I'm king in the basket

Chapter 409
Whether Perkins or Aldridge, Li Xing is an opponent who must be beaten.

The Thunder lack such an outstanding inside lineup as San Shao. Perhaps their outside lineup is too luxurious, so that this shortcoming seems so huge.

Especially when they faced an opponent like Li Xing, the shortcoming of poor insiders became even more fatal.

With 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Li Xing fouled Perkins for the fifth time.

The foul came from Li Xing's hook.

In order to prevent him from using the hook, Perkins has already tried his best. However, in the face of the absolute gap in strength and talent, he got nothing except fouls.

Li Xing stood in front of him with a cold expression on his face.

This goal allowed the Raptors to lead by 13 points. If additional penalties are also scored, it will be 14 points.

Perkins took a deep breath, Thunder coach Brooks didn't say anything, he knew very well that this necessary trend gradually fell to the Raptors.

Whether he admits it or not, it cannot be changed.

In the face of such a gap, any adjustment will not be effective.

With 5 minutes left, he did not intend to replace Perkins.

Keeping the five most promising players on the field, he wanted to see what would happen later.

The Raptors maintain a high-intensity defense, and it is extremely difficult to score under this defense.

Li Xing looked around and around, and he was sure that, apart from shooting three-pointers against the pressure of defense, the only way for them to score was to break through to the basket.

And with him guarding the basket, if you attack in this way, the success rate may not be as good as stopping outside to shoot a three-pointer.

Even though there would be a lot of interference that way, it would be more assured than facing his defensive layup.

Maybe they heard Li Xing's voice, and they agreed with this view.

Durant dribbles, looks for opportunities, Tony Allen sticks to him, hands up and down, whether the referee is watching or not.

The more critical the moment, the looser the referee's scale.

Durant can pick up the ball and shoot over Allen's head, but in this way, his shooting percentage will be greatly reduced.

This kind of offense with the ball is not what he is good at, and now he is facing such a tough defense, he no longer has much confidence.

However, the Thunder has no shortage of confident people.

Westbrook discovered Durant's plight, and he intends to help the big brother out.

He ran over from the side and made a hand-to-hand cooperation behind Durant. As long as there is a neutral position, he can pull out a three-pointer.

This is the defense of the Raptors. Since Li Xing covered the sky with one hand at the basket, the outside defense was very fierce.

The rest of the Raptors were not afraid of the opponent rushing in at all, because Li Xing was watching, this was the influence of a dominant basket protector.

An excellent rim protector does not lie in how many shots he can block, but in whether he is at the basket and whether the opponent will feel scared.

There are many players in the world who block a lot of shots but are not effective in protecting the basket and cannot cause panic in opponents.

Li Xing is just a rare player, the number of blocks and deterrence are directly proportional to the player.

His defensive deterrence is like a beast with viruses and bacteria. No one dares to approach him. Looking back, he averaged 7 blocks per game.

Reminiscent of his defensive effect, everyone will nod sincerely, thinking "he is indeed a monster who can block 7 goals per game".

Talent allows him to strike a chord between impact and numbers.

In less than 5 minutes, the point difference was 14 points,
Westbrook's goal, in a sense, is a goal that symbolizes life or death.

With the Raptors' offensive ability, the Thunder will definitely be unstoppable.

If the goal was missed, the Raptors scored another goal with a backhand, and the point difference could reach more than 15 points.

Facing the best defensive team in the league and trailing by 5+ in less than 15 minutes, is there still a chance of winning?
"Shh!"

Westbrook's three-pointer made his teammates relieved.

It's just a breath, and they still have to do a good job of defense.

"It's all my fault that I got in."

Stephenson raised his hand to admit his mistake, no one blamed him, there was some element of luck in this shot.

"It's okay, just call back, it's all the same."

Li Xing is very optimistic, he is not worried that Thunder will launch a counterattack from this.

In his eyes, the game has been won.

Westbrook's three-pointer just made them desperate later, and the result will not change.

Bargnani hunched over, walking in two steps.

Ibaka can feel his desire to score, but there is no cover around him. What will the Italian do?

"You bastard, I will never let you get a chance, you should give up your mind, under my defense, you can never score!"

Ibaka couldn't figure out the situation, so he had to use trash talk to interfere.

Bargnani took him for a fool and broke into a run.

For his size, it's rare to be able to run like this, and it's the last few minutes of the game. He's not tired. Ibaka is tired.

Snyder didn't let Bargnani play for too long tonight.

This also provided fuel for his offense at the last moment. Seeing Ibaka's exhaustion, the Italian wanted to laugh inexplicably.

He didn't expect that one day he would be able to walk the other party until he felt like vomiting.

Ibaka hoped that Bargnani would stop quickly. He never thought that if the other party really stopped, it would not be because of his thoughts, but because he had come to the end point.

Bargnani received Stephenson's pass, and Ibaka was unable to defend. He lifted the ball in his hand and made a three-pointer.

Pointing his finger at the basket, he believed that the goal would definitely be scored.

The basketball spun violently, Bargnani pointed to the sky, and as the ball went into the pocket, cheers erupted in the Airline Center Arena.

Bargnani's wife almost jumped up, but fortunately, her friends stopped her, otherwise she would have to move her tires.

"You can see the frustration written on the faces of the Thunder players. They must be thinking, why is Toronto so strong? Why?"

Angus said with a smile: "I can tell them clearly that the Raptors have experienced a more tragic test. They are not the strongest opponents on the journey, but the last opponents on this long journey."

"Yes, for many people, the Eastern Conference finals are actually the finals of the season."

Barkley said: "At least I personally think so."

Smith had nothing to say to these two people who were partial to the Somali Trench, and pretended to be on the side of the Thunder: "In any case, they are the champions of the Western Conference."

Barkley was very dissatisfied with Smith, who was acting as a peacemaker: "Kenny, how can you be a good gentleman? Is this still you?"

Smith was so angry that he couldn't say it. Who told his partner to be the most unreasonable commentator in the world?

Bargnani's three-pointer was like chasing soldiers.

It's like the Thunder just broke out of the encirclement and rested in a safe place. Before the position was hot, the chasing soldiers caught up.

They were tired and unable to surrender, they had to hang on.

Perkins and Westbrook hit a pick-and-roll, his body is sideways, and he cuts inside quickly.

He's fast, and Westbrook does see him.

He believed that Li Xing would not let Perkins score in vain, but they had no better chance.

Westbrook chooses to pass.

With a stinking face that everyone owed him money, Perkins leaned on Li Xing and was about to make a layup.

His thinking was right, he used his strength to fight, so that Li Xing could not be able to take off.

The method is a good method, but it's a pity that he underestimated Li Xing.

Even if Li Xing couldn't jump up, his long arms could interfere. Perkins was in despair. As soon as he lifted the ball, he was blocked.

The basketball was back in his hands, and Perkins was about to make a second attack, but Li Xing enveloped him with his hands up.

This kind of defense, he can't play at all.

Perkins is not a reckless person. He turned and looked outside. That was Westbrook's position.

He passes the ball.

At this moment, they just want to score, no matter the opportunity is good or not, as long as there is a little space, Westbrook dares to shoot.

Another three-pointer.

The ball hit the front of the basket. Although Li Xing was in a good position, the ball bounced too far.

Ibaka jumped up and scooped it up, adding momentum to the ball.

On the outside, Durant picked up the ball, and he also came to score a three-pointer.

Still missed, the ball missed again.

The rebound went to Westbrook as if he recognized its owner, again.

They made three consecutive three-pointers.

Counting the blocked shot by Perkins, they had four offenses in one possession.

The results are hopeless.

Although basketball likes them very much, the basket hates them.

It was as if invisible creatures were around the basket to reject the Thunder's shot, and the third three-pointer failed to hit.

Then there was no accident, Li Xing decisively took the rebound and passed the ball to DeRozan who was on the fast break.

It's his performance time again.

DeRozan grabbed the ball with one hand and smashed Tarzan.

16 points difference, less than 4 minutes.

Even if the Thunder are steadfast, they have to admit that the chance of victory has slipped from their hands.

In the last 2 minutes, the two sides replaced the starters.

Durant, Westbrook and others went off the field dejectedly, and the Raptors sent marginal players who usually had no chance to play.

In the last 2 minutes, the entire audience stood up.

The players on the field fight for the data without hesitation, the audience misses the time all the time, and others comfort or celebrate each other.

With his elbows on his thighs and his eyes down on the floor, Durant doesn't know what he's done wrong.

They have a chance to win the game, but they always lose the game at the last moment.

They have the strength to drag the game to this point, but they don't have the strength to win the game at the most critical moment.

Westbrook was equally depressed and restless, and he saw Durant in a downcast.

He stood up, walked over, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Kevin, we still have a chance in the future, don't be discouraged."

"You played well," Westbrook said.

"You too." Durant said bitterly.

With one minute left in the game, the Thunder took the initiative to call a timeout.

They trailed by 17 points and the game was sealed.

(End of this chapter)