Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

Qi Tian looked at Durant and suddenly had a guess in his mind, but whether this guess was correct or not would need to be verified before he could know.

With more than 3 minutes left in the first half, the Pacers forced the point difference to be evened, and Durant was finally ready to show off his weapons.

He dribbled slowly in front of George, then suddenly started to use his own speed to pass George and rush to the basket.

Hibbert quickly came over to defend and knocked the basketball out of Durant's hand.

"Dudu!"

The referee immediately blew the whistle, signaling Hibbert's shooting foul, and sent Durant to the free throw line.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Durant easily hit two free throws, and after George stole the ball and dunked to equalize the score, he once again helped the Thunder take the lead.

"It's so strong!"

Durant's performance was naturally fully displayed on the screen, which attracted a burst of admiration from O'Neal and Barkley.

Next, Qi Tian challenged Martin to score a jumper, and Durant responded with a sudden assist and Martin's jumper, which even amazed the host in the studio.

"This year seems to be the year that Durant will become a super giant."

O'Neill said with some emotion.

Barkley also rarely agreed with him.

In the first half of the year, Durant only relied on his offensive scoring average of 28.5 points per game in the playoffs to lead the team past the Spurs and five games against the Big Three Heat. By the second half of the year, Durant was already like LeBron.

Like James, there are signs of his transformation into a point forward.

"Maybe this season's finals will be a second round for the Thunder and Heat."

After the Bulls lost Rose, almost all fans knew that no one in the East could stop the Heat from defending their title.

Although there are many strong teams in the Western Conference, the only ones who are confident of entering the Western Conference Finals or even advancing to the Finals are the two teams in the Western Conference Finals in the first half of the year, the Spurs and Thunder.

"Um?"

O'Neal gave Barkley a funny look. He was about to sneer at him for changing the court, but he heard Barkley continue:

"Of course, if the Pacers can defeat the Heat in the Eastern Conference, then neither the Spurs nor the Thunder will be able to stop them in the finals!"

"In other words, next year's champion must be from the Eastern Conference."

Barkley remembered his stance on siding with the Pacers and forcibly changed his tune.

Seeing how uncomfortable he was making it up, O'Neill let him go.

Back on the court, Durant's defense is indeed not as intimidating as Ibaka inside, but it can put enough pressure on George. George's jump shot is perfect.

Fortunately, Westbrook also returned the favor on the offensive end without expanding his advantage.

"seven!"

West collected the basketball, turned around and handed it to his teammates. Qi Tian advanced with the ball and came to the frontcourt.

"Defend!"

"Defend!"

The Thunder fans at the scene immediately supported the home team and hoped to bring enough pressure to the visiting team.

Qi Tian and Hill looked at each other, passed the ball, and then ran quickly. Just as they were about to take advantage of the opportunity to brush away Martin and run into the open space, they were fouled by Martin.

"Dudu!"

"Substitute!"

After the referee blew the whistle, Thunder coach Brooks quickly made a substitution and replaced Martin, who had committed three fouls.

The Pacers, who lost a lot of offensive time, chose the method they were best at. After West attracted the defense in the low post, he quickly passed the ball back to Qi Tian in the corner. Qi Tian caught the ball and shot, hitting the ball accurately.

"50-49."

Westbrook attacked with the ball and handed the ball to Durant who came to the high post.

Qi Tian lurked in the corner, watching Durant's movements, and suddenly whispered:

"Attack yourself!"

Sure enough, Durant forced himself past George, faced West, and made a sudden jump shot.

"clang!"

The basketball was in a fight, but Ibaka grabbed the offensive rebound and made a tip-in.

With the cheers of Thunder fans, West singled out Ibaka, scored while causing a foul, and successfully fought back.

2+1!

"Whoosh!"

"53-51."

In the last minute, Durant broke through with the ball, causing George to foul. Vogel replaced George, who committed the second foul, and gave him an early rest.

Although Durant only made one of two free throws, without George, he faced Qi Tian's defense and easily made it while causing Qi Tian to foul. However, he still missed the free throw and only helped the team take the lead by one point.

Westbrook rushed to the basket and grabbed the offensive rebound, ran to the corner with the ball, turned around in the air, and hit West with a three-pointer.

"Dudududu!"

A scene that made Pacers fans' blood pressure high occurred. The referee called a foul on West's three-point shooting!

West easily hit three free throws to open the score.

"53-57."

"Give me!"

When George came off the court, Qi Tian immediately took over the ball. After receiving a pass from Sam Young, he directly faced Soprosa and shot a three-pointer.

"Whoosh!"

Basketball hollow hit.

"56-57."

"Hoo~~!!"

Pacers fans breathed a sigh of relief. With Qi Tian's three-pointer, at least the Pacers would not enter the second half with too much of a point difference.

In the last 20 seconds, the Thunder naturally did not give their opponents a chance to attack. Durant controlled the ball at the top of the arc and killed time.

"He'll... attack!"

Qi Tian looked at Durant and made a judgment in his mind. He directly ignored the possibility of Durant passing the ball. When Durant made a jump shot, he jumped up decisively to complete the interference.

"clang!"

The basketball jumped out of the frame, and the time in the first half of the game was completely cleared.

The fact that the half game ended like this did not surprise the fans. Of course, Kevin Martin, who scored 22 points in only 15 minutes of the half, really stole the limelight from the others.

"Hey, I may have to take back my judgment that the Thunder's strength has declined after trading Harden."

O'Neill whispered,

"If Martin can continue his performance today, then for Westbrook and Durant, who both need the ball, replacing Harden, who is grabbing the ball, does not seem to be a loss-making deal!"

After all, the three brothers all need the ball, which has forced the Thunder to have Harden come off the bench as a response.

Martin, a pure shooter, may be more suitable for the current Thunder team than Harden.

After returning to the locker room, Vogel prepared to fine-tune his defensive strategy.

"We still have to focus on guarding Westbrook and Durant. We must guard Kevin Martin and not give him any open opportunities."

Qi Tian immediately stood up to acknowledge his mistake and said:

"It's my problem. I will follow him closely in the second half."

"It's not because Martin takes up too much energy."

Vogel was very tolerant. After all, Qi Tian scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half, which was already the Pacers' second-highest score.

"We still need to pay more attention to assisting defense against Durant."

Qi Tian suddenly remembered, turned to George and said:

"I do have some experience in defending Durant, you can refer to it."

"What do you think?"

George was a little curious, but he didn't expect Qitian's summarizing ability to be so amazing.

Of course, this is also due to the difference in defensive abilities between the two. George can focus on all defensive aspects, but Qi Tian needs to make choices and give up some things.

"That's it..."

Qi Tian suggested in a low voice.