Chapter 1182 Durant's Nemesis

On December 19, the game started.

Before the game, both sides announced the starting lineup.

The Suns: Li Ba, Yi Jianlian, Ray Allen, Carter, Nash.

The Thunder: Serge Ibaka, Jeff Green, Durant, Sefolosha, Westbrook.

In this game, Ginobili was rested.

Li Ba won the jump ball and the Suns attacked.

The two inside players of the Thunder are all small. Ibaka is the same height as Li Ba, and Jeff Green is two centimeters shorter and smaller in weight. Li Ba has no scruples and forced Green to go straight to the basket.

The Thunder did not adopt the double-teaming tactic because Li Ba's passing and assisting abilities are too strong, and the Suns' veteran outside players are now getting better and better. They can't be let go at all. Once Li Ba is double-teamed, there may be more than one open opportunity on the outside.

Nash passed the ball, Li Ba received the ball and arched his back, then his body suddenly jumped up and dunked Jeff Green on the first ball.

"The Thunder's main center Kostic is injured and resting. Green, a forward, can't stand the Hammer's attack under the basket. Today, the Thunder's paint area will be directly blown into slag by the Hammer." Barkley shouted.

"Kostic is just an ordinary main player, averaging 10 points per game, and his defense is very weak. He can't do anything to the Hammer either, and he will be blown into slag." Kenny Smith said.

Barkley laughed and said, "If the Thunder wants to win, Durant must explode. No one can stop him at the Suns' No. 3 position. He is in front of the Suns' No. 3 position, and the Hammer is in the Thunder's paint area. There is no solution."

The Thunder attacked.

Li Ba did not defend Green, but defended in front of Durant.

When Durant saw Li Ba coming, he was his nemesis, and his feet couldn't help but stagnate, and he stumbled and almost hit the floor.

"Ha, the Hammer doesn't want the paint area, he switches to defend Durant? Then the Suns need to change players and put another inside player, otherwise Westbrook, Green, and Ibaka will blow up the Suns' basket." Barkley shouted.

At this time, Westbrook rushed into the basket with the ball, as if he was in an empty space, and dunked successfully, causing a foul by Yi Jianlian who was defending the basket.

Before the free throw, Payton called Haslem and Carter went off the court.

On the defensive end, the Suns' inside substitutes, only Haslem was reliable, and the others, including the Polish hammer, were not very good.

The Suns attacked, Li Ba attacked the basket, but the Thunder still did not double-team him, allowing him to beat Green.

Looking back, Westbrook still broke through Nash with the ball and entered the paint area.

This time he was double-teamed by Haslem and Yi Jianlian, and passed the ball to Durant, who was intercepted by Li Ba.

Li Ba took advantage of the situation to play a fast break from the outside and dunked.

6:2, the Suns took the lead away from home.

The Thunder attacked, and Durant ran back continuously and finally got rid of Li Ba.

But just when Westbrook passed the ball, Li Ba emerged from behind Durant, successfully stole the ball again, and then played a fast break from the outside.

8:2, the Suns lead.

"After three seasons of training, Durant's offense on the outside is becoming more and more unstoppable, but he is really defeated by the Hammer." Zhang Heli laughed.

Xu Jicheng said: "The Hammer switches to defend Durant. Now as long as the inside can withstand Westbrook's impact, this game will be fine."

"Yes, the Hammer can explode the Thunder on the offensive end, and then defend the Thunder's first scoring point." Yu Jia added.

After playing a few more rounds, in the 6th minute, the Thunder couldn't stand it. Li Ba was completely free to take it at the basket, and Green couldn't defend it at all. He had three fouls in half a quarter. If he continued to play, he might have six fouls in one quarter.

The Thunder began to double-team Li Ba and let A-Lin.

Then Li Ba passed the ball in time, and then A-Lin made two of three shots, which also gave the Thunder a headache and was unable to cope with it.

But overall, double-teaming would still be better, after all, Li Ba's lethality under the basket was too great.

At the 8th minute of the first quarter, the Suns replaced Yi Jianlian, Ray Allen and Nash with the Polish Hammer, Hill and Carter, and Li Ba went to the No. 1 position.

This liberated Durant.

Durant was very excited. After running to the frontcourt, he ignored Hill who was defending him and looked at Westbrook.

In the backcourt, Li Ba defended in front of Westbrook and made steals from time to time. With his stealing ability, Westbrook felt very nervous and was afraid of being stolen, so he moved east and west and advanced very slowly.

Li Ba's position was on the left wing, because Durant was on the left wing, he had to completely block the passing route here, so that Durant had few opportunities to get the ball.

This was his confidence in the No. 1 position, and he achieved the purpose of limiting Durant by defending the ball holder.

He has a locking skill, so no matter how Durant behind him moves, he can "see" it, and then move in time to cut off the route.

With his height, wingspan, weight, and superb defensive skills, he began to push Westbrook to the right wing, further away from Durant on the left wing.

"Russell!"

Durant was anxious and shouted because he couldn't pass the ball.

Although he had the most shots, Westbrook was the team leader and the ball was not in his hands. This was his weakness. If he wanted to shoot, he had to get the ball first.

Westbrook was forced by Li Ba to face the right wing to protect the ball. Hearing Durant's shout, he had to turn right, step out, and then pass the ball.

But at this moment, Li Ba moved right very quickly, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and intercepted it.

Another mistake? Westbrook jumped.

He rushed forward to grab it back, but Li Ba stretched out his left arm and blocked him outside, then began to move quickly.

Barkley praised: "The Hammer's defense is really too strong. Even if he is not in the position of Durant, he can still use other methods to achieve the purpose of limiting Durant."

"That is to prevent Durant from receiving the ball." Kenny Smith said.

"Yes, the Hammer even released the connection between the ball holder and the right wing, and only cut off the passing line with Durant on the left wing." Barkley laughed.

Kenny Smith analyzed: "This is also the weakness of the offensive point guard. Westbrook's ball control and passing abilities are not enough to break through the Hammer's defense.

Once he is defended by the Hammer, Durant will also be restricted. The Thunder can certainly pass the ball to Durant, but the Thunder has no advantage in other positions.

In other words, the Thunder has a big weakness against the Suns. Although it is now ranked above the Suns, its overall strength is not as good as the Suns."

Li Ba once again made a fast break, the offense and defense switched, and the Thunder attacked.

The Thunder's backcourt combination used a screen in the backcourt to allow Westbrook to bypass Li Ba's defense, advance quickly after receiving the ball, and then pass it to Durant.

Durant played against Hill alone, and even though the latter was 203 cm tall, he still had a clear height advantage and made a steady shot.