super heavy artillery

Chapter 890 Critical Moments
Donovan's idea is very simple, that is to play defensive counterattack.Shrink the defense to the inside and let the Lakers players finish the offense outside the three-point line.Then scramble for rebounds, Westbrook quickly advances, An Luo and Gallinari are responsible for hitting the ball into the basket.

Of course, there are a lot of screens and moves interspersed, and there are two very critical places.

Rebounding is a very important link. Whether the Lakers can grab enough rebounds in the inside line of the Lakers is the guarantee of whether the Thunder can launch a counterattack.In fact, that's why Donovan didn't want to play this way in the first place.Gallinari obviously can't provide Adams with too much help. It is not a problem for him to open up space in the game, but it is a bit difficult for him to go to the basket to grab rebounds.Besides, what the Thunder need Gallinari to do isn't rebounding.

Therefore, the Thunder have been suppressed by the Lakers in the first half, which has a great relationship with their inability to control rebounds.But in the second half, the Lakers' insiders themselves exposed some problems.

Davis can't always be so tough. Although he has been in good physical condition in the past few months with the Lakers, he is still a person blessed with "glass attributes". Vogel dare not let him play too risky.Furthermore, the Lakers still need Davis to do a lot in the game, and spending too much energy on rebounding is really not worth the candle.

McGee is not bad, but he is wrestling with Adams more often, and it is basically difficult to seize a better position.After all, Adams is quite good at getting stuck in the basket.

In fact, in terms of rebounding alone, Howard is the best choice.Howard this season is completely looking back with a basket.Howard, who has long faded from the label of a superstar, has worked hard in every game and helped the team do the dirty work.More importantly, he tends to do pretty well.After all, although he is older, he still has a solid foundation. With so many years of experience accumulated, he often performs better than the Lakers' starting fifth position McGee.

If you treat him as the core of the team, he still has the strength to average a double-double per game.But now he is just a substitute player and doesn't get too many opportunities.Of course, this is not because the Lakers and Vogel are unwilling to give him a chance, but because of his personal technical characteristics.Howard has always played the traditional fifth position, and has not been able to transform into a big player suitable for the small ball era.In the game, his defense to the Lakers is a great bonus, especially the defensive deterrence in the paint area, which makes most teams have to weigh it.

However, Howard's shortcomings are also obvious.

When Howard is on the court, he can only play the greatest role if he stays in the paint.But in that way, when Davis and James cut in and play low singles, they will be double-teamed by the Thunder and unable to perform to their due level.Howard does not have the ability to shoot, and it is difficult to integrate into the system when playing with Davis and James.On the contrary, when the lineup is rotated, it cooperates much better with Rondo.What annoys Vogel the most is that Howard's performance is even more disappointing when he meets teams that can bombard like the Rockets and Thunder.After all, as I get older, my athletic ability and physical strength have dropped significantly, and I can't run or jump.

These are the reasons why the Lakers can't fully utilize Howard's still excellent defensive ability.Coupled with the current problem of the league's penalty scale for defensive actions, it is difficult for a center player like Howard who has experienced the era of inside melee to control his fouls. Therefore, he simply cannot play for too long in the game.

In this way, under Westbrook's tough fight, the Thunder has an absolute upper hand in rebounding.Although Vogel quickly found a solution to the problem, in the previous period of time, the Thunder had completed the transition from lagging behind to leading.

In the following period of time, the Lakers and the Thunder entered a tug of war between you and me.After weighing it up, Vogel decided to replace McGee with Howard. While strengthening his defense and rebounding, under the feeding of James and Rondo, this man who was once able to replace James suddenly turned into a "cake" in Los Angeles. "Huang", played quite happily under the basket.

It has become more difficult for the Thunder to defend and counterattack, but their series of tactics built around the two three-point shooters An Luo and Gallinari have shown their power. With the tacit cooperation of the players, the Lakers players You can only follow them and run non-stop on the court.Of course, the effect is not bad, but the physical exertion is too serious.There are quite a few veterans in the Lakers team, which is naturally the Thunder's advantage.

The decisive moment between the two sides has been dragged to the second half of the last quarter.In fact, after the third quarter, everyone knew very well that this game would be played until the last moment.Therefore, both Donovan and Vogel chose to put their main players on the bench to rest.So much so that the entire first half of the fourth quarter is a time for rotation.

It has to be said that the reason why these two teams are recognized by everyone is really not because of their reputation.Needless to say, the confrontation between the main players, there are four All-Star players in this game alone, and three of them are very likely to become All-Star starters.The stacking of stars alone is comparable to most teams in this league.

Whether it is the Lakers or the Thunder, their rotations are quite strong.At least in this game, the audience at the Chesapeake Energy Arena were not disappointed.

However, the performances of these guys are just an appetizer.Although exciting, it has nothing to do with winning or losing.Everyone knows that the real decisive battle will not begin until the players who are sitting on the sidelines to accumulate strength reappear.

This moment did not keep everyone waiting for too long.In fact, in the first half of the fourth quarter, under the tacit understanding of the head coaches of both sides, there was no twists and turns, and neither of them did anything to interrupt the rhythm of the game.It feels like this half of the game is used to give James and Westbrook a good rest.

When the last half of the game was over, the atmosphere in the Chesapeake Energy Arena suddenly became tense.

Before Donovan made up his mind to enter the decisive battle, it was the Lakers' offensive round.Rondo took possession of the ball to the top of the arc, and Alexander was facing him.For Rondo's defense, you only need to stand one meter away.Even if this guy can always make some three-pointers in the game, no one treats him as a person who is good at scoring, especially outside the three-point line, and no one focuses on "care".

For many years, Rondo gave the impression that he was almost completely incapable of shooting three-pointers.Including himself thinks so.So in the game, everyone can often see such a scene: Rondo is holding the ball at the three-point line, and the other 9 people on the field are entangled together, and no one cares about him.This is also the way all teams treat Rondo, preventing breakthroughs and not preventing shots.In fact, the defensive side really wants Rondo to shoot.In this way, it is equivalent to limiting Rondo's 4 teammates.

This may be a bit risky, but it is definitely a very successful defense. After all, the defense is successful if the ball is given to the opponent's player with the lowest shooting percentage.When Rondo was with the Celtics, it was definitely the peak of his career.When facing the Heat in the playoffs, Rondo took the ball from beyond the three-point line, and there was no one in front of him 3 meters away.

If things go on like this, Rondo himself is not too happy to shoot three-pointers.However, this round he had to choose to make a move.The other Lakers players were severely limited by the Thunder, but his chances were the best.Even if he knew very well that the Thunder wanted him to shoot three-pointers and score, there was no way.Teammates' chances are not good, so you can't pass the ball hard!How is such an approach different from "throwing the pot"?
"Shh!"

Although the shooting posture is not very good-looking, but after all, it is a shot.

An Luo and Westbrook, who were sitting on the bench, were speechless. Donovan's defensive strategy was fine, but now the situation has changed. Rondo seems to have practiced a pretty good three-pointer.It seems that we have to change our thinking when dealing with Rondo in the future.

Of course, Rondo's three-pointer didn't have much impact on the game.He's a player who can impact a game, but not in this way.

During the timeout, Donovan began his final mobilization:

We lost here the other day and the fans here didn't blame us.But we all know how much they wanted to see a win tonight.Letting others down is not a beautiful thing, and letting yourself down is even less so.So, guys, bring out our toughest defense and sharpest offense and beat the other side.Tell those people whose territory this is!
Soon, the main players of both sides returned to the game.

With the Thunder's possession of the ball, Westbrook found An Luo as soon as he came up. The latter caught the ball and made a three-pointer for the Lakers.

It's not that Donovan devised any brilliant plays, and he actually didn't say much during the timeout.At this time, Westbrook, as the team's offensive engine, knows how to help the team win the game.

As soon as An Luo came up, he entered the state of running without the ball.He went around the three-point line and the bottom line, interspersed in the elbow area and the two bottom corners, and under the cover of other Thunder players, he struggled to get rid of the pursuers behind him, and then received a pass from Westbrook, and shot directly. The ball goes into the basket.

Westbrook still took the ball and rushed in.Adams pulled up to the top of the key to cover him, and Westbrook feinted, pulled the ball down his hip to the left as Bradley started to go around, and then drove in from the left side.However, the Lakers' strong inside defense put too much pressure on him and made him give up his idea of ​​scoring.Of course, he himself was also prepared.Whether it is a breakthrough or a goal, the decision-making is quite decisive.

Looking back, James sent the ball high to Davis from outside the three-point line on the right. The latter made a fake move to shake Adams who had hurried back to the defense, flew up, and completed a dunk with one hand. .

I have to say that such a ball is really not something that just anyone can hit.James rushed to pass, and Davis dared to pick it up.The tacit understanding between the two is not at all like a partnership for less than three months.

Basically, the offensive tactics of the two teams have not changed much.The Thunder still chose to open the situation from the outside, while the Lakers seized their advantage inside and continued to inflict damage on their opponents.

Ever since, the two sides once again entered a period of competition that was difficult to distinguish.This point is very similar to the first half of this quarter.But the difference is that the cooperation between these players, their offensive and defensive performance, and their individual technical abilities are much better than those on the bench before.The offensive efficiency is also high.Both the Lakers and the Thunder are defensive teams, so the defensive quality of both sides is still very good.But it is really based on this that it can better reflect the powerful offensive capabilities of these players.In the NBA circle, the reputation of a player is always linked to his strength.

Without any accidents, this game went to the last moment.

119:118
This is the score on the court 32 seconds before the end of the game. The Lakers are in front and the Thunder are behind.More importantly, the ball for the next round is still in the hands of the Lakers.

Donovan gave up his last chance to time out, and arranged the team's defensive tactics very solemnly.Thunder want to win the game, this time the defense must be effective.The Lakers are naturally unwilling to give them that opportunity.

James held the ball at a critical moment. After he controlled the time almost, he used Davis's cover to kill the basket, and then forced a layup against Adams.

Adams tried his best to prevent James from scoring this time, but unfortunately, his foul made James stand on the free throw line.Adams was very annoyed!He held his head in his hands, with a helpless expression on his face.In fact, he has indeed tried his best in this defense.But the opponent is James, and it is a blessing in misfortune not to be labeled "2+1".

The current situation has not changed for the Thunder, and it is even worse.After all, for James, letting him make free throws at this time is actually no different from sending points.

"boom!"

Just when everyone thought the Lakers would be invincible, James missed the ball.Although the second shot was made, their lead was only 2 points.The Thunder can kill the game with a three-pointer!
(End of this chapter)