April 30.

The fifth game between the Thunder and the Nuggets playoffs will officially start in Denver today.

Before the game started, it attracted a lot of fans to watch, and the online ratings of this game even broke the first four games of the two teams' previous matches.

Because George Carl's defensive strategy played a very important role in the last game, the Nuggets were able to take away that victory.

So as soon as this game started, George Carl also defended the second and third-tier defense. While ensuring that the team's inside line did not fall, he continued to relax his vigilance against the Thunder's shooting on the outside.

Facing a defensive approach that is exactly the same as in the last game, the Thunder, who has suffered a loss once, will naturally not fall twice in the same place.

Although Yang Fan still shifted the team's focus to the outside line in this game so that he could better tear the defense.

But unlike the last game, Stephen Jackson's empty cut position in the Hawks tactic will be further deepened, so that the Nuggets' defense will further shrink, resulting in more open opportunities in the entire perimeter.

Even so, the pressure on Stephen Jackson will become even greater, and there is even a high possibility that some mistakes will be made in conceding the ball.

However, on a stage like the playoffs, star players naturally have to bear more pressure than other players.

What's more, Yang Fan has always maintained absolute trust in Jackson's big heart at critical moments.

After all, in the Warriors team that was the Mavericks who were so badly beaten the Mavericks in the playoffs, the burden on "Martial Saint" Jackson has been too much as today.

Because there are many stars who can share the pressure on Jackson in this Thunder team, this also allows Jackson to exert all his power in this system.

In addition, Yang Fan would choose Stephen Jackson as the core of the Hawks tactics, rather than Durant, who has a height and wingspan advantage.

It is because Jackson has a very strong mentality in the playoffs, which Durant is far from comparing with Jackson at present.

Throughout the game, Jackson completed the task assigned to him by Yang Fan very well. As the arrowhead of the Hawks offense, Jackson led the attacks of other players from the outside.

Finally, after the end of the third quarter, the Thunder already had a 14-point lead.

As soon as he came back in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets tried to counterattack. After all, the Thunder are now holding the match point with a total score of 3:1.

If the Nuggets lose again in this game, they will have to go home and take up space to prepare for fishing as soon as possible.

Therefore, at the moment of life and death, the Nuggets' counterattack in the fourth quarter was very fierce. Under the leadership of "Little Melon" Anthony, the score difference was even narrowed to four points.

However, facing the Nuggets' counterattack with all their might, the Thunder finally joined forces to withstand the pressure, especially the "Martial Saint" Jackson scored seven points in a row in the last three minutes, killing the game in one fell swoop.

In the end, after the game ended, the Thunder played away were in danger:

108:97

The Nuggets defeated the Nuggets with 11 points. While rewriting the total score of this round of series to 4:1, it ranked seventh in the West. The following number is sent home to fish.

After the game, the entire Pepsi Center Arena was obviously a bit miserable. It was obvious that the Nuggets achieved the second best record in the West in the regular season, which made Denver fans seem to see hope of rushing out of the West.

But after the playoffs started, the Nuggets were eliminated in the first round, and they only won one game in the entire series.

It has to be said that this ending obviously made Denver fans feel unacceptable, not only Denver fans, but even some neutral fans feel incredible.

After the series was completely over, the Nuggets took the initiative to come forward and hug the Thunder.

Although the two teams had some friction in this round of series, with the completion of this round of series, the Nuggets were not only unwilling to accept and dissatisfied, but also watching the Thunder advance to the semi-finals.

Perhaps the happiest thing for Nuggets fans is that although the Thunder defeated the Nuggets, they entered the stage of the Western Conference semi-finals early.

But next, the Thunder will face the Lakers, who have the highest call for winning this year.

As for this group of duels, even the fans who support the Thunder in their brains can clearly see that the Thunder is undoubtedly a dream to cross the Lakers mountain.

So this means that the Thunder's playoff journey will basically end here, which may be considered one of the few good news for Nuggets fans.

In this game, the Thunder were able to take away this round of series 4:1 away, and the performance of "Martial Saint" Jackson is crucial.

In fact, in this whole round of the series, Jackson performed well in his personal performance in the past four games, except for his poor performance in the last game.

In this game, Jackson made a total of 38 minutes, making 9 of 17 shots on the offensive end, including 0 of 3 from outside the three-point line and 6 of 8 free throws, and finally contributing comprehensive data of 24 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.

And at the same time, Jackson's feat of seven points in the last three minutes helped the Thunder to completely establish the victory of the game.

In addition to "Martial Saint" Jackson, Durant's performance in this game was also quite good.

Although the Hawks' offense will extremely marginalize the existence of the small forward position, the Hawks' offense used by Yang Fan is obviously a bit different from Huby Brown.

Since the Eagles can divide up to more than 1,000 attack methods, it is no exaggeration to say that the effect of this tactic is different for everyone.

In addition to the core purpose of tactics, the star misalignment and basket bombing, other changes will be adjusted according to the coach's arrangement.

While the Nuggets were defending the second and third joint defense throughout the game, Yang Fan naturally used "Martial Saint" Jackson as the Eagle Head, and then transferred the offensive claws to the outside.

This also led to the fact that Durant's mobile phone appearance in this game would start to rise sharply.

And while Stephen Jackson attracted most of the defensive pressure, Durant played even more easily on the offensive end.

Durant made a total of 37 minutes in the whole game, making 10 of 16 shots on the offensive end, including 3 of 8 from outside the three-point line and 4 of 4 free throws, efficiently scoring 27 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

In addition, Livingston on the bench also became the surprise in this game.

Facing the substitute point guard Carter, who is only 1.88 meters tall, Livingston played very resolutely in this game.

In the whole game, Livingston made 5 of 6 shots in just 16 minutes of the game, including 2 of 2 free throws, and contributed 12 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists like a surprise player from the sky.

Although Livingston didn't play much time in this round of the series, after Yang Fan regained Westbrook and focused on the Hawks' offense.

Livingston's playing time has obviously improved qualitatively compared to the previous two games, because compared to Watson, Livingston, who is two meters and one-meter tall, undoubtedly has a better passing vision, especially after the breakthrough, passing the ball to the weak side.

For the Nuggets, the Nuggets' performance in this game was still stable, but the team was able to make loopholes by the Thunder on the defensive end, while the team was unable to contribute continuous firepower output on the offensive end.

You know, the Thunder are ranked third in the league in the regular season, and the offensive firepower of the entire team is no longer a matter of time.

So if you want to defeat the Thunder, you either have to use more powerful offensive firepower than the Thunder to play against the opponent, or make the Thunder feel uncomfortable on the defensive end.

When the Nuggets did not do well in both events, the Nuggets' loss became an inevitable result.

At the post-match press conference, the Thunder completely defeated the Nuggets in this game, ending this round of the series competition.

So there are obviously many reporters who came to the scene today.

Reporter: "July handsome, we all know that the Thunder ranked seventh in the West in the regular season, while the Nuggets ranked second in the West. But in the end, you beat the Nuggets with a total score of 4:1."

"This not only allows you to complete the feat of Black Seven in the playoffs, but also makes the Thunder the third team to advance to the semi-finals this season."

"What do you personally think about this?"

Looking at the reporter who asked him questions in front of him, when the reporter thought that Yang Fan would express it a little modestly, Yang Fan replied to the reporter with confidence:

"I don't think it's surprising. We're really ranked lower in the regular season, but it's just because the team is still very young."

"And in order to avoid injuries, the team also reduced their playing time later, so at the end of the regular season, the team's record did not look so good."

"But we have very strong team competitiveness. I think the first round victory over the Nuggets is undoubtedly the best proof."

When the reporter heard Yang Fan's answer without any modesty, he was obviously intrigued.

Although I don’t know what medicine Yang Fan took the wrong one these two days, when facing the reporter’s interview, his answers were even more high-profile than the other.

But this is obviously a good thing for the reporters!!!

"Then the handsome Orange, before you, the Lakers also defeated the Jazz with a 4:1 score, thus winning the spot in the Western Conference semi-finals."

"And this means that you have to face the Lakers in the semi-finals. As we all know, the Lakers are the most promising team this season."

"Similarly, the Lakers are also the number one in the West, so when facing the Lakers, what percentage of the chances of winning do you think the Thunder can have?!"

After asking this sentence, the reporter looked at Yang Fan with anticipation.

It seems that he really hopes that Yang Fan can express his disdain for the Lakers, because in this way, he won’t have to worry about the materials for the next few days.

"Yes, the Lakers are indeed very strong. They are strong contenders for the championship this season. The Lakers also have many stars, among which Kobe is one of the best players in the league."

"The most important thing is that this team has a very deep foundation in winning the championship and their playoff experience is excellent, so facing the Lakers in the next round will be a huge challenge for us."

"Although the outside world is not optimistic about the Thunder, we will definitely do our best in this round of series to play our own advantages."

When the reporter in the audience was obviously stunned when he heard Yang Fan's answer to the microphone.

Because this script seems to be wrong, Yang Fan was very arrogant just now. Although he did not say it clearly when answering questions about the Nuggets, his words revealed his disdain for the Nuggets.

As a result, when the topic changed to the Lakers, Yang Fan became so modest. The contrast between the front and back was too big?!!

Without getting the answer he wanted, the reporter was obviously not willing to accept it. He followed Yang Fan and asked several questions about the Lakers.

But in the end, Yang Fan showed a very low-key attitude, and his words revealed a hint of modesty.

Although Yang Fan has always emphasized that the Thunder will definitely do its best, there is no such bold statement that the Thunder will definitely defeat the Lakers.

And this result obviously made the reporter a little confused because the script is really damn wrong!!

As Yang Fan answered several questions from reporters one after another, he finally took the initiative to end the interview.

Because Yang Fan will become busy in the future, he needs to hurry up and prepare some work for the Lakers.

However, the moment Yang Fan left the interview room, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The reporter was setting up a trap for him throughout the whole process, and Yang Fan had already seen this, but Yang Fan was willing to follow him before, because Yang Fan needed to use elimination of the Nuggets to build momentum for the team.

But after the topic later shifts to the Lakers, if Yang Fan speaks wildly without knowing the sky, that is truly ridiculous.

In this round of series, the Thunder can only make a glimmer of hope in this life-threatening series if the Thunder puts itself in a weak state, but the team is full of momentum.

Otherwise, before this round of series starts, whether the Thunder is praised in the sky or in the ground, it can be said to be a very bad thing.

Only by putting one's identity in the right way will the Thunder's loss be taken for granted by fans and will not accept external public opinion and criticism.

And at the same time, the Thunder firmly believes that they have the opportunity to defeat the Lakers and will not have the embarrassing mentality of defeating others without fighting.
Chapter completed!