The Way of the Center

"Don't worry, 11 points is not much at all! No matter how good James is, he is still a human being. He can't be so efficient if he consumes too much in the second half! KD! In the third quarter, you can play like James and let me beat him Down!" Trailing by 11 points, Van Gundy looked unhurried. A basketball game has to be played for at least 48 minutes. Only when the team leads at the end of the 48th minute can it be called a victory.

"Ann, stay behind KD at all times. If James breaks through Durant, it's up to you! Don't worry about O'Neal, let Morris handle it."

After some arrangement, the generals of the Thunder team are full of confidence, even though they are now behind by double digits.

As soon as Van Gundy pushed open the door of the locker room, the loud cheers of the fans at Quicken Loans Arena jumped into Anjie's ears.

Although Quicken Loans Arena can only accommodate more than 20,000 spectators, their cheers are not as low as any other arena. The Cavaliers are in great shape this season, and Cleveland fans have high hopes for them.

Before Kobe, the Cavaliers won 23 consecutive victories at home this season. It was not until Kobe and his Purple and Gold Corps stepped into the Quicken Loans Arena that this record was broken. It can be said that Quicken Loans Arena has become a veritable home of the devil.

Now leading the hot Thunder by 11 points at halftime, the Cleveland fans are full of confidence.

"Damn it, make them look good in the second half!" Morris clenched his fists. Winning an away game and shutting up the fans of the home team is his favorite thing to do.

"Let's go Morris, let's go!" An Jie hammered Morris' arm. In the second half, the Thunder's inside defense will be as hard as a steel plate!

...................................

James leaned on his knees, panting heavily. Only when his teammates make free throws does he have the opportunity to take a break.

He was tired, the omnipotent "little emperor" in the hearts of Cleveland fans, really tired.

After playing more than four minutes in the third quarter, James obviously felt that he was not as energetic as the first half.

"O'Neal missed another two free throws, and Morris' foul was so worth it." As O'Neal missed another free throw, Anjie got stuck and got a rebound, and then quickly handed the ball to Westbrook, West Brook didn't stop, and hurried forward.

The Thunder are unknowingly speeding up the rhythm of offensive and defensive transitions, the purpose is to keep James exhausted!

"Ann leaned on O'Neill again,

Durant is constantly interspersed with movement. "

Once again, O'Neal was paired with the skinny No. 16 again. He had to admit that this guy who seemed to be only half his size made it very difficult for him to play.

Anjie began to push back, and O'Neal remained motionless. There is no way, the weight and strength are there, this is the gap that An Jie can't make up for at present.

But O'Neal knew that Anjie was not so easy to be guarded. He was afraid of Anjie's face-up, because today Anjie had faced up and scored in front of O'Neal many times.

What are you afraid of, An Jie will naturally fight accordingly. After two pushes to no effect, An Jie turned around and walked towards the basket, attacking face-to-face!

With the previous experience, this time O'Neill moved his footsteps ahead of time, so he was able to hold An Jie with his chest, blocking his breakthrough.

"I got you, kid!" O'Neill raised his mouth slightly, finally defending himself once!

But how could Anjie give up so easily? After training with Divac and Olajuwon, plus having played in the NBA for a year and a half, Anjie has many offensive methods.

Seeing that he couldn't break through O'Neal, An Jie suddenly turned around holding the ball with both hands, and let himself carry the basket on his back. But this time, he wasn't trying to compete with O'Neal. As soon as O'Neal could not react, Anjie hooked the basket and the basketball went into the net.

"Anjie did not spare any effort in this game, he used all the things he knows! How many times have we seen him attack in different ways? Except for three-pointers, Anjie made everything again!"

"Damn it..." O'Neill picked up the basketball from the ground unwillingly, could he really be unable to guard against it? This 20-year-old guy is so good?

In fact, this was caused by O'Neal asking for the ball too much. Anjie was actually very uncomfortable being defended by O'Neal, and failed to score several low-post attacks. But in O'Neal's mind, his defense should be better than it is now.

With Anjie scoring again with a hook, the point difference between the Thunder and the Cavaliers has also changed from 11 points to the current 5 points.

James is still very active, but his efficiency is more than a star and a half worse than that in the first half. Due to the huge physical exertion, James chose to take more outside shots, but his hit rate was far from ideal.

What about Durant? Having accumulated enough energy, he crazily consumed the physical strength of the "little emperor". Even when Anjie and O'Neal are playing singles, he will not stop interspersed with running positions.

Is Durant tired? tired. But you must know that James, who consumed too much in the first half, was even more tired!

The Thunder took control of the situation throughout the third quarter, and the Thunder's substitute lineup after being scolded by Van Gundy also played extraordinarily hard.

Seeing James panting on the court, Mike Brown also had to choose to replace James. If O'Neal and Daniel Gibbs could still score some points, the Cavaliers might have been defeated long ago.

As Van Gundy expected, James, who performed well in the first half, was completely out of shape in the third quarter. The Thunder took the opportunity to score 35 to 21 in a single quarter!

81 to 77, the Thunder, which was 11 points behind, not only equalized the score, but also overtook it by 4 points. The cheers at Quicken Loans Arena were not as loud as they had been at the start of the second half, as the Cavaliers were once again pushed to the brink.

"Durant, Anjie, Westbrook, the performance of these three people today is not the best in this season, but at least the three of them are working together again! The Cavaliers will play more in the fourth quarter. Tough, Cleveland fans hope James has rested enough."

"Even if James has enough rest, the Cavaliers are still very difficult to play. Today's O'Neal is considered a small explosion, but even so, the Cavaliers are still behind!"

During the halftime break, all the commentators were praising the Cavaliers and underestimating the Thunder. Now, everything is reversed. The Thunder team was promoted to the altar again, and the Cavaliers, the No. 1 in the Eastern Conference, instantly weakened a lot in the commentator's mouth.

The game eventually had to develop in an anxious direction, 4 points, the fourth quarter, although Thunder fans and Cavaliers fans were very reluctant to see such a situation. But for neutral fans and commentators, it couldn't have been a better situation.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, James was still off the court, but after just over two minutes of rest, he went into battle again.

In those two minutes, the Thunder failed to open the score, because O'Neal's defense on the inside greatly hindered the Thunder's offense.

"O'Neill really worked hard! The 37-year-old veteran is really playing with An Jie on the court!" Although Yu Jia is on An Jie's side, he has to admire O'Neill's spirit at this moment.

O'Neal spared no effort to defend Anjie. He knew that his playing time was not as much as that of Anjie and the others, so in this limited time, O'Neal did his best to help the team win.

Anjie did stop his offensive pace under O'Neal's crazy defense, but fortunately, Sefoloza and Durant's outside touch is good, which continued the Thunder's scoring momentum.

The two sides fought inextricably again, and the longer the time dragged on, the more worried Van Gundy became. No coach wants to see the team play key goals, and everyone hopes that the victory can be held in their own hands early.

But things backfired. In the last minute and 20 seconds of the game, Westbrook made an emergency stop jumper, making the score 95 to 94. The Thunder are now only leading by one point!

"Timeout!" Mike Brown hurriedly used up a timeout. In the last minute and a half, it was time for him to arrange something.

After returning from the timeout, James took the lead and forced the inside line to make Durant a foul.

95 to 96.

Anjie succeeded in throwing the shot over Varejao's head. The Brazilian fell to the ground after making physical contact with Anjie, but the referee ignored it.

97 to 96.

James ended up with Varejao's pick-and-roll three-pointer, and O'Neal on the bench stood up with his arms raised. Sure enough, James's three-pointer went hollow, and Quicken Loans Arena erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

"!" James once again became the focus of the Quicken Loans Arena, and the shouts of MVP continued.

97 to 99. In the last 23 seconds, the Thunder trailed by two points!

"To win the game, the Thunder must hit a three-pointer. At least today, Mike Brown doesn't have to worry too much about Anjie."

"This is not necessarily the case. You must know that the physical strength of the little emperor James is very problematic. If Coach Van Gundy only needs two points to drag the game into overtime, then the Thunder will have a greater chance of winning."

Critical moments can always arouse people's infinite reverie, and Van Gundy, who arranges tactics, is not much easier than the players who are about to execute the tactics. His arrangement is also an important factor in the outcome of the game.

"Russell!" Van Gundy knew that James' last defensive ability was excellent. Today, he only needs to use someone different.

"No problem! I'll do it!" Westbrook did his part. After two games of underestimation, the outside world has scolded him badly. Westbrook performed very well today, scoring 20 points and shooting 54% from the field. It would be even better if the game was ended with another lore.

"Kevin, come feint and attract the attention of the Cavaliers. Ann! Pick and roll, you know what to do. Watch..." After assigning tasks, Van Gundy began to write and draw on the tactical board.

"Beep!" There was a loud noise, and the players of the Thunder team appeared again.

"Pay attention to the time Kevin! Pay attention to the time!" The Thunder players went to the court, and Van Gundy made the final reminder.

Morris sent the sideline ball neatly, and Durant wasted time holding the ball.

"Sure enough, the Thunder still choose KD as the final point!" The commentators' opinions were surprisingly unanimous.

In ten seconds, Anjie came up with a pick-and-roll, and Durant started to activate. James quickly bypassed Anjie's pick-and-roll, leaving no room for Durant!

five seconds! Durant took off, and everyone thought he was going to shoot. Unexpectedly, the basketball suddenly turned and came to Westbrook.

"Westbrook is the deadly knife!" Some people exclaimed, including Mike Breen who had witnessed countless big scenes.

Anthony Parker rushed forward hoping to interfere with Westbrook's shooting, but Westbrook was calm and took the shot calmly.

Everyone is staring at the basketball, only An Jie, only he is still moving with the basketball.

"Bang!"

"The goal is missed! It's over, the game is over! Wait! It's Ann! He went into the box!"

Anjie just screened and rolled Durant on the outside, so he naturally failed to get stuck inside. But the strong desire to win is still the trend. An Jie actively runs back to the three-second zone, ready to fight for offensive rebounds.

"No, come on, Anderson, come on!" Although Varejao was stuck in his position, O'Neal on the bench was still sweating.

The basketball hits the hoop, and Varejao sinks his legs into the floor, arms outstretched.

What about Anjie? He jumped with all his strength, ready to put the ball in through Varejao.

An Jie rushed back to the penalty area with all his strength, so when he took off, the huge inertia caused him and Varejao to collide violently.

Varejao was about to take off, but suddenly felt a huge pressure from his back. An Jie has already suppressed the Brazilian, stretching out his long arms and he is about to touch the basketball!

Varejao fell forward, but what about Anjie? Through Varejao, he tapped the basketball in the air, and the basketball changed its trajectory, flew back to the basket, and fell into the net.

"God! Ann! Through Varejao's tip-up, he succeeded! The Thunder were pulled back from the cliff by him, and they are going to play overtime!" The live broadcast rooms of all TV stations exploded in an instant, An Jie The brilliance of this ball can definitely make him top the top ten ball list without any dispute!

However, just as An Jie raised his arms and cheered. The referee's whistle also sounded, but the rhythm sounds like the whistle that represents the end of the regular game time... (To be continued.)