The cruelty of competitive sports is that the vast majority of people only focus on the winner or the first place.

Many people may not like a sport, but they actually like to win, they like gold medals, and they like to see athletes they admire set unique records.

When the Thunder lost to the Suns, they lost the first place in the West and lost most of the media attention, because the 11-loss record shows that the Thunder cannot break the Bulls' regular season record of 72 wins this season.

The media has once again shifted their attention to the Lakers, who are discussing whether the Lakers have a chance to tie the Bulls' winning record and whether the Lakers can defend their title and win the championship this season.

Li Ze faced the Spurs' defense and scored 46 points efficiently, which only amazed the media, and then continued to discuss the competition between the Cavaliers and the Lakers, discussing 23 against 24, and discussing whether there will be a repeat of the yellow-green battle this season...

The record for the highest single-game scoring for a rookie in '09 is Jennings' 55 points, and the regular season three-point record is Kobe Bryant's and Marshall's 12 three-pointers in a single game.

Li Ze's score was not the highest, and the number of three-point shots hit did not reach the single-game record, so after the media sighed, they put this matter behind them.

However, the fans of the Russian City praised Li Ze wildly, with 20 shots and 46 points, which is better than Durant...

On the 27th, the Thunder team was on vacation to rest, and Li Ze simply had breakfast and began to surf the Internet with salted fish, and the continuous back-to-back games made him mentally extremely tired.

In the game with the Timberwolves, Li Ze even felt that he couldn't control his body perfectly, obviously he had abundant physical energy, but he couldn't make the expected movements, which also made him realize the limit of B+-level functional drinks.

However, the continuous competition also allowed Li Ze to gain a lot, and three more badges were upgraded to silver.

Achievement Badge [Slot Master]: 3/500

Improve the player's ability to block and reduce the physical exertion caused by movements.

Achievement Badge [Strong Pitcher]: 5/500

Unaffected by side defenders, reduces the impact of frontal defenders.

Achievement Badge [Perpetual Motion Defender]: 1/500

Reduces the loss of stamina from struggling to defend and reduces the physical exertion caused by movements.

[Strong Shooting Master] This badge has a great effect, it can be combined with any shooting badge to improve the hit rate of Li Ze's strong shot, and the other two badges are more of a defensive blessing for him, reducing physical exertion, and is very practical in fierce games.

Li Ze is currently almost a silver badge, and among the bronze badges, the two badges of [Leaning King] and [Circus Three Points] are not easy to upgrade.

After all, in the game, he relied more on step-back jumpers after shaking off the defense, and he rarely shot difficult three-point shots...

Just as Li Ze was thinking about how to paint the two badges in silver as well, Chapman's call arrived, and today was the day to meet with Keds, and he really didn't want his first-generation signature sneakers to become rubber-soled sneakers.

"Kayce, I'm here with Rick, and in five minutes, we'll be there."

Li Ze glanced at the time and found that it was not yet 9 o'clock, so he immediately responded with some surprise:

"So early, do you need to prepare a breakfast for you, have you brought your good friend into our camp too?"

"Forget about breakfast, Rick will be the new president of Kedsd, don't worry, he has worked in Converse for many years before, and his ability is absolutely not to say, we will meet and talk later."

Hearing the busy sound on the phone, Li Ze secretly pouted, Amika is the same, there are human relationships everywhere, and in the case of similar abilities, everyone still prefers to work with friends.

Five minutes later, Li Ze welcomed Chapman and his party to the mansion in the Russian city, and said with a sincere smile:

"Welcome, everyone, the house is a little shabby, after all, I am not in the city of Russia many times, I don't take good care of this house, just sit down, Chapman keeps mentioning you to me, Rick, you are younger than I thought!"

Rick Blake Shaw, who has been the vice president of Converse for many years, is mainly responsible for brand marketing, a typical America white man, with short brown hair and bright eyes, it can be seen that the other party must have been exercising regularly, and his body does not look like a 43-year-old person at all.

The designers and staff of Keds were a little speechless when they heard Li Ze's words, is this house also called shabby...

When Rick saw Li Ze, he immediately smiled and greeted, after all, this person in front of him is the real big financier, and for the sake of the face of the beautiful knife, he must be served.

"Kayce, it's great to meet you, to achieve this at the age of 20, you are really good, my daughter loves your songs very much, I personally appreciate your performance in the NBA, and you will definitely be like Michael Jordan in the future."

After the two exchanged business blows, they each sat down and began to formally discuss the direction of Keds' development.

"Kayce, I'll start with sneakers, Pro-Keds is Kedsd's sneaker brand, and after a glorious period in the 50s, the brand has completely become a niche streetwear brand."

"The patent has long expired, there is no technical reserve, we have discussed before, whether to restart the basketball shoe line, and now everyone wants to hear your opinion."

It's all their own people, Chapman went straight to the point, and said it simply and straightforwardly, which made the Keds staff a little embarrassed, after all, they did behave too much after the new century.

"I think it's about profitability right now, and I've learned about some simple patented technologies about sneaker technology."

"To put it simply, I tend to integrate the weaving technology for the upper, and for the sole, I can only take the joint research and development route, which you are more professional than me."

"If you want to make money, you still have to rely on Taylor, originally Keds is mainly targeting the female market, we may be able to continue this strategy, change the publicity channel, and do a few more activities, Amerika always likes retro nostalgia, and the purchasing power of fans must be considerable."

Li Ze generally understands the style and development direction of sneakers in the future, but the specific patented technology, this is his blind spot, as for Keds' canvas shoes, this thing has to cut leeks, and the canvas shoes themselves are not expensive, if you want to pay a premium, you can only sell them to fans...

"One-piece weaving? It is indeed a good direction, with low cost, less manual intervention, and more reliance on machine program weaving, and Nike, Adidas, and PUMA have all increased their research and development efforts in this regard. ”

"Nike knows that Adidas is jointly developing a technology with BASF, and maybe PUMA is also involved, but we definitely can't get along with each other, German companies, we don't have this channel."

Rick has been the president of Converse for several years, so he naturally has his own news channels, and after hearing Li Ze's words, he was a little surprised in his heart, this young man was really prepared.

"Maybe we can also do joint research and development with local chemical companies, which is also a good gimmick, well... Dow Chemical, although I don't have an acquaintance, it shouldn't be a problem to get in touch. ”

After Li Ze heard Chapman's words, a word suddenly popped out of the memory in his mind, foam material, and he suddenly understood in his heart that this was potential memory information, and there should be a market for this thing in the future.

"OK, try to get in touch with the other party, maybe we can develop a foam material, anyway, we pay for it, Dow Chemical should not refuse to send a knife to the door."

"As for Keds' collection of espadrilles, let Taylor choose his own colors and styles, and fans will pay for it."

"By the way, let Instagram help with publicity, we are also a small shareholder, the advertising fee is normal, their recent user growth has exploded, young people like to look at pictures, remember to refine after taking photos, I think everyone will like to look at long-legged blonde beauties."

After Li Ze finished talking about IG, everyone present had a confused expression, it was obvious that everyone couldn't keep up with the trend of the times, or Chapman suddenly thought that IG was a small Internet company that he had invested in before, and he had been complaining about losing money.

"Is that company's product really used by users? God, I really can't keep up with the thinking of young people, but it's a good idea. ”

"Rick has a wealth of experience in offline activities, coupled with the publicity of the Internet, Taylor's endorsement, and profitability may not be a problem."

Chapman is very confident in this, the purchasing power of female fans is absolutely super strong, in addition to the basic model, you can also add a co-branded model, fancy cutting leeks, which he is best at.

"If you really take the route of joint research and development, the company's profits in the early stage may be invested, and the basketball shoe plan will be postponed, Kayce, do you accept such a result? R&D may take two or three years. ”

Rick reminded Li Zelai that it is not so simple to develop a material.

"Haha, don't worry, I can still afford to wait for two or three years, not to mention, it doesn't involve mass production, I can try on some experimental products in advance, which can be regarded as a warm-up for sneakers."

Li Ze plans to officially launch his first-generation signature sneakers after ending his rookie contract, and he can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, so he has made the general direction clear, and the research and development progress should not be slow.

"Then we'll make up our minds, and we'll plan it as soon as we get back, and I can't wait to see Keds re-emerge."

Chapman saw that Li Ze was satisfied, and immediately knew that this matter was basically done, and the next thing was to discuss some of Li Ze's personal canvas shoe color and style issues, and the staff of Keds finally came in handy.

Watching everyone discuss the future of the company, Li Ze always felt that he had inadvertently borrowed the development route of a certain brand, and after not remembering the exact name, he left this idea behind, and thought beautifully in his heart:

"It doesn't matter about the butterfly effect, the most important thing is to make money first!"

......

On February 28, the last day of February, the Thunder will host the Toronto Dragons, DeRozan also followed the team to the Russian City, and Li Ze also entertained the good brother who had known each other in high school.

In the private restaurant in Russia, Li Ze looked at DeRozan in front of him wearing a black hoodie, and couldn't help but tease:

"Are the fans in Canada enthusiastic? I remember you had a bitter look on your face after being chosen, and now it seems that you are doing well! ”

"It's a bit far from home, but I can start in the Menglong team, and I still have a regular playing time, as a rookie, I'm really satisfied, and the fans of Menglong are really enthusiastic."

DeRozan said that he had a good life, with a starting position, at least more than 20 minutes of playing time per game, and compared to other rookies in the same class, he still feels very lucky.

"Your team is almost an international league, and there are not many local players in the United States, it seems that you get along very well, but you should also add some three-point shooting, Harden's suggestion is right, and the three-point shot will definitely come in handy in the future."

Li Ze took the opportunity to make a suggestion, he really hopes that DeRozan can be well-rounded, and the lack of outside long-range shooting is too fatal.

"I may not really have a talent for long-range shooting, obviously I have practiced a lot, but the effect is still very poor, the trainer suggested that I modify the shooting power mode, but this will have to wait until the offseason, I really envy you and Harden's hand."

mentioned the three-point shot, DeRozan immediately complained, in high school, he was abused enough by the combination of Li Ze and Kelai, and he didn't win a game, which he and his good brother Harden had the same disease...

"You don't have to worry, shoot this thing, keep up the amount of training, it will always work, next year's All-Star, will you still participate in the slam dunk contest?"

"Forget it, I always feel a little embarrassed about this game, it's good to experience it once, and seriously, there are really fewer and fewer innovative dunk moves, and after every All-Star Weekend, fans will always be the first to complain about the dunk contest."

DeRozan heard Li Ze's inquiry, and immediately began to pour bitter water, after he participated in the slam dunk contest, he was scolded by many fans, and even some ball critics were constantly ridiculing him...

"Haha, Bro, just be happy, and watch less of the news in the media."

After a break from the holidays, the Thunder team finally returned to full energy, and with a month and a half left to go before the regular season ended, Coach Brooks decided to start practicing the team's defensive tactics.

"At the beginning of this game, we will defend a 23-team, Kevin, on the defensive end, you have to pay attention to the transfer of the opponent's ball, pay attention to the three-point shooting of Siddo Turkoglou, and communicate in a timely manner."

"The defense on the line, you don't need to be too big, the outside shooting rate of the Menglong team is not high, Russell, you must pay attention to this, Kayce, remind him after going to bed, everyone protect their own areas and echo each other."

Turtle Turtle has a sad face, he still prefers to mark man defense, Jeff Green is overjoyed in his heart, is this the power of the transfer charm? Originally, he was still worried about the Menglong team's low-post attack, but after defending the joint defense, his pressure will be much less.

Due to the existence of three seconds of defense, the Thunder's 23 joint defense is more like a 212 placeholder, and everyone needs to judge the form on the court in order to successfully complete the joint defense.

"Guys, try to win this game and end our February journey perfectly."

"Yay! Come on! ”

The Dragons currently have a 31-26 record and are temporarily in eighth place in the East, but the Bulls are only one win away from them in ninth place, so this game, coach Jane Triano is still expecting the team to win.

In the away dressing room, the Criano coach once again emphasized the tactical style of play.

"Jack, don't follow the rhythm of the opponent, we have to slow down the attack, give the ball to Banyani and play to our inside advantage."

"The ball must be moving, be patient in attacking, go in and out, and shoot decisively when you have the opportunity on the outside."

"Pay attention to the defense against Lee, he's been in great form lately, DeRozan, watch his left hand, don't forget the defensive strategy."

"I'll pay attention, Coach!"

Before the game, the home commentator Twin also announced the results of the fans' vote for the playoffs cheering T-shirts, and the simple OKC letter print received the highest votes, and there was naturally not much suspense in terms of color, and the blue and white colors still stood out.

"The February season is coming to an end, and maybe the day after tomorrow we'll be at home to see Kevin and Kayce win the Month award, so it's been an incredible season and we're going to start preparing for the playoffs!"

"The starting five of the Menglong team are: Jarrett Jack, Demar DeRozan, Hido Turkoglou, Andrea Banyani and Rasu Nesterovic, and the regular rotation, two big men over 2.10m, will test our interior defense."

"Hopefully the lads have fully recovered from the back-to-back games and the game starts right away!"

Because Li Ze scored 46 points, many Russian City fans have discussed on Reddit the question of who is stronger Li Ze or Durant.

For this kind of topic, of course, Durant has to strike hard, taking advantage of the two days of rest, he surfed the Internet with high intensity, and through the cooperation of his own discussion group, he easily defeated many opponents on Reddit and retained the title of KD's strongest...

In the final warm-up before the game, Durant was also in a happy mood, watching his brother Jeff Green striking iron in Bangbang again, and immediately said with a smile:

"Green, shoot a few fewer balls before the game, calm down during the game, don't worry, I'll find you, and remember to throw away your broken talisman quickly!"

"Thanks, Bro, but I feel like the transporter still has some effect, and against the Spurs, you and Kayce are very accurate in shooting, and this transporter may have helped a lot."

Durant doesn't think that he relied on a broken note to score 32 points, and he can only helplessly answer to Jeff Green's persistence:

"After defending the joint defense, your defensive pressure will be much less, your physical condition will also improve, and the three-point shooting rate will definitely rise, come on!"

At this point, the referee motioned for Kostic and Nesterovic to come to the center circle, and the two bent their knees and prepared to jump the ball.

"At the start of the game, Nesterovic jumped to the ball for the Menglong team, oh! In this game, the boys opened the game and defended a position similar to that of a joint defense. ”

At this time, Li Ze and Turtle were standing in the elbow area on either side of the free throw line, Durant was loitering on Tekoglu's side, and Jeff Green and Kostic were sinking in the paint area near the baseline.

This kind of joint defense is actually very easy to crack, as long as you move the ball fast enough, the outside shot is accurate enough, or let the big man come to the free throw line to respond, it can produce good results, and even the transfer of the strong and weak sides will also form a local 2 to 1.

In this case, Jack immediately began to call his teammates to transfer the ball and mobilize the Thunder's defense, but unfortunately DeRozan's outside line was let go by Li Ze, and the opportunity came out, but DeRozan did not project...

Seeing that the situation was not good, Banjani quickly mentioned the ball near the free throw line, and at the same time, Nesterovic also moved to the basket to take Durant's attention away, and saw that Turkoglu had an opportunity, and Banjani quickly passed the ball to the opponent.

After the latter received the ball, he did not hesitate and immediately made a jump shot.

"Bang...", he was angry.

As soon as the rebound popped up, Jeff Green stuck Banyani in advance, Li Ze instantly retracted, plus Kostic and Durant under the basket, the three of them grabbed a rebound easily, and they caught it easily.

After Li Ze controlled the rebound, he threw the ball directly to the front court, and after the turtle chased the ball, he rushed up in three steps, and easily dunked with one arm!

"Bang...", the hand that converts the offensive dunk.

This is a game strategy of the Thunder team, to protect the rebounding ball with all their might, put the opponent's outside line first, and once the opponent can't shoot, they will stick to such a defensive strategy, and the first round will work well.

"Ahh

”

The crowd at Ford Center immediately cheered for Turtle's dunk.

When the Menglong team attacked again, the Thunder still maintained the 23-defensive position, and Jack motioned to Banyani to lift the pick-and-roll, but found that he was covered by Li Ze and Jeff Green after the block.

Noticing that DeRozan on the other side was empty, he immediately passed the ball to the opponent's hand, and after DeRozan received the ball, he immediately dribbled forward, delaying this time, Li Ze's defense also bounced out, and successfully interfered with DeRozan's mid-range jumper.

"Bang...", another iron.

The rebound was protected by Jeff Green, who noticed that the Dragons had quickly retreated, and the turtle after receiving the ball slowly dribbled across the half court and made a tactical gesture.

On the line of the cross-cut tactic of double cover, Li Ze successfully received a pass from the turtle at 45 degrees on the left side outside the three-point line, and the defense of the Menglong team directly chose to change the defense, and Banyani followed in time.

After receiving the ball, Li Ze did not deliberately lower his center of gravity, crossed the dribble and pulled back, quickly dribbled behind his back with his right hand, raised his head slightly, and made a feint of worshipping Buddha, which made Baniani's defensive center of gravity immediately move forward.

Noticing the defender's movements, Li Ze quickly stepped down and changed direction, accelerated the breakthrough with the ball in his right hand, and after dribbling a big step, he made a quick stop jump shot in the left elbow area of the free throw line.

"Whew...", an easy goal from the middle distance.

"Poor Banyani, he seems to have been shaken into a stake by Kayce, but he is really not to blame, and it is difficult to guess his attacking options against a player with a balanced left and right hand."

The home commentator Tewyn teased Banjani, who defended Li Ze.

This round is also the epitome of the Thunder's offense throughout the game, whether it is a single defense or a change of defense, the defense of the Menglong team has never been able to limit the outside of the Thunder team, and on the offensive end, several outside projection opportunities have not been able to grasp it.

After only playing more than 6 minutes in the opening game, relying on the turtle's transition offense and Li Ze and Durant's outside projection, the Thunder easily led by 9 points at 17:8.

The Menglong team's scoring is all scored by relying on the strong attack under the basket, and the outside line is simply iron...

DeRozan is also extremely depressed, Li Ze knows his playing habits too well, the two are almost the same in height and weight, but DeRozan's left hand is simply weaker than Li Ze, and he is completely restricted by Li Ze.

Coach Triano naturally knew what the problem was, and after the timeout, he replaced DeRozan with Jose Callelon, who has the ability to shoot, and the offensive end was just improving, but he soon found that there was something wrong with this substitution.

When Li Ze faced a defender who was shorter than him, he began to turn his back to the position, and after the [Card Master] was upgraded, the physical strength consumed when he was entangled by the defense in the low position was reduced, and Li Ze's strength and movements became easier.

After receiving the ball at the waist position with his back to his back, Li Ze quickly leaned back, put the ball with his right hand, and used his body and strength to hit twice, and then quickly turned over and jumped back.

The two-point ball hollowed into the net.

After the goal, Li Zi was calm on the surface, but he smiled in his heart, he planned to brush the [Backward King] badge to silver in the rest of the regular season, and at this time, he had to use a backward jumper.

"Wonderful step-back jumper! Charles Barkley finally made the right point, Kayce is Tim Duncan on the back line, he has all the offensive skills and no shortcomings! The only thing missing is the game experience. ”

Commentator Twin finished blowing Durant and continued to blow Li Ze, blowing more and more, and he couldn't stop at all...

By the end of the first quarter, at 22:37, DeRozan, who was sitting on the bench, was already desperate, the gap was too big, the Thunder and some teams in the East were completely incomparable, and the strength was not on the same level.

Li Ze made all 5 shots, 10 points in a single quarter, plus Durant with 6 shots, the two easily scored 22 points.

At the intermission, Turtle and Jeff Green were also in a good mood, the former was a switch, and the offense was cool, and the latter threw in an open three-pointer, downwind, and the two were in a good state!

Coach Brooks is also very satisfied with the team's performance, but the joint defense thing still needs to be practiced.

"Yinbaka, when you get on the pitch, pay attention to your teammates in time, you will be the core of the defense in this lineup, you must bring what you have in training to the game, it can also help you practice your English."

"I'm fine, coach, I'm already able to communicate normally in English."

Yin Baka quickly signaled that he was ready, and as a rookie, he naturally cherished every opportunity to play.

"Take it easy, Bro, you're an absolute genius on the defensive end, trust your feelings."

Li Ze also patted Yin Baka's shoulder, the [Defensive Core] badge has always relied on Yin Baka's experience to gain experience, and it is the fastest increase in experience among all badges, which is enough to show Yin Baka's progress.

After the start of the second quarter, Li Ze led the Thunder's bench lineup, and the defensive end still maintained 23 joint defense, and the Menglong team had opportunities on the outside, but the three-point shot was still iron, and after the Thunder team played a few conversion offenses, the point difference was further widened.

Yin Baka's almost created a no-fly zone in the penalty area, and his excellent traverse speed, combined with good bounces, sent four big hats in the second quarter, which made the fans scream again and again.

At the end of the half, at 52:73, the Thunder had extended their lead to 21 points, and the second half of the game officially entered garbage time.

Li Ze, who clocked in in the third quarter, efficiently bargained for 24 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and he could feel that with the badge fully upgraded to silver, he seemed to get rid of the state of a seriously bankrupt version of Jordan.

In the 4th quarter of the game, Li Ze sat on the bench, watching Durant and Turtle still struggling on the court to score points, and couldn't help but sigh:

"Maybe after this season, media reporters and ball critics will complain that Durant, the scoring champion, is a bit too wet..."

At 99:120, the Thunder team once again showed their terrifying firepower, easily defeating the Menglong team at home, and perfectly ended the journey in February.

After the game, Li Ze saw DeRozan, who was a little lost, gently patted the other party's shoulder, and comforted in a low voice:

"Rookie players always have to go through failures, losing is the best way to grow, Bro, remember to practice your three-point shooting in the offseason!"

After DeRozan heard Li Ze's words, he was even more depressed, damn it, let him pretend to be it again!

"I see, it's just that after losing to you, the Bulls are catching up, hey, I'm starting to worry about the playoffs."

Li Ze and DeRozan exchanged pleasantries for a long time, and finally hugged and greeted each other, and each walked back to the players' tunnel.

On March 1, the NBA league announced the list of Player of the Month winners, the Thunder achieved a 9-2 record in February, Durant averaged 31.2 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists per game and was re-elected as the Western Player of the Month award, and the Eastern Conference winner was LeBron James.

Li Ze also continued to win the Rookie of the Month award with an average of 24.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.

At noon on March 2, Li Ze entertained Harden, a bearded golfer who came to play away, at his home in Russia, and when he saw the other party's haggard appearance, he couldn't help but say with concern:

"You don't have to rush to practice three-point shots, and now the coach doesn't allow you to shoot three-pointers at will, so give priority to polishing your ball control skills, don't push yourself too hard!"

"Last night's girl was indeed a little different, what's wrong Kayce, why are you looking at me so weirdly?"

Li Ze was speechless for a moment, he thought that Harden would start to practice his three-point shooting after the All-Star weekend, but he didn't expect this guy to return to his true nature, it seems that the Kings' bad plan has really affected him.

"You better pay attention to your body first, it's really not good to change your taste, I hope you don't have soft feet in tonight's game..."

"It's all about losing anyway, I'm a little used to it, thank you, Bro, I know you care about me, this year's birthday, I'll give you a big gift, after all, I'm also a million-dollar person!"

Harden grabbed the Taco on the table and began to eat, last night's physical consumption was huge, and he had to replenish it at this time.

"Haha, after deducting taxes, you don't have much money left, let's just have a big party then, and by the way, call Kelai."

"It's like going back to high school, and life in the NBA is not as exciting as I imagined!"

On the evening of March 2, Harden witnessed the scene of Li Ze and Durant winning the monthly award at the Ford Center Arena, and felt the tsunami-like cheers on the scene, and the bearded golfer showed envious eyes.

As the penultimate in the West, the Kings have a 20-39 record, and this season is for Harden to practice, by the way, to save up character and strive to draw a good pick.

With the blessing of the hot atmosphere at home, the Kings collapsed directly in the first quarter of the game, and at 20:36, the Kings players stopped playing directly, and they completely opened...

In the end, 97:113, the Thunder defeated the Kings at home, and Harden performed well, although the shooting percentage was lower, but he still got 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 turnovers.

Li Ze continued to punch in the third quarter, with a mediocre 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, such a game is just a shooting training game for him.

After the game, Harden didn't feel too much frustration, and pulled Li Ze to whisper:

"I've found a venue that suits us, and next time I'm in Sacramento, I'll take you to enjoy it."

"Blessed to share, good brother! ...”

On March 3, it was another back-to-back game, and the Thunder flew straight to Denver Plateau, where they will take on the Nuggets on the road.

The playoffs in the West have become clear, the Lakers and Thunder have a normal advantage, and if there are no big surprises, they will lock up the top two, while the teams in the 5th to 8th place will be very popular, and the difference between the wins is very small.

The Nuggets, who are in sixth place in the West, currently have a 40-20 record, just two wins behind the Jazz in fifth place.

In the final stages of the regular season, head coach George Karl also wanted to improve the team's record, being in the bottom half of the bracket without home-court advantage, which can be very fatal at some point in the playoffs.

Once you hit Tianwang Mountain, fighting at home and away from home is a completely different feeling, the atmosphere of the scene, the referee's blowing penalty, this is the advantage that the home field can bring.

Coach George Karl doesn't think the Nuggets will lose to the Thunder either, they reached the Western Conference Finals last year, and the team is full of seasoned veterans, so tonight's game will naturally be the team will go all out to win.

Before the game, in the Nuggets locker room, head coach George Carr told Chauncey Billups:

"If the opponent continues to defend the joint defense, Chaunse, there is an opportunity on the outside, you must make a decisive shot, and at the same time, increase some empty cuts on the bottom line, and you will control it yourself after you get on the field."

"Melo, let go of the attack, as in the previous encounters, we have to keep the rebounding rush, come on, boys, there are not many games, we have to try to finish in the top 4 and get home advantage."

"Whew!

”

Coach Brooks feels quite tricky in the face of an opponent like the Nuggets, and the Thunder are currently afraid of a team full of vitality on the inside, once they can't quickly protect the backcourt rebound, the Thunder will lose the transition offense...

Coupled with the opponent's offense, it relies more on Carmelo Anthony's personal ability, which makes the Thunder's defense also very uncomfortable, after all, in the case of single defense, it is difficult for the Thunder's outside to limit Anthony's play.

The outcome of the game is more about the feel of the star players on both sides and the competition for rebounding.

In the pre-game locker room, Coach Brooks was also emphasizing the tactical strategy of the game, which should be the strategy of defending Anthony to be precise.

"Kevin, communicate with everyone on the court in a timely manner, change the defense on the cover, rotate quickly, no matter who defends Anthony, try to give the opponent's left hand, drive him to the inside line, and wrap it in time."

"Rebounding, you must protect the backcourt rebounds, Kayce, Russell, you two also have to rush to grab rebounds in time."

"Last but not least, make sure you're healthy, and in the last month and a half, I don't want to see injuries in the team, come on!"

"Yay!

”

If you want to talk about joint defense, head coach George Karl played the joint defense tricks when he coached the Seattle SuperSonics in the 90s, and the top teams at that time would exploit the loopholes in the rules.

The Thunder didn't take a joint defense in this game, after all, the Nuggets have Chauncey Billups, Avralo, Carmelo Anthony on the outside, and JR Smith on the bench.

Returning to the traditional man-to-man defense, after the opening, the Thunder were a little passive, due to the home game, the Nuggets played fiercely in this game, and Carmelo Anthony was in a burst of form.

The Nuggets attacked, Anthony asked for the ball directly in the low post, faced Durant's defense, and made a dry pull-up jumper after a tentative step.

"Whew...", a steady hit from mid-range.

The Thunder quickly sent out the baseline ball, and the turtle quickly used half court to immediately pass the ball to Durant, who was covering, and faced Kenyon Martin, who switched defenses, and after breaking through with a cross step, he made a stop-and-go jump shot.

The two-point ball hollowed into the net.

Billups quickly used half court, at the top of the arc outside the three-point line, and played a block with Nenen, dismantled the moment, hit the ground and passed to Nene, who received the ball, dribbled a step and carried away the defending Kostic, and hit a right-handed throw.

The Thunder attacked, Li Ze and Jeff Green made a cross cover on the baseline, Li Ze quickly came to the low post to ask for the ball, and when Li Ze received the turtle pass, Avralo's defense was also in place, and he was dead against Li Ze behind him.

Li Ze leaned back, his right hand suddenly dribbled behind his back, and after quickly closing the ball, he turned around and threw a jump shot.

"Whew...", a steady hit from mid-range.

"Shh

The home crowd immediately booed Li Ze, they didn't want to see such fancy goals from the visiting players.

In the first quarter, both sides played at a fast pace on offense, and the scores alternated leads, and at 30:32, the Thunder temporarily trailed by two points after playing the first quarter.

Coach Brooks was also pleased with the performance of his players, although there was no chance to switch offense, but the backcourt rebounding was very well protected, and he felt that there was still hope for a victory in this game.

After the start of the second quarter, Coach George Carr directly used Nene and Anderson on the inside, and as soon as these two energetic interior players came on the court, the situation between the two sides immediately changed.

The combination of Jeff Green and Yoon Baka gradually lost control of the backcourt rebounds, and that situation still hasn't changed much since Brooks was replaced by Collison as head coach.

Under the referee's relaxed punishment, the Thunder's backcourt rebounds were snatched up in the second quarter, and Coach George Carr's simple and crude shooting tactics once again worked wonders.

At the end of the half, at 57:64, the Thunder trailed by 7 points, and Durant didn't have much effect even if he turned on the Golden Wheel Law King mode, after all, Carmelo Anthony also had a whistle on his home court...

The third quarter of the game is almost a copy of the second quarter, the crazy Anthony will throw himself and grab himself, coupled with the various disturbances between Nene and Anderson, the Thunder team completely lost the rhythm of the game and was beaten by the opponent.

The counterattack in the fourth quarter was also unsuccessful, and under the opponent's high-intensity defense, the Thunder's outside shooting rate began to decline, and finally, 99:119, the Thunder lost to the Nuggets on the road.

Carmelo Anthony, who had 34 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the game, smiled and won this game to close the gap with the previous team.

After the loss, Durant turned around and left, he didn't want to

to Anthony's smiling face after winning, the opponent frantically cut points under his defense, which also made Durant feel a little uncomfortable, it is indeed too difficult to integrate offense and defense!

Li Ze did not leave the field directly, but sat on the bench, looking at the data in front of him in a daze, feeling a little helpless:

"The rebounds are 8 points behind, and the opponent has converted almost every second rebound into a score, and hopefully the Nuggets won't meet in the playoffs..."