182: Real Beasts do pie support!)
Link's celebration made the female fans in the stands scream. Although the score difference was 11 points, it is not difficult to see from the reaction on the scene that the Grizzlies' taxi are no longer depressed.
"Patient attack, patience!" Scott Brooks shouted. He didn't want to be turned around with so many points in his hand.
But in fact, this guy made a mistake. The Thunder’s ability to gain an advantage has not been patient. The score is now approaching, but because the players can just score the ball, and they can’t make it now!
"Stable defense, give them some tough look!" Seeing the Thunder attacking again, Randolph yelled in the penalty area, which undoubtedly gave the Grizzlies players another shot of "chicken blood".
This time, the Thunder replaced Westbrook and Ibaka to play the pick-and-roll. Westbrook was still calm. After using the screen to attract the defense, he immediately hit the ball to Ibaka who followed the cut.
Ibaka can also score at the basket by shooting in the middle. The second quarter was because he and Westbrook played too smoothly in the pick-and-roll, and the Congolese scored an outstanding performance of 9 points in a single quarter.
But at this time, after Ibaka received the basketball again, Randolph found that Ibaka's desire to attack was not that strong!
Seeing Randolph staying at the basket, Ibaka didn't even try to break through and shot directly!
I don’t know if this guy is too sure about his shooting or because he doesn’t want to fight with Randolph at the basket anymore. The fourth quarter game has just begun, and Ibaka doesn’t want to exhaust his energy as soon as he comes on the court.
To put it bluntly, everyone on the Thunder was a little tired in the fourth quarter! But the Grizzlies' defense did not relax due to the length of the game!
Ibaka's mid-range shot finally came out of the box, and his mid-range shot with an extremely high shooting percentage today was finally interrupted. Brooks off the court covered his forehead, and the Congolese should have been tougher and rushed into the basket!
Brooks felt a little dangerous. Now, the Grizzlies can narrow the gap to single digits with just one more goal, and they will definitely not miss this opportunity!
Once the score is narrowed by the Grizzlies, the Thunder will be very passive psychologically. Brooks can only hope that his players can defend the Grizzlies' counterattack!
In the last game, the Thunder mainly curbed the Grizzlies' inside offense. But today, the Thunder's defense is really average. They can lead by not making the Grizzlies score lower, but higher than the Grizzlies.
This time, Landov pulled to the middle distance, and Conley handed over the offensive power to Gasol Jr.
Gasol Jr. singles against Perkins at a low post, but Perkinston's solid defense really didn't allow Gasol Jr. to advance half a step!
Gasol then passed the ball to Tony Allen who cut in. Seeing this, Perkins immediately moved to make up for defense and blocked Tony Allen's layup!
"Kendrick Perkins, this is his value! He has completed the defense of the penalty area twice in a row, and there may not be five centers with better defense in the whole league than him!"
Just when Kevin Harlan was praising Perkins, Randolph suddenly came in and actively grabbed the offensive rebound!
Ibaka seems to be a little tired until now, and her attention is not as focused as the first three quarters. But Randolph and Link, they have not even felt tired yet!
After Randolph grabbed the offensive rebound, he threw it directly outside the three-point line! Link received the basketball from the top of the three-point line. He faked the shot and flew Durant, and then broke through to the free throw line and easily threw the shot.
Perkins can defend the basket, but beyond the range of the basket, the defense power is very average. He can't touch the basketball thrown by Link at all, and can only watch the basketball fall into the net. The Grizzlies succeeded in the second attack!
"Scored 7 points in a row! Link scored 20 points, this is his second time in the series to score 20! The Grizzlies narrowed the gap to single digits, and the Thunder's defense just now was very successful! But Randolph just used his stronger enthusiasm to fight for an opportunity! Today, Zach's condition was completely different from the previous game. He looked extremely tired in the last game, but today, he was full of vitality!"
After Link scored a goal, Randolph happily patted his back. Now the score difference is only 9 points left, and the Thunder have no scoring record in the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies can still maintain the strength of the first three quarters, but the exhausted Thunder can no longer hit the level of the first three quarters.
Now, everyone on the Grizzlies believe that it is only a matter of time before the equalizer is equalized!
"Link scored 7 points in a row. He seemed to be as light as a swallow, as if he was at ease. Today, Coach Hollins deliberately asked him to deal with Kevin Durant because he was afraid that Harden would commit too many fouls on Link like in the last game. But for now, the match between Link and Durant was unexpectedly exciting! Durant asked Link to score 7 points in a row. How would he respond?"
Durant couldn't respond because the Thunder tried to attack for the third time in this quarter, and James Harden took the action.
Harden's performance today was not as amazing as the last game. The main reason was that Harden had no home whistle and easily went to the free throw line did not continue to happen. However, even so, Harden hoped that he could help the team. This time, he used Durant's cover to get out of the open space, and received a pass from Westbrook and made a three-pointer.
If this goal is scored, the Thunder will open the gap again!
But as soon as Harden lifted the basketball, the ball was blown away by a pair of big hands!
Harden looked up in surprise and saw that it was Link!
"The account of the last game has not been fully returned, James!" Link smiled and patted Harden on the shoulder after blocking it. Harden didn't say anything, but the millions of grass mud horses in his heart had already appeared on his face.
It turned out that Link switched defense when Harden and Durant did not cover the ball. Tony Allen defended Durant, while Link rushed directly to Harden. With the ability to run, Link proudly slammed Harden's shot into the stands just now!
Link still remembers that Harden committed so many fouls in the last game. Although he knew that Harden would become a superstar in the future, Link was still very unhappy when Harden scored a higher score than himself!
If possible, I really hope that Harden can be abused as his younger brother in his career.
"Link directly blocked Harden's shot outside the three-point line, and the Thunder's offense failed again! Their firepower was not continued, which was simply too fatal! Because except for offensive firepower, the Thunder had no way to curb the Grizzlies!" Kevin Harlan was a little panicked, because at the end of the third quarter, he believed that the Thunder could basically win.
But now, the situation has taken a 180° turn, which has made Harlan inadequately prepare.
"Defense! Defense! Defense!" In the stands, the fans' shouts reached their climax since the second quarter!
Ibaka served the sideline ball, but because the purpose was too obvious, Conley stole Ibaka's pass to Westbrook! They were panicked! The young Thunder encountered this situation and were a little confused!
After the steal, Conley personally held the ball and pushed quickly, but Westbrook, who was physically abnormal, also pursued him relentlessly. Although Westbrook was not calm enough on the defensive end, with his physical fitness, he could still do many terrible things. For example, chasing oneself!
Conley obviously didn't want to be the background board for Westbrook to play the five best goals, so after breaking into the basket, Conley placed the ball in Randolph's hand behind him!
Randolph was not afraid of Ibaka. The big black bear leaned hard on the Congolese and made a layup directly! When he reached the basket, Randolph was so pressed that he couldn't jump up, but with his good feel, Randolph still successfully scored the goal with a small hook!
The energetic Black Bears played almost as they played, and Ibaka recalled the horror of being slashed by Randolph in the first game.
The score difference was only 7 points left, and Scott Brooks called to stop the game!
The Thunder did not score for three minutes, and the Grizzlies' tenacity forced the Thunder into a desperate situation. The 16-point difference disappeared in a blink of an eye, and now, Brooks doesn't even know if the Thunder can still maintain the advantage of the last 7 points.
Link, who scored 7 points in a row and gave one volleyball, got a close-up of the camera. He still looked relaxed, as if he could recover so many points, which was natural.
Although it is an understatement on the surface, Link just led the Grizzlies to play a real beast-like momentum! Strong defense, tenaciousness, biting, and struggling to survive! And if nothing unexpected happens, the Grizzlies will continue to be in a state that will continue until they overtake the score and win the game!
Chapter completed!