The Way of the Center

The bearded man and the oil tycoon beside him stood and watched the game throughout the fourth quarter. Seeing An Jie working so hard on the court, they themselves were restless.

At this moment, all the fans in the Rose Garden belonged to the same kind of people, regardless of their status or income, and their hearts were connected together.

The last long timeout called by Van Gundy made the cameras of all sports channels stare at the Thunder's bench.

Westbrook's performance today was very bad. Although Kevin Durant improved in the fourth quarter, he was not satisfactory overall. Who will Van Gundy choose for the final shot, Bledsoe? Batum? Or Sefoloza, who once completed a lore in the Thunder.

"Kevin, you play the last ball." Jeff Van Gundy, a coach, has many advantages, but his disadvantages are also obvious, too rigid!

Even though Durant made 2 of 8 shots from beyond the three-point line today, he still believes that the leading scorer should take the responsibility of shooting key shots.

"Although we only tied the score with this goal, if the game is dragged into overtime, we are no different from the winners! Russell, you attract the defense! Morris, you do it for kd Wall! Serge, provide false cover for Westbrook's feint! Sefoloza, intersperse the movement to disrupt the Blazers' defense!" With a few simple strokes, Van Gundy completed the final stroke on the tactical board Tactics of attack.

Regarding how to play at the last moment of the game, Van Gundy has already made arrangements and set up several sets of plans. The Thunder usually do a lot of situational training for this situation. Now, what Van Gundy has to do is to arrange the tactics. As for how to execute this problem, the Thunder players have already solved it on the training ground.

"Ann, what's wrong with you?" Ricard beckoned to call the team doctor. He knew that he had overused Anjie, but in order to win, there was no other way. Now, he had to make sure that there was nothing wrong with An Jie's body.

"The calf is a little sore, and the rest is nothing special." An Jie only answered Ricard's question in a descriptive manner. He didn't want to delay Ricard's time to deploy tactics due to personal reasons.

The team doctor pressed An Jie's calf and nodded slightly to Ricard, and then Ricard picked up the tactical board with confidence.

"The Thunder has too many offensive ends. First of all, we can't foul. In the last 26 seconds, the Thunder will definitely delay the attack until the end. Second, Ann, today you can't ignore the three-second zone and try to defend outside the three-point line. If you all make the leap, the Thunder will most likely grab the offensive rebound and score." Ricard knew that everyone on the Trail Blazers was guarded and felt cold, and Anjie, who was only in hot form, was exhausted. He can't guarantee that his players can show any performance at the free throw line, so he doesn't dare to let the opponent get two points easily like in the last series.

Although only a short 26 seconds, this timeout is the most important timeout of the game.

When the players from both sides reappeared, the Rose Garden Stadium suddenly boiled. The bearded man and the oil tycoon yelled "defense" in unison with the rhythm of the DJ on the scene. Ibaka, who was going to pick and roll Durant later, stood next to the referee. After the referee signaled the two sides not to move too much, the ball The ball was passed to Morris outside the bounds, and he blew the whistle in his mouth.

"Beep!" As soon as the sound came out, Westbrook immediately came out. He caught the basketball and began to control the time.

Westbrook alternately dribbled under the crotch at the distance between the center line and the three-point line. Raymond Felton didn't dare to approach half a step. He had already experienced Westbrook's speed. .

It wasn't until the timer on the backboard became ten seconds left that Westbrook suddenly started! Meanwhile, Serge Ibaka throws Aldridge's arm off his shoulders and lifts up to pick and roll Westbrook.

"Is it Russell!?" An Jie guarded the basket nervously, seeing Ibaka pick and roll for Westbrook, but An Jie ignored Morris's position.

At this moment, Morris has secretly set up an off-ball screen for Durant. Durant was originally indifferent, but suddenly accelerated a counterrun, making Gerald Wallace's reaction a half-beat slower. When "Elvis" chased back with all his strength, he was completely blocked by Morris!

Westbrook suddenly took off after passing the pick-and-roll. Everyone thought that this frizzy guard who liked to shoot a lot was the Thunder's final attack point! Little did he know that Westbrook, who was in the air, turned his shot into a pass, and the basketball was quickly transferred to Durant's hands!

"No!" The bearded man and countless Trail Blazers fans covered their heads. Durant was unknowingly empty! Now, he'll shoot threes without any distractions!

"Win!" Van Gundy clenched his fists. His tactics finally worked. As long as Anjie collapses, the Trail Blazers will collapse as a whole!

Durant didn't make any adjustments, just catch and shoot. When he released the ball, he saw the terrified Gerald Wallace rushing towards him. What's the use? Durant even heard the laughter in his heart.

The basketball passed over everyone's heads and approached the basket under the watchful eyes of more than 20,000 pairs of eyes. Westbrook has raised his arms, and Gerald Wallace is eager to find a hole in the ground.

However......

"Kevin got an open 3! He made it! No! No, no, no, the basketball goes off the hoop! Safety saves the defensive rebound, it's game over, it's game over! Kevin Durant, The guy who can score the most in the league failed today! This is an open shot opportunity! It is not impossible for the Thunder to win the game, they are completely defeated by themselves!"

In an instant, countless fans were cheering for Durant's three-point miss. The moment he won the game, Ricard jumped up and waved his fist in the air. Gerald Wallace seemed to be blessed by God, and he ran a full circle around the court with his arms raised high. But when the photographers of t.nt pointed the camera at An Jie, they found that An Jie was just sitting on the ground with a blank expression on his face, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

An Jie is tired, he is really tired. This guy understands that he was completely defeated by Van Gundy today. If Durant and Westbrook were not able to play for a long time, the Trail Blazers would never be the winning side.

Aldridge and Marcus Camby worked together to hold Anjie's armpit, and then helped everyone up. An Jie walked into the player tunnel under the cheers of the fans, but this guy couldn't get excited.

"Damn it! We should have won!" Back in the locker room, Jeff Van Gundy ruthlessly threw the tactical whiteboard in his hand onto an unused locker. A hole was smashed into the locker. It seems that Jeff Van Gundy won't be able to get away with thousands of dollars in compensation. You know, this is the home court of the Trail Blazers. This locker is also the property of the Trail Blazers.

Westbrook and Durant hung their heads in silence. Although Van Gundy said that everyone is responsible for the loss, but this time, the responsibility should really be shouldered by Westbrook and Durant.

Westbrook made 8 of 22 shots, Durant made 10 of 23 shots and Sefoloza made 3 of 12 shots. The Thunder's total shooting percentage in this game was only 37.8%. Such a hit rate, no matter how subtle the head coach's tactics are, cannot help the team win.

On the other side of the Blazers' locker room, the Blazers, who kept their first home court, were not very happy. The Thunder still haven't found a way to limit Anjie. In this game, Anjie scored 40 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. This is also the reason why the Thunder couldn't come from behind. But it's clear that Jeff Van Gundy has found a way to limit the Trail Blazers. It's just today that An Jie's excellent performance and the poor performance of his two good brothers once saved everything.

106 to 109, the Trail Blazers won the third game of the series at home. But this victory made the Trail Blazers' situation even more dangerous!

The exhausted Anjie didn't even attend the press conference after the game. He was the last player to leave the Rose Garden Arena. If it weren't for the bearded man who was still waiting for him outside, An Jie might have rested inside for a while.

It is said that Anjie was the last player to leave the Rose Garden because Ricard was the last one to leave.

After Anjie left, Ricard asked the team doctor about Anjie's condition. Although he was not injured, An Jie's situation is also not optimistic.

"There is only one day between the two games. Before the start of the next game, Ann's muscle tension and excessive lactic acid secretion will not be completely improved. In the next game, Anjie will definitely be able to play. It's true, but he will play. Very hard work..."

"Really...thank you." After listening, Ricard looked at the ceiling with empty eyes. Just like Van Gundy's powerlessness to the poor performance of the players, Ricard is also powerless to the lack of hard power of the Trail Blazers team lineup.

In order to get Anjie, Nelsey gave away almost all the chips he could. Courtney Lee and the Nets' top-three protected picks are the only two things the Trail Blazers got after they traded for Ainger.

No matter how good Courtney Lee's performance was, he was just a secondary player. Even if the Nets' top three protected draft picks can finally reach the Trail Blazers, it will be a matter of next season to play a role.

Nelsey knew that the team's lineup needed to be strengthened, but what he was looking at was this summer's draft and the free agent market. Due to the lack of bargaining chips, this is now the strongest lineup that Nelsey can put together for Anjie and Ricard.

The only thing Ricard can do now is to lead the least luxurious lineup in the Eastern and Western finals, and launch an impact on the finals and even the O'Brien Cup.

Angie was exhausted, and this was indeed a big trouble. However, the series only played three games, and God knows what will happen to the Trail Blazers after that.

The Western Conference finals, this is indeed a big stage. But at the same time, this is indeed a grinding hell. Find this site and search for "Apex Novels 208xs", or please remember the URL of this site: