Kevin. Durant knew he had to take this opportunity.

To be precise, to seize the only hope of survival.

May 16, 2014, NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Thunder VS Spurs Game 6.

Durant was ready to catch the ball on the right side, and he knew it was the best chance to kill the Spurs. They've never had such a great opportunity in the entire series!

At this point, the series total score had become 3-2, and the Spurs took the lead to get the match point.

In other words, as long as the Spurs make another game today, the championship dreams of the Thunder and Durant will be completely shattered.

Durant can't accept a loss in the Western Conference semifinals, and his goal this year is to beat Link and then get revenge on James. He didn't think about the Spurs at all, because they were eliminated by the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals last season.

Durant has always believed that he will not lose to his former men.

However, the Spurs are just like the Grizzlies. They've all lost to the Thunder, but they've all changed dramatically.

Durant waited for a long time, but the basketball was not handed to him.

Westbrook borrowed Ibaka's cover and went straight to the restricted area, and seeing this scene, Durant's heart was half cold.

Sure enough, under Duncan's block, Westbrook chose to make a pull-up jump shot. Then, like the previous shots, Westbrook's "zombie jumper" slammed straight to the front of the basket, and the basketball had no arc at all.

"Damn it!" Durant cursed in his heart, he didn't know when Westbrook would be able to shoot the ball!

So far in today's game, Westbrook has taken the same number of shots as Durant. But the hit rate has fallen below 35%!

On the surface, Westbrook scored a lot of points. But in reality, his scoring was more by making foul free throws. The efficiency in the sports war, Westbrook is extremely low!

Today, the Spurs' performance finally fluctuated. The Spurs shot just 36.8 percent from the field in the first half and scored the lowest 42 points in the half.

On top of that, they also made a full eight turnovers. To make matters worse, the Spurs' league-leading three-point shooting, which failed to hit a single three-pointer in the first quarter, improved in the second quarter, but was only 4-of-18 three-pointers in the entire first half.

In the face of such a Spurs, the Thunder had a chance to seize the flaw and win the game in one fell swoop. But Westbrook, stunned, also lowered the Thunder's shooting percentage.

After the start of the second half, the Spurs gradually got better. And the Thunder are still missing opportunities because of Westbrook's hot-headedness, and Durant finds himself increasingly unable to tolerate Westbrook's behavior.

Durant hurriedly returned to defense, and he decided that he would take the initiative to ask for the ball in the next round!

This time, Tony. Parker's mid-range shot was interfered with by Westbrook and missed. Just when Durant was secretly happy in his heart, Leonard suddenly passed by him!

Durant was startled at first, and then quickly followed! He is regretting, regretting why he didn't stand up to Leonard in the first place!

Leonard's defense of Durant made him famous last season, but he is still considered a mere role player.

But this year, Leonard's improvement on the offensive end is obvious to all. In the regular season this season, the "facial paralysis" averaged 12.8 points per game. In the playoffs, he could score 14.3 points.

This guy won't miss a chance to score right now.

In Durant's desperate eyes, Leonard stretched out his long arms and clicked the basketball back into the frame before everyone else.

Durant covered his head in frustration, and after this shot, the Spurs regained a 9-point lead!

The Thunder's rout is not Westbrook's responsibility alone.

Durant glanced at Leonard, who had just completed a wonderful layup, but Leonard just took care of his own defense, did not celebrate at all, and did not even have an expression on his face.

Compared with Link, who flaunted his power after scoring a goal, Leonard's reaction made Durant feel even more terrifying.

The competitive West has one more monster.

In the rest of the game, Westbrook still didn't find his offensive touch. And Durant's side, under Leonard's "death entanglement", is also up and down, unable to score steadily.

In the end, the Spurs relied on the adjustment in the second half to win the game smoothly after the poor performance in the first half.

When the whistle blew at the end of the game, Durant, who was sitting on the bench watching the Spurs players celebrate, couldn't help but ruddy his eyes.

Since 2012, he has had a chance to win the championship. But until now, Durant didn't know what a championship was like.

In the first year, they were immature and tortured to death by the heat. Last year, I thought everything was ready, but I was helplessly stopped by the Grizzlies in the finals in advance. What about this year? The Thunder can't even play the Western Conference Finals!

Every year since 2012, the Thunder's record has been one round worse than last year's. Judging by the record alone, the Thunder seem to be gradually weakening.

But Durant knows that they haven't gotten weaker. On the contrary, they have become stronger.

It's just that their opponents have also become stronger......

Durant thought he was the only man in the league capable of competing with Link, and he spent almost the entire season preparing for a series against the Grizzlies.

However, in the end, he was not even qualified to fight Link.

Four days ago, the Grizzlies had eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers 4-0 in Los Angeles to advance to the Western Conference Finals. But this time, Durant missed the contract.

"Kevin......" Westbrook stood in front of Durant with an apologetic face.

Today, Westbrook made 23 wild shots and only hit 8 goals, a shooting rate of just 34.8%.

Playing against the Grizzlies last season, Westbrook also dragged down the Thunder more than once because of his iron-clad shooting.

Durant looked at Westbrook and didn't say anything more. With red eyes, he pressed his forehead to Westbrook's head. It seems that this young man who comforts each other has such a deep relationship.

But what Durant really thinks is something only he knows.

After the game, in the midst of a crowd of Spurs players, the reporter found Greg. Popovich.

Before the start of the season, no one could have imagined that the Spurs would be able to win 60+ games. It is even more impossible for anyone to believe that the aging Spurs really overturned the young Thunder and advanced to the Western Conference Finals!

The Spurs single-handedly broke the peak duel between Link and Durant, and ruined the dreams of many fans and TV stations.

And a large part of the reason why Spurs are magical is because of the old man who is standing in front of the camera at this time.

"Let's talk about it, this is the first time the Spurs have reached the Western Conference Finals since 2008! You have waited 6 years for this moment! What's your mood at this point, Greg! The reporter's question is simple, when the Spurs lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in 2008, no one thought the Spurs would be able to return to the top of the West with this old core lineup.

But now, 6 years later, they have really miraculously done it.

"The Thunder are great opponents and it wasn't easy for us to win. But I'm glad we got our revenge on last season. But to be honest, I'm not excited right now. When we knock out the Grizzlies and make it to the Finals, you can ask me that question again. At that point, I should have the answer. ”

Popovich spoke without any smile on his face.

This old man's desires are much more than that!

The Thunder are one of the Spurs' enemies. But the Grizzlies, however, knocked the Spurs out of the playoffs for two years in a row!

Popovich still remembers this, he believes that his small lineup will definitely be able to pack up the Grizzlies who play the two-tower lineup as well!

The iron hooves of the people of San Antonio began to move towards Tennessee.

※※※

As Link feared, history did not shift in the end. The San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games, and the Grizzlies' Western Conference Finals opponent changed teams in an instant.

Although this whole season, the league has been hyping a rematch between the Thunder and Grizzlies. For a whole year, people have been expecting a king of the West between Link and Durant.

But the Spurs, who have been lacking attention and reticent, are more dangerous than the Thunder.

A dog that doesn't bark bites only when it bites, and this phrase is perfectly suited for spurs.

The day after the Western Conference semifinals, Link woke up and the world was talking about the Grizzlies and Spurs.

The thunder, which had been quite hot all year before, immediately cooled down.

No way, it's competitive sports. No matter how brilliant you were before, if you lose once, you will be forgotten by the whole world.

The Spurs quickly took the Thunder's place and became the most popular team in the West apart from the Lakers and Grizzlies!

After all, the Lakers' historical heritage and market are there, even if the Lakers' record is out of the sky, they are still popular.

But the Spurs and Grizzlies were able to win super popularity, relying on pure strength.

Link watched the news and got up. The Western Conference Finals are just around the corner, and Link doesn't want to take it lightly.

As always, Link was watching sports news while making himself breakfast.

That's when ESPN released the results of a Western Conference Finals approval survey in the news.

Link looked up and almost didn't squirt out the milk he had just drunk.

Of the 50 states in the United States, 49 of them backed the Spurs to win......

Link pouted, this is the legendary enemy of the people.