Chapter 336: The Strongest SG
Durant's ejection left the Thunder fans at the Chesapeake Energy Arena desperate and the Thunder players discouraged, with one exception: Westbrook, the Thunder's starting point guard.
Westbrook's unyielding character was undoubtedly revealed at this moment, after Durant was sent off the court for two technical fouls and the Thunder were forced to play a "single arrow", Westbrook's "single arrow" suddenly exploded.
Westbrook was one of the league's fastest first moves, with the perfect combination of speed and power, and he quickly shook off the defending Stackhouse on a breakaway and forced a layup.
He then scored back-to-back points with his signature pull-up jumper, and his defensive prowess was on display, with steals and explosiveness being his magic weapon, and Westbrook's two brilliant dunks in the closing stages of the game were due to his steals and quick breaks.
However, although the Nets failed to prevent Westbrook, they managed to target the remaining four players of the Thunder, or the Nets deliberately "created" Westbrook's singles.
So although Westbrook was fierce in the final quarter, his shooting percentage of more than 40% was not enough for him to lead the team to turn the tide.
And the Nets, with the efforts of Gao Dazhuang and Wallace and others, "smoothly" and the Thunder are in a stalemate on the court.
110:101
In the end, the Nets defeated the league's "leader" Oklahoma City Thunder and smashed the opponent's proud 12-game winning streak at home.
Tall and strong showed his sharp "fangs" in front of the league's leading scorer Durant, who played 39 minutes. He finished with 40 points, nine rebounds and four assists on 14-of-25 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws.
Wallace, another Nets player, also contributed a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, and veteran Starkerhouse, who came off the bench, also scored 11 points under the heavy defensive load.
The Nets went 22-11 under the leadership of the tall and strong, thus overtaking the Atlanta Hawks and moving up to third place in the East.
The Thunder "handed over" the league's No. 1 throne again, and its star Durant was fouled in the game, shooting 12 of 27 from the field and 5 of 5 free throws. He finished with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist.
Another Thunder player, Westbrook, shot 10-of-22 from the field. He made 6 of 8 free throws and finished with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
After the game, Nets coach Johnson attended the press conference with the "love apprentice" Tall Strong, while the Thunder attended the press conference with its head coach Stoke Brooks and Westbrook.
"What he wants to say is that he's pretty good. He's constantly fighting. Isn't it? Coach Johnson said of the "love apprentice" that is tall and magnificent.
"That's why he's a candidate for MVP. I don't know what else he needs to do, he's scored almost every single goal and led the team to the lead, and they're going to be a big force in the league," Thunder coach Stoke Brooks said bitterly as he talked about being tall and strong.
"He knows what he's here to do. He was very aggressive, today they took the victory, but next time, it will be ours who will win" Westbrook's speech showed the unruliness in his bones.
"Tall and strong, how do you rate your performance today?" The reporters at the press conference threw more questions at Gao Dazhuang.
"Oh, it's not bad, but the most important thing is that the team wins, and that's even more important" The victory brought a smile on the tall and strong face.
"Gao, the Thunder have won 12 consecutive home games, before the game, did you ever worry about suffering the same fiasco in the Russian City as the Holy City?" A reporter immediately rushed to ask.
"I'm not worried all the time, I'm just going to play hard, that's all," Gao Dazhuang said with certainty.
"Gao, when you made free throws in the fourth quarter, someone at the Thunder's home court even started shouting MVP, what do you think about that?" An ESPN reporter asked.
"Oh? Is it? Maybe I'm too focused on the game to notice, I think the MVP race is only for James and Durant for the time being, of course, I hope to join their industry as soon as possible," Gao Zhuang's modest answer revealed full confidence.
The Nets, who are short of major generals, defeated two teams ranked top in the league in a row on their road trip to the West, making the Nets and Tall and Strong the focus of discussion among the media and fans.
Former NBA player and current ESPN commentator "Magic" Johnson echoed in Werther: "Mark my words, he's going to be a superstar in Brooklyn."
Tall and strong teammate Wallace said in an interview with the New York media: "Tall and strong is our leader, he is the best player in our team, and our victory comes from him."
The official website of the Nets sent a message after the game: "The hottest topic in the Nets' locker room right now is that the tall and strong average of 27.4 points per game, surpassing James' 27.1 points, thus squeezing into the top four of the scoring list, and only 0.1 points away from the third-ranked Kobe."
Fagan, a well-known basketball commentator, wrote in Werther: "If Tall and Strong knocks Durant off the scoring throne, it's ......"
"Rookie tall and strong going to be the league's leading scorer?" The topic immediately swept the league, but after a heated discussion among the media and fans, this crazy topic came up with a "it doesn't seem impossible" answer.
The New York Times even summarized the offensive data of the past two months after Gao Dazhuang moved to the Nets.
Overall Score Efficiency:
With an average of 1.15 points per game, he ranks 19th in the league, almost exactly as efficient as Durant, the current league scoring leader.
Breakdown:
1. Singles
With 0.99 points per game, he ranks 29th in the league and shoots just 47 percent from the field, accounting for 27.4 percent of offensive selection, making it the second most common scoring method for tall and strong, with a 15.9 percent foul percentage.
The efficiency is at the upper level of the league, but it can also be seen that Gao Dazhuang has great potential in this area, and the Nets coaching staff can arrange more targeted tactics to help Gao Dazhuang score better.
2. Blocking and dismantling
At 1.09 points per game, it is the second in the league, accounting for 30.7% of offensive selection, and the foul making rate is 14.5%, which is the most commonly used scoring method for tall and strong.
Although the Nets are missing Deron and Lopez, Tall and Strong is also the league's top pick-and-roll initiator, and his pick-and-roll combination with Wallace has become a nightmare for many teams.
3. Catch-and-shoot jumper
1.29 points per round, ranked 12th in the league, including a three-point shooting rate of 44.8%, accounting for 9.8% of offensive options, tall and strong as the Nets' number one offensive option, but there are not many opportunities to catch the jump shot, but in the jump shot, the efficiency of tall and strong is still very high.
4. Fast attack
At 1.49 points per game, it ranks sixth in the league, accounting for 21.3 percent of offensive options and a 16.1 percent foul percentage.
The reason why the Nets' fast break is sharp is largely due to the tall and strong individual ability, excellent speed, explosiveness and physical confrontation ability, which makes the tall and strong fast break enter the top ranks of the league.
Overall, the tall and strong fast break, pick-and-roll and foul-making ability is outstanding, and there is still a lot of room for improvement, and his scoring efficiency in singles and pick-and-rolls can be further improved.
In the last month, almost all analysts seemed to agree that Tall and Strong would be the best SG (shooting guard) in two or three years' time.
But judging from the current way of playing in the tall and strong, analysts are a little hesitant, that is, has he become the best SG in the league?
Obviously, the main ones who are tall and strong right now, and the only competitors that can be discussed, are Kobe Bryant and Harden.
Statistics show that the three are very close.
Tall and strong are taller than Harden in points and rebounds per game, but Harden has more assists than tall and strong.
Kobe Bryant's shooting percentage is better than that of Gao Dazhuang and Harden, but it is only slightly ahead, and Kobe's average points per game are only 0.1 ahead of Gao Dazhuang, and he may be overtaken by Gao Dazhuang at any time.
So far, it seems that the ranking of scoring guards should be 1 Kobe Bryant, 2 tall and strong, 3 Harden.
But this season Bryant has had trouble helping his team win, and Bryant has tried to settle the battle on his own every night.
And the tall man seems to be more able to play to his friend's advantage, and while he takes over the game, a group of role players from the Nets are also playing at the highest level of their careers.
So, who is the best SG in the NBA right now? Bryant? Tall and strong? Harden? Or someone else, like Wade? At the end of the season, there will be a definite answer to all of this," the New York Times finally commented.
The day after the Nets' victory over the Thunder, the NBA's official website announced the results of the third round of voting for the 2013 All-Star Game.
The Brooklyn Nets are the first player in the league to surpass 2 million votes with a huge margin of 2.01 million votes.
The Miami Heat's LeBron James is second in the East with 1.15 million votes and Carmelo Anthony is third in the East with 1 million votes.
James, Anthony and Garnett with 690,000 votes occupy three positions in the Eastern frontcourt, while Wade and Tall and Strong occupy the Eastern backcourt with 800,000 votes.
The Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant is in first place in the West with 1.17 million votes, and Chris Paul with 720,000 votes occupies two positions in the Western backcourt.
Chinese-American star Jeremy Lin ranked third among Western defenders with 660,000 votes.
With 1.08 million votes, Dwight Howard with 790,000 votes and Blake Griffin with 710,000 votes, the three currently occupy three positions in the Western frontcourt.
"The strongest SG? I think Tall and Strong is about to become the best player in the league," O'Neal said on a TNT show. (To be continued......)