The Way of the Center

"Russell Westbrook forced a layup! Still not, this ball is too difficult, Anjie is actually empty!" Mike Breen shook his head, this point guard's personality is still too egotistical. ??? At the beginning of this season, under the request of Van Gundy, he slightly suppressed his offensive desire, and wholeheartedly played for Durant and Anjie. But until now, he has become more and more like his "original" self.

The game has come to the fourth quarter, but Westbrook is still squandering opportunities.

Although An Jie has a good relationship with Westbrook, he also feels that his good brother's shot selection in this game is really bad.

The more he couldn't make the shot, the more Westbrook wanted to attack. Many times Anjie raised his hand to ask for the ball and Westbrook chose to ignore it, and then gave the ball to his opponent with a difficult breakthrough layup.

"He does have a lot of impact, but the shot selection is really terrible. If it weren't for Ainger, the Thunder's offense would definitely be messed up by this guy. Van Gundy should be thankful that God gave him a guy who can't pass the ball. A guard, but gave him a center who is good at organizing offense." Kenny Smith also teased Westbrook.

"To be honest, I was surprised that guy was selected to the rookie first team with Angie last season. He averaged 15.3 points per game. It's really good for a rookie, but he averaged only 39% from the field and three-pointers. The rate is only 27%. This guy can rely on his own impact to play efficiently in college, but it is obvious that the nba is not the same. If you let others get the same number of shots as him, others can also score 15.3 points per game." This time, Barkley and Kenny. Smith's views are surprisingly consistent.

The personalities of Anjie and Durant caused them not to say much about Westbrook's unreasonable shots. However, if no one reminded him, he would really keep fighting like this.

At this time, the Jazz, who were fighting back to back, turned the score again. This is the eighth time that the two sides have taken the lead alternately in this game. Van Gundy called a timeout decisively, and Westbrook had to stop the never-ending blacksmithing.

"Russell, do you know how many shots you've missed?" Van Gundy knew that a player like Westbrook had a flamboyant personality, and he couldn't deal with this kind of person by yelling and cursing. Got to fall apart.

"But I...do it!" Of course Westbrook knows that his efficiency is very low now, but he just can't get along with himself. The more he can't score, the more he hopes that he can score the ball next time, and it goes on and on. .

"I will not question your ability Russell, your teammates are the same. You look at Kevin and Ann, and others, they have shared the ball with you selflessly. Russell if you can, I hope You can share the ball with them in the future." Van Gundy has dominated the NBA for many years, and everyone has seen it. For a rookie like Westbrook,

You have to use soft ones. If you are tougher, this kind of person will be tougher than you.

"Huh...I know the boss." Westbrook sighed, indeed he had wasted too many opportunities. Durant and Anjie have always tolerated him, and there is nothing wrong with him sacrificing some shots in turn.

"Very good, Kevin, Ann, in the last five minutes, you two, don't be selfless, attack yourself when you have the opportunity! Russell, you still control the ball, I believe you will make the right choice!" Van Gundy just said finished, the pause time is over.

With five minutes left in the game, the Jazz temporarily led by one point. I thought that the Jazz, who played back to back games, would be overwhelmed. Unexpectedly, the iron-blooded division from Salt Lake City has been fighting tenaciously until now.

"I hope Coach Van Gundy has sorted out Russell's problem. If he continues to do his own way, the Jazz will be happy to accept the victory." Seeing that Westbrook was not replaced but took possession of the ball again, Mike Brown Lin Du became worried about the Thunder.

This time, Anjie actively competed for positions in the low post, and Durant kept interspersing to find gaps. These two guys are the Thunder's final firepower output point. Van Gundy gave them the right to fire, so they will naturally not be humble.

Turkish center Mehmet Okur was desperately entangled with Anjie. Under Anjie's defense, as an inside player, his shooting percentage was only a low 22%.

When Anjie came off the court to take a break, he thought his chance had finally come, but he didn't expect that Anjie's college teammate Morris was also difficult to deal with.

Well now, Anjie and Morris were on the court at the same time, and the two of them almost blocked the inside of the Thunder. Since he can't play on the offensive end, Okur certainly wants to save face with defense.

"Beep beep beep!" Before Okur realized what happened, he heard the referee's hasty whistle. Looking at An Jie again, he covered his head in "pain", because Okur accidentally touched An Jie's head when he was fighting for the position just now.

"Damn it! I just touched it accidentally, and I didn't use any force at all!" Okur hurriedly appealed to the referee after knowing what happened.

Although An Jie's ball is suspected of acting, it is true that Okur's defensive actions are getting bigger and bigger. When An Jie asked for the seat, he almost hugged An Jie completely, and An Jie had to use some special methods to avenge himself.

"Damn it, cunning Chinese, can't you see that it's a show!? Do you know that two free throws are enough to change the situation of the game!?" Jerry Sloan also yelled at the referee, while An Jie faced He clapped his hands with his teammates blankly and stood at the free throw line. Although the ball was indeed exaggerated by himself, it is also true that the referee turned a blind eye to Okur's foul at the beginning.

Two free throws were made, and the Jazz fans in front of the TV were scolding An Jie to death. But at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, he got a big ovation.

The two sides drew again, and Sloan finally forced himself to calm down after eating a technical foul. This seemingly gentle old man is actually the boss of the "T family".

Afterwards, the competition between the two sides was still very fierce. Even though the interior was completely locked by Anjie and Morris, Deron Williams still stood up as a key player.

Facing Westbrook, whose emotions were greatly affected, Deron repeatedly made beautiful singles breakthroughs. Unlike Westbrook's strong breakthrough, he can score the ball after breaking through, but Westbrook can't.

In addition to Deron, Wesley Matthews on the Jazz bench became the second key figure in the fourth quarter.

As an undrafted rookie in 2009, Matthews has now become an indispensable rotation player in the Jazz. This is almost unimaginable for Matthews.

His situation is much better than many drafted rookies. He is such a guy who knows that it is not easy to survive in the nBa, and he is very positive in every game.

Facing Sefoloza's entanglement, Matthews became more and more courageous, frequently using his strong body to get rid of the Swiss's defense.

"What the team needs me to do, I will do it." This is the creed that supports Matthews' survival. Sloan replaced him to let him share the scoring pressure of Williams, so he did it.

At the same time, Sloan also stepped up his defense against Durant. After all, the scoring ability of this guy who has scored 40 points frequently recently is really terrifying. What about Anjie? Sloan didn't have many choices. He sent all the inside players of the Jazz to try, and none of them could prevent Anjie to death!

Paul Millsap was too short to guard. Carlos Boozer's single defense ability is limited and he can't defend it. Mehmet Okur made Anjie very uncomfortable, but under Anjie's superb acting skills, Okur suffered three fouls in the fourth quarter, and had to rest after one more foul.

Now Sloan only expects Durant to continue to attack, don't pass the ball inside!

Durant did exactly that. After a three-pointer and a breakthrough, he firmly believed in his state. After all, Durant did play well in the first three quarters.

However, when Matthews and Brewer double-teamed Durant consecutively, and Sefolosha's shots hit the iron continuously, the Thunder's outside offense also misfired in the last two minutes.

When Durant failed to make his seventh shot in the fourth quarter, Van Gundy immediately stood up from the bench. Durant was obviously in double-team trouble. Now, only Anjie can play!

"Play inside! Morris, hold Boozer and don't let him defend! Kevin, Russell, give the ball to Ann and let him play in the low post!" Van Gundy shouted loudly, not afraid that Sloan would hear his arrangement .

Even if Sloan heard it, there was nothing he could do. Double-teaming is the only option.

Under the desperate double-teaming of Okur and Deron, it is indeed difficult for Anjie to handle the ball. He even made a rare turnover due to double-teaming, but fortunately the Jazz didn't play a transition attack.

The game came to the end with the thunder and jazz playing their tricks. Since the defense of both sides is very dead, the score of this game is not high.

In the last minute, 83 to 85, the Thunder still led by 2 points at home.

Although the impetuous Westbrook is physically strong, his defensive loopholes are getting bigger and bigger. For "Master of Rhythm" Deron, it is easy for Westbrook to break through this state.

He kept changing dribblers and rhythms, watching Westbrook's swinging center of gravity.

Suddenly, Deron broke through to the left, and when he was about to collide with Westbrook, he suddenly turned to the right and shot.

"Deron Williams pivotal turnaround jumper! Westbrook blocked it quickly! Foul! The referee called Westbrook's thug foul, and Deron threw the basketball into the net! The real Jazz Leader! If he makes a free throw, he will help the Jazz counter at the last moment!" Mike Breen applauded Deron's beautiful goal.

Deron, who scored a beautiful goal, was not overwhelmed by emotions. He calmly stood on the free throw line and made an extra free throw.

86 to 85, only 47 seconds left for the Thunder.

Afterwards, Westbrook was eager to respond to Deron's 3+1, so he broke through like crazy, but this time he was caught by Okur.

"Beep beep beep." The hurried whistle sounded again, but it was not Okur who fouled, but Westbrook who broke through with the ball.

"Thunder team number zero, dribbled and charged, offensive foul!" The referee yelled at the technical table.

"Damn it..." Westbrook rushed to the referee, but An Jie stopped him before he finished speaking.

"Calm down, brother, we still have a chance, as long as we defend the next goal. If you are sent off now, that's exactly what they want to see." An Jie hugged Westbrook forcefully, and Westbrook Brook also gradually calmed down.

The Jazz made a comeback with a fatal one-point advantage.

Deron has been controlling the clock, and Westbrook dare not foul him. It wasn't until the last ten seconds that Deron finally started.

Surprisingly, Westbrook's defense in this round was impeccable. Deron couldn't get rid of the entanglement until the last second, and could only forcefully shoot against the interference.

The ball looked dangerous, but it actually hit the basket's neck. Anjie jumped high and got the rebound. Boozer and Okur had no chance at all!

After getting the ball, Van Gundy quickly called a timeout and arranged the Thunder's final offensive tactics.

"Kevin! It's okay to end the game!" Van Gundy urged the players to gather around and get straight to the point!

Thunder fans did not expect that the Jazz, who played back-to-back games, would make a desperate resistance. They didn't expect that Westbrook would only make 3 of 12 shots today. In any case, it is an indisputable fact that the Thunder are now 1 point behind.

There is no need to worry about the previous ones. Now, they must be ready to end the game.

Although An Jie is not the choice for the last attack today, he can carry out the last attack at any time. After all, no matter how perfect the tactics are arranged off the field, as long as there is a mistake on the field, something will happen. Only when you are well prepared can you seize the opportunity.

Another desperate moment, the Thunder has really encountered a situation where one goal can determine the outcome this season... (To be continued.) 8