All-round Athlete

Chapter 915 Winning in the away game

Four days ago, the Thunder team lost to the Lakers in an away game. For the Thunder team, an away game loss is not unacceptable, and playing the Lakers is not a key battle.

But back at home, the Thunder is absolutely unwilling to lose again, especially for a team that is aiming for the championship. It just lost to the Lakers four days ago. He suffocated his strength and prepared to take revenge.

Coach Brooks of the Thunder has also learned how to behave. He knew that the big lineup was too bad for the Lakers, so he changed his lineup again, replacing Perry Jones with Andre Robertson as the starter. In this way, Ibaka has returned to his familiar power forward position.

Andre Robertson is also a new player. He is very good defensively, but his offense is relatively poor. He is 2.01 meters tall and played power forward in college. He belongs to the kind of player who can grab rebounds and play diligently. blue collar player. After coming to the Thunder, he was asked by the coach to play shooting guard and small forward.

Because he is a player transformed from a power forward, Robertson has almost no shooting ability, let alone a three-pointer. Apart from layups and dunks, he has almost no means of scoring. As a shooting guard or small forward these days, it's very rare to not be able to shoot threes.

Robertson's role on the court is mainly defensive. In the last contest between the two sides, Meeks' outstanding performance was one of the magic weapons for the Lakers, and this time the Thunder allowed Robertson to start mainly to limit Meeks.

...

Looking at Robertson in front of him, Meeks pouted with some disdain.

"A first-year rookie who came out of nowhere, dare to guard against me! Let me teach you a lesson!" Meeks began to dribble while thinking.

However, no matter how Meeks fakes, Roberson is a team that sticks to Meeks.

"Damn it, where did such a clingy guy come from? He's quite strong!" Meeks failed in a breakthrough, and was stopped by Meeks just as he started.

"Jordi, pay attention to 24 seconds!" Wesley Johnson's voice sounded, and Meeks had no choice but to choose a strong shot. Fortunately, the ball bounced twice on the basket and finally scored.

"Andre, you defended well! We were just lucky for this shot, and we will continue to work hard!" Durant stepped forward and patted Robertson on the shoulder.

The encouragement of the team boss boosted Robertson's morale, and then he worked hard on defense.

It was only after this incident that Meeks discovered that the rookie whom he looked down upon was so difficult to deal with. Meeks was stared at by Robertson no matter whether he was in a desperate state or in a state of holding the ball.

0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers, 1 foul, this is Andre Robertson's data in the first quarter. He played a full 8 minutes in this quarter. As a starter, it is a bit too pitiful to play such a stat in 8 minutes, and it can be called the worst starter. But he managed to lock up Meeks, who made only 1 of 5 shots in the first quarter. The Thunder sacrificed a No. 2 offense in exchange for Meeks' misfire.

In terms of the inside line, Ibaka, who returned to the inside line, also brought a lot of trouble to Gasol. With Ibaka's help in defense, Adams gradually entered the state, although he would still be blocked by Gasol. Lied to a foul, but compared with the previous game, Gasol's offense is no longer as sharp as the previous game.

The benches of both sides came on stage one after another. On the Thunder's bench, Caron Butler, Reggie Jackson, Perry Jones, Collison, "Old Fish" Fisher, Lamb, this lineup must It has more depth than the current Lakers. Fortunately, the Lakers' Nezmore and Farmar played well, barely resisting the offensive of the Thunder's substitute.

60 to 46, the Lakers trailed the Thunder by 14 points in the first half.

...

In the locker room, the morale of the Lakers did not seem very high.

Zhang Guan looked at his teammates around him, and at this moment, he suddenly had a little understanding in his heart.

In the previous few games, although the Lakers also encountered some "hard stubble", there were always role players who stood up, such as Meeks, Bazemore, Farmar, and even the "Little Kobe" Marshan Brooks, both have some good plays. They are not the core of the team, and their sudden explosion is more like an additional bonus. As long as there is a role player who plays well, Zhang Guan and Gasol only need to play normally, and the Lakers can win.

But today's situation is different. The Lakers' role players seem to have all been beaten back to their original shape. There is nothing outstanding in terms of performance on the court or personal data.

"Maybe this is the reason why the team pursues big-name stars. Excellent role players are important, but in many cases, it is the big-name stars of the team that decide the outcome! Now, it's my turn to score."

Zhang Guan thought about the current score. The 14 points behind made Zhang Guan feel a little pressure. After all, the opponent was the Thunder. It was not an easy task to recover 14 points from the Thunder.

...

Westbrook stared straight at Zhang Guan. In the first half of the game, he almost gave up attacking and assisting, and went all out to guard Zhang Guan. It seems that the effect of doing so is pretty good. Zhang Guan is on top. Didn't play too well in the half.

"With a 14-point lead, as long as we can continue to limit Zhang Guan, this victory will definitely belong to us!" Westbrook was thinking about it, but Zhang Guan suddenly stopped.

One step outside the three-point line, Zhang Guan jumped up and shot, hit!

"Zhang Guan, a long-range three-pointer! Go in!"

Westbrook frowned unwillingly. This kind of long-distance three-pointer is indeed a bit unsolvable.

Durant broke through and made a foul and made two free throws. When it was the Lakers' turn to attack, Zhang Guan did follow suit. He also used a breakthrough method to cause the Thunder's inside foul, and then made two free throws.

Westbrook was even more upset, and unknowingly stepped up his defensive actions.

Zhang Guan took the ball again and made a direct breakthrough, while Westbrook went up with his body without flinching.

"Zhang Guan, beat Westbrook hard, oops, how did you use your hands, the ball was fouled!" Amidst the commentator's sigh, Westbrook's hand movements were a bit awkward, and an obvious foul was caught by the referee.

"The defense was too hasty, Russell was not calm!" Durant also felt that Westbrook was a little too hasty.

But Westbrook, like an irritated calf, continued to confront Zhang Guan head-on.

Westbrook's defense still relies too much on his body. After only three minutes, Westbrook fouled again. Coach Brooks had to ask for a timeout to let Westbrook calm down.

It's not that Westbrook has no defensive skills. On the contrary, his defensive skills are still very good. However, Westbrook's physical fitness is even better. At least in normal games, Westbrook doesn't need to use any defensive skills. He can use his body alone. To defend the opponent, so gradually, Westbrook's defense has become relying on body and consciousness, and he is not used to using skills to defend.

Back from the timeout, the Lakers unexpectedly replaced Thackeray.

Although Thackeray is a sophomore, he is really inferior to Adams in the first grade in terms of personal ability. Except for air cuts, Thackeray has almost no scoring means. Inaccurate shooting, poor rebounding, lack of help defense speed, put such a player on the field, so that the Thunder coach Brooks did not understand at all.

"Beep!" The referee blew his whistle, and Thunder center Adams stood there with an innocent face.

Durant threw the basketball on the ground with some disappointment. He had already figured out how to organize the offense with the ball, but was interrupted by the whistle when he was about to launch it.

"Thackeray fouled Adams! He fouled as soon as he came on the court. This Thackeray is really useless except for being tall. It would be more appropriate for him to stand on the bench and wave a towel." Ibaka pouted, muttering language.

Now Adams is not in charge of offensive tasks in the Thunder team. He is more like a rebounder. Standing at the free throw line for the first time.

Adams walked to the free throw line. In his rookie season, Adams was as anxious as Jordan in terms of free throws. Later, his serve rate was relatively average. Popovich also resorted to cutting Adams tactics many times.

Sure enough, Adams missed both free throws, Zhang Guan rushed up and grabbed the rebound, turned around and ran up, playing a fast break.

"Zhang Guan, fast attack!" Just as Ibaka reacted, Zhang Guan had already rushed to the midfield position.

Westbrook and Robertson rushed over at the same time, and Zhang Guan was obviously bullying that Robertson was a rookie and focused on Robertson's side.

"Foul, stop him!" Westbrook yelled, and Robertson understood and immediately reached out.

"Wait a minute! Don't foul!" Westbrook changed his tone again, because he found that Zhang Guan was about to layup, and fouling at this time was tantamount to sending Zhang Guan to the free throw line.

But Robertson had already made his move. He grabbed Zhang Guan's arm, but he couldn't affect Zhang Guan's start. Zhang Guan jumped high and threw the ball like a blue frame.

"The goal is scored, and the penalty is added! Robertson is still not enough, he was tricked by Zhang Guan into this foul!" the commentator said.

Westbrook walked up to Robertson and said, "The next time the reporter commits a foul, the reporter must be more ruthless. We must not give Zhang Guaner a chance to add one!"

Robertson nodded, but he felt very wronged in his heart. He was indeed ruthless in the foul just now, but he insisted on not holding Zhang Guan. But as the younger brother and the lesson of the second master, Robertson dared not refute in the slightest.

The Thunder attacked with the ball again, but the whistle sounded again.

"It's Thackeray's foul again? Adams made a free throw... Wait a minute, I understand, this is cutting Adams!" No matter how slow Coach Brooks was, he had already reacted at this time.

Adams is just a first-year rookie. Although the No. 12 pick is also in the lottery zone, no one will plan tactics against him. But today, the Lakers came to hack Adams, which immediately made Adams feel flattered.

The earliest slashing tactic was aimed at the "big shark" O'Neal, so it is also called the slashing tactic; later, in order to deal with Howard, another team used the "slashing tactic". But both O'Neal and Howard are the top centers in the league. O'Neal's dominance needs no introduction. Howard is also known as the number one center in the league. Now, such a tactic is used on a first-year freshman. No one would have expected it.

Adams walked to the free throw line again with an inexplicable expression. This time Adams made two free throws, and the Lakers took advantage of the next attack to score two more points.

In two rounds, the Thunder were chased back by the Lakers by four points. Judging from this result, this slashing tactic was very successful.

"It's the Thunder's turn to attack again, will the Lakers still want to cut?"

However, this time, the Lakers did not kill anyone. Westbrook accidentally passed the ball and was intercepted by Zhang Guan.

"Zhang Guan made a quick break, there is no chance for this ball, Durant and Ibaka have already returned to defense. Just rushed to shoot a three-pointer and scored!" The commentator took a deep breath, and then said: "This ball was hit Beautifully, Zhang Guan took advantage of the Thunder's defensive breakthrough, made a time difference, and rushed to shoot a three-pointer. Now the score is 82 to 81, and the Lakers actually overtook the score!"

...

The score was overtaken, and Westbrook began to look impatient. Facing Zhang Guan, he really wanted to win.

I saw Westbrook holding the ball, breaking through with Ibaka after a pick-and-roll, but Durant, who had just ran out of the open space, was directly ignored by Westbrook. Westbrook faced the defender and scored the ball.

This is entirely a manifestation of personal ability. In terms of individual singles with the ball, Westbrook is indeed more suitable than Durant. However, this kind of bayonet attack relying on personal ability is not good news for the Thunder.

And Zhang Guan's long-range three-pointers are also continuing to open.

"Zhang Guan, hit the three-pointer again. Currently, Zhang Guan's three-pointer is 6 of 12, 50% hit rate!"

"Zhang Guan made 7 of 13 three-pointers!"

"Zhang Guan made 8 of 15 three-pointers! He has already scored 38 points!"

"Zhang Guan, a three-pointer! Go in again!"

...

"Is it Zhang Guan or Curry in front of me? On average, Curry shoots 8 three-pointers in a game. Zhang Guan has already shot 16 three-pointers in this game! Hey, come on, the 17th One! Fortunately, I didn’t enter!”

Westbrook was frightened by the three-pointer and broke out in a cold sweat. The score at this time was 122 to 120, and the Lakers were still leading, and the game time was less than 40 seconds. If Zhang Guan made another shot, the Thunder would basically be able to surrender.

However, the Thunder did not protect this rebound. Gasol was really tough on the key ball. Ibaka just didn't grab Gasol. After Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound, he took a small step and scored the ball.

124 to 120, the Lakers lead by four points.

The Thunder chose to attack. They planned to score a two-pointer first, and then try to defend the next ball as much as possible, but the Lakers returned to defense very quickly, and Zhang Guan also focused on Westbrook who was holding the ball.

At the same time, Bazemore rushed up to double-team Westbrook. Originally, Zhang Guan alone made Westbrook feel more difficult, but now with the addition of a tougher Bazemore, Westbrook's pressure suddenly increased.

"Oops, the ball is going to be lost for Russell!" Durant realized that the situation was not good, and immediately rushed up to respond, but Durant was still a step too late, and Westbrook still lost the ball.

The referee's whistle blew and a scrimmage was awarded. This penalty actually helped the Thunder, but who let them be the home court! What's more, the leader at this time is still the Lakers, still leading by 4 points, and a scrimmage is not enough to determine the final outcome.

Westbrook and Zhang Guan competed for the ball, and the result can be imagined. Although Westbrook's bounce is very good, compared with Zhang Guan, the world champion in long jump, it is really not the same level.

This time, Westbrook lost the scrimmage and the Lakers controlled the ball. The Thunder had no choice but to foul. After the Lakers made two free throws, the point difference widened to six points.

The Thunder missed a three-pointer and fouled again. The Lakers made two free throws and maintained a 7-point lead. The Thunder missed another three-pointer and gave up the game.

The score was fixed at 127 to 120, and the Lakers defeated the Thunder away.

In the next two games, the Lakers still have to play against the same team in a row. This is an opponent that is as terrifying as the Thunder, but has more background than the Thunder: the San Antonio Spurs!

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