Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 518 The Thunder That Looks Strong

On January 1, the Knicks lost to the Clippers, who were in good shape.

The overall offensive talent of the Clippers team is not bad, but it is difficult to surprise people.

Their main lineup is good, and they also have strong offensive substitutes. Summer tinkering has little effect on the team's combat effectiveness.

Sometimes they perform well, but more often than not, they are still mediocre, and they will habitually pull their hips in the playoffs.

The main reason is that the defense is too ordinary, and the strong scoring ability is not strong.

It is estimated that if there is no breakthrough in the record, everyone will be disappointed with the combination of Paul and Griffin. It can be seen from the All-Star voting that it is impossible to only have a title without a record.

The Knicks' schedule in January is not intensive, but it is not easy either.

After playing the Clippers, they will play back-to-back away games against the Hornets.

Fortunately, the Hornets' defense is not very good now, so they play a lot better.

Zhang Sixin feels that defense is becoming less and less popular in the league now, and his job is really much easier.

However, in terms of player injuries, we still have to take strict precautions.

After the popular offense, the rhythm of the game's offensive and defensive transitions has become faster, and players are also prone to injuries.

It can be said that if the Knicks can be stopped now, it is estimated that there are only injuries, so they must defeat the opponent.

Of course, many teams' offensive priority is not without gains, but it will be more difficult to face the Knicks.

In the third quarter of the game between the team and the Hornets, the Hornets played a good offense from the outside, but because of poor defense, they were quickly ravaged by the Knicks.

There is no winning streak in the season, and the Knicks are still going on.

On January 1, the Knicks met the Western Conference Thunder again.

The Thunder are now at the peak of Westbrook and Durant, and the team lineup is relatively complete, with main substitutes.

Although the defense is not as strong as before, after changing the head coach, the offense has really improved.

They used to be almost meaningless in both the regular season and the playoffs in history. It can only be said that the luck is not good, and the direct chemical reaction of the players can also be the best.

They stayed with Kanter for 7000 million four years in the summer, and Kanter was just a substitute insider. If he had been so generous earlier, the Thunder would not have bothered about Durant's stay.

In this game, the defensive wing Robertson was truce, and Waiters, the number one outside substitute, started.

The Thunder don't pay much attention to defense now, and Robertson is a bit like a fake starter. The lack of him will not have much impact on the Thunder.

The Thunder mainly need to make good use of two stars. Durant is a superstar, and Westbrook is not an ordinary All-Star. It's just that although the two are already at their peak, their chemistry has not improved, and may have declined.

After all, a dual-core team is not as clear as a single-core team, but Westbrook is the type who has the ball and doesn't shoot well.

Sometimes Zhang Sixin couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the Knicks pursued Durant in the summer.

But the pursuit of fame is still too expensive, and Zhang Sixin just thinks about it.

The Knicks' current lineup is perfect, and there is no need to be an All-Star starter.

Durant is one of the few players in the league who cannot be completely restricted by Leonard. When the Knicks take turns with Leonard and Antetokounmpo, Durant can still score.

This is indeed very greedy, but when Durant keeps scoring, the two teams are almost evenly divided.

The Thunder's defense is worse than before, even if they actually have a good defensive ability.

"Try to consume Durant as much as possible, so that Westbrook can make more shots from the outside," Zhang Sixin said.

The Knicks didn't flank Durant at the first time, and wanted to try the wheel battle first, and then flank in the second half.

To be honest, the Thunder is also expected to stand out in the West, Zhang Sixin needs to observe more.

This season, the competition in the Western Conference has become more intense, and Zhang Sixin can't predict which team can win.

"Kanter is really not worth that much money, and his shortcomings are too obvious." Zhang Sixin said looking at the insider who came off the bench and couldn't integrate well with the team's rhythm.

Under the Knicks system, Zhou Qi was not afraid of Kanter, and the Knicks played better than the opponent during the rotation.

In fact, no one has performed well on the inside. The key is that Curry and Booker on the outside are both okay.

Harrell also performed later, but Zhang Sixin didn't give many opportunities this time.

Harrell's advantages and disadvantages are also obvious. In order to limit Durant, Leonard and Antetokounmpo, it is difficult for the inside substitute to have a chance to play.

"The Thunder have a lot of singles. They have this ability, but they rely too much on it." Zhang Sixin commented.

It's not just Westbrook and Durant, the firepower of their two benches is also used to singles. When things go well, it's okay to say, but when things don't go well, it's easy to affect each other's emotions and lose depressed.

Thunder coach Donovan also yelled a few times on the sidelines to defend well, but he didn't establish a good defensive system, didn't develop good defensive habits, and it was useless for the coach to shout his voice on the court.

At the end of the first half, the Thunder's shooting percentage was declining, and the Knicks came from behind and became the dominant side.

In the game against the Knicks, as long as the opponent has a loophole, they will be quickly caught by them.

Many teams will become cautious when facing the Knicks, but in the end they are restrained and do not perform well.

In the third quarter, the Thunder played well again.

I have to say that Durant and Westbrook really have the ability.

There are really a lot of talented teams in the West now, unlike the East that doesn't even have any competitors for the All-Star voting, which is very shabby.

The Knicks' response is to stabilize the defense, and then the offensive team can always find opportunities with teamwork.

This is not difficult. For a team with poor defense, as long as the Knicks pass the ball a few more times, with some screens and back runs, there will be three-point opportunities.

Often after the Thunder hit an explosive ball, the Knicks easily scored a three-pointer, which was very emotional.

As long as the Thunder's twin stars have problems with their touch, they will be in trouble.

Without a good defensive system, there is no fault tolerance rate, and many teams just don't understand.

The Thunder are no longer at the top of the Western Conference rankings because they lost some games for no apparent reason.

If there were two Durants, they might be able to play like they are now, but wouldn't there be a star who doesn't shoot well enough?

With the popularity of offense, stars with bad shots are becoming more and more difficult to mix, at least leading the team will not be so strong.

It's another rotation period, and the Thunder just can't win.

It's not the playoffs now, and the Thunder will also let two powerful stars rest.

When they are on the court, the team can still cover up some shortcomings. When they go off, the Thunder can't stand it at all.

So, after Durant played again, he turned on the savior mode.

Watching him hit a three-pointer against Leonard's defense, Zhang Sixin applauded appreciatively.

"Let's attack all the way." Zhang Sixin said to the players during the timeout.

Even if the coach is changed, the tactics will change slightly.

But in the face of the Thunder, there is nothing wrong with flanking Durant.

Kobe and Nowitzki are both old, and now they only need to pinch Durant and Curry.

(End of this chapter)