With their roster already stretched thin, the Thunder had little room to adjust after such an inauspicious start...
Donovan could only grit his teeth and continue with their usual rotation.
The good news was that once Paul George and James Harden went to the bench, Chen Xi was immediately given some room to breathe.
Without George's excellent on-ball defense to limit him, it was much harder for the Nets to double-team him preemptively.
And Chen Xi, seizing the opportunity, naturally didn't hold back. He immediately launched a fierce offensive run.
In the final three and a half minutes of the First Quarter, he went two-for-three, scored four straight points, and drew a shooting foul from Shamet, who had just checked in. He then calmly sank both free throws.
With Chen Xi putting up an equally impressive 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists in the quarter, the Thunder managed to narrow the gap somewhat.
Durant also took over the offense after Harden went to the bench, but his Offensive Efficiency in the First Quarter was uncharacteristically poor.
In those final moments of the quarter, KD went one-for-four and scored just two points. Though he was far from happy about it, he personally gave back some of the lead.
So when the First Quarter ended, the score stood at 36–28.
The Nets entered the Second Quarter with an eight-point lead.
The way things had unfolded was almost exactly like the previous game, which made the situation feel rather ironic.
But unlike the previous game, the turning point came early in the Second Quarter.
During the stretch when Chen Xi was resting and Alexander and Davis were leading the team, the Thunder ran into trouble again.
And this time, it was serious trouble.
The Thunder were already desperate to make up ground,