The Way of the Center

"Offensive firepower, I need you to keep up the offensive firepower of the first half of the game! The Blazers are already cornered, all we have to do is push them one more time, and they will fall into the abyss! Russell Bill! You have to play more carefully. Kevin! Use more shots to score. Serge, you and Morris must do everything possible to tie Ann's hands and feet! Come on, we are here for the championship this season! To achieve this goal, the Trail Blazers are the hurdle we must overcome!" Coach Brooks only took a while to draw densely on the tactical whiteboard, and every offensive line and every pick-and-roll point on it was deeply branded. In the minds of the Thunder players.

Continue to attack, this is Brooks' choice. He is full of confidence in the Thunder's offense. It is because of the offense that the Blazers are still behind and unable to turn around.

"I have to remind you, the Thunder played back-to-back games today! Twenty-four hours ago, these nasty guys were fighting against the beast of Cousins ​​in Sacramento! Yesterday's game, the Thunder played very hard. Now The game has entered the fourth quarter, and their physical fitness is on the verge of collapse! Increase the intensity of physical confrontation, especially on the defensive end, and we will make it difficult for the Thunder to score every goal! The way those guys play, sooner or later Let them drag themselves down!" Ricard also wrote and drew on the tactical board, but what he drew was one defensive change after another.

In the third quarter, the Blazers' defense had forced the Thunder's double-digit lead close. Facts have proved that Ricard's choice is extremely correct. Now, as long as there are 12 more minutes, the lead will be reversed sooner or later!

The tense intermission was broken by the piercing electronic buzzer, and Brooks and Ricard watched their fighters go to the field. What should be said and arranged, the two coaches have already done almost the same. How the game is now depends on the performance of the players on the court!

As soon as the fourth quarter started, the Trail Blazers showed their strong mentality.

In the third quarter, the Blazers were able to advance unhurriedly even when they were behind. The fans can also understand that there is enough time for the game.

But now, the game is in the fourth quarter. If the situation is not reversed quickly, there will be no chance for the next game.

So when the fans see Miller's "slow" command of the ball, don't mention how anxious they are.

The Thunder's backup point guard, Reggie Jackson, who borrowed Westbrook's banner in last year's playoffs, did not dare to underestimate the old man standing opposite him.

The young and energetic Reggie suffered a lot in front of Miller today. As an old fritter who has wandered in the NBA for 14 years, Miller is handy when dealing with rookies like Reggie Jackson.

No, this attack, Miller actually called a pick-and-roll for the first time. You know, Miller breaks through the offense with the ball himself, this scene is not common.

Anjie's pick-and-roll has greatly slowed Westbrook's pace, although after so many years, Westbrook's ability to defend against pick-and-rolls has been very good. But An Jie's pick-and-roll skills are still improving.

Seeing Miller coming suddenly, Ibaka and Morris were in trouble. In the end, should such a guy stop him from scoring, or should he stop him from passing?

Decisions on the basketball court have to be made in the blink of an eye, because the fast-paced game doesn't give you much time to think.

This situation is true for the Thunder's two insiders, and it is also true for Miller Sr.

It should be played or passed! ? In the end, Miller tricked Ibaka with a simple throw. The basketball went into the net, and no one could have imagined that the first goal after the opening of the fourth quarter would come from this veteran.

However, many neutral fans hate Ricard's choice to the bone.

It seems that the Blazers' offense is still so dull. Even a guy like Old Miller can get the right to fire, which is enough to show that the Blazers put all their strength in defense.

Sure enough, Reggie Jackson, who was advancing with the ball, had just brought the ball across the center line, and he received the "warm" hospitality from the old Miller.

In an instant, Reggie's rhythm was disrupted. Let alone breaking through now, Reggie Jackson must be very focused if he wants to keep the ball.

After finally bringing the ball two steps beyond the three-point line, Reggie Jackson took a closer look. This is great, under the close defense of the Trail Blazers players, now I can't even see a passing route!

At this time, in order to allow the players to get enough rest, neither Durant nor Westbrook was on the court. If it was before, Reggie encountered a situation where no one could pass, and he only had to throw the ball to Westbrook or Durant. But now, the Thunder team has no leader, and the offensive line has been cut off again, and Reggie is even more at a loss.

Seeing the attack time pass by seconds, Reggie Jackson had no choice but to stand up first.

Seeing this situation, the old Miller immediately moved sideways and stepped firmly in front of Reggie Jackson. Reggie knew that he would not create another miracle today.

He vaguely saw Perkins who was in a better position on the inside. Reggie didn't hesitate, he made a decisive decision, and let the ball be successfully disposed of first!

But as soon as the ball was released, Reggie regretted it. An Jie, who was standing behind Perkins, sprinted forward suddenly, opened his big hand, and successfully destroyed the pass before Perkins caught the ball.

Fortunately, Anjie with this half-substitute lineup was unable to play a quick counterattack as usual.

Andre Miller is still advancing at a leisurely pace, and at this time, the Thunder's lead is only the last two points.

Kendrick Perkins, the stalwart low-post defender who helped the Celtics win a championship, isn't a softie.

An Jie knew that this guy's defense was extraordinary.

Perkins is not afraid of confrontation. To be exact, this guy likes to make contact with his opponent very much.

But I have to admit that this strong big man has even less presence on the offensive end than Morris. Similarly, when An Jie changed his way to deal with Perkins, Perkins was not so fierce.

How much can a guy who is close and invisible on the offensive end analyze the opponent's thoughts on offense? Certainly not many.

An Jie saw that it was a little difficult to fight against Perkins in the low position, so he blinked at Old Miller. The old Miller understood, he patted the ball unhurriedly outside the three-point line, waiting for his teammates to move.

An Jie started it immediately, and Perkins was not to be outdone. He was like a hound eyeing a lamb, biting on the back of An Jie's butt.

Perkins can indeed be called a fierce hound, but Anjie is not a docile lamb.

Suddenly! Robin Lopez appeared in front of Perkins. If you just bumped into it straight and straight, maybe who would be called a foul!

There is no way, facing this off-ball pick-and-roll, Perkins can only choose to go around.

This little time is enough for Anjie and Miller to complete the handover of basketball.

When Perkins accelerated his pace and rushed to An Jie, An Jie did not stop, but also accelerated and ran face to face with Perkins.

Because he was chasing too quickly, Perkins couldn't turn his big body around quickly. This strong big center forcibly "braked", and the person who greeted him slipped and fell to the ground in embarrassment!

Anjie passed by Perkins and got rid of this trouble. The Thunder's basket can only be trampled!

An Jie rushed into the penalty area. What surprised Brooks was that none of the players on the field dared to stand in front of An Jie.

After all, no one wants to be the target of being dunked on today's top ten ball.

An Jie filled the frame with both hands vigorously, and the Moda Center, which had been aggrieved for three full quarters, was like a volcanic eruption, and hot magma flowed into the hearts of every fan.

"Come on, Ann! Kill them!"

"Tear City will never give up!"

The shouts of the fans in the stands made Van Gundy almost unable to hear the voice in the headset.

An Jie's dunk brought the two sides back to the same starting line again. After the goal, Brooks immediately stopped the game, but Anjie hooked his fingers at the main players on the Thunder bench.

"Want to beat the championship? Come on, please!"

Brooks didn't say much about Reggie Jackson's fatal mistake. Role players are like this. Once you can't seize the opportunity to perform, the head coach will freeze you.

Westbrook knows it's up to him to take over the game now. This guy is super excited during the timeout, but sometimes getting too excited is not a good thing.

Back from the timeout, Brooks had to replace Ibaka, Morris and Westbrook early. As for the Trail Blazers, An Jie was still playing with four substitutes.

But in fact, such a lineup can allow Anjie to devote more energy to Westbrook.

Morris' offensive ability won't bother Anjie too much, not to mention that there is Robin Lopez on the court.

Although the old Miller was facing Westbrook, in fact, the real threat to Westbrook was Anjie!

From the first second of Westbrook's breakthrough, Anjie kept imagining in his mind the possible breakthrough route and frame attack method that Westbrook might choose.

With Robin wiping his ass for himself, Anjie was not afraid that Westbrook would break through and score the ball.

Of course, Westbrook was completely unaware of the trap that Anjie was laying out. He still made a breakthrough on his own and won the game earlier, which was the only thought in the mind of this impatient defender.

Therefore, before the Thunder's counterattack horn sounded, it was ruthlessly annihilated by An Jie.

Westbrook crossed the crowd and made a two-step layup, but was slapped away by Anjie who got rid of the entanglement.

The same picture reappeared tens of seconds later, and Westbrook only had the basket in his eyes now. The more Anjie doesn't let him score, the bigger the basket will be in his eyes.

Brooks would love to yell for passes from the sidelines, but openly questioning Westbrook doesn't help the team at all.

Westbrook is still squandering opportunities, but Anjie helped the Blazers from being four points behind at the beginning of the fourth quarter to leading by four points without pain.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Brooks was finally willing to replace all the starting five tigers. And Ricard also waved his hand, letting all the main players play. Anjie's defense disrupted Brooks' plan, and Brooks didn't know that one wrong step would lead to another wrong step!

Subsequently, the Thunder's offense finally picked up. But the longer the time passed, the more tired the Thunder's main players who were forced to play early became.

What about the Trail Blazers? The main force of the Trail Blazers, who has been fully rested, is getting braver as he fights!

Durant has been using his precise shooting to help the team cling to the score, but when the game reached the last minute, even Durant lost his sight due to physical reasons.

The energetic Aldridge hit two turnaround jumpers on Ibaka's head, helping the Trail Blazers firmly stabilize the 4-point advantage.

In the end, this 4-point advantage was maintained until the end of the game.

104 to 108, the defending champion cleanly killed the menacing Thunder at home.

With 19 consecutive victories, the Thunder, which is considered the most likely to end the Blazers' winning streak, has become a small foil in this winning streak.

After the game, everyone praised Aldridge, who hit two key goals in a row at the last moment.

But Van Gundy said something different.

"The game, from the moment Ahn finished the block, it was over. It was him who made the Thunder set up a mess."

Van Gundy's idea was correct. An Jie, who was smiling and embracing the Thunder players at the moment, was the culprit of the killer Oklahoma City Thunder!

Another powerful enemy fell at An Jie's feet. Perhaps, the era of this guy has really come!