The Godfather of Basketball

"Snapped!"

At this moment, a black shadow shot out from the side like lightning, slapped Paul's hand directly onto the backboard.

Ibaka!

At the most critical time, Ibaka sent the most critical block!

The blocked ball just landed in Harden's hands!

There was a commotion at the scene.

There are only 30 seconds left in the game.

The Thunder still had one last timeout, but Tang Tian didn't call it. He called for Harden to organize at halftime.

This is also his experience with Harden.

The outcome of the regular season is very important, but compared to the outcome of a regular season, the growth of the four players is obviously more important, because it is related to whether they can win the final championship this season.

Harden dribbles into the frontcourt.

At this time, the Cavaliers obviously strengthened their defense against him, and the entire defensive center of gravity leaned towards him.

Durant wanted to put on the pick-and-roll, and the Cavaliers went directly to the three-man defense.

Seeing that Ibaka was empty, Harden threw his hand and hit the ball to the past.

But the ball was predicted by Artest. He turned around and rushed to touch the ball. After a fight for the floor ball, Ibaka got the ball with a long hand and threw it to Westbrook on the outside.

At this time, there were about 15 seconds left in the Thunder's offense, and Harden was there calling for the ball.

Facing Carter at this time, Westbrook didn't pass the ball. Instead, he dribbled a step and directly chose to make a three-pointer.

There was a commotion at the scene.

If this goal is scored, the Thunder will directly overtake.

Carter was not completely shaken away, jumped up a step to interfere, and directly sealed his face.

Westbrook's vision is disturbed.

"boom!"

A three-pointer missed and Yao Ming received a key rebound.

With less than 20 seconds left in the game, the Thunder could only foul early.

Yao Ming's free throw opportunity.

Two free throws were made, and the point difference came to 4 points.

Tang Tian called the last timeout.

"Russell, we still have 15 seconds to attack. That's not a reasonable choice, understand?" Tang Tian was a little annoyed. At that point in time, it was not time to bet on a three-pointer.

Westbrook was silent.

Tang Tian didn't have time to talk about him, so he picked up the tactical board and continued to arrange the tactics for the next attack.

Back from the timeout, Harden dribbled forward, and the Thunder cooperated with a three-pointer in the frontcourt.

At this time, there is not much offensive time, and you can only shoot three-pointers and make quick shots.

Durant ran away from Artest and used Ibaka's pick-and-roll to catch the ball, but before Harden could pass the ball, Carter hugged him and fouled him early.

Because the number of fouls has come, this is sending Harden directly to the free throw line.

Casey followed Tang Tian for three seasons. This was to learn the essence of tactics. A foul directly destroyed the Thunder's offense.

Tang Tian shook his head helplessly. After Westbrook's strong three-pointer missed, the Thunder's chances were running out.

Harden made two free throws under pressure, and the point difference returned to 2 points.

The Cavaliers did not call a timeout, and Paul still sent the ball to Yao Ming.

Yao Ming is tall and burly, he can reach out and hold the ball high.

The Thunder had no chance of stealing at all, so they could only choose to send Yao Ming to the free throw line again.

This is also the most buggy part of the Cavaliers. As a center forward, Yao Ming has a low rate of turnovers when receiving side balls, and the key point is that he is so stable.

Yao Ming walked to the free throw line again, still making two free throws steadily.

The point difference returned to 4 points again.

With only the last 7 seconds left in the game, the Thunder did not pause. Harden dribbled the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt and shot a three-pointer directly.

"boom!"

After missing a three-pointer, Ibaka grabbed the offensive rebound and threw it to Durant on the outside. Durant hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was too late.

115 to 114, the Cavaliers narrowly beat the Thunder by 1 point at home and won the home opener.

Yao Ming had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Paul had 29 points and 11 assists, Carter had 19 points, Isaiah Thomas had 10 points, Artest had 9 points and 5 rebounds.

For the Thunder, Harden had 23 points, 6 assists and 3 turnovers, Durant had 24 points and 6 rebounds, Westbrook had 17 points, 5 assists and 5 turnovers, Kidd had 9 points and 3 assists, Ibaka had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, Brown 6 points and 10 boards.

When the final whistle sounded, the Quicken Loans Arena burst into cheers of excitement.

Cavaliers players also looked very excited on the court, Yao Ming and his teammates clapped hands one by one.

Since last year's finals, they have achieved 5 consecutive victories against the Thunder.

The members of the Thunder team looked a little frustrated, Tang Tian shouted to call all the players together after seeing it.

"You guys have done a lot better than before. Losing is also part of the season. We're just getting started. We'll win the next game, OK?" Tang Tian said, looking around at the players.

For the Thunder, this game has seen a lot of progress, and when they get used to it, the game will not be in the current situation.

The players all nodded one after another. Although they were a little bit unwilling, they had done a lot better than last year's finals.

"OKC!" Tang Tian stretched out his hand at this time.

The team members stretched out their hands one after another, and then folded them into his hands.

"come on!"

At the press conference after the game, Tang Tian attended with San Shao.

The reporters at the scene first asked some questions about Tang Tian's feelings after returning to Cleveland, and then began to ask questions related to the game.

"Russell's choice at the last moment does not seem to be so reasonable. Will this hurt the team?"

Tang Tian glanced at the reporter. It belonged to FOX. This media has always hated him. This is also seizing the opportunity to embarrass him.

"No, I believe my players, including Russell, he got a chance at the time, but he just didn't throw the ball in." Although Westbrook's choice did have some problems, he still chose to protect him in front of the media. player.

The reporter nodded and sat down, looking at Harden and Durant unconsciously. He hoped to find a trace of dissatisfaction in their eyes. After all, everyone could see that it was not a good choice.

But Harden and Durant didn't have much emotional change.

The reporter may not know that Tang Tian had already pointed out Westbrook's problem on the spot of the game.

The Thunder team lost the opening game, but like Tang Tian said, they didn't lose anything.

After returning to the home court, they successively defeated the Suns, Rockets and Mavericks, ushering in a wave of three consecutive victories.

In fact, the progress of Harden, Durant, and Ibaka can be seen in the game.

After the first month of the game, their record is 12 wins and 3 losses, even better than last season.

Harden's organization is becoming more and more stable, Durant's scoring efficiency is also getting higher and higher, and even Ibaka has the capital to fight hand-to-hand with the opponent's center in the low post.

It's just Westbrook. I don't know if Tang Tian's maintenance in front of the media that day gave him the wrong signal. His choices on the court are always more or less problematic.

At this critical point, FOX Sports, a well-known American sports media, published an article with a very attractive title.

"Is James Harden a better point guard than Russell Westbrook?"