Durant was taken care of under Chu Xuan's defensive tactics, he was lost, and he also achieved the prestige of Brother Alphabet.

"He doesn't seem to be used to dealing with a defender about his size, the Lakers are very tight, and the Thunder are in danger of collapsing."

Kenny Smith looked worried.

Barkley didn't care at this time, and he made a prediction for the game: "The game is not even half over, it doesn't tell the result, I think, the Thunder will still win." Moreover, in this series, the Thunder will get the Lakers to advance to the Western Conference Finals in 5 or 6 games. ”

Clearly, Barkley is making his position clear.

However, no one agreed with what he said. Because, based on historical experience, this guy's predictions are never accurate.

There is no doubt that Barkley is about to start playing his crow's mouth skills again in this game, and the tragic Thunder has been poured a mouthful of poisoned milk.

……

Durant was completely lost, and he became very bad at shooting in the face of his brother who was also tall and arm-length. And when he tried to break through the penalty area, he was always dealt with by Knoll in various ways.

In short, throughout the first half of the game, Durant's life was dark, the basket was like a cover, and he couldn't score.

The Thunder wanted to rely on Durant, but they couldn't. The situation on the court can't be opened, and the situation is becoming more and more passive, Westbrook is also anxious that only the basket is left in his eyes.

In this way, it is in Chu Xuan's arms, and the Lakers' defense is completely fatal to him.

In just a few minutes late in the second quarter, Knoll cut Westbrook three times and gave him a top hat.

Dewey and the two were dumbfounded at the same time, and the Thunder suffered a nightmare, and they only scored 12 points in a single quarter.

At halftime, the Lakers extended their lead to 20 points.

No one could have imagined that the opening game of this highly anticipated series would be played to the point it is now. Obviously, this is unimaginable and no one predicted it.

The Thunder trailed by 20 points at halftime, and no one was able to provide a consistent offensive output except for Lamb off the bench, which left everyone with no hope of winning for the Thunder.

Of course, the reason why I look at it this way is also because the players on the Lakers' side are in excellent condition.

In the first half of the game, Kobe Bryant and Noll were the two best players, who dominated the offensive and defensive ends respectively, allowing the Lakers to always hold the initiative.

'We defended really well, the opponent was at freezing point, so let's not give them any respite, keep the pressure ball and don't let up any of them.'

After returning to the locker room, Chu Xuan did not have any happy expression, but admonished a group of happy players.

The opponent has two supergiants, and there are also convulsive scorers like Lamb and Wesley, as long as their hands warm up slightly, the Thunder will have a chance to fight back.

And if the Lakers carelessly let the Thunder fight back, the 20-point difference is likely to be closed in one quarter.

So, it's definitely not wrong to be cautious.

"Giannis got Kevin Durant, and he's our hero. However, Kevin Durant will definitely find a way to crack Giannis' defense. Chu Xuan looked at Brother Alphabet: "So, I hope you can be more invested in defense and be careful of this guy's outburst." ”

Chu Xuan first made arrangements for Brother Alphabet. Because judging from this game, Brother Alphabet's defense against Durant is the most important link, and there is no one.

Obviously, this is the link that will determine the outcome of this game and even the entire series.

Then, Chu Xuan looked at Kobe Bryant again: "As the offensive core of the team, your task is still very heavy. In the next second half, you're going to have to block more and create chances for you. Of course, when necessary, the team's tactics will put you in the low post and play 1v1 singles. ”

Bryant would have liked it, but he had something else in mind: "I want to be able to play more inside so that I can put more pressure on their interior and give Norris and Paul more energy to focus on other things, like protecting rebounds." You know, in the playoffs, defense comes first, and we're doing a good job of that. Then the second place is the protection of the rebound, and I hope to do better in the second half. ”

Hearing Kobe's suggestion, Chu Xuan immediately adopted it. He suddenly remembered that the Thunder fell behind in the first half because of inefficient offense and too many turnovers. In rebounding, the Lakers fell behind 20-22.

And Kobe's meaning is also very simple, that is, to ensure rebounding. In that case, even if the Thunder can really find their groove in the second half, the Lakers will not have to worry about them succeeding in the comeback.

"Well, as Kobe Bryant said, rebounding is really important, and in the second half, I want all the players to be more ferocious and fight for rebounds, and that will be the basis for us to win."

*********

After halftime, Durant and Westbrook felt a little better, which made the pressure on the Thunder team a lot.

After all, as long as the second young man is there, the hope of victory exists.

However, Brooks' arrangement was clearly not offense, and he focused on defense.

The Thunder are a young team with players who are aggressive defensively and highly efficient.

When Chu Xuan and Brooks focused on defense, the third quarter of the game turned into a defensive battle.

It is worth mentioning that Bryant scored a lot of goals in this quarter of the game and withstood the pressure.

And so into the fourth quarter, the Lakers still maintained a lead of more than 20 points.

Obviously, when the game gets to that point, it's a very delicate situation. For the Thunder, if the score difference is widened again, then the game will undoubtedly go into garbage time.

The Thunder undoubtedly want to close the gap, and even if they are more than 20 points behind, they still don't want to give up.

However, in this game, God is clearly on the side of the Lakers. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, there was a scoring frenzy on the Lakers' side.

In just 3 minutes and 11 seconds, the Lakers scored seven goals and scored 17 points.

Under such a wave of climax, the Lakers' lead immediately exceeded 30 points, leaving the Thunder with no hope of winning at all.

Although Durant and Westbrook were extremely unwilling, head coach Brooks still replaced them off the court and replaced them on the bench, announcing that the game had finally entered garbage time.

When such a scene appeared, the Staples Center, the fans immediately erupted in excited celebrations.

In garbage time, the Lakers' bench is still playing very well, and pleasing cooperation keeps appearing, the Thunder bench is completely uncontrollable, and the score difference is expanding step by step, which makes people start to feel unbearable.

However, in the arena, such cruel things often happen, and as an opponent, it is absolutely impossible to sympathize with the enemy.

At 120:77, the Lakers defeated the Thunder by a terrifying 43-point advantage and made a good start to the series.

Kobe Bryant made 11 of 16 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws, contributing 30 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, and was elected the best player of the game, scoring 30+ for the first time in the playoffs this season.

Norris Noll, on the other hand, contributed 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 steals and 4 blocks, and he was the first rookie player to be able to play such statistics in the playoffs.

On the Thunder's side, the star Westbrook made 8 of 23 shots, contributing 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, far from reaching the season average.

As for Lamb, he played 19 minutes off the bench and scored a Thunder-high 19 points.

What makes people pay the most attention and shock, of course, is the counterpoint between Durant and the letters.

Brother Alphabet, 4-of-8, 2-of-2 free throws, contributed 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

Durant, 6-of-18, 2-of-3 three-pointers, contributed 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

No one met each other, and Brother Alphabet and Durant turned out to be such a result.

You know, Durant is one of the top three players in the league.

Obviously, Brother Alphabet is going to be popular, he has become the darling of the media and is talked about by everyone. (To be continued.) )