Chapter 196: Finding a Way to Block Him Again

The 2012-13 season was a breakout year for Durant.

Currently, the top three candidates for the regular season MVP are Wade Dong, James, and Durant. Of course, in terms of team performance and individual statistics, Wade Dong has an edge over the other two and is currently ranked first in the regular season MVP race.

After the timeout,

Tucker replaces Thompson, which is more effective than Thompson's defense on Harden.

However, Tucker's ability to assist in the low post is not as good as Green's, so the Suns' offense becomes a rotation of Wade Dong, Curry, and Thompson taking turns to score.

The Thunder's tactics are similar...

With 3 minutes left in the second quarter, the Thunder and the Suns are tied again.

Wade Dong notices that Westbrook already has two fouls, so he goes after Westbrook.

"No need for a screen!"

Wade Dong sees Gortat coming to set a screen and waves him off, saying, "I want to go one-on-one with Westbrook."

"Arrogant!!!"

Wade Dong's words infuriate Westbrook, who immediately sticks to Wade Dong on defense.

"Slam!"

"Slam!"

"Slam!"

Wade Dong dribbles the ball between his legs a few times, then steps forward with his right foot and makes a shooting motion.

This is not a fake; Westbrook immediately jumps to try to block Wade Dong.

But Wade Dong jumps a moment later than Westbrook. After Westbrook jumps, Wade Dong jumps and hits the ball on Westbrook's hand, throwing it towards the basket.

Westbrook, "..."

Harden, "..."

Although Wade Dong's landing action is not exaggerated, everyone can see that this is Harden's signature move of drawing fouls beyond the three-point line.

Westbrook can't believe that Wade Dong, with his usual style of play, would use such a "dirty" trick.

This shot is hard to make and bounces off the rim.

Wade Dong spreads his hands and looks at the referee.

"Beep!!!"

The referee blows the whistle, indicating a foul on Westbrook.

Wade Dong is awarded three free throws. As he stands at the free-throw line, he smiles apologetically at Westbrook.

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

Wade Dong makes all three free throws.

Thunder coach Brooks substitutes Sabonis for Westbrook, who already has three fouls. With just over two minutes left in the second quarter, there's no need to keep Westbrook on the court.

Moreover, Wade Dong, this handsome young man, has started to draw fouls, and Brooks is worried that Wade Dong will target Westbrook again.

As soon as Sabonis enters the game, Wade Dong shouts, "Guard Durant, Harden, Ibaka, Perkins! Don't worry about the others!"

Sabonis, "???"

Sabonis is depressed. Is he the "other" Wade Dong is referring to? Is he that weak in Wade Dong's eyes?

Wade Dong has no choice; the system's task is ridiculous, and Sabonis has very few chances to play. He can only use this method to provoke the Thunder and make Sabonis attack, giving him a chance to block Sabonis.

This tactic works.

Perkins passes the ball to Sabonis, and indeed, no one is guarding Sabonis. Sabonis dribbles to the three-point line, and still, no one is guarding him.

The closest to Sabonis is Wade Dong, but Wade Dong is standing with Durant, making everyone think Wade Dong is guarding Durant...

Sabonis attracts the attention of the entire crowd, but the Suns players on the court don't pay attention to him.

In fact, Curry and the others also feel something is wrong. There are no truly weak players in the NBA; even role players, if left unguarded, can easily score 60 or 70 points in a game.

"Uh..."

Sabonis stands at the three-point line, hesitates for a moment, and then shoots.

Actually, his three-point shooting percentage this season is 41.9%, second only to Harden on the Thunder, 0.3 percentage points higher than Durant.

Wade Dong's words also make Sabonis a bit angry.

"That's right!"

Wade Dong is half a step away from Durant, appearing to guard Durant but actually focusing on Sabonis.

At this moment, if Sabonis chooses to pass the ball to Durant, it might be the best choice, but he chooses to shoot.

When Sabonis makes the shooting motion, Wade Dong rushes over. As the ball leaves Sabonis's fingertips, Wade Dong jumps.

"Slam!!!"

Wade Dong completes a spectacular block, sending the ball directly to the Thunder's bench, where it lands in Westbrook's hands.

Westbrook, "???"

Varlick quickly takes out a pen and draws a '○' next to Sabonis's name.

...

Chinese Live Broadcast:

Yu Jia, "Great block!!!"

Coach Zhang, "Sabonis is stunned."

...

After completing this block, Wade Dong sighs in relief and turns to question his teammates, "Don't lose your position on defense. How can such a big guy not be guarded?"

Curry, "..."

Tucker, "..."

Thompson, "..."

Sabonis, "..."

Thompson quietly questions, "Brother Dong, you just said not to worry about the others."

"I said others, but not Sabonis."

Wade Dong innocently says, "How can you leave a player on the court unguarded?"

This is...

Thompson's face instantly turns pale. So, Wade Dong's "others" refers to the players on the bench. Do the players on the bench need to be guarded?

Too sneaky!!!

The first half ends.

57:61!!!

The Suns trail the Thunder by 4 points.

...

Halftime:

In the Suns' locker room,

Coach Kidd says, "The Thunder are our biggest opponents in the playoffs. We need to treat this game like the Western Conference Finals."

According to the current standings, the Suns are first in the West, and the Thunder are second. These two teams are very likely to meet in the Western Conference Finals.

"Moreover, the Thunder's style of play is somewhat similar to ours."

Coach Kidd adds, "We not only need to rely on Brother Dong's strong individual abilities but also need to play team basketball, move the ball around, and if Curry and Thompson have shooting opportunities, they need to take them decisively."

Not only the Suns but also the Thunder treat this game as a preview of the Western Conference Finals.

Before the game, Ibaka talked trash about Wade Dong.

And Wade Dong responded in the game, consecutively blocking Ibaka, Westbrook, Harden, Ronnie, Perkins, and Sabonis, with 6 blocks in the first half, 3 more than the entire Thunder team.

The first half of the game was intense.

Westbrook continuously attacked the Suns' interior, completing dunks over Tucker, Thompson, and Gortat.

While Coach Kidd is discussing tactics, Wade Dong is looking at the stats sheet.

In the first half, he has 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks. Achieving a quadruple-double in this game will be very difficult.

However, Wade Dong now has two things on his mind: winning the game and finding a way to block Collison and Durant again.

In the first half, the Thunder rotated eight players, and only Durant and Collison have not been blocked by Wade Dong.