The Clippers easily took a 2-0 lead at home.

In the first game, the Clippers scored frenziedly and won easily.

In the second game, the Clippers' scorer and the double less collided, and the whole court pressed the Thunder.

It fully shows what it means to be invincible with two fists and four hands.

After this game, the confidence of the whole Clippers team has been boosted by a notch.

Confidence is very important for a team on the playoff journey.

Like the Dallas Mavericks last year, they played the Trail Blazers in the first round, and the 2-0 lead was leveled, and it seemed that they were going to overturn in the playoffs.

As a result, the defending champion Lakers were eliminated 4-0 in the second round, which not only made the outside world optimistic about them at once, but also inspired the team's confidence.

You know, from 08 to 10, the Lakers have won the Western Conference championship for three consecutive years, which can be said to dominate the West.

At that time, the feeling to experts, players and fans was that the Lakers had no opponent in the West, and Kobe Bryant was too stable.

The first three quarters were evenly matched, and once Kobe Bryant got the ball in the fourth quarter, he was nine out of ten and deadly.

And the Mavericks have been pulling their hips since 07, and they have been pulling their hips for several years, and the Lakers have a home-court advantage.

Who knows, a 4:0 bald head is beyond everyone's expectations.

Stepping on the corpse of the defending champion, the Maverick completed a metamorphosis.

Then the Western Finals and the Finals, the Mavericks went all the way to the end, 4:2, 4:1, without much effort.

Now the Clippers have a faint shadow of last year's Mavericks.

The strength of the Thunder is not strong, with two less plus Gordon, and the firepower is extremely strong.

Perkins, Serabca, and Sefrosa are all defensive stalwarts.

The Thunder's lineup configuration, five or six years earlier, can definitely compete with Niu Ma Ri at that time to be the strongest in the West.

The configuration of Thunder is also based on the original idea.

Heavy interior to deal with the Lakers' three highs, Duncan, Nowitzki and other Western interior powerhouses.

The offensive firepower on the outside is extremely strong, the offense and defense are integrated, who will compete?

It's a pity that the Thunder didn't step on the pace of the times, the team has just taken shape, and the configuration is already lagging behind.

Perkins was brought in to deal with the three highs, but the three highs disintegrated, and the Lakers also played the guard double star.

The Clippers have risen suddenly, and they have two heroes on the inside, but they are stronger on the outside and have excellent shooting ability as a team.

The entire league began to accelerate its shift towards outwardization and triparticity.

In 2011, the Thunder ranked 20th in the league in three-point attempts per game, which is a very low position.

This season, they have increased their three-point attempts to 20 and move up to 15th place, but the Clippers have a league-high 31 shots and a highest-shooting percentage of 40.05 percent.

This number of shots has set a record in NBA history, and it is also the only three-point shooting percentage in the league with a four-figure shot.

Before the playoffs, many experts believed that a three-point team like the Clippers would suffer a big loss in the playoffs.

Because the three-point shot is unstable, one explosion and one iron, the next game may still be iron, and the number of games is small, and every series that must be fought for will be deadly.

There's nothing wrong with that, and the inconsistency of the three-point shot is a big problem.

But the Clippers don't rely entirely on three-point shooting, they also have Randolph and Gasol Jr. on the inside, as well as several good players who break through and cut into the air.

In the first two games, the Clippers' three-point shooting rate increased to 44%, which can be said to be quite terrifying, and the Thunder are unguardable.

Especially Curry, who has a stable three-point production and a huge threat, Brooks can't do anything about him.

The series soon came to Game 3, with the Clippers traveling to Russia to take on the Thunder on the road.

Naturally, Thunder fans gave a "warm welcome" to the entire Clippers team, and it was in Russia that the Clippers eliminated the Thunder last season, ruining the Thunder's dream of advancing to the Western Conference finals.

The energy center turned into a sea of blue tonight, and the huge waves hit the eardrums of the Clippers players in waves.

After two consecutive games in Los Angeles, the Thunder held their breath and will definitely win a city at home.

Durant "pretended" in the first two games to show that he was very versatile, to lead his teammates and lead the whole team.

And then it turns out that it's all fake! It's all fake, and nothing is important to score.

So he didn't pretend at all in this game, and from the first quarter, Durant was on fire.

Breakouts, mid-range, three-pointers, free throws, everything.

The Clippers' wheel battle against Durant in the playoffs is not much to do.

In the regular season, Durant paused and slowed down, giving the opponent a chance to entangle.

In the playoffs, Durant went all out, was extremely fast, received the ball cleanly, and attacked the basket.

The Clippers knew he was going to attack the basket, but they didn't have a good way to do it, so they left it to George, Leonard, and others anyway.

The three little pigs on the Clippers front line are still a lot worse than Durant in terms of experience and ability, and they can't stop Durant from scoring one after another on their heads.

After scoring 35 points and 37 points in the first two games, Durant scored 13 points in the first quarter of this game, and the whole game was aiming for 40 points.

The Thunder were 32-27 in the first quarter, leading the Clippers by five points.

Back at home, the Thunder were ferocious, and the whole team abandoned the previous somewhat twisted style of play, and went all out to focus on Durant and Westbrook, Eric Gordon added, and everyone else focused on defense.

Brooks knows that the Thunder no longer have an advantage in tactics, and only rely on the individual ability of the players and the on-court performance.

In the playoffs, Superstar Carry can also win the series.

In fact, if the Thunder were more patient and more meticulous in the formulation of tactics and strategies, it would not be impossible.

As a young team, the Clippers still have a lot of flaws.

Instability on the offensive end, lack of absolute core points on the defensive end.

There is a lack of movement on the inside, and there is also a lack of experience.

If the Thunder can stabilize their position, carefully arrange, set traps for the Clippers, and regain the initiative in the series, they have every chance to overpower the young Clippers.

Sadly, Brooks, the Thunder coaching staff, and Durant himself agreed to abandon the more nuanced and elaborate tactical set-up after the first two games of the rout, and instead return to the strategy they are used to.

The three young people let go, and the others fought hard to defend, defeating the Clippers with morale, hardness, and overwhelming momentum at home.

This move at least had a good effect in the first half, Durant's preemptiveness, Westbrook's bravery, and the Thunder's high-intensity defense inside allowed them to firmly suppress the Clippers.

At halftime, the Thunder 59:52, continuing to maintain a 7-point lead over the Clippers.

However, this kind of suppression is not tactical suppression, and after the start of the third quarter, the Clippers were still able to play tactics calmly and complete the game according to their pre-game ideas.

Tyronn Lue stood on the sidelines directing, pulling out the small card in his suit pocket from time to time to take a look.

The above are some of the key points of on-the-spot command summarized by Min Congda, Cole and others before the game.

Tyronn Lue's personnel adjustment and arrangement are basically based on these points.

Anyway, the Thunder didn't make too many targeted arrangements, and there was no damage to the rotation and speed deployment of the Clippers.

Just thinking that the talents of Durant and Westbrook will overpower the Clippers, so they can win one game at home, right?

As a result, halfway through the third quarter, the Clippers began to chase back little by little.

The Clippers' top gun is neither Curry, nor Harden, nor Randolph, but Milicic!

Tyronn Lue followed the arrangement on Min Congda's small note and asked for more opportunities for Milicic to play in this game.

Especially when Perkins was forced to go off the court, he had to use Milicic more and play more blocking and dismantling.

After Milicic came on the court, he blocked and dismantled a lot with Harden and Curry, and after the dismantling, he cut inside, and had no other ideas.

Harden and Curry shot themselves if they wanted to, and he rushed in to grab the rebound.

There is a chance to pass the ball to Milicic and he will choose to finish.

After all, Milicic was the star of the day, and he was talented on the offensive end.

Although he has been trying his best to build himself into a defensive villain since coming to the Clippers, he feels that this thing will not be lost.

Once Perkins is away, Milicic blocks and pulls down layups as if no one is in a no-man's land.

Harden and Curry both have strong passing skills, and their own offensive power is even more terrifying, where do the Thunder dare to relax their defense.

As a result, one on the left, one on the right, Milicic ate the cake on the inside and ate endlessly!

A little hook to catch the ball, a little hook to catch the ball, he felt pretty good tonight.

Serge Ibaka defends well, but his height difference is quite a bit lower than that of Milicic.

In a static defensive state, it is difficult to completely block Milicic's pick-and-roll attack.

Milicic scored four goals in a row! Scored 8 points in a row!

What the hell is going on with Brooks' scalp tingling?

How can this simple blocking and dismantling be prevented?

When Brooks called a timeout to replace Perkins, Tyronn Lue looked at the small note:

Perkins came on and replaced Bonner. Don't forget, Bonner has to match Leonard and shrink the line appropriately. ”

Tyronn Lue followed the instructions and replaced Milicic with Bonner as soon as Perkins was about to come on.

As soon as Bonner is on it, Perkins is going to be blind again in this point defense, can you prevent Bonner's point? How to prevent it?

As soon as Bonner came on the court, he hit a three-point shot in the middle, and the Clippers overtook the score!

This time the Thunder was a little flustered, but the referee was still on the side of the Clippers at this time, Durant quickly counterattacked and rushed to the basket and knocked down Leonard, and the referee blew Durant's offensive foul.

This ball can be called the turning point of the game, Durant, who has scored 31 points, rushed to the referee, and the referee decisively gave Durant a technical foul.

On the Clippers' side, Curry stood on the free throw line and hit a free throw, and the score became 78:80, and the Clippers overtook by 2 points.

Then, Bonner received the ball from the outside again, and Durant misplaced to defend Bonner.

Leonard was able to cut to the basket in the air, and caught the ball in the face of Perkins and hit a small throw, 78:82, leading by 4 points!

The Thunder came to the edge of a dangerous cliff, and if they lost this game again, the Thunder would face a desperate situation of falling behind 0:3.

There is no hope of a comeback after falling behind 0:3, and the Clippers will definitely not be able to beat them.

Durant hit a three-pointer right away to cut the score to just one point.

But Harden's three-point shot right away is still colored, and in terms of talent, the Clippers outside is no worse than the Thunder outside.

The two sides began to enter a see-saw, and the little advantage that the Thunder had built up in the first half was gone.

Durant is still efficient, but they can't stop the Clippers' smart pass-and-cut offense on the defensive end.

It's fair to say that all season, Brooks hasn't figured out how to consume the Clippers on the defensive end.

As a result, in the series, he tried his best to fight with the Clippers, but he couldn't fight the Clippers.

This series is like the 2005 Western Conference Finals, with the Spurs beating the Suns.

The Suns seem to have a lot of firepower, and Stoudemire Jr. is even more unstoppable, beating Duncan one-on-one, averaging 37 points per game in the series.

As a result, the Suns as a whole could not contain the Spurs' offense, and were desperately killed by the Spurs' offense, and they were directly beaten 0:3 in the first three games, and they were almost shaved head.

Now the Thunder beat the Clippers quite like the Suns playing the Spurs at that time, thinking that they could pass the move, but it turned out that they couldn't beat it at all.

Prestie will definitely regret trading him for Eric Gordon now when he sees James Harden in action.

Although Gordon is also good and has a better defense, Gordon's defense is obviously not as important as Harden's playmaking talent.

It can only be said that Presti's idea is still outdated, underestimating the role of organizing offense in the current and future NBA arena.

After all, playmaking skills have been neglected in the playoffs for the past 10 years.

Top point guards have never been able to lead the team to a championship in the playoffs, because there are not so many opportunities to play tactics in the playoffs, and the ability to play alone is the key.

Organizational skills are often thought of as the ability to brush up on records and assists in the regular season, and like Phil Jackson, the biggest winner in the NBA in the past, his triangular offensive system has never had a top backcourt playmaker position, and everyone else can share a little bit of the playmaking task.

Nash, Paul, and Kidd were all successful in the regular season and deflated in the playoffs, which proves this even more.

Therefore, Presti's original approach of replacing Harden with Gordon is not wrong from the perspective of the past, the combination of three players with strong single eating ability and single defense ability, you will play me after you play in the playoffs, it must be very powerful.

Unexpectedly, since last season, the wind direction has changed.

Kidd won the championship, and his ability to manage the game made the Mavericks' offense unstoppable.

The current Clippers offense is also a headache for the Thunder's defense, and Harden's scheduling and imagination make the Thunder lose sight of one or the other.

Bonner only hit one three-pointer in this game, but the Thunder's defense has been jealous, and Perkins is even more hesitant, not knowing whether he can't squat in or should come out to help the defense.

Harden broke through the basket, Perkins didn't know if he wanted to pass or shoot himself, and a hesitant Harden threw a shot and scored two points.

Durant responded immediately, and Curry immediately held the ball to the basket, passed the ball to Leonard, and made a layup.

A graceful and imaginative offense, the Clippers are expanding their advantage little by little.

Min Congda looked at the Clippers' offense and thought to himself, "The Thunder compromised too early, and they entered their own inertial style of play early, and they didn't even have a surprise soldier, how can they fight me?" ”

He was at ease in his heart, and it was rare to feel happy that the Clippers were playing well, after all, the Clippers' strategy and policy were controlled by him behind his back.

Brooks faced the emotional trap that Min Congda had set since the first game, and fell into the trap without making a decent resistance.

And the other one who fell into the trap was Kevin Durant.

By the end of the third quarter, he had scored 36 points, and his score went straight to 40 or more.

But looking at the score difference, the Thunder is still 8 points behind!

This was a huge blow to his confidence.

He's really given it his all, is the Clippers really that strong?

(End of chapter)