Chapter 1564 If You Dare to Pinch Me, You Dare to Pass, 25 Assists Broke the Record
This ball was not successfully flanked, but the Thunder seemed to be on a par with Ji Feng, and the next round played exactly the same as this one.
On the offensive end, two strong men on the inside provided pick-and-rolls for Durant from two angles. Ji Feng bypassed Ibaka but bumped into Jeff Green. However, Gasol's defense was timely. Durant wanted to Breakthrough was impossible and the Lakers defense was ready.
But Durant didn't go in at all. The moment he received the ball, he shot directly against the defense and scored again with a long two-pointer!
Turning around, the Lakers still let Ji Feng handle the ball. Kobe moved to open up space, and Bynum and Gasol also moved out of the penalty area. After some observation, Ji Feng once again broke through at a 45-degree angle on the wing.
However, just like the last round, the Thunder once again used a three-person attack. Jeff Green even abandoned Gasol and pounced on him with a ferocious look on his face.
This time, Ji Feng resolved the crisis with a behind-the-back pass. The open Gasol caught the ball and hit the board to score easily.
"The Thunder are fighting Ji Feng desperately. Whether it is offensively or defensively, they are clearly targeting Ji Feng." These two rounds also allowed Yu Jia to clearly see the changes in the Thunder's tactics.
In the previous two games, including the beginning of this game, the Thunder have always defended alone. This is the experience summed up through two seasons of blood and tears. Against the Lakers, double-teaming is useless. Hold down one to form a group. Who can double-team? It's not appropriate, it's just an unreasonable waste of energy, so at the beginning of this season, almost all teams used single defense to limit the Lakers when they played against the Lakers.
But the Thunder made a change this time. Instead of a double attack, they directly sent Ji Feng into a three-person double attack, which was rare in the past.
"Not only that, Durant attacked very resolutely, and instead of breaking through, he started to play without the ball, shooting after catching the ball, and the other four teammates grabbed rebounds. The Thunder was desperate," said Director Zhang.
Indeed, this was Brooks' arrangement. He chose to put all his chips on Durant and let people, including Westbrook, invest in defense. Brooks no longer cared about their thoughts. Winning is more important than anything else now. !
But does it really work...
Barkley put a question mark on him: "If Ji Feng is double-teamed like this, his distribution will be even more unsolvable."
Hit the nail on the head!
In the next round, Ji Feng encountered a double delay just after halftime. Ji Feng decisively scored the ball, and then changed direction to get rid of it. Kobe passed to Ji Feng again, and Ji Feng broke through to attract Green, and then assisted again!
"NICE! You can never have too many balls like this!" Gasol succeeded again. He now wants to give the Thunder a round of applause. It feels so good to defend like this.
Looking back, Ji Feng continued to carry out singles. He moved forward and suddenly retreated, making a high jump shot that was both fighting and retreating!
But this time Ji Feng failed to make a shot, because Jeff Green came over again, which still had some effect. However, Bynum under the basket took off the offensive rebound. No matter how developed Ibaka's limbs were, he There was no way to fight against Bynum who was in a good position, so he could only watch Bynum score in his second attack.
"This defense has failed...it has no effect at all. If you dare to defend Ji Feng, you dare to pass it. Even if you defend it, Ji Feng didn't make a shot. How can Ibaka beat the Twin Towers with offensive rebounds?" " Smith shook his head.
Fortunately, Durant was like a god tonight. Under the protection of various abnormal pick-and-rolls, he scored 3 consecutive goals. In the first quarter, he made 7 of 10 shots and 2 of 3 three-pointers to score 18 points.
This performance created Durant's best single quarter in the playoffs, and the Thunder also scored 31 points in a single quarter for the first time.
However, the Lakers were even better, scoring 40 points in a single quarter. Ji Feng only scored 5 points, but he sent out 8 assists in a single quarter. Gasol and Bynum each scored 10 points, and the Lakers still maintained the lead!
In the second quarter, Durant didn't rest for a minute. Brooks was determined to let Durant lead the team. Harden and others came on the bench to assist Durant.
Durant still maintained a good touch in this quarter. He scored 12 points again in a single quarter and 30 points in the half, which once again proved his scoring ability.
Ji Feng continued to be trapped by the Thunder's double-teaming, scoring just over 10 points at halftime. However, what troubled Brooks was that Ji Feng sent out 15 assists at halftime, allowing the Lakers to still lead 58-46 by 12 points at halftime. .
However, compared to the previous two games, this was the Thunder's smallest deficit at halftime.
This further strengthened Brooks' confidence.
During the halftime break, Brooks continued to pour chicken soup to the team: "Defense! Defend more resolutely. Ji Feng can't pass the ball every time, and they can't score every time. Durant, you You have to play more resolutely, Westbrook, you have to do a good job of supporting, and you have to wait for the right moment to break through, and others will protect the rebound! Today is the day to make a difference!"
"Huhuhuhu!~ Got it, huhu~! Coach." Durant replied, breathing heavily.
In the third quarter, the Lakers came on the bench. Ji Feng, who played very fiercely in this game, sat on the bench, and Artest came on the bench.
"Ji Feng, that guy did a pretty good job today," Farmar said.
"Uh-huh, yes, but in this way, Durant is not James. He doesn't have such good physical fitness." Ji Feng replied.
Ji Feng doesn't think Durant can last the whole game when he plays like this. He will only let him play through the third quarter at most. His efficiency will definitely drop in the fourth quarter. , the Lakers' defense against him has never fallen behind. The last round of Ji Feng and Artest was just to keep wearing down his physical strength.
Durant is different from James. Durant's outstanding performance tonight relies on his touch. Once his physical fitness declines, his touch will inevitably be affected. By that time, the Thunder, which has a deformed offense, will no longer be able to fight back!
The first half of the quarter passed quickly, and Durant's touch was indeed affected. He scored 5 points in 6 minutes, made 2 turnovers and 2 fouls, and the point difference was maintained at around 13 points.
At this time, Ji Feng came on the field again. On the first attack, he once again sent out an assist in the gap between people. Jeff Green was stunned when he passed the ball without looking at people. He didn't come back to his senses until Kobe dunked on his head. .
"This goal is amazing!" Yu Jia stood up and applauded.
Then Durant shot and hit the iron, Ji Feng took off the rebound and distributed the ball, and Kobe caught the ball and scored 2 more points on the fast break!
Ji Feng did not score a point in this half of the quarter, but he sent 6 assists. After three quarters, Ji Feng's assist count has reached 21, which is amazing!
However, the point difference remained at 14 points, 87-73, and the Thunder still had hope of a comeback.
So Durant appeared again in the fourth quarter. At this time, it was obvious that Durant's physical fitness was close to the limit.
Sure enough, on the first ball, Durant got out of the emergency stop and leaned back, his movements were smooth, but the basketball was rejected by the front edge of the basket...
The Lakers counterattacked with the ball, Ji Feng faked a pass, and Kobe followed up with a one-arm dunk!
"Durant is tired. There is no suspense about this ball anymore..." Director Zhang said.
In the next half of the quarter, the Lakers took complete control of the situation. Ji Feng's passing was like a scalpel, dismantling the Thunder one by one.
When Ji Feng sent out his 25th assist of the game, the whole audience went crazy!