super heavy artillery

Chapter 307: The chess difference is one move

Chapter 307 One move away from chess

At this time Donovan finally understood Popovich's intentions.In fact, the purpose of the Spurs' arrangement is very clear.

The first is to take advantage of Robertson's relatively weak autonomous offensive ability and poor grasp of long-range shots, and regard him as an offensive point that can be "underestimated", and let Aldridge defend him in a misplaced position, which can separate more players. Focus on double-teaming Westbrook.

Double-teaming Westbrook is another purpose of the Spurs.They've been forcing Westbrook to hand over the ball and let his teammates decide the game.

Once the basketball is in the hands of others, under the linkage of the Spurs' internal and external defenses, they strive to drive the Thunder's players to the basket and let them attack Gasol, who is always standing in the penalty area.Then use Gasol's long arms to disrupt and interfere with every impact of the opponent.

In the Thunder's lineup, apart from Robertson, there is no second person who can limit Leonard.Once he is replaced, Leonard will become a tiger out of the cage and tear the Thunder to pieces.

Popovich's move can be regarded as hitting the Thunder's seven inches above.According to their strategy, Westbrook will not be able to exert his greatest ability.

In the last game, although Westbrook only scored 20 points, he sent 14 assists.He frequently used his small-to-big movement advantage to tear apart the Spurs' defense and created a lot of open shooting opportunities for his teammates on the outside.In the whole game, they threw a total of 18 three-pointers.Under such an offensive rhythm, they scored a high score of 125 points.

But in this game, under the Spurs' new defensive strategy, they were completely unable to complete the offense in their own comfortable way.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Donovan sent An Luo on the field and replaced Oladipo.The opponent didn't want to let his outside attack play out, but he didn't believe it.

The pick-and-roll cooperation of Westbrook, Adams and An Luo has improved the Thunder's completely passive situation, but with Aldridge, a big man who can double-team him at any time, even if the basketball is passed to An Luo's hands , It is also difficult to cast out.

This game is almost a replica of the first game, but the roles of the two sides have been reversed.The Thunder became the passive side. By the end of the first half, they trailed the Spurs by as many as 15 points.This is because the Thunder persisted in their defense and restricted Leonard.Otherwise, they will fall even further behind.

But if there is no way to effectively break the opponent's defense, this situation will only be a slow death for the Thunder.Their offense has been unable to play.If it weren't for Adams under Westbrook's "care" to use his footsteps and body to force Gasol to score some points, they should have died down by now and were ready to go back to Oklahoma City to study the next game.

In fact, the problem now is already obvious.Either maintain the status quo and see if the opponent can maintain such a high-intensity defense in the second half.Either remove Robertson and replace Oladipo.The advantage of doing this is that it increases your own impact on the field and does not give Aldridge a chance to let himself go.Freeing Westbrook and An Luo, the Thunder's offense can be improved.

But in this case, the defense against Leonard must be sacrificed.With Robertson's defense in the first half, Leonard only scored 9 points.Such a defensive effect is very successful, and it is impossible for others to replace the Thunder.

Donovan must be cut off!

During the intermission, the Thunder players all looked very depressed.There was a huge contrast between the easy victory in the previous game and the difficult response in this game.And there was only one day in between.

Westbrook also looked like a defeated rooster, pulling his head together and saying nothing.In the first half, he was not able to stand up and lead the team out of the woods.With Leonard's death entanglement, his shooting percentage is not high.He was able to use the advantage of speed to get rid of the opponent, but when he broke into the low position and faced the two masters, Gasol and Aldridge, he was restrained everywhere.

He also didn't do a good job in connecting his teammates.In addition to giving Adams a slightly smoother lob to the basket, after all, the opponent's height and wingspan are there.For others, it didn't work after passing it on several times, so he came by himself.

"Hey! Guys! We can't be like this all the time. We have to keep our heads up. There are still 24 minutes of game time. It's not our style to concede defeat early." Finally, Donovan stood up.He said to his players very seriously: "We are only 15 points behind! We have been behind much more than this, and we have won in the end. We have the ability to win every game."

Having said that, he stared at Westbrook and asked: "Russell, we can win! Right?"

Actually, these words mean nothing.But at this time, someone has to stand up and do something.Otherwise, this locker room would be too embarrassing.

When the starting lineup was lined up in the second half, Donovan finally made up his mind.He removed Roberson and put Westbrook, Oladipo and Anlow on the court together.This also means that he has completely sacrificed his defense against Leonard and is going to fight against the opponent.

Sure enough, it worked.

There is no point in the Thunder's lineup that can be emptied, and there is no need for Aldridge to guard against it.Everything comes back to the most primitive confrontation.

Westbrook once again returned to his most familiar rhythm.He constantly tore through the Spurs' defense through his own breakthroughs, creating opportunities for other players to shoot.

An Luo was also happy.He was finally able to contribute to the team on the offensive end.Danny Green's defense is very strong, but An Luo only needs a pick-and-roll to gain room to shoot.After all, it would be so much easier without Aldridge who is always ready to double-team.

However, the Thunder still failed to reverse the situation in one fell swoop and win the game.

Leonard, who lost Robertson's defense, changed the downturn in the first half.Long three-point shots, pull-up jump shots, and breakthrough layups, he is really like a tiger out of the cage, biting the Thunder to death.

In the end, the Thunder lost Game [-].Although they resisted very fiercely in the second half, they still failed to reverse the situation.Popovich found the flaws in the Thunder lineup, and made targeted arrangements, taking the initiative on the field in one fell swoop.

In a series, the coaches of both sides are like two chess players, arranging troops and adapting to changes.In this confrontation, Donovan missed a move.

(End of this chapter)