As a young team, the Thunder are always prone to problems with their mentality when facing difficult situations.

Just over three minutes into the game, the Jazz opened the game with a 9-4 opening streak, and for three consecutive rounds, Jeff Green was singled out by Boozer on the defensive end with a low post.

On the offensive end, Jeff Green had two open three-pointers, and they all hit the iron.

Since the last game against the Lakers, Jeff Green's mentality has changed, after all, this is only his third season, and the media criticism still affects him.

At this time, the boss on the court needs to stand up and speak, don't look at the rise of Durant on Twitter, but on the court, this guy is a stuffy gourd, and the turtle is a self-excited type, and he can't count on it.

So while it was time to serve, Li Ze came to Jeff Green's side and comforted loudly:

"Hey, Bro, if you have a chance, you have to shoot, it doesn't matter if you can't shoot, we can still grab rebounds, we're tired!" It's good to do your best defensively, it's the team's problem, don't blame yourself. ”

"I understand, thanks, Kayce, I'll do my job, don't worry!"

Jeff Green patted his chest and then punched Li Ze.

In the Thunder's offensive round, the Turtle dribbled through the half court and first blocked Kostic on the line, and Deron Williams squeezed through strongly with his strong body, not allowing the Turtle to get an easy chance to shoot.

At this time, Li Zehou came out of cover, came over to receive the ball, faced Matthews's defense, dribbled the ball in cross steps, changed backwards in front of the body continuously, shook off the opponent's defense, held the ball in his right hand, and accelerated the breakthrough.

The Jazz's defense contracted instantly, Boozer retracted to the inside, and Li Ze did not force the offense, jumping in the air to pass the ball and finding Jeff Green in the bottom corner.

The latter received the ball, did not hesitate, and made an open three-point jumper.

"Huh..."The three-pointer hit steadily.

"Roar!!" Jeff Green clenched his fists and roared.

After the shot, Jeff Green was very excited, if you count the game with the Lakers, he has 7 consecutive irons on the outside, and this ball is finally thrown, successfully releasing the pressure in his heart.

Coach Brooks on the sidelines saw this scene and smiled with relief, he was not wrong, Li Ze's arrival increased the cohesion of the team, this is a natural leader.

As the on-court engine of the Jazz team, Deron Williams was unhurried in the face of the tortoise's entanglement, first protecting the ball with his back, and then holding the ball in his right hand to raise the center of gravity of his body, and the signature continuous change of direction.

After taking advantage of the change of tempo to shake off the turtle, he made a mid-range jumper from the free throw line.

"Whew..."The 2-pointer was easily scored.

"Ahh Oh! ”

The wonderful crossover also made the audience in Salt Lake City cheer and let out a huge shout.

The second-year rookie Turtle was suppressed, and Deron Williams was physically strong and played with rhythm, which made it very uncomfortable for Turtle to defend.

Li Ze knew that if he wanted the Thunder to attack smoothly, he had to play a transition offense, but the Jazz completely controlled the rhythm of the court with his good positional offense.

In the offensive round, after continuous passing of the ball from the outside, Jeff Green went online to cover, and Li Ze accelerated with his left hand to get rid of Matthews and face Boozer's defense.

The cross-step dribble quickly pulled back, instantly made a feint to close the ball, a slight pause, a sudden stop, a change of rhythm, shaking off Boozer, and the acceleration breakthrough of the right hand dribble.

Seeing Durant cut inside through Kostic's cover, he immediately sent a precise high throw.

When the ball arrived, Durant took off directly, grabbed the ball with one hand, and smashed the ball into the basket.

"Bang...""Shh!!h

The home fans immediately sent huge boos, and the bells and whistles of the attack infuriated the crowd.

Old coach Sloan noticed a slight change in the rhythm on the court, and immediately called a timeout to prevent the Thunder from getting up.

The opening was stunned by the Jazz's continuous positional offense, and after this empty catch, the Thunder team breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's very good, keep the rhythm of the offense, protect the rebounds, have a chance, and we have to play a quick transition."

During the timeout, head coach Brooks began to serve chicken soup to everyone.

But the situation changed in the next game, and on the offensive end, the Jazz began to play frequent pick-and-rolls at the No. 5 position, taking advantage of Kostic's slow defensive footsteps, and Oku continued to get outside opportunities.

Bang Bang hit two three-pointers to open the score again.

The Thunder's offense was problematic again, and the Jazz increased their defensive confrontation, first Kostic was beaten by a basket, and then Durant was stolen by Ronnie Brewer and sent free throws angrily.

More than 8 minutes have been played in the first quarter, and the Thunder's fouls have already counted.

Taking advantage of the opponent's free throws, Li Ze hurriedly shouted loudly: "Patience! Don't foul easily! ”

But the old fritters of the Jazz team will not let go of this opportunity, every time they attack, try to give the inside line, Deron Williams also went to the restricted area after blocking and dismantling, and Kostic committed 3 fouls.

Coach Brooks reluctantly replaced Ibaka in advance, Collison was injured, and there was only one reliable rotation left on the inside.

Seeing his teammates attacking and a little confused, Li Ze strengthened his aggressiveness, broke through continuously to cause kills, and walked to the free throw line.

"Shhhhh

Seeing Li Ze's continuous free throws, the home audience immediately sent huge boos, and a small number of people began to scold the referee.

"The away game is like a graveyard, and this blowing penalty scale is indeed worthy of its name." Li Ze secretly complained when he made free throws.

The Jazz's defensive moves aren't clean, with a few people on the outside frequently getting started, and sometimes a mobile pick-and-roll on the offensive end.

Durant's mentality is a bit explosive, Ronnie Brewer even pulls the top belt, and the referee just doesn't blow it.

By the end of the first quarter, the Jazz had a seven-point lead, 30-23.

"Kevin, stay calm, don't get tangled with the other party, Russell, play aggressively, attack the basket more!"

Coach Brooks made another short rotation this time, and the main team continued to come up in the second quarter to try to chase the score back.

The Jazz rotated normally, bringing on the more mobile Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko, while Eric Mayno also replaced Deron Williams.

Veteran coach Sloan has always maintained the aggressiveness of the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, Paul Millsap can be inside and out, and Kirilenko's defensive ability is also better.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Thunder were beaten, Jeff Green and Ibaka's defense was completely broken, Paul Millsapry burst out, and the Jazz came up and played a wave of 8-0.

Ibaka meets Kirilenko with the wrong experience, Jeff Green doesn't match the physical strength, and Paul Millsap is slightly shorter than him, but the weight overwhelms him.

Coach Sloan's game plan is to play the Thunder's weak interior line, and at the same time, the defensive end plays with your mentality, a simple and crude strategy, but it has a huge game effect.

Li Ze knew that there was a high probability that this game would be cold, and the Jazz team would definitely press the position again and not convert, coupled with the home whistle, it was basically difficult to turn the tables.

At halftime, 60-44, the Jazz had a 16-point lead.

At halftime, everyone was silent in the Thunder locker room, losing so much at halftime, and the game was one-sided, it was hard not to make waves in my heart.

Seeing this situation, Li Ze took the initiative to speak:

"It's okay guys, it's just a regular season, no team can win all the time, not to mention that we still have a chance in the second half, Russell, you'll get your groove back in the second half, right!"

"Green, keep shooting, increase the breakaway by the way, Boozer can't stop you, Kevin, the little guy on the opposite side, it's time to show your pull-up jumper, Ibaka, don't be frustrated, you're still a rookie!"

Li Ze laughed and teased his teammates.

"You're a rookie too, Kayce! Don't worry, we've lost more games than you have before! ”

Turtle Turtle once again confidently stated the heart-piercing truth.

“......”

Li Ze was speechless now, he really couldn't refute this, so he could only shrug his shoulders helplessly.

"Haha!"

When everyone saw Li Ze's expression, they all burst out laughing, and the atmosphere suddenly improved.

"You're right, I really shouldn't complain about the referee's blowing, I'll blow up that annoying spirit in the second half!"

Durant is no longer frustrated, Turtle is right, they did lose a lot of games before.

Because the winning streak in the opening game was too good, there was a problem with the mentality, and the away team was beaten continuously, and Durant gradually adjusted, and entering the playoffs is their real goal this season!

Coach Brooks also smiled with relief when he saw the situation in the locker room, and the midfield chicken soup was not needed.

At the beginning of the second half, the Thunder regained the vitality of the game, rushing to grab the frontcourt rebound if they couldn't shoot from the outside;

Unable to defend the inside, Li Ze, Turtle, and Durant increased their defensive oppression and tried to make it difficult for the Jazz to play the ball.

Kostic is no longer invisible, and although he is close to finishing under the basket, he can also get to the free throw line.

Helplessly, the hole dug in the first half was too big, and in the end, they chased the points with all their might, but still lost the game, 104-96, and the Jazz defeated the Thunder at home.

The fierce confrontation on the field, after the game, there was a group of harmony, and Li Ze gained a few more surface brothers, after all, they are all tired of logging!

Li Ze was 8 of 16 in this game, 1 of 3 3 points, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 23 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 turnovers in the whole game.

After the game, the Thunder flew back to Russia overnight, and after that, they will have five consecutive home games until mid-December, when they will leave for Memphis, and everyone can't wait to go home.

After getting off the plane, he said goodbye to his teammates briefly, Li Ze drove back home, and the away hotel was not as comfortable as his own mansion!

After a simple shower, Li Ze immediately collapsed on the soft and comfortable big bed and slowly fell asleep.

In the dream training space, Li Ze exhaled out of the control panel, and saw that there was no badge upgrade prompt on the achievement room, and couldn't help but sigh lightly:

"The upgrade speed is still so slow, the experience of each game is irregular, the bronze badge is okay, and the superstar is basically useless..."

Although there was no badge upgrade, Li Ze still entered the achievement room to check the experience of each badge, and when he saw that the experience of the [Defensive Core] badge had increased a lot, he was shocked:

"What's going on? Why did I have so little experience before, and only rose by 2 or 3 points each time? ”

Achievement Badge [Defensive Core]: 39/50

When this player is on the floor, he strengthens his teammates' defensive abilities.

Li Ze carefully recalled his own alignment in the recent game, and found that it was still the same as before, there was not much difference, even if it was against Kobe, the experience was only 3 points.

He hasn't changed, Li Ze thought back to his teammates, and when he suddenly thought of Ibaka, and then thought of the opponent's playing time in the last two games, he was overjoyed:

"It turns out that there is still this way of brushing experience, the [Defensive Core] can be brushed, and the [Organizational Core] should also be able to be brushed!"

Achievement Badge [Organization Core]: 29/50

When this player is on the floor, teammates gain offensive stat bonuses.

Seeing the badge description, the more Li Ze thought about it, the happier he became, and when he thought of Durant on the team, he couldn't help laughing, and said to himself:

"Strive for Durant to win the scoring title, for the sake of badge experience, you should be the tool man!"