"This can't be helped. After all, they'd only just finished a tense Game 7 War the night before last..."
"So, in this situation, is there anything Brooklyn can do to deal with it? Or should they strategically give up the first game and save their strength? But that would mean handing over home-court advantage for nothing. Whether that's worth it will probably depend on the coaching staff's deliberations."
"Hey! The game's only been going for two minutes. Isn't it a little too early to be worrying about all that?"
The Nets' backcourt.
The ball was inbounded again.
This time George brought the ball over half court. But after dribbling to the Top of the Key, he showed no desire to hog the ball and passed it to Harden right away.
Harden caught the ball and restarted the offense.
He raised a hand to call for Zhao Si's Pick and Roll Screen, then drove left, stepping into the three-point line.
As he reached the left side of the free-throw line, he immediately sent out a quick, precise Bounce pass.
Claxton caught the ball on the roll and took two steps straight into the paint. A chance to attack the Basket was right in front of him.
But the Thunder's defense rotated quickly.
Batum recovered from the wing at once and positioned himself in front of Zhao Si.
To avoid drawing an Offensive Foul, Claxton had no choice but to pass early, sending it to Prince in the corner.
Prince caught the ball and moved it along, passing it back to George at the top.
George caught it and made a shooting motion. A slight pump fake got Green to bite on the block, and then George calmly took a dribble to the right before letting it fly.
Swish~~
As PG