The strongest unicorn in basketball

Chapter 218
"Shh!"

Lip ignored Battier's defense and hit a mid-range jumper after receiving the ball.

"Damn it, Prince went crazy tonight. He scored 18 points in the first quarter!"

In TNT's studio, Kenny Smith was explaining seriously, while Barkley and O'Neal on the side had already quarreled.

"See? Prince played just like me tonight!" O'Neill was proud.

"Like you? Can you shoot three-pointers?" Barkley looked contemptuous.

"I'm talking about momentum, momentum!"

"It's just a problem with the Heat's defensive strategy against Prince. They let Prince shoot too easily!"

"The score has come to 33:19, are you sure the Heat just have a problem with defense?"

"There is no problem with their offensive tactics. The opportunities came up, but they didn't make shots. I believe they can't be so inaccurate all the time, just like Li Pu won't be so accurate all the time!"

The quarrel between the two was undoubtedly because of Li Pu.

Because the team needed Li Pu to play more aggressively, Li Pu got a lot of shots.

As for the Heat, most of them still focus on defending Li Pu alone, which makes Li Pu very aggressive on the offensive end, especially in the low post. No matter who the Heat defends, the effect is the same.

With full firepower on the offensive end, Li Pu played at the peak level of his career.

Although his career is currently only two years...

In contrast to the Heat's offense, their outside shooters were collectively inaccurate in the first quarter tonight, which opened the point difference to more than 10 points by the Thunder. However, as Barkley said, you can't expect the Heat to be so inaccurate all the time!
Sure enough, in the debate between the two, at the beginning of the second quarter, Chalmers received Wade's breakthrough and hit a three-pointer, helping the Heat set off a wave of counterattacks.

Since Li Pu played the entire first quarter and was resting off the court at this time, relying on the inside line composed of Ibaka and Collison could not prevent Wade's impact at all.

In desperation, Brooks had no choice but to bring Li Pu back up after a 3-minute rest.

With the start of the finals, Brooks has reduced the number of rotations, and the game has progressed to the present, and there are only 8 rotations left.

In addition to the starting five, plus Harden, Collison and Lin Shuhao.

Among them, Lin Shuhao can only play for less than 10 minutes, so to be precise, it is a rotation of 7 and a half people.

Of course, the Heat are not much better than the Thunder. In addition to the starting five, the only players who can play are Norris Cole, James Johnson and Dunis Haslem.

The series has reached its current level, and the bayonet has long been popular, and the rest time for the main players of both sides is getting less and less.

The 3 minutes Li Pu rested was probably the only 3 minutes he could rest tonight!

When Li Pu came back, there were only 9 points left.

Perhaps it was just after returning from the court that Li Pu's hand felt a little cold, which caused him to miss the first attack when he returned to the court!
Li Pu missed the mid-range shot, the rebound was controlled by the Heat, and they quickly pushed back.

Unlike the Thunder who want to slow down the tempo, the Heat are obviously the one that wants to push the offense up!
The Heat's lineup is relatively small, with both center and power forward positions shorter than the Thunder's.

Therefore, they must play fast, using speed and space, to punish the Thunder.

This attack ended with a dunk by James, who had just returned to the court and also only rested for 3 minutes, and the point difference was further narrowed to only 7 points.

At the stage when the heat was about to start, it was Li Pu who stood up again.

Harden missed a three-pointer from outside, Li Pu grabbed the offensive rebound, took advantage of the situation and dunked Bosh, and caused a foul by Bosh!
As O'Neill said, Li Pu played really O'Neill today!

This does not mean that Li Pu's style of play is very similar to O'Neal, but that this kind of lethality against the Heat in the low post and dominance in the penalty area is very O'Neal!
The Heat's inside line was almost penetrated by Li Pu alone!

But even so, the Heat's pincer attacks were still rare. They seemed to be sure that they would not be beaten to death by Li Pu, and they continued to bear the price it brought.

With Li Pujia's free throw, the Heat's offensive stagnated, and the game between the two teams fell into anxiety again.

After a few rounds, Li Pu asked for the ball in the low post again. At this time, Bosh was almost numb by Li Pu.

In short, after thousands of contacts, he is now more familiar with Li Pu's back and Li Pu's butt than his wife's.

After getting the ball, Li Pu was about to play back. At this moment, he found that Battier in the bottom corner actually helped defend!

Is the Heat, who have defended alone for so long, finally going to change their defensive tactics?
Li Pu has been waiting for this moment, seeing Battier come to double-team, he immediately distributed the ball.

After receiving the ball, Ibaka shot immediately. Although Battier interfered late, it was a pity that Ibaka missed the goal!
Fortunately, there was Li Pu under the basket. Although he was blocked by Bosh, he managed to use his long arms to shoot the ball to the outside.

After Harden received the ball, he scored another three-pointer from the outside.

Unfortunately, not yet!

It was Li Pu again, who grabbed the offensive rebound again, and then successfully caused Bosh's foul on the layup.

Only then did Li Pu finally understand why the opponent suddenly flanked him.

Since the beginning of this quarter, the Thunder team has collectively missed the outside line. Therefore, the Heat intend to leave Ibaka empty and try to double-team themselves.

After all, Ibaka's three-pointers at this time, whether it is output or efficiency, are not enough to pose a threat to the Heat.

And this time, if it wasn't for Li Pu's superb offensive rebounds, they almost achieved their goal.

Sure enough, the opponent's strength, experience and discipline are really better than Thunder!
Li Pu made two free throws and continued to help the Thunder maintain the score.

At this time, although the Thunder is the leading side, the situation has begun to develop in a direction that is beneficial to the Heat.

When the Thunder is in a scoring drought, no matter what the scoring method is, as long as they can score, it can help the Thunder to continue their firepower and prevent them from being taken away by the opponent.

Fortunately, Li Pu was not alone and helpless. At the critical moment, after Li Pu was flanked, he gave the ball to Durant. Durant hit a three-pointer from the outside and gave Li Pu the most favorable support.

In this way, at the end of halftime, the score had come to 49:46, and the Thunder temporarily led by 3 points.

Throughout the second quarter, the Thunder scored a total of 16 points, of which Li Pu and Durant scored 12 points.

It can be said that if it weren't for the efforts of the two, the Heat could completely tie the score in this quarter.

(End of this chapter)