Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 148
Facing the Warriors' final attack, Li Sheng chose to defend alone first.

At this time, double-teaming is actually an opportunity, because the opponent must press time, and they can wait until the last few seconds when they are about to start.

In 6 seconds, Curry finally started dribbling the ball, and Speights quickly stepped up and made a pick and roll for him.

Curry directly bypassed the defender and prepared to break through. Collison stepped forward and delayed. Robertson quickly followed. Curry bypassed the two and passed the ball to Speights.

At this time, Iguodala on the outside line was vacant, which was somewhat intentional, because the defense in this situation is likely to be released, and it can only be their most unsure shot.

The first brother himself doesn't shoot three-pointers very much, and he hasn't scored in this game yet, so it's worth taking a gamble.

In 2 seconds, Speights passed to the first brother, and the first brother took aim for a second before shooting, and then the time was up, and the whistle sounded.

The ball flew through the air and hit the front edge of the backboard after an arc. Everyone stopped jumping at this time and waited to see if the ball would go in.

The Thunder was about to shout, but they didn't expect that the basketball bounced off the backboard, fell down and rolled into the basket.

Whoa!
The Oracle Arena suddenly burst into cheers. The long tug-of-war before really left many of them speechless. Some even felt that their heartbeat was about to stop, and they felt like they were being strangled by the neck and were about to suffocate.

It’s true to like and indulge in one thing to the extreme. Those who can come to the arena to support are regarded as die-hard fans. A small number of them come for entertainment, but they are infected by the atmosphere of the scene, and they will naturally devote themselves to it. It’s really a completely different feeling to pour emotion into it.

It's like a VR game, and I feel like I have become a part of it.

But this feels right, because the fans on the sidelines are already known as the "sixth man on the sidelines", and their interference and encouragement can sometimes play a big role.

And the cheers like this now, including the booing from behind the bench and the home audience, can also disturb people's mentality.

Li Shengneng could feel that the last few remaining players on the court, Antetokounmpo and the others, who failed to hold the advantage were a little bit affected, or in fact, they were affected from the moment they just felt the enthusiasm of this arena.

Not every arena in the NBA can be called Devil’s Arena. It also depends on the enthusiasm of the home fans. For example, watching a game in Miami is like going on vacation.

A big city doesn't necessarily mean a big ball market, and a big ball market doesn't necessarily mean "the devil". The Knicks are a good example. Anyway, the fans there can boo anyone, including the home team, and anyone can like it, including Jordan's mortal enemy.

The Thunder's home court is considered pretty good, Oracle is not far behind in this respect, and rookies are easily excited at home, so they are naturally easily disturbed when they come here.

Li Sheng still said the same thing, telling them to hold on, "Stay steady, we can win."

At this time, it is actually secondary to arranging tactics, because it is very likely that they will not be able to fight by themselves, so it is better to let them settle down and find more opportunities for themselves.

The helplessness of the coach lies in this. It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and even the best strategy needs to be implemented.

After the intermission was over and he returned to the court again, Li Sheng made another substitution adjustment, including Durant and Ibaka who had been replaced earlier, which made it clear that he would give it a go at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Warriors started with Thompson and David Lee with three substitutes. This means that Curry and others still need to rest, and secondly, Thompson is in a state of strength today, so he can try it alone.

And Mark Jackson obviously didn't expect Li Sheng to fight so hard when he came up, and he felt a little confused when he saw that he was on the main team ahead of time.

This is to end the battle in a few minutes, do you want to fight back?
Li Sheng really doesn't think so. The main reason is that so far this season, these main players have been well protected. Including today, their playing time is still under control. Even if the fourth quarter is full, it will exceed 40 minutes. What is this time for the overall relatively young lineup?
It's definitely okay to fight like this once in a while, if you have a chance to win in a row.

If it was really an ordinary regular season, Li Sheng might let it go like this, but he just doesn't want to give up this kind of winning streak easily.

The players are also unwilling to give up, only three points behind and still have to play.

At this time the score was 91:88, and the Thunder was recovered by a few points in the third quarter.

And Li Sheng's desperate move did have an effect, mainly because Durant seemed to have recovered a bit, or maybe he found a feeling in the face of Green's defense.

Although Green later became a DPOY, when he was at his peak, his most powerful thing was actually his assisted defense rather than single defense, which is a bit like Ibaka.

It is said that he can defend from position [-] to position [-], but in fact, defenders can still succeed in attacking him face-to-face, but he is covered and not easy to sway, because his defensive sense is very keen, and the difficulty will be slightly higher, and those four and five positions who can seriously play in the low post, in fact, he can't stand up at all.

Coupled with the natural flaws in height, the wingspan cannot be fully compensated, which puts him at a disadvantage in grabbing rebounds, and he can grab rebounds at the fifth position.

On the Thunder's side, when Durant wanted to play singles, they tried to stretch the space as much as possible to give him enough opportunities.

If you insist on double-teaming, you can get opportunities directly from the outside line. If you don't double-team, it's like now. Green can't guard Durant one-on-one.

God knows how Mark Jackson wants to bring Green up at this time, and he has only been up for less than 3 minutes.

The playing time of Barnes and the first brother is actually not very long. Barnes is still a young man, so there is no need to be so sparing.

Douglas and Thompson are still in the backcourt. Douglas was cut off by Robertson face-to-face once in front of Douglas. Although Robertson didn't score a point in this game, his defense is really stable. After defending Curry from chasing Thompson and then coming to lock Douglas, the key effect is not bad.

And Thompson himself doesn't play with the ball, he needs his teammates to create opportunities for him, so these 2 minutes turned out to be misfired.

Then the Thunder hit the head and played a wave of 9:2, scaring Mark Jackson to call a timeout.

"Coach Lee's rotation at the beginning of the fourth quarter was very good. Although it was a desperate move, it had a very good effect. Durant seemed to have recovered and scored five points in a row. On the contrary, the Warriors only relied on David Lee to score 2 points, and now the Thunder has overtaken the score."

At 93:97, the Thunder came up with a unique move to win.

Mark Jackson's timeout call was also considered timely, but in the discussion on the sidelines, regardless of whether the commentators in China or the United States, his performance this time was completely blown out by Li Sheng.

ESPN's on-site commentators were even more angry about his "shame". After all, domestic commentators can stand up to compatriots, and of course they can, not to mention that this is a rookie vs. veteran victory. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is ashamed.

The key is that Mark said harsh words before the game, and now he was slapped in the face first.

(End of this chapter)