At the other end, the Thunder Team launched their counterattack.
Westbrook brought the ball across half court and called for a pick-and-roll with Davis at the top of the key. He used the screen to drive into mid-range territory, then kicked it to Alexander in the corner.
Alexander caught the ball in a triple threat stance. After a jab step toward the baseline, he exploded in the other direction, trying to drive toward the middle.
He took two steps toward the paint against Chen Xi, then pounded the ball into the floor, stopped abruptly, and gathered for a pump fake.
The fake failed to get Chen Xi off his feet, so he decisively passed back out to Barrett to avoid getting trapped with a dead dribble.
Barrett caught the ball, moved toward the left side of the court, and looked for Westbrook again.
Westbrook circled back out to receive the pass near the left sideline, then dribbled patiently, waiting for his teammates to reset their positions before lobbing the ball to Davis.
Davis caught the ball in the low post and began backing his defender down.
But this time, he was up against Horford, who had replaced Toppin.
Even elite big men with exceptional one-on-one scoring ability, like Giannis and Big Butt, struggled against Horford's post defense. Naturally, AD had an even tougher time.
He put the ball on the floor and backed into him twice in succession.
Against his opponent's outstanding ability to absorb contact, he gained little ground and couldn't carve out any room to attack.
Davis decisively pounded the ball into a spin move, drove toward the middle, then passed to Alexander in the weak-side corner.
What followed was a little hard to watch.
SGA caught the ball in the corner and found himself facing Chen Xi's