Chapter 620: First Victory in the Western Conference Finals, a ‘Superstar’ Is Born!
May 21, 2008, Toyota Center in Houston.
The first game of the Western Conference Finals is between the Houston Rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics.
And the Rockets fans who clamored that there is only one MVP in the world at the beginning of this game have no intention of shouting this slogan at this time.
When they chant this slogan, it means they feel they can win.
And when they stopped this slogan, it also meant that they felt that they might lose!
Before the game started, they really never thought that the game would unfold like this!
They never thought that the Rockets would have such a difficult start.
The development of this game completely exceeded their imagination.
In the first quarter of the game, I faced Artest's incessant harassment with small moves.
Yes unexpectedly defeated all of Artest's little moves.
During the rotation time of the two sides in the second quarter, facing the Rockets, the strongest rotation lineup in the NBA, the Seattle SuperSonics only lost to the Houston Rockets by four points when they adopted the same full rotation lineup as the Houston Rockets!
You know, the Lakers in the last round and the Thunder in the last round would collapse if they didn't add their main core players in the rotation!
Last season's Seattle SuperSonics were still the team with the weakest rotation in NBA history. In just two seasons, they can withstand the Houston Rockets' rotation!
And what about the next game?
Durant's singles performance in the game stunned the Houston Rockets fans at the scene.
Play Tracy McGrady in isolation, play Gerald Wallace in a pick-and-roll position, play Ron Artest in a pick-and-roll position, play Roy in a pick-and-roll position, and even play Yao Ming in a pick-and-roll position!
If you include Ariza who has played as a substitute.
Durant spent the rest of the second quarter beating all six core players in the Houston Rockets' wolf-pack tactics!
"Durant is not Randolph,
Durant is Kobe! "
"In this game, in this series, Durant's role is Kobe's role!"
"Durant is the 'infinite one-on-one' role for the Seattle SuperSonics in this series!"
Unlimited singles!
And unlike Kobe's passive unlimited singles, Durant showed active unlimited singles in the second quarter!
Take the initiative to single out McGrady, take the initiative to play against Artest, take the initiative to play against Roy, take the initiative to play against Ariza, and even take the initiative to play against Yao Ming and Gerald Wallace!
In such a crazy active unlimited singles, Durant's singles skills are really jaw-dropping!
Everyone can see that Durant is not a particularly tall, fast, or jumping player, but those who are taller than him are not as fast as him, those who are faster than him are not as tall as him, and those who can jump better than him may not even be able to jump. I can’t even keep up with a drastic change of direction!
Coupled with his comprehensive skills, the Houston Rockets showed their fangs throughout the second quarter and were ready to press Yes and destroy Yes.
But in the end, the game turned into Durant using his singles to try to destroy the Rockets' chain defense system like Kobe did before!
Nelson used Durant as Kobe, as if he were using a mantis as a car, but what is incredible is that after Durant played the role of Kobe, his efficiency was no worse than Kobe, and even a little bit better than Kobe. !
Throughout the second quarter, Durant's statistics were 6 of 12, with a shooting percentage of an astonishing 50%!
Even excluding the 2-for-2 shots due to surprise, the remaining 10 shots were 4 hits, which is definitely qualified!
Durant's very qualified singles shooting rate is most directly reflected in the current scores of the two teams.
At the end of halftime, the score between the two teams was 64 to 60. You know, after the rotations of the two teams were completed, the score between the two teams was 46 even!
In other words, when the two teams did not test their opponents again, the Seattle SuperSonics still led the Rockets by 4 points in the away game!
When the first half of this game ended, looking at the score of 64 to 60 on the courtside scoreboard, many media reporters at the scene felt that it was as magical as science fiction.
"Is this really a game between the Seattle SuperSonics and the Houston Rockets?!"
This is really incredible!
Fortunately for the Rockets, the whole world knows the Rockets' singles strength. The Rockets' scoring average this season may not be as high as the Suns, Nuggets and SuperSonics, but this has to be considered in light of the Rockets' game rhythm.
The Rockets' game rhythm is definitely not as fast, but their scoring is definitely not much worse than the SuperSonics.
Compared with the fast-paced scoring of the Suns, Nuggets and SuperSonics, most of the Rockets' scores are hard points!
What is a hard score?
It is the points that can be obtained no matter who the opponent is or what the opponent's defense is like.
There are no traces of brushing up on the Rockets' score.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Rockets faced the SuperSonics and scored 60 points in the half by relying on isolation.
They use this offensive method to average more than 110 points per game in the regular season.
The key is the Seattle SuperSonics!
Facing the team that has been touted as the best defense in history, the Seattle SuperSonics relied on Yes to defeat Artest in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Durant defeated the entire Rockets team without limit, and actually scored 64 points in the half!
"Losing 64 points in half is the most points the Houston Rockets have lost in a half in the playoffs!"
"Not only did they lose the most points in the half, but the Sonics scored 32 points in the first and second quarters of this half of the game. This is also the first time this season that the Rockets have lost more than 30 points in a single quarter, and twice! "
Barkley is excited now, and Kenny Smith next to him is in awe.
Kenny Smith is really praising him now, praising Old Nelson for his boldness, how brave he is!
Instead of using Durant as Randolph, use Durant as Kobe!
Likewise, Kenny Smith is now praising Durant's offensive prowess.
What an offensive all-star, Durant now has the level of an offensive superstar!
And it's not the kind of offensive superstar with a single method, but the kind of kaleidoscopic offensive superstar!
Is this really the same Durant who was criticized and ridiculed crazily at the beginning of this season?
"I have always said that KD is a player with great potential. I just let him reach his third-year level in advance. Even without me, KD will be at the level he is now after playing in the NBA for three years."
"Yes is wrong. Everything I have now is given by Yes. Without him, there would be no me."
Thinking back to the words of Yes and Durant in the post-game press conference after the Seattle SuperSonics swept the Phoenix Suns, Kenny Smith didn't know what to say.
Durant now has the same level as he did after three years in the NBA.
Kenny Smith believes this.
The development Durant received around Yes was incredible.
During the regular season, Durant took nearly 2,700 shots this season. 99% of NBA players have not taken 2,700 shots in two seasons!
Durant has played in 11 games in the playoffs after playing against the Nuggets and Suns. Most players in the league will not play as many playoff games as Durant after two years of playing. More importantly, Durant's 11 appearances in this playoffs are not just a formality, they are still a nurturing appearance in which he still averages more than 30 shots per game!
With the help of resources like Yes, any ordinary person can do two years in one year!
After Durant has played for two years, he will of course enter his third year, so Yes has no problem saying that Durant is now in his third season.
The problem is, Yes said that Durant has the level of an offensive superstar in his third year without meeting him. This is nonsense. Even he who is sitting aside doesn't believe it!
What can happen without Yes? Durant can grow into an offensive superstar in three years. Do we really think we haven’t seen Durant in his first NBA game?
And this is the third place where Kenny Smith admires.
Yes is truly selfless!
If Yes hadn't had the foresight to train Durant crazily this season, the Seattle SuperSonics would have been dead by now!
"I didn't expect that Yes would train him not an All-Star offensive small forward to help him play with the Suns, but a superstar offensive small forward to help him play with the Rockets!"
This is quite amazing!
Kenny Smith knew very well that he was definitely not the only one who felt magical and incredible at this time.
Reporters from all over the United States and all over the world, Rockets fans present, and even the Houston Rockets who had just left the court were probably in an incredible state of confusion.
Including Rockets head coach Adelman and assistant coach Thibodeau.
When Durant can assume the role of Kobe well, the impact on this game and Yes will be too great!
To put it simply, Durant can infinitely defeat all other Rockets players on the offensive end, so all other Rockets players on the defensive end cannot focus on Yes!
The target of the Rockets' chain defense wolf tactics is against 'Kobe', and now, the Kobe on the court is Durant!
Similarly, when Yes has less pressure on the offensive end and Durant successfully shares the pressure on Yes, Yes can focus more on the defensive end.
The Rockets' offense is still to press Yes. All the energy Yes saves on the offensive end is invested in the defensive end. Then the success rate of other Rockets players pressing Yes is not that high!
"As long as the Houston Rockets use the chain defense wolf-pack tactic, the Rockets with the stronger overall strength will always control the game. But because the Seattle SuperSonics have two 'Kobes', the Seattle SuperSonics have the ability to change the situation! "
Although the situation is not advantageous, he has the ability to control his own destiny!
"This game is incredible!"
This is only half the game, and Kenny Smith feels that the content of this half of the game is more content than the 12 games played by the Rockets and Thunder, and the Rockets and Lakers!
Even now Kenneth Smith can't wait for the third quarter to begin.
"Coach Nelson has taken the initiative, now it's Adelman's turn to take the initiative!"
Compared with D'Antoni, Adelman is of course much more adaptable than D'Antoni, but Adelman is still a team-building head coach.
There are too few top-notch head coaches like Nelson who can both build a team and be on the field.
"The choice Adelman faces now is whether he believes Durant's first half was a flash in the pan and continues to target Yes, or whether he gives up targeting Yes and chooses to target Durant!"
Kenny Smith is looking forward to what choice Adelman will make when faced with such a critical decision.
There are no right answers to these two choices in Kenny Smith’s opinion.
In other words, the correct answer can only be known after the game is over.
Win, any choice is the correct answer.
If you lose, any choice is the wrong answer!
Halftime passed quickly.
Kenny Smith also quickly saw Adelman's response to Nelson's moves!
"Adelman has not given up on targeting Yes!"
After the second half started, Kobe, who clenched his fists, nodded slightly when he saw that Yes was still being wildly targeted.
"Of course!"
Destroy Yes, this is a long term plan!
If Durant gave up this plan after only breaking out for half a quarter, it would be impossible for such a rocket to destroy him!
In order to destroy him, the Rockets suffered the defeat of two games and persisted for five full games!
After the start of the third quarter, Durant was still playing crazy singles.
Watching Durant constantly searching for the Rockets' goals in the third quarter, many reporters who had humiliated Durant looked ashamed.
Many rookies who participated in the 2008 draft in front of the TV had expressions on their faces that were already flushed with excitement!
The limits that Yes can break are not just all-stars, but also superstars!
An ordinary player like Durant can also be cultivated into an offensive superstar by Yes!
"Durant in this game seems to be like a tarantula that is omnipotent on the offensive end. Everyone on the Rockets is the prey he wants to sting!"
After the start of the third quarter, the lethality of Durant's unlimited singles continued. After Yes put more energy on the defensive end, his efficiency in the Rockets' singles also declined.
Of course, Durant's singles efficiency can no longer maintain 50%.
However, the scores of the two teams are still in a stalemate and have a tendency to pull apart.
When the third quarter ended, the score on the field had become 92 to 84, and the Seattle SuperSonics' lead had become 8 points!
In the fourth quarter of the game, the Rockets continued to attack the bench. It was obvious that Adelman and the Rockets intended to use the bench to try their best to regain the score.
But with 7 minutes left in the game, when the main players of the two teams came back again, the Rockets' bench only pulled back 2 points.
In the end, when the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, the score on the courtside scoreboard was 120 to 114!
"The Houston Rockets lost their first game in three consecutive series!"
Watching Durant's 16-for-36 shooting, 48 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in this game on TV, James Harden and many people in front of the TV and even many people at the Toyota Center had only one thought in their minds at this time.
"Yes, that's great!"
James Harden, who was clenching his hands tightly, looked at the SuperSonics No. 9 surrounded by Durant on the TV and finally made up his mind.