At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Durant appeared on the court and narrowed the score gap to less than 10 points with a three-pointer.
The Lakers also immediately replaced Zhang Guan on the court, and the two sides began the game mode of practicing shooting.
Durant's desire to score has been fully aroused. He started asking for the ball almost as soon as the half was over. Only halfway through the fourth quarter, Durant's score reached 40 points.
"Durant won't score 50 points again today!" the commentator said in surprise.
In the past January, Durant had various outbursts and led the Thunder to win against many strong teams. For example, in the last game against the Knicks, although six Knicks scored in double figures, it was still difficult to stop Durant. A near triple-double of 41 points; going forward, facing the Heat's Big Three, Durant also scored 33 points; facing the Rockets, Durant scored 36 points; facing the Spurs, Durant also scored 36 points; and the most eye-catching thing was the battle between the Thunder and the Warriors. The Splash Brothers scored 63 points together, while Durant scored a career-high 54 points.
But it doesn't mean that the higher Durant scores, the better the Thunder will win. Also last month, the Thunder lost to the Jazz, who were at the bottom of the Western Conference. Durant scored 48 points, but the Thunder lost the game 101-112. Durant took 34 shots in that game, and the entire Thunder team took a total of 89 shots.
Today's game is very similar to the game against the Jazz. Durant was taking crazy shots, but the Thunder were always lagging behind.
…
"Durant, hit a jump shot, 45 points! There are five minutes left in the game, Durant has already scored 45 points, and it looks like he will break 50 points again today!" the commentator said.
"But the Lakers are still 9 points behind!" Another commentator continued: "Zhang Guan has already scored 54 points. 9 points more than Durant, which is exactly the 9 points the Lakers lead!"
"In this game, Zhang Guan is rushing for 60 points. Maybe he has a chance to surpass Kobe's 65 points!"
"Isn't that right? The two teams now don't defend very much, and they always let the team boss shoot. Usually there is no such a good opportunity to score points."
"It's already the last five minutes, so the defensive intensity should be improved!"
At this time, Thunder coach Brooks certainly knew that the defensive intensity should be improved, but in this current situation, Durant is shooting well, and as a head coach, he is also riding a tiger.
At this time, the Brooklyn coach felt a little regretful. He felt that it was a very wrong decision to let Durant shoot.
In this game, Durant shot almost from the beginning to the end. Especially after the third quarter, the other players almost didn't touch the ball. Except for Ibaka, he got a few points with the tip-in after the second rebound. In addition to points, people such as Reggie Jackson, as well as Lamb, Fisher, Collison and others on the bench, only took a handful of shots.
Substitute center Adams played for more than ten minutes and had no other statistics except 2 defensive rebounds, not even a foul. If you don't defend seriously, there will definitely be no foul. In this regard, the situation of both sides is similar. Perkins, who usually commits a lot of fouls, only committed 2 fouls until the end of the game.
Imagine that an athlete has played for almost a whole game and has not taken a few shots. No matter how good his hand is, it has become cold. Even if he is given the ball, he cannot make a shot.
The current Thunder team, except for Durant, is full of guys with cold hands, so the Brooklyn coach can only continue to believe in Durant. Besides, when the game comes to the final moment, don’t you have to trust the team’s superstar
The situation is the same for the Lakers. In the last few minutes, just let Zhang Guan shoot. If the shot is accurate, the Thunder will be killed; if the shot is inaccurate, the Lakers will lose. The Lakers lose often anyway, so they don't care about losing more.
The game entered the last two minutes, and both sides had hundreds of scores. The Thunder were still 9 points behind, 101 to 110.
Durant hit again, narrowing the score gap to 7 points, and then Zhang Guan missed a jumper, giving the Thunder a glimmer of hope. But a foul by Ibaka caused the Thunder to give up the ball.
Zhang Guan hit, Durant struck, and the score reached 9 points again. Immediately afterwards, both sides scored another goal, but there were only 39 seconds left.
"In the last 39 seconds, trailing by 9 points, the Thunder have no chance!"
“Durant scored more than 50 points, but the Thunder still lost!
"I never expected that the winner of this game would be the Lakers. The second-to-last team in the Western Conference would overthrow the Thunder, which is first in the Western Conference!"
"I think the Lakers have found a way to defeat the Thunder. I remember the last time the Thunder lost to the Jazz, it was the same. Durant scored 48 points, but the Thunder lost the game. Now Durant has reached 52 points, but the Thunder have to Lost!"
While people were talking, Durant hit a three-pointer, but there were still 7 seconds left.
Immediately after the Thunder fouled, the Lakers made two free throws, with an 8-point advantage. The overall situation was determined, and the Thunder no longer needed to foul.
…
At the press conference after the game, before the coaches of the two teams arrived, the reporters started talking about the game.
"55 points, a new career high for Durant! However, it did not bring a victory to the Thunder. This is really ironic!"
"What's so ironic? Haven't you seen it? Zhang Guan scored 62 points!"
"This is Zhang Guan's third game after entering the NBA. He scored 62 points. It's really unbelievable!"
"Now Zhang Guan's scoring average has surpassed Durant. I guess the best player in the Western Conference this week must be Zhang Guan!"
"Everyone, please be quiet, Zhang Guan is here!"
D'Antoni and Zhang Guan were seen walking into the press conference.
"We won this game, and we are one step closer to the playoffs! We only need to win the next 29 games, and we will definitely enter the playoffs!" Zhang Guan said with a smile.
Below, a group of people looked at each other anxiously. Many of them wanted to see Zhang Guan's reaction after losing. Unexpectedly, the Lakers not only won, but Zhang Guan also scored 62 points!
"It's not because Westbrook was injured. If Westbrook hadn't been injured, the Thunder would definitely not have lost!"
"Let Zhang Guan be arrogant for another week, and the Lakers will definitely show their true colors in the next game!"
"The next game? Is it against the Rockets? That will be a focus game!"
"It's not just a focus game, this is the first time Howard has returned to the Lakers' home court since he left. And the Rockets are different from the Lakers. No one on the Rockets was injured!"
Thank you Randy Alliance for the huge reward of 50,000 yuan! Now there is a book list function. I urge you to add "The All-Around Athlete" to your book list to give the pass a little more exposure. There are few readers of sports works, not because the writing is not good, but because many people do not recognize this category, so please support me so that more readers can see this category. Thanks!
(End of chapter)