Last year, Zhang Yang could still stand up to Durant. Now, this self-proclaimed 206 cm shooting guard has bulked up to 108 kg. Although his strength is strong, he lacks enough mass. In a breakthrough, Durant initiates contact and then changes direction with a step diagonal insertion. It's now hard for Zhang Yang to stop him.
It's up to Tony Allen, who transformed into a floor-flow defender after a major injury and strengthened his lower body strength, to ensure both mobility and lower body combat can keep up.
In transition from defense to offense, as they ran towards the frontcourt, Zhang Yang saw that after only one possession of defense, Sefolosha was already starting to warm up. This was Carlisle's signal to him, and exactly what he wanted.
