The Basketball Court Swordsman

Most of the local narrators in Oklahoma shut their mouths. A few minutes ago they were still proud of everything, but now everyone has discovered a terrible fact.

Even if the Pacers lose Chris Paul, the core of the organization, they can still compete with the Thunder!

The Thunder and Pacers took turns to play offensively, but in the end, no one was able to open the difference. When more than half of the first quarter was played, the Thunder's bench depth was tested.

After Leonard scored a three-pointer on Ibaka, a brave breakthrough by Paul George put the Congolese on his back for the second foul of the game. Horford pulled Perkins out of the three-second zone, there is no doubt that Ibaka's foul pressure will become greater, because no second inside can help him share these fouls.

Brooks hurriedly urged Nick Collison, a veteran who has been in the team since the SuperSonic era, to replace Ibaka, but Collison's ability to protect the frame is not as good as Ibaka's.

Collison joined the industry in 2004 and has averaged only 9.8 points per game in his career. As a blue-collar veteran, Collison is more of the spiritual leader of this group of young people in the Thunder, and you can hardly expect him to make any substantial contributions. This is similar to Haslem of the Heat.

As a result, the Pacers' air cuts are "intensified." You can find the common problems of white insiders such as normal bounce and slow movement speed in Collison.

Horford's strategy was very successful, as long as the cut-in person charged up in advance, then Collison could hardly succeed in protecting the frame.

After Ibaka left the field, the Thunder immediately fell into a disadvantage. Brooks had to change positions between Collison and Perkins. Perkins protected the frame and Collison went to defend Horford who was active in the high position.

A few minutes after this, the Thunder's defense picked up. But Henson also saw tricks, increasing the proportion of Horford's individual singles. With speed at its best, Horford has countless ways to break Collison's defense.

Horford is very confident about high jump shots, breakthroughs after fake shots, and back singles. He showed his all-around offensive skills in front of Collison.

In this way, the game reached the last three minutes of the first quarter, and the Thunder entered the rotation time with a 6-point disadvantage!

Henson replaced Augustine, Ray Allen, Green, Yi Jianlian and Anderson on the lineup, while on the Thunder side, Brooks had high hopes for Kevin Martin!

Kevin Martin, this is a very important bargaining chip in the Rockets and Thunder's deal with Harden. In the King's time, Kevin Martin is undoubtedly the team's top scorer. After the transfer to the Rockets, he can be regarded as the boss of the rebuilding team. Now coming to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Brooks' positioning of Martin is undoubtedly Harden last season!

Facts have proved that Martin has not disappointed. In the case of off the bench and the playing time plummeted, Martin still averaged 14 points per game this season, and made an impressive 42.6% of his three-pointers. It can be said that he almost perfectly filled the vacancy left by Harden's departure, and Martin is more experienced than Harden.

Now facing the Pacers' second team, Brooks naturally hopes that Martin can lead the team to recover the score. As a result, the game continues to loop like it's stuck in a strange circle. Kevin Martin made a series of shots and penalties, which brought the Thunder into a 6-0 offensive, stunned to tie the score.

Augustine and Ray Allen were able to give Kevin Martin too little pressure, although after the first quarter, the Pacers still had a 4-point advantage. But the two sides have been fighting like this, which is not the situation Henson wants to see.

The depth of the bench, Henson believes that he still has the depth of the bench to dig.

In the second quarter, Ibaka returned, but because he had already fouled twice, he was still somewhat daunted on the defensive end. Fortunately, Durant's increasingly mature offensive skills have always allowed the Thunder to use offense to fill up the defensive deficiencies.

On the Pacers' side, Horford, who experienced the success of the first quarter and was confident, also played smoothly. He even increased the weight of his dribble movement, playing like a real point guard.

Since Horford’s offensive threats are almost all over the entire half, the Thunder have been unsure whether to help Horford defend or block the pass.

The scores of the two sides rose alternately in the exciting battle, but the coaches of the two teams did not seem to be in a hurry.

Martin made two free throws after Maynor scored a goal. With Westbrook hit two consecutive three-pointers, the Thunder shot a wave of 12-2 attacks and quickly took a 13-point lead. 13 points, this is also the biggest gap between the two sides in today's game!

But do you think this is stable? The Pacers are not to be outdone, and the defending champion is not so easily defeated. George and Stephenson fired continuously, and they made a 13-0 wave of attacks to equalize the score.

The two sides fell into a state where no one could guard anyone, everything seemed to be the cycle of the first quarter. Brooks wanted to use Kevin Martin to open the score in the rotation time, while Henson wanted to lock Kevin Martin in the rotation time to achieve the goal of opening the score.

The two coaches have their own plans, so no matter how anxious the situation on the field is, they are indifferent.

?? "We are now in the rhythm of the Thunder, we are trying to play against them! Although the shooting percentages on both sides are very high, but we are not an offensive team after all! Henson, don't adjust. Strategy? "Vogel can't sit still anymore. He is a coach who pays more attention to defense, and he can't reassure him on offense.

Facing Vogel's suggestion, Henson just waved his hand, "No, we don't fight against each other. Wait, it's coming soon."

Henson didn't change his face, and the fans spent 8 minutes in the game. Both teams showed their unparalleled talents, and the fast-paced offensive and defensive conversion made the ratings of this nationwide live game soar.

And this time out, Henson and Brooks almost simultaneously picked up the tactical board and stood in front of everyone. Both coaches hope that this timeout will become a turning point to change the game situation!

"Give Kevin more shots and set up more screens for him! Shoot when you have the opportunity, just like you did in Sacramento! Your task is to open the score during the rotation and lay the foundation for our offensive in the second half!" Brooks squatted In front of Kevin Martin, since no one can guard anyone in the starting lineup, let's stop at the rotation lineup!

"Jimmy, I want you to watch Martin! On both offensive and defensive ends, I want you to give him pressure! Consume him and reduce his shooting percentage as much as possible! ?? Don't be afraid even if it is chaotic, we can also punch Kill them." Henson sat in front of Jimmy Butler.

In the rotation time of the first quarter, Augustine and Ray Allen did not work well with the guard line. So Henson planned to use Butler Garley Allen's partner to try the water. And Jimmy Butler’s performance is directly related to the success of Henson’s Plan B...

As for organizing the offense... Henson doesn't need an organizer this time. He doesn't plan to use the power of the team to play against the Thunder. But we have to see how Kevin Martin can contain Jimmy Butler's singles.

Martin is actually a very strange player. He has strong scoring ability but poor confrontation and defensive abilities, which makes him unable to be a leader. Therefore, teams with Martin as the core usually have poor records. And if he goes to a strong team to be an auxiliary point, he needs a partner with strong defensive ability to "check the gap" for him.

Martin's very classic "performance" on the defensive end was in 2011, when the Mavericks veteran Peja Stojakovic was already in his twilight years of his career. It can be said that he has become a pure shooter. All he can do is shoot and fight. It's very low.

As a result, the Mavericks ran into the Kings, and Carlisle was stunned to let Peja go back to beat Martin, and he really hit two... It can be seen how vulnerable Martin's defense is.

Now Henson wants to do something similar to Carlisle, single Martin! But Henson’s singles play is not Peja, but the young and energetic Jimmy Butler!

In the games before this season, Butler has built up some reputation in the league by relying on defense. Now, it is time for his offensive talent to be used.

At the end of the timeout, Brooks looked at the court and was shocked. Henson changed again, and Brooks felt nervous every time Henson changed. Because he couldn't guess at all, what the purpose of Henson's change was.

"Come on, Coach Henson once again took out his secret weapon Jimmy Butler. Butler played the role of a firefighter for the Pacers this season. Many times the Pacers can't open the state, Coach Henson will let Jimmy Come out. Look forward to it, this young man is more powerful than you think!"

Seeing Butler on the court, Barkley immediately got excited. After all, this is not the first time he has seen Jimmy Butler perform well this season.

"But in this way, the Pacers will have no offensive starting point on the court." Kenny Smith spreads out his hand, no point guard, is this Henson's method?

In the first round after returning from the timeout, Jimmy Butler used his active defense and tough confrontation to force Kevin Martin, who is not physically strong, to shoot. But then, the Pacers were driven by Jimmy Butler. This scene made Brooks and Kenny Smith both look silly.

"As far as I know, Jimmy Butler is not a qualified point guard."

The Thunder's defensive focus is on Ray Allen, but Jimmy Butler didn't mean to pass the ball after halftime with the ball. Instead, he gradually lowered the center of gravity and increased the frequency of dribbling. At the same time, the Pacers players completely emptied Butler's side after a while!

"Is this... let that guy play singles with the ball?" Brooks was stunned. Is Henson so bold? Any third substitute, dare to let him play singles with the ball?

Henson smiled triumphantly, thinking that Jimmy Butler was just coming up to defend? So stay tuned!