Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 209 Situation
Of course, the Spurs will not be eliminated. They will go to the tiebreaker in the first round. It is not so much a factor of strength, but Li Sheng understands it as a slow start.

The Grizzlies are used to grounding, and the Spurs are not afraid of this rhythm, and the strength of the Grizzlies this season has been weakened. The black and white bears have been affected by injuries and age, especially the Black Bear, who is 33 years old this year.

On the contrary, for the Spurs, the more they played, the better they played, and they gradually found the feeling of belonging to them.

The Spurs played particularly easily in the tie-break, and the victory was basically determined in the first three quarters.

The Grizzlies still wanted to give it a go in the fourth quarter, but in the end, Randolph lost his last comeback point because of his lack of energy and consecutive missed offensive opportunities.

The Spurs advanced to the second round without any risk, and the opponent they will face is the Clippers who also won the tiebreaker.

The Thunder, on the other hand, are waiting for work at leisure, sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, and will face the Trail Blazers who can only rest for one day on May 5.

This is the advantage of playing fast. On the one hand, you can adjust your state and recharge your energy, while the opponent is wasting energy and rushing to fight; on the other hand, you can observe your opponent more and formulate a good game strategy.

When the Blazers and Houston were still playing, Li Sheng had asked the assistant coaches to pay attention to the Blazers in advance, and he was sure that they would advance.

The teaching assistants believed in his vision and did not question it.

Facts have proved that Li Sheng "sees it very accurately", although in fact, for them, it does not make much difference whether the opponent is the Trail Blazers or Texas Xiaoqiang. Both teams were beaten 3:1 by the Thunder in the regular season.

The record in the regular season is only a certain reference value. The problem is that when comparing the advantages of the two sides, the advantage of the opposite side can match the Thunder.

The Thunder's flank defense is super strong. After a season and a series of training, Robertson has grown rapidly, and now he dares to touch the league's top scorers.

Sefolosha is very experienced, Ennis will not suffer from Lillard's speed, and Antetokounmpo and Ibaka can help at any time.

On the inside, as long as one person is used to attack Adelaide's low post, and someone is double-teaming him at any time to force him to pass the ball. If the rotation can keep up, they will not get a good chance from the outside.

The Blazers' forward defense has always been a big problem. Batum's defense is passable, but he is not a defensive elite. The offensive organizational attributes are stronger, and it may even be better for him to defend the low post. At least his body weight will not suffer too much.

Ade is a classic insider, and his defensive pace is too slow. If he is pulled out, he will definitely not be able to defend.

It is also difficult for Matthews to limit Westbrook. Instead, he has to help Lillard fill in at any time. As long as Westbrook and Reggie play more pick-and-rolls, it is easy to have opportunities, because Lillard can at least keep up with single defense and wait for his teammates to come.

Or is this Stotts' coaching style?
Until he was out of get out of class, he couldn't solve this problem, especially when Curry and Green's pick-and-roll was pierced by Curry and Green in the 19 playoffs, this weakness was fully exposed.

This is certainly not entirely a staffing problem. After all, it is not that the Blazers have had good defensive players, but they just can't play them because the coach does not have a mature defensive system at all.

Li Sheng felt that he didn't even need to make a fuss about Lillard on the defensive end, as long as he played his own offense well.

The first game will still be played at the Thunder's home court. Because of the record advantage, the Thunder will have the home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The opening may be due to the long rest. Even with training, the players on the Thunder's side seemed a bit unfamiliar, and the continuous attack was unfavorable, which caused the Blazers to fight back several times.

But it didn't take long for them to be happy, a wave of 4:7 started in the 0th minute, and the Thunder easily evened the point difference.

The Thunder still used the regular starters, with Antetokounmpo and Gobert on the bench.

Westbrook frequently picks and rolls with Ibaka according to the arrangement, and this is a double pick and roll, which actually helps Sefolosha, who is running on the other side, create opportunities at the same time.

Lillard failed to catch up several times, and Sefolosha hit two three-pointers.

Stotts frowned, and there was no good way.

He was also thinking of attacking the Thunder with offense, and the defense would definitely not be able to defend against them, but they also had an advantage inside.

Even Howard has passed, are you still afraid of Ibaka?

Facts have proved that the Thunder really can't defend Adele, but three points are always one point more than two points, unless Adelaide can hit 2+1 every time, unless the referee is his own son, otherwise it is impossible.

And this is still the Thunder's home game, so it stands to reason that the first game must take care of the Thunder.

Therefore, although Dewey and the others were a little bit useless after resting for a long time, they still relied on the breakthrough to cause damage.

Relying on three-pointers and one-pointers, the Thunder beat the Blazers to death.

At 111:97 at the end, the Thunder won their first win of the next round.

杜兰特19投9中，罚球8中7，砍下25分7篮板5助攻，威少10次罚球全中，14投6中得到23分9篮板8助攻。

Antetokounmpo and Gobert teamed up to arrange the bench. Both of them felt good this time. Gobert actually hit two mid-range shots, 5 of 4, 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Antetokounmpo was emptied twice from outside the three-point line, made one shot, and scored 9 points and 5 rebounds in 13 of 7.

For the Trail Blazers, Aldridge scored the highest score in the game, scoring 32 points and 14 rebounds. Unfortunately, Carry couldn't carry the team, because Lillard was 15 of 4, and Li Sheng didn't even have a targeted arrangement. He stretched his hips first.

Batum was made very uncomfortable by the Thunder strikers. Some of them were opportunities that were not opportunities, and he made only 12 of 3 shots. He scored 5 points and 1 rebounds on 7 of 5 three-pointers.

With just two organizational points like this, how can anyone other than the "isolated island" of Adelaide fight it out?
The problem on the defensive end is actually the biggest. If the defense is not good, the offense is not as good as it is, and it can only lose.

Then they lost again and again, and the Thunder gained momentum in the second game, leading by 20 points at halftime and clocking in three quarters.

When the main players of the Trail Blazers sat off the court, their eyes were blank.

Lillard, who was still confident in playing Texas Xiaoqiang, was not perverse this time, because his tail couldn't be raised anymore.

This time Batum bottomed out and rebounded, but Adelaide pulled it off instead. He only scored 23 points and 8 rebounds on 20 of 10 shots. With his performance, the team will definitely not be able to win, because there will always be one who is the most hip.

Li Sheng likes to beat dogs in the water, so this time he made a little bit of trouble with Lillard. As a result, he only made 20 of 4 shots, missed all 6 three-pointers, and went inside and was blocked by Gobert consecutively, which made him full of hot pot.

In addition, he had 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. The last foul was obviously on the top. Stotts had to replace him to rest and calm down. There was no need to play again after that, because the game was already spent.

The Thunder didn't give face, but Li Sheng actually used the playoffs to train. In the fourth quarter, the substitute played a full game, allowing the Blazers to recover a little point.

In the end, at 124:99, the Thunder won two consecutive games and were about to get the match point.

本场早早获得优势的关键当然是杜威也反弹了，杜兰特22投14中拿到41分12篮板7助攻，威少22投13中拿到31分10篮板11助攻，一个准三双、一个三双，正好三节打卡。

On the other hand, the Spurs lost to the Clippers in the first home game. Paul scored 32+10, and Griffin and Crawford also played brilliantly. Although the Spurs were in good form after seven fierce battles, their physical strength was affected. Old Deng was a little restricted by Griffin and Jordan.

Leonard was also a little bit deflated against the old Barnes. He was supposed to be the winner of this round of the series. He misfired, and the Spurs played not so smoothly.

However, in the second game, the Spurs adjusted their status in time and quickly tied the big score. Leonard played well and Green also hit 4 three-pointers.

Either way, it looks like they'll outlast the Thunder again this round.

(End of this chapter)