The Way of the Center

Chapter 108: Fatal flaw

"James singled Durant in the low post! Anjie made up the defense very quickly, oops, it was a thug foul, and the Cavaliers got two free throw opportunities. [Latest chapter reading]"

"The Brazilians may be able to easily deal with the Chinese in football, but on the basketball court, Varejao has already learned how powerful the Chinese are. Turn around and make a jump shot at close range, and Anjie will go in again!"

"James broke through again! He distributed the ball, and Mo Williams made a three-pointer! Beautiful cooperation!"

Throughout the second half of the second quarter, the offensive efficiency of the Cavaliers and Thunder was astonishingly high. It wasn't until the referee blew the whistle that the half-time ended that the two sides broke away from the frenzied battle temporarily.

An Jie was panting heavily. He was too active just now, and the frequent physical contact with James was really exhausting.

"He really did it." James couldn't believe that Anjie's provocation turned into an action. Durant was stared at by James in the next few minutes, but Anjie repeatedly attacked him. Score ahead. Every time after scoring, Anjie would look at James, as if to say to him, "Are you really sure you don't want to guard me?"

James is still out of his mind. It is not certain whether he can defend against Anjie's low-post singles with such a large height gap. Besides, if someone else defends Durant, then the Thunder's most threatening attack point will be Will fire, and by that time the Cavaliers, who are under attack from both sides, will definitely have a hard time playing. I would rather let the Chinese play than let Durant! James made a decision in his own mind.

Indeed, Anjie's scoring average ranks the lowest among the Thunder's three minorities. Of course, Durant needless to say, but Westbrook only occasionally scores less than Anjie in a few games.

But it's not a matter of ability. Looking at the number of shots made by the Thunder three and three, everything is clear at a glance. Anjie generally puts more energy on organization and defense, and the task of scoring is more handed over to Durant and Westbrook to complete.

But today, Durant was locked up and Westbrook's breakthrough hit a wall again and again, so Anjie had to shoulder the burden of scoring on himself.

At the beginning of the second half, James really stayed on the court, which means that James will not be off the court for all the next time. Throughout the half, the Thunder had to fight the little emperor to the end!

"Russell!" It was An Jie again, he leaned on the re-entered big Z and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

In Jeff Van Gundy's tactical arrangement, there is no specific indication of who is the absolute offensive end point. The players of the Thunder have relatively free distribution of ball rights on the court. It's just because Durant and Westbrook's scoring ability is there, so the teammates will consciously play more balls for these two people.

But today, An Jie's offensive desire was extremely strong. Although the team has won five consecutive victories, no one would think that the winning streak is too many games.

Facing the fledgling An Jie who is full of strength, Big Z's defense can only be said to be more than enough.

For European fans, this game is very worrying for them. Although they all hope that Big Z can give a good lesson to this ignorant Chinese, but An Jie is the disciple of the European legend Divac. An Jie played well, which just proved the level of Divac, a European legend. .

I also want Anjie to play well and hope that Big Z will not be humiliated by young people. For a while, the neutral fans in Europe don't know who to support.

But time is really the biggest enemy of professional players. Even the man who is regarded as a "god" has to bow his proud head to time.

An Jie's nimble footwork made Big Z unable to handle it at all. Although he had advantages in tonnage and height, An Jie chose to make use of his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, taking advantage of Big Z's shortcoming of slow movement to score again and again.

James still just stared at Durant, and he told himself over and over again that he must hold back. If he went up to double-team rashly, he would fall into the hands of the Chinese! After more flowering, the Thunder can overthrow the old Spurs to the ground, and James doesn't want to repeat the old path of the Spurs.

"After watching Anjie's performance, I really can't understand how he fell to the 12th pick. Are the scouts and managers in the NBA so stupid now?" Barkley would never go directly To praise others, even if he wants to praise, he will praise in a way that hurts another person.

"Maybe the Bucks think that Joe Alexander is a pure Chinese, so they will use the sixth pick to choose Alexander instead of Anjie. After all, they want to open up the Chinese market!" Kenny Smith also sarcastically talking.

As commentators, they could easily tease the IQ of NBA team managers. Anjie was full of too many uncertainties at the time. It was actually a gamble. Most people would definitely choose the one with the highest probability of winning. It's just a pity that among so many teams, only Presti dared to take the risk, and now it has been rewarded.

The last thing James wanted to see happened. Although Durant still didn't have many opportunities, Westbrook recovered his form in the second half of the third quarter, scoring three goals in a row, including a 2+ 1. The Thunder have more offensive points, and the better they play, the heavier the pressure on James' shoulders.

In previous games, Mo Williams and Delonte West on the guard line of the Cavaliers could share some of the scoring pressure for James, but today they faced Westbrook and Wilkins, who are outstanding defensively. , the offensive firepower of these two guys is not so strong.

When the game was about to end with four minutes left in the third quarter, Van Gundy took a risk and took down all three Thunder players. He would rather take risks now than take risks in the fourth quarter with three people who are too physically exhausted. Although the Thunder's three young players are young, they are not James yet, and not all of them can average 42 minutes per game.

James seized the opportunity to score points crazily. Fortunately, the Thunder's second team is also high-spirited today.

When the fierce battle between the two sides in the third quarter ended, the score became 72 to 67, with a gap of five points, but James was not at ease at all!

Four minutes plus a rest period, this time is enough time for the thunder three young men to recover their physical strength and cope with the entire fourth quarter.

"Are you still going to watch me score in the penalty area?" An Jie knew that the Thunder must open up all their offensive points in order to defeat the powerful little emperor. He kept stimulating James, hoping to free Durant. It was the last quarter of the game, and Durant only scored 10 points. Many people were surprised that the Thunder hadn't been defeated yet.

James did not respond. He would not be fooled by this level of provocation!

The game is still going on fiercely, and neither coach can improve the singleness of the offensive end. The defense of both sides at this time becomes particularly important.

With a minute and a half left in the game, James still couldn't pull the score away on his own. 95 to 94, the Thunder's tenacious resistance has reached the present!

Now it's the Thunder's possession, and Westbrook dives into the penalty area and hands the ball to Angie.

An Jie sat down on Varejao, ready to hit him on his back. Just when everyone's attention, including James, was attracted by Anjie, Anjie suddenly made a pass, and people discovered that Westbrook got a very good chance in the bottom corner!

"Westbrook feels good today, he won't let go of such an opportunity!" Kenny Smith was slapped in the face as soon as he finished speaking. Westbrook's three-pointer missed, and because he shot so hard, the basketball bounced so far that Anjie was not in the range of the rebound.

"LeBron controlled the rebound! Last minute! This will be the game-changer!"

James took the ball forward, and in order to pick up the tempo, he passed the ball to Mo Williams who was already running ahead.

Two against one at halftime! An Jie, the inside defensive pillar of the Thunder, dragged behind.

Generally speaking, the fast break will choose to go down to the penalty area to complete the score, and few people will choose to shoot three-pointers during the fast break. But Mo Williams' nickname of "Don't Pass" is not for nothing. In the Cavaliers, he only thinks that James' offensive ability is better than his own. Now that James is not on the offensive line, he is naturally the first attack point!

Delonte West and Durant are entangled together, and there is indeed no good chance to catch the ball. Seeing this, the fast-moving Mo Williams suddenly made an emergency stop. He pulled up from outside the three-point line and shot!

"Damn it!" James was about to yell, for such a good opportunity, Mo Williams chose to directly shoot a three-pointer.

"Mo Williams, like Westbrook, is a very strong shooter, the current point guard..." Not only James, but most commentators can't understand Mo Williams James' decision.

However, just like the advertising slogan shot by Anjie, miracles happen here.

Seeing Mo Williams shoot the basketball, Durant quickly got stuck in his position, ready to grab the rebound. The basketball passed over the heads of Durant and West, and then fell into the basket!

"Oh! Mo Williams' key three-pointer! If the Cavaliers win this game, this will be the most important goal!"

After scoring the goal, Williams was bouncing around the sidelines, muttering words. Does a rookie want to suppress himself? This is the tuition fee, you are welcome!

The Thunder didn't have time to marvel at that unreasonable goal. Anjie quickly sent the baseline ball, and the time left for them was running out!

Durant is actively running, Anjie is accurate off the ball in the pick-and-roll, but James' ability to get rid of the pick-and-roll is also excellent! As soon as Durant received the ball and wanted to shoot, James rushed up, but Durant could only give the ball. This is almost the epitome of Durant's entire game.

After An Jie received the ball, he immediately entered an attacking state, and within 50 seconds, the Thunder's three young masters were very anxious.

advance! Turn around! shoot! Facing Varejao, An Jie is very confident in his offense! But this time, apart from Varejao, James jumped up high and interfered with An Jie's shot!

"When did you come here?" An Jie took it for granted that James was still marking Durant, but this time, James really came to defend him.

Anjie immediately changed his shot to a pass, which gave Durant one of the few opportunities. Can this last year's Rookie of the Year complete this slashing shot?

James didn't expect that a center forward's passing skills could be so good. Not only did the ball turn into a pass without making mistakes, but the timing was just right.

Durant shot the ball as soon as he caught it, but the whole game's troubles had worn away his touch. As soon as the ball was shot, Durant's heart immediately hung up.

"Boom!" Unlike Mo Williams' ending, Durant failed to score the ball!

Anjie jumped high and grabbed the offensive rebound before Varejao. There is not much time left, and Anjie must complete the second attack under the basket by himself.

Just as he was about to jump, the basketball in An Jie's hand was slapped away. It was James! He cut the ball away!

"Fatal steal! James pushed fast, this time he didn't pass the ball! Westbrook hugged LeBron directly, James still jumped up and went in! Additional penalties! Westbrook didn't even make a foul Stop him!" Kenny Smith's speech rate was also raised to the highest by the fast-paced transition of offense and defense.

25 seconds, seven points difference, with James' extra penalty hit, he has almost sentenced the Thunder to death.

At the critical moment, two of the Thunder's three young players missed shots and one was intercepted. This is the disadvantage of youth. The ability to handle the ball at critical moments, all three of them failed.

Then the Thunder still did not give up, and foul tactics were Jeff Van Gundy's last struggle. It's a pity that after all the members of the Cavaliers showed their momentum, the Thunder were powerless.

104 to 95, the Thunder failed to score a goal in the most critical minute and a half, and the favorite of heaven got his wish and led the team to win three consecutive victories.

"It seems that I have guarded you." As soon as the game was over, James walked towards Anjie, reaching out his hand to give Anjie a high-five. Anjie did not embarrass James, and touched James' hands in a friendly manner.

suddenly! James firmly grasped An Jie's palm and pulled it towards him. The bodies of the two were close together, and James patted An Jie on the back. "Don't worry, you've done a good job."

At this time, after making the same move, James realized that the phrase "the future is yours" that Duncan said in the finals was not a consolation, but a blessing from the heart.

In the end, the spears of the knights still made this blue and white lightning disappear... (To be continued.)

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