Chapter 482: Great Shame
On April 27, the Clippers and Thunder game was again scheduled for 20:30 p.m., which was the favorite time of the game for all the players. A little earlier, just after dinner, a little later, the players didn't want to play until the second half of the night.
Coach Brooks made a surprise move today by putting Durant at the No. 4 spot and putting Jeff Bush at the No. 4 spot. Green was used as the sixth man, and the starting lineup became: Westbrook, Seferosa, Artest, Durant, Kostic.
There are no changes to the Clippers lineup, it is still the same: Billups, Afflalo, Garcia, Ji Guosha, Ji Guoqiu.
Although there was no change in the lineup, at the beginning of today's game, Dunleavy Sr. used Billups and Afraro to actively encircle Westbrook, trying to separate the connection between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the whole team, especially the connection with Durant, which was to choke the Thunder from the source.
Westbrook's first three games were mediocre, with no baskets on the inside, and far less impactful than in the regular season. Billups' strong body is infallible and puts a lot of restrictions on Westbrook, and the latter's poor shooting allows Billups to take a step to get you shot. In fact, this kind of defense was enough to take out the first-year Westbrook, but the Clippers added another fire to him today, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles contributed two turnovers in the opening game, and the Clippers easily played an 8-0.
The Thunder team hurriedly called a timeout, Coach Brooks hoped that the other players of the Thunder would be able to pick up Westbrook, but the Thunder's execution ability was really enough, knowing that the Clippers were sandwiching Westbrook, and others would definitely have opportunities, but first of all, Wei Shao couldn't pass the ball, and the other players of the Thunder didn't support him enough. Secondly. The Clippers rotate much faster than the Thunder. After the bag clip Westbrook. There is not much vacancy left for the Thunder, and if you want to seize this flaw, unless you have the execution of the Spurs, or the singles ability of Kobe Bryant and James and others, but the Thunder team can't do either of them, Westbrook is still a long way from the top point guards at the moment, so the Thunder can only contribute 8 turnovers in a single quarter, and Westbrook accounts for half of them.
The Clippers didn't really do much in the first quarter. is to wrap Westbrook and force him to control the ball or make a passing error, which is such a move, but relying on the Clippers' top three defensive ability in the league, the Thunder can't think of a solution.
With a score of 26:11, the Thunder scored only 11 points in the first quarter of the game.
Oklahoma fans already feel bad, they suddenly remembered the game in which the Lakers abused the Hornets, you must know how the Hornets are better than the Thunder, but they were also made a 55-point massacre by the Lakers! So now the question arises. The Clippers are no worse than the Lakers, but the Thunder are worse than the Hornets. So what will be the result?
The results are clear, and what is certain is that the Thunder will definitely not be as simple as losing today.
In the second quarter, Crawford led the bench lineup to start bombarding the Thunder, if the sixth man was outstanding, he would be able to incarnate "three thousand to your life", less than half a quarter, the Clippers played a 20:6 out, of which Crawford himself scored 12 points, and the terrifying offensive ability made the Thunder unable to parry, and it completely turned into a rout.
The two brothers didn't make much effort today, relying on Billups and Crawford in the first quarter, and becoming Crawford and Dragic in the first half of the second quarter.
At 5 minutes and 50 seconds in the second quarter, the elder Dunleavy was replaced by twin brothers, and the score had become 51:17, and the Thunder's score seemed to be worse than that of the Hornets.
Coach Brooks loudly encouraged his players every timeout, hoping that his players wouldn't collapse so quickly. He didn't dare to criticize them at this time, otherwise the game wouldn't have to be played, and besides, there was no need for him to criticize it now, the Thunder players were already about to be beaten and cried. Now the idea of turning defeat into victory is completely absent from the head of the Thunder coach, and now they have only one task for the whole team, that is, don't lose 30+, or even lose 40+, in short, don't be broken by the Clippers, if it's like a Wasp, it's a stain on your life.
However, with each timeout, the Thunder players just regained their fighting spirit, and as soon as they returned to the court, it basically didn't take a minute for them to return to a state of collapse. Because every time the Clippers have someone to step up and give them a hard shot. Just like this time, although Crawford went down, Billups assisted Barnes and Afflaro to hit three-pointers, and the gap was even bigger.
There are Thunder fans who started to leave the court in the second quarter, they have foreseen that a massacre is being staged, and they are still watching the game at this time, so how many days will it take to go back and adjust?
In the last two minutes of the second quarter, the score had become 65-24, and the Clippers led by 41 points.
With a 40+ lead at halftime, the Thunder have seen the Hornets waiting for them just a short distance ahead.
Before the end of halftime, Ji Guoyi hit another three-pointer, which was the second three-pointer he scored today, he really didn't score many points in the first half, the state of his teammates was too good, and the animal brothers were completely hugging their thighs today.
In the last shot of the first half, Durant's strong three-point shot was missed, the score was 70:28, and the Clippers led the Thunder by 42 points at halftime, and they didn't even have to check the information, and the Clippers players knew that they must have broken some records today.
Ji Guoqiu got 8 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks in the first half, Ji Guoyi had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, Billups 12 points and 4 assists, Crawford 21 points, Dragic 5 points and 3 assists, Garcia 6 points, Afflalo 5 points, Barnes 3 points, Jordan Jr. 2 points and 4 rebounds.
Durant had 8 points and 2 rebounds, Westbrook had 2 points, 2 assists and 6 turnovers, Artest had 5 points, Green had 4 points, Watson had 4 points, Kostic had 4 points, and Collison had 1 point.
First of all, 70 points is the highest in any half in the history of the Clippers' playoffs, and the two brothers broke another team record. The Clippers then made 12 three-pointers in the first half, breaking the 11-pointer records set in 1995 for the Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz and the 1996 New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers. Then there's the heavier record, as the Clippers broke the 1987 Detroit Pistons (76) vs. Washington Bullets (36) record for the largest halftime difference of 40 points in the playoffs.
Breaking three records in the first half, the Thunder had no way out, and they had to stop the Clippers from setting another record on them in the second half. So in the third quarter, Durant and Westbrook broke through frantically, trying to narrow the gap with free throws, and the point difference could not be widened to 50+ in any case.
But the defeat was like a mountain, and the Thunder were by no means able to change their disadvantage by strengthening the breakthrough, because the twin brothers, who didn't exert much power in the first half, also began to score in the third quarter.
The Clippers could have actually replaced the main lineup a long time ago, but the old Dunleavy still has to see what the Thunder have planned, if the opponent replaces the main team, of course they will do the same, otherwise he thinks that it is better to let the main team play the third quarter, after all, they have such a good opportunity, of course they want to break the Lakers' record.
The two brothers frequently fired from the outside in the second half, and they were cunning enough to know this situation to prevent the opponent from being red-eyed, and it was necessary to strengthen the long-range shot, unless they had a bad hand, neither of them planned to play under the basket.
The Thunder had bad luck today, because the two brothers had a good hand and could still score goals while playing. Of course, this has something to do with the Thunder themselves, they have collapsed, the defense has long been useless, all the players are stunned, the reaction is half a beat slow, the brain is loud, and a random feint can shake them up.
The Clippers showed no mercy to the Thunder, and with five minutes left in the third quarter, the score had become 89:42, and the Clippers led the Thunder by a full 47 points.
Dunleavy Sr. replaced the two brothers and Billups and was not going to let them play again. As for the next, whether the difference between the two teams can be further widened, it depends on the table of the substitutes.
Crawford said that he was determined to complete the task, and the man was the Clippers' top scorer today, and Dunleavy Sr. didn't plan to replace this guy as well, and replaced him with: Dragic, Crawford, Barnes, Amir. Johnson, Jordan Jr., the Clippers lineup, it seems that they still don't plan to let go of the Thunder.
The game resumes, Jeff. Green scored five straight points on the offensive end to bring the score to 89-47. However, it also forced Crawford to a big killing, and he then took the Clippers by eight points to make the score 97-49. But the Thunder's Durant and Green teamed up to tie the score to 97-54. After that, the two teams turned the score to 100:58 one minute before the end of the third quarter, and the Thunder recovered their scoring momentum after the Clippers' three main players left the game, and the difference began to narrow.
In the final minute, Crawford used his trademark trick to shake off Sefrosa, a drifting three-pointer to pull the score away, and then burst to the basket and scored a layup shortly after, giving him 16 points in the quarter and 37 points for the game.
Before the end of the third quarter, the Thunder's last offense, Durant burst to the basket but was sniped by Jordan Jr.'s big hat, Dragic grabbed the basketball, dribbled to the front court in only three seconds, and scored the ball with a throw before the timer went to zero, the score was 107:60, and the Clippers still led by 47 points after three quarters.
The Clippers bench is not satisfied, because the Lakers won the Hornets by 55 points yesterday, how can they get a 50+ win difference to not lose to the Lakers. And the Clippers players are more ambitious right now, and they want to break the Lakers' record, not just about it.
The elder Dunleavy was right in the playoffs last year, sometimes, you actually only have one chance in your life, so when you seize it, don't think about being a person and leaving a line, and I really want to see this kind of cheating father in the future, but go all out and don't leave regrets for yourself. (To be continued......) R1071