The Thunder raises its strength to a height that the Clippers cannot reach?

The young Thunder were not timid because of the 1-2 series score and away games. Jaylen Williams and Lüganz Doult were in a downturn, but Shea Gilgers Alexander stood up and they narrowly beat the Nuggets away to tie the series with a big score of 2-2.

Now, the series has once again come to the same starting line. Compared with the other three groups, which are 3-1, the series between the Thunder and the Nuggets is still full of suspense. The showdown between Alexander and Nikola Jokic is quite interesting, but these two MVP-level players performed lower than regular levels in this round of the series. And this is the charm of the playoffs. In the seven-game four-win game, both sides have increased their intensity and their offensive and defensive strategies can be adjusted in time. In contrast, the Clippers, who lost in the tiebreak, lost less unfairly because the intensity they gave was far less than that of the Thunder. The core of the Nuggets is Jokic, and the Thunder have an inside combination of Isaiah Haltenstein and Chet Homgren, which is an advantage that the Clippers do not have. At the same time, the Thunder also had a group of young forward guards who kept attacking and interfering with Jokic. Therefore, although Jokic averaged 26.5 points, 14.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in this round of the series, his shooting percentage of 39.1% and 21.4% of his three-point shooting percentage were outrageously low. Moreover, Jokic averaged 5.8 turnovers per game, more than assists. Jokic is the barometer of the Nuggets. If he is not in normal condition, the Nuggets will naturally struggle. Even though he won two games, the Nuggets had a bit of a lucky win. Ivica Zubac gave Jokic some pain, while Thunder made Jokic attack on both sides. In the first four games of the second round, Jokic averaged 14.8 rebounds per game, of which 9.3 were rebounds with confrontation, and the proportion of rebounds with confrontation reached 62.7%. In the first round of the game against the Clippers, Jokic averaged 11.7 rebounds per game, but there were only 4 rebounds in confrontation, and only 34.1% of the rebounds in confrontation. It should be admitted that Jokic's rebounding ability is indeed outstanding, but when facing the Thunder, he has to put in more physical fitness to get the rebound, which is the intensity that the Clippers have not given.

As for offense and defense speed and running distance, the Thunder completely suppressed the Clippers. The Clippers averaged 88,688.1 feet per game in seven games, about 16.8 miles, including 8.85 miles on the offensive end, 7.95 miles on the defensive end, 4.12 miles on the offensive end, and 3.58 miles on the defensive end. Looking at the first four games of the Thunder, they averaged 97,882.5 feet per game, about 18.54 miles, including 9.83 miles on the offensive end, 8.71 miles on the defensive end, 4.68 miles on the offensive end, and 3.77 miles on the defensive end. The gap is too obvious. In terms of cutting and interfering with shooting, the Thunder also completely suppressed the Clippers. The former averaged 21 cuts and interfered with 48.3 shots (31 two-point shots and 17.3 three-point shots), while the latter averaged 15.9 cuts and interfered with 41.3 shots (27 two-point shots and 14.3 three-point shots). The gap is also obvious. It's a pity that the Clippers lost the tiebreak battle. They also had the hope of eliminating the Nuggets for a time, but in terms of the defensive intensity and attitude it showed, the Clippers were far from the level of the Thunder. The Nuggets have always been criticized for their short rotation problems, but they have the championship team after all. In the final analysis, the Clippers were a breath. If they could show the strength and attitude of the Thunder, the Clippers might be on the semi-final stage. Text/Duncan's Smile