Lowry brought the ball up the court and waited for his teammates to get into position.
The Raptors ran a horns play.
They lined up in a 1-2-2 formation.
DeRozan and Anunoby took the two corners, while Valanciunas and Ibaka moved up to the free-throw line.
Then Lowry made his move, using Ibaka's screen to get past Westbrook and drive into the paint.
At the same time, DeRozan and Anunoby crossed paths, cutting past each other along the baseline and drawing the defenders into a double-team on either side.
When the Thunder's defense collapsed, Lowry passed back out to Ibaka on the perimeter.
Ibaka caught the ball and shot a three.
Swish~~
He showed just how effective he could be as a stretch four, and the ball sailed cleanly through the net.
"?"
Donovan frowned and glanced over at Coach Casey.
Having run it so often himself, Donovan knew the horns play inside and out. Before Chen Xi had developed into a star, when Westbrook had been carrying the team on his own, it had been the Thunder's go-to play.
Still, Donovan didn't rush to call a timeout and bring the players over to explain how to defend it.
He wanted to see how they handled it on the court first.
He trusted Westbrook and Chen Xi.
But enough about the Thunder's response for now.
They had the ball, and the teams switched ends.
Westbrook set a pick-and-roll with Chen Xi at the top of the key.
Lowry chose to go under the screen and didn't switch.
Chen Xi caught the ball but didn't shoot right away. He missed his chance, allowing DeRozan to squeeze back in front of him.
But Chen Xi didn't hurry. He took two steps back and controlled the pace with a crossover dribble.
Right away,