain the Thunder's offense. Durant, who ranks first in the league in points per game, is not covered.

It is still Westbrook who controls the ball, although Westbrook has not scored more than ten points in two consecutive games, but he does not dare to mess around with today's big enemy.

The Cavaliers' starting point guard, Anthony Parker, has had a hard time pestering Westbrook, and although this guy's individual abilities are very limited, his experience has helped him make up for this shortcoming.

Whether in the NBA or the Euroleague, Parker has left his mark. This kind of battle-hardened veteran is generally very old and spicy defensively.

Westbrook stumbled but safely pushed the ball two meters beyond the three-point line. He started looking up for someone, Durant was slipping from the baseline, and James was delayed for a moment by Anjie's off-ball block.

"It's now!" Westbrook made a quick pass, and Durant, who came out of his pocket, arrived in milliseconds to catch the ball.

As soon as he received the ball, James also quickly pounced. At this moment, An Jie, who was originally in the three-second zone, also came out to block for Durant again, and now the entire Thunder team's offensive system is completely serving Durant.

Durant didn't give James a chance to adjust after receiving the ball, he immediately broke through to the inside, James followed the sideways steps without thinking about it, and as soon as he took a step, he collided with An Jie, who was blocking and dismantling.

"Ann's blocking and dismantling is not leaking!KD has broken through, O'Neill has gone up to make up for the defense!"

James was blocked again, and O'Neal had to face the young scoring champion himself.

Just when Durant was about to collide with O'Neal's "Roshan", he suddenly jumped up, and O'Neal felt like he was raising his arms high.

Unexpectedly, Durant's ball was not meant to attack the frame, he jumped just to pass the ball. Durant passes the ball out with a near-hook move, and who will catch it?

"Ann! He cut inside in time after blocking for KD!Now O'Neal has been fished out by Durant, and Ann is empty!" Mike Brin applauded for the tacit cooperation between Ann and Durant.

"Damn!" O'Neill saw Anjie flash past him, if it had been ten years ago, he would have been able to keep up with the defense in time and then win the applause of the home fans with a rough block. But now, O'Neill can't take a step.

Now, James is the only one who follows Anjie. However, the chance that this ball can be defended is very small.

An Jie received Durant's pass and took three steps directly to the basket, jumped on one foot, and vigorously hung the frame with both hands.

James jumped up after Anjie jumped, but he was still a few centimeters away from blocking Anjie's ball.

"Pay attention to Shaq!" After the dunk landed, Anjie smiled and patted the big shark's fat butt, and then high-fived Durant, who sent him a second pass.

"My fault Shaq, you just stick to the inside line, KD leave it to me. Although it was Anjie who scored the goal, James knew that it was because he let Durant go that caused what happened afterward.

"It's okay, next time that Durant guy breaks through again, I'll go to make up for it, don't let your guard down on An. There are also ......" and "Tsar" The two began to communicate, which is not a common picture.

"A strong response, and I bet this tactic wasn't drawn by Coach Van Gundy, at least not in the second half. But don't forget, this group of guys is called Thunder Sanshao. Their talent on the offensive end is one of the best in the league!"

After that, the Cavaliers and Thunder exchanged offense and defense, and O'Neal didn't shoot again after scoring the opening two goals. First, it was because James' desire to attack became strong after being broken through by KD twice in a row, and he fought. The second reason is that O'Neal was replaced by Mike Brown early, and O'Neal, who is now almost forty years old, can no longer play 389, or even 40 minutes, as before.

Not long after confronting An Jie, the "big shark" after the game was already covered in sweat. It wasn't easy, Cavaliers power forward J.J. Hickson was a threat despite his average shooting accuracy, so Morris was completely pulled out. So from beginning to end, An Jie has always been fighting with O'Neill alone, and he can't take a breath.

After that, the second plastic surgery of the two sides was also inseparable. The Cavaliers' bench depth has been criticized by the outside world, and the Thunder's situation is not much better. Ibaka does have a lot of potential, but he can't make any waves at the moment. Livingston: That guy doesn't have the aura of "genius" for a long time.

It wasn't until the last twenty seconds that James hit a three-point shot that finally gave the Cavaliers a three-point lead over the Thunder. And this advantage was maintained until the end of the first quarter.

At 23-26, the Thunder trailed only because of James' three-pointer in the final moments.

"You defended James well in the first quarter, but KD, your own shooting percentage was also very low in James! Don't get into singles, get the ball moving. Seforrosa got a lot of chances today but didn't get the ball, so I hope you can share the ball with more people!" Van Gundy wasted no time, as soon as the players got off the pitch and sat down in the middle of the players with a tactical board and a small bench.

"How's it going? Going to give you a single in the second half?" Mike Brown was in a very different situation than Van Gundy, asking for James' advice as if James was the Cavaliers head coach.

"No! We have to give Shaq more chances! Only when Shaq suppresses the Chinese can we play easier!" James didn't decide to let O'Neal get his wish, because it was indeed the only way to solve Anjie's defensive troubles.

"Very well, then let's fight like this. Listen to ......" Mike Brown immediately formulated a strategy according to James's requirements, his coaching style was not less ridiculed by others, but leading the Cavaliers to the first place in the East, this is the last word!

Both coaches were scrambling to set up their tactics for the second quarter, and the more intense the game, the more problems were actually exposed on both sides. All coaches want to blame their players for all the problems they find, so the break can always seem rushed.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Thunder really followed through to Van Gundy's arrangement, and they passed the ball significantly more often.

"Durant has the ball again, he breaks through!

Durant could feel that James had increased his defensive intensity, but he didn't plan to attack and break through on his own, just to shrink the Cavaliers' defensive lineup.

Westbrook, meanwhile, rounded Anjie's off-ball block to the bottom corner. Durant raised his hand to pass the ball, and Westbrook unsurprisingly became the offensive man.

"Ann's off-ball block is very timely, but Anthony Parker's pace is not slow either!

Westbrook was on the move, and when everyone was focused on him, suddenly a pass, the basketball shifted widely, and Sephorosa received the ball at the top of the three-point line.

"Saab Sephorosa! Everybody forgot about him, the Swiss were left out!"

Faced with a chance to open a big space, Seforrosa did not waste it. He shot unhurriedly, and the basketball crossed a graceful arc and fell straight to the Nets!

"Brush!" Sephorosa was so excited by the sound that he raised his right hand and gestured three fingers.

As soon as the game started, the Thunder responded and equalized the score!

The subsequent game feasted the eyes of the fans of the Quick Loan Arena. This game is no less exciting than the Christmas game.

"Ann shook O'Neill with her footsteps, the big shark is too slow now! Oh! He did it, oh my God!

"Shaq's tank-like advance, small hook hand! Basketball scores, and penalties have to be added! An Jie shouldn't have reached out. ”

"Russell Westbrook! Ball scored! Brilliant pull-up layup, who would dare to underestimate the offensive ability of the Thunder's zero guard!"

"LeBron~~~ James! Tomahawk slam dunk, this steal dunk dragon can definitely be selected as one of the top ten balls!"

The Thunder Knights don't give in to each other, you score a goal, I return one. The scores of the two sides alternately climbed, but the gap never appeared.

Until there were three and fifty seconds left in the second quarter, Van Gundy replaced all the three Thunder who had consumed too much. In addition to Morris, the other four were all substitutes.

But Mike Brown made a decision that made Van Gundy's heart tighten.

The Cavaliers also only kept one starter on the court, but that starter was the Cavaliers' No. 23, LeBron James.

"Looks like Coach Mike Brown is going to let James play a full quarter. ”

After all, the confrontation between the two sides in the second quarter was too intense, and the consumption must have been huge. ”

"Of course others have problems, but for James, it's no problem!"

And James' first attack fulfilled the sentence he said.

He easily broke through the defense of Thunder backup guard Eric Meno, went straight inside, ignored Morris's defense, and forced a layup to score the ball.

Although James was knocked out of the bottom line by Morris, he did not hesitate at all, and quickly got up and quickly returned to defense.

"No, Mayno can't hold James, Livingston can't do it, Etang Thomas, no!" Mike Brin shook his head, Van Gundy was given a leg up by Mike Brown this time in terms of substitution strategy.

Although the Thunder's interior strength has greatly improved this season, the bench depth of the outside players is in some ways even worse than last season.

Livingston occasionally plays well, but more often than not, he's sleepwalking. Edon Thomas, with his long dreadlocks, is a strong man, but his technique and speed do need to be improved. Eric Mayno scored really well, but he was a little thinner. Kyle Weville? He's exposed a second-round pick and his ceiling is too low! After a short-lived last season, this guy has faded out of the rotation. His rookie season is the peak, and that's what he is talking about.

Although Ibaka and Morris are on the inside, under the combination of James's shooting, the two big men don't have much to limit the "little emperor".

More than three minutes may not seem like a long time, but it has given the Thunder players on the court a journey to hell.

"Eight points, James alone made the Thunder team fall behind by eight points in an instant! Coach Van Gundy is still unwilling to make substitutions, he wants to save the strength of the Thunder three less to the end!"

Finally, when the whistle blew at halftime. The fans of the Quick Loan Arena were delighted to find that the game that was originally difficult to solve had been forced by James to open up a double-digit point difference!

45-56, the Thunder collapsed in the last three minutes of the second quarter, trailing the Cavaliers by 11 points!

Majesty James, this is really the country he single-handedly defeated!

With 19 minutes in the half, James's reign of terror is once again revealed!

It's just that James consumed so much physical strength in the first half, and in the second half, can he still guarantee that he can play at a high level for a long time?

In the second half, it was when Van Gundy decided to let the Thunder three young give it a go! )