The X Factor - Old General Fisher

At 7:00 p.m. on June 15, TD Garden in Boston was about to witness a highly anticipated event—the second game of the 2011-2012 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Boston Celtics had cruised to victory in the first game of the series, leaving everyone eagerly anticipating Game 2. They all wanted to know what response the Oklahoma City Thunder would make against such a formidable opponent.

However, when the starting lineups for Game 2 were announced, everyone was stunned. The Oklahoma City Thunder had made a bold adjustment—they had changed their starting lineup!

The original starters had been replaced by a star-studded lineup featuring the Thunder Big Three: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, along with twin towers Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins in the paint.

This lineup was undoubtedly the Oklahoma City Thunder's strongest starting five—their trump card lineup.

Goodwin could not help looking surprised when he saw the change. He had not expected the Oklahoma City Thunder to dare make such an adjustment as early as Game 2.

He could not help but admire Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks, thinking him a man with real nerve.

From head coach Scott Brooks's perspective, they had suffered a crushing defeat against the Boston Celtics in the first game, and the situation was already dire.

Therefore, they had to go all out in Game 2 and fight to turn things around.

So, he decided to move James Harden into the starting lineup and send out the team's strongest unit, hoping to restore morale with a resounding victory.

This greatly boosted the Oklahoma City Thunder's starting strength, but at the same time, it weakened their bench depth accordingly. However, in head coach Scott Brooks's view, this was not the time to worry about