Chapter 608: Believe me Kevin, this is just the beginning!
When Durant took the final shot, all he could think about was Lian Dao easily passing him.
His mind was filled with depressing thoughts that Lian Dao could not overcome.
He even thought about last season's regular season, when the Thunder's third youngster was taught a painful lesson by Lian Dao.
But unfortunately, he didn't think about how he should score this goal, how to think about a comeback, and how to win.
As a result, Durant's three-point shot was interfered by Lian Dao, who was defending him, and finally hit the inside of the basket and bounced out of the frame.
At this moment, Brooks collapsed on the bench, holding his forehead in disappointment.
He knew that there was little hope in this game.
Brooks could see that Lian Dao had psychologically completely destroyed Durant again today.
The last time it was destroyed was in the playoffs last season.
Lian Dao was like a god descending from heaven, unstoppably scoring 74 points from the Thunder, and the Knicks defeated the Thunder by 51 points in that game.
In that game, Durant was severely damaged by Lian Dao's attack.
Although Lian Dao's performance in this game was not that extraordinary, Lian Dao's strength on both offense and defense once again made Durant feel unstoppable.
"Kevin didn't hit this key ball. At the last moment, Kevin seemed to have a mental problem!"
"The Knicks counterattacked. Sickle held the ball and passed Harden and Westbrook in succession, got to the basket, pulled up for a layup, avoided Nick Collison's block, and scored easily!"
"This series of breakthroughs with the ball was so beautiful that Nick Collison didn't even react in the end."
"The Thunder are 20 points behind, their chances are slim!"
Seeing Lian Dao and his teammates high-fiving each other in celebration, Durant felt a strong sense of frustration in his heart.
The more frustrated Durant felt, the more panicked he felt, and the more unstable his offense became.
On the Thunder's next offense, Durant missed his second consecutive three-pointer.
However, the ball hit the outside of the basket, was a long backboard, and the ejection direction was aimed at James Harden.
Harden collected the rebound first and then responded quickly.
He retreated and shot outside the three-point line.
"Whoa!"
James Harden's three-pointer helped the Thunder get the score back to 17 points.
However, before the Thunder could take a moment to breathe, Lian Dao assisted Stoudemire in the high post and scored a dunk under the basket.
Sixteen seconds later, after Durant missed his third consecutive shot from beyond the three-point line, the game officially entered garbage time.
Durant and Westbrook were replaced one after another, which also meant that the Thunder finally chose to admit defeat.
Durant was a little lost.
His final score was fixed at 27 points, but his shooting percentage was 8 out of 20, which cannot be called excellent.
Lian Dao, with 34 points, 8 rebounds and 13 assists, walked to the bench waving his hands to the fans.
tNt gave Lian Dao and Durant a split-screen shot.
The completely opposite emotions of the two people were all reflected on the big screen.
"Kevin's confidence at the last moment was completely destroyed by sickle, otherwise he wouldn't have missed three consecutive outside shots!"
"Although the chance of changing the ending is very slim, if Kevin really seizes the opportunity, they may give it a try!"
Kenny Smith was a little disappointed with Durant's final performance.
"The Thunder won't stand a chance, Kenny!"
"Even if Kevin hit those three three-pointers, they still had no chance!"
"Sickle will come back offensively."
"Haven't you noticed yet, Kenny?"
"Sickle and the Knicks didn't want to give the Thunder any chance from the beginning of the game. All their defenses were targeted."
Buckley shook his head and analyzed seriously.
To be honest, this guy is very professional when he gets serious.
"Then do you think the Thunder won't have a chance when they return to their home court?"
"I have no idea!"
Buckley shook his head.
"But if the Thunder still can't make changes, even if they return to their home court, they won't have much hope of winning and coming back."
"At the very least they have to restrain sickle. If they can't restrain sickle, the Thunder's only way out is to compete with the Knicks!"
"Competing with the Knicks, the Thunder may have a better chance of winning..."
Having said this, Barkley spread his hands towards Kenny Smith, meaning "you know".
Kenny did not argue with Barkley this time. He knew that what Barkley said was the most realistic situation facing the Thunder.
When it comes to defense, I can't say the Knicks are number one in the league.
But when it comes to offense, if the Knicks rank second, no other team would dare to rank first.
D'Antoni may not know much about defense, but when it comes to offense, he is definitely a master.
Thousands of miles away in Oklahoma, countless Thunder fans turned off the live TV in anger.
They couldn't imagine that the Thunder, which had reached the Finals for the first time, would be beaten so badly by the Knicks.
It's just pity Durant, he can't turn off the TV like the fans do.
He also had to sit on the bench at Madison Square Garden, enduring seconds that felt like years.
When the electronic buzzer sounded on the court symbolizing the end of the game, the final score was fixed at 118:104.
James Harden scored consecutively in the final garbage time, and in the end the score difference did not become so ugly.
When he heard the whistle blowing to end the game, Durant stood up and wanted to leave the court quickly.
He didn't want to stay in this sad place for a moment.
He wants to leave Madison now, leave New York, and return to Oklahoma.
But as soon as he stood up, Lian Dao enthusiastically stepped forward to greet him and held Durant's right hand.
"Your performance is really good, but we are stronger."
Although Lian Dao smiled, his words were not very gentle.
Lian Dao rarely talks trash after a game, especially after defeating his opponent, because it feels very ungentlemanly.
But this is a series, especially the finals.
The opponent has not yet fallen and the war is still going on. Lian Dao will use all reasonable means to undermine the opponent's self-confidence.
Including trash talk.
If the situation were reversed, the Thunder and Durant would take every opportunity to undermine the Knicks' confidence.
It's hard for Durant to just walk away in front of so many reporters.
Facing Lian Dao who took the initiative to shake hands, Durant was reluctant but still hugged Lian Dao.
"Oh, it's unbelievable. Kevin actually gave Sickle a friendly hug. Could it be that they have settled their grudge?"
O'Neal didn't know the conversation between the two when they hugged, otherwise he would never have called him "friendly".
When Durant and Lian Dao hugged, Lian Dao put his mouth to Durant's ear and whispered something.
After the hug, Durant left with a gloomy face and drooped head.
Lian Dao still stayed where he was, accepting interviews from reporters.
As soon as Durant walked into the tunnel, he angrily punched the wall next to him.
"You see, you will never be able to beat the Knicks. Believe me Kevin, this is just the beginning!"
What Lian Dao just said in Durant's ear will probably make him sleepless for the past two days.
…
With a 14-point lead, the Knicks doubled over the Thunder and took a 2-0 lead.
This undoubtedly makes many Knicks fans extremely excited.
In particular, Kevin Durant has stated at press conferences many times before that he is confident of winning G2.
It was as if this game was his revenge against Lian Dao and was destined to end with the Thunder's victory.
But in the end, Kevin Durant's bold statement of "vowing to win G2" before the game became a joke.
The Thunder, the strongest young guard in the Western Conference, finally suffered a big defeat when facing the defending champion.
All the fans also discovered it at this time.
It turns out that Durant, who averaged close to 30 points per game in the playoffs, was beaten offensively and was unable to fight back.
The Thunder lost two consecutive games to the Knicks by a huge score, which also proved the real strength gap between the two teams.
With the Knicks taking a 2-0 lead, the Knicks' call to defend their title is already at the highest level in the league.
Among betting companies around the world, the odds of the Knicks losing have also reached the highest level.
Two consecutive away defeats were enough to make Durant depressed, but what made him even more angry was the media reports the next day.
The next day, in addition to the Knicks' 2-0 lead, the most popular media reports were about Lian Dao and Durant's post-game hug.
"Kevin hugged Sickle after the game, and the feud between the two was resolved!"
"When we meet our opponents in chess, we cherish each other!"
"The first friendly hug from the strongest small forward in the East and West!"