The situation of the game in the third quarter was always expected by Ramsey.

The Trail Blazers' suddenly strengthened defense made the Nuggets quite unaccustomed, and they were not particularly physically strong, but their shooting percentage began to plummet, and their mistakes continued to rise, and the whole situation was one-sided.

Moreover, the Trail Blazers' defensive effect is also beyond Ramsey's imagination, and this team that has always been an offensive team can also act like a defensive powerhouse.

Especially when Gan Guoyang was on the court, his interspersed covering defense gave the Nuggets a lot of pressure, but at the same time, he did not lose control of the three-second zone.

This kind of strong defensive ability is rarely reflected in Gan Guoyang in the regular season, and if there is a time-traveler watching this game, it is obvious that the shadow of Kevin Garnett can be seen from Gan Guoyang.

If Ramsey was a defensive coach, perhaps he could find a new understanding of defense from Gan Guoyang's ability, but unfortunately Ramsey is not a coach who is ahead of his time, and he has not been able to explore the shadow of a new world from Gan Guoyang's defense.

However, as far as the third quarter of the game is concerned, the Trail Blazers' performance was perfect, so perfect that everyone felt that there was no suspense in this game, and the Trail Blazers led the Nuggets by 18 points at 103:85 after the third quarter.

In the entire third quarter, the Trail Blazers scored 36 points, but suppressed the Nuggets' single-quarter score to 19 points, which can be said to be very, very low for the Nuggets, and their single-quarter shooting rate was only a pitiful 37 percent.

Across the league, teams that have the ability to keep the Nuggets scoring under 20 points in a single quarter can be counted on one hand, and now the Trail Blazers, an offensive team, have done the same.

"Well done lads, now that we're taking the lead, the most important thing for us in the fourth quarter is to keep our offensive continuity, to maintain or extend the difference, to control the tempo on the court. Don't be careless! It's the playoffs, anything can happen. ”

Ramsey, the veteran coach, reminded his players off the court that Ramsey has been in charge of the NBA since 1968 and has commanded the team in nearly 100 playoff games in the 17 years since.

In the playoffs, one carelessness is a catastrophe, and one carelessness is turning the world upside down, and the sensitivity of his profession tells him that in the face of the Nuggets, there can be no relaxation.

However, the absolute advantage of the Trail Blazers is obvious, and the Blazers obviously have a bigger chance of winning, all of which naturally has the credit of Ramsey.

He learned from the lack of preparation for the first game against the Mavericks, studied the Nuggets' characteristics in depth before the start of the semifinals, and combined his coaching experience to develop a strategic plan for this game.

Until the end of the third quarter, this strategy of "consuming physical strength with rhythm in the first half and counterattacking with high intensity in the second half" was still very successful.

But NBA coaches, although very, very important, have always been paid much less than the stars on the team, because it is the players on the court who ultimately decide the game, especially the star players.

No matter how good a coach's tactical arrangement is, it is useless if the player who shoots in the end can't score; Conversely, when a coach's tactics don't work, stars can often rely on their individual abilities to change the situation on the field.

"The fourth quarter of the game is about to start, the players on both sides are back on the court, and the Trail Blazers are currently leading the Nuggets by 103-85 by 18 points, they have an absolute advantage, breaking through the 100-point mark in the third quarter, and more importantly, they suppressed the Nuggets' scores, rather than the two sides rushing together, which shows us the strength of a strong team." Shaunley said before the start of the fourth quarter.

Shaunley is right about one thing, a real strong team must be balanced offensively and defensively, attacking and defending, and the Trailblazers in the first three quarters showed the temperament of a strong team.

But there is another quality that a truly strong team should have, and that is consistency.

"The Trail Blazers took the lead in serving, and at this time it was Colt who controlled the Trail Blazers' offense on the court, Colt passed the half court under Leaf's tight defense, Cooper came forward to clamp the defense, and barely passed the ball to Paxson, Paxson, passed the ball to Sampson, Sampson took the ball in the corner position, dribbled through... Shooting! The ball is in! At 105:85, the Trail Blazers widened the gap to 20 points! ”

With Sampson hitting a 7-foot mid-range shot at the start of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers finally opened the gap to 20 points, and 20 points can be said to be a psychological defense, once this line is broken, the opponent's resistance spirit is likely to collapse.

"Leaf got the ball through the half, Cooper caught it, and he quickly transferred to Inglish! Cauchy is defending Inglish, Inglish turns over and jumps from the bottom line! The ball is in! "The Nuggets' offense is still very fast, and Gan Guoyang is not on the court at this time.

Cooper made a very good transfer, Leaf and Cooper were both on the left side of the court, and after Leaf got the ball in the low post, he knew he couldn't touch Sampson, but he passed the ball smoothly to Inglish on the weak side.

For the stars, as long as there is enough space for singles, then the tactic is basically considered successful, and Cochy has no way to stop Inglish's turnaround shot.

"Inglish has scored 28 points, but he has 22 points in the first half and he only scored six points in the second half." After a quiet period in the third quarter, it looked like Inglish was about to explode in the fourth.

Sure enough, after Paxson's shot missed, Danny Shayce grabbed the rebound in the backcourt, and the Nuggets launched a quick offense.

The Nuggets' fast break is a bit similar to the fast break of the Trail Blazers in the past, with the wings moving down quickly and they are also good at finishing the fast break with shots.

"Inglish received a pass from Leaf, a 45-degree shot, a 15-foot distance, the ball went in, and Inglish scored four points in a row. This is a red flag. Shaunley began to feel a little worried about the Trail Blazers.

Seanley's concern is justified, and when Gan is not on the court, the Nuggets' passing in the positional counterattack is significantly smoother, which is conducive to the Nuggets finding the best offensive rhythm.

On the offensive end, the Nuggets have also begun to tighten their defensive oppressiveness, and their strategy is to trap the ball carrier.

Because Valentin played a long time in the third quarter, he now had to take a break, and Colter, as a rookie, was still inexperienced in dealing with sudden packs, and he always rushed to pass the ball to his nearest teammates, which is undoubtedly detrimental to the offensive organization.

The Trail Blazers, who couldn't effectively organize the offense, had to put more offensive pressure on the inside, on Sampson's body.

Sampson also lived up to expectations, winning many singles, but the speed of scoring on the inside was significantly slower than on the outside, and as the offensive efficiency of the Trail Blazers declined and the Nuggets' offensive success rate increased, the originally relaxed fans in the stadium suddenly found that the huge lead that the team had built up in the third quarter was being eaten away little by little.

"Inglish received the ball at the top of the arc, feinted past Cauchy and shot...... The ball is in! Oh my, this guy is so accurate! By the time Inglish hit an 18-foot shot at the top of the arc, the score had become 108:100, leaving the gap just seven points.

"8 points! It took only four minutes for the Nuggets to go from 85 to 101, and they scored 15 points in four minutes! And they guessed a total of 19 points in the third quarter! Ramsay has to call a timeout! ”

Ramsey did call a timeout, and in the eyes of others, he called a timeout a little late, and seeing the Nuggets scoring like this, he should have called a timeout soon.

However, Ramsey knew that in the third quarter, in order to maximize the advantage, he put a team of main players on the court from beginning to end to press the Nuggets.

In this way, Ramsey hopes that at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the bench can withstand the Nuggets' comeback and maintain the lead by more than 10 points, and then he can send the main lineup to take the victory into his hands in the next game.

However, English broke out.

Wearing the No. 2 jersey, this thin, slender and ordinary player with no characteristics has amazing scoring ability.

His offensive means are really monotonous, that is, shooting, no matter whether there is anyone defending or not, no matter who is defending, Inglish will always shoot with his master, persistently throwing the ball to the basket.

Ramsey sent in Jerome Corchy just to prevent Inglish from scoring a big explosion.

But Ramsey clearly underestimated Inglish and overestimated Jerome Cochy.

Although Cauchy is younger, stronger and more capable of jumping than Inglish, his defensive skills and experience are really not enough in front of Inglish.

Not long after the two sides were in position, Inglish used his rich experience to play Cauchy's game, turning over and shooting directly, feints for a while, and fake fax for a while.

In the space of 4 minutes, Inglish gave Cauchy a vivid one-on-one offensive and defensive lesson, and the tuition fee was that he scored 12 points in 4 minutes on Cosey's head.

By this time, he had already scored 36 points.

"Are the Trail Blazers going to be ruined at the hands of a super small forward?" Shaunley was blunt about the Trail Blazers' problems.

This season, the Trail Blazers don't know how many times they have been hit by the opposition's small forward, and finally lost or nearly lost the game.

Ramsey looked at No. 55 on the bench and said, "I think you should have responded. ”

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