The Way of the Center

"Your ball was really beautiful in the first half!" In the locker room, the Thunder players were talking and laughing, with relaxed faces.

"That's because you passed it in time. In the second half, let's play a few more shots like that."

As soon as Van Gundy walked to the door of the locker room, he heard the conversation of his players. Ease is a good thing, but these guys seem to be taking it a little too lightly. The attitude of the Timberwolves' desperate resistance in the first half made Van Gundy very afraid. If the Thunder continue to be so disapproving, they may end up capsizing.

"Ahem!" Van Gundy cleared his throat, and the locker room fell silent instantly.

"What's wrong boss? Minnesota is too cold and you have a cold?" Westbrook was still joking with Van Gundy.

"Save your humor until the end of the game, Russell, how do you think you played in the first half?" Van Gundy stood in front of the big whiteboard.

"Great, aren't we still ahead?" The players echoed from below.

"Your offense was really good in the first half, but your defense...Morris, Ann, do you know how many points Kevin Love has scored?" Van Gundy set his sights on the two former Cyclones On the twin towers.

"Maybe, 7 or 8 points, it shouldn't be many." Although Morris scored a few goals by Love, in his impression, Love's performance was just like that.

"Seven or eight points? Love's first offense allowed him to score four points calmly! In just halftime, Love has already scored 15 points! 15 points, gentlemen! Our defense is a mess! Now we The reason why we still take the lead is not because of how well we played, but because the opponent's offense has not been fully fired! Put away your arrogant posture, the game is not over yet. A three-point gap is not a gap at all !" Van Gundy's tone changed, and no one dared to speak anymore.

"Ann! In the second half, we should be more active in defending Love. I would rather give him room to break through than let him have any room for shooting."

"Morris, head-to-head with Jefferson. I know you like head-to-head with others. Don't let him score easily again. Don't you have a lot of small moves? Use them all for me!"

"Russell, Kevin. Your mission is to attack, rush me inside and cause me damage. The most threatening thing for the Timberwolves is the two inside. If they are troubled by the number of fouls, they will definitely be afraid feet. At that point, our offense can play whatever we want!"

"Sefoloza..."

Van Gundy assigned tasks to the players one by one,

The vigilance of the players was also mobilized by Van Gundy. They carefully recalled the first half of the game, and it seemed that it was really thrilling and anxious, not easy at all.

Sure enough, the Timberwolves' offensive firepower in the second half was very fierce. If it weren't for Van Gundy's reminder, the Thunder might be kicked out by the Timberwolves because of laxity.

Fortunately, the mentality of the players on the field is very correct now. However, even though they prevented being hit by an offensive shot, the Timberwolves still bit the score to death.

"Kevin Love is holding the ball again, and now Ann follows him every step of the way! In the third quarter, Love's offensive efficiency is obviously not that high. This has a lot to do with Ann's improved defensive strength!"

Le Fu was sweating profusely and gritted his teeth. An Jie in the second half made him regain that feeling.

Whether in college or in the NBA, Anjie's defense has never made him feel good.

Seeing that there was no shooting space and An Jie was posted relatively forward, Love decided to use breakthroughs to find opportunities for himself.

However, the reason why Van Gundy chose to let Anjie fully defend Love's shots is because he is not afraid of your Love breakthrough.

As soon as Le Fu started, An Jie followed suit. Love's speed is not fast in the interior, and it is easy for An Jie to stop him from breaking through.

"Boom!" Le Fu slammed forward, but let himself hit An Jie's chest firmly. An Jie didn't take advantage of the trend and fell to the ground to cheat for a foul. He still stood firmly in front of Love, and An Jie wanted him to retreat in the face of difficulties!

Love did not give up. After being hit and bounced back, he took advantage of the slight gap to suddenly jump up and shoot. However, An Jie, who is highly focused, is not so easy to be deceived. He and Le Fu took off almost at the same time. Le Fu found that he had no chance at all when he was in the air!

Looking around, he found that his teammates were not in good positions, so Love had no choice but to forcefully make a move.

The ball passed An Jie's fingertips, but in order to pass An Jie's fingertips, it can be said that Love's throw was inaccurate.

The basketball hit the right side of the basket and bounced out. This is the third time, and this is the third time that Love has been defeated by An Jie in the third quarter.

After the Thunder's offense, Anjie once again played the role of organizer. Everything is serving Durant and Westbrook, and only their breakthrough ability is the strongest.

Although the old Thunder player Damien Wilkins' defense is good, facing Westbrook, even he feels a little powerless.

Westbrook didn't even call the pick-and-roll after receiving the ball this time, relying on his perverted physical fitness to force the gate of Wilkins.

The reason why Van Gundy is willing to give up Wilkins is that he has seen his increasing age and declining state. Wilkins this season is far less dazzling than last season. Westbrook passed Wilkins in just one step.

Love tried his best to break free from An Jie's restraint, hoping to stop his most powerful helper in college in time. However, Westbrook's speed is worse than that in college. Love not only failed to interfere with Westbrook's layup, but was also called a foul.

"Love! Fouled again? If Love fouls again, there will be 4 times!" Even the commentator was sweating for Love.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves committed a foul, but the one who committed the foul was not Love, but the chasing Timberwolves small forward Corey Brewer who drew the foul.

Although Love escaped unharmed, Corey Brewer had committed four fouls. All of this is thanks to Durant.

The Thunder still controlled the rhythm of the game, and they still maintained the lead. But the frightening thing is that the Timberwolves never gave up. The biggest point difference between the two sides since the third quarter was only 5 points. Until the end of the third quarter, the situation did not change.

"Do you know how good the Timberwolves are? But don't worry, everyone has done a good job so far. As long as we play in the fourth quarter according to the previous method, the final victory will belong to us!" During the break, Van Gundy did not do anything. Too many tactical arrangements. Because obviously, the Timberwolves can't crack the current deployment of the Thunder. If they could, they would have overtaken the score long ago.

"Love was very embarrassed by An Jie in the third quarter, and only 4 points were recorded. You must know that in the first quarter, Love scored 4 points with only one offense. Of course, I am not criticizing Morris, after all Morris also did a good job defending against Jefferson. In the decisive quarter, the match between Love and Ann will directly affect the direction of the game!"

CBS TV's commentary analysis is correct. After attacking from outside in the third quarter, the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter will definitely strengthen their defense against Durant and Westbrook. Therefore, as soon as the fourth quarter came up, people saw Anjie take the initiative to start a one-on-one duel with Love.

"Coach Van Gundy has changed his strategy! He no longer uses Durant and Westbrook to attack, but uses Anjie as the main offensive point of the Thunder team! The Thunder team has a lot of points to score!"

The sudden change of the Thunder's offensive focus really caught the Timberwolves by surprise. When An Jie approached Le Fu, Le Fu thought that An Jie was just feinting. Unexpectedly, An Jie suddenly turned around leaning against him, and went straight to the basket.

When Love, who didn't react in time, looked back, he only saw An Jie wearing a blue No. 16 jersey hanging on the frame. On the first attack, An Jie made it!

But it didn't take long for the Thunder players to be proud, Corey Brewer scored the ball with a very difficult pull-up layup. This guy is so amazing sometimes, although the overall strength is very average, but the occasional few wonderful strikes can surprise people from ear to ear.

"Brewer's pull-up layup is simply amazing. First he broke through Durant, and then he avoided the blocks of Anjie and Morris in the air. Even Kobe Bryant may not be able to reproduce it. Here comes the ball!"

The two sides have offense and defense against each other, which can be regarded as the epitome of the fourth quarter game. It's just that the Thunder still have a slight advantage.

Not long after the fourth quarter, Van Gundy started to rotate, and on the Timberwolves side, Kurt Rambis was also saving his strength for the final decisive battle.

By the time the Thunder's main force played again in the last three minutes, the Thunder had gradually expanded their advantage to 8 points. It is not impossible to chase 8 points in three minutes. But most people have already sentenced the Timberwolves to death in advance.

Corey Brewer "graduated" off a foul on Livingston, and Al Jefferson's second-half performance was abysmal, shooting poorly. other people? The performance of the others today is very average, expecting them to explode at the last moment is simply a dream.

Are the Timberwolves hopeless? For most, yes, the Timberwolves are lost. But for Kevin Love, there are still 180 seconds left before the game ends! 180 seconds, enough to create a lot of things.

"The Thunder's three juniors are back on the stage. They are ready to close the game. Kevin Love's performance today was good enough, but unfortunately, he didn't meet a good opponent."

Love on the field didn't know what the commentator was talking about, he only knew that he was no worse than those three guys! He only knows that he wants to win!

"Beep." The timeout was over, and in the last three minutes of the game, An Jie looked at Love, the look in his eyes eager to win was exactly the same as his own! (To be continued.)