Regarding the big adjustment of the Clippers' starting lineup, the Thunder was also very surprised.

It's rare to make such a big starting change in the playoffs.

Seeing James Harden starting, Kevin Durant stepped forward and joked: "James! They actually let you start? Is it as compensation for the previous game? ”

The referee's blowing penalty in the final stage of the third game made the Thunder extremely dissatisfied.

Thunder general manager Presti protested to the league, criticizing the unfair refereeing.

As a result, he was fined $20,000 by the alliance, which made Min Congda greedy.

It made him want to stand up and speak up for the thunder.

In the face of the provocation of the past boss, Harden did not give a counterattack.

Harden is not a good trash-talker.

But anger burned in his heart.

Just because he doesn't want to talk trash doesn't mean he's not competitive.

Harden and Curry are quite similar in this regard, both of whom are more gentle personalities.

will hide their competitiveness in their hearts and express it with actions.

Instead of scolding or provoking others at every turn.

They are better at responding to other people's provocations.

Harden knew it was Min Congda who personally put him in the starting lineup.

As for the reason, it's very simple, I definitely hope that Harden can break his demons and build self-confidence!

Harden does have some demons, and in the Thunder, he is the third behind Durant and Westbrook.

As a substitute and an assistant, he is very clear about his positioning, and he is naturally a head shorter psychologically.

And not only does he feel that he is a head short of Durant and Westbrook, but he is also ashamed of himself when compared to Ibaka.

After all, Ibaka's guy is really long, and everyone has to back down.

After coming to the Clippers, Harden found that there didn't seem to be anyone who was really the boss here.

Curry is the top pick, but he's very humble, and you see that he sat on the bench when he was put on the bench.

Baron Davis used to be the boss, but his ability is no longer absolutely central.

Randolph and Gasol Jr. are both powerful factions, but they don't have the heart and temperament to be the boss.

If you have to say who is the boss, it is the general manager Smart, who is the real big brother.

In the Clippers, he can be called a one-handed cover, and the boss has to listen to him.

The general manager asked the coaching staff to change the starting lineup, which is a matter of one sentence.

Harden was silent, but Baron Davis stood up and spoke for Harden.

"Take care of your little bamboo pole, you will know how you lost today, and I won't give you any more excuses."

After all, Barang is a famous star in the league, and his behavior has always been fierce.

Although Durant is a little handsome, he is still a young man after all, and he temporarily restrained himself in the face of Big Brother.

After the game began, Durant did not relent, and hit consecutive mid-range jumpers in the opening game against Tucker.

It can be seen that Durant's desire to attack is very strong, and he was unwilling to lose in the last game, and the whole team will rebound in this game.

The Clippers' starting set seems unconventional, but in fact, Harden started the regular season.

In Curry's absence, Dunleavy experimented with a variety of lineups.

That includes starting Harden and partnering Barang Davis to form a bearded pairing.

The downside is that it's slow, and these two guys don't play as lightly as Curry.

Harden's off-ball movement is significantly inferior, and C&S is not something he's good at.

The advantage is that the impact is strong, the two battering rams can rush inward, and the two people take turns with the ball to block and dismantle the opponent, which is called a simple and rude.

Harden is only in his second year, and his body is already stronger than many of the league's No. 2 positions.

He's going to get stronger and stronger, and he's going to be more and more powerful with the ball.

At the beginning of the game, Baron Davis held the ball and killed inside, not afraid of Perkins and Ibaka.

Gasol Jr. and Randolph both have mid-range ability, opening up space for two sledgehammers to charge inside.

PJ Tucker crouched in the corner, or rushed to the front court with Randolph for the rebound.

The whole style of the Clippers, who played the pass and cut with the light route before, has changed.

All of a sudden, he became thick and brave.

Harden made back-to-back layups in the first quarter, causing defensive fouls on Ibaka and Perkins, respectively.

During a breakaway layup, Harden's headband was blown off, but he still tried to shoot, causing the opponent to foul and score at the free throw line.

And the Thunder gradually felt that the Clippers were a little different from the first three games.

The intensity of the game kept up, the offense was extremely ferocious, and the defensive viscosity was greatly enhanced.

Durant, in particular, started to struggle scoring after hitting two mid-range shots in the opening game.

PJ Tucker's defensive style is very different from Ricky Davis.

Ricky Davis is a 3-and-D player who just started his transformation last season.

He chooses to take a strategic route, defending his opponents reasonably through good positioning and anticipation.

Davis is an attacker himself, and after transitioning to 3-and-D, he knows how to defend offensive arrows.

But this kind of defensive strategy is of little use to Durant, his height and arm span are determined, even if you are in place, it is still about the same as no defense.

What if you seal your eyes, you can't reach it when I lift my arm.

Ricky Davis really caused problems for Durant in the final stages of Game 3.

On the upper body, he invaded Durant with foul edge movements, causing Durant to make a mistake and break the rhythm.

Of course, this trick depends on whether the referee gives face, obviously in the Stamp Center, the referee gives it.

PJ-Tucker is different, he can survive in the league, mainly relying on Min Congda to save face.

felt that no team wanted him, it must be a parallel import, so he signed it.

I didn't expect this short striker of Kong Wu to play very hard, and he was simply desperate.

He was also the core of the team in high school and college, playing in Europe and winning the MVP role.

When you get to the Clippers, you are squatting in the bottom corner looking for three-point opportunities, grabbing frontcourt rebounds, and desperately defending.

His defense stuck to Durant like kraft.

At only 198, Tucker is much shorter than Durant.

So he didn't try to reach out at all to cover and interfere with him.

It's useless, a pitcher of Durant's level, whether there is someone in front of them to reach out and interfere will not affect their shot at all.

Tucker's defensive style is to go up and down the plate, not letting Durant easily catch the ball, not letting him make easy moves.

Even if Durant doesn't have the ball, Tucker still keeps an eye on it and never gives Durant a chance to easily catch the ball and shoot.

In the first quarter of the game, Durant made 2 of 6 shots, scored two mid-range shots in the opening game, plus two free throws, and scored 6 points.

At 27:25, the Clippers led by two points in the first quarter.

James Harden scored eight points on consecutive free throws in the first quarter.

In the first quarter, the Clippers played unexpectedly well and brought the game into a new situation compared to the previous one.

The Thunder are in trouble, they're in a new situation.

Cole couldn't help but say to Dunleavy: "Mike, Mr. Smart's adjustment is working, but the second quarter still needs to be seen." ”

Dunleavy nodded, and in the second quarter rotation, he replaced Baron Davis with Curry, allowing Harden to partner Curry.

Then, an important inside substitution brought on Matt Bonner for Marc Gasol instead of Milicic.

(End of chapter)