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Chapter 374 Defensive Victory
Being entangled by Xu Hao was already annoying enough, but Durant didn't expect that this would not be the end.As the saying goes, beat the dog in the water hard, he has exposed the fact that he will be guarded, and other Timberwolves players will naturally share a share.

Especially for Ellington, who was put back into the starting lineup by McHale, Sefolosha didn't need to spend too much time. He was just a 3D player like himself, and his three-point shooting was not as good as his own.Rubio is doing well on the defensive end, and while he may not have much of a physical advantage, Ellington just needs a little help.That being the case, why not help Xu Hao?As long as Durant's firepower can be extinguished, the team has a great chance of winning.

Before the game, McHale also told him to act cheaply. In Ellington's view, he would never be reprimanded for assisting Xu Hao, so Durant had to face another mad dog tragically.As long as he gets the ball and Ellington is nearby, Ellington will rush like crazy, teaming up with Xu Hao to complete the blockade and occasionally add a steal.

Ellington's defensive style is of course easy to get fouled, but Xu Hao has taken on most of the defensive responsibilities and protected him well. Secondly, McHale's rotation is relatively frequent and he will not watch him helplessly. Graduation directly.On this basis, Ellington is naturally confident, and Durant is so harassed that he doesn't even want to catch the ball.

Seeing that Durant didn't continue to take the initiative to ask for the ball, Xu Hao couldn't help laughing secretly: Although Durant has entered the fifth year of his career and won the scoring title three times, his mentality is far from mature, at least not Kobe's persistence of daring to shoot even if someone is guarding him.Now it just caused some influence on him, and he died down.

However, what Durant didn't expect was that he didn't want to catch the ball and the Thunder's offense suddenly stalled.It's not enough to let Westbrook, a stupid young man, support the offense. Brooks can only send Harden to take over the team's offensive firepower again.As for Durant, it would be better to take a rest. He believes that the Thunder's three-back lineup will not lose to the Timberwolves.

Facing the former old buddy, Xu Hao is very familiar with it.Although they only played together for one season at the beginning, Xu Hao is very clear about Harden's various little habits. If he can handle Durant, is he afraid that he can't handle Harden?
Everyone knows that Harden is a left-hander, and he will habitually go left when he breaks through. Xu Hao basically catches every one.As long as Harden is not allowed to rush to the inside, as for shooting, the height difference between the two is not huge. Xu Hao only needs to stretch out his hand to interfere. Harden's shooting ability is not enough to allow him to shoot when his sight is blocked. Still hits.

Under Xu Hao's leadership, the Timberwolves' players carried out an inhumane siege on the Thunder.No way, although McHale's lineup is a bit weird, it puts most of the defensive champions in the team on the field.Except for Love who is not very good at defending because of his style of play, the other four are the most defensive players in their respective positions.

For a while, the rising momentum of the scores of both sides slowed down. Of course, the Thunder must be much slower than the Timberwolves, because it is difficult for them to send the ball to the basket, and it is not bad to be able to increase their points piecemeal.What's more, they don't have an advantage in the interior configuration. Love and Jordan are two rebounders. Now that they see so many rebounds, is there any reason not to grab them?

The Thunder just scored more than 20 points in the entire second quarter, which is extremely rare for them with three players.During the game, they may not be as good as their opponents on the defensive end, but they can always maintain a considerable advantage on the offensive end. But now the Timberwolves put most of their energy into defense, and the Thunder instantly don't know how to score.

For such a situation, McHale is also dumbfounded.Before the game started, he never thought of defending the Thunder. The reason why he agreed to Xu Hao to let him defend Durant was also to hope that he could limit the opponent's output a little bit. Unexpectedly, Xu Hao directly pressed Durant. He died, and incidentally, the team burst out with great enthusiasm on the defensive end.But McHale is not pedantic. Since he can win by defense, why not try it?

With the endorsement of the coach, the Timberwolves pushed their defensive capabilities to the extreme in the second half. Except for Fisher, who came off the bench and could rely on his rich experience to occasionally throw in a three-pointer, everyone else was stuck in the quagmire. Shooting and hitting the iron is even more common.In the third quarter, the Thunder's shooting percentage was only 30%, and the point difference had widened to double digits.

The poor performance of the home team made the fans very disappointed. Many of them booed the Thunder players when they received the ball, obviously very dissatisfied with the players.Of course, the Thunder players also felt very embarrassed. This was the first time they were booed by the fans at their home court. Under the shame and anger, the movements of their hands became more and more unconsciously.

Soon the game was cut into fragments, and the referee had to whistle continuously to suppress the anger of both sides.But to put it bluntly, the Thunder's anger value is higher. The Timberwolves have Xu Hao and Love holding the ground. Most of the players are taking advantage of their mouths. It has nothing to do with me.

Although this is the home court of the Thunder, the referee cannot open his eyes and tell lies. The Timberwolves players can score through free throws without any problems, and the gap between the two sides has further increased.According to Xu Hao's idea, the Thunder should make a desperate counterattack in the fourth quarter, and he had already prepared in advance. However, what he saw was a Thunder with a broken mentality, and there was no such thing as counterattack.What they faced was more and more fouls and the seemingly never-ending frenzy of their opponents.

This state is obviously not enough for the Thunder to beat the Timberwolves at home. The final score was 101 to 88. This is the second time the Thunder scored less than 90 points in a single game this season, which also caused public outcry.You must know that the Timberwolves have given everyone the impression of a strong offensive team this season, but they did not expect their defense to be so good.

After winning this game, the big score in the series became 3 to 1. The Timberwolves held the match point ahead of time. As long as they win another game, they can easily eliminate the Thunder and advance to the Western Conference Finals.Regardless of whether it is the Spurs or the Lakers who get another spot, they are their old opponents. As long as they beat the Thunder, they are sure to reach the finals!
(End of this chapter)