super heavy artillery

Chapter 564 Chasing points in the second half

The Celtics took their slow-fire habits to the extreme.By the end of the first half, they had trailed by 21 points!
At halftime, Donovan credited his players for their excellent first-half performances.But he doesn't look particularly relaxed.The reason is that the Celtics are a team that is very good at overturning the game.In the past season, they played all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, and many games were won by the second half.

However, Donovan's caution did not make the Thunder players more vigilant.This can be seen from the game in the third quarter.It took them two quarters to widen the point difference, but they were all chased back by the opponent in one quarter.

At the beginning of the third quarter, both sides played their main players.

The Celtics took the lead in attacking.Irving passed Westbrook with a CROSSOVER outside the three-point line on the right at the top of the arc, and then went straight to the basket.Adams and the closest Paul George quickly double-teamed the past and prevented the opponent's layup.But at that moment, Hayward seized the opportunity, pulled to the bottom corner with a charge, and ran out of position.Irving's vision is very good, he saw Hayward at a glance, so when his chance was not very good, he passed the basketball around Adams to Hayward at the next moment of the layup.After the latter caught the ball, he threw the ball before Westbrook rushed over.

"Shh!"

The ball went in!Hayward found the position very well for this ball, and Irving also did a good job of breaking through and scoring.If you look closely, the Celtics' offense has clearly changed.When Owen launched a breakthrough, the Celtics had a chance to make a shot from the outside.It seems that handing the ball to Tatum or Jaylen Brown is a better choice than Irving's breakthrough.After all, both An Luo and Robertson left enough space for their defenders to shoot.Their strategy in the first half was to prevent penetration and not prevent shots.

It is worth mentioning that Hayward's three-pointer was the first three-pointer made by the Celtics this night.Throughout the first half, they made 12 of 0 three-pointers!Hayward himself made 3 of 0 shots!
Of course, the Thunder's defensive disjointedness is also a very important reason.In the first half, they didn't get out of position when they came out.After Westbrook was passed by Irving, he didn't actually chase him all the way to the basket.Because Paul George and Adams have already made up.He became a spectator near the free throw line.When he discovered Hayward's movements, it was too late.After the ball was scored, he himself raised his right hand high, indicating that he did not defend the ball well.

However, Westbrook feels that the problem is not big.No matter what he thinks, even An Luo and the others think so.After all, I still lead by 18 points!A three-pointer can't change anything.But then, they were dumbfounded.

Westbrook launches the offense with the ball.He broke into the paint almost the same way Irving used it.Although the latter was not shaken away, Westbrook threw him away by relying on his own rhythm.Acceleration started, accelerated after a sudden stop, and then changed direction slightly. After Westbrook shook off Irving, he threw the ball on the backboard against Horford.He actually wanted to break through and score the ball, but from beginning to end, An Luo and Paul George failed to get a good position.Robertson did have a chance, but Westbrook felt that he might as well do it himself when he handed the ball to Robertson who was standing outside the three-point line.

But he didn't score by himself.Hayward grabs the defensive rebound, then advances to the three-point line with the ball himself.When returning to defense, Paul George moved a little closer to Hayward, but he still didn't stick to it for defense.After all, their defensive strategy worked well in the first half.

Hayward controlled the ball to a place one meter away from the top of the arc. Seeing that Paul George didn't stick it up, he pulled it up and threw the ball.Paul George was mentally prepared, and rushed forward immediately, causing a lot of interference to Hayward.

However, the goal was scored!
Compared with the first half, the Celtics' offense has not changed much, and they still shoot from the outside!The breakthroughs of Irving or Jaylen Brown or Tatum often provide opportunities for outside offenses.But compared with how they shot and missed in the first half, the Celtics in the third quarter felt surprisingly good.After Hayward scored two three-pointers in a row, others followed suit.Irving, Tatum and even Horford all scored three-pointers.Jaylen Brown is still not looking good, but Smart, who replaced him, made up for this vacancy.

Donovan called two timeouts in the quarter, but it didn't help.The Celtics' touch has come together, and the desperate energy of the entire team in last year's Eastern Conference Finals has also returned.Especially Smart, Morris and Baynes who came off the bench, these three guys brought back the Celtics' iron-blooded defense.Under that kind of defense, the Thunder's inside offense was almost paralyzed.Although An Luo and Paul George can barely maintain a normal state beyond the three-point line, their offensive efficiency is still inferior to the Celtics.

In fact, when Donovan called a timeout for the first time, the Thunder players had already realized the seriousness of the problem.Donovan also adjusted his team's defensive strategy in a timely manner.After the players returned to the field, they strengthened their defense on the outside line.This adjustment works, and the Celtics have much fewer chances to get shots from beyond the three-point line.But the opponent still has an All-Star player inside. Although he prefers to float outside the three-point line more and more, he still has the ability to attack inside.The Celtics can still score.

The situation suddenly fell to the Celtics, and the changes were so fast that the Thunder were caught off guard.Even though everyone knew that the Celtics would launch a counterattack in the second half, they were so strong that no one expected.After all, since the beginning of this season, they seem to have lost the ability and enthusiasm of last season's Jedi comeback.

In the final analysis, the problem still appeared on Thunder itself.The carelessness at the beginning allowed Hayward to find the state and open up, and their defense did not adjust in the first place, giving the Celtics other players a chance.But these are secondary, the most important thing is that Thunder's hand feeling has become extremely bad.Under Donovan's adjustments, the Thunder's tactics played well.Under continuous cover and running, he got a lot of opportunities.However, if the opportunity arises, what can you do if you can’t make the investment?
(End of this chapter)