With Rashard Lewis hitting a fast break three-pointer, the Orlando Magic overtook the score for the first time in the second half. Although it was only a mere share, it gave the players and fans great confidence. It turned out that the Seattle SuperSonics did not It's not that they are invincible. It doesn't mean that after they take the lead, they will never be able to overtake. Everything is possible.
The Sonics had to call a timeout. Although it was only a one-point lead and their ace star Stephen was still sitting off the court to rest, there was nothing to worry about, but this represented a reversal of the game. As a head coach, Carlesimo naturally needs to make some adjustments to the team.
In order to limit the opponent's counterattack, Carlesimo replaced Damian Wilkins and replaced Jalain Tej, using Russell Westbrook to defend Courtney Lee. He did not suffer any loss in speed or strength. , and then replaced Kurt Thomas with Serge Ibaka.
According to the team's plan, although Serge Ibaka has excellent physical condition, due to the lack of game experience and skills, it is considered good to be able to enter the team's regular rotation lineup in one and a half seasons. The standard of the starting lineup is very satisfying. It will be time to take over Kurt Thomas, who is aging and his contract is about to expire.
In other words, the Sonics have two years of patience with Serge Ibaka and can wait for his growth. If the growth is satisfactory, he will enter the starting lineup and sign the next contract at the same time. If he is not satisfied, then directly Give up, because a rookie's contract is two plus one plus one.
But Kurt Thomas's condition has aged a bit too quickly this season. It should be said that because of Chris Wilcox's presence last season, he didn't need to take on too many tasks, so the problem with his condition didn't show up. With the departure of Chris Wilcox, he became the team's reliance at the fourth position, and his condition was no longer good at this time.
On the one hand, it is a subjective reason. The contract signing is not satisfactory. You have to do more things with much less money than last season. Naturally, people are very dissatisfied. At the same time, the issue of age is also Everyone behaves differently, and Kurt Thomas is a little more serious.
As a result, Serge Ibaka's playing time was obviously much more, which also allowed him to gain more game experience. Nick Collinson was originally there, but Serge Ibaka quickly replaced him. With him, and the team's excellent record, he didn't need to bear too much pressure, and the team could use him with confidence and boldness, so in less than a season, he entered the team's regular rotation. And his playing time quickly became equal to that of Kurt Thomas, and even exceeded it in some games.
With more playing time, there will be faster progress. Coupled with Serge Ibaka's active and hard training, he has a similar understanding of the team's tactics, at least among black people. Serge Ibaka has become the biggest surprise player on the SuperSonics this season, even bigger than Russell Westbrook, because Russell Westbrook is a fifth pick and Russell Westbrook Serge Ibaka wasn¡¯t even a lottery pick.
More importantly, although Russell Westbrook has outstanding talent, he has been unable to integrate into the team's tactics and cannot cooperate well with Stephen. This greatly limits his ability and playing time. , and the expectations for him are already relatively high, so in comparison, Serge Ibaka's surprise is relatively big.
It seems that he will be able to take over Kurt Thomas' position next season and then let Kurt Thomas be the substitute. Compared with Kurt Thomas, Serge Ibaka is better except that he cannot serve as center, and After the team has Yao Ming and Kupard, there is no need for anyone else to appear at the center position, and no matter who Serge Ibaka cooperates with the two of them, the effect is better.
After Serge Ibaka came on the court, Rashard Lewis was more restricted than Kurt Thomas, but based on this, the Sonics still couldn't overtake the score, and with Hido With Turkoglu showing off his power, the point difference continues to widen.
Before the finals, Hidu Turkoglu had always been the controller and core of the team. His offense and organization were the most threatening outside of the Magic. But in the finals, in the SuperSonics, Under the team's targeted defense and Kevin Durant's meticulous defense, his performance seriously dragged down the team.
It can be said that the biggest culprit for losing the first two games was Dwight Howard on the inside and him on the outside. It's just that Dwight Howard's reputation is greater and his performance was worse. He attracted all the criticism and escaped. Otherwise, the media would not have spared him so easily.
It is precisely because of his poor organization that the Magic's offense cannot play well.In this game, the initial lead was due to everyone's crazy three-point shooting, and the overtake in the second half of the game was largely attributed to Hidu Turkoglu.
He was able to get the ball to Rashard Lewis, who was in excellent form, in a timely manner, and at the same time, he was able to connect the team's offense together. Even if he missed it, he could stabilize and continue to organize the offense, although he didn't have a few Shooting, but getting out of shape.
After the state is achieved, people's confidence is also gained, and at the same time, the shooting feel is also inexplicably improved. The state is such a complicated thing. You don't know when he will come out, and you don't know when he will go down. The state After coming out, Hidu Turkoglu continuously shot from the outside and broke through to the mid-range to shoot. Kevin Durant's defense seemed to have no effect on him.
Carlesimo frowned. In this situation, the best way is to replace Kevin Durant or use someone else to guard Hedo Turkoglu, but Kevin Durant is not someone else, he is The Big Three of the team, and the young players, are at the age where they are arrogant. If they do this, will it cause dissatisfaction with Kevin Durant? You must know that this is the finals, the only one that the world is paying attention to. The game attracts more attention than those games that are broadcast live across the United States.
Carlesimo was a little hesitant about whether to replace Kevin Durant. After all, the team was lagging behind and the point difference was getting bigger and bigger. At this time, Stephen came over and patted his shoulder lightly. Lessimo immediately knew that Stephen did not suggest that he should make a substitution, so there was no need to hesitate and just wait. After all, no matter how far behind he was, with Stephen here, Carlesimo would have the confidence to equalize. Besides, even if he lost, It's not a big deal if we win this game. Anyway, we will still lead two to one by then.
Regardless of whether Kevin Durant didn't know Carlesimo's intention to replace him, he also knew that the point difference was drawn because there was a problem on his own side, so he strengthened his defense against Hitu Turkoglu. , and at the same time, he also strengthened his aggressiveness on the offensive end, and even continuously broke through to the basket to score points.
With the efforts of Kevin Durant, the team finally stopped the decline, and the point difference was slowly stabilized below ten points. Kevin Durant also knew that if the point difference was too big, Stephen would inevitably return to the court. , but he regarded this opportunity as an opportunity to hone himself. Although the confrontation with Hidu Turkoglu was very difficult for him, he gritted his teeth and persisted, because he knew that if it were him who was responsible for it alone, , leading a team will encounter more difficult situations than now, so he regarded this opportunity as a test and challenge.
Although until now, he has no intention of challenging Stephen, he is not willing to hide under Stephen's wings all his life. As the team's second person, he still has many ambitions that have not been realized, but regardless of Kai No matter how hard Vin Durant tried, he couldn't narrow the gap between the two teams.
Because he can't completely restrict Hedo Turkoglu, especially Hedo Turkoglu's organization, but the Sonics are because he puts too much thought into defense and offense. , his own performance improved, but the team's overall offense came to a standstill.