After promising to wait for a large number of main players to take a break, the Indiana Pacers' bench, headed by O.J. Mayo, found it difficult to break through the iron wall of the home team Oklahoma City Thunder on the offensive end, and their offensive efficiency began to decline. The Oklahoma City Thunder's offense improved slightly under the leadership of the team's sixth man James Harden, and finally overtook the Indiana Pacers by two points with a score of 23:21. Due to the tense situation in the game, coach Larry Brown had to send Danny Granger and Xu Nuo back to the field.
"Xuu Zeng hit four consecutive outside three-pointers and scored 12 points in the first quarter. Coach Larry Brown obviously sent him to strengthen the team's offense." Courtside game commentator Ken Danny Smith said, "But Danny Granger was not in good shape in this game. He even didn't score a point in the first quarter! I didn't know that coach Larry Brown sent Danny Granger to What is Lange planning to do?"
When Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks saw Danny Granger and Xu Nuo returning to the court at the same time, he couldn't help but lowered his head and frowned for a moment, and then called James Harden to the side of the court. Whisper in James Harden's ear. The referee Joe Crawford blew the whistle repeatedly to urge James Harden to return to the court.
"Hey, Shaq, guess what Coach Scott Brooks would say to James Harden?" Sir Charles Barkley said with a smile to "Big Shark" Shaquille O'Neal next to him.
"This is indeed difficult to guess!" "Shark" O'Neal said with a smile, "We can only guess that coach Scott Brooks is giving instructions to James Harden and telling James Harden what to expect in the next game. How it should be played. But what coach Scott Brooks said, we don¡¯t know."
"I guess Coach Scott Brooks would say that," Sir Charles Barkley said with a smile. "Hey, we don't have to watch out for Danny Granger, even if we give him an open shot. You can¡¯t even put it in! On the contrary, we must be careful and watch out for that guy who promised!¡±
"Almost, almost." "Big Shark" O'Neal nodded in agreement and said.
On the court, Xu Nuo took the ball from teammate O.J. Mayo and started dribbling forward. While Xu Nuo carefully controlled the ball, he glanced at the three live game commentators on the sidelines.
"What three old antiques!" Xu Nuo whispered coldly.
Xu promised to dribble to the frontcourt, slowly control the ball outside the three-point line, and wait for his teammates to come forward to respond. However, neither Danny Granger nor O.J. Mayo were able to get rid of the opponent's defense in the first place. In desperation, Xu Nuo had no choice but to break through with the ball. But as soon as Xu Nuo started to activate, James Harden immediately moved and quickly blocked between Xu Nuo and the basket.
"It turns out that James Harden is going to be sent to defend the promise." Kenny Smith said.
"Hey" Xu Nuo sneered, and with a slight flick of his wrist, the ball immediately flew out of Xu Nuo's hand. Although two Oklahoma City Thunder players, Derek Fisher and Daequan Cook, were still "standing between" Xu and Danny Granger, the ball still penetrated the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team's defense went directly to Danny Granger!
"How on earth did Xunuo pass the ball to Danny Granger!" Kenny Smith exclaimed, "You know, there are at least two Oklahoma City players between Xunuo and Danny Granger. The Thunder players are playing defense!¡±
But no matter what, the ball has already reached Danny Granger who is outside the three-point line. Facing the defense of Daequan Cook, Danny Granger jumped up and shot directly from outside the three-point line. The ball jumped high over Daequan Cook's fingers and finally hit the basket! Danny Granger, who had not scored a point before, let out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but wave his fist.
"Danny Granger finally kicked the pot!" Charles Barkley said, "As a result, the Oklahoma City Thunder's defensive strategy will change."
With Danny Granger scoring for the first time in the game, the Indiana Pacers regained control of the game. James Harden, who was a guest point guard, dribbled to the frontcourt. He did not pass the ball to any teammates and directly broke through with the ball. However, James Harden's breakthrough layup failed to hit the basket due to the joint defense of two Indiana Pacers substitute inside players, Tyler Hansbrough and JJ Hickson, and Danny Granger accepted it. Defensive rebounds. Xunuo took the ball from Danny Granger and quickly dribbled into the frontcourt.
"Here!" Danny Granger shouted as he rushed forward.
¡°This is a great opportunity for the Indiana Pacers!¡± Kenny Smith saidroad.
Before Danny Granger could even finish his words, Xu Nuo had already passed the ball in his hand. As soon as Danny Granger settled into position outside the 45-degree three-point line, the ball bounced off the floor and accurately reached Danny Granger's hands. Danny Granger didn't make any adjustments at all after receiving the ball. He shot directly and the ball hit the net with a "swipe" sound again!
27:23, the visiting team Indiana Pacers has led the home team Oklahoma City Thunder by four points!
"Danny Granger suddenly broke out and helped the Indiana Pacers regain the lead. Now the Indiana Pacers are four points ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder." Kenny Smith said routinely.
"How come Danny Granger suddenly regained his touch?" Sir Charles Barkley said pretending to be confused. "In the first quarter, Danny Granger failed to hit the basket in five shots, but It was indeed incredible to hit two consecutive three-pointers from the outside as soon as the game started in the second quarter."
"What's even more incredible is that so far, the Indiana Pacers have never missed a three-point shot from the outside!" "Shark" O'Neal said, "In the first quarter of the game, Xu Nuo made four outside shots. Three-pointers, there have been two three-pointers by Danny Granger in this quarter. So far, the Indiana Pacers have made six long-range outside three-pointers, all of which have hit the basket!"
"This is too buggy!" Kenny Smith said with a smile.
After Danny Granger hit his second outside three-pointer, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks stood up and asked for a long timeout.
"If nothing happens as I expected, both players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will return to the court." During this timeout, Promise said this to Danny Granger said.
"This way I don't have any obvious advantage over the Oklahoma City Thunder." Danny Granger said with a frown.
"It doesn't matter, I will continue to help you score!" Xunuo said to Danny Granger with a smile.
As expected, after the timeout, the two core players of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, returned to the court at the same time. The team's sixth man, James Harden, returned to the bench, while veteran point guard Derek Fisher remained on the court.
¡°It seems that Russell Westbrook is very likely to play as a shooting guard.¡± Xu Nuo thought in his mind.
Precisely because Russell Westbrook was a guest shooting guard, the player responsible for marking Russell Westbrook was replaced by DeMar DeRozan. Russell Westbrook received a pass from Kevin Durant and broke through DeMar DeRozan's defense into the Indiana Pacers penalty area for a layup. The difference between the two teams returned to two points.
After scoring a layup, Russell Westbrook switched back to the point guard and began to defend Xu Nuo in the backcourt. Xu Nuo carefully controlled the ball, preventing it from being intercepted by Russell Westbrook, and tried his best to quickly advance the ball into the frontcourt. Power forward David West referred to the high post for support and immediately passed the ball.
At this time, Danny Granger used the double screen of center Roy Hibbert and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan to get rid of Kevin Durant's defense and ran to the strong side with the ball for a three-pointer. outside the line. David West immediately passed the ball, and Danny Granger immediately jumped to shoot after receiving the ball. At this time, it was too late for Kevin Durant to cover up Danny Granger, and he could only watch the ball hit the basket again!
¡°Three consecutive outside three-pointers!¡± Kenny Smith shouted in surprise.
"The Indiana Pacers' perimeter is going to explode tonight!" "Shark" O'Neal said, shaking his head.
"The Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be screwed!" Sir Charles Barkley said.
In fact, the current Oklahoma City Thunder team has been thrown into a sieve. If it were not tied with the Indiana Pacers in the first quarter, the current Oklahoma City Thunder team would be even further behind.
Danny Granger hit all three consecutive outside three-pointers, and as Danny Granger's opponent on the court, Kevin Durant quickly returned the favor. Kevin Durant received a pass from Russell Westbrook and also hit a long shot from beyond the three-point line, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder chase the score to 28:32, only four points behind. point.
¡°Another three-point craze!¡± Kenny Smith sighed.