The Lakers’ defense against Durant was solely focused on blocking him, unconcerned with whether he might pass.
Seeing the score, the fans in the arena relaxed.
They conceded that the Lakers’ offensive adjustments tonight were spot on, with Zhang Yang scoring fiercely, Gasol’s passes pleasing to the eye, but their Thunder Team was even more fierce in offense!
The commentators were also saying that the Lakers were only focusing on strengthening their offense, having forgotten about defense... but at the beginning of the game, they were saying that putting Nash and Earl Clark on the bench and starting Artest and Jordan Hill might put the Lakers’ offense in jeopardy...
Coming back from the break, Zhang Yang and Gasol went back on the court and continued swinging!
The situation was more difficult than Zhang Yang had expected; he was hoping that Durant’s attacking the basket would be off, and the opposition’s wing player would have an average touch, but it turned out that the G2 touch was even better than G1.
However, it was normal for the other side, who had steadily beaten the Lakers in G1, to have heightened morale and confidence, shooting with more self-assuredness and precision.
In any case, he and Gasol felt enormous pressure; this method of playing was now reliant on him and Gasol for offense, but all he could do was grit his teeth and keep going.
Luckily, in the last 3 minutes of the first quarter, Nash came on and faced the defense from Fisher and Nick Collison. He performed well whether shooting after isolation or pick-and-roll, earning 5 points and 1 assist in 3 minutes, helping Zhang San to withstand the scoring pressure after his sister-in-law went off, so he didn’t have to play as exhaustingly as he did in the previous game.
At Nash’s age, playing as a starter without a strong frontcourt pick-and-roll partner is a disadvantage, but coming off the bench is different, ranking him at the top amongst all backup point guards in the league.
By the second quarter, the Lakers were still being pressed down, the defense looking like it was crumbling, purely relying on offense outside of the Thunder’s expectations to maintain the situation and prevent the Thunder from widening the scoring gap.
It was exactly because they held on to the score that Brooks, who only relies on the stars’ solo plays on offense, didn’t dare to substitute tonight’s main attacker Durant; although he didn’t quite understand positional battle offense, he at least recognized that relying on Durant’s scoring and assisting, which were the highest in the first quarter, their team scored a high of 38 points.
Facing the fierce offensive performances of Zhang Yang and Gasol, Brooks decisively chose to push Durant to the limit.
Harden did notice some troubles, increasing his isolation plays in the second quarter, but his performance was not as good as Durant’s.
Jordan Hill and Gasol’s rim protection didn’t affect Durant’s attacking the basket much, but it did pose more limitations on Harden compared to Gasol and Artest – Harden’s success rate dropped significantly when attempting to penetrate inside against the pincer defense of Gasol and Hill, as opposed to facing Gasol and Artest in the previous game.
Just when Harden had three consecutive offensive rounds, Zhang Yang scored three baskets!
One was when Durant was a step slow to follow out to the three-point line, Zhang Yang caught the ball and launched it directly, hitting a three-pointer; another was after Harden’s miss, Zhang Yang grabbed the rebound to lead a counterattack, completing a Euro step layup in a one-on-two situation; the third was a normal one-on-one play against Sefolosha, turning around for a mid-range jumper that hit the mark.
In the three-round duel between Zhang Yang and Harden, Zhang Yang outscored with 7 to 2, reducing the 7-point deficit to 2. The different characters of Harden and Westbrook were evident at this time; if it had been Westbrook, he would have definitely bullheadedly pushed forward, but Harden chose to pass the ball to Durant who had a higher success rate.
Which choice was better, Harden’s or Westbrook’s? That’s difficult to say, but Harden’s disposition was a crucial element in Zhang San’s plan...
Durant scored 12 points and had 3 assists in a single quarter, raising his tally to 25 points and 7 assists for the half, setting a new personal playoff half-time high in both scoring and assists!
Zhang Yang, thanks to that bout of 3 for 3 shooting, scored 7 points in the second quarter, bringing his half-time total to 25 points as well.
Although Durant’s scoring was caught up to, the Thunder Team extended their lead, scoring 32 to 30 in the second quarter, leading the Lakers by 5 points at halftime, 70 to 65!
Continuing to suppress the Lakers, the fans at the arena were delighted but also felt it was a pity – if Harden hadn’t been "impulsive" in going one-on-one with Zhang Yang, allowing Durant to continue the scoring duel with Zhang Yang, the lead could have been 10 points by now, or at least 8.
It wasn’t until halfway through the third quarter, after returning from halftime, that the fans understood why Harden had insisted on leading the attack... Durant, who had a terrifying 67% shooting percentage from 12 shots making 8 in the first half, suddenly saw his efficiency plummet in the second half!
Durant, the 50% shooting percentage specialist, has logged in!