After two games, the Thunder showed the outside world a completely different team, and after these two games, they also got through the toughest part.

Harden has been back in Russia for two days, and today he got permission from the team doctor to play for the next game.

Along with Harden's comeback are Durant and Dio, who were banned for two games for fighting, and now that the two games have passed, they have finally lifted their bans.

Originally, I didn't feel much when all the members were in order, but after the 9-person Thunder played, and now the 3-person comeback is ushered in, and I feel that the lineup has become full in an instant.

The Thunder's next game is an away game against the Knicks, but that was two days later.

On these two days off, Tang Tian conducted daily training as usual, and unlike in the past, he paid extra attention to Harden.

In his previous life, Harden had experienced several stages of changes from poor defense to poor defense, and then to MVP who worked hard to defend, and the most mainstream saying that it became the step of Eye Deng was because of Artest's elbow.

However, after two days of training, Tang Tian found that Harden's defense had not changed much from before.

This discovery surprised him, but of course he was also a little delighted.

After all, if it really becomes an eye-gaze, he still has to think about how to solve this problem, and now that it's gone, it's definitely great news.

But training is training after all, and whether there is really this hidden danger or not, we still have to wait until we really go to the arena to know.

At the end of the two-day offseason, the Thunder were on a plane to New York.

It's not the first time Tang Tian has been to Madison Square Garden in New York, where he led the team to sweep the Knicks in the playoffs last year, but it was the first time he led the Thunder to visit the basketball mecca.

The Knicks brought in Billups this season, and as they did when they were with the Nuggets, Anthony was reactivated, not only maintaining the defensive intensity of last season, but also opening up the offense, becoming a veritable powerhouse in the East.

They currently sit third in the East and are one of the title contenders.

The Thunder team has won the Grizzlies and Nets in a row without four less, but the current state and strength of the Knicks are obviously stronger than those two teams, and with only the return of the second less, this game will only be more difficult than the first two games.

The New York ball market is also very hot now because of the home team's record.

When Tang Tian walked into this familiar stadium with the team members, he suddenly felt a little moved when he heard the bursts of cheers in his ears.

After all, New York and Los Angeles are the top two metropolises in the United States, and having such a team is really lying down and collecting money.

The Knicks and Lakers are estimated to be difficult to buy, but the Nets and Clippers next door are really not impossible.

These thoughts were flashing in the air, and as the fans cheered, the DJ on the scene had already begun to introduce the starting line-ups of both sides.

On the Knicks' side, the team's starting five are Felton, Billups, Shambaugh, Anthony and Chandler.

After the introduction of Billups this season, the team played a big and four small lineup, and after Anthony added weight to play power forward, he played his best performance since joining the Knicks.

On the Thunder's side, Harden has just returned from injury, and Tang Tian did not put him in the starting lineup, and the starting five tigers are Kidd, Soflosa, Durant, Tucker and Brown.

Anthony is very flexible at the power forward position, and it is basically difficult for big men to keep up with him, and going to Tucker is the only option.

"Remember to help at all times." Before going on the court, Tang Tian pulled Durant and admonished.

Duran nodded, signaling that he understood.

When he got on the court, he took a deep breath and patted himself on the chest.

The basketball mecca has an unrivalled appeal to stars, and as well, he naturally wants to play in the first game of his return from suspension.

The game got into play quickly, and Chandler earned the Knicks the chance to take the lead.

Billups carried the ball to the frontcourt, signaled to open up space, gave the ball to Anthony on the right wing, and then also circled the basket to take Kidd, who was defending himself.

That's what Billups has done to this team, the play-on-field movement and the creation of a sense of space.

Anthony leaned his back to Tucker and turned directly to the sideways to hit the board.

The speed and strength of his weight gain reached a perfect combination, and Tucker withstood but couldn't jump up as he watched Anthony put the ball in the basket.

On the offense of the Thunder, Durant took advantage of the continuous blocking of Brown and Tucker to get out and take a pass from Kidd.

"Bang!"

Maybe he hadn't played for a long time, and his first shot was good, but it ended in iron.

Chandler grabbed Brown and picked up the defensive rebound.

Billups pushed forward and also gave the ball to Anthony inside.

This time, Anthony struck Tucker with a "washing machine spin" shot that turned to the free-throw line.

"Bang!"

The ball didn't go in, but Anthony reacted quickly, accelerated after landing, and pressed Tucker to put the ball in the basket.

The fans at Madison Square Square burst into cheers.

Tang Tian also reached out and touched his face at this time.

Tucker was still very good against Randolph and Joe Johnson before, but he still suffered a lot when he met Anthony at the peak.

The Thunder attacked the frontcourt, Durant received the ball and shook Shambaugh to break through to the basket for a layup, but the shot still didn't go in after being interfered with by Chandler.

In the first game of this comeback, his hand was not online.

Durant couldn't open, the Thunder played very passively on the court, and on the Knicks' side, Anthony was brave under the basket.

In good shape, he was also willing to pass the ball, and Durant packed twice, once to Shambert and once to Billups, and both made three-point shots.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 26-12, and the Knicks were hanging the Thunder up.

"The Thunder's breath is finally uncontrollable." The home commentator said with a smile.

In the first two games, the nine-man Thunder won the Grizzlies and Nets in the first half of the playoffs, and the media blew them straight to the sky.

So much so that before the game, the Thunder, who welcomed the comeback of Ershao, were predicted by various media to easily beat the Knicks, but it turned out that the media was going to be slapped in the face by them this time.

At this point in the game, the two sides began to change substitutes one after another.

On the Knicks' side, Woodson left Anthony, who was in great shape, on the court, and in other positions, Kenyon Martin, Novak, JR Smith, and Prigioni were replaced one after another.

On the Thunder's side, Tang Tian also replaced Durant, who had a bad hand, and Tucker was left in the starter, and Livingston, Harden, Middleton and Dio were replaced one after another.

After changing to a substitute, Tang Tian also got up and stood on the sidelines from the bench.

This period is the advantage period of the Thunder team, and whether they can turn the game over depends on this paragraph.

Especially Harden.