Chapter 306

The Lakers' second unit didn't take advantage in the first quarter.

Durant's defense against Gasol turned out to be quite good. He didn't blindly defend against Gasol, but kept using his long arms to interfere with Gasol's catches.

Moreover, even if Gasol receives the ball in the low post, Durant looks thin, but he is not light.

When he first entered the league, he only weighed 212 pounds. After that, he gained weight every year, but because he is also growing, and his arms have always been relatively slender, it makes people feel very light.

When he played the Grizzlies in 2011, he used to be able to carry Randolph.

Now his weight has been raised to 237 pounds close to 240 pounds.

After the Spurs' Duncan lost weight in the summer of 2011, his weight has dropped below 240 pounds.

Therefore, Durant is about the same height and weight as Duncan, so defending against Gasol is naturally not a problem.

Besides, there is Ibaka behind Durant.

His defense and blocking are ruthless, and anyone who shoots under the basket must be careful of his slap.

As a result, at the end of the first quarter, the Thunder led the Lakers by 5 points at 28:23.

The Lakers relied on Kobe's shooting, free throws and three-pointers to close the point difference, but the team still fell into a disadvantage.

Except for a tip-up in the opening game, Li Liang missed a three-pointer.

On the offensive end, he was very uncomfortable being entangled by Sefolosha. Once the offense cannot be opened, and the defensive end is rushed by the Thunder, it will be very difficult to defend.

During the break, Li Liang wiped his sweat with a towel, and Mike Brown reminded the players to play "more aggressively" on the offensive end!

In the first quarter, only Kobe had two free throws for the Lakers, and none of the others had a chance to get free throws.

Because the Rockets and Clippers played against the Rockets and Clippers in the first two rounds, the Lakers' offense was too smooth, and they didn't need to deliberately fight inside.

Inside singles, air cuts, open shots, and beautiful pick-and-rolls.

You can score easily, why go to the basket and collide desperately.

But it won't work tonight. The Thunder's defensive strength and strategy make it difficult for the Lakers to play a smooth offense.

Mike Brown is right, the Lakers have to be aggressive.

However, it is very difficult for the Lakers who have played two rounds of tailwinds to show aggressiveness all at once.

Including Li Liang himself, he is also adapting to the Thunder's tough defense.

He recalled the key points of man-to-man defense he learned from Coach Rupp in recent days, and found that the Thunder did a good job.

In one-on-one, two-on-two, and three-on-three situations, if the pressure on players with and without the ball is guaranteed, how to maintain a reasonable rotation alignment without large gaps.

After fighting the Warriors and Spurs, the Thunder's competitive state has come out completely.

And the Lakers haven't reached that level yet.

In the second quarter, Li Liang reappeared, and the Thunder, which had taken the lead, slackened a bit in defense. Li Liang seized the opportunity from the outside and hit a three-pointer.

However, Brooks resorted to his second trick, using Martin, Fisher, and Westbrook's three-guard lineup in the second quarter.

The inside line uses Collison and Ibaka. There is no small forward, so Collison continues to pester Li Liang.

During the regular season, Ibaka's defense against Li Liang was actually not good.

This guy is good at blocking shots, but Li Liang is very thieves, he never shoots easily, and he has a lot of fake moves, so Ibaka is played all over the place.

Collison is different. This white insider, the veteran of the Thunder, is just like Sefolosha in defense. He is a tangled word.

In the Western Conference Finals in 2011, he mainly defended Nowitzki, entangled Nowitzki so much that he was about to become pregnant.

Brooks seized another flaw in the Lakers lineup-except for Li Liang, there are no stable offensive wing players.

Ci Shiping's defense is okay, and his offense and shooting are completely flawless.

Because of defensive problems, Jamison is sending points, and his shooting is also unstable.

Therefore, Brooks dared to play in such a lineup without small forwards, and then relied on the guards to make the offense alive.

After the Thunder lost Perkins on the field, although there will be problems in backcourt rebound protection and defense against Howard, their offense is no longer four-on-five.

And the main attack point was put on Westbrook, and Westbrook started to play singles in the low post continuously.

This is a special low-post singles tactic of the Thunder at the 1st position, which is played because the Lakers' defensive position at the 1st position is weak.

Each of the other four players in the Thunder has outside shooting ability, including the veteran fisher Fisher.

Last year, he was traded by the Lakers to the Rockets for Hill. As a result, Lao Yu refused to report to the Rockets. He wanted to go to the championship team.

The Rockets had no choice but to buy out Fisher, who immediately joined the Thunder.

This year, they met the former Lakers in the playoffs.

In the second quarter, the Lakers' offense was very sluggish. Except for Li Liang's three-pointer, they started to rely on Howard's low singles.

If Howard starts low post singles, it means that the Lakers' offensive efficiency is really bad enough.

In the connecting period, the Thunder turned the score into 41:33, the Lakers only scored 10 points, and the point difference was stretched to 8 points.

Afterwards, both Nash and Kobe returned to the court, and Li Liang wanted to go down to rest for a while.

Upon seeing this, Brooks immediately replaced Durant.

Brooks deliberately staggered Durant and Li Liang.

Sure enough, as soon as Durant came on the court, he succeeded in consecutive singles.

Whether it is Kobe's defense or Mercy's defense, there is no way to effectively contain Durant.

Durant's hands felt hot. He sat on the sidelines tonight and saw Kobe won the MVP. His heart was agitated.

This is the highest honor any individual basketball player can receive, the Most Valuable Player of a season.

Durant thought, since I can't win the regular season MVP this season, shouldn't it be enough for me to beat the MVP?

With this belief, Durant played better and better. He scored 10 points in a row in the second half of the second quarter, and suddenly opened up the difference between the two sides by 12 points.

For the first time this season, the Lakers have fallen behind so much in the playoffs.

Staples was silent, and the hustle and bustle of Kobe Bryant's MVP trophy had disappeared.

Mike Brown immediately called a timeout, and Li Liang had to play.

During the timeout, Li Liang looked at Kobe with a bad expression and a bad heart.

Corvo looks like this, doesn't he want to come by himself again?

In the first two rounds, because the strength of the team was higher than that of the opponent, Kobe played very reasonably, not at all like Kobe.

But the country is easy to change and the nature is hard to change. Corvo has played self-centered basketball since he was a child. When encountering adversity, he will definitely play in his own most convenient way.

Sure enough, after the timeout ended, Kobe appeared on the court, and with one pass, he first forced a three-pointer to the basket and succeeded.

Then the defensive end mainly defended Durant and forced him to pass the ball. After Li Liang stole the ball, Kobe caught the ball and counterattacked for a dunk!

The Lakers played an 8:2 spurt at the end of the second quarter, narrowing the point difference to 6 points.

In the third quarter, Bryant continued his operation.

But this time it is not the normal operation, but the reverse operation.

Strike the iron!

In the first half, Kobe made 6 of 10 shots and 6 of 6 free throws and scored 19 points.

In the third quarter, the Thunder returned to normal defense, allowing Sefolosha and Durant to double-team Kobe.

At this time, Li Liang decisively posted a three-point shooting increase post, preparing to turn the situation around with a wave of three-pointers.

As a result, Corvo, you fucking don't pass the ball!

My side is as empty as the ocean, why don't you pass it on?

Kobe really didn't pass it on, he did three in a row, and one didn't make it.

The Thunder made three counterattacks angrily. Li Liang had to foul and fouled again, sending Durant to the free throw line twice.

"Kobe, do you have eyes and buttocks? You don't pass me such a big space! The people defending you have assembled a table of mahjong, 3 missing 1, you have to go!"

Li Liang was furious, he hadn't scolded anyone for a long time, and this time he directly directed at Kobe.

"I have my own way of playing. I'm the MVP. Who are you?"

Li Liang just said shit, I turned on the hair dryer, how dare you talk back?

It seems that Kobe is quite magical, props may not work for him.

The two had an argument, but it was Nash who came to persuade them and let them focus on the game, so they didn't continue to quarrel.

After all, Kobe has played this way for more than ten years, especially in the past few years, no one dared to say anything.

This time in the Western Conference finals of the playoffs, Kobe won the MVP, but the situation at home was not good. Of course Kobe was in a hurry.

So once you are in a hurry, it doesn't matter whether it is big or small.

Li Liang was also blown away, it turns out that you are such a Kobe, you really can't change your skills!

This wave of counterattacks, as well as the quarrel between Li Liang and Kobe, hurt the Lakers very much.

The point difference was widened to more than 10 points, and the Thunder began to return to their normal style of play, no longer taking risks with strange moves.

Brooks' goal has been achieved, Bing Xing risked to gain the advantage, and then played steadily to maintain the lead until the end of the game.

For the Lakers, Kobe continued to play hard on his own, and his shooting was still very threatening.

But at critical moments, he was always short of breath, and was always crushed by the Thunder's offense.

The Lakers suddenly lost the feeling and state of the game, the efficient offensive position was gone, and the defense became weak.

Even so, Li Liang did not give up. He hit two three-pointers in a row at the end of the fourth quarter.

He also steals Westbrook, assists Ci Shiping for a layup, chases eight points in a row, and narrows the point difference to 5 points.

Scared Brooks immediately called a timeout to rearrange tactics and defense.

Durant showed killer instinct and hit a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to help the Thunder stabilize the situation.

In the end, Li Liang missed a three-pointer from the outside, and Westbrook got a backcourt rebound and made a quick layup.

The point difference returned to 9 points, and there was not enough time.

Thunder 109:100, 9 points advantage in the away game surprisingly defeated the Lakers.

At the end of the game, the Thunder team embraced and celebrated, because they not only defeated the Lakers, but also defeated this year's MVP!

The Lakers players left the court with their heads drooping and returned to the locker room.

Li Liang almost couldn't resist hitting the wall in the player tunnel, but finally calmed down after taking a deep breath.

Forget it, don't get stuck with the wall, what if you break your hand.

Wouldn't it be enough to go back to the locker room and beat Corvo to death?