Since the rise of the Thunder this season, many teams in the league have been flying with envy!

However, although the jealousy is dead, most of the players are still relatively friendly when they play, and they all play in the league, and the surface brothers still have to do it.

The role players are not stupid in their hearts, if this is a wild blow to the Thunder during the game, in case they are traded in the future, there will definitely be no good fruit to eat! It is the last word to get by on face, and not to delay yourself to make money.

However, for star players who have become famous, there is no need to think about it so much, Stoudemire is just unhappy with the Thunder team, and it is impossible to go to the Thunder team as a junior brother in the future anyway, and there is no pressure to spew trash talk.

In the opening minutes, Kostic was pulled to the perimeter by Channing Frey, which caused problems with the Thunder's interior rim protection.

The physical Stoudemire, whether it is blocking and dismantling down, or attacking in the low post, Jeff Green has no way, and the single defense will be eaten alive!

The Suns offense, with Channing Frye and Stoudemire doing a crossover in the three-second zone.

Channing Frye immediately ran to the bottom corner after the screen, and Nash hit the ball to the low post to Stoudemire, and his Suns also cleared the side to open up space for the attack.

After receiving the ball, Stoudemire quickly released the ball with his right hand, approached the basket with two consecutive hits, turned and closed the ball, and threw it easily with his left hand.

"Whew..."Two points from the basket and a solid shot.

"Man, learn from me, power forward is supposed to play like this, you're a big cupcake!"

After scoring, Stoudemire gave Jeff Green a slap and then turned around and ran, not giving Jeff Green a chance to respond...

"Fack!"

Jeff Green angrily smashed the ball twice, although the height is about the same, but the weight and strength of the two are not at the same level at all, and it is difficult to prevent the opponent's low attack.

Just over 4 minutes into the first quarter, the two sides are currently tied at 14, and the shooting rate on both sides is particularly high, and they are basically in a state of attacking each other.

Li Ze saw Stoudemire chattering trash talk, and the anger in his heart was also rushing upward.

In fact, there are very few people in the alliance who are trash talk about Li Ze, firstly, because Li Ze himself is physically strong, and his tendons and flesh are not white, and secondly, because he fought with Artest before, letting everyone know that he is indeed not easy to mess with.

Most of the black brothers are tough-mouthed, and if they really want to fight, they will definitely fight and retreat, but Stoudemire's big mouth in this game really annoyed Li Ze.

"Squeak..."

Coach Brooks called a timeout and he had to make a substitution, and while Kostic could punish the opposing center in the low post on the offensive end, the defensive end was far from ideal.

"Kostic, you take a break first, Ibaka, after coming on the court, if the opponent crosses the inside to cover, directly change the defense, guys, we have to continue to speed up the offensive tempo and impact the opponent's basket!"

Before the timeout ended, Li Ze whispered comfort to Jeff Green:

"Green, add some off-ball air cuts, get your chance, I'll find you!"

After Li Ze finished speaking, he patted Jeff Green on the shoulder again, and without waiting for the other party to speak, he immediately turned around and left to serve the baseline ball.

Jeff Green was moved in his heart, every time he became a defensive colander, Li Ze never complained, nor did he talk about his defensive problems, but would just tell him to strengthen the offense.

"Good brother!"

Durant peeked at this scene, and suddenly felt that his corner was about to be dug through, Jeff Green was his person, and a sense of crisis came to his heart again:

"I knew that in the first two years, I would have added some training on the ball, no! I have to be proactive and I want to score more points! ”

After returning from a timeout, the Suns took the lead in changing their anti-blocking strategy, blocking and dismantling substitutions, protecting Nash on the defensive end.

Seeing that his high post block could not be played, the turtle immediately made an offensive gesture, Li Ze bounced the ball 45 degrees outside the left side of Ibaka's covering three-point line, and Durant was also in the bottom left corner at this time.

After seeing Li Ze catch the ball, Durant first pretended to go up to the line and came over to play a hand, then shook his body, suddenly ran back, and cut along the bottom line.

Li Ze's pass was also just right, after predicting Durant's air cut, he passed an advance amount, Durant rushed up in three steps after receiving the ball, and dunked with one arm with his right hand!

"Bang..."

After Ibaka came on the court, the Thunder's offensive space was also completely opened, clearing the paint area to facilitate the Thunder trio to attack the basket.

The 37-year-old Grant Hill had a complicated look when he saw Durant's air-cut dunk, thinking that his athleticism would never be inferior to that of the other party, but the injury almost ruined his career.

Although Grant Hill's physical condition has recovered with the help of the Suns' team doctor, and his attendance has continued to improve in recent years, it is difficult for his aging body to withstand Durant's impact.

Li Ze felt a little strange, and Durant suddenly became more positive, but after thinking about it, more off-ball air cuts were also a good thing, so he put those strange feelings behind him.

The Suns attacked, still Stoudemire lifted up to block and dismantle, Nash broke through on the right side after blocking and dismantling, and the turtle squeezed through very quickly, constantly giving the opponent physical confrontation on his side.

But Steve Nash suddenly paused in the middle of the march, and after changing the rhythm, he accelerated again to break through and scored a one-handed basket with his right hand.

Changing the tempo and taking two steps followed by a layup is an offensive skill that players in the league have mastered, but Nash uses this move to appear to be comfortable and smooth, making the turtle's defense ineffective.

"Nash's signature layup is really beautiful to look at, and this change of pace is worth learning from the young players."

In the Sina studio, Ma Jian immediately praised after seeing Nash's layup.

When the Suns changed their defensive strategy, the Thunder also replaced their offensive core with Li Ze and Durant.

Coach Brooks is not worried about the team's offense at all, because Li Ze and Durant can play indiscriminately alone, as long as they cover well and let the two successfully catch the ball in their shooting hot zone, the offense will be more than half.

Jeff Green and Ibaka both stepped up to double cover Lee's crosscut at the free-throw line elbow, and after Lee's pass from the left side of the three-point line at 45 degrees from the turtle, the defender in front of him had become Channing Fry.

After the three threats, he quickly released the ball with his right hand, and dribbled back with a cross-step, at which point he suddenly held the ball in his left hand and made a feint to close the ball, shaking Channing Frye's center of gravity forward.

At this time, Li Ze changed direction with a simple crotch, accelerated the breakthrough with the ball in his right hand, easily passed the opponent's defense, and hit the basket.

Stoudemire defended quickly, but unfortunately Li Ze faked a real pass, and Ibaka, who cut into the penalty area, received the ball and dunked it with both hands.

"Shh

In the US Airways Center Arena, there were boos from the beginning of Li Ze's passing, and after Ibaka dunked it, some grumpy brothers even began to curse, and the Thunder team had a bit of a dunk in the first quarter, and the fans were very dissatisfied.

Coach Gentry was a little helpless when he saw the situation on the court, and it was difficult for the Suns' outside defense to limit the opponent.

The Thunder's offense is not complicated, and the cross-cut cover tactic is used by many teams in the league, and the Thunder have only made some minor changes.

For example, Li Ze likes to cut from right to left and receive the ball outside the three-point line, while Durant likes to cut from left to right and receive the ball inside the three-point line; After Li Ze receives the ball, he can shoot and divide the ball, and after Durant receives the ball, he has a high probability of dribbling a two-step emergency stop jump shot.

Of course, the Suns' coaching staff knows these characteristics, but it's useless to know because no one can defend against them...

For the rest of the first quarter, the two teams began to stab each other wildly, and once the opponent hit the iron, the transition offense also played quickly, which was the Suns' style of play, but the Thunder played more and more comfortable.

Especially the turtles, as long as the Thunder have a chance to switch offense, he will easily play a full-court layup performance.

By the end of the first quarter, 36-31, the Thunder had a five-point lead on the road, although the Suns were temporarily behind, but the audience was in high spirits, and the fast-paced goal performance was a game that everyone liked to watch.

At the interval, Durant and Jeff Green were gulping water, and their bodies were not back to their best, and they ran crazy in the first quarter, so they had to take advantage of the break to take a breath.

Li Ze, Turtle Turtle, and Ibaka looked relaxed, and this kind of offensive and defensive rhythm was actually their favorite.

Especially Ibaka, who finally had a lot of playing time, and in the first quarter, he ate Li Ze's flying cakes in a row, and at this time he only felt full of energy.

Seeing this, Coach Brooks immediately carried forward the glorious tradition of the Thunder, and the short rotation followed, with Sofrosa and Nick Collison replacing Jeff Green and Durant, who had fitness problems, and the rest of the starters continued to play.

Gentry head coach also made a short rotation, replacing Steve Nash with Goran Dragic and Jarred Dudley for Grant Hill to give the veteran a break, and the remaining starting three continued to top.

After the start of the second quarter, the two sides started an offensive battle again, the Suns would also create a single opportunity for Stoudemire in the low post, and the Thunder began to play a simple and rough breakaway shot.

The turtle has gone crazy, in the face of Dragic's defense, don't block and dismantle, change the front of the body and go straight to the penalty area, and throw the ball out when someone defends, he finds that his good brother Li Ze can always convert his passes into assists...

Even if the pass is worse, it's a big deal that Li Ze reorganizes after receiving the ball, and the turtle turtle who has no worries seems to have returned to the rookie season when he played iron training, and the play is called an unrestrained, but the effect is very good.

rushed around, the Thunder's offense was getting faster and faster, and the Suns kept running wildly, and the audience was really happy, and the Thunder played a wave of 15-6 in more than 4 minutes.

With 7:28 left in the second quarter, Coach Gentry called a timeout.

Returning to the bench, the turtle was still unsatisfied at this time, and while wiping his sweat, he said loudly:

"It's so enjoyable, I love the rhythm of the game! Kayce, your catch-and-shoot percentage is getting higher and higher! ”

Li Ze, who was drinking water, almost choked himself when he heard this, and complained helplessly in his heart:

"If you pick up too many pots, you will have enough experience, fortunately, with the badge bonus of [Sticky Hands] + [Catching Shooter], the hit rate will not be too low, otherwise you will become a backstabbing man sooner or later..."

Coach Brooks was also a little speechless at this time, this game made him feel like he was dreaming back to last season, playing really messily, but the result was a big lead, and the Suns played iron on the outside except for Stoudemire after scoring a few goals under the basket.

"Okay, boys, we're going to slow down the offense, Kayce, be patient when attacking, we're already leading by double digits, defend well, protect the rebounds, don't give the opponent a chance to fight back!"

Coach Brooks hurriedly told Li Ze that if he lost the lead back in a daze, then the first half would be in vain.

Li Ze immediately nodded to show that he understood that as long as he was ahead by a big score, he was confident that he could perfectly control the pace of the game.

Chasing points? If it doesn't exist, it really can't open the situation, and you can rely on Durant's explosive penalty, and scoring has never been a problem.

After returning from the timeout, the two sides got back the main force, and after Nash came on the court, he quickly hit a three-pointer to help the Suns narrow the gap, but the Thunder's offense suddenly began to slow down.

Li Ze immediately stood in the bottom left corner after halftime, and at the same time motioned for Jeff Green and Ibaka to raise the cover and clear the paint area for Durant.

Glen Tehill desperately chased the defense, as soon as Durant received the ball, he immediately broke through, on the move, dribbled behind his right hand, and with a slight slap with his left hand, Grant Hill pounced up, quickly changed direction in front of the body, shook off the defense, and hit the basket directly.

In the face of Channing Frye's block, he fought in the air, pulled the lever lightly, and scored the ball with a backhand layup.

"Squeak..."

The referee's whistle blew for a defensive foul on Channing Frye, and the goal was valid, with one more penalty required.

After hearing the whistle, Durant smiled slightly, he is also a star with star whistle treatment, and recently averaged 10 free throws per game, and the penalty burst is no joke.

Standing at the free throw line, Durant shook his shoulders and steadily scored the ball.

"The Thunder team is slowing down the offensive tempo, and intends to make full use of the individual abilities of Li Ze and Durant, and it is really difficult for the Suns to defend alone."

The host Ke Xiaofan became one-sided when he saw the Thunder's offense, and praised Li Ze and Durant.

"The Thunder's style of play is not complicated, but it is simple and effective, and the core tactic of positional offense is to let Li Ze and Durant receive the ball easily, and the rest depends on the individual performance of the players."

"In the game, we can see a lot of familiar tactical play, and even some shadows of the triangle offense, after emptying the paint area, the basket breakthrough space also comes out, and we have to praise the Thunder's coaching staff, the tactical design is fantastic."

Ma Jian has been carefully observing the Thunder's offense, and he didn't expect the simple tactics to be so effective, so he couldn't help but blow it to the Thunder coaching staff.

For the rest of the second quarter, the Suns couldn't close the gap, and as long as they scored, the Thunder would respond immediately, Grant Hill was blown up by Durant, and Stoudemire was not in the mood to talk trash.

69-55, the Thunder ended the first half with a 14-point lead.

At halftime, in the Thunder locker room, Turtle was still complaining that the game was not enjoyable and that he didn't like the pace of the game in the second half of the second quarter.

"Kayce, we can play more breakthrough shots like before, continue to strengthen the attack, and completely destroy them!"

In the second half of the second quarter, after the offensive core became Durant, the Thunder rarely played conversion offense and breakthrough points.

"There are two quarters to go, don't worry, the Suns will definitely increase their outside shooting, and I bet that the opponent's shooting percentage will go down, and you will have a lot of transition offensive opportunities in the second half."

Li Ze comforted the turtle who was about to go up, this guy was hilarious, and he wanted to rush in when he got the ball...

Coach Brooks also knocked on the tactics board at this time and loudly reminded his players:

"Kayce is right, we must control the long rebound in the second half, do not give the opponent a second chance to attack, change the attack speed quickly, and organize the positional attack patiently."

"Kevin, played very well in the first half, continue to use good coverage, keep your aggression, add some impact to the basket appropriately, and don't attack too fast."

"Ibaka, Green, pay attention to Channing Frye's outside projection, follow up immediately after the block, don't give him a three-point shot, we can properly let go of the opponent's breakthrough and low post strong shot."

"Kayce, control our offensive tempo, you can control that, I don't want to see the Suns close the margin in the third quarter, guys hold on, and with half a game, we can go home with a win for Christmas!"

"Yay!!"

As soon as Christmas was mentioned, everyone suddenly came to the spirit, this chicken blood effect is really good...

After the start of the second half, the Suns' starting lineup continued to play, and the Thunder made a simple adjustment, and Ibaka continued to start.

The Thunder team attacked, and after the turtle's high blocking, he faced Stoudemire, who switched to the defense in front of him, held the ball in his left hand, slightly raised the center of gravity of his body, dribbled under his crotch and changed direction, and held the ball in his right hand. Straight-line acceleration.

In the middle of the march, he suddenly made a quick turn, immediately turned to the basket, and picked up the basket with his left hand.

"Bang... "Turnaround and make a layup."

After the layup, the turtle's center of gravity was unstable and fell to the ground, seeing the ball scored, without waiting for his teammates to come, he jumped up excitedly, yelled at the audience, and slapped his biceps when he returned to defense.

Maybe it was because of Ren Tong's second vein, Turtle Turtle shot out in the third quarter, how to play, how to play, even the three-point shots that are usually not very reliable, can be easily thrown, and the basket is as wide as the sea.

Li Ze only came out to catch the ball when the turtle or Durant were killed by attack, and the Thunder basically played every offensive round for 24 seconds, resolutely not making mistakes, and retreating if they couldn't advance.

Even if the Suns threw in a three-pointer, Li Ze still unhurriedly commanded his teammates to settle down, open up space, and run tactics.

Coach Gentry found that the margin showed no signs of narrowing, and even the offensive tempo on the court had been completely controlled by the Thunder.

Especially when Li Ze once again shook off Jason Richardson's defense with 6 seconds left on the offense, and scored a mid-range pullup jumper, Coach Gentry scolded in a low voice:

"Shoot! This TM can be thrown, this is a rookie player? ”

After playing for 24 seconds again, Li Ze retreated with a smile on his face, as long as he let him shoot in his shooting hot zone, with the addition of many silver achievement badges, the shooting rate was definitely above 5%.

"I think it's hard for the Suns to get back this game, and the Thunder are getting a lot more patient on offense."

"The Suns couldn't defend the trio at all, and they started to get impatient on the offensive end, and once the Thunder played the transition offense, the fourth quarter would basically become garbage time."

Ma Jian said a fact that pierced the hearts of Suns fans.

With more than 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Li Ze had clearly felt the Suns' impatience, and the most obvious manifestation was that Stoudemire began to frequently walk to the free throw line, and the Suns' shared ball gradually decreased.

When the Thunder attacked, Durant first gave his teammates a gesture and took the initiative to stand in the bottom right corner, his physical fitness was about to bottom, and he needed to rest for two or three rounds.

It was still Jeff Green and Ibaka who went up, and the free throw line elbow area covered twice in a row, and Li Ze cut cross-cutting on the line, and received a turtle pass at 45 degrees on the left side outside the three-point line.

Stoudemire immediately switched over, raised his right hand high, and stared closely at Li Ze, who was holding the ball.

Li Ze was very relaxed after receiving the ball, dribbling the ball under his crotch twice on the spot, holding the ball in his right hand, raising the center of gravity of his body, dribbling back with a cross step, changing his left hand to the crotch backwards, suddenly accelerating, and pretending to break through with his right hand.

Stoudemire immediately took a step back, but as soon as he moved, he found Li Ze dribbling behind his right hand and taking a three-point step.

"Huh..."The three-point shot is hollow into the net, and the shrimp and pig heart are hearted.

"Oh!! Hush! ”

The audience at the US Airways Center Arena first let out an exclamation in unison, and then there was an overwhelming boo, because Li Zezheng raised his hand to his ear and made a gesture of listening...

"This shaking is so beautiful! Ma Gui, many viewers said that Li Ze's dribbling speed has slowed down a lot recently, and he didn't play as well as he did at the beginning of the game, what do you think about this? ”

The host Ke Xiaofan saw that this competition was going to be spent, and hurriedly chatted about other topics.

"If you look closely at Li Ze's dribbling, he didn't slow down at all at the moment he started and changed direction of the dribble, and even faster."

"He's making better use of his reach now, adding some dribble range, plus the outside shooting threat, the combination of fast and slow, and playing smarter, so far, it's really good!"

Ma Jian has always paid attention to the changes in Li Ze's playing style, so it is effortless to blow.

In fact, the change in Li Ze's playing style is mainly because the upgraded [Dribble Expert] badge bonus effect is too practical.

The fast and vigorous dribble changes direction, which does not affect the control of the ball at all, coupled with the badge bonus of [Master of Ball Control], allows Li Ze to rely more on rhythm and physical breakthroughs, reducing some emergency stops and starts.

To briefly describe it, Li Ze's passing rhythm is becoming more and more like the future Doncic... Maybe he will really become a player template for the little fat man in the future.

In the next few minutes, Li Ze played three consecutive cover cross-cutting tactics, shooting, breaking, and assisting, all of which were completed, and the angry head coach Gentry called a timeout again.

Rookie Ibaka, who ate Li Ze's flying cakes in a row in this game, has already got a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds at this time, and has been smirking while sitting on the bench during the pause.

The water cooler players of the Thunder team all showed envious eyes, everyone wants to eat cakes easily, and if there is data, there is a beautiful knife!

Li Ze is also happy to see such a situation happen, and he can get excellent data by following him, which can greatly improve his voice in the locker room, and he thought proudly while replenishing water;

"Xiao Du, the locker room is all my people! What are you going to do to fight me! The position of the boss is mine sooner or later! ”

The next game. The Thunder team is playing more and more smoothly, and Ibaka is like playing chicken blood, and the defensive end has used his strength to constantly expand his co-defense area.

After the Suns hit three consecutive offensive rounds, the margin was stretched to 20 points.

The fourth quarter almost turned into garbage time, and after playing more than three minutes, Coach Gentry also replaced his main lineup, and there was no need to expend more energy.

After all, Nash and Grant Hill are both very old, and they must have a proper rotation and rest during the regular season to reduce some playing time.

At 120-105, the Thunder comfortably defeated the Phoenix Suns on the road to consolidate their position as the No. 1 player in the West.

Maybe it was the loss at home, the face was disgraced, after the game, the Suns players simply bumped fists and greeted each other, and immediately walked back to the player tunnel, Li Ze had some regrets, and the last two games failed to harvest the surface brothers.

Li Ze returned to the Thunder locker room with the game ball, and saw that Ibaka was still sitting on the side, so he first beckoned his teammates to come over, and then threw the game ball to Ibaka, and said with a smile:

"15 points, 15 rebounds, a big double-double, and the first double-double in your NBA career, Sergi, take this game ball, it's a memorable moment, we all know the effort you put into it!"

"I know it's very difficult for an interior player to get a triple-double, but I'm sure you can get a triple-double in blocks in the future, come on, Bro, you're going to have amazing things in your career."

Ibaka took the ball in a daze, and his heart was extremely moved, this is his boss!

"I... I don't know anything, thank you Kayce, thank you all, I..."

Before Ibaka could finish speaking, the turtle, who was still in a state of excitement, picked up the ice bucket beside him and shouted:

"Needless to say, man, enjoy the moment!"

"Ahh Yay! ”

The moment of warmth suddenly turned into an ice and water war, and the happiness between men is sometimes so simple and rude.

Li Ze also participated in the roar, and while attacking Ibaka and Durant with ice water, he smiled in his heart:

"The boss of the team, you have to build a good dressing room culture!"