Junior Basketball says

Chapter 329

In the third quarter, Xu Hao almost single-handedly gave the Timberwolves a slight lead. The Thunder had too many scoring points. Being able to do this has proven his strength.The team's morale also increased rapidly because of his consecutive hits of difficult three-pointers. This situation made Brooks worried. Is it possible that the Thunder will lose the first game?
In desperation, he put the three young players on the court at the same time at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Under normal circumstances, this is the lineup he desperately used at the critical moment of the last quarter.But if Brooks doesn't put his three strongest players on the court now, then the Thunder will have no chance to play against the Timberwolves at a critical moment. They can't just stand still and let themselves lose, right?

Besides, he has seen McHale's idea, which is nothing more than an exchange of scorers between the two sides, but the Thunder's defense against Xu Hao is not as good as the Timberwolves' defense against Durant.Moreover, Xu Hao and Durant's performance in the face of high-intensity defense also made Brooks dumbfounded. He didn't expect that Chinese kid to be stronger than Durant.

However, putting Harden on the court to play shooting guard is a good move for the Thunder, which is the fundamental reason why Brooks frequently relies on this lineup to win.Harden is a combo guard to some extent, so that three players in the Thunder lineup can hold the ball, which will cause great trouble for the Timberwolves and further increase the difficulty of their defense.

McHale was also well aware of the Thunder's plan, but he could only envy him secretly on the sidelines.The Timberwolves are not as lucky as the Thunder. The only people they can rely on are Xu Hao and Love. Now McHale can only choose to trust them.Especially Xu Hao, his hands were so hot in this game, whether the team can win or not depends on him.

Xu Hao had played against the Thunder in the system many times before, and Harden also revealed some less important information. He knew very well that the Thunder was going to fight desperately, and this was just the beginning of the fourth quarter.The opponent's formation made Xu Hao feel the pressure. If the Timberwolves can't handle the Thunder's stormy attack, the game will go far.

Taking advantage of the last moment, McHale pulled Xu Hao and Love to his side and whispered: "The Thunder have sent out their strongest lineup, and they obviously want to deal with us in one fell swoop. We can't let them succeed. So later I ask you two to go all out to score points, and you must take action as long as you are sure, and others will try to open up as much space as possible."

Xu Hao and Love looked at each other and nodded solemnly. They knew exactly what the coach meant, which was to fight Thunder.In fact, this is also expected. The Timberwolves' defense is not bad, and there are also defensive champions such as Xu Hao, Ellington and Jr. Jordan, but it is obviously difficult to prevent the Thunder, which is led by the three young men, from scoring. .

The game in the last quarter started quickly, and the Thunder's lineup of three ball-handlers at the same time made the Timberwolves' players a little at a loss on the defensive end.Webster continued to follow the coach's instructions to defend Durant, while Xu Hao was still entangled with Westbrook. The Thunder's possession of the ball fell into Harden's hands, leaving Ellington to confront him. Bit.

It is undeniable that Ellington is indeed one of the best perimeter gates of the Timberwolves, even purer than Xu Hao, but he is not Harden's opponent.Harden's height is about the same as him, but his weight has an absolute advantage, and he is also very cunning in playing. He can always use various screens to get rid of Ellington and easily reach the inside line to score a layup.

But the Thunder still failed to regain the lead, and the reason was Xu Hao.Originally, Love also wanted to score in the paint, but unfortunately, Ibaka, who was facing him, surpassed him in terms of movement speed and bounce. In the previous game, the footsteps at the basket that worked well in the previous game had almost no gains, so he could only feel wronged. Go to the high post to set a screen, and then rebound the ball.

Under the cover of their teammates, Xu Hao and Harden started to compete, and the two supernovas produced by Arizona State University launched a needle-to-head contest on the field.Although they didn't directly conduct matchups, whenever one of them scored, the other would use their good defense to send the ball to the basket, and the others on the side became completely supporting roles.

It doesn't matter to the Timberwolves players. Xu Hao has established authority in the team. Everyone knows that he will be one of the team's leading stars and the team's best commander. For him to change careers and opponents to single-handedly Everyone has no opinion.The Thunder is different. Harden is essentially just the third leader of the team. Durant and Westbrook have higher tactical priorities than him. Harden's continuous singles with the ball gave them a subtle feeling in their hearts. Feel.

Of course, Brooks also hopes that Harden can connect the team's offense, but in the final analysis, the ultimate goal of any offense is to send the ball into the opponent's basket. As long as Harden can maintain scoring efficiency, it seems no big deal.

However, after a few rounds, Harden still lost because he did not have a stable three-point shot like Xu Hao.Of course, his shooting range is far beyond the three-point line, but his timing is not effective, and it looks more like a nerve knife.Instead, Xu Hao hit three-pointers consecutively under Westbrook's close marking, and the latter's eyes were on fire when he looked at him.

Seeing that the momentum of the Thunder was about to be extinguished, Durant stood up in time. He found another way to let Harden cover for himself. After switching defenses, he could directly face the shorter and relatively weak Ellington, which was beneficial to Durant. Take advantage of his height.After two or three seasons of polishing, Durant has gradually grown into a comprehensive shooter. His shooting range is all over the inside and outside of the three-point line. As long as the opponent's defense is not tight enough, he can immediately teach people with shooting.

McHale slapped his thigh and sighed secretly. Previously, the Timberwolves' rule was to switch defenses when encountering screens. Unexpectedly, this has become a loophole for the Thunder to take advantage of.Durant completely ignored Ellington, who switched positions with Webster, and hit consecutive shots on his head. Taking advantage of Xu Hao's opportunity to concentrate on organizing, he single-handedly scored 8 points to help the Thunder regain the lead.

McHale had to call a timeout when he hit another 45-pointer from a [-]-degree angle on the wing.Xu Hao to drive his teammates was his instruction from the sidelines. Unexpectedly, the other players of the Timberwolves were already beaten by Durant before they warmed up. It seems that Xu Hao must continue to score points, otherwise the Timberwolves Why win?
(End of this chapter)