Chapter 420: Two MVPs meet on a narrow road
Can't defend it? Then play against the opponent. Donovan is worthy of being a famous coach who has won two consecutive NCAA titles. At this time, he was very decisive and had strong adjustment ability. He knew that he would not be able to play this MVP with a huge touch tonight, so he simply tried it with offense.
Westbrook, Kyle Singler, Anthony, George, and Patterson. When this lineup was on, Bill Walton, who was extremely calm for most of the time, couldn't help but complain: "What is this lineup trying to do? I'll be done if Paul George and Patrick Patterson are exhausted?"
If Westbrook has a desire to defend, it would be a little better to say. As soon as the Golden Bomber Singler came on the court, it would be a disaster on the defensive end. Anthony was not much worse. He had no desire to defend at all because of his inaccurate offense.
Such a lineup is almost equivalent to saying to Lin Sen: "Come on! Master! Come on the attack!"
Lin Sen doesn't think about any tricks here, he only knows that he can attack comfortably. Anyway, no matter what, he doesn't want to lose the first opening game.
At this time, the Thunder and the others finally found the instructions for the Big Three, or Anthony pressed on the bench for a while and understood what he should do. Now he is no longer the boss of the Knicks. He has time to let him test for six or seven seconds on the outside, and then break through six or seven seconds. Finally, he will just throw the blame when he sees that he doesn't have any chance.
This time, when he started running more aggressively than before, Westbrook's impact is still the focus of the Pacers' defense. Now, the Thunder's lineup is no longer one, four, but five. As a center, Patterson looks like George, Anthony. He was originally a mini power forward, but now he is even pushed to the center position.
But his speed, his agility, and his three-pointers were also good. His presence allowed Lin Sen to stand at the free throw line like he was facing the Warriors to assist in defense. Westbrook also took advantage of this opportunity to kill the basket.
Lin Sen's defense was quick. When last season's finals, although Kerr lost the game and was very frustrated, he still had time to joke with reporters: "Lin? His defense is very critical. I almost thought his defense area could cover our locker room."
Although it was a joke, this also reflects how large Lin Sen's defense covers the area. The reason is his speed, arm span and terrifying bounce speed. Westbrook never expected that Lin Sen's goal would be restored to defend.
But he is the triple-double king. His pass accurately found Anthony who finally started to become active. After receiving the ball, he made a direct shot without hesitation. Grant and Thidis Young focused more on George, who was angry in the first half, and George covered this gap. This is also George's ability. Like Lin Sen, he would never rarely do dirty and tiring jobs like no ball cover because of his superstar status.
The Thunder's offense was indeed good. Westbrook also turned into a calm turtle and could always find opportunities when Lin Sen assisted in several breakthroughs. However, as Donovan started shooting, Lin Sen's offensive end was indeed easier. Patterson's height was obviously more unsolvable when facing Lin Sen's hook-up. Jabbar was 218cm at the time, but his opponent was also tall! Lin Sen's current advantage is not smaller than that of Jabbar at that time.
Lin Sen came to double-team as soon as he held the ball, and George was still the one who double-teamed it, but there was nothing he could do. Last year, the double-team from Robertson had proved that it was not good, so this time he changed to George.
Passing, Lin Sen's pass has improved again compared to last season, and more importantly, this season has allowed Lin Sen to pass more players. At the moment George attacked, the entire Pacers' offensive formation has begun to be pulled up. This is what McMillan has always emphasized before playing, giving Lin Sen enough space and must not stop his running position when Lin Sen plays singles.
At this time, Grant's enthusiasm and impact gained. His running position allowed Lin Sen to directly send the ball into the inside line with a high hanging. Grant, who received the pass, bombed the old club's basket with a dunk in the air.
After Lin Sen passed the ball, he also used his gesture to make all the Pacers fans excited, and they naturally gave cheers to this new player.
The Thunder made a good attack, but they did not narrow the gap at all. Oladipo was not happy after being split twice by Westbrook. He was the expected outside defender and was constantly attacked like this. Even if the opponent was in the previous regular season MVP, he would be very embarrassed.
The two strong guards actually made a physical collision outside the court. Lin Sen looked at him and said, "Do you two need to play so fiercely?" At this time, Westbrook played very smartly, and it was not easy to break the front, but he didn't do that either. Adams is one of the best high pick-and-roll players in the league. He does not have any shooting, and there are not many ways to disassemble the positioning, but it is solid enough. The pick-and-roll absolutely steadily blocks the opponent. This is his advantage.
Westbrook killed the basket after a pick-and-roll step. He didn't trust his mid-range shots very much. He made 1 of 5 shots from three-point line tonight, and made 4 of 9 shots from mid-range shots. He didn't perform well. If this was last year, then Westbrook might really be too hard to make the shots? Then I kept shooting, and there were always times when I entered. The facts proved that Westbrook was a player who needed to take action to maintain his touch. Last season, whenever he reached the last moment, he always had very surprising performances, and there were several final shots, which was also an important reason why he became the MVP in the regular season.
With the addition of two new players this year, Donovan warned them to reduce his shots. Westbrook was not satisfied with last season. He was called the MVP with the worst record since the media began to select MVP. And if it weren't for Nowitzki, who was blacklisted, he would have become the first MVP to be eliminated in the first round after the media selection! So now he is eager for victory, and is so eager that he has given up some shots.
There was no accumulation of shots, and the outside was not confident, but Westbrook encountered Lin Sen's defense in the inside. Last year's regular season MVP and the finals MVP met in the penalty area. At this time, they naturally didn't want to retreat. Westbrook jumped very high, and his explosive power also made his bounce speed very fast. If it were an ordinary center, he would have been blocked by him.
But Lin Sen was not afraid at all! If you want to block me, you must at least jump up and be taller than me. Westbrook's previous blasting speed and explosive power did not gain an advantage. When he flew, Lin Sen had already jumped up and built a high wall and slapped it away with a big hat.
Chapter completed!