The Way of the Center

"The Nuggets' interior is completely misfired. Kenyon Martin took Ibaka's two big shots in 3 minutes. Facts have proved that athletic ability alone is not enough to collapse the Thunder's interior defense. Now is the time Someone has to come out to take responsibility, Anthony or J.R., or Billups. No matter who it is, I think the Nuggets will focus on the outside again.” Mike Breen analyzed clearly, although from Judging from the first quarter, the Nuggets' outside line was also severely restricted, but in terms of personal ability, the Nuggets only have outside players, and they can still tear a crack under such a defense.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the pressure on Anjie and Morris was obviously much less. Nene and Martin are no longer so active, but in contrast, Durant and Sefoloza are not so relaxed.

J.R. Smith's breakaway was more variable and quicker. Dantley's off-ball pick-and-rolls for Anthony are also more complex and varied. The Nuggets' acting head coach did everything he could to create offense for those two.

The effect of the Nuggets' adjustment is obvious. They are always the team that reached the Western Conference Finals last year. If they don't even have this ability to chase points, then why should they fight against the Lakers.

"Carmelo Anthony used Martin's pick-and-roll to break through and caused another foul on Morris. Today is the second time Anthony has stood on the free throw line." Now, the entire Nuggets have fully implemented Dantley's layout. Anthony desperately rushed inside. Although he couldn't score directly, free throws were the easiest and most effective way to score.

"Damn it, I didn't touch him at all!" Morris immediately turned around and complained to the referee. Anthony's shooting percentage was not good today, but free throws still allowed him to easily score a lot of points.

The referee ignored Morris's complaints at all, but motioned everyone to stand up according to their positions.

"Fuck! Are you deaf!?"

"Hey, come here!" Hearing the dirty words from Morris' mouth, Anjie immediately hugged Morris and pulled him away. The referee glared at Morris. This time he was merciful. If there was another time, a technical foul would definitely be inevitable.

"Fucking penalty." Morris stood by the basket unwillingly, watching Anthony score two points easily again.

However, after only one round, the harsh whistle sounded again. This time, the foul man became Durant.

Durant was not as irritable as Morris, and he didn't go to the referee to complain. But from his expression, it was obvious that he was very upset!

"There was really no foul on the ball. When Anthony shot, KD didn't violate his cylinder at all." Van Gundy couldn't stand it anymore, and kept nagging in the referee's ear. These balls are the kind of balls that can be blown or not,

But the referee is aware of the details today and will not let go of any foul action.

Once again, Anthony was at the free throw line again. His free throw feel was surprisingly good today, he made all six of his free throws!

"12 points, Anthony has only made 3 of 13 shots so far. But relying on free throws, he still scored 12 points before halftime!"

Fortunately, Durant can respond immediately every time the team loses points. He and Anthony also completely dominated the second quarter.

The two top three guys in the scoring list fought, and the neutral fans were hooked. Fans of the Nuggets and Thunder don't want the game to continue like this. The more anxious the score is, the more anxious the fans of these two teams will be.

"Kevin Durant forced a dunk! Beautiful personal offense, Anjie's pass was just right."

"Carmelo Anthony made a layup against Ann's defense and scored! Maybe only the top three scorers can score in front of Ann."

In the second quarter of the game, the curtain was drawn on the soaring points battle between Durant and Anthony. Both of them only rested for less than three minutes in the second quarter. Except for those few minutes, the ball was almost given to both of them.

Anthony scored 18 points in the half, and Durant scored 23 points in the half. The total score of the two sides also played very high, 66 to 61. Under Durant's crazy offense, the Thunder still maintained a 5-point lead.

"It's terrifying. The scoring ability of both of them is terrifying. Everyone has been reduced to a supporting role under the strong performance of these two small forwards. I think the competition between the two will be even more exciting in the second half." Unforgettable confrontation The big game and the playoffs are a stage for people to become famous, and Durant and Anthony shine on this stage.

The second half of the game started quickly with the cheers of the fans in the Pepsi Center, but after a few rounds, the hearts of the Thunder fans were all pulled.

Anthony is still scoring crazily as always, even if he can't hit directly, he can continue to cause damage. Durant, on the other hand, failed to respond as quickly as he did in the first half. Missed three consecutive shots, this is Durant's only result so far in the second half.

Anthony's sudden tight defense is the biggest reason for this situation. People have been criticizing Anthony for not being good enough to defend, but in fact, it can only be said that this guy doesn't like to defend, or he doesn't pay attention to defense, so he will give others the impression that he "can't defend". With Anthony's physical fitness, as long as he risked his life to defend, the opponent would die ugly.

The reason why Anthony doesn't like to defend is because after wasting too much energy on the defensive end, the offensive end itself will be affected, resulting in the inability to open the offense.

But now, if he continues to allow Durant to attack, then with his poor touch today, it will be difficult for him to be equal to Durant on the offensive end. Only by strengthening the defensive strength can the Nuggets take the lead in one go.

Durant didn't expect that Anthony could improve his defensive strength, but Durant is not a "reasonable" person like Westbrook. He can't play by himself, and he is willing to share the ball with his teammates. The Thunder can get to where they are today, not because of him alone Durant.

"This kid is getting more and more mature." Van Gundy originally wanted to call a timeout to re-arrange the offensive focus, but before he said anything here, Durant gave up the ball himself.

Anthony is still staring at Durant intently, and Durant is still running without sparing any effort. But before Durant received the ball, Anthony heard the sound of the Nets tumbling behind him.

"What!?" Anthony turned his head to look in astonishment. Sefolosa's shooting posture has not yet recovered. Just now, the Swiss easily got an open shot and hit a three-pointer.

This was the first time the Thunder had shot from someone other than Durant in the third quarter. However, this first shot allowed the Thunder to break the scoring drought.

It's perfectly normal for a player to score a goal. The players and coaches of the Nuggets disagreed, and they still paid too much attention to Durant.

Durant caught the ball again, and everyone tensed up. The Nuggets have been fully committed to defending Durant, but the attention to others is not so high.

When An Jie cut in from Nene, Nene didn't even have much scruples about An Jie. It wasn't until Durant suddenly hit the ground that Brazil realized that something was wrong. But when he reacted, it was already too late.

"Bang!" Nene had just turned around when she found that An Jie was already hanging on the basket.

Chaos, the Nuggets' defense was completely disrupted. When Durant started passing the ball and everyone on the Thunder was scoring, it didn't matter how focused Anthony was.

At this time, Dantley should call a timeout and rearrange the defensive strategy. However, he did not do so. He believed that Van Gundy did not call a timeout, which meant that the Thunder's offensive strategy remained unchanged. Anjie and Sefolosha can score goals, it's just an accidental event.

Once or twice was indeed a coincidence, but when Anjie started to play one-on-one with Nene in the interior, Dantley discovered that the Thunder players themselves had already changed their offensive strategy invisibly! And Van Gundy also acquiesced to this change and did not call a timeout!

If Dantley wants to rearrange now, he can only take action after An Jie completes the attack.

In the first half, Nene, who was full of stamina, beat Anjie to the ground. Now that Anjie fell to the low position and played one-on-one with Nene, he could get Nene and a pot.

Nene weighs two kilograms less than An Jiedu, and is 8 centimeters shorter in height. strength? An Jie has never been afraid to compete with others!

The feet of Anjie who pushed into the penalty area in two steps began to move, and the Brazilian became nervous. Now the whole league knows that Anjie's footsteps were taught by Olajuwon himself. And Olajuwon has stated in public more than once that Anjie is the student closest to him.

Nene saw An Jie's footsteps start to move, and immediately followed suit.

An Jie first turned one and a half inwards, seeing that there was no space, so he turned back again, preparing to step back and shoot a jumper.

Seeing that Nene was still clinging to him, An Jie immediately turned back from the bottom line. After this series of footsteps, Nene could no longer keep up with An Jie's movements.

Chris Anderson was stuck behind Morris, and Anjie passed Nene with his footsteps, which was equivalent to passing the last barrier of the Nuggets.

Gently wiped from the Brazilian, and picked the basket with a soft touch. It's hard for you to imagine that the player who completed this series of actions is the same person who dunked Kenyon Martin in the first half!

"What else can I say? An is one of the most versatile centers in the league. I'm already tired of saying this!" Mike Breen didn't feel that Anjie scored on Nene with ease. Not at all surprised.

After Anjie scored, Dantley "belatedly" called a timeout. However, when he had just finished deploying his defensive tactics against Anjie, Van Gundy took Anjie down. Westbrook is Van Gundy's real offensive core now!

Van Gundy's move undoubtedly made Dantley's arrangement just now completely in vain. Compared with Van Gundy, Dantley is really too tender.

Van Gundy's on-the-spot command is not very good in the entire league. However, Dantley was played around by Van Gundy's on-the-spot command.

They were also born as assistant coaches, but the gap between the two is huge.

Westbrook's offense made the Nuggets difficult to parry. Like Anthony, he can draw a foul to the free throw line even if he can't score directly.

Dantley's arrangement is completely useless. An Jie is watching the game relaxedly on the bench at the moment.

When the third quarter was about to end, Anjie reappeared with Durant.

Dantley once again focused on Durant, but now, Van Gundy let Anjie attack by himself.

Anjie beat Petrol, who had been his substitute, so temperless, and "Birdman" Anderson couldn't "fly" under Ibaka's defense.

Although Anthony and Billups can still score, the Nuggets are still at a disadvantage under Dantley's wrong defensive arrangement.

88 to 82, the Thunder took the advantage to the fourth quarter. Moreover, this was achieved when Durant was completely misfired.

"Coach Dantley must make the right choice to allow the Nuggets to launch a counterattack in the fourth quarter!"

However, will the sophisticated Van Gundy let Dantley get what he wants? Take away a victory at the Pepsi Center, that is Van Gundy's goal today!

In the fourth quarter, the Nuggets will not be easier than the first three quarters. (To be continued.)