Junior Basketball says

Chapter 373
Brooks was overjoyed to see the changes in the Timberwolves' lineup. How could anyone continue to lower their average height despite being at a height disadvantage?Even if they want to play fast-paced offense and defense transitions, are the Thunder still afraid of them with their athletic ability?
Against the Thunder last season, the Timberwolves still had Webster in the lineup to cause some trouble for Durant, but since they gave up Webster and sent Wesley away at the trade deadline, the Timberwolves have not played well on the wing. The defense is locked.Now McHale is obviously in a hurry to go to the doctor, can the lineup of three guards be used?
Durant also felt that the opponent underestimated him. After all, he scored 40+ points in the last game. Any head coach would definitely have to defend him in a targeted manner.However, the Timberwolves did the opposite. How much did they look down on Durant, so they took the initiative to put in three guards?Don't you give him a chance to score casually?

Durant, who felt that he was underestimated, secretly made up his mind that he must give the opponent a little color in the next game, otherwise others would think his reputation is fake!It may be difficult to do 40+ again, but 30+ is also acceptable.

Amid the agitation of the home fans, the starting players from both sides came on stage one after another. Xu Hao stood next to Durant very calmly in front of everyone, making it clear that he was going to compete with Durant in this game.The Timberwolves fans in front of the TV were sweating for him. Apart from anything else, there is still a significant gap between your height and Durant!

However, Xu Hao didn't take the so-called height gap to heart.Of course, height is a very important indicator on the basketball court, but it is not enough to determine the final result of a one-on-one match. Otherwise, the whole team can only choose tall people?In fact, Xu Hao is still very confident in defending Durant, at least he already knows some small habits of the opponent.

Durant didn't take Xu Hao seriously, and when it was the Thunder's turn to attack, he directly asked for the ball from beyond the three-point line.When Westbrook passed the ball to him, Xu Hao was already in position, and he didn't want to fail the first defense.

According to Durant's idea, he was going to pull out a shot first, which he often did in previous games.As a scorer who can shoot suddenly, Durant wants to try his hand first. If his hand is good, he can use shooting to solve the problem. If his hand is average, he will have to constantly dribble the ball to the basket and rely on his height advantage to attack the frame. .

However, just as he was about to take off and shoot, a ghostly hand appeared next to the basketball.Before Durant habitually raised the ball to the highest point, he felt that his hands were empty and the basketball had been stabbed away.Xu Hao moved very quickly. He took control of the ball with a diving leap, and threw it forward without looking at it, assisting Ellington to hit a chasing three-pointer.

It wasn't until the Timberwolves' counterattack ended that Durant came back to his senses, damn it!Just now he was robbed?Not only was it intercepted, but the Timberwolves made a conversion attack and hit a three-pointer?This is so unscientific!Durant was puzzled. He thought that his shooting speed was considered fast. How could Xu Hao directly complete the steal?
But no matter whether he figured it out or not, this offensive and defensive transition actually happened. He himself added a turnover, and Xu Hao received a steal and an assist.This made Durant's heart tremble: It seems that direct shooting seems not advisable.

Since shooting is easy to be intercepted, it is better to dribble directly to the inside.Although Durant is a forward, and an oversized forward at that, he is very confident in his ball-handling skills.Among other things, with his two long legs, he can directly rush from the three-point line to the three-second zone in a few steps, and scoring at that position is completely a piece of cake.

However, Durant's breakthrough was hindered from the very beginning. Xu Hao was like a roundworm in his stomach, always able to precisely block his breakthrough route, which made Durant very uncomfortable.Although it was not enough for Xu Hao to directly steal and fight back, it was difficult for him to easily go inside to score, so he could only blindly shoot outside, and the hit rate can be imagined.

Brooks on the sidelines had his eyes widened, he couldn't believe what he saw at all.Durant was actually blocked by Xu Hao. Although he didn't make too many mistakes, he always felt that he was wrapped in layers of an invisible net. , This is really a ghost!
McHale was also astonished as he was. He really had a tentative attitude before and only gave Xu Hao a quarter of the game. He was afraid that he would have nothing to do with Durant, which would affect the team instead. its own offense.Unexpectedly, Xu Hao really has two skills in defending Durant. Although the statistics cannot be seen, the effect is real.

Moreover, Xu Hao's focus on defense did not weaken the firepower of the Timberwolves. Rubio took on the heavy responsibility of organizing the offense. Hao is fine.

Originally, Brooks planned to let Durant off the court to rest for a while, but he knew that this would hit the self-esteem of his number one general, so he continued to keep him on the court.However, the more Durant wants to break Xu Hao's blockade, the easier it is to make mistakes. In the entire first quarter, he only scored 6 points and 2 rebounds, and made 3 turnovers at the same time. His performance was very poor.

Such data made Durant very embarrassed. He slammed the towel on the ground and sat there sulking.Now no one in the Thunder dares to bother him, and they must be angry. The only question is whether Durant can break through the shackles in the next game and become the unstoppable super scorer again. .

Basically, now the Thunder is pointing at Durant to score alone. Harden's main task is to lead the bench, and Westbrook's shooting can't be seen at all.If Durant is locked, then the Thunder can basically say goodbye to this game.

Durant was upset, but Xu Hao was very happy. It seems that in the future, he can rely more on the system to gain experience.If it weren't for the fact that he often singled out Durant in virtual confrontations, Xu Hao was not sure if he could have such a good effect on the defensive end.But now is not the time to be happy, there are still three quarters to play in the game, no one knows whether Durant will show his power next, what Xu Hao has to do is to control the feeling in the first quarter, put this guy Get rid of it completely.

(End of this chapter)