NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 22: Thunder Fights
James increased his intensity and prepared to catch up.

Westbrook held the ball, Lin Chuan went forward for screen and roll, but Chalmers, who was reminded by Wade, reacted faster, quickly took a step back and bypassed the screen and roll.

Westbrook was just about to rush into the basket for a layup when he ran head-on into Chalmers.

But Westbrook had already thought about it. He took two steps forward, and when he was about to make a layup on the third step, he threw the ball to the right rear.

A muscular figure rose into the air, and Ibaka was ready to dunk over the Heat point guard.

But Wade was quicker.

The muscles in his legs exploded, and in an instant he jumped faster than Ibaka, snatching the ball first and then throwing it hard towards the Thunder's basket.

Wade is also an expert at long passes. His aim is extremely accurate, and the ball flies towards the basket as if it is positioned.

The ball is fast, but someone is faster than the ball!
James had already rushed up, and the wooden floor creaked under his feet.

It's like a tank with a sports car engine installed.

Before the ball hit the ground, James was already under the basket.

Then he jumped up, grabbed the basketball and let it go gently, with his soft wrist dragging the ball into the basket.

The assist from the two of them across the court turned into an alley-oop!
James roared loudly when he landed.

The Heat beat the Thunder 7-0 in one minute and chased 7 points in a row!
Now the score is only 11 points apart, and the Thunder's huge advantage is shrinking rapidly!
It was obvious that the Thunder were a little confused after being beaten, so Brooks quickly called a timeout and asked everyone to take a break.

"Slow down the pace. The more the opponent wants to catch up, the less anxious we should be."

"The opponent's conflict seems to have been resolved. James has increased the intensity. We should not take it lightly. The opponent is the strongest player in the league!"

Brooks clapped his hands vigorously to remind everyone.

"The opponent's perimeter defense is very high. We must pay attention to our passing route so that it is not cut off again. We should find a way to pass the ball to Lin Chuan and let him punish the opponent."

"Good coach!"

Everyone said in unison.

"James and Wade are really scary when they defend with all their strength."

During the break, the two hosts named Yang started chatting again in the broadcast room.

"Yes, we stole the ball three times in a row and made three fast breaks, which stopped the Thunder team that was leading by a large margin in the first half."

"Durant, who was in hot form, is probably going to cool down after all these shots."

"It looks like the Thunder will have a hard time in this game."

"That's right. Once the top stars get serious, they can decide the direction of the game."

"I hope Lin Chuan can perform well."

The timeout ends and the game continues.

After the Heat scored 7 points in a row, the home fans became much quieter.

The Heat on the other side also looked more and more aggressive.

The Thunder served the ball, and this time it was Durant who served directly to Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan dribbled the ball across half court.

The Heat didn't dare to press for a while.

After the failure of the last game, the shadow of Lin Chuan's last-minute goal was still lingering in their minds, so they dared not move forward rashly.

Lin Chuan passed the ball to Harden, and then Harden passed the ball back to Lin Chuan.

In the middle position, seeing Haslem hesitate for a moment, with his hands raised and not moving forward, Lin Chuan immediately stopped and made a jump shot at a 45-degree angle.

2 point hit!
Interrupted the Heat's attack wave.

"That Chinese center, use a double team to limit him."

James gave orders in a low voice so as not to let the Thunder discover their intentions.

Heat's turn, it's James again.

Outside the three-point line, James continued to hold the ball.

Durant took a step to prevent a breakthrough.

Seeing that Durant looked down on his three-pointer, James jumped up and shot.

Durant was unable to defend and barely made any interference.

Come in again!

The Heat are only ten points behind!

Durant was a little helpless.

James' shooting has improved a lot this year, even shooting 36% from three-point range in the regular season.

Facing James, Durant has to choose one of two bottles of poison to drink.

Compared to James' extremely high shooting percentage at the basket after his bulldozer breakthrough, the 36% three-pointer is actually the less toxic one.

But Durant was unlucky this time and the shot was scored after just one step.

The original lead of almost 20 points was reduced to only ten points in just two minutes.

And this is only the third quarter.

Thunder's turn.

Seeing the opponent's defense rotate and turn into a zone defense, Harden frowned in embarrassment.

Lin Chuan stood one step outside the free throw line. Although there was no one guarding him specifically, the two inside defenders were not far from him.

But we have to pass it on.

Lin Chuan caught the ball and two people quickly came over.

Lin Chuan wanted to pass through to an empty space, but when he glanced around, it seemed that everyone was being stared at and there was no real empty space.

If he didn't decide, the double team would come. Lin Chuan made a hasty shot and the ball hit the front frame.

But Westbrook rushed to the basket the moment Lin Chuan shot, jumped up before everyone else, grabbed the frontcourt rebound, and then forced himself to score again.

"Fuck, this is going to be hard."

Lin Chuan retreated to defend, he was a little annoyed after being beaten for several rounds.

Once the Heat got serious, their offense and defense were almost at full strength, which made Lin Chuan feel very uncomfortable.

The game gradually got out of the Thunder's control and became a little difficult to play.

"Fuck, I'm really a jinx."

On the bench, after seeing the Thunder being intercepted continuously and beaten 9-2, Perkins couldn't help but reflect on himself, thinking that it was his own bad mouth.

"Hey, it's not your fault. No matter what, with James and Wade on the other side, this is bound to be a tough battle."

Brooks waved his hand, indicating that he should not blame himself for such a fictitious thing.

The situation on the field is still not optimistic.

Even though the Thunder got a little respite after Westbrook's momentum helped them grab the frontcourt rebound and score, the third quarter clearly became James' personal show.

He dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, took two steps back to give himself room to accelerate, and then he didn't even do a cross dribble fake to change direction, he just took steps forward and rushed inside.

After shaking off Durant, he rushed to the basket and faced Lin Chuan's blockade, and made another extreme layup.

Lin Chuan's hand was about to touch the ball, but he just couldn't press it down. Durant behind him also touched his hand, allowing James to make another 2+1.

After scoring the goal, James listened to the shouts from the audience, raised his left hand for a layup, and showed off his biceps.

"Fuck, this guy is really strong."

Lin Chuan complained quietly.

"No, your predecessor Yao Ming also said that being hit by James feels like being hit by a brick."

Durant responded with a shrug.

"You're right. I almost got a stitch in the side. By the way, Boss, don't let him rush in so easily."

"My goodness, be careful next time."

Fortunately, James' free throw level has always been poor and he missed the free throw. This time it was another classic 2+0.

The Thunder can't seem to limit him anymore.

(End of this chapter)