Western Conference Final G4: Thunder makes full use of defensive absenteeism

The Timberwolves increase their troops in the middle to limit SGA's breakthrough and ball-holding attack, but their position on the weak side is not refined enough. In the Western Conference Finals, this hidden danger is revealed today. The Thunder focused on using several methods to punish the Timberwolves' defense.

Make full use of 45 degrees of space

The Timberwolves' defense in the last game was executed like this:

Randall guarded the middle, and Edwards on the weak side did not raise the position at all, so when the SGA fails to break through, 45 degrees is a good choice.

For the Thunder, they need to increase their perception of the middle-lane coordinated defense position and arrange for the right person to pop to ambush at a position of 45 degrees or more in time.

The Thunder did a lot of homework on this point. When SGA held the ball, there were some cross-running runs on the weak side, waiting for the opportunity at 45 degrees.

The most impressive thing is that Ma Dai added the direct connection between SGA and Jaylen and Chet:

I would think that the Timberwolves always had problems in subsequent rotation and position selection. They often maintained equal defensive matches on the weak side, but while limiting SGA, they lost his closest teammates:

As a result, Jaylen + Chet scored 8 three-pointers.

SGA does small things

In addition to this, SGA has done a lot of small things to enrich the team's offense today, and it may not be easy to detect when watching the live broadcast.

For example, he gave up the ball many times today and gave Jaylen the main control in good shape, and was ambushed in the bottom corner, but at the same time, he did a tucker screen to find the phone for Caruso:

and the direct cooperation between SGA and Jaylen: We usually see SGA and Jaylen screening each other during clutch time or the last few attacks. Today, we use a lot of use in regular time and cover the entire game:

Jeren serves as a screener to help SGA find Gobert, and assists defense to assist Jaylen to hit a key three-pointer:

Jeren also opened up space after covering SGA. You can see Gobert reminding Jayden that Jaylen has ambushed to a further position and received the ball and made a three-pointer.

This time it was SGA who was the cover man. The most familiar ghost cover opened the breakthrough space on the left, and Jaylen broke through and completed the middle distance.

There are also such rounds at the beginning:

In addition, SGA has a better observation of the opponent's position of the Timberwolves' defense breaking line today. For example, this round:

SGA realized that the Timberwolves' behind the right side assisted in defense, so he pulled out and waited for a good opportunity of 45 degrees. Caruso's weak side cover gave Dort a chance to catch the ball and break through the ball, and SGA got a good chance to go out.

This time it was also a launch after cover. I realized that Jaden was ambushing on the right, so SGA went to snake and broke through Gobert from the left to ensure that he was not disturbed by the defense.

Finally, the Thunder also had some 45-degree empty cuts to directly take away the defender who was guarding the gap, making it easier for SGA to directly start singles.

Using the Timberwolves' defensive strategy, the 45-degree timely cut, and the connection between the team's ball holders to create space, the Thunder successfully solved the problems raised by the Timberwolves in the last game.