First in scoring

Chapter 465 464. Team first, above the team!
With 6 minutes and 13 seconds left in the first quarter, the score was 16 to 20 and the Lakers had one free throw left, but the time was up and they went into the official timeout.

Watching the footage of Zhang Yang's Eurostep dunk over Durant that was repeatedly replayed on the big screen, Harden himself admitted that Zhang Yang's Eurostep technique was unique in the history of the NBA in terms of its violence.

Only three people in the history of the NBA can perform the Eurostep followed by a slam dunk in actual combat: Ginobili, Wade, and Zhang Yang, in order. The first two are old now, and they may not even perform a Eurostep slam dunk in a season in the past two years. Zhang Yang has just entered his peak period, so it is not difficult for him to perform it.

Zhang Yang is also very different from those two. For Ginobili and Wade, when the opportunity comes, they suddenly dunk after the European step, which is a surprise. But for Zhang Yang, it is normal!
When he uses the Euro step to get into the dunking range, as long as the opposing player does not move up in advance to confront him, or the confrontation is insufficient, he will jump up and slam dunk... Lakers fans are used to it. As long as Zhang Yang starts to use the Euro step, they will be ready to cheer and celebrate in advance like they did just now.

Erha: We clearly developed the European step together in Compton, and the technical details are the same, so why are the visual effects so different?
Did Zhang San secretly practice more? No! It was me who practiced more! I was about to be surpassed, so I secretly worked hard every day...

In terms of scoring, Harden doesn’t think Zhang Yang’s European step is better than his, but his finishing method is so cool!
It's like a step-back three-pointer, the same technical move, but Zhang Yang's height, wingspan and physique are better, and he looks much more relaxed.

The players of both teams returned to the bench and the head coaches of both teams made tactical adjustments.

Budenholzer is really seizing the time to adjust the details and emphasize the key points.

Brooks over there...cheer up the players!
Brooks is indeed quite lame when it comes to coaching games, but he has his strengths. When the players' self-adjustments are effective, he will firmly support them and will not make random adjustments that would hinder their progress. However...if the players are unable to handle the difficulties, he will use his little brain to help them turn the difficulties into desperate situations.

For example, in last year's finals against the Heat, the odds were clearly 40:60 or at least 30:70, but he made it 20:80 or even 19:10...

After the timeout, the Lakers sent out a combination of Nash, Zhang Yang, Wesley Johnson, Ed Davis, and Jordan Hill; the Thunder sent out a combination of Fisher, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, and Adams.

Zhang Yang made the free throw, the score came to 17 to 20, and the difference narrowed to 3 points!
In the first five and a half minutes, Zhang Yang only scored two points, but then he suddenly had a small outburst and scored 5 points, surpassing Harden's 8 points and Durant's 7 points!
However, this did not really hit the confidence of the Thunder players. They have been exploding all the time, and Zhang Yang's outburst was just short-lived.

The two teams continued to fight against each other. Both sides were actually trying their best to defend, just like in G3 and G4, but the actual effect was the same as in the previous game, they couldn't defend even if they tried their best.

The NHC rule has been in effect for 10 years. Just like the iron-blooded era that began in 94 and entered its heyday in the 03-04 season, each team has already fully explored the help that the NHC rule can bring to offense. That's why the Spurs and the Heat, the two teams with the best defense in the regular season, still cannot show defensive dominance in the playoffs.

The Lakers (or Spurs) and Thunder are the teams that have exploited both types of offense to the extreme under the current rules.

After defeating the Spurs, the Lakers are the ultimate representative of team offense. The Thunder, with Harden and Durant, are naturally the ultimate representative of star basketball.

A team can advance to the playoffs by winning 4 games. From the perspective of the competition system, the Thunder's style of play is theoretically more advantageous. Durant and Harden do not need to consider the continuity of the long season like in the regular season, they can just play their best.

Judging from the Thunder's performance in the Western Conference Finals, if the Spurs really meet the Thunder led by Durant and Harden, as long as they fail to defeat the Thunder in one blow and fail to advance 4-0 or 4-1, they will most likely be reversed.

But there is one essential difference between the Lakers and the Spurs...the Spurs don't have Zhang Yang!

打到首节10分53秒的时候，杜兰特三分命中，将个人得分提升到11分，同时帮助雷霆队以35比29取得6分领先优势。

But in the last 1 minute and 07 seconds, Zhang Yang and Kobe who came back on the court scored 9 points in a row!
Zhang Yang broke into the inside and scored 2+1, then after successfully defending, he grabbed the rebound and hit a three-pointer. With 6 seconds left, Kobe received the serve, rushed through the center circle and shot directly, hitting a three-pointer from an ultra-long distance at the buzzer... and beat the Thunder 9 to 2!

首节战罢，杜兰特11分、哈登14分、伊巴卡7分、其他人合计5分，雷霆队单节狂飙37分，但还是输了1分！
张杨8投5中，其中三分球4中2，加上4中4的罚球，单节拿到16分！
加上科比的8分、纳什的3分2助攻、乔丹-希尔的5分……以38比37反超雷霆队1分进入节间休息！
...

The climax that Zhang Yang led the team to at the end of the quarter finally caused a crack in the seemingly indestructible confidence of the Thunder players.

Durant, Harden, Ibaka, Perkins, Sefolosha... and other old players of the Thunder felt like they were back to the night of Game 2 last season.

I didn't think of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals this time. Although it looked similar, Game 1 was too special. He made 7 three-pointers with a % hit rate. The NBA has introduced the three-point line for more than years, and it has only happened twice.

The situation tonight was actually quite routine, just like in Game 2 of the first round last year. Zhang Yang chose to work alone more often. Once the score difference was widened or there was a chance to close the gap, he believed in himself more than his teammates, and would shoot if he could... and then he led the team to overtake the score with 16 points in a single quarter!
In the eyes of others, Zhang Yang's performance was not as amazing as in G1, but the Thunder players who were playing in the same game had a completely different feeling. If Zhang Yang made those outrageous three-pointers like in G1, they only needed to try their best to block them. At least they had a clear defensive direction. Even if Zhang Yang could still make the shot, they could at least reduce Zhang Yang's number of shots. It was precisely because Zhang Yang played "conventionally" and "ordinary" that they had no idea what to do.

So, the three core players, Durant, Harden and Ibaka, plus experienced veterans, gathered together to discuss the entire intermission, and the conclusion was that they had no room for further adjustment.

Seeing his three teammates looking worried, Harden felt that this was not going to work. He said loudly, "Hey, guys, cheer up. If you can't think of a solution, forget it. We can still play to our advantage, right? It's just that we were overtaken in the end. If that's the case, then why don't we widen the gap to a point where they can't catch up?"
Don't focus on how good they score, focus on doing our own thing. A good brother of mine once told me that you just need to work hard on your own thing, and leave the rest to luck, but good luck will not favor fools who don't try their best. "

That feeling of joy came back. This little brother is really good. Unlike the former little brother who would only waste his energy on himself when encountering problems and was completely unable to help lead the team... Durant immediately responded: "Yes, that's what I want to say."

Perkins rolled his eyes, not at Harden, but at Durant. He felt that this guy was a bit shameless.

However, he thinks that what Harden said is very right. If they can't think of a solution, then forget it. No matter how hard they think together, they probably can't beat a top head coach. It's better for them to stick to what they are good at, just like in the last game.

Ibaka's anxiety also subsided a lot...

On the other side, the pressure felt by Zhang Yang, Kobe and others was no less than that of the three core players on the opposing side.

The pure star basketball on the opposite side is really impossible to defend once it opens up!

They were suppressed at home. If they really lost this game, they would lose two games in a row and have to play a game seven away from home...even they felt that it was a rhythm of failure.

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But as former successful people, they know what they should do now. Even if there is no other way, they can still find some points worth communicating, instead of needing Harden to help them regulate their emotions like Durant and Ibaka on the opposite side.

Moreover, they will not write pressure on their faces like those three brothers, which may make their teammates feel more urgent and play harder, but for ordinary players, the driving force of pressure is often not as strong as the positive effect of confidence brought to them by the team's superstars... These are more or less the advantages of the Lakers.

After the break, the two teams continued their fierce battle.

This time Zhang Yang chose to take the initiative!

The progress was good. After he made two consecutive mid-range shots, the Thunder players swarmed towards him.

Kobe and Gasol took the opportunity to lead the team in a fierce attack. The Lakers started with a 13-7 lead, widening the gap to 7 points and leading the Thunder 51-44.

But the Thunder responded to the Lakers with a 12-7 run before and after the official timeout, narrowing the score to 56-58 and reducing the difference to two points!

Everyone thought that the tug-of-war would continue. The Thunder players were ready to endure and look for opportunities. The Lakers players were the same, including Kobe, except for this hot man...

When the Lakers attacked, Zhang Yang leaned against Harden in the high position to ask for the ball!

Damn the tactical coordination, he scored 4 points in 7 minutes and the opponent scored 12 points. He had to do it on his own.

Bazemore advanced to the frontcourt, saw Zhang Yang asking for the ball, glanced at Kobe, and passed the ball to Zhang Yang. Seeing this, Kobe ran to the receiving point, and the other Lakers players adjusted their positions accordingly.

Team first is the core concept of the Lakers' new system, but above that, there are Kobe... and Zhang Yang!

(End of this chapter)