First in scoring

Chapter 460 459. Zhang San, are you really that serious?

Erha: Zhang San, are you possessed by an elementary school student? No, elementary school students don't do this. He at least shot like this because he needed to. Was your shot necessary?
Harden was cursing in his heart, and Zhang Yang, who turned around and retreated, made a '3' sign at him, then put his index and middle fingers together, turned them into gun fingers, and waved them at him, making a "biu" sound from his mouth.

Harden rolled his eyes and ran back to the inside. After receiving the pass from Durant, he advanced across half court. Facing Zhang Yang's defense, he rushed forward and got close to his face... passed the ball to Durant in the high position on the right, and then moved to the left.

Zhang San exclaimed: What a treasure!

Erha: You want that brat Zhang San to ruin my moral integrity? Impossible!
Durant was even happier after receiving the ball and continued to play one-on-one against Kobe.

He performed a fake move, but couldn't shake Kobe. He didn't care anymore. He swung his long arms and legs and took a cross step. Suddenly, he dribbled the ball between his legs and took a step sideways to make a strong attack!
Kobe did not lose his position in terms of the timing and direction of his defensive movement, but he was still passed by Durant!
Durant rushed into the inside, facing Gasol who was protecting the rim and Zhang Yang who had rushed in from the high position on the left side in advance, raised the ball high, jumped, threw the ball with his backhand... and hit it!
Zhang Yang said to Kobe who ran in to pick up the ball: "Durant is so tall and so fast. His mid-range breakthrough reminded me of T-Mac."

Kobe responded when serving: "That's his physical talent advantage. His attack on the basket is really amazing. I studied it for two years and still couldn't figure out his backhand."

"Maybe you don't have arms as long as his? After all, it's hard for people to imagine something they don't have." Zhang Yang said, turned around and moved forward quickly.

Kobe suddenly understood and followed Zhang Yang's footsteps...Old Blacksmith: Wait! I feel like there's something wrong with this!
After Zhang Yang crossed half court, he saw that Harden was guarding in front and continued to pass the ball to Kobe.

In the second round, the Thunder were able to reverse the Clippers led by Paul, who were in such good form. The stable and strong offensive performance of Durant and Harden was one aspect, but defense was also very important.

During the past two days of preparation, Zhang Yang often discussed the series between the Thunder and the Clippers with his teammates, and had a new perspective on Paul's failure at critical moments.

It is certain that Paul needs a forward and guard superstar who can withstand his expectations at critical moments.

But if we only look at the series between the Clippers and the Thunder, Paul's performance collapsed in the fourth quarter in the last two games, largely because he was tired.

Although Harden failed to defend against the pick-and-roll attack of Paul and Jordan, the three ball-handling guards, Crawford, Darren Collison and Willie Green, had a shooting percentage of only 42% at best under Harden's defense. The shooting percentages of Crawford and Collison were both less than 40%. Paul had almost no rest time in the first three quarters and could not let go of the ball.

After a year, Harden has made great progress in defense!

He is not a big defender yet, and his level is probably below that of Leonard and James at the moment, but he is at least a top-notch defensive player.

Zhang Yang actually wants to face off against Harden now, but he has rested for 4 days after the last round and the new round has just begun, so he has to let the veterans find their form and restrain their instincts first.

When Kobe received the ball, he glanced at Zhang Yang sideways, and slowly controlled the ball facing Durant's defense. When Jordan Hill pulled out to block Durant, Kobe suddenly sped up, from extremely slow to fastest, controlling the rhythm to the extreme, and passed Ibaka who was switching defense.

Durant and Ibaka surrounded Kobe. After Kobe got below the free throw line, he threw the ball. Gasol received the ball in the low post on the right side, forcing Durant, who wanted to withdraw after Kobe passed the ball, to go back to Gasol.

Kobe and Gasol attracted the Thunder's frontcourt trio to the low post on the right!

Gasol raised the ball high and seized the opportunity to throw it towards the top arc.

After Jordan Hill blocked Durant, he moved to the left side of the free throw line to block Harden. Zhang Yang ran straight to the top arc from the left sideline, received the ball, turned around and shot a three-pointer... and made it again!
Harden put his hands on his hips, his mouth puffed up.

After defending for three rounds, he understood from his own experience why the Spurs, who had such good defense, didn't even try to defend in Game 3 and went straight to attack against the Lakers.

There is no way to defend!
The Lakers' three attacks just brought out the three strongest offensive methods of their starting lineup - Zhang Yang's singles scoring, Zhang Yang's counterattack, and the Snake and Sister dual-core connecting the entire team.

Especially the dual-core play of Kobe and Gasol. The two old guys are old, not durable enough, and not impactful enough, but they are experienced and have many tricks. If you are not careful, they can bring the team to a climax.

Zhang Yang started with 6 points and 1 assist, Harden was under a lot of pressure!

Their defense is very good, but it is about the same as the Spurs. The Spurs have a strong defensive system based on Duncan, and their forwards Durant and Ibaka are strong in double-teaming. It's hard to say who is better, but if the Spurs can't defend, it's naturally unlikely that they can either.

During the offense-defense transition, Harden advanced to the frontcourt and saw Durant standing on the sidelines. The emotional impact of the pressure was instantly reduced by half.

Two years ago, when Westbrook was the point guard, Durant would always ask for the ball first. When he couldn't get it, he would go to the side and play without the ball. At that time, Durant's ability to hold the ball was much worse than it is now.

Now Durant is taking the initiative to play without the ball!

With Durant's professionalism, his performance may be similar whether he is active or passive, but when he is active, he will definitely be in a better mood, which is sometimes one of the key factors in determining the outcome of a game.

Erha: If you play as a grandson for two rounds at the beginning, you can play as a master for the whole game! I have nine ways to make Bookbag Du happy to be a pitcher, nine ways!

Seeing Zhang Yang half a step inside the three-point line, Harden, who had secured the ball, also got excited and broke through! Harden leaned over to lower his center of gravity, dribbled the ball quickly with his right hand, slowly moved to the left side of the top arc, suddenly dribbled the ball to the left, and took over the control of the ball with his left hand... and collided head-on with Zhang Yang!
Zhang Yang judged Harden's movement and moved sideways! Harden was bigger, but Zhang Yang was stronger and held on!
After the confrontation, Harden suddenly retreated half a step, but immediately accelerated again and broke through to the left.

Zhang Yang moves to the right and is blocked! Durant's screen!
Zhang Yang reacted instinctively, turned around and bypassed Durant, catching up with Harden who was making a darting run around the rim.

Kobe tacitly gave up switching defense and blocked the passing line between Harden and Durant, while Jordan Hill in the middle double-teamed Harden.

Harden broke into the elbow area and faced the double-team of Zhang Yang and Jordan Hill. Instead of passing the ball to Ibaka who was one step away from the free throw line, he stopped abruptly, patted the ball, stepped back, escaped from the double-team, and shot... and it went in!
Breaking through with screens and shooting with quick stops at close range are new killer moves that Harden showed off in this year's playoffs!
Zhang Yang had seen this move when watching a video, and he felt that it was difficult to defend against at the time. He tried to defend himself, but he couldn't even defend against the double-team attack!

He felt inexplicably sad for the fat little boss.

'One year ago' in the playoffs, this move of Harden was just a PPT. He only told Zhang San during a casual chat on the day off from the game that he wanted to develop this move and asked his opponent to help develop it... One year later, it has become a regular offensive tactic.

The last time he came here to train was two and a half years ago. He told Felton about this move in the summer of 06, but two and a half years later, although Felton has developed this move, compared to Harden...

In the face of talent, hard work seems so humble… Mr. and Mrs. Yang Huang gave a thumbs up with tears in their eyes.

But at least the fat boss is working hard enough. If he is not as talented as others, does not work as hard as others, does not want to lie down and has high aspirations, then he is really useless.

It was the Lakers' turn to attack. The duo of Kobe and Gasol continued to organize the offense. Bazemore received the pass from Gasol in the high position and broke through to Jordan Hill who cut in. Jordan Hill flew for a layup... and missed.

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The opportunity came, but Jordan Hill's hands were too hard and Bazemore's passing rhythm was also poor. If he was a beat slower, it would have been a good alley-oop opportunity.

The three iron wives and the three stars are not dissatisfied. If these two guys are good enough, they can get back to the situation of the past two years. The combined salary of the two starters is only 400 million. So far in the playoffs, one averages 8 points and 7 rebounds per game, and the other averages 8 points and 2 assists per game. It's really worth it.

Durant secured the defensive rebound and passed it to Harden. Harden advanced to the frontcourt, continued to the left, and played pick-and-roll with Durant.

This time Kobe chose to switch defense and double-team Harden with Zhang Yang.

Harden passed the ball to Durant, and Durant received the ball and made a long two-pointer!

6 to 8, the Thunder caught up with the score!
Then Kobe and Jordan Hill played a pick-and-roll. During the breakthrough, while the opponent's attention was on the moving Zhang Yang, Kobe stopped suddenly on the right side of the free throw line and threw the ball. Ibaka reacted quickly and jumped up, relying on his jumping speed and height and wingspan advantages to interfere. However, Kobe was forced to lean back and still shot the ball into the basket!
The commentator of the Imperial TV station, Wei Ping Bryant, once again uttered the famous line "He really dared to shoot and he really made it."

After Zhang Yangchong grabbed the ball, he turned around and saw Ibaka's mouth shape starting with F. It seemed that he didn't expect Kobe to shoot the ball and it went in. But Zhang San thought the ball was pretty good and the opportunity was not bad...

The Lakers started the game with great momentum, scoring 5 points on 4 of 10 shots. From the perspective of the game, they were dominating the local Thunder team.

However, the performances of the two young players, Duha and Wang Yi, were also good enough. Relying on their strong personal abilities, they led the team to boost its offense.

The Thunder's starting lineup, Harden, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, and Perkins, each of them was above average. Although they could not defend against the three opposing stars, they did a good job of limiting Bazemore and Jordan Hill, preventing the two from providing too much support to the three stars. The Thunder barely managed to keep the score difference.

In the middle of the first quarter, Harden missed a long two-point shot, and Ibaka made a tip-in, the score came to 17 to 19, and the Thunder continued to keep the score close!

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks clenched his fists and waited for the opponent's starting lineup to leave. Once one of Kobe or Gasol went off the court, the opponent's offensive firepower would drop, and it would not be so difficult to play then. It was not in vain that Sefolosha and Perkins, two players with poor physical strength, and Ibaka, a player with average physical strength, played the entire first half of the quarter. Normally, he would replace two of them after playing for 3-4 minutes to ensure continuity of defense.

On the other side, Budenholzer was upset when he saw Ibaka tip in the ball. Their rebounding was actually not bad. Except for Bazemore, the five starting players averaged more than 5 rebounds per game. It's just that Durant and Ibaka on the opposing front line were too mobile.

But soon, their emotions exchanged!
Gasol, who failed to defend the rebound, saw the positions on the court and quickly picked up the ball and passed it to Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang understood and immediately started a fast break. Bazemore and Jordan Hill, two teammates with excellent athletic ability, reacted faster than their brains and immediately started a fast break. The two players further outside crossed the center line earlier than Zhang Yang.

The Thunder players reacted quickly and retreated, but their starting position when retreating affected their formation. Gasol seized the opportunity and assisted Zhang Yang in the transition from offense to defense!

Sefolosha, Durant and Harden retreated, and the first two rushed back to the low post to block Bazemore and Jordan Hill who were attacking the basket on a fast break, preventing the two from getting to the basket.

After Harden rushed into the three-point line, he immediately turned around and rushed towards Zhang Yang who had stopped suddenly outside the three-point line, but he was still a little short. The ball Zhang Yang threw flew over his fingers less than a palm away...

When Zhang Yang took the three-point shot, he took the initiative to increase the difficulty to the maximum, which exceeded the limit of what Harden could do at his position!

Harden turned around and saw the ball fall into the basket... Erha: No, Zhang San, can't you just rush in and dunk? Is it necessary to shoot like this?

(End of this chapter)