The era of point forwards in the NBA

Chapter 264 Death Comes
With Parker hitting the ball to Blair and scoring, the Spurs once opened the point difference to five points.

But the Thunder responded immediately, and Durant's dry pull and Sefolosha's three-pointer instantly evened the difference.

Time is passing, and there is not much left before the end of the game. 89 to 89, the Spurs hold the ball, and Popovich calls a timeout to arrange the offense.

After the timeout ended, Popovich did not change the lineup. Ginobili, who performed poorly, was still on the court. Without Duncan's high-level support, they needed Ginobili to tear apart the defense.

Parker dribbled the ball at the top of the arc, observing the running positions of his teammates. According to the tactical arrangement, they were going to hit the ball to the basket, but instead of relying on the inside players to hit the basket hard, they used reverse running to find a gap and layup.

The success rate of this attack will be much higher.

Ginobili ran to Parker's side to cover him, and Lin Yue followed cautiously.

Even though Ginobili hasn't scored a single goal now, everyone is afraid that he will suddenly score a three-pointer. Once the touch recovers, there will be too many points to deal with.

This time, Parker didn't think about returning to the demon knife, and he used the short gap created by the cover to kill towards the basket.

Lin Yue's traversing speed could not compare with the propulsion speed of the "French Sports Car", and it was only stopped by Sefolosha's supplementary defense.

Fortunately, Sefolosha's defensive area is large enough, and he consciously approaches the basket.

In the end, Parker was forced to make a throw.

The basketball bounced out of the hoop and the Thunder received the rebound.

Lin Yue dribbled the ball forward and launched another fast break. The Spurs retreated quickly. After a few passes, the basketball returned to Lin Yue. With 2 minutes left in the game, the score was still tight.

Every shot is crucial, Lin Yue handed the ball to Durant, who also failed to make a mid-range shot in the face of the defense, and the two sides continued to be deadlocked.

The Spurs launched an attack again. Parker did not expect that his performance in the second half seemed to be assimilated by his teammates, and he also became iron.

The big reversal seems unavoidable, and the Thunder's defensive attention is also very focused. Obviously they don't want to ruin the game they have worked so far.

Fortunately, there are still people who are not lost on the Spurs. Richard Jefferson received a pass from his teammate and fired directly from the outside.

The basketball got into the net, and the Spurs without Duncan had to rely on the outside to open the situation.

92 to 89, when every round is critical, the Spurs directly hit a three-pointer, which undoubtedly increased the pressure on the hearts of the Thunder players.

Brooks called a timeout and felt that another substitution, Kevin Ollie was replaced by Jeff Green, who needed outside shooting ability.

After the timeout ended, Lin Yue served the ball to Durant from the sidelines. He could indeed break through the Spurs' defense, but if the opponent formed a quick defense, then even Durant's success rate would be greatly reduced.

In the end, Lin Yue still signaled his teammates to open up space, and Durant faced Richard Jefferson one-on-one. The latter just hit a key three-pointer, and now he is in a state of excitement.

Relying on a sharp change of direction, Durant easily passed it, and then he stopped to make a mid-range shot, not giving other players a chance to help defend.

92 to 91, Durant withstood the pressure to get back points for the Thunder.

The Spurs began to press time, and there was still one minute before the end of the game. As long as the goal continued to be scored, their chances of winning would become more.

Ginobili's layup missed, Antonio McDyess took off the offensive rebound and passed the ball to Parker on the outside.

With another 14 seconds of attack time, Parker chose to continue to press the time and wait until 5 seconds before layup.

Still missed, but this time it was the Thunder who got the rebound.

With 30 seconds left before the end of the game, the Thunder chose to attack.

Durant strode towards the Spurs at halftime alone. Durant, who was at full speed, was difficult to defend. The number of fouls by the Spurs had already reached, and it would definitely not be wise to send him to the free throw line at this time.

In the end, Durant made three big strides against Ginobili, who was returning to the defense, and scored the ball. The physical confrontation in the air was suspected of being a defensive foul. Durant thought the ball should be given 2+1, but the referee didn't listen.

93 to 92, the Thunder led by one point with Durant alone.

The fans at the scene fell into a climax. If there is a god on the court, for them, Durant must be a god.

When the Thunder first moved to Oklahoma City, they were so beloved by the local fans that they were finally able to become NBA home fans too.

In the darkness of last season, the fans chose tolerance. They gave this young future star Kevin Durant some time, and believed that this guy would lead the Thunder to go further in the near future.

And this season it all happened.

It's really hard to say which loss is greater between the Spurs without Duncan and the Thunder without Curry.

The Spurs' collective style of play can continue even without Duncan. The Thunder lost the core of the perimeter without Curry. This time they shot fewer shots than usual, and their efficiency became lower.

It's not easy for the Thunder to compete with the Spurs.

However, the Spurs' focus is on the playoffs, and Popovich will give the main players a rest to ensure their competitive status.

The Thunder played almost full time. If they continue to play like this, their record will decline significantly in the second half of the season.

Coach Brooks is fighting for the first half, he needs to give players hope to enter the playoffs.

Looking back on the court, Ginobili passed two screens, ran from outside the three-point line on the right to a 45-degree angle on the left, and Parker passed the ball across.

Ginobili shot the ball as soon as he caught it, without the slightest hesitation, even though he has now made 11 of 0 shots, his fear did not make him give up his shot.

The players on the Spurs bench stood up. The importance of the goal was self-evident. If they missed it, they had to choose a foul tactic. Popovich had already thought about it, and the free throw was to find Lin Yue, the "human essence of two free throws".

There is still a chance to score points.

"Shh!"

The basketball got into the net in the eyes of everyone, it's not that it didn't go in, it's just that the time didn't come.

For the Spurs in desperation, the sharp demon knife was born again.

Ginobili, who was 12 in 1, hit the most crucial goal.

93 to 95, leaving the Thunder with 8 seconds of attack time.

Popovich didn't call a timeout, and Brooks didn't call a timeout.

Brooks knew that calling a timeout at this time is undoubtedly an opportunity for the Spurs to arrange a defensive formation, and if they want to fight, they will fight randomly.

Lin Yue handed the ball to Durant. The latter advanced quickly and used his back movement to pull away the chasing Richard Jefferson. Then he came beyond the three-point line, retreated to avoid the jumping Ginobili, and threw the ball in the face of Tony Parker's interference.

"Shh!"

A three-pointer was also scored, and death came. The Spurs failed to score the ball in a few tenths of a second.

In the end, with Durant's three-pointer, the Thunder beat the Spurs 96-95 at home.

The death sickle swung out, and no grass grew anywhere it went.

(End of this chapter)