Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 112 Midfielder
It was a pass from Reggie. Durant used Ibaka's cover to come out to catch the ball. Seeing that the situation was not good, Nene immediately rushed forward, but suddenly remembered and stopped in time, but because of inertia, he still stuck to Durant. At this time, Durant had already shot and fell down.

It was nothing at first, but the whistle sounded suddenly, Nene looked confused, and Whitman frowned on the sidelines.

"Durant catches the ball from outside the three-point line and shoots it directly - yes! The referee's whistle sounded, the goal is valid, it is a foul, and there is an additional penalty. This is a 3+1!"

The tone of Yang Jian's commentary was also inexplicably excited. After all, he was a commentator, but he was also a fan, so it was easy to get lost in such a fierce game.

It would be great if there were not so many referee scenes. Although it has been recovered, the balance call is sometimes more disgusting than the partial call.

In fact, this kind of whistle can be blown or not. If it is blown, it can be classified as the home whistle, but because of the previous whistle, neither side can be pleased.

However, after all, the Thunder has benefited from the inside and outside, so the Thunder fans stopped shouting immediately.

It wasn't until Durant made a steady free throw that he started calling for defense again.

After Whitman complained to the referee on the sidelines, he had no choice but to return to his position.

At 49:51, the Wizards were chased to two points again.

With 36 seconds left, Wall intends to make a quick attack, no matter whether they make it or not, they will get another chance to attack in the end.

Of course, if you can't finish it quickly, it's a big deal to press the time. Anyway, try to shorten the time for Thunder's final attack.

This choice can’t be wrong, especially Wall’s speed. No one on the Thunder side can keep up. He almost instantly left Reggie and Perkins behind, who was too late to retreat. A bad luck passed Ibaka, who came to make up the defense, and finally avoided Sefolosha, who was chasing him, almost playing with the Thunder’s entire line of defense.

It's a pity that the success fell short in the end, and he didn't make any progress when he was almost facing an empty basket!

Not to mention, Wall's condition today is indeed not good, and his organization is not bad, but his personal offensive efficiency is not high. If Reggie hadn't set up a cash machine for him for a few minutes at the beginning, I'm afraid his performance would be even worse.

Since the start of the game, the Wizards' record has not been very good because the three important scorers Wall, Beal, and Ariza have fluctuated too much. Okafor has also degraded. Nene is relatively stable but he can't digest too many shots.

And the offensive failure here is in exchange for the opportunity of the Thunder to push and switch. As I said before, the Thunder is still one of the most good teams in the league to push and switch. After Sefolosha protected the backcourt rebound, Durant immediately opened his hand for the ball just after halftime, and Sefolosha threw it.

Durant protected the ball and turned around, seeing that the Wizards' retreat was still in time. It was also because Wall was too fast. Nene and Okafor were both behind, and Ariza also quickly retreated.

There was only Reggie running over in front of him, so Durant chose to stabilize the rhythm.

Since the fast break can't be played, then press the time and choose a more stable landing position.

In 20 seconds, Durant faced Ariza's defense on the flank, looked around, motioned for others to pull away, and then pushed the ball to the corner to start a single.

At the critical moment of the game, superstar singles are sometimes more effective than any tactics.

In 15 seconds, Ariza tried his best to defend, but Durant didn't care about his effort. Instead, when he was pressing down on his body, he suddenly seized the opportunity to turn around and wipe him.

In 9 seconds, Nene and Bill stepped forward to defend in shock at the same time. Durant went to the basket and turned around with the two of them.

Another penalty!
Yoga said: "Good shot! Durant made continuous offensive efforts, a 3+1, a 2+1, and now the score has been tied."

Yang Jian said with a smile: "If the penalty is added and the ball is hit again, it will be the first time that the Thunder have taken the lead in this game."

Whitman couldn't sit still, but not to mention that the defense was useless for the time being. It was the Wizards' turn to attack, and the remaining 7 seconds needed to be grasped.

Otherwise, after leading for most of the halftime and being overtaken in the last half minute, the mentality will collapse somewhat.

So he signaled the players on the sidelines to stabilize their mentality and come back later.

And Li Sheng also emphasized on the sidelines to wait for the defense. The Wizards don't have enough time to attack, so they must start to put pressure on them from the serve.

It is also in their favor to end the first half with a lead.

Durant hit the free throw line steadily, and sporadic shouts of "MVP" have begun to sound from the sidelines, which made him smile.

He also performed very well in this game. He has scored 19 points in the half so far, and he is fighting against Bill, who has 20 points.

In the last seven seconds, the Wizards served from the backcourt, Wall held the ball and faced Sefolosha's press, and Ariza hurried up to cover him.

In 4 seconds, Wall passed halftime. Because of lack of time, facing Reggie, he chose to make a direct breakthrough.

Reggie was very focused this time and was not completely thrown off by him, but he still attracted Perkins' defensive attention when he went to the basket.

Wall immediately hit the ground to Okafor, but was destroyed by Ibaka who suddenly inserted and went out of bounds.

Whitman immediately put his hips on his hips, pursed his lips and shook his head three times, feeling a little stunned.

In 3 seconds, the Wizards served the ball from the frontcourt. Wall lobbed it to Nene on the inside. Nene looked at it twice but couldn't find a good pass opportunity. He had no choice but to rely on Ibaka to turn over and shoot the ball, and the ball went out of the box.

beep—

"At the end of halftime, the Thunder temporarily lead by 1 point after a fierce battle..."

"The best performers on both sides of this game are Durant and Bill. Both are scoring high points. Both may score 40 points today. This makes people have to start looking forward to their performance in the second half."

"Okay, let's take a break and bring you the second half of the game later..."

Seeing that Nene missed the last shot, Li Sheng also breathed a sigh of relief.

This halftime was much more exciting than the previous games, even more exciting than what I simulated last night. After all, I simulated three games, two games where the Thunder led by 10 points, and one game where the Thunder trailed by 10 points.

The Wizards are also worthy of this year's Eastern Conference powerhouse, and those bad teams before are incomparable.

This is still when they haven't found their form at the start of the game. The next time they meet, Westbrook will have to get used to it before they can play well.

However, whether it was the three simulated games or this one, Bill stood up without exception, it's just a question of how much better he performed.

This is not difficult to understand, because the Thunder's defensive focus must be on Wall, and because Li Sheng needs to balance offense and defense, the defensive resources for the two guns are not enough, which will inevitably lead to a vacancy on the other side.

It will be the same when facing the Warriors in the future, and their shooting is fiercer, and Curry's offense is much more stable than Wall's. Li Yong regards this as a preview against the Golden State Double Guns.

During the halftime break, Li Sheng also made some adjustments. For him, the third quarter, especially the start of the third quarter, is very important. In this kind of anxious game, it may directly affect the direction of the next game.

So at the beginning of the second half, Li Sheng's lineup became the "double lock" of Severosa and Robertson, in order to limit the double guns in the matchup.

In the first half, Robertson was well restricted when facing Wall. Although there may be reasons for his own poor state, Sefolosha can also exert pressure when facing Bill.

The frontcourt remains the same. Perkins can at least carry Okafor, and Wall likes to pick and roll with Nene. After the switch, Ibaka can also keep up with him, delaying time so that he can wait for his teammates' support.

(End of this chapter)