Chapter 80: The Bitter First Victory
"An Jie's game seems to be a little lacking in stamina, and he doesn't seem to be able to adapt to the back-to-back schedule for the first time. www.biquge.info"Seeing that An Jie was replaced after doing nothing on the field, the domestic commentators hurriedly found thousands of excuses to relieve An Jie's embarrassment.
Anjie looked at Durant and Westbrook who were playing well on the court off the court, and his heart was full of envy, but he felt that he was getting farther and farther away from the main rotation.
After Anjie went off, Nick Collison did not effectively limit Craig Smith's play, but was fouled by the smart Craig and made a 2+1. It's true that Anjie was too eager to prove that he was a little uncalm on the court, but that doesn't mean that Craig doesn't have the strength, and the experienced and impatient Nick Collison hasn't been beaten up.
In the end, Calesimo had to switch to the team's third centre-forward, Johan Petro, who surprisingly did a better job than Anjie and Collison, and he managed to limit Craig, allowing Craig to fail to score the ball on four consecutive shots.
This is simply an unexpected surprise for the Thunder, and after the interior can't open the situation, how can the outside of the Timberwolves be compared to the two rookies of the Thunder?
After Craig scored seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, the Timberwolves coach replaced the definite Craig and took Kevin Love to the center position.
An Jie was even more stimulated when he saw this scene, the same three people who played evenly in the NCAA, now Westbrook and Love have been fighting on the court, and he can only accept the head coach's snub off the court.
Love showed no mercy to his former teammate Westbrook, and in a very short period of time, he seized the opportunity to play at his level.
Not only did he risk a Westbrook driving layup, but he also scored four points on 2-of-2 shooting on the offensive end and grabbed three rebounds. It can be said that in the limited playing time, Lefou's efficiency is very high!
With the excellent play of Love and Craig, Al Jefferson got a lot of rest. He didn't play much throughout the second quarter and didn't play until the end of the second quarter.
The Timberwolves play well inside, and the Thunder's twin stars are not to be outdone. Westbrook scored six points in the second quarter and Durant scored eight, and both shot well. At halftime, the score was 46-47, and the Thunder were only one point behind! Kalesimo proved that even if he abandoned Angel, the rest of the Thunder team could play at a level!
"This bastard!" Divac took a moment out of his home in Serbia to watch the live broadcast, but turned off the TV as soon as the second quarter ended. As long as Calesimo is still coaching the Thunder, Anjie will always be a marginal figure.
In the second half of the first two games, Anjie was selected as the starter, but in this game against the Timberwolves, Anjie failed to get another chance.
Johan Petro, who excelled on the defensive end in the second quarter, clearly won the affection of Kalesimo and played long hours with the first team on the court. Against Craig, Petro may have done well, but against Al Jefferson, who is back in action, Petro has proved why he can only be a third centre-forward.
He scored 10 points again on 5-of-5 shooting, and in the third quarter, Al Jefferson shot 100 percent directly under Petro's "excellent" defense. Petro's combined stats in the two quarters were only three rebounds and two fouls, and the fact that such a person could be reused by Calesimo highlights the fact that Carlesimo will not use a center at all.
Al Jefferson shot 100 percent from the field, while Durant and Westbrook dropped their chains in the third quarter, and their shooting percentage plummeted. At the end of the third quarter, the gap between the Thunder and the Timberwolves became four points.
Everyone knows that Calecsimo has to make a change at the center position, but Anjie, who cut 15+10 against the Rockets, is undoubtedly the best choice.
At the start of the fourth quarter, everyone, including Anjie himself, was expecting to be on the court, but Calesimo's decision caused the Thunder fans to boo. He sent Nick Collison, and he just didn't need Angel anyway.
"You damn old goat!"
"Get this old guy out of the Thunder!"
"We need Anjie!"
The insults from the stands were as ugly as they could be, but Calesimo stood on the sidelines with his hands folded as if he were nothing, continuing to direct what he thought was the perfect match.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Al Jefferson was unstoppable on the inside, but unfortunately everyone else on the Timberwolves except Jefferson was defended by the Thunder, so Jefferson didn't get much support.
The center is undoubtedly the position that needs the most support from teammates, and Al Jefferson's power has dropped greatly after being isolated by the Thunder, which is undoubtedly the best chance for the Thunder to overtake the score.
Durant and Westbrook took turns bombing, not only to score directly, but also to bring damage to Al Jefferson.
Every time he encounters a key goal, An Jie will also celebrate wildly with his teammates on the bench, as if he is not affected by the playing time at all. There's no way, An Jie can't sit alone in the corner and be silent at such a time.
The fourth quarter was fast-paced and very exciting. The scores of the two sides alternated and no one knew which side would be the winner until the last minute.
With 33 seconds left before the end of the game, Durant received a breakaway from Westbrook, and he caught the ball and hit a three-point shot to give the Thunder a crucial lead.
Later, the Timberwolves' experienced small forward shooter Mike Miller also fired from outside the three-point line, but unfortunately, the goal was not scored, which was tantamount to declaring the Timberwolves defeated.
With the red light on the rebound, the game ended, and with Durant's crucial three-point goal, the Thunder finally ushered in their first victory since the founding of the team! Kevin Durant, this is destined to become one of the most important names in the history of the Thunder.
"Quasi-lore! Durant can definitely become a superstar!" The wonderful game made the ESPN commentator linger, and also made him almost forget that Anjie existed. Today, all the light is on Westbrook and Durant.
The coveted NBA first victory, Anjie hugged Westbrook on the court. finally waited for this moment, but at this time, An Jie's heart was not much joy, but was full of bitterness. Because the victory in this game has almost nothing to do with him......
"First of all, we want to congratulate the Thunder for their first win in team history, but Anjie seemed to play a little hard today, he was replaced early by the head coach, and did not get a single minute of playing after that. Eh, we saw that the reporter from ESPN found An Jie to do a sideline interview, let's see what An Jie had to say. "The CCTV commentator doesn't care about the Thunder team winning or losing at all, he focuses all his attention on An Jie, after all, An Jie is the main reason why Chinese pay attention to the Thunder team.
After interviewing Durant and Westbrook respectively, ESPN reporter Brooke Dorsey took the photographer to find Anjie who was still on the court, and his mission was to interview all three potential rookies of the Thunder, so Anjie couldn't miss it.
"Welcome to ESPN, we've got Anjie right now. On the screen, Dorsey and Anjie are standing side by side on the court, which makes Dorsey, who already has a baby face, look like a child who has not yet grown tall.
"Anjie, first of all, congratulations on your victory today, you must be very happy today. "The first question is not painful.
'Of course, I'm proud of the team's victory. ”
"Before the start of the season, you were called the Thunder by the fans along with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, which shows how much the fans expect from you. But Kevin and Russell were shining on the court today, why were you pressed to the bench by the head coach?"
"I think you should ask Mr. Calesimo this question. An Jie was already in a bad mood today, and his answer was also a hint to the reporter that he didn't want to hear about this issue. But Dorsey wasn't afraid of a Chinese rookie, so he decided to keep asking.
"We all heard before the game that there was some conflict between Coach Calesimo and you, is that true?
'There is no conflict between me and the manager. An Jie was about to be mad by this damn reporter, and after he finished speaking, he turned around and left very ungracefully, walking in the direction of the players' tunnel. But Dorsey laughed, he already smelled the big news.
Back in the locker room, his teammates were frantically celebrating the victory, and only An Jie seemed a little out of place with the atmosphere. For the first time, An Jie felt that she could not fit into a group.
The unruly Andrew Morris, Mike Taylor who leads the team, Anthony Ben who dunks beautifully but is a little, the honest Asarkin, Ricard who likes to use foul language in control of the whole situation, and even the old Austin of the doorman...... An Jie misses the Whirlwind team infinitely, and now the contrast between the Thunder team and there is too great.
An Jie has a good relationship with the players of the Thunder team, but the head coach does not give An Jie a chance, and the relationship between An Jie and other players will only become weaker and weaker. After all, only teammates who fight side by side are the most trustworthy people. No matter how hard you swing the towel off the field, you can't match the goodwill that comes from helping someone block and dismantle on the field.
finally ushered in the first victory in his NBA career, but An Jie felt very lost......
Calesimo had finally won his first win of the season after two consecutive defeats, but he had no idea that his success would be so short-lived.