After the halftime break, in the third quarter, the main players of both sides continued to appear.
After a long break in the midfield, Durant recovered some physical fitness at the beginning and played relatively strongly, hitting three mid-range shots in succession, but soon returned to his state in the second half of the second quarter.
His shooting percentage continued to drop under Sugar's defense.
Throughout the third quarter, Durant made 4 goals in 9 shots, and his performance could only be regarded as satisfactory. However, in the final and most critical fourth quarter of the game, Durant, who was severely exhausted in physical fitness, finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"Wang Feng... actually did it?"
Off the court, Warriors players, including head coach Kerr, were shocked.
After all, this is Durant. Can he be restricted in one-on-one defense?
Everyone can see that Durant is tired, so that most of the offensive end can only rely on simple jump shots to end the game. But the problem is that consuming physical energy is something that every team in the league understands.
, but how many players can do it?
In the fourth quarter of the game, without Durant's stable and continuous output, the Thunder began to collapse quickly. The Warriors seized the opportunity and directly launched a wave of 12:0 attacks, widening the point difference to more than 15 points.
In the second half, Durant made many forced shots in an attempt to save the defeat, but all his shots missed due to Wang Feng's defense. The Thunder finally had no choice but to suffer defeat.
At 113:97, the Warriors won the first game of the Western Conference Finals.
Kevin Durant's personal data actually looks pretty good. He scored 33 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, the highest score of the two teams.
However, behind the 33 points, there was a massive accumulation of shots. Durant took 34 shots in the entire game, with a shooting percentage of less than 35%. Although he scored high points, it did not help the team much.
What's even more frustrating is that Westbrook didn't perform well in this game, making 7 of 21 shots and a 33.3% shooting rate.
In comparison, Curry scored 25 points and Thompson scored 23 points for the Warriors. Although their scores were not particularly high, their shooting percentage remained at around 45%.
Not only that, Green also performed well in this game.
With Wang Feng focusing all his energy on defending Durant, Green had more possession of the ball. He made 9 goals in 20 shots in the game and scored 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Among the four Warriors players selected for the All-NBA Team, only Wang Feng's statistics looked uglier. He only took 4 shots and hit 2 goals, all from outside the three-point line, and scored a total of 6 points and 2 rebounds.
Although his personal performance was extremely poor, no one who had watched the entire game would say that Wang Feng's performance was abnormal.
What allowed Durant to shoot less than 35% from the field was Wang Feng, who was closely guarded throughout the game. The Warriors could easily win the game, and Wang Feng, who did the dirty work, was indispensable.
"I just don't know...I don't know if this is a loss or a gain."
After the game, Wang Feng looked at his personal statistics and felt a little distressed.
The system's season rewards are evaluated based on the comprehensive performance of the regular season and playoffs.
Therefore, data is very important to Wang Feng. Many times, Wang Feng does not hesitate to deliberately brush data on the court in an attempt to get a higher score in the season evaluation.
In normal times, this kind of defense that affects his personal data would be thankless, and he would not be willing to do it.
But he was really worried that due to the butterfly effect, the Warriors would be overthrown by the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
If Wang Feng plays normally as in the regular season, the Warriors can score more points and maybe win the series, but obviously locking down the Thunder's core player Durant is a safer way to win.
Although Wang Feng's personal data will decline to a certain extent in this series and affect his evaluation, it can ensure that the Warriors enter the finals steadily.
Compared with the freely allocated points reward obtained by having a higher rating, Wang Feng still cares more about the purple Hall of Fame level self-selected badge reward obtained after winning the championship.
"Forget it, if you lose, just lose. I am the most suitable player to guard Durant in the Warriors, even more suitable than Green. When the finals come, let that guy guard James, and it will be my turn.
At that time, we must get back all the data we lost in the Western Conference Finals!"
Wang Feng's eyes were as bright as a torch and he thought firmly in his heart.
…
May 18, Game 2 of the series.
The game is still played at the Warriors' home court, and the direction of the game is almost the same as the first game.
Wang Feng, who was guarding Durant at the beginning, was almost beaten in various ways. By the end of the half, Durant had already scored 20 points.
However, as the third and fourth quarters progressed, Durant's touch declined again.
Unlike before, this time Durant did not choose to force the shot, but handed the ball to his teammates to play.
But the problem is that, apart from Durant and Westbrook, the only player in the Thunder who has some level of proficiency is blue-collar insider Yin Baka, who has almost no offensive ability.
As for the team's second core, Westbrook...the attributes of the Dragons in the regular season and playoffs are once again fully demonstrated.
After making 7 of 21 shots in the previous game, Westbrook made another 4 of 15 shots in this game, scoring only 16 points. This is also due to Westbrook's good free throw shooting rate, otherwise it is difficult to say whether he can score in double figures.
.
Durant made 9 of 20 shots and scored 27 points with a 45% shooting rate. The expression on Durant's face at the end of the game was intriguing, and his eyes would glance away from Westbrook from time to time.
Wang Feng estimated that Durant might have made up his mind to leave the Thunder at this time.
Of course, the series has just entered its second game, with a total score of 2:0, and the game is far from over.
…
On May 22, the Thunder returned to their home court to recuperate for two days, and then waited for the G3 game against the Warriors at home.
The Thunder team returned to play at home and made significant adjustments in tactics.
When Durant holds the ball, Thunder players will immediately help with the pick-and-roll screen, causing the Warriors to switch defenses in a misplaced position. The Thunder will selectively choose the target of the switch, and that is the weakest link in the Warriors' defense, Stephen.
Curry.
Curry defends Durant, which is impossible to play.
Durant, who struggled against Wang Feng, beat Curry as easily as an adult beating a child, and it didn't even consume too much physical energy.
This made Wang Feng think about the next few years. In the Huo Yong War, Harden's most commonly used tactics are unlimited pick-and-roll mismatches and small tactics. Harden also chose Curry.
However, Durant and Harden are a little different. Although in the following seasons, Harden performed what can be regarded as the craziest scoring performance in the league, when it comes to scoring ability, no one would think that Harden is better than Durant.
Even stronger, especially since Durant is over 2.10 meters tall, his advantage over Curry, who is only 1.91 meters tall, is too great.