Chapter 852: Chapter 278: He Is the Chosen One, and the Only One
So even if Westbrook is in outstanding form from the start, there’s no need to worry; he’s the kind of guy whose form is extremely unstable.
Dior grabbed the ball and shouted, "Run!"
Then, all the New York Knicks players quickly ran to their positions in the frontcourt as he ordered, the ball passed to Su Wan, and then he gave it to Paul George, who was in a better position to shoot.
George hesitated for a moment, did not go for a three-point shot, but chose to break through to the basket and completed a slam dunk.
At this point, the Thunder Team’s defensive formation was completely disrupted.
To be honest, Paul’s choice was more secure.
But D’Antoni on the sidelines wasn’t satisfied and pointed to the three-point line, meaning:
If you don’t take the shot with such good three-point opportunities, what use are you to me!
Thunder Team counters.
Westbrook is going to "open a blind box" again.
Brooks asked him to pass the ball to Kevin Durant. His heart needs a moment of calm, and he believes the hearts of the fans on site do, too.
"Little Handsome" touched the ball for the first time in this game.
As soon as Su Wan saw him get the ball, just like in the first two games, he immediately stuck to him, not giving him space to shoot.
You can clearly feel...
Kevin Durant now has adapted to Su Wan’s close defense to a certain extent. This time, after Su Wan stuck to him, Kevin Durant was not in a hurry to dribble, but used his back to stabilize himself, and then quickly spun and took a big step sideways.
This was Kevin Durant’s first time using such a move.
The effect was great, and space for a shot was immediately available.
Kevin Durant also took the shot quickly.
The ball swished into the net!
The cheers erupted once more in the arena.
Although this city has only recently acquired an NBA team, the basketball atmosphere here is really good, with almost every beautiful shot from the Thunder Team receiving huge cheers from the crowd.
This might be the reason why the Thunder Team’s owner confidently brought an NBA team back to this small city.
It may not be as big as Seattle here.
But the basketball atmosphere here completely blows Seattle out of the water!
Kevin Durant’s face showed more confidence.
And Su Wan’s attitude remained unchanged.
That is Kevin Durant for you!
In terms of offensive intuition and scoring methods, he’s definitely the strongest in the past decade.
In these ten years, if every head coach in the league were to choose who would execute the final play, Kevin Durant would definitely be in the top two.
To have that kind of ability to break through, you must possess the ability to adapt on the offensive end.
Su Wan used almost the same defensive strategy and methods against Kevin Durant in the last two games. If Kevin Durant couldn’t figure that out, then he would have to doubt whether this era’s Kevin Durant is improving as fast as his counterpart from the same period.
Now everything has been proven: Kevin Durant is indeed Kevin Durant, succeeding in finding a new way to shoot under Su Wan’s defense.
The New York Knicks’ head coach didn’t react at all.
It was just a single play, and they have great faith in Su Wan’s ability to smoothly handle any problem, whether it’s on defense or offense.
The most important thing is...
"Swish!"
The New York Knicks are still scoring!
On this play, Dior with the ball found Paul George cutting to the basket, assisting him for another score.
Seeing Paul George score again, Brooks scratched his head.
To be honest, when setting the defensive strategy tonight, he specifically chose to ignore Paul George, focusing on defending other New York Knicks players, but now Paul George had already scored twice in less than three minutes, totaling 4 points.
This kind of "betting this kid won’t explode, but he sure did" plot is what gives a head coach the most headaches!
Fortunately, Kevin Durant seems to have found his form tonight... yeah, right!
In Brooks’ hopeful gaze, Durant received the ball, with the initial hope that he can score again against Su Wan, to stabilize the morale. — This was also Durant’s own thought: as long as he could make another good shot, he would become more confident. — But in this play, when he once again turned his back and took a sideways step beyond the three-point line, Su Wan quickly blocked him, and his shooting space from the previous play disappeared.
Durant’s reaction was fast enough; he immediately maneuvered the ball in a "body front change," then forced a breakthrough.
But just as the ball left his hand, Su Wan slapped the ball away, while Stephen Curry, nearby, swiftly grabbed it and initiated a quick counterattack.
Seeing this offense by Kevin Durant get disrupted by Su Wan’s direct steal, Brooks shook his head slightly.
Still overthinking it.
Mike Malone and Tyronn Lue exchanged a glance, seeing the same thought in each other’s eyes:
That’s Su Wan for you!
After this play, the New York Knicks’ momentum surged, while the Thunder Team increasingly lost theirs, and ultimately, with the game over, the score was 110 to 95, a 15-point difference, and the New York Knicks secured their third victory in the series.
The Thunder Team had no hope left now.
However, the Thunder Team fans on site once again showed their loyalty, staying until the very end of the game even though the team eventually lost.
Of course, this also had to do with how hard the Thunder Team fought tonight.