As the playoffs approach, the best teams in the league are in great form, and surprisingly, there is one young team that is doing the same: the Brooklyn Nets.

The Brooklyn Nets haven't lost since entering April, and of course, this has something to do with the Nets' relaxed schedule during this period.

After beating the Detroit Pistons at home, the Brooklyn Nets were on a winning streak in two home games, beating the Orlando Magic 117-91 and then the Toronto Raptors 110-94.

In the Brooklyn Nets' game against the Orlando Magic, Nets starting point guard Deron Williams continued to be sidelined, but that didn't affect the Nets' aggression in the slightest.

In the last game, Gao Dazhuang scored 24 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds, but because the Thunder's Kevin Durant scored 35 points in the last game, his average of 29.3 points per game was only 0.1 points behind the current 29.4 points.

Although the tall man still holds the title of the league's "scoring champion", Kevin Durant chased very quickly behind him, and Kevin Durant scored 32 points again in the just-concluded game of the Thunder vs. the Trail Blazers.

For this reason, before today's game, Coach Johnson mentioned this in his pre-game preparations, intentionally or unintentionally.

Young players have a lot of momentum, and it would be a lie to say that Tall and Strong doesn't care about the title of "scoring champion", not to mention that there is no conflict between the current state of the Brooklyn Nets and the team's record.

Therefore, this game is tall and strong, and he showed a strong desire to attack at the beginning. And the rest of the Brooklyn Nets players are also interested in playing tall and strong.

Three-pointers, mid-range shots, driving layups, counter-attack dunks, free throws...... Tall and strong attacked the Orlando Magic's basket again and again.

In this game, he shot 16 of 29, including 5 of 11 three-pointers and 10 of 11 free throws, and scored 47 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

This is the data handed over by Gao Dazhuang after playing 44 minutes, and the increasingly anxious battle for the "scoring title" between him and Kevin Durant has attracted a lot of media attention, and Gao Dazhuang was "surrounded and suppressed" by reporters from all walks of life at the press conference after the game.

However, in addition to being tall and strong in this game, the Brooklyn Nets also had another player who played exceptionally well, that is, the team's starting small forward, Couwai Leonard, who is known as the "Big Three".

Kawhi Leonard played 36 minutes in this game and scored 24 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.

As a small forward, he grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds, which undoubtedly provided the Brooklyn Nets with more extra firepower.

……

In the next game of the Brooklyn Nets' victory over the Toronto Raptors. Brooklyn Nets starting point guard Deron Williams is back. He scored 14 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists in 28 minutes of play, showing his good form.

After beating Kevin Durant in the last game, Gao Dazhuang once again scored 44 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists under the opponent's tight defense. As a result, he continued to beat three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant by 0.5 points. continues to occupy the position of "scoring champion". And it is highly likely that he will be crowned this rare honor as a rookie player.

The strength of the tall and strong and the comeback of Deron Williams have provided enough topics for the media reporters, and the two of them have also played very well.

But while the two cores of the Brooklyn Nets are playing well, their starting small forward Kawhi Leonard shines in the "cracks".

Kawhi Leonard played 35 minutes in this game. He scored 18 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 5 steals.

His 18 points and 13 rebounds were a testament to Kawhi Leonard's normal form, but his five steals and four blocks in this game were impressive.

Such an impressive performance naturally made Kawhai Leonard get the attention of the media, and the all-round defensive titan is currently the positioning of him in the media, and more and more fans have begun to pay attention to the "Mune" player.

"Don't ask me any more questions, ask him more," the tall man who was present at the postgame press conference after the victory over the Toronto Raptors told reporters with his finger pointing to Kawhai Leonard, who was sitting next to him.

"His words are too little," at this time, a reporter from a local Brooklyn TV station immediately answered, "Wow" The tall and strong proposal and the reporter's answer immediately made the scene laugh.

"Well, I'll give you a little bit of his information, on most mornings, Couwai Leonard stops on the road to buy donuts, and of course, I do" The tall reply snickered again, because buying donuts is exactly what rookies do for veterans.

"Okay, let's move on, Kawhai Leonard usually arrives at the training gym on time at 8:30 p.m., starts training early, and of course after training, he has to deal with my 'bullfighting' ......" The tall man began to gush at the reporters.

Gerald Wallace, Carlos Delfino and Tall have a long history of good relationships with the Brooklyn Nets, and Lance Stephenson has also had a hot fight with Tall and Strong in life.

However, on the court, Tall and Strong likes to communicate with Kawhai Leonard very much, in addition to his ball skills, his personality and character are admired by Tall and Strong.

While many players buy themselves a luxury car when they are drafted by an NBA team and receive their first six- or seven-figure salary, Kawhai Leonard buys a house for his mother.

In 2008, Kaulvay Leonard's father was killed in a car accident in Los Angeles while Kaulvai Leonard was still helping people scrub the exterior walls to ease the burden on the family. This harrowing experience suddenly made him understand how quickly the world was changing, and for Couwai Leonard, his mother was the whole family.

After trading to Brooklyn, Leonard brought his mother from San Antonio to New York, where he spotted a two-story house of about 437 square meters in the suburbs of the northwest corner of Brooklyn.

Gao Dazhuang also visited Leonard's house, Leonard lived upstairs, his mother lived downstairs, most of the time the mother and son were busy with their own work, but they deliberately installed walkie-talkies in the house. So his mother would call Leonard over the intercom after dinner was ready. It's interesting.

And his mother always kept the refrigerator full of food so that he could eat whatever he wanted as long as he opened the refrigerator, and his mother also took care of his schedule and did his laundry. By the way, deal with those relatives who came out of nowhere to ask for tickets for Leonard.

"We're doing well," Leonard's mother, Kim Robertson, once said to Tall Strong: "We get along." I'm going to make sure he's eating well. Good health because I know he overeats as soon as I'm not home. I take care of all the stuff so he doesn't have to get distracted and can concentrate on playing, and I say to him, 'You just have to play well.'"

Of course, Leonard didn't fail his mother's intentions, whether it was driving to the Nets' practice gym every morning, practicing shooting after practice, or before, during, and after the game - Leonard played not only playing, but also playing.

In fact, in private, Kauay Leonard is not so wooden, he also plays games, goes to the mall, watches movies, and talks and laughs with Tall and Strong, neither of them is the kind of person who sings every night and is drunk with money.

Kawhi Leonard can get $1.2 million this season and $1.5 million next season, but he still drives his college-age silver 2009 Chevrolet.

"I won't think about buying a new car until I get my second or third NBA contract," he said when he suggested that Kawhi Leonard buy a new car.

With his resolute character and good character, Couwai-Leonard soon became a true close comrade-in-arms with Tall Strong.

……

On the second day of the victory over the Toronto Raptors, the New York Times sports section published a special column commenting on Kawhi Leonard's performance, knowing that no Nets player has had this treatment except for being tall and strong.

When Kawhai Leonard spreads his arms and makes a flying motion, the space created by his left and right hands delights the Brooklyn Nets once again.

"Big Shark" O'Neal is 7'1" tall and can fit completely between Leonard's arms, and Cowanard Leonard's reach is just amazing, reaching 7'3", which is even more than his height of 7 inches.

Of course, the Brooklyn Nets also love his huge palms, explosive starts, stops, and, most importantly, his willingness to fight.

"Is there still anyone who feels sorry for the Brooklyn Nets sending Brook Lopez away in exchange for Kawhai Leonard?" The New York Times blatantly asked, knowing that the deal caused quite a bit of controversy among Brooklyn fans at the time.

The young man has become an integral part of the Nets' system, and there are many bright things for him that may be in the near future.

"If you want to get a baby, you have to pay a price," said Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King, "It was a tough decision, but in the end we made up our minds...... We were lucky to have Leonard."

"It means a lot to us to find a player like Kawhi Leonard, a young man who still needs to improve, but like I've said, he's very talented, he's willing to work hard, and he's got the ability to be a finisher for the opposition's star players, which is really exciting," Brooklyn Nets coach Johnson singled out Kawhai Leonard.

"Most of the players in the league want to prove that they can score, they can shoot, they can be a starter, and Leonard wants to prove that he can be a good defensive player, and that's what sets him apart" Coach Johnson continued: "I put Leonard straight into the starter, and it was a great learning opportunity for him, and today you're going to defend Durant, and you're going to be ready to defend LeBron or Kobe, but he never backs down, he's always going to take on the challenge, he's always learning, and he's doing really well”。

In the face of the praise of the general manager and coach, Kawhai Leonard still looks so calm: "The coach has made me start the game to improve my self-confidence, and I will get better and better, and the top defensive players can make me improve quickly, both physically and technically."

"You don't need to remind me to defend, I'm proud to defend," Kawhi Leonard said at the end. (To be continued......)