Brooks called a timeout, after which there were no substitutions for either side.

Stephenson soon received another pass from Zhou Xuan and scored with a mid-range shot. He is a marginal person, and he didn't have many opportunities to play before, and it was an extremely wrong decision for the Thunder to wrap Zhou Xuan and choose to let him go. His mid-range shot was very accurate, just a little worse than three points. Looking at the impact, he is also better than Matthews, Battier and others.

Stephenson is actually a lot like the King's Tyrek Evans. THE HEIGHT IS 196CM, AND THE WEIGHT IS ABOUT THE SAME. The two similar people, one with the fourth pick, and the other fell to the second round, not because of technology, but because Stephenson had too much mess off the court, was a thorn, and had a poor sense of teamwork. After two years of grinding with the Knicks, he gradually began to learn to play team basketball.

Stephenson was also very active when he returned to defense, blocking the Thunder's fast break with Zhou Xuan, and fouled fiercely. Harden was already upset by Stephenson's wild spray, and was knocked to the ground again, almost causing a conflict. After that, Harden made another pass error and drew a foul. His coming off the bench was the turning point of the game, as the Knicks extended the margin to double digits.

Yu Jia said: "The Thunder team is not weak, most of the time the Knicks are inseparable, but their tactics are too simple, it is easy to be recognized, and they fall behind if they can't catch it in one breath." ”

Zhang Li said: "This is the advantage of experience, Zhou Xuan plays very calmly like a veteran." He didn't use tricks or passes today, he was well-organized, he took all the shooting opportunities, and there aren't many stars in the NBA who can do that. ”

While chatting, Stephenson broke through to attract the defense, and the ball was given to Zhou Xuan in the bottom right corner. Zhou Xuan took a shot after receiving the ball and hollowed it into the net.

Van Gundy smiled: "I think many Thunder fans will have this kind of thought, as soon as they saw that Zhou Xuan still had room to shoot after receiving the ball, he suddenly felt that the home team was going to be unlucky." ”

"Magic" Johnson said: "Today he may score 30+, once Zhou Xuan has such a performance, the opponent is really unable to play." He found a balance between individual scoring and assist-making passes. ”

Before the game, Brooks arranged for players to wrap Zhou Xuan, but after the game, he found that he couldn't wrap it at all, and Zhou Xuan spent most of his time outside the three-point line or in the bottom corner. In the case of the bottom corner of the bag, there must be a gap between the two transfers. Stephenson's back-to-back scoring also hurt the Thunder's morale.

The Thunder's offense was on and off. The Knicks originally fouled more than the Thunder, but they still did not restrain themselves in the second half, and they were pulled by the breakthrough, especially Durant, who immediately fouled the small man as soon as he misplaced and sent him to the free throw. Stephenson, who had four fouls in seven and a half minutes and was substituted off the floor, scored six points to overdo the task.

D'Antoni discussed with the assistant coach at halftime, thinking that there was no need to foul too many and not dare to fight, the big deal was to send off the main team and let the substitutes come up to play, and they rotated a lot of people. And this time for the Thunder, especially Durant, to make more free throws, the referees will definitely restrain in the next game. Even if the advantage of this loss is on the side of the Knicks, fans will still feel that the Thunder's home court is too dark when they look at the data.

Another purpose is to target Perkins. Perkins rested in the first half of the third quarter, and the Knicks had already committed four fouls when he came on the court in the second quarter. D'Antoni sacrificed the "shark cutting tactic" again. As soon as the Thunder broke fast, the basket fouled Perkins.

Perkins shot 65 percent of his free throws in the regular season, and it seems like he made too few free throws, less than 60 percent if he made more free throws. The first time he went to the free throw line, he missed two free throws, much to the disappointment of Thunder fans.

Originally, there were few people in the rotation, and Perkins only played about 20 minutes again, and the physical strength of the Thunder three young and Ibaka was challenged. Collison gets a lot of playing time, but he's getting older and his defensive efficiency, especially rebounding, can't be compared to when he was younger.

Entering the fourth quarter, Zhou Xuan continued to be present. Fisher, who went undercover for two consecutive games, was hidden, and Westbrook could only continue to fight with Zhou Xuan.

Playing the same amount of time Westbrook is also more tired than Zhou Xuan. The two play differently, Zhou Xuan does not do senseless running, he will wait for three points on the periphery, and only break through if the misalignment opportunity is good. Westbrook was in a state of non-stop running. Break through with the ball, cut into the position. Westbrook has been practicing shooting, but he is not a qualified three-point shooter, and his character does not allow him to do so.

Zhou Xuan did it with static braking, and Jamison and Gallinari became the main points of attack. They didn't disappoint either, one withdrawing space and one attacking with the ball.

"The Magic" said: "Jamison is a certain distance from Stodameyer in terms of fame and physicality, but Jamison, who has a lot of offensive means and excellent shooting skills, is undoubtedly a better fit for the Knicks' system than Smalls, and he has performed very well. ”

Van Gundy said: "Jamison is also hoping to get a championship ring before he retires, and he has more flexibility than he did when he was a Cavaliers. At that time, James was attacking with the ball, Yao Ming occupied the low post, giving him too little space to play, and now he is completely letting go. Jamison didn't defend very well, but the Thunder didn't attack on the inside. ”

Brooks said in an interview before. 'Ibaka has to be able to play in the deep low post, he's got to fight for that deep position, never give in, take the ball from four and a half metres and then look at the situation on the pitch, I think he's learning that, it's a process that takes time.

Now Ibaka can't beat Anderson, Jamison, let alone score under Chandler's defense, he relies on jump shots. If it's just a jump shot, Jamison won't be a defensive hole, and the two are about the same height and can interfere.

Zhou Xuan and Gallinari blocked and cooperated, attracting Durant to defend and then split the ball, and the Italian faced Westbrook in the middle and hit a three-point shot. In the final three minutes, the Knicks' lead reached 17 points.

At the critical moment, no one in the Thunder could stand up and score except for two less, and Durant did not score three points under strict defense, Thunder fans were disappointed, and the players also turned off.

Durant made 2-of-9 three-pointers, Westbrook made 1-of-3 from three-point range, and no one else made a three-pointer. The Knicks shot 9-of-20 from three-point range on the side, with an astonishing efficiency. If you look at the stats, the Knicks almost won on three-pointers. Other statistics are similar to the two teams, and the Knicks are still behind in terms of free throws.

Zhou Xuan left the game two minutes early, and the game entered garbage time. In the end, the Knicks won 113-98.

Zhou Xuan shot 12 of 22, 4 of 9 three-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws, scoring 34 points, 2 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals, and scored a big double-double. Jamison had another great performance, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds. Gallinari had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and he was playing with more and more confidence. The Thunder focused on Zhou Xuan, and the Italian got a chance to perform, and after the misplacement, he dared to shoot whether he faced Perkins or Westbrook.

Five Knicks scored in double figures. Matthews and Anderson scored 10 and 11 points, respectively.

Durant made 21 of 23 free throws. He finished with 35 points and 6 rebounds. Westbrook had 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Harden had 18 points and six assists, but also had six turnovers. No one else scored in double figures, and after Ibaka reached the final, his jumper was also blocked.

After the game, Brooks didn't know what to say about the game, and only said that he tried to win the next game and avoid a sweep.

The Thunder players also stopped, and they didn't even say anything cruel. Before the game, the three young people all felt that they had the strength to fight, and they realized that it was not the case at all.

Referring to Zhou Xuan, Brooks said: "He's a terrible player, maybe more terrible than the stats you see, he doesn't make mistakes on the court, he does what he needs to do every round, that's how I think of him." Wrap him, he will give assists, and if he doesn't pack, he can score on his own. Even if he doesn't play alone, he knows how to pass the ball to the person who has the most grasp. Entering the playoffs, he shot close to 55%, 45% of three-point shooting, and averaged 20+10 per game. He's already the best player in the league. ”

Obviously, Brooks has been deflated, and he has shown that he can't do anything about Zhou Xuan and admits the dominance of his opponent.

On the Knicks' side, D'Antoni made no secret of his ambitions, saying: "We're ready to lift the championship trophy this season. With Zhou Xuan here, as long as there are teammates who can shoot, we can score, it doesn't matter if we can't shoot, if we have the height to stand under the basket, the ball will be delivered to our hands. ”

At the age of 36, Jamison also played in the finals, and reporters also interviewed him.

Jamison smiled: "It was a pleasure to play with Zhou Xuan, I remember the first day I reported to the Knicks, he chatted with me, talked about my characteristics, and then asked me what I needed to add, where I shot accurately, and what style of play I was good at, he knew everything very well." And then as soon as I run in place, the ball gets in my hands, which is incredible. I didn't know such a person existed before. ”

The reporter said: "Stockton, Nash maybe. ”

"I haven't played with them, but Zhou is a real super point guard, and he really knows how to do magic."

The reporter focused on interviewing Zhou Xuan and asked: "The Knicks still won on the road, and your situation is very favorable now, do you have any feelings?" ”

"My impression is that the game is not over yet, and theoretically the Thunder still have the possibility of turning the tables. We're still going to give it our all to win and sweep to the title. Now my nerves are still on the table, and hopefully my teammates can do the same, and do their best to play the next game, it's not time to celebrate. ”

The reporter asked, "What do you think the Thunder are playing?" ”

"In terms of individual star ability, the Thunder are not inferior to us. But in terms of tactics and experience, we have the complete advantage. We can play a number of tactics and at a certain point Lance [Stephenson] can also play a role as well. The Thunder rely too much on the individual abilities of the three stars, and IMHO, we have already seen through such a simple style of play. If they don't have any other hole cards, the champion must be ours. ”