Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 224

"There are only 2 points left! During this time, the Thunder took advantage of Russell's breakthrough points to get shots from the perimeter, and his teammates did not disappoint his passing. I feel that the Spurs are in danger again..."

This is something normal people can see, so when the Spurs got off to a good start, those who supported the Thunder were not too nervous, because they knew that the team would come back sooner or later.

After the two games, until this one, the Thunder have demonstrated how to win the Spurs in many ways, and the gap between the two teams has long been seen by everyone.

Even Spurs fans have to admit that the Thunder are indeed the better team.

Of course, this does not mean that the Spurs will give up. They must still fight for the first home game, but Popovich has no cards in his hand at this time.

The longer you play in the playoffs, the more you will be exposed, and people will gradually know how to target you later on.

Of course, Li Sheng and the coaching staff were not idle during the previous break. They also carefully studied the two rounds of the playoffs between the Spurs, the Grizzlies, and the Clippers, and finally came to the conclusion that the Thunder can suppress them offensively and defensively.

As long as they maintain a good state, the Spurs don't have that point of advantage to play. On the contrary, the role players who performed well before will be restricted.

Especially for outside three-pointers, the Thunder is probably the only team in the league that is capable of defending against their passing balls, because only they have this defensive configuration on the wings and front.

The other is the competition for rebounds, which the Spurs have always done well. Their individual rebounding ability may not be stronger than their opponents, but each of them can help block positions and create opportunities for teammates. In terms of collectives, the Spurs are actually better.

However, this gap is negligible, and even the Thunder can use their athletic ability to suppress them in turn.

The two commentators in the CCTV live broadcast room are beaming now. After all, the Thunder is the "home team", so of course they support the Thunder in winning.

"Coach Li Sheng's expression is obviously much more relaxed than in the previous two games, and it seems that he is more confident now."

"Yeah, it's acceptable to lose this game, but at present, the Thunder is gradually recovering, but the Spurs are going to be a little bit overwhelmed."

As the main players of the two sides returned to the field one after another, the score remained at a gap of 3-4 points, but the Thunder did not panic at all, and they were even willing to play with the Spurs at a steady pace.

But in this way, the Spurs were a little panicked.

With more than three minutes left in the second quarter, Parker made a pass error and was directly intercepted by Robertson. Westbrook took the lead and ended up dunking in the frontcourt.

In the next round, after the Spurs hit the Thunder, Durant hit another three-pointer from the outside, and after defending an attack from the Spurs, Westbrook made another fast break.

This time Ginobili dared to be behind, but Robertson followed closely. Westbrook threw the ball back directly. Robertson caught the ball and tied the score.

"At the end of the first half, the Thunder had already tied the score. At 49:49, the Spurs worked hard for almost two quarters, but the Thunder still had a chance."

"Look at the next goal, Manu Ginobili hit a three-pointer - the critical moment still depends on GDP!"

The Spurs are gnawing at the old man now, and their role players have been held down. The starting backcourt pair of Parker and Green, who performed well before, also missed the mark today. Leonard had to stand up, but he also didn't feel good, and his mentality may have been affected.

Duncan was flanked from time to time in the paint, but his speed was too slow for Splitter.

The Thunder also depends on the situation when attacking Duncan. Once Splitter is a little farther away from the basket, he can attack Duncan with confidence. After Duncan hits the ball, Splitter can only attack the basket.

If Ginobili hadn't stood up, the Thunder would have already taken the lead.

There is a saying among the Spurs fans, it is called the sports car in good times and the Buddha in adversity, and the Argentine demon knife is naturally seen in the desperate situation.

In fact, many teams have similar words, but there are indeed many cases of Ginobili's desperate savior in the Spurs, and whether he can be saved today depends on whether the Thunder will show him face or not.

Li Sheng didn't plan to hold Ginobili in particular. In fact, Ginobili was in a good state today and was not very defensive.

It is obviously impossible to prevent the entire opponent team from scoring points. It is good to limit other players as much as possible, and it will not affect the overall situation if one or two is occasionally exposed.

Ginobili is not able to carry the strength of the whole team in this situation. After all, this is "20-minute Jordan", not the real Jordan, not to mention that the real Jordan's strength also weakens when he gets old.

"Okay, the referee blew the whistle and halftime ended. The Thunder temporarily led by 54 points 51:3. Although the Spurs started well, they quickly let the Thunder catch up to the score. I have to say that their offensive and defensive rhythm is really suffocating, and from the inside to the outside, it is difficult for the Spurs to score in this game except Ginobili."

"Then take a break and watch the second half of the game later..."

During the intermission, Li Sheng was in the legendary Spurs locker room. He didn't encounter any broken air conditioner or snakes, but the space here is really small.

It's okay for Li Sheng himself, but there are so many big men over two meters, they have to lower their heads when they enter the door, like Gobert even has to be careful not to bump into the chandelier.

This kind of arrangement will indeed affect people's mood.

Li Sheng simply asked everyone to tell each other some happy jokes to relax and divert their attention.

They are all young people, and their emotions come and go quickly, and everyone quickly puts aside this depression, and when the game is about to start, they return to the field talking and laughing.

The commentators also said that seeing the state of the Thunder, they feel that they are more stable today.

On the other hand, the Spurs had a stern expression on their faces. They usually just look stern, but today the game is in a serious form. It is really stern.

"Okay, let's go back to the game. The two sides started the second half and maintained the starting lineup. The Spurs attacked first..."

"Parker is holding the ball from the outside. He is not in good shape today. This has something to do with the Thunder's defensive strategy. There must be someone by his side at any time, and there must be someone interfering next to him. After passing the ball, someone will follow him immediately..."

"Parker chose to call the pick-and-roll, and Split rolled down, but Parker switched to Green on the other side—Green had a chance!"

when!
It's a pity that Tielin went online today, trying to maintain his iron-clad country.

If it was Green, the three-point shooter yesterday, maybe the Spurs still have a chance to wrestle with the Thunder today.

They couldn't grab key rebounds. Since the past three games, the Thunder have done a good job in rebounding and controlling mistakes. This makes their fault tolerance rate much higher, and it also hinders the Spurs' offense even more.

They were able to use defense and control rebounds before, and they had a lot of fast break opportunities. When they encountered the Thunder, they were quickly broken by the Thunder.

This time the Thunder rushed to the front with Durant, and it ended with a dunk again. This kind of scene did not know how many times it will happen in the first two games. Every time they show their youthful physical strength like this, it makes people feel even more embarrassing for the Spurs.

But there is no need to sigh on the basketball court, here is to rely on strength to speak.

In fact, today, in terms of penalties, the Spurs are slightly biased. It's not that they have a lot of fouls, but that Westbrook and the others can get a lot of fouls at the Thunder's home court before.

This also allows Li Sheng to let the players play more passes and cooperate after the midfield rearrangement, so as to avoid missing some opportunities.

Although they have taken the lead now, there is still a lot of game time, and the Spurs are definitely hopeful to get back. Li Sheng does not want to give them momentum.

"As soon as the third quarter came up, the Thunder didn't give opportunities like they did in the opening game. Their defensive pressure was very strong, and the Spurs were forced to make two turnovers in a row—hey, a foul?!"

The foul that puzzled the commentator this time also made the Thunder team baffled.

Because Li Sheng was on the other side, he didn't see it clearly, so he hurried to communicate with the referee, and then looked up at the replay on the big screen.

(End of this chapter)