Coach Brooks sat on the sidelines, hesitant to make a substitution.

Perkins signed a four-year, 34.8 million contract, which is only the first year, and he only plays 20 minutes a game in the playoffs, which is really high salary and low ability. The contract offered to him by Celtic was only 22 million back then, which was very sensible.

If Perkins is on it, he will have to defend it, and it won't be better than it is now. The Thunder are completely caught in the Knicks' rhythm and wouldn't have been so passive if Perkins could attack in the low post. It's a pity that he's a pure blue-collar worker.

Originally, the Knicks looked at Chandler as a regular big center, and Anderson was on the bench, but some experts felt that this was a hidden danger, and now they found that swingman tactics are king. As Pat Riley said back then, basketball may develop into a game of five swing men, so that the defense on the inside may be a little worse, but the defense on the perimeter, especially the high pick-and-roll, will be played to the extreme. The Warriors in 2009 and the Heat today are all on this path. The Heat are almost centerless, the Knicks have at least one Chandler, and Anderson is more reliable offensively than Haslem.

Now Brooks misses Jeff Green a little bit, and the Knicks fight for small-ball tactics, and Green is more suitable to play. However, this is just an assumption, not to mention Green's heart attack season reimbursement, and weak offense and defense, if he plays the No. 4 position, the Thunder may not be able to pass the Spurs.

The Thunder attacked, Westbrook relied on the cover to get rid of Zhou Xuan, and passed Jamison to force the basketball to score. 66 to 58.

The Knicks attacked, and everyone pulled away. Zhou Xuan singled out again. At this time, Westbrook also felt a little weird, Zhou Xuan was not this style when he practiced with him.

Zhou Xuan dribbled under his crotch twice in a row and changed direction to the left, originally acting unfast, but when he changed direction, he was like thunder. Westbrook couldn't block the breakout and followed from the side. With his understanding of Zhou Xuan, it is impossible to simply change direction, at least he has to dribble or turn around behind his back, simplifying the complex with one move, which makes him very uncomfortable.

Simpler is still behind, Zhou Xuan paused when he reached the low post on the left side, Westbrook hurriedly got close, thinking that he was going to use the back body technique, how did he know that Zhou Xuan was strong after the pause, and carried Westbrook's left-handed basket on his right shoulder. Westbrook's reaction was a little slower and didn't cover it, the ball hit the board into the frame, and Zhou Xuan scored his 22nd personal point. 68 to 58.

Westbrook stomped his foot angrily, and Brooks was also anxious, they were able to break through in the West, and the advantage of the No. 1 position contributed to it. Even against Parker Westbrook, it doesn't suffer. The last series gave the Thunder an illusion that Wei Shao was already a superstar and was not afraid of anyone. When he met Zhou Xuan today, he was the suppressed party.

The Thunder could only rely on stars to score, and after three quarters, the Knicks led by nine points at 74-65.

Durant scored 28 points and 5 rebounds in the third quarter, and Zhou Xuan was not bad, with 22 points and 8 assists.

It's not time to be happy, the Knicks didn't show an overwhelming advantage over the Thunder, and in previous games, the Thunder trailed by 10 points many times, especially Durant often burst into stronger strength in the final quarter.

D'Antoni emphasized: "Defend Durant no matter what, and don't let him catch the ball. Daniro, if he breaks through to foul in time, Cowie is also ready, grab the rebound in the backcourt and pay attention to the fast break. ”

The trio took turns limiting Durant, and Battier fouled too much and sat on the bench, now relying on two young men.

The Knicks sent an outside combination of Zhou Xuan, Beverley, and Gallinari, and the inside line was Jamison and Chandler. Four pitchers plus defenders.

Jamison scored eight points in the third quarter and had a good performance. Entering the finals, there are fewer players in the rotation, but despite this, the Knicks players can still ensure that they are physically strong. The only one who added playing time was Zhou Xuan, who didn't rest in the second half, and D'Antoni wanted to keep the attack going rather than letting Miller go up for a while, in case someone catches up with him. Zhou Xuan's physical strength has never had a problem.

Beverley came on the court to speed up, the Thunder sent Harden, who hadn't shot in a while, he didn't have many opportunities to attack with the ball, and Beverley was good at following without the ball.

At the beginning of the game, the Thunder were the starting lineup, and only Harden replaced Sefrosa.

Westbrook got rid of Zhou Xuan after blocking and dismantling, and in the face of Jamison's change of defense and forced a layup, the rebound was picked up by Chandler, and immediately went to the front court, Zhou Xuan attracted Ibaka's defense after receiving the ball, and gave Beverley who advanced in the middle, who threw off Harden to score a layup. 76 to 65.

Yang Jian said: "Westbrook is playing again, and his burst in and shooting misses will make the Knicks form a misplaced offensive opportunity, and Beverley comes up with a fast break." ”

Su Qun said: "Harden is not as explosive as Beverley. I think the Thunder can let Harden play a few at this time, and he has a height and weight advantage when he plays Beverley. ”

The Thunder players thought the same way and passed to Harden. Harden leaned his back on Beverley from outside the three-point line, turned to the frame, dribbled a little distance from his crotch twice, and pulled a three-point shot, although he dodged the block, but the ball bounced out of the frame.

Harden had a physical advantage, but chose the least efficient way of attacking, and the rebound was won by Jamison. The Knicks quickly counterattacked, Zhou Xuan received the ball in the backcourt, turned around and threw it to the frontcourt with one hand to Beverley.

Beverley took the ball and turned to single-handedly challenge Harden, without any feints, and successfully passed the layup with a change of direction. 78 to 65. did not add an assist, but there was a credit for Zhou Xuan's pass.

Su Qun said: "Originally, I had the impression that Harden's defense was not bad, but since entering the playoffs, his defense has been lax. ”

Yang Jian smiled: "Maybe Artest's elbow knocked him stupid." ”

Whatever caused Harden's aberration, he became a significant factor in the Thunder's lag. Durant was heavily guarded, and Westbrook's shooting percentage also dropped, missing two consecutive shots.

Yang Jian joked: "In the past, some people said that only Westbrook could prevent Durant, but today he made more shots than Durant in the fourth quarter." ”

It's a bit unfair to Wei Shao to say that. In the case that Harden can't score, the Thunder can only rely on him and Durant, should Durant make 50 shots in a single game? That's simply not possible.

Durant didn't have a shot from inside the box for six minutes. Broke through twice, was pulled by Gallinari and Jamison, and sent to the free throw line.

The Knicks' offense was also average, and Zhou Xuan strengthened the breakthrough, looking for confrontation near the penalty area and making fouls. As soon as Ibaka switched defenses, he passed Jamison to single Perkins.

Late in his career, Jamison finally proved that he wasn't just a statist-savvy player and that he could help his team win. He pulled out again and again to score in the middle of the shot, and he didn't know that he felt that the score exceeded Zhou Xuan.

With 2:41 left to go, Jamison hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner to give the Knicks a 12-point lead at 99-87.

After that, Durant pulled a three-point shot, and Ibaka's low attack on the right side was blocked by Chandler. In the end, 107-98, the Knicks got off to a good start in the finals.

After the game, the substitutes all rushed onto the pitch to celebrate. The team that wins the first game of the finals has a good chance of winning the championship.

Zhou Xuan only scored 4 points in the final quarter and handed out 4 assists. He shot 9-of-21 from the field, 1-of-4 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, finishing with 26 points, 2 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals.

Jamison's 28 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists were also eye-catching. Speaking about him, Van Gundy said: "Jamison's performance in this game can make the New York fans completely forget about Stadamire. ”

Gallinari had 19 points and Chandler had 14 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks, including seven frontcourt rebounds. The Knicks only had four players score in double figures, and the advantage of inside rebounding was also a big factor in the win.

The Thunder had three players in double figures, with Durant having 38 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Westbrook had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists, and Serge Ibaka had 14 points and eight rebounds. Everyone else played poorly, with Harden scoring eight points and four assists, Perkins scoring four points on 2-of-3 shooting and Fisher scoring just three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Ironically, in the Thunder's pre-game mobilization, Fisher said that veteran experience is not the most important thing, as if he was talking about himself.

Thunder coach Brooks said in an interview: "I think we played well, but we didn't bite in the last minute, and we had a chance to win. The role players didn't give enough support to the core in this game, and I'm sure they'll adjust to the game. ”

Brooks was talking about Harden, and he was terrible in this game.

D'Antoni complimented Durant first. "Durant is one of the best scorers in the league and he scored 38 points today with our focus on defense, which is incredible," he said. But we also have great stars, and Zhou Xuan is more well-rounded. ”

Zhou Xuan's tone in the interview was straightforward. "We're going to win the championship, I promise the fans. Durant's 38 points and the Thunder can't win the game, can he have such a good performance every game? We have more offense and the Thunder only have three players to attack, and I think as long as we limit Durant to 30 points, we're going to win. We played very well today. ”

The reporter asked: "You had an amazing goal in the game, what did you think at the time?" ”

"I thought it was a normal practice game and Russell was in the right position, so I did that." Zhou Xuan smiled.

Journalists take pictures together. It's the most arrogant grand finale declaration, and who would treat this kind of competition as an intra-team exercise? How many nerves does this have to be? However, Zhou Xuan is not a mortal at all to score in that way, and he has never seen an expression on his face throughout the game, regardless of whether the team is ahead or behind.

The reporter asked, "What do you think is the key to the Knicks' victory?" ”

Zhou Xuan said: "The team, it's as simple as that, strictly implement the tactical arrangement, share the ball, and of course, also need a little individual ability. ”

The reporter asked: "How do you think the opponent played?" You've practiced with Westbrook in the summer, can you evaluate him? ”

"He's getting stronger all the time, he's a good opponent, we have to guard him, and he and Durant are key to the Thunder's win."

After practicing together, Zhou Xuan knew that Wei Shao was a strong person, and the team took the initiative, so he didn't need to say anything to stimulate the other party.

He is confident that he will win the next game, although he only won by 9 points this time, Anderson, Leonard and others are very bad, and this is not the strongest Knicks.