The Way of the Center

The Thunder is a particularly young team. A young team has many advantages. For example, they can always run tirelessly, they are not afraid of anything, and they can do anything. But in Rickard's view, when the Thunder enjoyed the benefits brought by those advantages, they also exposed many problems.

Not calm enough, this may be one of the few faults that can be singled out for the Thunder that has performed well this season. From the overall point of view, the performance of the Thunder players is very good. But as long as you pick out the details, it's not difficult. At the critical moment, everyone in the Thunder team except Durant still seems a little edgy when handling the ball.

Under Westbrook's powerful impact, his erratic shooting rate is hidden. Buried in Bledsoe's versatility is his high turnover rate

The further back, the more intense the competition. The more intense, the more edgy the Thunder players will appear. Ricard was very satisfied with the Trail Blazers' tight grip on the score in the first half of the game. Against an opponent of the Thunder's level, it is impossible to win in one step.

The Blazers have to grind and bite slowly with them. At the end of the day, when the Thunder's young players got impatient, the Trail Blazers' opportunity came.

Durant? Yes, Durant does have a calmness and composure that doesn't match his age. In this regard, he is very similar to Anjie. But compared to the more blooming situation now, wouldn't it be easier to defend with only Durant left at the end of the game.

"Don't worry! We must guarantee the success rate. Don't think about completely defeating the opponent with only one offensive weapon. Don't worry, at least for now, the Thunder will not give us this kind of opportunity. We play in our own rhythm , don’t blindly follow the Thunder. I don’t want a high number of shots, multiple rounds, and success rate. This is the only thing I ask for!” Ricard didn’t plan to formulate any tactics to let the Blazers eat the Thunder in one go. A hard bone.

Grind slowly, beat slowly. At the critical moment, the Thunder is bound to have a gap. The only difficulty now is not whether the score can be opened, but whether the Blazers can withstand the Thunder's subsequent indiscriminate bombing.

"Continue to attack the inside!" Jeff Van Gundy's arrangement surprised most Thunder players.

"Continued to hit the inside?" Westbrook repeated Van Gundy's arrangement.

"Yes, I know that Ann's defensive ability is terrifying. But you also have to be clear that the entire Trail Blazers has no second inside defensive gate except for Ann. Don't tell me that Camby and Thomas who can't run anymore You guys can’t handle it. Keep attacking the inside and keep putting pressure on me. Let him foul, let him get tired, let him go! Only by letting Anjie go off can we have a chance to gain an advantage!” Van Gundy’s arrangement is not He despised An Jie's defense. On the contrary, he did this because he understood An Jie's perverted defense.

This Anjie's enlightenment coach in the NBA is very clear,

The only thing that can restrain him is to keep him from playing! Looking at Anjie's performance in the early part of the second quarter, this kind of guy cannot be restricted by tactics. Even if the Thunder have Morris and Ibaka, Van Gundy does not guarantee that Anjie will misfire.

He is now going to use the Thunder's richer firepower to drag down Anjie. Even if An Jie really doesn't end at that time, he will not perform well because he is too tired.

Westbrook swallowed, he is the best breakthrough player in the entire Thunder team. Although Van Gundy didn't name him and asked him to fight Anjie alone, Westbrook knew that he would be the guy who fought Anjie the most.

When I was still in college a few years ago, Westbrook's UC defeated Iowa State University led by Anjie. It was because of Westbrook's incredible performance that Anjie was eliminated. March Madness Tournament. But today, the situation is not as simple as it was then. Can you win again? Westbrook really had no idea.

But for Jeff Van Gundy, everyone in the Thunder has full trust. If this basic condition is not even available, the Thunder will not be able to reach the Western Conference Finals.

So in the third quarter, An Jie found that it was so difficult for him to adjust his breathing.

"Westbrook broke through again with the ball. This is already the fourth attempt he has made since the third quarter! In the first three times, Westbrook gained a lot, although he was successfully defended by Ann once. ...but two of them, one caused a foul by Ann, and one made a hard drive. We don't know why the Thunder chose to attack the most solid part of the Trail Blazers, but coach Jeff Van Gundy arranged this way, for sure He has his reasons." While Mike Breen was speaking, Westbrook threw himself into the air again desperately. Most guards in this league throw themselves up first, and then think about what to do next.

Westbrook, who has abnormal physical fitness, is naturally one of them. Seeing his former teammate preparing to attack the frame, An Jie also gasped heavily and forced his calf to force his calf again, jumping to block it.

Just when the basketball in Westbrook's hand was about to be blocked by Anjie, this guy suddenly used a hook action in the air to distribute the ball to Sefoloza who was ambushing in the bottom corner. Sefoloza's defender Wesley Matthews has long been attracted by Westbrook's breakthrough. He made a three-pointer with ease, and the basketball was unsurprisingly hollow.

"Very few people can make a layup or a pass under the shadow of Ann, but Westbrook did it. And, he did a good job!"

"It's okay, Ann? Otherwise, I'll take the fifth position?" Seeing that An Jie was sweating, Aldridge proposed to bear the blow for An Jie.

"No, LaMarcus, you have to put more of your energy on the offensive end! Don't forget, that kid Ibaka is very difficult to deal with!" An Jie waved his hand, took the basketball from the referee, and prepared to Start the next round of counterattack.

Seeing the rising and falling frequency of An Jie's chest gradually accelerated, Jeff Van Gundy felt a little relieved. Not everyone dares to use his tactics against the Trail Blazers, and not everyone can cause trouble for Anjie. But the Thunder team has one of the most lethal breakthrough players in the entire league! Westbrook's impact, even Anjie, the best defensive player of the year, will feel strenuous.

On the defensive end, there are Westbrook and Anjie consumption. On the offensive end, he has another good brother Andrew Morris to accompany him to sweat.

The toughness of Morris's game is comparable to that of Anjie, and his strength is even slightly better than that of Brute. It's not unreasonable for Anjie to tell Aldridge to put more energy on the offensive end, because this guy knows that in the third quarter, it is difficult for him to care about both offense and defense at the same time.

If An Jie tried his best to consume both offense and defense, he would only consume himself to death in the end. He had to make a choice, taking care of both ends. An Jie, on the other hand, chose to defend without hesitation.

So in the subsequent offense, An Jie's role changed from an offensive terminator to an offensive organizer. Basketball will still pass An Jie's hands, but An Jie's own attack times have been greatly reduced.

Fortunately, although he has been a Terminator for so long, An Jie's coping ability has not regressed in the slightest. Under his guidance and command, the Trail Blazers still played some counterattacks, keeping the score close.

This guy Aldridge also seems to be showing signs of explosion. Ibaka found that this big man whose playing style is completely opposite to his own can always score the ball miraculously under various interferences.

But all of this is based on An Jie's effective organization and firepower.

A few minutes later, Anjie immediately began to show his weakness. No way, when a young team is attacking you in turn, your consumption of these few minutes can be worth more than ten minutes of others!

Rather than let An Jie, who was severely exhausted, give the Thunder unnecessary fouls on the court, Ricard felt that it would be better to replace him now and rest for a while.

With Marcus Camby and Jamal Crawford replacing Anjie and Gerald Wallace, Rickard hopes to use stronger outside offensive firepower to temporarily support Anjie's absence.

On the Thunder side, Morris and Westbrook, who had been fighting with Anjie, were also replaced by Jeff Van Gundy. But even so, the Thunder still have Bledsoe on the court, and they still have scoring leader Kevin Durant. The situation of the Trail Blazers is not optimistic.

Aldridge held Ibaka with one hand and dribbled the ball skillfully with the other. Hit the ground, force, lean back! Aldridge then used a tough way to push towards the basket!

"Peng!" The muffled sound of muscle collision between the two was clearly heard by An Jie who was sitting on the bench.

Aldridge's back push is actually much better than most people think.

Two steps forward, gaining rhythm and space, Aldridge turned over again for a jumper.

Simple movements, ordinary means of attack. However, Aldridge has done all this to the extreme!

"Basketball again! LaMarcus Aldridge, his offense makes Ibaka helpless! God, if Ann dominates the second quarter, then Aldridge completely dominates the third quarter!"

Seeing Aldridge score again, Anjie suddenly "bounced" off the bench. He frantically waved the towel, and at this moment his reaction was no different from that of an ordinary fan.

The shy Aldridge also smiled slightly at the bench, but this smile made Anjie more likely to rest underneath.

Van Gundy frowned. He originally thought that after Anjie left the field, the situation would be completely controlled by the Thunder. Unexpectedly, Aldridge's strong state had little effect on Van Gundy.

Kevin Durant's more comprehensive scoring range and the Thunder's own stronger offensive firepower have given the Thunder a slight advantage. But this advantage is far from what Van Gundy expected.

Finally, with only three minutes and twenty seconds left in the third quarter, both teams replaced all of their key players. The game once again changed from a fierce battle to a transitional period. As always, the Thunder's second team still overwhelmed the Trail Blazers, but the lead of only 7 points certainly could not satisfy Jeff Van Gundy.

You know, in the third quarter, An Jie rested for six minutes! Only 7 points in six minutes, which is definitely not what Van Gundy wants.

Maybe the tactic of continuing to attack the inside has achieved some success, otherwise the Thunder might not even be able to get the 7-point advantage.

But Aldridge's coming forward and the others' perseverance made Anjie proud to recover.

With 7 points, Van Gundy was dissatisfied with this result, but Ricard had expected this result.

In the first three quarters, the Thunder's indiscriminate bombing of the Trail Blazers finally survived. In the fourth quarter, it's the Blazers' turn to attack, right?

The Thunder, who have been playing against the Trail Blazers, don't know that the danger has come quietly