In the entire twenty-four minutes of the first half, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook only took less than three minutes to breathe on the bench and played twenty-one minutes. Scored 21 points and five assists. Even if Russell Westbrook is young, vigorous and physically strong, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be troubled by physical problems in the second half of the game.
So coach Larry Brown adjusted his tactics and started a car battle against Russell Westbrook in the third quarter. Xu, Darren Collison and George Hill, the three Indiana Pacers point guards, The ball's defenders take turns responding to Russell Westbrook's powerful rush. As a result, no matter how strong Russell Westbrook's physical strength is, it will be difficult to cope with the defensive turns of three point guards. []
Throughout the third quarter, Russell Westbrook "only" scored six points and one assist on three of eight shots. His performance was not at the same level as in the first two quarters. It was precisely because of the successful defense of Russell Westbrook that the home team Indiana Pacers was able to chase the score to 69:71 at the end of the third quarter with only two points.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Indiana Pacers point guard who played first was still committed.
Xu Nuo only got less than five minutes of playing time in the third quarter and had no other performance except one score and one assist. Perhaps in order to let Xu Nuo get enough rest, coach Larry Brown kept Xu Nuo firmly on the bench in the second half of the third quarter.
It is precisely because of this that Xu Nuo became the first point guard to play in the fourth quarter.
At this time, the Oklahoma City Thunder's point guard on the court is not the main player Russell Westbrook, but the substitute Derek Fisher.
"Coach Larry Brown is really smart!" Reggie Miller said, "Coach Larry Brown anticipated that Thunder coach Scott Brooks would definitely put Russell down early in the fourth quarter. Westbrook was placed on the bench, and at this time Promise had been fully rested and stronger. Facing the aging Derek Fisher, Promise would have the advantage, and the Indiana Pacers were also very It is possible to overtake the score and reverse the game!"
Indiana Pacers head coach Larry Brown sat calmly on the Indiana Pacers coaching bench, scanning the entire court with his penetrating eyes. With just such a glance, coach Larry Brown already has a clear understanding of the game situation on the field and knows exactly how the team should play next.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, which faced off with a full bench lineup, struggled offensively. James Harden's mid-range shot missed the basket, and Pacers substitute power forward Tyler Hansbrough grabbed a defensive rebound. After getting the ball, Xu Nuo did not immediately launch a quick counterattack, but stabilized the rhythm of the game and let the game fall into a positional battle. Facing Derek Fisher's defense, Xu Nuo quickly broke through into the Thunder's paint area and scored a layup to help the team tie the score.
Thunder head coach Scott Brooks looked at the game on the court with a serious expression.
"If Russell is not sent at this time, it will be difficult to limit the promised fast offense just by relying on the strength of veteran Derrick or other point guards on the team." Coach Scott Brooks said in his mind Thinking about it, "But Russell probably hasn't fully recovered his strength yet, so sending him on the court early may not necessarily produce the desired effect."
Just then, James Harden took the ball from Derek Fisher on the court, and coach Scott Brooks suddenly had an idea in his mind.
"We can definitely let James Harden play as a point guard. It's not like we haven't done this before." Coach Scott Brooks thought this way. "In this way, the team's offense may become More fluid.¡±
So, shortly after James Harden scored on a breakthrough layup, coach Scott Brooks made a decisive substitution adjustment and replaced veteran Derek Fisher with backup shooting guard Daequan Cook. "They actually replaced the only point guard on the court?" Xu Nuo thought in confusion, "Are they planning to let James Harden serve as a guest point guard?"
As Xu Nuo expected, when Xu Nuo took the ball from teammate Paul George and started dribbling forward, the Thunder player responsible for defending him was indeed replaced by James Harden.
Since the opponent has been replaced by James Harden, Xu must be more careful. Facing James Harden's defense, Xu Nuo rarely took the initiative to attack with the ball, but focused mainly on passing the ball. After assisting his teammates to score twice in a row, Xu Nuo not only increased his number of assists in this game to ten, but also won anotherThe double data also helped the team tie the score at 77:77!
"Is the promise really unstoppable?" Coach Scott Brooks thought in surprise.
Seeing that James Harden was unable to completely limit his promised performance, coach Scott Brooks had no choice but to request a timeout and slightly adjust his tactical strategy. During this timeout, the team's two leading stars, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, both returned to the court. On the Indiana Pacers side, coach Larry Brown replaced his promise and sent out a double point guard backcourt combination of Darren Collison and George Hill.
"The Pacers' defensive focus is still on Russell Westbrook, and they have proved this by sending a two-point guard combination. But in this way, there is a high possibility of problems defending James Harden. And , with Kevin Durant¡¯s strong personal strength, he is also a player that the Pacers have to focus on guarding against. Isn¡¯t Coach Larry Brown worried that his team will lose sight of one thing on the defensive end?¡± Mark Jackson asked expressed his doubts about coach Larry Brown¡¯s changes in tactics and strategies.
"Coach Larry Brown naturally has a certain reason for doing this." Reggie Miller said, "Although the personal abilities of Darren Collison and George Hill are slightly lower than promised, they should It can barely cope with the backcourt combination of Russell Westbrook and James Harden. As for Kevin Durant, the Indiana Pacers can also send Danny Granger to deal with him, but there is no promise With such excellent passing organization, it is indeed unknown whether Danny Granger can still exert his greatest power."
Although the two major on-site commentators in Conseco Arena questioned Coach Larry Brown¡¯s substitution adjustments to varying degrees, coach Larry Brown still insisted on his own approach. Kevin Durant and Danny Granger each scored two points, and then Russell Westbrook and James Harden scored respectively. However, Darren Collison soon assisted George Hill to hit. With a long outside three-pointer, the Indiana Pacers at home trailed the away Oklahoma City Thunder by one point with a score of 82:83.
Xu Nuo rested on the bench for about four minutes, and only appeared again when there were still four minutes and 41 seconds left before the end of the game. Among all the main players of the two teams, Xu Nuo was both the first player to appear in the fourth quarter and the last player to appear. After promising to play, the main players of the two teams gathered on the court for the final battle of the game.
Xu Nuo looked up at the scoreboard next to the big screen, and when he saw the score of 86:89, he suddenly became nervous. "We are still three points behind our opponents. The situation is indeed not very good!" Xu Nuo said in his heart.
Russell Westbrook took the ball from James Harden and quickly rushed forward. At such a critical moment, Russell Westbrook had no choice but to attack cautiously and handed the ball to the star Kevin Durant. When Kevin Durant received the ball, Russell Westbrook suddenly started running towards the basket. Xu Nuo wanted to pursue Westbrook, but was blocked by Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka. Kevin Durant immediately passed the ball back, and Russell Westbrook scored an alley-oop dunk, which also caused a defensive foul by Pacers center Roy Hibbert!
"It's really a wonderful double teamwork!" Mark Jackson shouted loudly, "Durant and Westbrook played like superstars. If Russell Westbrook hits the extra free throw, then the Thunder will The team will completely take the initiative in the game!"
Coach Larry Brown looked at his disciples coldly, stood up and asked for a timeout.
After the timeout, Russell Westbrook made a solid extra free throw, and the Oklahoma City Thunder expanded their lead to six points.
"If we lose this game, the big score will be equalized by our opponent. We must not let our opponent win!" Xu Nuo clenched his fists and cheered for himself.
However, the Indiana Pacers seemed to be demoralized by Russell Westbrook's three-pointer, and since then they have never been able to narrow the point difference to within four points. In the end, the Indiana Pacers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 93:98 at home, and their opponents tied the series at 2:2.
In this game, Russell Westbrook scored 35 points and was the number one contributor to the Oklahoma City Thunder's victory. Although the score promised is far less than Russell Westbrook, his performance of 14 points and 11 assists is not inferior to Westbrook.
"This game was not lost because of you!" Danny Granger gently patted Xu Nuo's shoulder and comforted Xu Nuo.
"Okay, I know." Xunuo shrugged and said helplessly.