Junior Basketball says

Chapter 371 Home Field Bonus
To be honest, the Thunder's performance in the second game was considered very good. At least they entangled with the Timberwolves until the last quarter, and only lost 6 points in the end.However, professional basketball is so cruel, no matter how good your performance is in the game, no matter how dazzling your personal data is, as long as you lose, it is the original sin.

In order to save face, the entire Thunder team attaches great importance to the third game. They hope to win the final victory in this game in front of the home fans. Of course, it would be better if this game is the turning point of the entire series.

Brooks gritted his teeth and did not give the players a holiday, but called them all to the training ground for additional training.I have to say that the morale of the Thunder is still very high, and they are not depressed by losing two games in a row.In fact, they have no time to be depressed. The third game is imminent. The only thing they need to care about is how they can play.

The Timberwolves who came to Oklahoma also had a hard time. Although the Thunder fans were very qualified and did not intentionally make noise near the hotel where they were staying, they would inevitably swear at them and give them the middle finger when they entered and left the hotel.Several bad-tempered players in the Timberwolves glared, but they still couldn't change the hostility of the fans.

However, Xu Hao didn't take their provocations to heart. At the same time, he tried his best to appease his teammates, preventing them from conflicting with the fans, let alone disturbing his mood because of these bad things.For players, mental state is often more important than physical state, which allows them to maintain a clear mind during the game.

The only thing that worries Xu Hao is whether the referee will blow the home whistle in this game.Since entering the league, he has heard some conspiracy theories, and one of them is that the league gives referees private instructions.Now the series between them and the Thunder is simply a hot spot in the American basketball circle. If they end the battle with a 4-0 score, the league's box office revenue will lose a large chunk, and the hyped matchup can only be It's anticlimactic.

Therefore, before the start of the game, Xu Hao specially told his teammates to pay attention to their own movements during the game, and at the same time, be careful of the opponent's flopping. After all, there are still a few players at the level of actor in the Thunder team.If you are really targeted by the referee, don't go forward to argue immediately, it will only make the referee call a technical offender, and the most important thing is to suppress your inner anger.

Sure enough, Xu Hao soon discovered the clue after the game started.As long as it is not the kind of problem that can be seen through multi-angle playback in slow motion, the referees are basically biased towards the Thunder.With the help of this "sixth man", the Thunder quickly took the lead. Durant hit consecutive shots from the mid-range, leading the team to a scoring frenzy.

Seeing that the team was at a disadvantage, McHale quickly called a timeout and rearranged his tactics.According to his thinking, since physical confrontation can't gain the upper hand, then simply don't fight, just find an open space and hit the shot.

Since the Timberwolves acquired Korver through a trade, their outside firepower is second to none in the league. Now McHale is obviously betting on them, and the team's two insiders must try to cover them as much as possible.

After the game restarted, the running positions of Timberwolves players became even more weird, and Love and Jordan on the inside frequently pulled up to cover for outside players.Of course, Xu Hao doesn't need to cover much. His crotch change dribble has been perfected. As long as he is willing, it is not difficult to tear through the Thunder's defense.Rubio and Korver need such a screen wall, and when they bypass the screen to get rid of the defense, Xu Hao's pass can always arrive in time.

In the second half of the first quarter, the three of them jointly threw 5 three-pointers, and then narrowly narrowed the point difference to 2 points at the end of the first quarter.This result gave Brooks a headache. This was not what he wanted to see!

But before he could tell, Durant came on full fire after the start of the second quarter. He had always been troubled from outside the three-point line. He suddenly hit three consecutive outside shots and scored 11 points on sudden shots to help the Thunder. regain the lead.Whenever he scores a goal, the audience will remember shouting "MVP! MVP!" to cheer for their star player.

This is the advantage of superstar basketball. As long as the star can find the touch, it is like cutting melons and vegetables.Durant has now entered his scoring mode, and no matter who is standing in front of him, there is nothing to prevent him from making shots.

At the end of the half, Durant had scored 28 points and the Thunder took a 60-52 lead.In fact, their leading advantage is basically due to the extraordinary performance of Durant alone, and the others can only be regarded as icing on the cake.Among them, Westbrook and Harden scored 13 points and 11 points respectively, while none of the Thunder's other players scored in double figures.

For Durant's explosion, McHale said that there is nothing he can do, not to mention that the team's starting wing has been replaced by Korver. rand.

Of course, McHale also tried to substitute players to defend Durant. Unfortunately, no one on the wing could threaten him, and it was impossible for the inside line to follow him on the outside. Naturally, no one could cause actual trouble to Durant.

In the second half, the Timberwolves also continued to chase points under the leadership of Xu Hao, but whenever they narrowed the point difference to an acceptable level, Durant always stood up and scored consecutive points, helping the Thunder to open the score again.Xu Hao also felt very helpless about this. For such a monster, basically he could only pray that his hands would feel cold, and it was basically impossible to defend against it.

Amid the cheers from the Thunder fans, Durant maintained his good form until the end of the game. He scored a game-high 44 points, and also contributed 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks. Everyone has made sufficient contributions.Thanks to his super performance, the Thunder also defended their first home game 108-100.

In an interview after the game, Durant made no secret of his ambition: "As long as I have full firepower, no one can stop me. I have always believed in this. This game is just the beginning, and I will continue to do so." This state helps the team win. I admit that the Timberwolves are very powerful, but we also want the promotion spot. As long as I am still on the court, I will not give this qualification to others easily. Our goal is also finals!"

(End of this chapter)