The Way of the Center

Chapter 819: Star vs. Star

The wonderful performances of Anjie and George turned the situation of the game around in an instant. Although the Thunder's backup forward Andre Robertson was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team last season, when he and George were really one-on-one, the gap between the two was still very obvious.

Donovan must now switch to Anthony to confront George and develop a tighter defensive strategy. And with Anthony, the Thunder's offense will get back on track.

The coach who just came from the college league to coach the NBA did not expect that someone like Ricard who likes to play team basketball would suddenly use stars to attack the defense.

This is like, it is as incredible that Vicki suddenly let Leonard control all the offensive balls one day.

Since he wants to use stars to dominate the game, Donovan will also use all the stars he has on hand to confront him. Donovan would like to see whether Westbrook and Anthony's scoring firepower is stronger, or the cooperation between George and Anjie is better!

After the timeout was over, Ricard saw Anthony go into battle again. Anthony can not only put more pressure on George on the defensive end, but on the offensive end, he will also cause a lot of trouble for George.

However, Ricard believes that the series of wonderful cooperation between his two players just now is not accidental.

The timeout expires and the game restarts. The Thunder, which trailed by two points, reorganized their offense under Westbrook's ball advance.

George obviously felt a completely different pressure. Compared with Robertson, who was mediocre on the offensive end, Anthony's running position undoubtedly made George feel very difficult.

Just when Anthony was about to go out of the three-point line, Adams suddenly appeared, completely blocking George's chasing route!

Seeing this situation, An Jie did not continue to follow behind Adams, but directly switched defenses and rushed towards Anthony. Anthony planned to break through directly after receiving the pass from Westbrook. He still didn't believe that a big center like Anjie could adjust his center of gravity and retreat in time when rushing forward to supplement the defense. The power of inertia alone is enough for An Jie to rush forward a few steps.

Thinking of this, Anthony immediately started to speed up. But just as he took a step, he found himself bumping into An Jie!

Anjie was indeed unable to change his center of gravity in time, but when he opened his arms, the exaggerated defensive range was beyond Anthony's expectation.

After being stopped by Anjie, Anthony did not give up and planned to continue to break through Anjie. He tried several times, but he couldn't fool the No. 00 center in front of him.

"We have always known that An's single-defense ability on the outside is also very strong,

But I never expected it to be so strong! The opponent is Carmelo Anthony! Have you ever seen any inside man who can limit Anthony on the outside defense! ? O'Neal stared at his huge eyes in surprise. Anjie's offensive range can cover the entire three-point line. And his defensive range seems to be larger than his offensive range!

In the end, Anthony finally tricked Anjie with a false act of praying to Buddha and successfully broke through. But An Jie's timely reaction only allowed Anthony to surpass half a body.

Anthony insisted on a layup by himself, but he didn't expect Anjie to be very close to him. This distance is far from escaping An Jie's defense range.

Anthony had just taken off when An Jie shot the basketball away from behind. A clean and tidy chase, the former "King of New York" had to return empty-handed!

"This is the third time that Antoni has blocked shots in this game. His single defense actually makes even a top scorer like Anthony helpless. Antony is a player who can really defend from the basket to the three-point line, and from the three-pointer. Horror guy who defends back to the rim from outside the line."

In fact, the reason why Anthony was defended by Anjie alone was not only because of Anjie's super defensive ability. Also because, after Anthony's age and weight gain, his speed has long been much worse than before.

Anthony's first step was so quick that An Jie didn't even have time to stop him. But he got slower and slower in the next few steps, and he could easily be caught up by Anjie and complete the block.

You know, even An Jie is 29 years old now. Anthony, this guy, is no longer the "little melon" who called the wind and rain during the Nuggets period.

The basketball that was blocked by An Jie was finally taken down by the tall and long-armed George. There is no doubt that George took possession of the ball and advanced immediately after getting the ball, without giving the Thunder any chance to breathe.

The Thunder's defensive speed is fast, and the Blazers' transition speed is even faster! George pushed forward without slowing down, and finally faced Jerami Grant, who was only 2.03 meters tall, George directly forced himself up, stretched his body in the air, and dunked successfully.

Anjie's block and George's dunk temporarily tilted the balance of victory in this Star Wars to the Trail Blazers.

The Thunder made a comeback, and this time, the man with the ball changed from Anthony to Westbrook.

Although Westbrook can still break through Napier with ease, when he breaks through, Iguodala will always pass the defense.

Seeing someone coming forward to defend, Westbrook transferred the basketball to Oladipo without hesitation. Oladipo hadn't caught the ball yet, but Napier changed it again.

"The Blazers have a very clear idea of ​​switching defenses. They will never be chaotic. As long as Westbrook doesn't attack, the Thunder will never get a chance!"

Oladipo tried to break through Napier, but Napier, who had regained his confidence and was very active, prevented Oladipo from losing his temper.

In the end, basketball fell into the hands of Westbrook. Westbrook once again wanted to score with a pull-up jumper, but the experienced Iguodala was no match for Napier. This time, Westbrook's shooting was seriously interfered by Iguodala, and the Thunder failed again.

After An Jie grabbed the rebound, he quickly launched a long pass from the backcourt. Just when everyone thought that George would start the singles mode again, he suddenly flicked his wrist and sent the offensive power to the latecomer with a ground pass. An Jie's hands.

Facing Adams with outstretched arms, Anjie shook the defense with an extremely wonderful jump and scored an easy layup.

Donovan started yelling from the sidelines. He didn't want to just watch the point difference get wider and wider. But as long as Anthony and Westbrook don't score for a moment, the pace of the game will be more and more firmly grasped by the Blazers.

The same is to use the star to attack the defense, and the relationship between Westbrook and Anthony is more of a simple one-on-one fight. However, between Anjie and George, they combined team basketball and star singles very well.

This is why Angie and George's offense is smoother, because their roles can always switch all the time.

The game went on for several minutes. If Westbrook hadn't used his breakthrough ball to create a few three-point shots for Anthony, it is estimated that the point difference would have gone to double digits.

But breakthrough points are not a serious way of cooperation. Donovan knows that Westbrook and Anthony cannot win by breakthrough points alone.

Before Donovan could figure out a solution to the problem, most of the second quarter had passed. Now, the time has come for the second team to play.

Anthony and Westbrook were out of breath. They played very tired, but they didn't see any results. And when both Westbrook and Anthony were off the court, the Thunder's offense was even more of a mess.

For the Trail Blazers, they can still rely on Jokic and Evan Turner on the bench to get some points. But for the Thunder, the offense is really horrible.

Oladipo hit the iron continuously, and the Thunder's backup power forward Tai Gibson was restricted to a very embarrassing situation. Jerami Grant? This guy was once named "the worst outside shooter" by espn. Counting on him to score for the Thunder is better than counting on Oladipo to be resurrected.

Thanks to the efforts of Anjie and George and the Trail Blazers' second team, the Thunder still led by five points at the end of the first quarter. By the time of the intermission, it became ten points behind!

46 to 56, both Anthony and Westbrook were sullen because of this score.

They walked quickly into the locker room, hoping to find a solution to the problem earlier. Moda Center is really not a good place!

When scorers like Westbrook and Anthony are struggling in the Moda Center, Donovan knows that this series will be very difficult for him...

How should we play the second half of the game? This is really a headache for Donovan.

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