Sleepwalking Thunder ruins the opportunity to advance. If you lose 68, you may become a laughing stock

Before the final whistle sounded, the Denver Nuggets began to celebrate with each other. They continued the suspense of the series with their perfect performance and pulled back the cliff-side season. The other end of the

court is shrouded in heavy haze. Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Degenut bowed his head and drilled into the player's passage, fiddling with the tactical board unconsciously, as if he was still conceiving a tactical arrangement that could heal the trauma of the entire team. Amid the booing of the opponent's home court, the Thunder player left the court with his head down.

Although the locker room remains positive after the game, it cannot cover up the reality that the Thunder missed golden opportunity. On Thursday night, the youth army had multiple opportunities to end the series: avoiding the huge pressure of a life-and-death battle in the tiebreak, and returning to the Western Conference Finals after ten years.

However, they failed to grasp it.

"I think the first half played very well," said Dagenutt after losing G6 107 to 119, "Holding the opponent's opening offensive, only 3 points behind in the first quarter is worthy of recognition. Controlling the rhythm of the game in the second quarter is more worthy of praise. But in the second half, the opponent completely suppressed us, had better execution, and more experienced handling of key rounds. "

The Nuggets were struggling to use their physical confrontation to destroy their young opponents. Although Alexander (11 of 16 shots scored 30 points) and Jokic (9 of 9 of 14 shots) were still efficient, what really changed the situation was the outbreak of role players such as Braun and Strauser. The Denverians kept rushing to the Thunder's defense hinterland and successfully scored 32 free throws (the opponent only had 16). The Nuggets crushed 52-40 in the rebounding battle, and converted 23 second offensive points with 11 offensive rebounds.

"Just like the normal situation in this series, they attacked hard tonight," said Dagnott. "The two sides have offense and defense, and tonight belongs to Denver. "

If you want to use one word to describe the Thunder's offense and defense state, "weakness" is more appropriate. According to CleaningtheGlass statistics, its half-time offensive efficiency is only better than 67% of the playoff teams, far below the regular level. 11 turnovers are acceptable, and the shooting choice is not bad, but the youth army, which is known for its fighting spirit, is exhausted in this game.

The older and shorter rotation of the Nuggets proves that "fatigue says" is just an excuse. Denverians show a stronger desire to survive, which is no good omen for the history-making Thunder. There is no fixed script for the tiebreak battle. Sunday's Chesapeake Energy Arena will witness the most severe test of the Thunder's career, facing the battle-hardened former champion.

Degnot admitted that except for the two final quarters, the Nuggets have always suppressed their team. Denver's defensive strategy is clear: use mixed regional joint defense to limit Alexander, forcing his teammates to take over the game.

The problem is that the second leader Jaylen Williams continues to be in a downturn. The All-Star forward scored 20 in five times in this round of series, and G5 even scored only 6 points from 3 of 16 shots. Although G6 contributed 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 10 assists, his performance on the offensive end made him sit alone on the bench to reflect after the game. How to regain the balance between scorers and organizers has become an urgent issue for the Thunder.

"I reached the familiar offensive position, but the ball did not enter the box," Williams admitted, "There is no problem in the decision-making process, but the failure to score a goal hurts the team. "

The Thunder will review the game video in the next 48 hours. Solving avoidable mistakes is the primary issue: getting into fouls too early and destroying the rhythm of the game, and being crushed when facing opponents with equal rebounding data are crushed. These all need to be adjusted. The plot, which once smoothed the double-digit score difference in the first half and overtook, but was eventually reversed, laid the perfect foreshadowing for the final battle of the tiebreak.

"It will be very interesting," Alexander looked forward to, "The highest intensity game in history, but it is basketball in the end. Enjoy the game, release yourself, and accept the results calmly. "

But the Thunder must show a stronger desire to survive than the Nuggets G6. With the foundation of 68 wins, they do not need to make major changes. Cracking the opponent's regional joint defense forces three-pointers to lose accuracy (the three-point shooting percentage is less than 28% in two games in the last three games). As Dortmund said: "Home atmosphere and team cohesion are crucial. Even if they suffer such a failure, the locker room still maintains cohesion throughout the season. We must regroup and prepare for the tiebreak. "

(text/Kong Yang)