NBA Legends Manager

Chapter 428 God pit?Another record

Back to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Thunder's three armies did their best. In the first three quarters, Durant played 34 minutes, Harden played 31 minutes, Ibaka played 35 minutes, Jordan played 30 minutes, and Westbrook played 33 minutes. The Thunder actually led by 15 points at the end of the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter!
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Presti replaced the lineup of Barea, Bradley, Middleton, Antetokounmpo, and Gobert. When the Thunder saw the Pelicans in this lineup, they also replaced Durant for a rest. The Thunder were led by Westbrook!
Tonight, Westbrook's mid-range shooting in the first three quarters was okay, but when Presti designed his defense against Westbrook, he still let him shoot!Presti knows Westbrook too well, he will definitely come up!
Barea and Gobert launched a pick-and-roll in the middle, and Bradley and Middleton, who joined the outside line, threw consecutive three-pointers, and the point difference instantly reached 9 points!At this time, Westbrook took the ball from the backcourt and accelerated to the frontcourt, one step ahead of the three-pointer, and made an emergency stop!

Although Barea stretched out his hand to interfere, the difference in height couldn't interfere at all, but Westbrook still hit the iron.

Presti knew that Westbrook must be on top at this time!
Sure enough, Barea and Gobert pick and roll, this time Gobert slid down and dunked with the ball. At this time, Westbrook once again took the ball from the backcourt and rushed to the frontcourt, and then made an emergency stop!Still iron!

Antetokounmpo grabbed the rebound and pushed forward at full speed to counterattack. After rushing to the frontcourt, Antetokounmpo's impact was too strong and directly attracted two people to help defend.

A wave of 11:0 stopped the Thunder, and then the Thunder Donovan called a timeout!

After returning from the timeout, Donovan had no choice but to replace all the starters, and Presti also made personnel adjustments, replacing Barea, Antetokounmpo, Bradley, and Middleton, and replacing them with Curry, Thompson, Paul George and Davis!
Presti is still convinced that Westbrook will hold the ball and then pull up or break through. At that time, Gobert and Davis's frame protection is the Thunder's nightmare.

Back from the timeout, Westbrook held the ball at the top of the arc and passed Curry in one step, but Gobert was still standing under the basket, and Davis didn't mean to help defend.

But Gobert covered it with his long arms!Missed a layup, Davis protected the rebound and scored Paul George on the right,

Paul George accelerated to lead the frontcourt, facing Harden's misalignment, without hesitation, he changed to the left and rushed in!Ibaka came to help defend, and then placed Thompson in the bottom corner on the right. Thompson threw the ball as soon as he caught the ball. Moreover, as long as the Thunder did not make a move, the Pelicans quickly pushed back.
This time Westbrook finally handed over the frontcourt to Durant. Durant took the ball in the low post, and the Pelicans decisively double-teamed!

Durant quickly sent the ball to Westbrook at the top of the arc!Seats open!I am very confident to pull up and shoot, but... I don't make any open spots!Curry took the rebound and counterattacked!Go to the frontcourt one step away from the three-point line, and shoot a three-pointer!Swish, hollow into the net!The score was overtaken like this.

Here Westbrook still has the top of the arc and continues to play singles. This time he broke through again, against Gobert, and made a throw!It was completely out of line, Davis once again defended the main rebound, and immediately scored Curry on the right. This time Curry was stalked by Harden and slowed down, and immediately passed to Thompson on the right!
Westbrook didn't post it and gave space, so he continued to throw it without hesitation!And Westbrook didn't even stretch his arms, and he still has three points!The Thunder had no choice but to pause again, and the expressions of the fans at the scene were undoubtedly disappointed and uncomfortable.

And the on-site commentary couldn't help but said: "Westbrook's style of play is hurting the team, a 15-point lead! Originally, the Thunder had a chance to take away the victory!"

After returning from the timeout, Harden took control of the ball, played a pick-and-roll to pull out Gobert, turned to the right, and passed directly. At this time, Davis came to make up the defense and continued to score Ibaka on the right. Ibaka took the ball and made a mid-range shot, finally!

At this time, Presti immediately requested a timeout!
The on-site commentary began to say again: "This is the gap between the coaches. At this critical moment, as soon as the Thunder scored a goal, Presti immediately asked for it. On the other hand, Donovan was beaten 11:0 before it was called a timeout."

After the timeout ended, Presti replaced Antetokounmpo. Once Antetokounmpo got the ball in the low position, Presti was very sure that he would dunk when he turned around. Without help defense, he would definitely not be able to defend. Moreover, Antetokounmpo's perimeter defense and rebounding are also the most needed at present.

Curry receives the ball from the outside, Davis picks and rolls in the middle, Curry breaks to the left, and Westbrook bypasses the screen to chase Curry.
Immediately divided Antetokounmpo. At this time, Harden came from the supplementary defense. Antetokounmpo did not go for a strong hit. Presti told Antetokounmpo that Harden's foot is very stable, even if it is an ordinary fifth position, he will not take advantage.

Antetokounmpo continued to divide Thompson in the bottom corner. Due to Harden's supplementary defense, he was empty!Throw three points again, and, for a shooter like Thompson, open space is basically equal to sending points.

On the Thunder's side, Harden controlled the ball to the top of the arc, picked and rolled with Ibaka, switched to Antetokounmpo, singles became stronger and rushed to the left side, and went to the basket for a layup, but Antetokounmpo refused!Paul George picked up the ball and continued to rush forward. He hit the ground to Antetokounmpo who cut in the middle. Antetokounmpo took the ball and took off in two steps. Violence!The point difference has come to 6 points.

Here Durant continued to stay low. At this time, the Pelicans came to make an offer again. Durant was also in a hurry.
Brother Antetokounmpo rushed up, there was really no one to act as, he could only stop the foul!And Antetokounmpo made two free throws!

Here Durant got the ball and was double-teamed again, and then sent Harden to the outside line.It's not that I won't enter!
Antetokounmpo took off the rebound, sprinted again, and dunked with one arm in the frontcourt!

The Thunder had been completely stunned, and the point difference had reached double digits. Donovan called a timeout. After the timeout came back, the Thunder tried their best to defend, but the point difference was too big. Davis turned around and shot in a low position to kill the game.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Thunder 116:108, leading the series 3:0.

After the game, neutral fans, Thunder fans, and Durant fans crazily accused Westbrook. If it weren't for Westbrook's brainless wave, this game would probably belong to the Thunder!

The Pelicans fans laughed and said: "Sure enough, we still rely too much on Westbrook."

Some Thunder fans said: Westbrook led the Pelicans to reverse the Thunder,

The media continued to jump on the topic, saying that Durant has long been dissatisfied with Westbrook. Durant left this summer because of Westbrook. Of course, Harden also unfortunately joined the battle. The media wrote: Harden is already dissatisfied with his current position. He should control the ball and control the rhythm of the whole team.

Of course, there is no doubt that this is a topic created by the media. In fact, the Thunder's locker room is very harmonious, at least on the surface.But no matter what, this offseason, the Thunder will definitely undergo major changes.

In an interview, Presti laughed when talking about the team's reversal: "We are such a team. No matter who faces us, we must be careful. The red light is not on. Don't be careless, because we will hit an attack wave in an instant and defeat you. I am proud of our team."

Curry said with a smile in an interview: "No matter how many points we fall behind, we don't worry at all. Don't forget who our coach is. He is the most "God" coach in the league now!"

And Davis also said in an interview: "We are not worried at all, because Coach Presti said as soon as the fourth quarter came up, we will win! So what else do we need to worry about? Just play."

On the other side of the Thunder press conference, Donovan said: "We had a lot of offensive opportunities but we didn't make shots. Our overall defense is very good, but obviously the Pelicans players scored a lot of fairy goals."

What does coach Donovan say? He doesn’t dare to say or do anything to the star players in the team. Just like when Westbrook was fighting wildly just now, if Popovich must be replaced and reflect, but Donovan dare not.

The same is true when you lose after the game. You will never formalize yourself or the official team. You will always say that you have defended well against the fairy ball.

In the fourth game, several members of the Thunder worked hard again. Durant played 46 minutes, Westbrook played 43 minutes, Harden played 44 minutes, Jordan played 41 minutes, and Ibaka played 47 minutes. In the end, the Thunder's three armies fought hard to regain a victory, defeating the Pelicans 105:102!
In fact, Presti deliberately let this game go. One of the reasons is that the Thunder fought too hard in this game, and the defensive moves were too big, and the referee was obviously biased. Presti didn't want to see the players get injured. Of course, the most important reason is that Presti wants to take the last game to New Orleans!
So after the game, Presti said with a smile: "It's nothing to lose this time. I think Pelicans fans should be happy, because you will witness the birth of the Western Conference champion with your own eyes!"

Of course, many San Shao fans are already dissatisfied with the Thunder fans, thinking that they can at least drag the game to the tiebreaker or even the tiebreaker, because the tenacity shown by the Thunder in this game is very worthy of recognition, but they did not think that this tenacity brought about an average of 6+ minutes per game.

The fifth game began soon, but there was bad news before the game. Davis had a finger discomfort. Presti decisively rested Davis. This game was very stable if Davis did not play, and the Thunder fans were happy. This game should be won!
In the opening game, Presti adopted a targeted defensive layout: Clay faced Westbrook, close contact to limit receiving the ball; when Westbrook picked and rolled, bypassed the screen to chase the ball holder, Davis shrank the penalty area to limit Westbrook's breakthrough.

And Presti mentioned Gobert to the hand, which can not only provide a stable backcourt rebound protection, but also not slow down the speed of the starting lineup and play the role of a lob finisher!

After playing 7 minutes in the first quarter, Gobert scored 4 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks;
Gobert became a key part of Presti's start: the Pelicans had the guarantee of backcourt rebounds and were able to speed up the counterattack, and Klay and Adu made shots from the outside!

In the last game, Jordan's offensive rebound threat severely limited the Pelicans' offensive and defensive transitions.

On the offensive end of the Thunder, Westbrook/Durant+Jr. Jordan mainly initiate pick-and-roll offenses. The ball-handler can use the cover to make a mid-range shot or break through to kill the basket, supplemented by Harden to single-handedly;

On the defensive end, the Thunder's No. 1-5 positions have unlimited defenses: Jordan retreated to block Paul George at the three-point line, and Westbrook resisted Green in the low post.

During the rotation period, Presti sent Jokic + Antetokounmpo + Middleton + Bradley + Barea,
The Pelicans speeded up the offensive and defensive transition, and Curry took the lead in chasing three-pointers; once they fell into a positional battle, Jokic + Barea took turns to pierce the Thunder penalty area.The Thunder focused on dislocation offense, and Westbrook and Durant used the Pelicans' defense to single-handedly chase Barea.

首节战罢，鹈鹕29-22领先雷霆7分。鹈鹕投篮命中率为39.1%，三分球9中3；雷霆投篮命中率为28.2%，三分球10中2。

During the rotation period of the second quarter, the Thunder's second team is Jordan + Ibaka + Durant + Robertson + Harden, and the Pelicans' bench lineup is Jokic + Antetokounmpo + Middleton + Clay + Barea.

The Pelicans used Antetokounmpo/Green as the supporting axis, and Clay used the off-ball screen to cut out and catch the ball as the main attack; the Thunder used Harden/Durant + Jordan as the main pick-and-roll, Harden supported the second team to attack, and the Thunder tied the score.

After the starting lineup gradually returned, Westbrook led the offensive and defensive transition, Jordan Jr. and Ibaka took the lead, and the Thunder accelerated to build a 5-point lead.After a timeout, Presti replaced the "Five of Death", Curry pushed and counterattacked, chasing the Thunder and retreating to find someone ineffective; once it fell into a positional battle, Antetokounmpo and Green were the axis of support, and the two wings ran back and forth to attack the basket.

半场结束，鹈鹕57-51领先雷霆6分。鹈鹕投篮命中率为48.5%，三分球17中7；雷霆投篮命中率为34.3%，三分球17中4。杜兰特、威少合计19投4中。

In the second half, the Thunder's main player Durant + Jordan launched a high pick-and-roll, and Durant chased Gobert in a misplaced position; Westbrook dominated the offensive and defensive transition, and the Thunder responded to the 12-3 offensive climax and once again overtook the Pelicans 57-55.

Presti paused and adjusted his response: The Pelicans quickly landed, the Thunder chased and retreated weakly, Paul George and Curry chased Jordan from the three-point line; with Gobert as the wall to block the breakthrough line, the center of gravity of the perimeter defense expanded outwards as a whole, and put pressure on the ball, forcing the Thunder's three minors to end their offense at mid-to-long distances and test their shooting efficiency. suspense.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Thunder at home 109:98, fulfilled their promise to the Pelicans fans, and entered the NBA Finals for 5 consecutive years!
(End of this chapter)