Oklahoma is located in the south-central United States, bordered by the River Red to the south and across the river from Texas. As the capital of a state, Oklahoma City has a large population and a superior economy.

Ford Center is a multi-purpose arena in downtown Oklahoma City that, like most NBA arenas, is used for concerts, social events, and ice arenas. It is worth mentioning that in the 05-07 season, before the Thunder officially entered the Ford Center Arena, the city of New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina was severely damaged, so the New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City at that time and used the Ford Center Arena as a temporary arena for those two seasons.

In '08, the citizens of Oklahoma City passed a renovation plan of more than 100 million dollars, not only to renovate and expand the venue, but also to build a practice arena at the same time, which led to the brand-new game venue of the Thunder today.

The SuperSonics, who relocated from Seattle, changed their name and emblem, and integrated into the entire league with a new spiritual outlook.

Over the past two years, they've refreshed their entire team with drafts and corner trades. From the third from the bottom of the West in the 07-08 season, it jumped to the seventh in the West last season, and stood out from the Western team with many strong teams, and it was only 7 wins away from the Lakers, who were the first in the West.

The star Kevin Durant just turned 22 in September, and the main players such as point guard Russell Westbrook and power forward Serge Ibaka are all in their early 20s, and the young Thunder has become the most famous youth guard in the league!

Such a team, its energy and impact is terrifying, not to mention that they have been soaring this season and are currently ranked third in the West and fifth in the NBA last week.

Before the game, the home team gave the away team a full eight points, which indirectly reflected the contrast of fans' confidence in the victory and defeat of the two teams, and it is estimated that even the fans of the 76ers emotionally supported the team to win and intellectually bought the home team's victory.

Tang Wenlong and his teammates arrived in Oklahoma City the day before, and after a hasty rest on the first day, they stayed in an officially arranged hotel.

The next morning, Tang Wenlong habitually exercised his body in the morning, and after running around the quiet street outside for a few laps, he sweated slightly on his forehead, and then returned to the lobby of the hotel. By this time, breakfast had been arranged for the players in the hotel, and people like Nocioni, Meeks, and others had already gotten up and sat down at the table to enjoy their milk and bread.

Tang Wenlong pulled away his chair, sat down unceremoniously, moved a dinner plate, and devoured it.

"Hey, Don, do you wake up so early every day?" Meeks said hello to Tang Wenlong.

Jordi Meeks was a rookie last year, and after playing half a season with the Bucks, he was traded to the 76ers, and he finished this college when he entered the league, so he should be a little more mature in front of Tang Wenlong and others. These days, his form has gradually improved, and he has slowly moved into the important rotation of Collins.

"yes." Tang Wenlong responded with a smile, and then handed over a newspaper he had just passed over to the door.

"Wow, big deal!" Nocioni shouted, so caught up in the front page of the newspaper that he forgot for a moment to continue nibbling on his bread.

"What's the big deal?" Meeks apparently didn't pay much attention to the news, and didn't know anything about yesterday today, and when he heard Nocioni shouting, he leaned his head over to take a closer look.

"The Hornets and Raptors have completed a big deal involving five people!"

Nocioni's gaze swept over and then settled on a single line and continued: "The Hornets sent away Peja Stojakovic and Jerred Bayless in exchange for Raptors guards Jarrett Jack, David Anderson and Marcus Banks. ”

"Oh, Peja went to the Raptors." Meeks was slightly surprised, but he didn't expect the Hornets to be so determined to send away the absolute main force of the team in previous years.

Nocioni's eyes are very calm, he has been in the league for many years, the 76ers are actually his third team, and he has long been down-to-earth about the transfer deal, and can even faintly smell the essence of a deal. After carefully looking at the details of the whole transaction, he suddenly showed a look of understanding, and blurted out: "When the Raptors traded Chris Bosh in the summer, there seems to be a special case of more than 14 million transactions, and it is estimated that they will not really want Peja to supplement the team, and most of them will choose to buy out Peja's remaining one-year contract, which can save a lot of salary space." ”

After listening to Nocioni's vicious analysis, Tang Wenlong was noncommittal, and at this time he just drank a whole glass of milk.

After the three of them chatted in the dining room for a while, there was a constant sound of the elevator opening, and the players of the 76ers kept getting up to have breakfast.

In the morning, the team did not arrange training in the training hall, and it was not until noon that the team bus appeared at the door of the hotel, and everyone carried bags stuffed with the necessary equipment for playing basketball, and drove directly from the hotel to the Ford Center.

Even if the Thunder have a very good record in an average city like Oklahoma City, the ball market is still not as good as New York or Los Angeles, which are always hot. It's just that the superstar performance of the star Durant has indeed attracted a large number of fans, and the overall posters of the team and Durant's personal promotional posters have gradually appeared in the streets and alleys of Oklahoma City.

When I came to the arena in the afternoon, the Thunder had already started training, and coach Scott Brooks was more strict in this regard.

Several acquaintances of the two teams also played a field during the afternoon training, like Tang Wenlong, who didn't know anyone, so he honestly trained on his own field.

When night fell, the 76ers players who had just rested returned to the locker room to begin one last time tidying up their outfits before the game began.

The fans leisurely finished their dinner, drove to the Ford Center Arena. Then, one after another, on the indoor court, patches of blue began to appear, and they were a group of fans who rushed to support the home team, the Thunder.

The coaches of both teams finished their last speech before the game and led the team into the arena.

The referee watched as the players from both teams walked onto the field and asked the staff to check that each of the arriving players was a player on the 12-man roster that had been reported before the game. Typically, an NBA team can have 15 players, and only 12 players are on the roster, leaving 3 players with inactive status.

Among the 12 players, there are only the first 8 players in the really stable rotation lineup, and there may be some teams with better reserves that will be expanded to 10 players, but the last 2 players must be on the field as a last resort or in garbage time, which is commonly known as the water cooler administrator.

The cruelty of the NBA can be seen, the vast majority of people, playing time is precarious, today may explode to get 20 minutes of playing time, after a few days of state decline, may sit on the bench again.

Before the start of the game, the players shake hands and signal the principle of friendly play.

Tang Wenlong's eyes never left the black athlete opposite, who was tall and thin like a bamboo pole and had several relationships with him, even if he was a few meters away, he would be shocked by his terrifying arm span.

"Hi, Don." Durant participated in this year's draft and was deeply impressed by Tang Wenlong.

Tang Wenlong immediately returned the salute and shook Durant's palm.

Durant was slightly startled, he felt as if his little hand was wrapped in a bear paw, "Oh my God, how can this guy's palm be so big?" ”

Durant's own palm size is average, so he is very envious of those players who have big palms, players with big palms, the strength will increase by three points out of thin air, interior representatives such as O'Neal, grabbing the board and dunking are more powerful, outside representatives such as Jordan, feints add to the confusion, once you have a big palm, the magic in the game is simply difficult to explain.

After the trivial pre-match preparations were made, the referee blew the whistle for the game.

The Vajra God-like Ibaka slammed to the ground and soared into the air, and Hawes below nodded awkwardly on his toes, watching the young man fly with vigour.

Tang Wenlong and the other three starters were already ready, and in an instant, they reversed back to the half court and fell into formation. Apparently there was no hope for Hawes's jump ball.

The Thunder's starting lineup is very conventional, with a center Nunard Kostic with a certain low-post offense on the inside, with the amazing speed of the bullet and the excellent blocking maniac Ibaka, the outside Durant as a scoring small forward is the core of the team's offense, and then the backcourt with excellent scoring ability Westbrook, with excellent defensive ability and three-point shooting ability Saflosa.

No matter which way you look at it, it's a very balanced team on offense and defense, and if there's a hole, it's that the defense on the inside is still too weak, and neither Kostic nor Ibaka is the kind of player who has a good single defense, and it's hard to withstand it if you encounter an All-Star level inside.

The similarity between the 76ers and the Thunder is that they are both teams that focus on outside offense.

Westbrook, who was holding the ball, passed half-time, and suddenly, the fans at Ford Center, led by DJs, roared and shouted "Attack, attack!" The slogan!

Tang Wenlong was startled by the sudden explosion of high-decibel sound, and his body stiffened and almost didn't let Safrosa slip away from him.

There was a look of horror on his face—

"Why is the cheering sound at the Thunder's home stadium so terrifying?"