Russell Westbrook raised his arms high and looked at Xu Nuo with cold eyes. []
"Did you see that? There's no way you can completely guard against me!" Russell Westbrook said to Xu Nuo coldly.
Xu Nuo didn¡¯t say anything, and didn¡¯t show any change in expression. He went straight to the baseline to get the ball. Xu Nuo took the ball from teammate DeMar DeRozan and dribbled forward. After arriving in the frontcourt, Xu Nuo directly handed the ball to power forward David West, and he began to roam back and forth outside the three-point line.
"Compared with the first four games, tonight's promise does not seem to have such a strong offensive power, and rarely takes the initiative to attack with the ball." On-site commentator Reggie Miller said, "I wonder if this is Larry. ¡¤Is it a deliberate arrangement by Coach Brown, or is it because he knew that he was not in good condition tonight, so he did not take the initiative to attack?"
"If he promises not to participate in the offense, then who will become the offensive organizer of the Indiana Pacers?" Mark Jackson, another game commentator, said.
David West changed from holding the ball behind his back to holding the ball facing the basket, facing Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka. At this time, Danny Granger suddenly started and rushed towards the basket. David West immediately passed the ball. Danny Granger caught the ball and scored a layup while also causing Kevin Durant to The thugs fouled.
On the side of the court, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks frowned slightly, stood up from the coaching bench, and walked to the referee Joe Crawford on duty.
¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like Kevin committed a foul just now.¡± Coach Scott Brooks said to referee Joe Crawford.
"But we can see clearly that Kevin Durant did commit a defensive foul." Joe Crawford spread his hands and said.
But Kevin Durant on the court didn¡¯t say anything, standing at the edge of the three-second zone and watching Danny Granger take a free throw. Danny Granger went to the free throw line and made a steady extra free throw, successfully hitting a three-pointer.
"In the first three games, the Indiana Pacers' several offenses after the opening were directly related to Xu Nuo, but so far in this game, Xu Nuo still has not had an assist or a score. Coach Larry Brown's The tactical adjustment was really too sudden," Reggie Miller said.
However, Mark Jackson next to him shook his head, "It's not that it has nothing to do with the promise." Mark Jackson said.
As Mark Jackson said this, Russell Westbrook once again dribbled the ball to the frontcourt on the court. Xu Nuo bent over and stared closely at Russell Westbrook in front of him.
"I've already said, there's no way you can guard me!" Russell Westbrook said with a sneer.
"Then just give it a try." Xu Nuo said coldly without changing his expression.
Russell Westbrook wanted to shoot a pull-up three-pointer from outside the three-point line like last time, but this time the promised defense was very good, and Russell Westbrook failed to find a chance to shoot. So Russell Westbrook handed the ball to Kevin Durant and started rushing towards the basket. Kevin Durant immediately passed back the ball as soon as he received the ball. Russell Westbrook He was already under the Indiana Pacers basket when he received the ball.
"When did the Pacers' defense become so bad? It's so full of holes!" Mark Jackson said.
Reggie Miller shook his head: "Not necessarily."
Just when Russell Westbrook was preparing for a layup, he suddenly felt a shadow coming over his head, and then he heard a "boom", and the ball had already been hit on the backboard and bounced out. Russell Westbrook looked back and saw Xu Nuo falling from mid-air back to the floor.
"It's the promised body-chasing hat!" Reggie Miller said loudly.
As soon as Xu Nuo landed, he immediately turned around and rushed towards the frontcourt. Russell Westbrook shook his head helplessly and had to quickly return to defense. However, before Russell Westbrook returned to the backcourt, DeMar DeRozan had already scored a layup, and Russell Westbrook only had to bend down to pick up the ball.
"It seems that Xu Nuo didn't put in too much energy on the offensive end just to be able to limit his opponent Russell Westbrook on the defensive end." Reggie Miller said with a smile, "If Xu Nuo can really guard Russell Westbrook's words, the Oklahoma City Thunder's offensive firepower will be reduced by nearly half. Relying solely on the offense of Kevin Durant and James Harden, the Oklahoma City Thunder is It¡¯s hard to beat the Indiana Pacers who have so many good scorers!¡±
"But can promises really limit Russell Westbrook?" Mark JayJohnson shook his head and said, "I believe Russell Westbrook will not give in so easily!"
But in the next attack, Russell Westbrook's pass was successfully intercepted. Due to the Oklahoma City Thunder's quick return visit, the Indiana Pacers did not make a quick counterattack. Despite this, Xu Nuo still broke through Russell Westbrook's defense and assisted center Roy Hibbert for a dunk, helping the team lead the Oklahoma City Thunder by six points with a score of 9:3.
Seeing that his offense was frustrated twice in a row, Russell Westbrook had no choice but to hand the ball to Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant hit two consecutive pull-up mid-range shots to help the Oklahoma City Thunder chase four points in a row. However, Danny Granger quickly singled out Kevin Durant and the Indiana Pacers entered the official timeout with an 11:7 lead of four points over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"Now Russell Westbrook seems to no longer take the initiative to attack with the ball." Reggie Miller said.
"Russell Westbrook has realized that his offense is heavily defended by his opponents, and it is quite difficult to continue to run rampant with the ball as he has in the past. If Russell Westbrook can focus on passing the ball Organizationally, it may have better results." Mark Jackson said.
After the timeout, the Oklahoma City Thunder continued to concentrate the ball in the hands of Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant attempted his third consecutive mid-range shot, but this time his shot failed to hit the basket. Power forward Serge Ibaka immediately made a second attack after grabbing the offensive rebound, but his layup hit the neck of the basket due to interference from David West. Center Roy Hieber Special grabbed the backcourt rebound.
"Quick break!" Xunuo shouted loudly, and at the same time started to rush towards the frontcourt. Although the Oklahoma City Thunder players retreated quickly, Xu Nuo still assisted teammate DeMar DeRozan for a dunk during the fast break.
"Promise's ability to handle the ball when the ball is moving quickly is really outstanding!" Reggie Miller said loudly, "During high-speed operation, Promise can still pass the ball accurately among many players. In the hands of teammates, the Oklahoma City Thunder defense was eclipsed by the promise of a scalpel-like pass!"
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks thought for a moment and made decisive substitution adjustments. James Harden, the team's sixth man, replaced Thabo Sefolosha and stepped onto the court.
"Although this substitution should be their normal rotation, being able to force them to replace James Harden is equivalent to forcing them to play all the cards in their hands and forcing them to try their best. This is for us. On the contrary, it is a good thing." Xu Nuo said with a sneer.
James Harden's shooting touch didn't seem to be as cold as ice because he had been sitting on the bench. On his second shot after taking the field, James Harden hit a long outside three-pointer. In order to deal with James Harden, DeMar DeRozan will naturally no longer score a layup as easily as he did in the previous few minutes. Instead, he will not play as well as against defensive expert Thabo Sefolosha. So Promise began to hand the ball inside more often, and the Indiana Pacers' offense remained smooth.
Seeing Xu Nuo adjusting his offensive strategy on the court and shifting his focus from the outside to the inside, coach Larry Brown couldn't help but nodded slightly.
"Compared with Russell Westbrook on the other side of the court, Promise looks more rational when playing!" Coach Larry Brown said in his heart.
Since two consecutive offensive setbacks, Russell Westbrook rarely takes the initiative to attack with the ball. Two shots after receiving the ball missed the basket. Throughout the first quarter of the game, Russell Westbrook only scored three points and one assist. Although Xu Nuo had four assists, he did not score a single point.
"In the previous games, Xu Nuo and Russell Westbrook performed very well, and it can be said that they were at odds with their opponents; but in this game, the performance of both players was not very good. The data shows that Promise's performance is slightly better," Reggie Miller said.
¡°In this way, Xu Nuo and Russell Westbrook are really matched up.¡± Mark Jackson continued.
Russell Westbrook looked depressed when he came off the court. Westbrook was depressed not only because of his poor performance, but also because his team had already lost 19:26 at the end of the first quarter. We are seven points behind our opponents!