414 Su Hao and Du Lao 2 traded points!
414 Su Hao and Du Lao 2 traded points!
After a brief period of noise, the Thunder's bench fell silent.
Everyone fell silent, even though they had confidently declared before the game that they would end the Clippers' winning streak.
However, reality dealt them a heavy blow.
The Clippers are not so easy to control.
After a short break, the two sides entered the fourth quarter.
The Thunder's overall roster remains unchanged.
The Clippers' starting lineup consisted of Su Hao leading four substitute players.
"Are they looking down on us? They actually sent Su Hao with a substitute player to play against us!" Ibaka muttered.
"We're the ones trailing right now! Even if they don't field their full starting lineup, catching up won't be easy!" Harden said calmly.
In the first round of the game, Su Hao once again received a pass from his teammate on the outside in the paint.
After receiving the ball, Su Hao raised it high and shot, and even with Ibaka and Perkins outstretched their arms, they couldn't touch the basketball in Su Hao's hands.
With just a simple hook shot, Su Hao sent the basketball into the basket.
The opponent had absolutely no way to counter this simple attack method.
With his head down, Ibaka picked up the basketball from the ground and passed it to Harden.
The latter dribbled the ball up the court, and Westbrook reached out to ask for the ball, but Harden ignored him.
He took a three-pointer without thinking.
The basketball went wide of the rim.
Fortunately, the basketball landed in the right corner and was picked up by Durant.
He immediately launched a mid-range shot over Paul George, who was guarding him.
The ball went in smoothly.
Du Lao Er's mid-range shooting is still very consistent.
These two goals can be considered to have tied the score with Su Hao's goal just now.
Back in the second half, Su Hao received another pass from his teammate inside.
The ball was scored again in the same way.
The same tactic was used twice in a row, which annoyed Ibaka and Perkins under the basket.
"Su Hao, you can't insult us like this! We'd rather you dunk over us than have you score so easily over us with such a simple shot!" Perkins was on the verge of tears.
Su Hao stated that he was innocent and that he had not actively sought opportunities to dunk on them.
But they asked me to block them, which was the first time I had ever encountered such an unreasonable request!
That's really bizarre.
"You're still not satisfied with this kind of play? Do you really want me to keep dunking on you?" Su Hao looked Perkins up and down.
Perkins was only saying it; he was actually terrified inside.
He really didn't want to get dunked on by Su Hao; if he did, he'd definitely be on the "Top 5 Bloopers" tomorrow.
Fortunately, the Thunder's outside shooting percentage improved.
Durant received consecutive passes from his teammates and made several mid-range shots.
These goals did not narrow the gap between the two teams.
Because Su Hao was also consistently scoring inside for the Clippers.
Moreover, their scoring consistency is much more stable than that of the Thunder.
For a time, the score remained close throughout the quarter.
The game went into an official timeout halfway through.
The score for this quarter was surprisingly tied.
This was thanks to Durant's consistent performance in this quarter.
Besides two-pointers, he also made several three-pointers.
For the Clippers, Su Hao not only consistently scored two-pointers under the basket, but also frequently drew fouls from the opposing defense.
This directly resulted in both Ibaka and Perkins having accumulated five fouls.
The official timeout was called, and both teams' players returned to their benches.
At this moment, the Thunder are still trailing by double digits.
Half a quarter of the game did not allow them to close the gap by even a single point.
Although they were only down by a few points, thirteen, the Thunder couldn't gain any further advantage in half a quarter.
"It's really too difficult. As long as we can't stop Su Hao from scoring, we simply can't narrow the gap!" Durant said.
"But we really can't find a way to stop Su Hao! What can we do? Do you have any way to limit Su Hao's scoring?" Westbrook stared at Durant, as if to say, "What you're saying is something we can't do at all. It's pointless to say it."
Su Hao's outstanding performance showed the Thunder just how important it is to have a superstar center.
During this period of the fourth quarter, even though Durant was in excellent form, he still couldn't narrow the score gap.
It was simply because Su Hao was like a "prehistoric crocodile" in the paint, sweeping aside all the Clippers' available players in the paint.
"You guys did a great job, and your outside shooting percentage was excellent. If you lost, you only lost because of Su Hao. If we were playing against other teams today, we would definitely be the winner. But today's opponent is the defending champion, the best center in the league. Even if we lose, we shouldn't be discouraged!" Thunder head coach Brooks shouted to his players.
Although his words were encouraging, they did not change the gap between them and the Clippers.
The players' expressions relaxed considerably as they listened to their head coach's words.
"Su Hao, well done! You did a great job. This victory is all thanks to you!" Curry immediately went up to Su Hao after he left the court to give him a high-five and acknowledge his contributions to the team.
Although the two have a very good relationship, when the team encounters insurmountable difficulties, it is still up to Su Hao to solve the problems.
This is also because Su Hao's scoring is more reliable, while Curry's scoring is more random.
After all, outside shots cannot guarantee an accurate shooting percentage.
"You're being too polite. We've been teammates in the Finals together. When no one is performing well, I'll sit on the bench and applaud you when you do well!" Su Hao said with a smile, patting Curry on the shoulder.
"Haha, don't say that! I've never seen you perform poorly! We've always been the ones holding you back!" Curry continued.
Su Hao plopped down on the bench and didn't argue with Curry anymore.
"Have you guys rested enough? Let's start with our main lineup for the game later! We can't let Su Hao play inside all the time!" Mike Dunleavy said to the players.
"We've rested enough, let us play in the second half! Let's win this game and head to the next away game!" Gordon replied, standing up.
The other teammates nodded in agreement with Gordon's words.
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