Vol 3 Chapter 512: Critical situation

It is hard to imagine that there will be such a game in the small ball era, and its victory or defeat needs to be determined by one free throw after another. The Thunder and the Raptors have pushed their defenses to the extreme. No matter which side, it is too difficult to score a goal.
An Luo's free throw ended, and Gasol quickly sent the ball to Lowry. At this time, the two sides tied 105 and the game was nearing the end, with 1 minute and 11 seconds left. But for the outcome, it has just begun.
Lowry still handed the ball to Leonard. His performance was actually pretty good, at least much better than the previous one. But at such a critical moment, it is difficult for him to become the protagonist on the court. Lowry himself knew his abilities well, so after DeRozan left the team, he willingly became a green leaf for Leonard.
After receiving the ball, Leonard did not immediately attack. He observed for a while, then went straight to Paul George. In fact, Paul George couldn't completely seal Leonard's breakthrough space, but he still did not move directly to the left vacancy. Leonard likes to use physical confrontation to find opportunities. Just like this offense, he first used a strong body to withstand Paul George, and then took a step back to open the space, opening his hand to shoot.
Although Paul George was very familiar with this trick, he was still a bit slow. He had no choice but to take off as best as he could, reaching out to interfere with the opponent. Perhaps he was too anxious, and Leonard made a false move.
"bad!"
At this time Paul George can no longer control himself! He raised his hand to the back of his head and tried his best to make his actions less aggressive, hoping that the referee would be open to it. But Leonard would not give up such an opportunity. He took off again to meet Paul George. Although he was hit by Paul George and his body was unstable, his hands always maintained a stable shooting position and hit the two of them. At that moment, Leonard also moved to the right to give in, and then threw the ball.
"Beep..."
"Huh..."
The sound of a goal followed the referee's whistle. Leonard not only scored the goal, but also caused a foul by Paul George and received an extra free throw.
This ball is quite the key! It is not an exaggeration to say that it is priceless. With 52 minutes left in the game, any lead at this time is a huge advantage.
Paul George put his head in his hands and looked very depressed! In this series, he has been suppressed by Leonard. Neither offense nor defense did not perform to the level he should have. In fact, in this year's playoffs, Paul George was the one with the biggest ups and downs among the Thunder's Big Three. In these more than a dozen games, although Paul George can still play explosive scoring performance, but compared to the regular season, he was in a downturn much more.
Standing on the free throw line, Leonard steadily shot the ball in, rewriting the score to 108:105.
Leonard has never been a scoring player, he is characterized by stability. Especially the stable performance at critical moments made him a nightmare for every opponent.
Seeing the home team fall behind again, Chesapeake Energy Arena fans stood up and cheered loudly.
With the previous three-point foul as a warning, the Raptors were a lot more cautious in defending An Luo. They still adopted the defensive tactic of holding the ball, and prevented the Thunder players from taking free shots through the rapid rotation of other players. The basketball went through a circle in the hands of the Thunder players and eventually returned to Westbrook's hands. Although his shooting is very unstable, his ability at critical moments still reassure everyone. Unlike Anlo's stable long-range shooting, Westbrook's ability to create opportunities is more conducive to breaking the opponent's tight defense.
Westbrook finally broke into the free throw line with Adams's screen. The Raptors completed the change of defense as quickly as possible. Gasol left Adams behind and stood on the route where Westbrook broke.
Almost all of the top guards in this league have the ability to play big and small. The same is true for Westbrook. After he misplaced and faced Gasol, he pulled back with the ball, and when Gasol stepped forward, he suddenly accelerated and rushed to the basket. Little Gasol was far less flexible than Westbrook. He had no time to withdraw his forward foot, so he could only hug Westbrook impatiently.
There is no big problem with this tactical foul. Although Westbrook was sent to the free throw line, but he may not be able to shoot both free throws.
"boom……"
"boom……"
At a critical moment, Westbrook made a mistake! Neither ball was scored, and the rebound was also snatched by the opponent. The situation of the game changed drastically.
Siakam, who grabbed the rebound, threw the ball to Lowry, who was now near the center line. The latter shot the ball forward and flew towards his basket~EbookFREE.me~Ann Luo has been close to the opponent, he is confident that as long as Lowry takes a shot, he can press the ball. Lowry also understood very well in his heart, so he gave up trying and passed the ball to Leonard who followed behind him. The latter reached the basketball in a fast pace, slammed a kick and stopped outside the three-point line. Everyone thought he would rush in. After all, the Thunder had almost no power at the basket to guard the penalty area.
Although Paul George followed Leonard and stopped outside the three-point line, he was already behind in rhythm. I saw Leonard take a step back, pull up and shoot the basketball.
"Ruined!"
As a top three-point shooter in the league, Anlo can easily determine what kind of goals will be scored and what kinds of goals will not score. And in most of the time, his judgment is correct.
"Huh!"
The goal is scored! Leonard made a fatal blow! This ball is enough to kill the Thunder.
The hearts of all the Thunder people sank to the bottom of the sea at that moment. Recovering a 6-point difference in 29 seconds is almost impossible for any team.
Donovan said nothing during the timeout, he did not say anything about the game, and he did not arrange any tactics. He kept cheering on the players and helped them regain confidence. Donovan knows very well that his players do not lack the ability to reverse the game, and psychological problems are the key to whether the Thunder can turn defeat into victory.
"Guys! Now is the time for us to create miracles! For OKC, come on!"
At the end of the timeout, Westbrook led his teammates and returned to the game shouting slogans. For this victory, the Thunder needs a miracle. And this alliance has never lacked miracles.