The strongest unicorn in basketball

Chapter 284
On May 5, the fourth game of the series between the Kings and the Thunder kicked off in Saskatchewan.

Before the start of the last game, the league held an MVP award ceremony for Li Pu.

The moment when Li Pu raised the MVP trophy aloft became the history of the Kings that will be remembered forever.

The MVP returned to Sacramento after half a century.

It's a pity that such a night of universal celebration finally gave Li Pu a mileage loss, losing to the Thunder by 6 points.

And tonight, the Kings, who had come to the edge of the cliff, made their final struggle, and they changed!

They replaced Giannis with Patterson.

I really don't know whether to call Coach Brown bold or conservative. He obviously hasn't used this starting lineup for a long time, but he sent it today.

But Patterson's strength is not enough to serve as the starter.

Coach Brown changed his lineup, and it turned out to be a lineup that had already been eliminated. What's the point of such a change?
"Shh!"

Patterson made an open three-pointer from the bottom corner!
However, the reality has slapped these so-called "experts" in the face, such a change is really useful!

Since the Thunder's defense was very effective for Li Pu in these two games, they naturally continued the defensive strategy of man-to-man + zone defense in this game.

But tonight is different.

After replacing Giannis, all five Kings players on the court can shoot three-pointers. It just so happens that the Kings' three-point shooting rate tonight is not bad.

So after the opening, they punished the Thunder's defensive tactics with consecutive three-pointers and beat the Thunder 15:8.

This kind of start proves that the Kings' evolution is effective.

The Thunder, on the other hand, didn't seem to think that the other players of the Kings had the strength to kill themselves, and turned a deaf ear to the Kings' change.

So, after the first quarter, the Kings beat the Thunder 30:16 by 14 points.

The Kings made 5 three-pointers throughout the first quarter, with a shooting percentage of over 60%.

This kind of performance forced the Thunder to give up their persistence and change their tactics.

But in this way, Li Pu stood up.

Without the zone defense, Li Pu was like no man's land, overwhelming the Thunder inside.

If you encounter double-teaming, you should decisively distribute the ball. Opportunities are everywhere outside. The players of the Kings are as simple as shooting training!
At halftime, 60:42, the Kings have led the score to 18 points.

Just when all the Kings fans thought that the game was basically won, the situation changed suddenly in the second half. Durant made 5 of 5 shots in the third quarter and scored 14 points alone, leading the Thunder to set off a wave of counterattack.

In this way, the Thunder beat the Kings 32:22 in a single quarter, narrowing the point difference to less than 10 points in one fell swoop.

Entering the final quarter, the Thunder's offensive remained unabated, once narrowing the point difference to only 5 points!
At the critical moment, Li Pu and Butler each scored a three-pointer and finally sealed the victory!

At 108:104, the Kings tied the big score of the series at home to 2:2. The two sides returned to the same starting line and returned to Oklahoma City to fight again!

On May 5, the crucial Tianwangshan battle between the Thunder and the Kings was held at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

In this game, both sides continued the lineup of the previous game.

Tonight, the Thunder still adopted the man-to-man + zone defense tactics at the beginning. I have to say that Coach Brooks is a real hitter. How was he beaten by the Kings in the last game?
The result is naturally that the Kings opened fire from the outside and hit 6 three-pointers again in the first quarter.

The Kings led the Thunder by 34 points at 25:9 in the single quarter.

In fact, in the final analysis, Brooks does not believe in the strength of other players of the Kings.

I think their three-pointer in the last game is just their luck, it is impossible to be so accurate in every game!
However, the Kings are so accurate in every game!
Seeing that the Kings seized the opportunity given to them by the Thunder, in the second quarter, Brooks chose to give up his previous success.

Instead, he opened up his posture and competed with the Kings for stars, lineups, and offense!
If you want to say that the Thunder has any advantage over the Kings, it is naturally that they have more stars than the Kings, their grades are higher than the Kings' stars, and they have more experience in the playoffs than the Kings.

Only Li Pu is the real star of the Kings team. Although the others have good potential, they are still too young after all.

On the other hand, the Thunder, Durant, Westbrook, and even Cousins ​​are all well-known stars in the league, especially Dewey. In terms of star quality, they are completely on the same level as Li Pu, the top star in the league. .

Therefore, from the second quarter onwards, the two sides have been completely reduced to a meat grinder-like Shura field.

The defense abandoned complicated tactics, purely to open up the space, the star singles, relying on the quality of the players!

As a result, the two sides fought extremely fiercely, almost to the point where the bayonet saw red.

Throughout the second and third quarters, both sides fought fiercely, and no one had the upper hand.

Although the Thunder team has a lot of stars, they really have no good way to restrict Li Pu, and Li Pu's touch is too hot tonight, and he really plays a team alone!

So after three quarters, the score was 86:80, and the Thunder still led by 6 points.

Entering the fourth quarter, almost all the main players of both sides were on the field from the beginning, and everyone unexpectedly chose not to rest!

Coach Brown is fucking Li Pu, and coach Brooks is fucking Durant and Westbrook. The head coaches of both teams can use the stars of both sides to die.

And when it came to this quarter, Li Pu, who had already swung with all his strength for two quarters, finally couldn't move anymore.

He has played more than 32 minutes in three quarters tonight, and ran away for another 45 minutes tonight.

The long playing time, coupled with the round-robin battle of several major insiders of the Thunder against Li Pu, constantly gave him physical confrontation, and Li Pu had to maintain efficient scoring in this situation.

After all, Li Pu is a human being, not a god!

If you are human, you will get tired!
Li Pu separated Cousins ​​with his left hand again, hooked his right hand, and it was almost a must-go goal before, but it hit the front of the basket and bounced out.

Not only that, the rebound was also taken down by Cousins.

Subsequently, Cousins ​​​​passed the ball to Westbrook.

As if he didn't know the slightest fatigue, Westbrook took the ball all the way through, reached the inside of the Kings, and dunked with one hand!
The Thunder overtook the score!

Although Butler pushed Sefolosha back and scored a key goal, regaining the lead.

But then Durant hit a mid-range shot against Li Pu as if the god of death came, completely killing the king.

105:104, the Thunder won the crucial Tianwangshan battle at their home court.

Li Pu played for 45 minutes and scored 41 points and 17 rebounds. He gave it his all, but in the fourth quarter, he only scored 4 points.

Obviously, someone in the team needs to stand up and help him!
(End of this chapter)