Chapter 268: Fighting against Imperfect Durant
Hit the last shot again, 78:78, and the Cavaliers and Thunder were tied again.
Playing like this, both teams are not satisfied, and the Thunder can't accept that they can't take the Cavaliers, who lack the main general, and the Cavaliers can also win the Thunder, whose injuries have affected their results.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Zhang Xiaotian got the opportunity to lead the team alone.
On the Thunder's side, Durant led the team alone, and the two faced off head-to-head again.
Durant looked at Zhang Xiaotian in front of him a little deserted, how did a role team grow to this extent, so he had to face it squarely.
At the moment when he was stunned, Zhang Xiaotian wiped past Durant like a gust of wind.
How is it possible, Durant's desertion does not mean that he can't make moves, professional players' body reactions are often more than their brains, and he feels that Zhang Xiaotian is faster than before.
Durant couldn't believe it, but he felt right.
Zhang Xiaotian went in, and Thunder bench inside Nick Collison wanted to block his shot, but his movements were a little slower, and his hand hit Zhang Xiaotian, and the referee's whistle sounded at the same time.
Zhang Xiaotian's free throws were very stable, hitting both free throws, and the Cavaliers also overtook 80:78.
Durant wanted to teach Zhang Xiaotian a hard lesson, but he didn't lose his mind, but instead carried Zhang Xiaotian and squeezed it in, attracting the attention of the Cavaliers' defense and then splitting the ball Reggie Jackson, who hit a three-pointer, and the lead changed in an instant.
Zhang Xiaotian painted the gourd in the same way, but his breakthrough was more direct, a bit of James.
Breaking through the ball, Dellavedova, who was ambushed outside the three-point line, received the ball and hit it.
Dellavedova played well today, defending desperately and attacking with one of the few opportunities he had made, and David Blatter already liked him a little bit.
After two minutes of confrontation with the more powerful Zhang Xiaotian, Scott Brooks saw that Durant was a little powerless now, and he quickly replaced him.
The Thunder changed Westbrook to lead the team, and the Cavaliers took the opportunity to replace Irving as well.
The defender in front of Zhang Xiaotian has become a young player Jeremy Lamb, Jeremy Lamb is a swingman with good speed, but his body is not strong enough.
Although Durant is not in much form, he is not comparable to Jeremy Lamb.
Zhang Xiaotian was able to press Durant down to rest, and it was even easier to beat Jeremy Lamb.
He quickly enjoyed James's treatment, breaking through and hitting a double attack.
Zhang Xiaotian didn't care, he didn't just know a tendon of attack.
After he drew the attention of the defence, Irving and Dellavedova both hit the shots.
On the Thunder's side, only Wei Shao hit two shots.
Seeing that the situation was about to be bad, the Thunder quickly replaced all the main players, including Durant.
The Cavaliers have also changed to the current strongest lineup, and on the inside, it is still Tristan Thompson who replaces Vallejo in key moments, and the young guy is increasingly trusted by the coach.
Durant rested for a while, and he didn't have to say that he was motivated, but his shooting percentage was not high.
However, with the containment of the double-less, the Thunder's interior Ibaka and Adams both hit.
The Cavaliers' two interior rebounds are still strong, and the defense against people may be slightly worse, although the opponent can't get what he wants in the restricted area, but it still causes a lot of trouble for the Cavaliers.
Fortunately, Love then used his experience to create a foul on Ibaka, and a foul didn't make much of a difference, but it was not the same if it was the fifth foul.
After all the main forces of the Thunder came up, they had a tendency to control the rhythm, which had a lot to do with Ibaka.
Ibaka's defensive ability is too strong, James has to be restricted on the court, and Zhang Xiaotian is naturally even more affected.
If you can only pass the ball, the power of the breakthrough will be greatly reduced.
Seeing that Ibaka had committed five fouls, Zhang Xiaotian suddenly made a decision, and when he got the ball again, he immediately asked for a cover and rushed over to Ibaka's position.
Zhang Xiaotian's decisiveness surprised Ibaka a little.
Five fouls, he still hesitated once, and it was this one that made him pay the price.
If he gets out of the way, Zhang Xiaotian will only get 2 points, but Ibaka hesitated for a moment and still pounced, the penalty area is his place, it is his pride.
Zhang Xiaotian was on the side of his body in the air and put the ball in his arms, but Ibaka was not so flexible, the two collided together, and the referee did not hesitate to blow Ibaka for a foul.
There was still half of the final quarter, and the player with the strongest defensive ability of the Thunder was directly knocked down.
Nick Collisson, who replaced the game, was not a strong defensive player at his peak, and now that he is older, there is no way to do it.
Durant focused on Zhang Xiaotian this time, but the Cavaliers killed Irving this time.
Irving easily avoided a block and made a layup, giving the Cavaliers a four-point lead.
4 points is not much, but the hearts of the Thunder soldiers are sinking, how to prevent the Knight's breakthrough next.
As it turns out, their current lineup is unstoppable.
Durant and Westbrook can only return color on the offensive end, and they also rush to the Cavaliers inside.
The knight's co-defense was originally a problem, and now everyone is half a pound or two.
The score is deadlocked again, the clock is already in the last few minutes, and the team that can break the deadlock first this time is very likely to win.
In order to reduce Durant's burden, the Thunder asked Roberson to switch to Zhang Xiaotian, but Zhang Xiaotian still continued to consume Durant on the defensive end, which was definitely not easy for the other party.
As the game entered the final two minutes, the Thunder simply replaced Reggie Jackson on the court and played one big and four small.
The Cavaliers didn't replace the interior, they had to keep their rebounding advantage, and they didn't have the right guy.
Durant stood up to Zhang Xiaotian's defense and finally hit two points.
Even if the body is not in shape, the All-Star level is also an All-Star level, and it is impossible for Zhang Xiaotian to lock up Durant, and it would be very good for him to play two more irons.
Next, he and Irving broke through the defense that disrupted the Thunder, but they didn't expect that Durant was not pretentious at the No. 4 position.
Like James, he is also a strong defensive striker.
It may be that his previous state made the Cavaliers take it lightly, Irving's breakthrough was interfered with by Durant and made a mistake, and Durant successfully made a steal and launched a counterattack directly.
Zhang Xiaotian quickly followed, he was faster than Durant, and did not give the opponent a chance to hit the basket.
Pulling up against the defense again, Zhang Xiaotian stretched out his arm to interfere, his defense was not out of position, except for the height was a little loss, it was almost perfect.
Again, 99:99, Durant finally burst out with real strength at the last moment.
The Thunder chased 4 points in a row, and the balance of victory and defeat was about to tilt to the opponent's side, and the knight quickly asked for a timeout.