The strongest unicorn in basketball

Chapter 219 Miraculous Performance
"We made it too easy for the opponent to score, and the defensive tactics were not played out at all..."

In the locker room, Brooks was chattering.

Li Pu was panting heavily at this moment, and seemed to be listening to Brooks, but in fact he didn't listen to anything.

Due to taking too many shots on the offensive end tonight, the threat on the defensive end will inevitably decline.

This makes the Thunder's interior defense decline tonight, which is why Brooks went crazy.

"I know, I will work hard to help defend in the second half! Try to do a good job with Prince's share!" After Brooks finished speaking, Ibaka was the first to stand up and express his opinion.

"Defense is a matter for the entire team, not you alone! I will defend Dwyane in the second half!" Westbrook said the same.

"Russell, your attitude is commendable, but at the beginning of the second half, we will play zone defense!"

Zone defense, as the name suggests, is joint defense.

It is divided into position zone defense and counterpoint zone defense. If it is combined with marking, it can also be changed into mixed defense (mixed defense).

Unlike man-to-man defense, which is aimed at defending against people, zone defense is mainly aimed at defending the ball.

Generally, each team member is required to be responsible for defending a certain area in division of labor, closely defending the ball and offensive players entering the area, and cooperating with his teammates to defend, and organically link each defensive area with a certain formation.

The zone defense is generally aimed at the opponent's inaccurate mid-range and long-range shots and the threat of the inside line is relatively large, which can effectively limit the opponent's breakthrough.

The Heat's outside touch in the first half was mediocre, and most of the points came from the breakthroughs of James and Wade, which is why Brooks used zone defense.

After the start of the second half, the Thunder really changed their defensive formation to a 1-2-2 zone defense.

相较于国际赛场上大行其道的3-2联防，雷霆队所使用的1-2-2联防是目前NBA最为流行的联防阵型。

The main difference is that a 3-2 zone defense requires a standing center, but in the NBA, there are three seconds of defense as an example, so the center cannot always stand in the penalty area like in the international arena.

Since the position of the 1-2-2 zone defense is very similar to that of man-to-man defense, the Heat players did not notice the change in the defensive formation at first.

It wasn't until James broke through that he realized that the opponent was actually using a zone defense.

There are all people in front of you, and there is no room for breakthrough!

But James reacted very quickly, almost subconsciously distributing the ball to Chalmers at 45 degrees on the weak side.

For the zone defense, although it can effectively prevent the opponent from breaking through, his two 45-degree three-point points have become the weak point of the formation.

So, I saw that Chalmers directly chose a three-point shot in the open space.

"Duang!"

The basketball strikes the iron and misses!
The rebound was accepted by Li Pu, and the Thunder dropped one.

On the offensive end, Li Pu hit a hook, one mile and one outside, and the Thunder widened the point difference to 5 points.

Then the Heat attacked, facing the Thunder's zone defense.

This time, Chalmers still received the ball.

However, because Sefolosha was not thrown away, this time he blocked Chalmers for the first time.

"Shh!"

This time, however, Chalmers scored again with someone defending him.

If you don't get in a big open position, but you get in against someone's shot, how can you justify it?
In this way, the point difference was narrowed down to only 3 points.

The Thunder attacked, Durant's shot was interfered by James, and he missed!

The Heat counterattacked again.

This time, Wade, who dribbled to the frontcourt, did not break through, but directly chose a three-point shot from outside the three-point line at the top of the arc!
"Bang!"

With the basketball going into the hoop, the Heat managed to tie the game!
As a last resort, Brooks requested a timeout.

Back from the timeout, the Thunder were indeed on the defensive end and canceled the zone defense.

This marked the Thunder's defensive change in these few minutes as a failure, and the price was that they lost their only lead.

After the third quarter, the Thunder's outside line still did not improve, and the offense could only rely on Li Pu and Durant to support it.

At the end of the third quarter, the score had come to 75:79, and the Thunder trailed by 4 points.

From leading by 14 points in the first quarter to now trailing by 4 points, the Thunder lost 18 points in and out of the entire second and third quarters.

And Li Pu's performance tonight is not bad. He has scored 32 points and 15 rebounds in three quarters, but because the team never opened the perimeter, the Thunder team was extremely passive.

In this case, for Li Pu's outstanding performance, the Heat did not flank so frequently.

Even if you explode like this, we can still win, so why pay such a high price to pinch you?

In this way, the game finally entered the fourth quarter.

Li Pu not only played the entire third quarter, but also appeared on the court with Durant and Westbrook at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Obviously, the current situation of the team does not allow the three of them to rest at all.

In contrast to the Heat, only James and Battier are currently on the field in the starting lineup.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Li Pu used a dunk to score 2 points for the Thunder on the inside.

Then on the defensive end, he blocked Norris Cole for a layup, and after rebounding, he threw the ball to Westbrook, who was on a fast break, and the latter made a layup.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Thunder tied the score.

The Heat paid the price for their carelessness.

Afterwards, Coach Spoelstra knew his mistakes and corrected them, and immediately replaced Wade and Bosh.

The match that followed could be described as tragic.

The limbs of the two sides are no longer touching, but colliding!

The arms of Wade and James were covered with bloodstains, and Li Pu's face was even a little red and swollen. Almost none of the main players of the two sides was dishonored.

Once again, Li Pu received the ball inside. At this time, Li Pu had already scored 40 points.

Who would have thought that the first 40+ in his career was scored in the finals!
At this point the Thunder have extended their lead to 4 points.

As time dwindles, every ball becomes critical.

Therefore, even the Heat didn't dare to let Li Pu play singles like this anymore.

Thus, Li Pu's long-awaited flank attack finally appeared!

Battier rushed towards Li Pu immediately, missing Ibaka in the bottom corner.

And at this moment, Ibaka moved to a 45-degree angle for the first time.

Immediately afterwards, when Battier's pincer was formed, Li Pu passed the ball to the bottom corner immediately. At this time, it was not Ibaka who appeared in the bottom corner, but Durant who threw off the defender through the pick-and-roll.

Durant made no adjustments after receiving the ball, and directly shot a three-pointer!
"Bang!"

Basketball hollow into the net!

With this goal hit, the Thunder widened the point difference to 7 points. With less than 2 minutes left before the end of the game, the Thunder almost won the game.

In the end, the score was fixed at 108:104. The Thunder had a 4-point advantage in the away game, defeated the Heat, successfully won the game, and tied the total score of the series to 2:2.

李普全场出战45分钟，24投18中，砍下全场最高的43分，外加21篮板5封盖。

(End of this chapter)