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Chapter 331 The Strongest Lineup

The loss to the Timberwolves in the first game made the entire Thunder team very unhappy. Brooks deeply reviewed the plan he made before this game. He realized that it was unrealistic to limit the Timberwolves' scoring on the defensive end.Especially Xu Hao. Almost all the Thunder's main players defended him, and they were even double-teamed at one point, but in the end they were all beaten to shame.

More importantly, he did not play Westbrook's power at all. In the first game, the latter only scored 13 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, which did not reach his normal level at all.Westbrook didn't say anything after the game, but everyone could read the displeasure on his face. It was obvious that he didn't want to play the role he had in the first game.

Brooks had to consider the thoughts of his own ace point guard. Looking back, he also felt that this was a waste of resources. Then in the second game, he had to completely change his previous strategy, otherwise he might be defeated by the Timberwolves again.

After thinking about it, Brooks decided to give full play to the team's biggest advantage, which is the stormy and crazy offense.The Thunder's three young players are all very good scorers. As long as they find the rhythm, few teams can stop them.

McHale probably guessed that the Thunder would modify the strategy of the previous game, but he didn't expect that the opponent would complete a 180-degree change and directly adjust the team's starting lineup.Before the start of the second game, McHale was shocked with the Thunder's starting roster. Is the Thunder planning to live?Do you want to start the three cores directly?

Xu Hao was also taken aback. His first reaction was that the Thunder became angry because of their loss in the first game, and they directly used their lineup that was desperate at the critical moment as the starting lineup.At the last moment of the last quarter of the first game, the reason why the Timberwolves carried the Thunder's offense was largely because Westbrook and Durant were in average condition, but this does not mean that their lineup is not good.In fact, this is already the highest net rating among all the five-man teams of the Thunder, and it is not insignificant.

But now the Thunder are going to use their strongest lineup from the very beginning of the game, which makes Xu Hao feel a lot of pressure. He believes that his teammates feel the same way. The Thunder who are going all out like this are not so easy to dismiss .

Time soon came to the night of the second game. The Timberwolves players enjoyed a different "treatment" in the Ford Center arena. The boos of the fans at the scene were obviously much louder than the previous game.It's no wonder that they thought that the visiting team took the lead in a round of the series that they thought was in their hands. It was difficult for them to accept this result both rationally and emotionally.

However, the Timberwolves players turned a deaf ear to these boos. Although the Thunder fielded the strongest starting lineup, which put them under a lot of pressure, winning the first game also gave them the confidence to continue winning. No matter how strong the Thunder are, aren't they still losing?

McHale had nothing to say. He had already said what he wanted to say during the tactical training that morning. He just asked the players to strictly follow the established plan and not to mess around on the field.The so-called established plan is to continue to have Xu Hao and Le Fu as the main attackers, and it is good for others to assist.

After the players on both sides got ready, the game officially began. Ibaka helped the Thunder grab the first wave of offensive ball before Jordan. Westbrook got the ball and rushed to the Timberwolves' basket like lightning.Brewer, who was standing on the periphery, also chased all the way. Seeing that he was about to catch up with the opponent's footsteps, Westbrook passed the ball unexpectedly.

It was Harden who received the ball in the corner. He was completely unguarded. After a little adjustment, he took off and shot smoothly. His eyes fell into the basket.

However, this was just the beginning. The Thunder showed a more violent offense in the first 5 minutes of the first quarter than in the previous game.Although the three young men seem to be people who need the ball, they still have a focus under the arrangement of Brooks. Westbrook is more inclined to hit the basket, Durant is more in the middle distance, Harden The area is outside the three-point line.Of course, their scoring areas are very wide, but they are deliberately narrowed because of the existence of the other two.

The Thunder's crazy offense made the Timberwolves miserable. The three young players can handle, pass and shoot. Although they can't play the roles of others for a long time, they have no problems in a short period of time.They are constantly switching back and forth between different roles, which is undoubtedly difficult to defend. It is normal for the Timberwolves' defense to be penetrated. This is the real Thunder.

They scored 20 points in less than half a quarter, while the Timberwolves only scored 12 points. The gap of 8 points seems small, but the state of the two sides is not on the same level. McHale can only call a timeout to disrupt them. rhythm.

McHale is very clear that it is absolutely impossible to defend against the three Thunder players who are out of form tonight. If the Timberwolves want to reverse the situation on the field, they can only attack them. The players must put more energy Put it back on offense.

In order to allow the Timberwolves to further improve their ability to attack, McHale resolutely removed Jordan, replaced Webster as a power forward, and Love moved to the center position.This lineup of one big and four small is relatively taller than the lineup that defeated the Spurs in the first round. This is also to prevent Durant from constantly using his height to succeed in singles.Anyway, Webster also has a precise three-pointer. In this case, the Timberwolves have placed four shooters on the outside, and there is still a lot of space.

McHale's change had a good effect, and the Timberwolves' offense gradually improved, but unfortunately they were still not the Thunder's opponent.At the end of the first quarter, the Thunder scored 42 points, while the Timberwolves only scored 30 points. The double-digit gap left everyone with a dark cloud. This is not a good sign. Is this game going to lose? ?
Now the entire Timberwolves team has no confidence. Previously, McHale thought that the Thunder's formation might disrupt their rotation, but Brooks made up for this flaw in the simplest way.He only needs to keep two of the three young players present at the same time. The three of them take turns to take a break, and the impact on his physical strength will be minimal.

It seems that it is unrealistic to wait for the Thunder to collapse due to physical problems. McHale can only pin his hopes on Xu Hao and Love. They are the team's number one and number two scorers. Maybe they can bring surprises. !
(End of this chapter)