The invincible kryptonite of basketball

Stevens glanced at his players.

Although he knew that the performance in the first half was related to the lax mentality, he did not blame the players for their offensive performance.

"Don, you will defend Durant in the second half."

Stevens spoke to Tang Tian.

His words attracted Williams' surprise.

Tang Tian is the offensive core of the Pelicans, and after scoring 20 points in the first half, Stevens actually asked him to guard Durant. This physical strength...

"no problem."

Before Williams could speak, Tang Tian nodded.

Now the Pelicans' defensive strength is much stronger than last season. As long as he can pinch Durant in the second half, the Thunder's offense will be over.

"AD, Nicola, Zhu, you need to stand up and score more. I believe you will adjust your state in the second half."

Stevens then spoke to the rest of the starters.

If he asked Tang Tian to defend Durant, he would definitely not let Tang Tian attack.

If Tang Tian is not allowed to go, someone else must go.

The first half was due to slack and the others were not in good condition, but a half-time rest was enough for them to adjust and come back.

Chapter 738 Three threats are online!

Back at halftime, the fans on the scene were still in the mood.

Although it was a tie on the field, the Thunder at home obviously had a great chance of winning.

As long as this stalemate continues and defeats the Pelicans, they can become the focus of the league again!

Back in the second half, the Pelicans took the lead.

Tang Tian and Davis played a pick-and-roll, and after splitting it, they rushed to the basket and returned the ball to Davis in a double-team.

Davis encountered Durant's defense, and he flicked a mid-range shot.

"Shh!"

The basketball went through the heart and into the net, and Davis made a solid hit on his first shot.

Back on the defensive end, the Pelicans' defensive strength has not diminished, and the Thunder still don't have a good chance.

Westbrook missed a layup from the basket.

The Pelicans counterattacked, and Holiday received a pass from Tang Tian and leaned on Westbrook to fly and score.

The Thunder beat the Pelicans 4-0 in the opening game, and the Pelicans came back in the second half and beat the Thunder 4-0!

Stevens nodded in satisfaction from the sidelines.

As he thought, the overall poor performance of the Pelicans in the first half had a lot to do with the lax mentality of the players.

In the first half, it was difficult to adjust because of the game, but it would be nice to come back from the halftime break.

The Pelicans have averaged a net margin of 16.5 points per game in the past five consecutive victories. This state cannot be said to be gone.

The Thunder's offense didn't have a good chance, and the ball was finally given to Durant.

This is the same as the first half, relying on the superstar's personal ability to solve the problem.

But at this moment, there was a burst of booing at the scene.

Because the person facing Durant is not Ariza, but Tang Tian!

I didn't pay attention in the previous round, but now I realized that the Pelicans adjusted their defense in the second half and let Tang Tian defend Durant!

Since Tang Tian came to the Pelicans and became the core of the team, the Pelicans basically did not allow Tang Tian to defend against the opponent's superstar.

After all, people's physical strength is limited, and what the Pelicans need more is Tang Tian's offense than defense, which has something to do with the team's low tactical position.

But now, Stevens has shown his extraordinary coaching ability and asked Tang Tian to defend Durant!

How many years had it been since they had seen this scene? It had to be recalled two years ago, when Tang Tian was still in the playoffs between the Spurs and the Thunder.

Durant became very excited seeing Tang Tianfang himself.

Although he didn't play for a season due to injury, his training has not fallen behind, and his offensive stability is much higher than it was two years ago.

But Tang Tian's defense has declined sharply in the past two years.

One ebbs and another, this defensive adjustment of the Pelicans is simply giving him a chance.

After he signaled his teammates to pull away, he directly chose to play singles against Tang Tian.

He will definitely seize such an opportunity!

Hit from the back, turn left and right, shake your shoulders, turn over and shoot a jumper.

His technical movements are done in one go, and his increasingly proficient movements are also his big killer move this season.

But the moment he was about to make a move, he felt his eyes go dark.

Tang Tian actually came to cover his face with Dafa defense, directly blocking his shooting sight.

"Dangdang!"

His first singles match against Tang Tian was unsuccessful.

Jokic protects the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans counterattacked, but this time Robertson blocked Holiday's throw.

The Thunder attacked the frontcourt again, and Durant directly leaned against Tang Tian and continued to ask for the ball.

He was careless about the ball just now, Tang Tian's defense was less degraded than he expected.

He has already failed in singles once, and this time he must seize the opportunity.

Westbrook lobs the ball in and Durant turns around after receiving it.

This time he chose to attack face-to-face.

Back and forth cross-step dribble, he suddenly stopped and pulled.

This is a relatively simple offensive method, but his long arms, coupled with his current shooting stability, are also his most sure offensive method.

"Snapped!"

But just before he shot, he felt a light in his hand.

Tang Tian shot quickly and dropped his racket!

After Tang Tian steals the ball, he throws it directly to Holiday, and Holiday makes a fast break layup and gets another 2 points!

The Pelicans played the Thunder 6-0 in the second half!

Durant was a little confused, looking down at his hands, as if he couldn't believe that the ball would be broken just now.

This brought back many unpleasant memories in his mind.

Being run and vomited, being intercepted, being blocked, and being defended made less than [-]% of his shots...

Those things from a long, long time ago appeared in my mind as if it was yesterday!

Damn it, Tang Tian hasn't lost his defense in the past two years? !

The answer is "yes".

His next attack was blocked again and it wasn't until his fourth attempt that he scored the first goal of the second half that he confirmed it.

The defensive player who gave him the most headaches during the Spurs period is now standing on the opposite side.

Everything is like yesterday again.

In this quarter, Durant was completely wiped out by Tang Tianfang, from 4 for 1, to 7 for 2, to 11 for 2.

Kobe started his retirement season. Durant took over Kobe's Mamba spirit and gave his own basket a beating of ice and fire.

Durant lost his game, and the Thunder also scored poorly in this quarter. They only scored 12 points in a single quarter, while the opposing Pelicans scored 28 points relying on others.

After this quarter, they were already behind by as much as 16 points.

This situation is deadly enough for strong teams to play against each other.

In the fourth quarter, the starting players of both sides rested off the court.

Bo Yang scored a three-pointer when he came up, directly widening the point difference to 19 points.

There was a commotion on the sidelines.

According to this rhythm of the game, the Thunder team's loss is already a certainty.

But at the critical moment, the Thunder's inside substitute Kanter stepped forward.

He attacked McGee continuously in the interior to score. Even if Stevens replaced Biyombo, he continued to score in the interior.

In terms of offensive ability alone, Kanter is definitely a starter or even a quasi-All-Star level.

And the offense of the Pelicans is not good at this stage. After coming and going, after playing for more than three minutes, the Thunder team reached a wave of 10 to 1, and they have chased the point difference to only 9 points left.

Stevens called a timeout, and after returning from the timeout, he replaced Tang Tian in advance.

Donovan, the new head coach of the Thunder on the opposite side, also replaced Robertson after seeing it.

In the third quarter, Tang Tian's task was to defend, but it was obvious that Stevens was replaced at this time to make him attack.

Under Williams' command, Tang Tian is an invincible spear, but Stevens wants to turn Tang Tian into a Fang Tian painting halberd with both offensive and defensive capabilities.

Tang Tian also knew exactly what Stevens wanted. When he got the ball in the frontcourt, he took a look at Robertson defending him alone, posing in a three-threat pose.

The three-threat ability, he had exchanged it during the offseason, but he didn't use it much because of the big wins in the previous games.

Including the first half of this game, the Thunder's frequent double-teaming made him use more fadeaways.

Now that he has a one-on-one opportunity, he can also try out the new ability.

Chapter 739 The King of the End

It wasn't the first time Robertson faced off against Tang Tian. He saw Tang Tian put on a three-threat, pulling the defensive position half a step away.

Tang Tian made a tentative step forward with his right foot, and then moved back with his right crotch.

It's about to shoot!

This was the first judgment in Robertson's mind. Tang Tian's attack was fast and accurate, and he threw it directly.

But his judgment was wrong.

After Tang Tian received the ball under his crotch, he turned to the left and passed him cleanly.

After Tang Tian passed Robertson, before Kanter came out from the inside line, he made an emergency stop at the free throw line and pulled out his shot.

"Shh!"

The almost open shot was a solid hit.

This goal also helped the Pelicans widen the point difference to double digits again.

There was a commotion at the scene.

Robertson was surpassed by Tang Tian!

Robertson's defense has improved a lot this season, with an average of 1.9 steals per game in four games. He also performed very well in single-defense against opposing stars. He is the kind who has the opportunity to compete for the best defensive player.

But it was too easy to pass this step just now.

In fact, Robertson didn't expect it at all.

His defensive improvement this season is not only reflected in his physical response, he has learned to predict the opponent's offensive options through the opponent's forward movement, and even through the opponent's shoulder movement.

But just now he was completely deceived.