Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 125 Weaknesses of the Clippers

In fact, the Thunder still relied on Durant's advantage to start the offense, which radiated to the surroundings.

At present, although he only scored 4 points in 5 shots, he has 5 assists. The Thunder's offensive initiation and goals in the first half of the quarter are all related to him.

The Clippers called a timeout first. Anyway, there is a long timeout of 100 seconds in each quarter, and it will not accumulate. Just taking advantage of this time, we need to make some adjustments, so that Durant can't continue to do whatever he wants.

Durant is currently averaging 30.4 points per game, ranking first in the league's scoring list. He also averages more than 40% of his field goals and nearly [-]% of his three-pointers per game. This is a point that the Thunder can't let go.

But double-teaming him and his teammates made great shots. The Thunder rarely shot so many three-pointers at the beginning. Obviously this is a strategy specially used by the head coach against them.

Rivers thought of this and glanced at Li Sheng, only seeing his back.

To be honest, with Li Sheng's stature, among the players and coaches on both sides, Paul is probably about the same as him. Among the Thunder's elders, when surrounded by a group of two-meter-long forwards and guards, it seems a little inexplicable joy.

But Rivers can't laugh now. Before the start of the game, he still felt that the Thunder didn't have Westbrook, and he hadn't met a strong team before, including the Wizards, because the poor performance at the end of the previous season has not been taken seriously, so he still feels quite optimistic about this game.

Looking at it now, I don't know whether to say that I underestimated Durant or the rookie coach.

But they have Durant, and they also have Paul. Thinking of this field commander, Rivers is full of confidence again.

When the timeout came back, the Clippers did make adjustments. They took Crawford to replace Redick, let Griffin take a rest first, and replaced Mullens.

Mullens is a five-pointer with three points, which can open up space.

This hand adjustment is considered to be effective. Mullens played as soon as he came on the court. He didn't dare to stand on the Thunder's side outside the three-point line, and he moved to Paul who was open on the right after attracting the defense.

Paul adjusted the ball outside the three-point line, took off and shot——

when!
Seeing Paul miss another three-pointer, Li Sheng's eyes lit up slightly. It seems that his outside condition is not very good today. Do they have more chances?
Although he is mentally prepared to lose, but for this preparation, Li Sheng certainly hopes to win.

What's more, the Clippers are not the Spurs and the Heat, and they don't have that much pressure on the current Thunder, so they are not invincible.

In the past few years, the Clippers' book strength has not looked too bad, but the actual effect of the fight is always unsatisfactory.

Sitting on the league's No. [-] point guard Paul, sharpshooter (trash hermaphrodite) Redick, No. [-] pick Griffin, Jordan Jr., and the super sixth man Crawford, they failed to break through the second round many times.

Many people like to explain that the Clippers have a big problem with their forward position and lack a small forward who can attack and defend well, but the problem is that your lineup is already so strong, and the contract must not be small. You still want good players at every position. Isn't this a pipe dream?
In fact, the finals over the years, including the finals and even the championship team, cannot say that their lineup is perfect. The fans of the previous year's champion Heat can see the inside problem. They were blown away by "Gao Yuanyuan", but they still reached the finals and won the championship.

This year's champion Spurs have a relatively balanced internal and external offense and defense, but the core is the three veterans, Leonard can't be alone, and the original time and space have also been overturned by the Heat.

So in the final analysis, it depends on oneself whether it can make further breakthroughs.

The lifeblood of the Clippers is undoubtedly still on Paul.

The so-called success and failure are Paul, he can cover the bottom line, but he can't raise the upper limit.

And the main center Jordan Jr. can be said to be the most watery first defense. There is something to be said for the first defense. The defense in the peak period of these seasons is indeed very strong. For the first round, it can only be said that no hero has become famous. Among them, Paul's connection plays a big role.

So with Paul here, the data of such a blue-collar insider without the ability to attack independently is a bit watery.

As for Griffin, he used to be very aggressive in the first three quarters, and then had loose bowels in the fourth quarter when he lost his energy. However, the Clippers needed someone to attack at this time, so they could only rely on Paul to do it himself.

But Paul's series is top-notch, personal offense, he has never been the league's top scorer.

His mid-range shooting is indeed very accurate, but he is not Kobe after all. He can do one game or two, but his continuous scoring ability for continuous output is not strong.

所以他可以一场30+10甚至40+10，可一个系列赛下来一看，最后还是20+10差不多的样子。

When the playoffs need output, he can play very well, or he can play poorly. The so-called most stable becomes the most unstable in the playoffs. Otherwise, he would not be able to break through the second round after leading the team for so many years.

Of course, when there is a strong output position in the team, Paul can play his own effect. For example, the light bulb combination has indeed played a very good effect.

But obviously, Li Sheng still thinks the problem is simple.

As a traditional point guard, Paul's advantage lies not in his personal offense, but in his serial organization.

So he himself is not in good shape, but he can still sort out the offense and command his teammates.

Bringing Crawford up adds a singles offensive point, and he can also play without the ball. In order to maintain the Thunder's three-point offensive, Li Sheng replaced Reggie with Ennis, but Ennis couldn't keep up with Crawford on defense.

A good defensive player does not mean that they can defend at all times, not to mention that it is difficult for star players to be completely restricted-although Crawford has not made an All-Star appearance, he has a gorgeous style of play and a quasi-All-Star level in offense. Different types of players also have a certain degree of restraint.

Crawford has a lot of fake moves. Facing a rookie like Ennis, who is unpretentious and inexperienced in defense, he was held back twice in a row. One of the fake moves was directly knocked down. It is estimated that it will become a famous scene in the editing.

At the same time, Mullens opened up the space and gave Paul and Crawford more opportunities to break through. Especially although Paul was not accurate on three-pointers, his breakthrough was very stable, which also made the Thunder hard to guard against.

But in the same way, the Thunder can't defend against the Clippers, and the Clippers can't defend against the Thunder.

After the substitutions and adjustments, Dudley is still used to defend Durant, and there is really no one else to choose.

However, others leaned towards him, ready to help defend at any time, but the appearance of Crawford and Mullens further magnified the Clippers' perimeter defensive shortcomings. The offense was better, but the defense was also given for nothing.

First, Crawford came over to double-team Durant. Durant passed the ball to Ennis and got an outside chance.

Then Crawford came over to double-team Durant again. This time, Mullens switched defenses ahead of time, and Paul immediately made up his position in front of Ibaka to defend.

Ennis immediately passed the ball in place. After Durant took the two away, the side was already empty. Sefolosha caught the ball and made an easy layup.

After so many times, it turned into a confrontation, and the Thunder still maintained a 6 or 7-point lead.

Then the main players on both sides left the field one after another, and after starting to replace the substitute rotation lineup, the Thunder suddenly started to exert their strength.

(End of this chapter)