Chapter 23: Crying Durant

Thunder head coach Brooks has long unbuttoned his blazer and is now standing on the sidelines with his hands on his hips and watching everything happening on the court.

At this time, his mood is the same as that of many home fans, there is no fxxk to say!

Those few minutes were a rollercoaster ride, as their team found their groove at the start of the fourth quarter and slowly pulled the score away, leading by as many as 15 points.

He thought the game was a sure win.

Unexpectedly, he watched the 15-point advantage being slowly eroded, and now there are only 3 points left.

During this time, he called the pause that should be called, and he also said what he should say, but he just couldn't score points, as if everyone's hands were frozen.

The league's strongest duo didn't shoot at critical moments, and one of them was still the scoring champion, how can it be reasonable?

As a comparison, the No. 10 rookie on the opposite side has scored 11 points in the last 5 minutes, and also sent 1 key assist, and made 4 free throws.

If he could, he wanted to exchange his No. 0 in the past, and he didn't know if the bosses of both sides agreed.

Thinking of this, Brooks shook his head again, discarded those unrealistic ideas, and refocused on the game in the court.

……

After Li Jie scored, the Thunder did not call a timeout and continued to attack on the serve.

After Willis crossed the halfcourt, he continued to block with Durant on the left side of the court, trying to pass the ball to the latter.

Lakers change defenses!

Li Jie desperately pestered Durant's next set, pushed him out of the three-point line, and at the moment when Wei Shao passed the ball, he stepped forward to grab it and almost completed the steal.

However, this time his defense was out of position, and after Durant got the ball, he passed it in one step and rushed into the restricted area.

At this time, Ci Shiping also gave up defending Wei Shao and made up for it.

When Durant got to near the mid-range, he went straight to the ball and wanted to make a big stride to the basket. But the ball didn't hold it steady when it went around Ci Shiping's body, and it fell off after making physical contact with the opponent, making a mistake.

Li Jie, who was next to him, picked up the ball, and then quickly passed it to Kobe Bryant, who was fast.

Bryant took the ball in the frontcourt and Sefolosha 1v1, maybe he was old, maybe it was affected by his knee, he was hatted by the opponent during the layup, and the rebound was also robbed.

Both sides did a good job on the defensive end of the round, nothing happened, and the ball returned to Wei Shao's hands to continue to organize.

There was a full minute left until the end of the game.

The Thunder Shuangshao still played a blocking and dismantling tactic, the ball was handed over to Durant, Li Jie beckoned Ci Shiping to step forward to attack, he could only pass back to Wei Shao, who received the ball and made a jump shot inside the three-point line on the right side and continued to hit the iron.

Perhaps knowing that his shot would not go in, Wei Shao moved early after landing and rushed into the restricted area to grab a frontcourt rebound.

However, Bynum was already firmly stuck in position, and Wei Shao could only jump from behind, and almost his entire ass sat on Bynum's back.

"Beep!" The referee's whistle blows, Bynum is fouled and goes to the free throw line.

"Oops~" The fans at home also let out a pity lament.

Wei Shao may also realize that he was a little impulsive, and kept shaking his head when he walked through the halfway, not knowing whether it was sweat or tears that kept falling down.

With 39.5 seconds left on the clock, Bynum stepped to the free-throw line.

"Shhhhhh

In the first penalty, Bynum took a deep breath and shot slowly, and the basketball hit the steel bar behind the basket directly along an arc, and fell directly into the basket after bounced high, dribbling the balloon.

Seeing this, the fans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena became more distracted, and various blue flags were immediately waved in the audience across the free throw line, which is the main color of the Thunder's home court.

This time Bynum did not withstand the pressure and lost the second penalty directly.

101:99!

The Thunder quickly called a timeout to set up the offense.

On the bench, Harden, who didn't have a chance to play, hurriedly came over to comfort Wei Shao, stroked his back and said a few words.

"Russell, it's okay, keep it up!"

"Hmm!" Wei Shao replied lightly, and then did not say a word on the stool.

I wonder if Harden is thinking about the topic of "what will happen if I go up" at this time?

The timeout was not long in coming, and the two sides resumed the game.

When Wei Shao returned to the court, a confident smile appeared on his face again.

Severo took the ball on the sideline from the sofa, and it took time for Wei Shao to catch the ball, and about 10 seconds later, the ball was handed to Durant again.

KD took the ball on the left side of the court and broke through, but was caught between him and Gasol just two steps.

He immediately jumped up and made a pass, a wide cross, and sent the ball to Sefolosha from outside the three-point line on the right. The latter shot three points under Kobe's interference, but still didn't score.

The rebound was shot out for Kobe Bryant to pick up, and he immediately advanced with the ball.

After halftime, Li Jie went over to help him block and dismantle, and as soon as he blocked it, he quickly dismantled it and ran to the bottom left corner.

Bryant's ball was also passed in time, but the tactic seemed to be spotted by Sefolosha, who rushed over and tried to steal from behind.

It's a pity that the moment he touched the ball, he slipped and fell, and his body pressed against Li Jie's calf, and he was whistled for a foul.

"Oh, it's dangerous!"

Seeing that the ball was almost robbed, Li Jie's heart suddenly hung in the air, but fortunately, the floor of the Thunder's home court helped.

Maybe this floor is made in China, and the critical moment is to recognize the Lord!

This dramatic scene also completely angered the fans on the sidelines, and they did not hesitate to send all kinds of swear words to Sefolosha.

"What the fxxk, it's all right!"

"This idiot, if you can't shoot, forget it, and send such a stupid foul."

"We want James (Harden)!"

……

With 6.4 seconds left before the end of the game, Li Jie went to the free throw line.

Although the current situation is tense, Li Jie also integrated Green's big heart, went up and smacked twice, scored the ball, and equalized the score.

The Thunder were only able to use up the last timeout.

When the coaches of both sides laid out the tactics, the broadcast camera kept on Durant, and everyone knew that he would come to shoot the last shot.

The broadcast screen also gave the statistics of his game, scoring a total of 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting, and the last few minutes were a bit iron, but as long as the last shot was made, it was no problem.

On the Lakers' side, Jackson also held the tactical board and shouted loudly:

"KD, KD, the last shot can only be made by him, you have to stop him from shooting at all costs, but don't foul him."

"Lee, as soon as KD gets the ball, you go to the pinch, don't worry about Westbrook, he won't shoot at the critical moment, with his shooting ability, he can't kill the game if he shoots."

“OK,come on!” Li Jie and the others stretched out their right fists, put them together, and encouraged each other before playing.

……

The game is back!

With 6.4 seconds left, the Thunder attack!

Severo sofa ball, Wei Shao still ran out to catch the ball under heavy blocking.

On the other side of the court, Collison was also playing an off-ball screen for Durant. But Gasol and Ci Shiping ignored him, and the two went straight to Durant and didn't let him catch the ball.

Durant could only run to the halfway line to receive the ball, and their tactics were clearly not executed.

Seeing that the time was almost up, he could only dribble the ball and shoot 3-4 meters from outside the three-point line.

But even so, the Lakers' players were still not at ease, and Gasol jumped up and snapped to cover the ball with the advantage of his height.

At this time, the time also ran out, and the two sides officially entered overtime.

From leading by 15 points in the final five minutes to being dragged into overtime at the end of the game, and they only scored a pitiful 2 points during this period, you can imagine how frustrated the Thunder's players were.

Therefore, after entering overtime, their spirit was gone, and everyone was crying and sad, and their vitality was not as high as that of the Lakers' old men.

The reaction is that the Thunder's offensive method is getting simpler and simpler, neither of them is in the basket, they are all floating on the outside, and they continue to hit the iron.

And the Lakers, under the leadership of Li Jie, played more and more fluently, and soon gained an advantage, and even Ci Shiping also scored a three-pointer.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Thunder 112-105 on the road, bringing the series to a 2-2 tie.

After the game, the Thunder Shuangshao walked directly into the players' tunnel with expressionless faces, and they didn't even meet the handshake request of the home fans.

However, the photographer on the scene was not so easy to let them go, and kept walking in front of them to follow the shot.

Wei Shao's swaggering personality doesn't show much frustration, but the emotional Durant is different.

I saw him walking, and suddenly felt a sour nose, and a few tears were unconsciously left in the corners of his eyes.

He had to look up at the ceiling and quickly wipe away the tears with his hands.

But this scene has been presented to countless viewers through the broadcast lens.

"He cried, he cried, hahaha, we cried him all the time!"

"Although he wiped fast, everyone saw it, hahaha!"

"Thank you Lee, it was he who led us to turn the game around, he cried KD!"

Lakers fans who watched the game from far away in Staples immediately cheered when they saw this scene, and the opponent's tears were the best reward for their team.