Chapter Ninety-Eight: Double Killing Thunder
This game though the Thunder bench on the James. Harden performed well, coming off the bench to score a Thunder-high 28 points, but Westbrook, who started the game, did not perform well, although the shooting percentage was not low, but the whole game was in a state of fugue, completely detached from the team, and Durant also performed mediocre against defense, scoring 27 points on 11-of-25 shooting.
On the other hand, the Kings, Cousins, who was fouled out in the last game, was in a terrible state, ravaging the interior of the Thunder like a flood beast, scoring a season-high 41 points alone, destroying the Thunder with one hand, and relieving the evil spirit of the last game. Tyrek played decently, scoring 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the game.
In the end, the Kings successfully took this victory in Oklahoma, winning 7 in a row!
In the first 7 games of the season, the Kings have not tasted defeat! And the strength of the opponents in these 7 games is at the top of the league, and they are all playoff teams from last season!
Although it can't be said that the Kings are better than these teams, they can win all 7 games, which does show some problems, at least the Kings are definitely a powerhouse in the West!
Back in Sacramento from Oklahoma, the Kings will continue to host the Thunder the next day.
Having beaten the Thunder in the last game and now playing at home again has given the Kings a lot of confidence. And the only goal this season is the championship of the Thunder, the team's young stars are arrogant, for the opponent they lost a day ago, they naturally want to slam them back to save face.
The Kings' starting lineup was the same as in the previous game, with the Thunder making slight adjustments and removing Saab. Seforosa was replaced by the more offensive Daquien. Cook. In the last game, the defensive knife Seforolosha was not particularly successful in marking Tyreck. Coach Brooks took the initiative to change the lineup, hoping that Cook, the winner of the '09 All-Star Three-Point Contest, would cause a killing effect on the Kings.
After the start of the game, the Thunder team who was fighting away quickly found their state, and Durant, who was specially taken care of by the two Butlers of the Kings in the last game, felt like a god of death, and directly turned into a grim reaper, all kinds of unreasonable jump shots, facing the defense is to shoot, or to let him throw! This sense of desperation that can't be prevented was beaten out by Durant from the very beginning of the game!
That's one of the biggest superstars in the league, you can limit him to a certain extent in a game, but you can't limit him every game, he's got the best talent in the league, he always finds his rhythm, and once he's in shape, no one can completely stop him!
Durant's hot hand forced the Kings to take a trap, which freed up another star player of the Thunder team, Westbrook, Westbrook faced a drop in defensive pressure, so that the athleticism exploded He always had a way to press the ball into the basket, one burst point was enough to bother the Kings, and another burst point would be really dark......
Plus the firepower point on the bench James. Harden ensured that even if Durant and Westbrook were off the court, the Thunder would still have plenty of core attack points on the court, and the Thunder relied on their three-game offensive ability to pull the score into double digits shortly after the start of the second quarter.
However, in this game, the Thunder, like the previous game, still has no way to deal with the Kings' interior line, facing West and Cousins, two big men with range and low-post skills, Ibaka, who has excellent mobility and can still make a difference on the defensive end, while Perkins is still the same as the last game, with a huge body, but he is completely beaten by slipping.
But on the other hand, although they can't prevent the Kings' interior offense, Perkins' strong block and Ibaka's help defense still play a big role in restricting the Kings' outside breakout.
However, although Durant, Westbrook, and Harden played well in this game, and they basically played at their proper level, other players could give little support to the three. As the game deepened, the Kings did not panic, they have won 7 consecutive victories and are confident to face any situation, relying on the team's 13-man rotation to play, constantly consuming the star players of the Thunder team, Garcia, Farid, Cosby, Yudri and other bench players have a good performance, it can be said that everyone is a soldier, when the game entered the fourth quarter, the Thunder led the Kings by 4 points.
With a 4-point difference, the Kings and the Thunder began the final battle, before the Kings' main players have been given plenty of rest, the bench players have completed their tasks well, each performing their duties, now after all, it is only the regular season, the intensity of the game is not large, when the main force is not on the court, the bench players still ensure that the score is not pulled away, do not ask them to have the ability to change the game by themselves, do their best to do their best, this has reached the standard of rotation players.
In the final quarter of the game, the three star players of the Thunder began to have obvious physical problems, Durant and Westbrook basically did not rest, Durant has played the full three quarters of the game, and even Harden, who came off the bench, has played nearly 30 minutes.
The Thunder's mistakes began to increase, and Durant, who was almost inexplicable in the first half, finally began to be affected after experiencing Jimmy's defense for the whole game. After Butler hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner, the Kings managed to take the lead!
The Kings, who were pressed by the Thunder for almost a whole game, overtook the score for the first time! The home fans in the stadium were in a frenzy, and it had been a long time since they had enjoyed such a strong performance with a tenacious home team, strong strength, and an eight-game winning streak on the horizon......
After taking the lead, the Kings did not give the Thunder another chance, and defended their home court 116-108 with the home fans cheering wildly, ushering in an eight-game winning streak in the opening season!
Durant played 45 minutes and scored a game-high 37 points, Westbrook played 42 minutes and scored 29 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists, Harden played 34 minutes and scored 26 points, and the three young men combined for 92 points! The other players scored only 16 points in total!
The Kings followed the game with the Clippers after 7 players scored double-doubles, this game was another 6 players scored double-doubles, Cousins once again scored a team-high 30 points, in addition to Tyrek 23 points, West 17 points, Culon. Butler 14 points, Farid 12 points, Youdri 11 points! It completely highlights the comprehensiveness of the team!