One Guard

In the second quarter, taking advantage of Nowitzki's leg injury, the Thunder counterattacked aggressively. .Fastest update access: щщщ.79XS.сОΜ. Although Carlisle made several adjustments, the Mavericks still haven't found a rhythm.

22 to 28, this is the score of the second quarter of the game between the two sides. The Thunder managed to tie the score and kept the tie until the end of the first half.

Although the score between the two sides is now even, Carlisle is very clear that the initiative of the game has been firmly controlled by the Thunder. If the game continues in the second half, it will only be a matter of time before the Mavericks fall behind.

With the score on the surface of a tie, but actually already behind, Carlisle and the Mavericks players hurried back to the locker room one by one, without giving reporters a chance to interview.

Westbrook, who is in a good mood, doesn't seem to be shy when facing the reporter's camera.

"The rhythm of the Mavericks has been 'disrupted' by us. If we can seize the opportunity in the second half of the game, the victory will be kept in Oklahoma!"

This young No. 0 defender doesn't know what restraint is. From the guy's dressing style, he will not be bound by the eyes of the world. On the basketball court, Westbrook's personality is even more insolent. Especially now that the team is gaining momentum, winning the Mavericks is really not just a fantasy for the Thunder.

When Yiyang pushed open the door of the locker room, Dirk was no longer inside. According to the team doctor, Nowitzki is not only a sprained ankle, but also seems to have suffered a certain degree of damage to his knee. Now, further examination is being done at the local hospital.

Hearing the knee, Carlisle and many other Mavericks players nodded their heads. It is self-evident how important the complex joint of the knee is to a professional athlete. Nowitzki is not young anymore, and now his knee is injured, which is not good news for him and the entire Mavericks.

Although Nowitzki's injury seems to be not optimistic, but the game is still going on. Carlisle's task now is to lead the team out of the siege. Nowitzki's injury, he can only put aside.

Looking back at the team's performance after losing Dirk Nowitzki in the second quarter, it's clear that the Mavericks' offense and defense were "messy" like headless chickens. Especially on the offensive end, without Nowitzki, the Mavericks seem to have lost their offensive goals. Whoever gets the ball doesn't seem to be too sure.

Now Carlisle's task is to establish a core. Only when the team has a core around which to start playing, will it not become a muddy water.

Thinking of this, Carlisle looked up at the players who were sitting in front of him wiping sweat and changing their jerseys. Kidd is the most qualified among them. He is a historical point guard who once led the Nets to achieve good results as a core player.

But now Kidd, whose physical function has declined seriously,

Perhaps it is more suitable to be a helper, but it is definitely not suitable to use him as a core. Kidd's scoring ability is no longer enough to support him as a core player.

Marion? Marion is stable enough on the offensive end and very strong on the defensive end. Moreover, as a veteran with good strength, Marion is also very prestigious in the locker room. But Marion is also too old, and his offensive methods are mainly fixed-point jumpers, which is easy to be targeted. If tactics are set up around Marion, I'm afraid Brooks will be able to crack it in a few minutes.

After looking around, Carlisle's eyes finally fell on the No. 1 rookie who was changing his jersey. The tireless running in the first half of the game had completely soaked the jersey he was wearing before. Although he is still very young, he is the only player who is most suitable to be the core player now!

"Yeah, in the second half of the game you will control the ball!" Carlisle made a decision, picked up a marker pen and began to arrange tactics on the tactical board with Yiyang as the core.

I hope the Mavericks can walk out of the Chesapeake Energy Arena alive today...

※※※

When the cheerleaders performed at halftime, the Thunder fans seemed to be very interested. Seeing the news that Nowitzki will not play for the next game, every Thunder fan relaxed. Nowitzki can no longer play, just based on the performance of the Mavericks, to win this game, it is not worth mentioning for the Thunder Twins.

Thunder fans are relaxed, and the players are full of confidence. Westbrook, in particular, seems to have begun to succeed in his revenge plan.

After the start of the second half, Carlisle put Kidd on the bench and sent the old pair of Yiyang and Terry. The small forward and center positions have not changed, and Marion and Chandler are still the first to play. But in terms of power forward, Carlisle replaced the veteran Brian Cardinal who didn't play long, and Cardinal's height of 2.03 meters and weak ability to protect the frame made him by no means an excellent fourth position. Candidates.

Fortunately, Brooks did not let Ibaka continue to play, but brought back Jeff Green, who performed well on the offensive end. Jeff Green is not a pure four, but Van Gundy in the commentary still sweated for Cardinal.

The game restarted, and the Thunder went first. Seeing that the person standing in front of his eyes this time was not Kidd but Yiyang, Westbrook immediately became excited.

But he knew that if he insisted on fighting Yiyang to the death, it would definitely end badly. So this time, Westbrook suppressed his desire to attack and passed the ball to Durant.

After Durant received the ball and held the ball high above his head, Marion had no chance to threaten the basketball at all.

Taking advantage of this time, Jeff Green had already leaned against Cardinal to take his position and raised his hand for the ball. This combo forward's low-post skills are also quite good. Green is still very confident in playing Cardinal, an old guy.

Cardinal has the nickname "The Administrator" because he often does chores such as helping the team mop the floor and cheering up the basketball. Therefore, no matter which team Cardinal goes to, he is deeply loved by his teammates.

But Cardinal's strength is indeed mediocre. In terms of low-post defense, he simply doesn't have enough strength to compete with Green.

Green took two steps back and made progress easily. Just when this guy turned over and shot a jumper proudly, he found that Tyson Chandler had already covered him, which greatly interfered with his shooting. And Cardinal, the "good old man", gently pulled Green's jersey, making his shooting uncomfortable.

In this way, Green's confident attack ended in failure. Brooks was yelling at the referee that his player was being violated, but how could the experienced Cardinal make a small move for the referee to see?

The "Administrator" is indeed a nice guy, but that's only for his teammates.

Carlisle set a defensive trap for Jeff Green, but he didn't expect this guy to step on it.

After successfully completing the defense, Chandler grabbed the rebound and threw the ball to Yiyang without hesitation. Yiyang made gestures as he advanced, like an experienced star point guard.

Looking at Cardinal who was running slowly at the back of the team, many commentators shook their heads. This old guy's poor mobility is actually no longer suitable for playing in the NBA. People are saying that instead of using Cardinal, Carlisle is better to stick to Petro. At least the Frenchman can give the Mavericks some help on the defensive end.

The slow Cardinal didn't attract anyone's attention, and the Thunder's defense naturally didn't take him seriously.

Yiyang stopped outside the three-point line and took a look at the situation. After beckoning to Chandler for a pick-and-roll, Westbrook immediately became excited! Is this Chinese going to start confronting Zi himself?

The pick-and-roll is in place, and Yiyang starts to speed up immediately! But on the inside, the Thunder team has already laid a net, just waiting for you, Yiyang, to break through!

Westbrook immediately bypassed the pick-and-roll and stuck behind Yiyang. Jeff Green also retreated to the basket from the wing, and then made up the defense. The Thunder center Krstic directly guarded the three-second zone, guarding the basket tightly.

Attacked by three sides, Yiyang seems to have been deeply involved in Brooks' defensive arrangement. But Yiyang didn't slow down, he fixed his eyes on the basket, raised the basketball, and was ready for a layup!

"Impossible, bastard!" Westbrook roared in his heart, and jumped up following Yiyang. He straightened his arms and tried to reach the basketball.

Just when Westbrook's palm was about to slap the basketball, Yiyang, who was about to make a layup, passed the ball high and diagonally backward without warning!

Since Yiyang didn't look at him from the beginning to the end, the Thunder players didn't know who the ball would be passed to.

The basketball burst out of the crowd, and when it stopped flying again, everyone was stunned.

The target of Yiyang's pass was Brian Cardinal who was treated as transparent by everyone!

With no defenders around, the "keeper" gets an open shot like a shot drill.

Cardinal jumped lightly. His take-off height may not be much higher than that of ordinary people, but it can be seen that this guy's waist and upper and lower limbs are still strong! And these things are enough to ensure that the "administrator"'s shooting becomes stable! On the training ground, Cardinal isn't just doing the chores...

"Swipe!" Amid the astonished gazes of thousands of people in the entire Chesapeake Energy Arena, Cardinal made the open three-pointer. This goal also poured cold water from head to toe on the young Thunder who were about to fully open the score.

Cardinal happily pointed to Yiyang to express his gratitude, then showed three fingers, and bouncing back to the defense.

"Another difficult pass that doesn't look at people, Jason, can't you teach this kid some conventional tricks?" Although Cardinal is the final point, in Van Gundy's view, this offense The most exciting part was Yiyang's pass.

On this point, Westbrook agrees with Van Gundy. It was hard to complete the cover, but in the end it was just another trick by others.

Therefore, Westbrook was no longer humble in the Thunder's offense. After he controlled the ball beyond the three-point line, he seemed to be about to pass the ball slowly, but suddenly a quick change of direction started without warning, intending to catch Yiyang by surprise.

If it was the past, Yiyang might have been passed. But today, when Carlisle was arranging tactics around himself during the half-time break, Yiyang knew that the responsibility Nowitzki mentioned to him was really on his shoulders today!

Therefore, in the second half of the game, Yiyang was very focused on both defense and offense. Now even if you pile up 10 million dollars on the sidelines, Yiyang can't see it, because he has devoted himself to this battle. It was precisely because of this concentration that Yiyang responded to the blockade in time and was not succeeded by Westbrook.

Westbrook was also very surprised, he didn't expect Yiyang to react so quickly! But this No. 0 guard will not stop there. He continues to work harder, hoping to use his physical advantage to crush Yiyang and get to the basket.

Westbrook did it, and Yiyang's physical confrontation has always been his weakness. Just when Westbrook was about to make a layup proudly, Yiyang saw the timing and cut between Westbrook's hands!

"Crack!" Westbrook, who had just jumped up and was about to make a layup, let go of the basketball. Yiyang bent down and threw it forward before picking it up.

It seemed that Yiyang just threw it casually, but the basketball precisely "found" Terry who was rushing forward.

The ball passed just above Terry's waist, and this guy could easily catch the basketball as long as he stretched out his hand.

After that, Terry made an empty layup against an unguarded basket. Yiyang's steals and assists once again made the commentary stand full of exclamations.

Looking at the number one with a determined expression in front of him, Westbrook swallowed. Why is this feeling of danger so similar to the last time we met?