NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 204: Unable to win, start to attack? Leonard's worldview is completely destroyed

"Oh!"

Ibaka slapped the basketball to the ground, and Durant on the outside reacted in time, immediately grabbed the basketball and launched a fast break.

"Too strong! Ibaka!"

"It's time to teach this old man a lesson! Make him give up his seat!"

Listening to the cheers of the fans, the usually calm Duncan couldn't help but feel a little irritated.

It would be fine if Lin Chuan just hated him.

Is Ibaka going to ride on his head too?

Do you really think his offensive ability has degenerated to nothing?

"Alas!"

Ibaka showed off his biceps to the whole audience.

The Spurs continued to attack, and Duncan, who was unconvinced, tried again to receive the ball in the low post and beat Ibaka.

Don't think that Ibaka is a defensive stalwart and a first-team defensive player, but he is a player who is about to retire.

But playing basketball for so long has made him experienced, and beating these young guys is like playing.

In the first four games, after switching to power forward, Ibaka had a hard time defending himself and even committed several fouls himself.

He didn't believe that this guy could suddenly evolve so much in just forty-eight hours.

Duncan took the ball and started to post up again, looking back with his peripheral vision for an opportunity.

This time, he used his shoulders to move toward the free throw line, made a fake move, and then immediately changed his steps, turned toward the baseline, and swam to the other side of the basket for a layup.

"I guessed it a long time ago!"

Ibaka turned around with a grim smile, took a step and jumped up.

In the eyes of Duncan's disbelief, Ibaka once again blocked the goal that he was sure to score.

"Fuck! What is Duncan doing? Why is he competing with his opponent? How can a man of such age still get so carried away?!"

Popovich on the bench was furious and immediately stood up and called a timeout.

Seeing Duncan walking towards him, Popovich scolded him mercilessly.
"Tim, how old do you think you are? 20? I really didn't expect you to fight so irrationally!"

Duncan knew he was in the wrong and said nothing.

Seeing this, Popovich was too lazy to say anything to him and waved his hand.
"Fight well next time and don't get sick again."

Although he said this, Popovich couldn't help but touch his chin when he looked at Ibaka who was full of pride on the other side. He felt strange inside.
"This guy couldn't defend against Tim before, right? We have to see the situation. If he loses the game because of this, he can be ruthless and do something."

At the same time, on the Thunder's bench, Lin Chuan stood next to Ibaka, smiled and patted his shoulder.

"How about it, am I right?"

"That's right, brother! I'll make him pee his pants this time!"

Ibaka gave Lin Chuan a thumbs up and admired him very much.

He really didn't expect that after a special training, he could block Duncan twice in a row!

You know, that's Duncan! The greatest power forward in history!
For two consecutive goals, he tried so hard to score but was blocked by me. Doesn't this mean that my defensive level has improved a lot!
His eyes were full of gratitude when he looked at Lin Chuan.

If he hadn't helped him like this, Duncan might have started to increase his output in today's game.

The timeout ended quickly and the game started again.

The Spurs continued to attack.

After two passes, the ball returned to Duncan in the low post.

After Popovich's stern reprimand, Duncan, who had lost his temper before, did not choose to attack by himself. Instead, he headed the ball twice and quickly passed it again to Parker who was in an open position.

Parker rushed into the restricted area and was about to make a layup, but facing Lin Chuan's huge hand that covered the sky, the ball avoided the block and had to hit the basket.

Lin Chuan then grabbed the rebound, launched his own offense in the frontcourt, and scored a 2+1 against Split.

Seeing this, the Spurs had no choice but to give up attacking the inside and use the outside attack to stretch the Thunder's defense.

However, the efficiency of the outside line is ultimately inferior to that of the inside line. On the Thunder side, Durant and Lin Chuan, who adjusted their mentality, were able to continue to output both inside and outside.

After the first quarter, the Spurs were the lagging team.

24: 33.

Lin Chuan and Durant scored 14 and 13 points respectively, and their combined score was higher than their opponents' total score.

Seeing that the team couldn't score and the timeouts didn't improve the situation much, Popovich felt a headache.

So far in this game, he did not see the Spurs playing as smoothly as they did in the previous two games.

On the contrary, this one was quite constipated.

This won't work...

Popovich stared at several players from the Thunder, with a strange look in his eyes.

Maybe their team has to do something for this game.

The break between classes is only five minutes.

Popovich made full use of this time and told everyone on the team his thoughts.

"So far in this game, they have been suppressing us in all aspects. It seems that we have to reduce their manpower."

"Is it really okay? Coach?! You'd better not do this and damage other people's careers!"

Leonard, who was still a rookie, was also hearing this kind of practice for the first time and was inevitably shocked.

But soon, he heard the speech from his teammates.

"In my opinion, it would be best if Durant or Lin Chuan could go down."

Parker touched his chin, ignored Leonard's shocked objection, and gave his advice.

"That's true, but if we take action against them, it would be too blatant. The Alliance will definitely investigate."

"That makes sense."

Popovich nodded, then looked at Duncan.
"Tim, what do you think is the best way to do it?"

Leonard also looked over.

He just heard his most respected coach say such terrible words, and the two GDP guys looked as if it was nothing special, which shattered most of his filter about the Spurs.

Now, all his hopes are placed on Duncan.

If it was his most admired senior Duncan, he would not go along with them and would play the game with his strength!
Duncan seemed to notice Leonard's expectant look and smiled back at him.

The next moment, Duncan slowly opened his mouth, and his words made Leonard feel like he was falling into an ice cave.

"Well... I think if we want to be inconspicuous and still be effective, we should get rid of Ibaka."

"This guy blocked 3 shots in the first quarter and was also very good at rebounding. He also restricted me today and it was very difficult to play against me. Let's get him."

Leonard didn't expect Duncan to be such a person, which made him feel ashamed and angry.

The player whom he admired the most couldn't beat his opponent and he was actually thinking about how to get rid of the opponent's right-hand man!

He had previously thought that the two Thunder players' claims that they used off-the-board tactics were pure bullshit, and when he was caught by reporters for an interview before the game, he seriously defended his team.

It seems that the other party is not wrong at all!
Duncan didn't know that at this moment, his juniors were completely disappointed with them, but continued to talk along the way.
"Ibaka likes to jump around, so find a way to knock him down with a tripping kick." "Just do it!"

Popovich snapped his fingers and pointed at Dio.

"It will be your turn later. You will be the one to destroy Ibaka, Dio."

Dio pointed at himself, his expression like a bitter gourd.

"Ah? Am I going to do this? Then I will be the one to take the blame after the game..."

Popovich said in an unquestionable tone,
"Of course it's you! You're also a power forward! You can match up with Ibaka in position, so it would be reasonable for you to take advantage of the situation to defend him. Wouldn't it be obvious if you let someone else do it? The opponent would see right away that we're using tricks!"

"I said it as if few people would notice it. Anyway, I was the one who got scolded in the end..."

Seeing Popovich staring at him, Dio shrank his neck, swallowed his words, and raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it."

Leonard saw that they had decided on this vicious approach after just a few words, and he felt disgusted and immediately felt extremely disappointed with these seniors whom he once respected so much.

........................

Six minutes later, Ibaka was lying on the ground, holding his legs with a painful expression.

There was chaos on the field and the game was forced to stop.

The fans in the stadium also started to roar.
"Fuck! You can't beat me so you just cheat, right?"

"You dare to destroy our team's Ibaka, and you will also destroy their team's Duncan!"

"Fuck, can this team get out of the league? They only know how to use tricks!"

Looking at everything in front of him, Leonard felt a chill on his back.

Just now, Ibaka had a rare opportunity for an open mid-range shot, and he immediately seized it and shot after receiving the pass from Lin Chuan.

However, when he landed, he stepped on Dio's foot.

What happened next was that he fell to the ground and covered his legs in pain.

Leonard knew that this open space was deliberately left by the Spurs so that he could catch the ball and shoot, making it easier for Dio to step on him.

He watched all of this on the field.

As someone who knew everything, he just felt extremely guilty. Although he was not the one who stepped on Ibaka and injured him, he also felt the same way.

But Leonard found that the other four teammates on the court, GDP and Dio, seemed extremely innocent at this time.

It seemed as if they had never expected this to happen.

Dio also loudly explained to the referee that he did not trip on purpose, but just did not notice it when defending, which led to Ibaka's injury.

There was even sadness in his expression, and he was ready to step forward to inquire about Ibaka's situation.

If GDP hadn't pulled him away, several members of the Thunder were ready to punch this hypocritical guy in the face.

After reviewing the video, the referee could not find any fault and had to let Dio off.

Ibaka can only blame himself for his bad luck.

This set of tactics was too scary, and even Leonard felt countless fears in his heart even though he was a teammate.

Lin Chuan's eyes turned red and he felt very angry as he looked at Ibaka lying on the ground.

He vaguely felt that something was wrong.

"Damn the Spurs! Damn Dio!"

After Ibaka was carried away, the morale of the Thunder team dropped a lot.

Even Durant's performance on the court was much worse because he was worried about Ibaka's injury, and he was even a little distracted.

The hit rate of the next few shots dropped rapidly and he started to miss shots continuously.

In the second half of the second quarter, all the pressure on the offensive end was on Lin Chuan.

At the end of the first half, the Spurs even caught up with them.

The score came to 58:67.

Lin Chuan's personal score reached 30 points, but he was not happy.

"Fuck, Ibaka is injured, Duncan is freed!"

In the locker room, Brooks was deeply upset.

In this game, Duncan avoided Lin Chuan and switched to the power forward position.

Facing the substitute Collison, he was like an ancient beast, eating him alive.

By the halftime, Duncan's statistics suddenly reached 13 points and 7 rebounds, which seemed like a last hurrah.

Lin Chuan recalled what had happened just now, and no matter how he thought about it, it seemed wrong.

In this game, the Spurs fell behind in the first quarter for the first time in a long time.

Considering their previous two off-the-board moves at home, it is normal for them to want to do something else.

and……

"Durant, you were in a bad state later on. Why didn't the guy on the other side steal the ball from you or block you like he did before?"

Durant scratched his head, he was also a little confused.
"Yeah, I dribbled the ball to my feet on the last possession, but he seemed a little dazed, so I grabbed the ball back and made a layup. Otherwise, that goal would have been another four points, and it would have been even more difficult for us in the second half."

Hearing these words, Lin Chuan had an idea in his mind.

It's normal for Durant to miss Ibaka when he's injured, but why would this kid be distracted?

After much thought, Lin Chuan came to a conclusion.

He also knew that this was planned in advance by the Spurs, and he knew that the Spurs wanted to secretly harm the Thunder players.

As a rookie of the Spurs, this was the first time he had seen such a thing.

So when he saw Ibaka was really injured, he was shocked. He didn't expect his teammate to actually do this.

Out of guilt for Ibaka's injury, he would also wonder if this would cause an injury that would affect someone's career, which would cause him to be distracted and inattentive like Durant.

In any case, there is only one explanation.

Thinking of this, Lin Chuan was convinced in his heart that they must have played dirty tricks this time and deliberately injured Ibaka.

This is probably because I taught Ibaka the secret of defending Duncan, so they did this...

For you, I will beat the Spurs in this game and avenge you.

Lin Chuan thought to himself.

His eyes also turned cold.

"Well, never mind. Even though Ibaka was unlucky and got injured, which increased the pressure on our defense, it's not like we can't win this game. We..."

Brooks was about to arrange the tactics for the second half, but was interrupted by Lin Chuan.

"Coach, give me the ball in the second half, I'll beat them."

Looking at Lin Chuan's determined and angry eyes, Brooks was stunned for a moment, then nodded firmly.
"Go ahead, teach them a lesson with basketball, defeat them with your real strength, and let them know that you can't stop us with such small tricks. We will always be the ones who deserve to win!"

He believed in Lin Chuan, just like in Game 5 of the finals last year.
(End of this chapter)