Chapter 70: The Battle of Two People
The first quarter of the game has ended, and the big screen of the West Stadium is still playing back the beautiful pull-up layup with Li Mojie's back to Durant, the slow-motion retraction, the posture in the white jersey, and the lightweight layup all show the enviable physical talent of this year's top pick.
In the second quarter, the Suns replaced Middleton and Marcus Morris with Frye and Markieff, while Gobert, a rookie of the year who started for the first time, was still on the court.
"Remember, Gobert, you're key in this game, the Thunder's two interior players are both 2.08 meters short, you have an incomparably huge advantage on the inside, you know? Don't think you're a rookie and be afraid of them, don't you think Mo Jie also plays well? This game is your chance to perform, you know? Hornacek patted Gobert's shoulder uneasily, Gobert is too important in this game, his height and arm span are a deterrent, especially his athleticism is not bad, as long as he has been polished for a few seasons, there must be no problem for this guy to become the league's leading center, but I'm afraid that this guy is now frizzy.
After Hornacek explained Gobert with an uneasy face, he turned his head to look at Li Mojie, who was drinking water with a calm face, and Li Mojie had already scored 9 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds in the first quarter.
He thought to himself: If only Gobert could have a mature style of play like Li Mojie, then the Suns will be competitive in the playoffs this year. Then Hornacek smiled, he still asked too much, a champion show, a 27th show, and the 27th show was already good to be able to find such an excellent baby.
Scott Brooks, the future head coach of the Washington Wizards and the current head coach of the Thunder, looked at the score of 26:22 on the court, touched his head and sighed, the interior of the Thunder team this year is really not very good! Perkins' strength and tonnage are enough, but one of the two inside lines on the opposite side has a range and the other has a height and reach, which is really difficult to deal with. Anyway, that Gobert is also a rookie this year?
So Brooks looked at Steven Adams, who was sitting next to the water cooler, staring directly at the Suns' side of the rookie who was actually the starter in the same class as him, and Gobert with envy and hatred on his face, "Steven, do you see the Frenchman on the other side?" He's a rookie this year like you, and you go up to the slot, you know? Let Kevin and Kendrick pick up the rebounds, and you'll be responsible for blocking that Frenchman, understand? ”
"Yes, Coach, I understand!" As soon as Steven Adams heard that he was going to play, he immediately jumped up from the bench. Adams only played 5 minutes in the last game, and he had a chance to play in the second quarter of this game? How could this not make him feel excited. Then Brooks replaced Reggie Jackson (6'1") and Jerry Milan (6'5"), and Adams (7') replaced Westbrook, Saposovrosa, and Perkins, who didn't play well in the first quarter.
"The tactics remain the same, it's still Kevin's main attack, Kevin, you can shoot when you see the opportunity, you will give Reggie if you don't have a chance, Reggie you look at it, Lamb, you go up and run, no accident should be the champion to defend you, you have to try to consume his physical strength." Brooks admonished.
At the beginning of the second quarter of the game, the Thunder's offense has started, Reggie Jackson is obviously different from Westbrook, the second game of the first round of the 2012-13 playoffs, the Thunder's main point guard Russell Westbrook was reimbursed for the season due to injury, Reggie Jackson came on as a substitute, and averaged 15.3 points per game in the first nine games, he was really a powerful point guard when he was with the Thunder.
But Bledsoe's defense still caused problems for Reggie Jackson, and he had to play a twelve-point mental game to control the basketball in his hand, otherwise he could be cut off by the opponent if he didn't pay attention.
Feeling that he couldn't continue to advance, Reggie Jackson still threw the ball to Durant, who came up to pick up, and he quickly reversed and hit the three-point line in the bottom corner.
Bledsoe didn't dare to let Reggie Jackson run freely, he could only follow the other party without abandoning, and as for the position at the top of the arc, it was handed over to Li Mojie and Kevin Durant to face to face.
"Oh! Look at that, the two are finally in line. The voice of Director Zhang of CCTV Sports immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"I'm really looking forward to it, the best part is here."
The audience at the scene also cheered for Li Mojie.
"Oh? You're finally here? Durant smiled.
"I want to see how many pounds you have." In the first quarter, Durant blew up Markieff's scum, cut down 13 points, and looked at Markieff's resentful eyes, so Li Mojie decided to test the water himself, didn't Peter Pan also take the initiative to find Jordan to fight alone? I am not a person who bullies the weak and fears the hard!
In terms of height, Li Mojie is 8 cm shorter than Durant, and Durant is 10 cm longer than Li Mojie, so the management doesn't want Li Mojie in his rookie period to play against Durant.
And Li Mojie can only defend closely, as soon as he leaves the distance, this guy will pull out, so Li Mojie sticks up and raises his hands to interfere with Durant's vision as much as possible, regardless of whether he wants to pass or shoot, Li Mojie has to make the other party a little awkward.
It's just that now standing in front of Li Mojie is Durant, a superstar who has been mixed in the NBA for 6 seasons, and far more experience than Li Mojie is enough for him to seize every offensive opportunity.
Even a small gap is enough for Durant to snoop on, and this is an instinct that has been cultivated over time, and sometimes it is like a conditioned reflex.
"Oh, what's the matter, is that all you have?" Li Mojie felt that he still had an advantage in strength, and immediately spewed trash talk to disturb Durant.
But Li Mojie didn't have time to continue his saliva offensive, but Durant had already responded with action, he slammed down his shoulders and made an inward cut.
"Can you beat me?" , Li Mojie also quickly lowered his center of gravity and took a step, ready to block the opponent's entry route, and expected to make a foul.
"Is it so tall and so flexible!" However, before Li Mojie's wishful thinking could be dialed, he saw that Durant's breakthrough action had been retracted, and his two feet stepped back outside the three-point line.
Holding the basketball firmly with his right hand held high, Durant stood outside the three-point line in front of Li Mojie and pushed the basketball out of a beautiful arc.
"Huh!" Li Mojie didn't hear the crisp sound of wiping the net, but it didn't matter anymore, the expressions of his teammates had already told him the result.
"Were you defending me just now?" Durant stepped back and pointed his finger at Li Mojie, and such a sentence floated out of his mouth.
"Calm down." Bledsoe is not far away, he started by defense, of course he knows this feeling that he tried his best to defend but others still entered, so he reminded Li Mojie, because it was Li Mojie who went to defend next, and others couldn't keep up at all.
Although I have watched Durant games countless times on TV and watched Durant's video before the game, only when you have really played each other can you know what level the opponent is, is this TM the league's top offensive level? Now Li Mojie can feel a little pressure......
This is really not to brag about Durant, the current offensive level of Durant is already the first person in the league, (some people say that the black mamba, to be reasonable, Kobe Bryant can only be regarded as a second-rate star after the Achilles tendon ruptured in the 12-13 season) Li Mojie does feel a little pressure, and it is not so easy to get out of the way when he bumps into such a very tough guy face-to-face.
However, listening to Durant's provocative words just now, Li Mojie did not return the favor, but smiled, facing Batum and Hayward in the last two games. To be honest, I can still handle it, but this Durant! Li Mojie is now finally experiencing the feeling of standing on the highest level of basketball on the earth, and being able to fight these monsters one by one, Li Mojie feels that all the goosebumps on his body have risen!
"Hey, do you still want to stop Li Mojie from going to the opposite position, but this is what Li Mojie himself requested, let Middleton defend? Middleton couldn't prevent it. Li Mojie couldn't prevent it, and so could the others, where could Hornacek sit down, standing anxiously on the sidelines and frowning and watching every move on the field.
"No way, Durant is also one of the best small forwards in the league anyway, and Li Mojie is still a little tender and at a disadvantage compared to him now, which is normal." Teacher Su Qun also explained.
"Haha, it's normal, how can a rookie not be abused by these superstars, hey, it seems that Li Mojie is not convinced, the Suns pulled away, and Li Mojie ran into the inside singles!" Director Zhang continued to explain.
"Give it to me." Li Mojie did not hesitate this time, and when he was close to the three-second zone, he raised his hand to signal Bledsoe to pass the ball, and behind him was Durant.
But Li Mojie didn't seem to feel it at all, so he relied on Durant to catch a low-level pass, and as soon as he received the ball, he used his strong core strength to squeeze inside.
"The beauty of thought!" Durant didn't plan to let such a rookie take advantage of him, he raised both hands high at the same time, and buckled Chen Feng like a hood.
At this moment, Durant opened his hands behind Li Mojie like this, and he has indeed blocked most of the shooting space, if Li Mojie is hard-minded at this time, and chooses to play strongly against the defense, it is very likely that Durant will slap the basketball head-on.
Durant's power from Li Mojie's shoulder estimated that this kid might use his only strength advantage to push in, and he was ready to hit the opponent head-on.
Li Mojie didn't seem to realize the impending danger, and his whole body still ran over the left half of Durant's defense, and the posture was completely iron-hearted to attack.
But just as Durant sank his weight and prepared to carry this blow, he felt that the powerful force that had been pressing on his left side of his body and preparing to break through suddenly disappeared.
"Hell!" By the time Durant reacted, he had already seen Li Mojie's entire body as if he had no weight, and he quickly turned around from the other side against his body. Is it such a perverted body coordination?
"Back singles, turns, step-back jumpers!" Director Zhang's mouth grew in surprise.
"Huh" Li Mojie's left leg has a forward movement, so that Durant can't block at all, and can only see Li Mojie throw the ball.
"You were defending me, weren't you?" , Li Mojie, who had just landed, turned his head and aimed at the opponent in front of him.
Durant looked at Li Mojie, who was spreading his hands at him, squinted his eyes and gritted his teeth.
"I went to great lengths to come here to make my mark on this league, and I'm not going to just throw in the towel!" Li Mojie swore in his heart.