Standing pretty old

Chapter 842 X Factor, Unpredictable Future
Battier, it's Battier again!
Unexpectedly, at the critical juncture of the Western Conference finals, it was actually the veteran Sean Battier who had averaged less than 6 points per game in the playoffs this season and stepped forward to win the game twice.

It can be said that it was due to luck to perform well once, and using strength to kill people at the last moment twice is definitely a manifestation of strength.

When Brooks was asked about Battier's two consecutive three-pointers to kill the game, he also had to admit that the Thunder did not pay enough attention to Battier's defense and paid a high price for it.

After the game, Ruan Erniu sent praiseworthy words: "Some people say that the Clippers are my team and Paul's team, and some people simply say that the Clippers have me as a core, but Sean's performance reflects the All prove that we are one!
When we finally chose Sean in the summer, many media said that we just won a spare tire for the Heat, a veteran who was about to have a mixed pension contract.

What I want to say now is that I hope the team can have more similar old-to-future mixed pension contracts. "

2:0 behind the Thunder is not completely hopeless, they need to return to Oklahoma City to regroup, because they still have two away games to play.

Relatively speaking, there is not much pressure on and off the Clippers.

Leading 2:0 in the Western Conference Finals means that they have won 10 consecutive victories in the playoffs this season.Judging from the current situation, the possibility of a comeback that OKC wants is also very slim.

On May 5, US time, the Clippers arrived at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, which was also called the Ford Center Arena before the start of the season.

Before the start of G3, many media reporters and basketball experts speculated that Brooks might make a change in this game, but the result was still disappointing.

Scott Brooks has done a good job of cooking chicken soup and cultivating newcomers, but things like changing on the spot are really not something he can do.

The Thunder haven't changed, and neither has the Clippers.

In the third game of the Western Conference finals, the two sides continued to use the first two starting games. As for whether they can make changes in the game, it depends on how the actual game progresses.

As the team leader, Durant said frankly in an interview before the game: "We have no retreat. In the two home games in Oklahoma City, we must do our best to win, otherwise it will be difficult for us to become the Western Conference champion."

This is the second consecutive season for the Thunder to reach the Western Conference Finals. Last season they lost to the final champion Dallas Mavericks. This year they certainly don't want to repeat this mistake.

Back at home, the Thunder took a deep breath and wanted to make a difference.

In the jump ball session, Ibaka replaced Perkins in the middle circle, and he was one step ahead of Jordan, and successfully dialed the ball to his own camp.

This is a fairly clear attitude, and OKC in G3 will definitely fight for every ball!
Westbrook held the ball across half court and sent the ball to Durant immediately. Durant raised his hand and scored a three-pointer.

"boom!"

Missed.

Ibaka made a leap. Although he failed to get the offensive rebound, he touched the basketball one step ahead of Er Niu...

Sefolosha, who was on the wing, happened to be standing on the ball path, and when he got the basketball, he immediately pulled out his hand.

A very resolute shot, which is hard to see in the past few games.

"boom!"

Unfortunately, still missed!

Er Niu took the opportunity to protect the backboard and ended the Thunder's offensive round.

The overall situation of the first quarter was almost equivalent to OKC's first offensive round.

The Thunder players played very aggressively. Unfortunately, they only bloomed but failed to bear fruit. They often gave up their chances, but they still seemed unsure when they put the ball into the basket.

However, the Clippers are not much better.

It seems that they haven't adapted to the hoop in the Chesapeake Energy Arena, and there is also a lot of iron strikes, but they are slightly better than the Thunder in terms of shooting percentage.

At 24:22, the Clippers in the away game also played a low score, leading their opponents by only 2 points in a single quarter.

After a quarter of fierce confrontation, the Clippers no longer had the calmness they had at the beginning of the game.

The Thunder, who were two games behind, really didn't think about giving up. They were really ready to fight the Clippers in G3.

Erniu was even more uneasy. The Thunder's shooting percentage in the first quarter was not high, but they shot too resolutely. Their fearless style is the easiest way to turn the tables.

It's like playing a MOBA game. A low-end player who has been killed several times in a row still does not give up and rushes forward, and in a very accidental team battle, he got the wrong entry time.

As a result, after a fight, maybe the game will be reversed. If you are lucky, you may have a miraculous record of four kills, five kills, etc.

The first one to stand up is none other than James Harden!

Faced with Nick Young's serious defense, Beard fired all his firepower. In just a few rounds, he made sudden shots and led the team to an 11:3 attack wave, gaining the lead in one fell swoop.

In the past two games, the Thunder have never won a lead of more than 5 points in the second quarter.

投篮2投2中，其中三分球1投1中，罚球4罚4中，单节砍下9分的哈登是这一节雷霆发挥最好的球员。

More importantly, Harden's outstanding performance alone drove the efficient performance of all Thunder players, even though he himself did not get too many assists.

It is impossible to completely handle Harden with Nick Young alone. This is the consensus of the Clippers coaching staff after G2.Therefore, the Clippers have formulated a game strategy for Nick Young from the very beginning that uses offense instead of defense during the rotation time.

Yang Shaoxia's performance tonight can't be considered too bad. After all, he made 3 of 1 three-pointers and 2 of 2 free throws. He still scored 5 points in a single quarter, but he did not give Harden the defensive end tonight. cause too much impact.

After all, Harden's superstar quality is there. It is possible to lock him up in a game, but it is almost impossible to defend him every game.

The reason why superstars are superstars is because their offensive performance can be adjusted through their own subjective consciousness.

To put it more simply, they are like an advertiser in the movie "Big Man" said: "It has super error correction function!"

If Harden alone played well, then the Clippers would never be helpless, but in the following period, not to mention Durant, Westbrook, even Perkins, Sefolosha, Iba Card and others were able to hit the ball repeatedly.

Bloom more, and all of them bear fruit!

The Clippers' performance on the offensive end is not bad. After all, Er Niu and San Pao both contributed a lot of points, but under the indiscriminate attack of the Thunder Shotgun, the Clippers still suffered the most severe offensive since the start of the Western Conference Finals. .

At 25:32, the Clippers lost 7 points in a single quarter.

After halftime, 49:54.

The Clippers trailing by 5 points at halftime is not much, but this is the first time they have trailed their opponents in the first two quarters since the start of the Western Conference Finals.

Coach Brooks said in an interview at midfield: "I ask the players to play more resolutely. We must go all out to win a victory. There are no three Thunder players here, only a group of OKC players who want to win."

This is the secret chicken soup that Brooks carefully cooked for G3. For this kind of coach who is good at stimulating the talents of young players and giving room for the growth of future superstars, empty talk about tactics is meaningless.

It's not so much that this kind of people don't understand tactics, it's better to say that they firmly believe that sometimes chicken soup is far more effective than tactics that don't know whether they can be played out in the end.

The progress of the game in the first half also basically proved this argument.

The Thunder is a team full of talent. When the talent of this group of people can be fully utilized, in terms of individual ability alone, the Clippers as a whole do not have as obvious an advantage as G1 and G2.

The side that won doesn't need to be blamed, but the Los Angeles people who won two games in a row are not without weaknesses.

When Er Niu, San Pao, Nick Young, and Battier performed brilliantly, the performance of the Clippers' other role players was actually suppressed. Sex is still lacking.

If you have to find a place on the Clippers that is not as good as the Thunder, the degree of running-in is undoubtedly the biggest hidden danger of LAC.

After all, they are a team that has just been formed this season, and people like Yang Shaoxia just joined before the trade deadline.

The Thunder team with the three young men as the core has already cooperated for more than one season.

At the desperate moment, Brooks dared to mobilize all players to use their lives, and he was also sure that the Thunder could play their integrity at this time.

In the Clippers locker room, Thibodeau roared over and over again about the importance of the defensive end, and drew on the tactical board again and again, the black lines almost not covering the entire tactical board.

Not to mention the Clippers players, it's hard to say whether Thibodeau is dizzy or not.

Er Niu stood up again and said to everyone: "Clear your heads, remember, we were only 5 points behind at halftime, don't think this is a disaster.

Thunder is not a weak team, such a counterattack is reasonable.

What we need to do is to stabilize our position and compete with our opponents one by one. I want to emphasize that we should be more determined like the Thunder in the first half, whether it is shooting or defense. ! "

Bull's words only slightly eased the emotions of the stunned Clippers players, but the dominance of tonight's game is still firmly held by the Thunder.

After a short break, the main players of both sides quickly returned to the court.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the meat grinder-like defensive battle began again.

Wrestle, fall, stand up, wrestle again...

Such scenes can be seen all over the court for a while, and the referee's whistle is only slightly relieved for a while. In the blink of an eye, the two sides are fighting together again.

Under such a strong defense, almost no one can maintain a normal shooting percentage.

However, the biggest X factor of this field appeared!
On the offensive end of the Clippers, Er Niu made a mid-range shot, and Ibaka sealed it to the extreme...

"boom!"

Strike it!

Durant took the backcourt rebound, immediately pushed forward with the ball, and launched a defensive counterattack.

It is difficult to score points in fierce positional confrontation, so the transition between offense and defense is the best opportunity to increase points.

Leonard has a weak presence on the offensive end, but his defense against Durant in this game is not bad.

Before halftime, Du Shao encountered Kawhi's death entanglement, and the two sides continued to confront each other. In the standard of whistleblowing in the playoffs, this level of physical contact is not enough to be called a foul.

Durant swings his arm back, but Kawhi pulls back fast enough.

Du Shao, who failed to cheat the foul, also disrupted his shooting rhythm. He didn't force his shot and immediately sent the ball to the flank.

Lurking there is Sapo Sefoloza.

Dry pull!

"brush!"

This is not the end, because Sefolosha's performance has only just begun.

It is said that the Thunder focused more defensive attention on Er Niu, San Cannon, and even Nick Young and Redick. In fact, the Clippers focused most of their defensive attention on Durant , Harden, and Westbrook.

Especially Westbrook, once he chooses to hit the basket, Er Niu and Jordan's contraction speed is astonishingly fast, which is also the key to the Clippers' ability to defend against the Turtles in two consecutive games.

But in this game, the Thunder's X factor finally awakened. No one would have thought that it wasn't the Thunder's three juniors, Ibaka, or even Lao Yu, but Sefoloza, who is good at defense, would suddenly stand up.

"Brush!", "Brush!"

In a single quarter, he made 5 of 3 three-pointers and made free throws. Sefolosha scored 12 points in this quarter, helping the Thunder establish a double-digit lead in one fell swoop.

The Clippers in the quagmire had difficulty moving forward. Ruan Erniu scored a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in a single quarter, but this was not really a decisive help for the entire team.

After three quarters, the total score of the two teams in G3 came to 70:82, and the Clippers' trailing score has reached 12 points.

Both sides scored low points in this quarter, but the Thunder at home obviously have an advantage.

In the last quarter of the game, during the rotation time, Nick Young ushered in an explosion. After he hit two consecutive three-pointers, he made another mid-range shot, which brought the score within 5 points in a short time.

But James Harden is also not a vegetarian. Huzi rushed to the basket with the ball several times, facing Yi Jianlian and Martin's supplementary defense, and scored 2+1 twice.

After that, Dewey's second young master and the girl-picking combination returned to the field at the same time. The two sides either hit the iron together, or each hit each other's ANSWER-BALL.

Just when everyone thought the game would be dragged into the final decisive stage, Sefoloza, the X-factor of this field, stood up again. Under the defense of Battier, he made an air cut, or held the ball, and assaulted the basket The basket is in hand.

Er Niu and Jordan were held back by Ibaka and Perkins, and they failed to stop Sefoloza once.

As Sefolosha hit a three-pointer with a difficult three-pointer, Battier hit another three-pointer, and the point difference between the two sides came to double digits again.

The game time is running out quickly, and the Clippers have been unable to recover.

96:102, even though Er Niu scored two three-pointers in the following moments, it still failed to help the team save the defeat.

2:1, the Thunder pulled back a game at home in G3!

(End of this chapter)