Chapter 221
Before the start of the second quarter, both teams made some lineup adjustments. The Thunder’s Nazr Mohammed replaced Nick Collison, while the Pistons’ Charlie Villanueva took over as the power forward, with Tyler Hansbrough playing center. The Pistons received the ball, and Will Bynum took charge of the offense. Bynum drove from the baseline, with Eric Meno closely guarding him. After turning inside the three-second line, he passed the ball to Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough caught the ball, used DeQuan Cook as a screen to get alone against his defender, and then scored with a low layup. Eric Meno drove and passed the ball, benefiting Serge Ibaka, who immediately shot a jump shot and made it. After driving to the front court, Will Bynum passed the ball to Ben Gordon, who was waiting to receive it. Gordon drove and passed the ball again to Tyler Hansbrough in the paint. Hansbrough didn’t rush to attack but dribbled, used his body to block Cole Aldrich, then made a nice pass to Charlie Villanueva on the other side. Villanueva, playing as a power forward against Nazr Mohammed, suddenly turned and shot a backdoor jump shot, also making it. From the start of the second quarter until now, neither team had missed a shot, showing high offensive efficiency. But this also indicated that both teams’ defenses weren’t very strong. Ben Gordon organized the offense after catching the ball, while Will Bynum moved around looking for an open shot. Suddenly, Gordon twisted his wrist sideways, sending the ball straight toward Bynum, who was rushing toward the paint. Eric Meno hurried after it, while Cole Aldrich and Nazr Mohammed were ready to help defend. But Bynum didn’t catch the ball; instead, he deflected it, causing it to go behind Cole Aldrich and into the hands of Tyler Hansbrough. Cole Aldrich, a rookie last year, was shocked and quickly turned around trying to block Hansbrough. Unfortunately, it was too late. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Hansbrough caught the ball without hesitation and immediately jumped to dunk it. The Thunder called a timeout and replaced Cole Aldrich with Serge Ibaka. The Pistons also made changes, with Zhou Yi replacing Will Bynum and McGrady replacing Ben Gordon. …
With a thud, the basketball hit the floor and bounced in the direction of McGrady, just beyond the three-point line. With no one in front of him, he shot confidently. With a swish, the ball went in, and McGrady waved his arm wildly and roared.
At that moment, four minutes remained in the second quarter. Under the leadership of Zhou Yi and others, the Pistons had expanded their 6-point lead to 12 points.
McGrady’s another three-pointer quickly forced Brooks to call a timeout.
When the timeout ended, play resumed. Russell Westbrook caught the ball and headed straight toward the Pistons’ half court at an astonishing speed. Kevin Durant stepped up to provide coverage, and Westbrook took advantage to drive to the Pistons’ basket and score.
On the Pistons’ side, after Zhou Yi’s open jump shot missed, Greg Monroe grabbed the offensive rebound and passed it to Samuel Dalembert, who scored by putting it in the basket.
With a clang, James Harden’s jump shot missed, and Greg Monroe secured the defensive rebound, handing it to Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi organized the offense, used his teammates’ screens to get past Russell Westbrook’s defense and reach near the paint line. He feinted at Westbrook, then passed the ball to Samuel Dalembert while running in the opposite direction.
Serge Ibaka spread his arms and stayed close to Samuel Dalembert. Left with no choice, Dalembert quickly passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who was in an open position behind him, then went to provide a screen for Zhou Yi, blocking Westbrook behind him.
Zhou Yi took a deep breath and shot a jump shot, but unfortunately, it echoed through Ford Center with another clang. Zhou Yi shook his head helplessly and quickly retreated to defend. Kevin Durant grabbed the rebound and drove quickly to the front court, pairing up with Westbrook before scoring near the free-throw line.
Four and a half minutes remained, and the game continued.
In the blink of an eye, the first half ended. Under the leadership of Zhou Yi and McGrady, the Pistons led the Thunder 62–50, by 12 points. McGrady scored 19 points in the first half, while Zhou Yi also had an outstanding performance, scoring 14 points and delivering 7 assists.
The best performer for the Thunder was their star player, Kevin Durant. By the end of the first half, he had scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, achieving a double-double in just half a game—a truly impressive efficiency.
John Kuester was also quite helpless about this; neither Andre Iguodala nor James Posey could contain Kevin Durant. However, to Kuester’s relief, in the first half, Zhou Yi completely contained Russell Westbrook. Westbrook played for 20 minutes and 29 seconds, missed 9 out of 13 shots, and scored only 9 points. Fifteen minutes later, when the second half began, Zhou Yi did not play at all and remained on the bench, resting his chin in his hands, watching the game with frustration.
Away team: Samuel Dalembert, Greg Monroe, Andre Iguodala, McGrady, and Zhou Yi; Home team: Serge Ibaka, Nazr Mohammed, Kevin Durant, Sapu Kovac, and Russell Westbrook.
After the start of the second half, the Thunder narrowed the score gap under the leadership of Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook. Although Sapu Kovac and Kevin Durant maintained a solid scoring rate, Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala helped the Pistons widen the lead. The two combined for 11 points, allowing the Pistons to take a 16-point lead, 78-62, by the middle of the third quarter.