233. The first battle
Westbrook advanced to the frontcourt, and as soon as he reached the three-point line, he was strongly touched by Liu Ren, and his knee was also not completely healed, and he was difficult to dribble by Liu Ren. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć ļ½ļ½ļ½ļ½
This level of physical confrontation has long been blown in the regular season, but this is the playoffs! It's still the home of the Lakers! Liu Ren did not make any obvious foul moves, and the referee ignored Westbrook's angry eyes.
Westbrook had no choice but to pass the ball to Durant.
As soon as Durant got the ball, Nash and Kobe Bryant immediately caught it.
Kobe Bryant's defensive skills are really good! He can't defend against impactful players like Westbrook and Wall now, but he's still so strong against most players in the league.
This year, his average data of the players in front of him is miserable, and the average shooting rate of the players opposite him is only less than 35%, although it is not as terrifying as the shooting rate of his opponents in his peak can only be 30%, but he is still a good defensive player, but he can't prevent the top breakthrough players, making his defense look poor.
But any opponent whose impact is not top-notch, Kobe Bryant can actually show the defensive strength of the first defense several times in a row.
Nash's defense is very poor, it's so bad, but now it's not about his defensive skills, he just needs to make a big move to defend, and it's the playoffs here! All he has to do is give Durant physical contact!
Just like Kobe Bryant said yesterday when he sprayed Liu Ren, if Kobe and Nash were so unscrupulous in defending James, it would basically be over, and James would be able to pass the Lakers to death, but now it is Durant who is being trapped, it will be different!
Durant's biggest weakness is that he is afraid of physical contact and weak ability to break the bag when he touches him, he is too tall to touch the ball, and the dribble will be deformed, once he is wrapped near the three-point line, he can't pass a good ball, he has averaged as many as 5 assists per game this year, but basically it comes out on the inside, and when he gets to the inside, it is basically equal to the opponent's defense being torn apart, and the gap on the outside line is seen at once, but now it is still in the running stage, He has always been the endpoint rather than the playmaker, and he can't tell when his teammates can run to what position!
For Durant basically has no organizational ability in the high post, Thunder head coach Brooks has a solution, that is, Durant can pass the ball back to Westbrook, which is also an important reason why Durant misses this second brother very much when Westbrook is absent.
But today Westbrook was rounded!
The knee injury has not healed, and Westbrook, who is seriously lacking in explosiveness, can't shake off Liu Ren's bypass at all!
Nash kept reaching out to take out the ball in Durant's hand, Durant was very anxious, he dribbled poorly, and he was trapped, he felt that he couldn't hesitate, and he stepped back and pulled out the three-point line and shot it!
Durant's hasty shot is very biased! Gasol bullied Ibaka for not being able to jump up and grab a defensive rebound.
The Thunder players quickly returned to defense and did not give the Lakers a chance to counterattack.
It's true to say that D'Antoni's running and shooting is not suitable for the playoffs, his running and shooting is basically equivalent to the original version of the small-ball tactics, and once he runs up, the defense is completely gone, and Wharton is unwilling to learn under him because of this, but goes to Popovich.
Just like now, if the Lakers immediately hit the run-and-run, it will be difficult for the Thunder to succeed with such a quick return defense, and they will definitely be counterattacked by the Thunder next.
This year, D'Antoni has also begun to slowly change, holding down the rhythm and playing steadily.
Nash advances, the Thunder fall into a defensive formation, and Ibaka is also ready for this ball, if the Lakers hit him again, he must defend it, and he can't lose momentum at the beginning!
But when the Lakers' offensive formation fell well, the Thunder were blindfolded!
Liu Ren fell to the position where Gasol singled Ibaka just now and asked for the ball on the left side of the three-second zone!
Ibaka looked at Gasol who was pulling away in the bottom corner on the left, and then looked at Liu Ren who fell low, gritted his teeth and ran outside the three-point line.
Defending Liu Ren is Sai Frossa!
Durant should be opposite Liu Ren, but he is better at defending Kobe Bryant at this stage, so it has become Sefrosa to defend Liu Ren.
Liu Ren received the ball and said to Sefrosa who had a curious expression behind him: "Hey, do you know what fear is? ā
Sefrosa was originally curious about the position where Liu Ren, a small forward, fell to the center, but when she heard Liu Ren's words, she couldn't understand it even more, what does this mean?
Soon Sefrosa knew what it meant, and the cheers of the fans were already ringing......
"Lean ......"
"Bastard ......"
"Damn ......"
Sai Rosa was not ready at all, Liu Ren hit him continuously, and the first blow knocked him into the air and lifted him into the air! The second time he hit him, he just landed and flew again, and the third time he hit him, he flew again!
After Liu Ren's third impact, he turned around and burst out before Sefrosa hit the ground, and pressed the ball into the basket with a two-handed gorilla-style slam dunk!
Liu Ren's first two hits directly knocked Sai Rosa from the edge of the three-second zone to the basket!
Sefrosa, who was hit in the air again, flew upside down and fell on the other side of the three-second zone!
The screams and cheers of the audience almost toppled the ceiling of the Staples Center! Sefrosa fell to the floor with a frightened face, he immediately understood the meaning of Liu Ren's words just now, and also understood why the Lakers pulled away with four people to put this small forward in the center position.
"This guy is a monster! Definitely a monster!" Sephorosa's heart was covered with fear!
"I'm ready to hit that big man, you're really unlucky...... doesn't mind the rest of the Thunder hearing it, or deliberately letting others hear it, Liu Ren turned around and defended himself after saying this to Sefrosa.
Sefrosa was immediately very dissatisfied with Ibaka, who had just run out to defend Gasol, in his opinion, does Gasol, a traditional center, need to be marked outside the three-point line? He didn't think Ibaka would be humiliated like this if he didn't go out.
Ibaka couldn't say anything when he saw Sefrossa's complaining eyes, he and Gasol are both Spanish national team players and have partnered several times, Gasol has shown good three-point ability in the European Championships last summer, as a national team teammate, he knows that Gasol must not be let go at the critical moment, otherwise this guy has the ability to throw the ball anywhere!
Ibaka is ruthless and wants to get back face!
The Thunder attacked, and the Lakers defense was still the same, forcing Durant to miss the defensive shot outside the three-point line, but! Ibaka, who has a knee injury, bursts up with his back and gets the ball in the air against Gasol and presses the ball into the basket!