Chapter 845: Chapter 278: He Is the Chosen One, and the Only One
Scarlett was also a bit surprised.
In her impression, Su Wan wasn’t such an assertive man.
At least not towards her.
Kevin Durant saw this scene, his heart felt like it was hammered, and he turned to ask his teammate for the ball.
Give me the ball, give me the ball!
Watch me take this byd down!
The strong desire to attack made his intention to catch the ball very obvious, and Su Wan, defending him, would always put enough pressure on him every time he attempted to catch the ball.
But the intense opposition still couldn’t stop Kevin Durant’s determination to get the ball.
Westbrook, looking at this, really wanted to advise:
Bro, calm down!
When Kevin Durant finally got the ball, his chest was heaving extremely heavily.
It was evident that just receiving the ball was an enormous effort for him.
But Su Wan didn’t give him any time to recover, continuing the tight defense, forcing him to dribble quickly, and continually move.
Throughout the entire offensive process, Kevin Durant’s feeling was summed up in two words:
Passive!
With no way out, Durant could only take a stabbing step forward, then directly leap up, using his unreasonable static talent to solve the problem!
But...
Su Wan’s reaction speed was beyond Kevin Durant’s expectations, as Su Wan had already leapt up when Durant jumped.
This isn’t to say Su Wan jumped earlier, rather...
Su Wan’s jumping speed was faster!
"Pa!"
A direct slap, and the ball hadn’t even left Kevin Durant’s hand before Su Wan slapped it away.
The scene suddenly erupted in cheers, and the cheers were getting louder!
The ball blocked from Kevin Durant landed in Stephen Curry’s hands, and on the move, he watched Su Wan dash past him and handed the ball smoothly into his hands.
"Bang!"
A powerful slam dunk, Brooks could only call another timeout.
Less than 2 minutes had passed since the last timeout.
No way, during this time Su Wan had dominated Kevin Durant on both the offensive and defensive ends.
This was the first time this season that Brooks had seen Kevin Durant in such a sorry state.
He looked at Kevin Durant standing in front of him, noticing the obvious look of frustration on his face, and couldn’t help but ask:
"Kevin, are you OK?"
Durant’s brain was buzzing, feeling like he was back in his rookie season, but seeing Brooks’ question, his subconscious reaction was to nod and say briefly:
"I’m fine, coach, I’m fine!"
This was the answer Brooks wanted to hear, but he still emphasized giving Kevin Durant screens in the upcoming offensive tactics, letting Durant receive more in motion, and using catch and shoot to solve the issue.
This season, Kevin Durant’s isolation plays have already been quite effective, but from the results of these rounds against Su Wan, he still hadn’t honed this weapon to the utmost extremity.
He still needs more practice...
Then use the weapon he has now that’s threatening enough to solve the problem:
His shooting!
Kevin Durant possesses a trait that is rare and valuable in a "super scorer":
He isn’t that stubborn.
Especially when the head coach asks him to adjust his play style, he typically nods in agreement.
The game resumed amidst cheers, and Westbrook used a breakthrough layup to break the deadlock for the Thunder Team.
Brooks’ expression relaxed a little, but he was well aware that for the Thunder Team to win, they still needed Kevin Durant to unleash his extraordinary firepower...
This was another misunderstanding on his part.
It wasn’t just him, but also Donovan!
These two Thunder Team head coaches kept trying to use Kevin Durant like Michael Jordan, specifically during his first "three consecutive championships" period.
But in reality, even at his peak, Kevin Durant couldn’t play like Michael Jordan during the first "three consecutive championships" period. For him, it was inherently a very difficult thing to do.
He just has powerful offensive firepower and incredible shooting ability bestowed by his static talent.
He’s more suited to close out games in critical moments.
Simply put, a more scoring-capable version of Kyrie Irving at the small forward position!
Thus, Stephen Curry’s utilization of him was the most fitting.
Most of the time, using him as part of the team’s offensive and defensive tactics, granting him more tactical autonomy during crucial moments — in layman’s terms, Tyronn Lue’s strongest tactic:
Give him the ball!
This helped the Warriors achieve back-to-back championship defenses after acquiring him.
Also ensuring Kevin Durant retained the Finals MVP title.
After Kevin Durant left the Warriors, as he aged, compounded with injuries, most significantly, coaches using him as an "explosive scorer" again; not to mention the championship, he hadn’t even reached the Finals.
He helplessly watched the "Green Formula" complete its cycle.
One could say that Kevin Durant’s scoring had little to do with the team winning games.
Just like in this match’s remaining time, Kevin Durant adjusted his play style, used catch and shoot as Brooks suggested, and his scoring started to rise, but the Thunder Team maintained a deficit of about 11 points.
Of course, this also had a lot to do with Su Wan continually responding at this time.
Neutral fans finally got to enjoy themselves during this period.