NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 409 New High in Single-Game Scoring in the Playoffs

The Thunder maintained their switch-everything defense for the entire quarter, during which Jia Fei scored 20 points!

The Clippers led the Thunder 31-21 at the end of the first quarter.

The Thunder's offense still has problems; they can't generate consistent offense, and their poor three-point shooting is the main culprit. Without a reliable three-point shot, Westbrook's penetration is significantly less effective. Oladipo also seems uncomfortable; he likes to have the ball in his hands, but Westbrook has the ball most of the time. As a catch-and-shoot player, Oladipo's performance is even worse than that of Abrines and Mike Dermott off the bench.

In the second quarter, the Thunder finally changed their strategy. When Jia Fei and the center ran pick-and-rolls, they double-teamed him, leaving the weak side open and rotating him as much as possible. Once he ran pick-and-rolls with other players, they switched on defense indefinitely.

The double-team was effective; at least Jia Fei stopped scoring like crazy.

But whether the Thunder deserved to lose or not, Harris, playing on the weak side, had a very good shooting touch, hitting consecutive three-pointers and making the Thunder suffer a lot.

The Clippers used this simple starting move to make the Thunder, with their twin towers and top-tier perimeter defenders, suffer terribly. Simply put, this is the era of small-ball, the era of pick-and-roll, and the era of three-pointers.

If you watch NBA games closely from the last century, you'll notice that defensive positioning was very inside, with virtually no three-point attempts and a large number of shots from the basket and mid-range jumpers. In today's NBA, however, the lack of three-pointers means a difficult offense, as it restricts your offensive spacing and hinders your ability to attack the basket.

Even a player as strong as Shaquille O'Neal can't win without enough outside pressure. Basketball is a team sport, and it's unrealistic to play one against five.

The Thunder's spacing is terrible; this doesn't resemble a modern basketball team at all. Their best shooter among their starting five is Oladipo. Three of them lack three-point shooting ability. With this kind of spacing, unless they get historically great shooters like the Splash Brothers, their offense is bound to suffer.

At halftime, the score was 59-46, a 13-point difference. This was achieved even with Westbrook and Oladipo both charging in like bombs.

The Thunder's offense was terrible, and their defense couldn't contain their opponents. A 0-3 deficit was looming.

Intermission.

"Mr. Su, the Thunder are down by 13 points at halftime. What do you think they need to do in the second half to catch up?" Wang Zixing asked.

Su Qun adjusted his glasses: "The Thunder's biggest problem is their offense. They're afraid to shoot from the outside now, which isn't a good sign. The more they're afraid to shoot, the more the opponent will collapse their defense, making it even harder for them to penetrate. Defensively, they should double-team Jia Fei; one-on-one defense is enough to stop him."

At the start of the third quarter, the Thunder relentlessly attacked the basket, drawing numerous fouls from the Clippers.

However, the Thunder's rough players missed a lot of free throws, preventing them from quickly narrowing the gap.

The Thunder's constant attacks on the basket resulted in significant energy expenditure, which led to a decrease in their defensive intensity.

The reduced defensive intensity didn't significantly hinder the Clippers' offense, allowing them to continue scoring steadily. The point difference between the two teams remained unchanged.

Thunder fans at the Ford Center were somewhat desperate, with some even reminiscing about Durant. Durant may be soft, but his skill level was undeniably top-tier. If he were still there, he could definitely go toe-to-toe with Jia Fei, and the team's offense wouldn't be so stagnant.

But he's already with the Warriors. Since things have come to this, we can only hope that someone on the team can step up.

The remainder of the third quarter remained largely unchanged. In the final quarter, Westbrook suddenly erupted, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to narrow the gap to five points. However, Jia Fei immediately stepped up to take over the game, personally locking down Westbrook and dismantling Roberson's offense.

Ultimately, the miracle failed to materialize, and the Clippers defeated the Thunder 107-96 on the road, taking a 3-0 lead in the series.

在NBA季后赛历史上，在实行7战4胜制以来，还没有任何一支球队可以在大比分0:3落后的情况下翻盘的。上赛季出现过两次1:3落后翻盘的，但0:3，历史上都没有出现过哪怕一次。

The logic is simple: if you're truly strong, how could you possibly be down 0-3? So if you're not strong enough, then obviously the possibility of defeating an opponent with four lives when you only have one life is almost zero.

贾飞本场比赛砍下全场最高的48分，外加9个篮板7次助攻3个抢断1个盖帽，完美的表现诠释了他才是本赛季真正的MVP。

48 points is Jia Fei's new playoff high. Although he has never scored 50+ points in a playoff game, it is clear that this day should not be too far away.

The game is over, and the debate about advancing in the series has officially ended. No one believes the Thunder can pull off a comeback, just like no one believed Liu Yifei would marry a loser.

Jia Fei's actions have won him another wave of fans, while the Thunder's management has naturally been the target of further criticism. It's worth noting that the three star players who left the Thunder are currently playing for teams in the Western Conference, and most likely to advance to the second round. Meanwhile, the Thunder, considered the "Whampoa Military Academy" of Oklahoma City, are about to be eliminated... This is truly hard to accept.

Aside from Durant, both Harden and Jia Fei had opportunities to stay with the Thunder back then. But then again, if Harden and Jia Fei had been there, would Durant have still defected?

The Clippers-Thunder series isn't the first 3-0 series so far in this year's playoffs; the Cavaliers in the East and the Warriors in the West also hold 3-0 leads. However, this series is truly the most unexpected, as it was initially considered a matchup with a chance of upsets, or at least the most intense. Who could have predicted such a one-sided affair?

But that's competitive sports, that's NBA games. Sometimes you feel that the gap between the two teams is small in the regular season, but in the playoffs, once the targeted strategies come into play, the weaknesses will be magnified infinitely.

On April 24, Game 4 of the Clippers vs. Thunder series.

This game is a battle for pride for the Thunder; if they lose, they will be swept out of the playoffs.

The Thunder did not change their lineup in this game.

For Coach Donovan, if he didn't change his formation when he was down 0-2, he certainly won't change it now either.

But in Jia Fei's opinion, Donovan is even more stubborn than Brooks was back then. It's just weird. Would it kill you to change your strategy?

The Clippers didn't change their lineup; they were going to go all out.

The Thunder started double-teaming Jia Fei, clearly having already tried and failed with their switching defense from the previous game. They abandoned one-on-one tactics and let the Clippers' other players beat them.

The Thunder's current 0-3 deficit is clearly due to offensive problems rather than defensive ones.