On January 19th, the Thunder departed for Denver and tonight they will travel to take on the Nuggets, and unlike the previous Christmas game, Carmelo Anthony has returned from injury and the Nuggets' record has improved.

And as the trade deadline approaches, the Thunder's somewhat turbulent locker room has gradually calmed down, and since it can't change the facts, it can only be passively accepted, whether it's Jeff Green or Kostic, both are ready.

The player's priority is to play to make money, as long as he can sign a big contract, sometimes it doesn't matter where he plays, and although Jeff Green is reluctant to leave the Thunder, he can't change Presti's mind.

In order to enjoy the last days with the Thunder, Jeff Green has also been particularly involved in recent games, although Li Ze does not want Jeff Green to leave the team, but as a second-year rookie, he really can't interfere in the transaction.

Players participating in transactions is also a taboo in the NBA league, no one likes to share their rights with others, and Presti is no exception, so Li Ze can only silently wish Jeff Green all the best in the future.

In the evening, the Denver Best Center Arena was full again, and although fans didn't like Anthony's commotion and thought he was betraying the team, as long as Anthony returned to play, most Denver fans would still buy tickets to support him.

At present, Carmelo Anthony has not become the essence of human jumpers because of consecutive injuries, and the overall style of play is still relatively strong, but at the end of the first quarter of the game, Anthony was a little embarrassed, 1 of 5 in a single quarter, and only scored 5 points with three free throws.

Coach George Carr was very satisfied with the team's performance, although the shooting percentage was average, but the aggressiveness was full, and the coaching staff completed the tactical arrangements arranged before the game, and successfully made the two interior players of the Thunder team receive two fouls.

27:24, in the first quarter of the game, due to the frequent free throw lines of both sides, the offensive rhythm on the court was blown sparsely by the referee, Li Ze's play was not greatly affected, 3 of 4 in a single quarter, and easily got 6 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

At the intermission, although Li Ze was a little worried about the team's foul danger, but he was powerless to change the matter, playing away, naturally had to face some home whistles, the Nuggets team was obviously very well prepared, Nene Hilario and Kenyon Martin attacked and defended, helping the team bite the score.

Coach George Carr made bold moves in the second quarter of the rotation, sending in Ty Lawson and J.R. Smith in the backcourt, Carmelo Anthony and Al Harrington up front, and Nene Hilario in center.

There may be some problems at the back, but this squad is full of attacking attributes, and Al Harrington plays the No. 4 position, which can open up offensive space for the team, and at home, coach George Karl will certainly have to go all out to win.

Rotating the lineup, Li Ze played to the No. 1 position again, the Thunder took the lead in attacking, just after dribbling to the half, JR Smith's defense was pasted, Li Ze played an offensive gesture to his teammates, and protected the ball with his back at the top of the arc outside the three-point line.

Li Ze held the ball in his left hand, suddenly raised his body's center of gravity, pretended to pull the ball back, quickly adjusted his pace, lowered his body's center of gravity at the same time, and accelerated his breakthrough with the ball in his left hand.

At the moment when JR Smith was on the defense again, Li Ze accelerated with all his strength with the ball in his right hand, easily passed the opponent's defense, and noticed that Al Harrington and Nene contracted the defense at the same time, Li Ze easily passed the ball to Collison, who received the ball and ate the cake under the basket successfully.

"Shh

There were bursts of boos in the arena of the Denver Best Center, obviously Li Ze had some fancy passing moves, which still angered the Nuggets fans on the scene, Li Ze completely ignored the voice in his ears, and when he retreated, he loudly told his teammates:

"Watch the number of fouls, Serge, and watch the physical contact under the basket."

Through the observation of a quarter of the game, Li Ze realized that the Nuggets just wanted to use the home court advantage to knock out the Thunder's interior, but this tactical play is really effective, not only can disrupt the Thunder's offensive rhythm, but also enter the state of adding penalties in advance, Carmelo Anthony has a star whistle!

Ty Lawson dribbled through the half, quickly fed the ball to Carmelo Anthony on the right side, and in the face of Jeff Green's defense, Anthony made his signature move, three threats and two quick tentative steps in succession, shaking off Jeff Green's defensive focus.

Then he accelerated the breakthrough with the ball in his right hand, easily carried Jeff Green away with his body, and rushed directly into the paint area with a big jump, against Collisson's block, and directly strengthened under the basket.

"Squeak!"

"Bang! Hmm..."

The whistle scored the ball, Anthony successfully scored 2+1, scored this goal, Anthony also breathed a sigh of relief, after all, the first quarter was too iron, after the second quarter came on the court, he immediately changed the way of attacking, and the effect is good so far.

Anthony's free throw hit steadily, and the Denver Best Center Arena immediately erupted in huge cheers, the core players' offense turned on, and the Nuggets fans were also in high spirits, following the DJ on the scene to cheer loudly for the home team's defense:

“Defense！ Defense！ Defense！ ”

After Li Zeyun passed half the court, JR-Smith honestly stepped on the three-point line, no longer defending, just staring at Li Ze tightly, making offensive gestures, signaling Ibaka and Collison to continue to stay at the baseline position.

At the top of the arc, Li Ze dribbled under his crotch continuously, suddenly lowered his body's center of gravity, accelerated his breakthrough with the ball in his right hand, just dribbled past the three-point line, dribbled back with a cross step, paused to break through on the left side with his left hand, and then changed direction under his hip in an instant, and accelerated again with the ball in his right hand.

Ellington and Nene were speechless for a moment, and JR-Smith's defense was easily broken through by Li Ze, the two just wanted to move, but found that Li Ze flicked his wrist and sent a pass, and when they reacted, the ball had bounced back into Li Ze's hand, and he leaned back slightly in the middle distance, and made an easy jump shot.

The two-pointer was easily scored.

"Li Ze's goal is so beautiful! The continuous change of direction on the line, the feint action of hitting the ground pass, shaking off the two interior players again, one offensive round, easily passing the three, really amazing! ”

In the Celestial Empire on the other side of the ocean, in the Sina studio, guest Yang Yi saw Li Ze complete the goal, and immediately started blowing excitedly, and repeatedly introduced Li Ze's ball control skills, and waited until the Nuggets scored two points, and the host Ke Xiaofan whispered:

"Good shot! Two points from Nene! ”

After quickly sending the baseline ball, this time Li Ze passed the half, quickly played pistol tactics with Sovrosa on the line, and gave the ball directly to the opponent in the half, and then Li Ze pretended to take over the hand-handed pass, and at the same time Ibaka raised the cover, Li Ze's actions attracted the defensive attention of the Nuggets.

Soflosa took the opportunity to quickly release the ball, cut directly to the inside, and faced Nen's help defense and made a tough layup.

"Smack!"

"Squeak!"

The referee blew the whistle and whistled for a foul on Nene and Sovrosa was awarded two free throws, and Coach George Carr was pleased with his team's defence, constantly reminding his players to stay focused.

Sofrosa hit two free throws, and after the Nuggets quickly sent the baseline ball, Carmelo Anthony began to ask for the ball in the left blocking area, and after receiving the ball, he simply and rudely broke through, carried Jeff Green, and hit a mid-range step-back jumper.

Seeing the Nuggets' offense score again, Coach Brooks couldn't help frowning, the opponent's star players have found their touch, the Thunder's interior is a little relaxed, once the opponent overtakes the score, it will be difficult to play back.

Fortunately, Li Ze still firmly controls the offensive rhythm next, and the game strategy formulated by the coaching staff before the game is not to give the Nuggets a chance to easily counterattack, the offensive rhythm of both teams is not fast, but the shooting rate is very high, and when Li Ze rotates off the court, the Thunder still maintain a three-point lead.

In the second half of the second quarter, the situation changed abruptly, and after the rotation on the court, Turtle and Durant hit iron for two consecutive rounds, but Ty Lawson easily seized the opportunity to counterattack and successfully overtook the score.

This rookie in the same class as Li Ze has also successfully gained a foothold in the Nuggets, and his skillful dribbling ability and excellent speed have been recognized by the Nuggets coaching staff, and the starting position is just around the corner.

After that, the scores of the two teams began to alternate leads, and at halftime, at 55:56, the Nuggets managed to take a one-point lead.

"The game is full of physical confrontation, this is the home court of the Nuggets, although Carmelo Anthony seems to have made up his mind, but this attitude of playing is absolutely not to say, the Thunder want to win this game is a little difficult, you have to be tough inside, you can't always let Anthony rush in and score two points."

At halftime, guest Yang Yi also praised the way the Nuggets played, and the host Ke Xiaofan took a look at the technical statistics, and then said with a smile:

"Li Ze's play is no problem, the Nuggets' guard line really can't put pressure on him, and he scored 14 points at halftime, in fact, after so many Thunder games, I always feel that Li Ze's scoring is getting easier and easier, I really feel it!"

When Yang Yi heard the host Ke Xiaofan's words, he also smiled, and immediately said:

"This is really not your illusion, let's think about it, Li Ze is currently averaging 28.3 points per game, and it is of course normal to score 14 points in the half, and even I think that if the Thunder team designs more tactics for Li Ze, it will be no problem to average 30 points per game! The size of the striker, the flexibility of the defender, this is really impossible for the average team to defend! ”

"Haha, I completely agree with Mr. Yang's point of view, the goal highlights on our side are almost all arranged by Li Ze, and there are still a lot of wonderful goals that have not been cut in, our Sina netizens must take a look at the Li Ze collection carefully prepared by the director team, to ensure that it is wonderful!"

In the Sina studio, the two of them blew at Li Ze and sent a large amount of poisoned milk to the Thunder team, but halfway through the third quarter, the Thunder team was completely overturned...

Durant felt average today, and it was even more difficult to face Carmelo Anthony on the defensive end, and after the Thunder had two rounds of iron, Carmelo Anthony made a basket to grab the rebound in the frontcourt, scored a free throw, and completed this 2+1, and the Nuggets expanded the difference to 6 points.

In the Denver Best Center arena, Nuggets fans were particularly excited, leading by 6 points, and many people shouted excitedly, everyone knows that the Thunder team is the first in the league, and winning the first place is a thing worth celebrating!

"It's okay! Keep your focus, defend the next two rounds and we'll equalise! ”

Li Ze felt that his teammates were not in a high mood in the game, and while high-fived and encouraged, he cheered everyone loudly, he really didn't want to lose this game, the Spurs chased too closely behind, and Popovich's bad old man did have two hits.

In the next game, the two sides entered the response stage, the Thunder completed the offense, and the Nuggets responded immediately. Chauncey Billups was firmly in control of the Nuggets' offensive tempo, undisturbed by the Thunder, and the response phase continued into the fourth quarter.

With 1:08 left in the game, the Nuggets still firmly held a six-point lead, and Li Ze realized that as long as the opponent didn't make a mistake, the game was probably gone.

In the end, at 107:112, the Nuggets still won the game at home without danger and avenged the Christmas war.

Li Ze played almost the whole second half, and finally got 30 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 turnovers, while Durant was a little strained in this game, only scoring 22 points, plus Turtle's 21 points, the trio barely played steadily, but unfortunately the Thunder still lost.

After the game, the two sides simply shook hands, Carmelo Anthony was not interested in being a surface brother, the business blowing link was gone, Li Ze ranked first on the MVP candidate list, Durant also surpassed him in the third phase of the All-Star votes, jealousy separated the hostage wall, and Anthony was also sour...

Durant just returned to the Thunder's locker room, and when he saw his data, the corners of his mouth twitched, 6 of 18, 0 of 3 three-pointers, fortunately there is still a bit of a star whistle, otherwise it would be difficult to get 20 in this game.

Noticing that Li Ze was 10 of 19, 4 of 9 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and an efficient 30 points, Durant once again felt lemon in his heart, and complained loudly in his heart:

"Am I here to assist you? This kind of data is outrageous! ”

As soon as Li Ze returned to the locker room, he saw Durant sitting in his seat in a daze with technical statistics, thinking that the opponent was depressed after losing, and immediately comforted him:

"It's normal to play iron, it's not a big deal to lose, there is still half of the regular season, the Spurs can't always maintain a high winning rate, the opponent may have a rotation after the All-Star break, and then our chance will come!"

After losing, the turtle's mood was not affected in the slightest, and when he heard Li Ze's words, he also comforted:

"Don't worry, Kevin! It's just the regular season, even if it's in the playoffs, with Kayce here, if we don't feel good, we can do a good job of defense, and we can easily win! ”

As soon as Durant heard the words of the two, he was even more depressed, he really treated him like Pippen! complained frantically in his heart, but on the surface, he squeezed out a reluctant smile:

“... I'm fine! I have confidence in the team, we can definitely hold on to the first place! ”

The Thunder flew back to Russia overnight for everyone, and on the evening of the 22nd, they will face the Knicks at home, almost three days of rest, and the coaching staff generously gave the players a day off, so that everyone can spend more time with their families and relieve the fatigue of consecutive away games.

On the morning of the 20th, although he was on vacation, Li Ze's daily training had to continue, but what Li Ze was polishing was not his basketball skills, but his body itself.

Trainer Tony has readjusted his core strength training, and the first stage of this season's body coordination training has basically been completed, coupled with the flexibility training that has been maintained, Li Ze can clearly feel that his body is stronger after three exercises a week.

Although he seriously doubted that such a good training effect was due to the physical enhancement of the A-level functional drink, Li Ze insisted in his heart that it was all the result of his own efforts!

"Excellent! It seems that I am going to retract my previous conclusion, considering your age, I think your body is still not at the limit, and there is still room for growth in strength, maybe the kind of crushing breakthrough you are looking forward to can really be achieved in the future. ”

Trainer Tony hurriedly praised his big employer, rich and self-disciplined, such an employer is not easy to find.

"Kayce, it's a miracle that you didn't eat fat, but after the All-Star Game, we still have to adjust our diet, and before the All-Star Game, we have to have a detailed physical examination."

"Time flies so fast, the second season is also halfway through, we can still go to the Celestial Empire this offseason, I can't wait!"

Li Ze took a big sip of the prepared nutritious drink, and when he heard the discussion of the training team, he immediately said with a smile:

"When the time comes, I will take you to taste the real Celestial Empire food, although I have been in Amelika for a long time, I still prefer the food of the Celestial Empire, and I will have a simple ball control training in the afternoon, and I have some new experiences recently."

Losing did not affect Li Ze's badge experience, and after the last game, two more silver badges were successfully upgraded:

Achievement Badge [Ankle Pad]: 3/5000 (Champion Badge Bonus)

Reduces the chance of being shaken by a cross dribble, the chance of being shaken by a crotch dribble, and the chance of being shaken by a dribble from behind.

Achievement Badge [Dribble]: 6/5000 (Champion Badge Bonus)

Strengthen the ability to make rapid continuous dribbling movements, strengthen the ability to vigorously make continuous dribbling movements, and reduce the physical exertion caused by movements.

One offense and one defense and two badges have brought a lot of improvement to Li Ze's strength, especially the kind of ball sense bonus brought by the golden [dribbling hand], which helps him even more, and when dribbling, it even makes Li Ze feel like a ball player is one.

The three of Tony glanced at each other when they heard Li Ze's words, they could all see the surprise in each other's eyes, and when they thought of the surprise brought by Li Ze before, they immediately responded:

"It just so happens that we have also edited out the problems that occurred in the previous games, and we can watch the video first in the afternoon, so it is more targeted!"

“OK！ You have the final say! ”

On the night of the 22nd, the Ford Center Arena was full, although the last loss made the Thunder fall from the first position in the league, but the 35-7 record still made the Russian City fans very satisfied.

In addition, Li Ze and Durant have a high probability of getting the All-Star starting position this season, and the turtle turtle also has a great chance to enter the All-Star bench lineup, and the Thunder team has three All-Star players at once, which is really too luxurious for a small ball market!

Tonight's game is still a national live broadcast of NBATV, although the NBA official did not send a heavyweight commentary, but Li Ze is still very satisfied, if you want to gain popularity, you must first let the fans see your game, in this regard, this season's Thunder team is a salted fish turned over.

The last time the two teams met was at Madison Square Garden not long ago, and the trio put in an amazing offensive performance in that game, thanks to the media in New York, otherwise Li Ze's third phase of the All-Star vote might have been overtaken by Kobe.

In the tunnel of players, Stoudemire is cheering up the Knicks, and after the All-Star power forward arrives in New York, he naturally wants to prove himself, and more importantly, he really doesn't want to be killed by the Thunder this season.

When I thought that almost all of the Thunder trio were rookie players, I couldn't swallow this breath in my heart, and seeing that my teammates were looking at him, Stoudemire said passionately:

"Guys, I'll leave the inside offense to me, I'll blow them up completely, once the opponent is packed, the outside will shoot decisively when there is an opportunity, don't worry about rebounding, I'll dominate the box tonight!"

"Everybody be focused, we have to win tonight!"

Stoudemire was right, he did well in the first quarter, just like the last time, almost blowing up the Thunder's interior, especially with Raymond Felton's pick-and-roll offense, almost every time.

Although the Knicks are very vigorous on the offensive end, the defensive end is still a familiar taste, and Durant, who was in a slump in the last game, found the crosshairs again, and Li Ze can cause a huge cheer every time he attacks.

In the first quarter of the game, 7 minutes and 36 seconds, the Thunder attacked, Li Ze and Ibaka, who had just come off the bench, made a cross cover in the three-second zone, and then quickly popped out, and the left wing received a pass from the turtle outside the three-point line.

As soon as Landry Fields saw Li Ze receiving the ball, he immediately paid close attention to Li Ze's movements, Li Ze handled the ball very quickly, quickly lowered the center of gravity of his body after receiving the ball, broke through with his right hand, and pulled back his crotch sharply.

Landry Fields' defensive center subconsciously moved forward, and at this time, Li Ze made an extremely fancy turn with his left hand, and instantly made a strong dribble in place with his right hand, and then quickly in and out feigned a breakthrough.

Landry Fields was already stunned, and hurriedly slid backwards, at this time Li Ze easily pulled back again, closed the ball outside the three-point line, adjusted it slightly, and shot a three-point jumper in the open position.

The three-point shot hollowed into the net.

Twin, the home commentator, saw Landry Fields stunned not far in front of Li Ze, and immediately began to shout exaggeratedly:

"Oh! Who's going to save this lost kid, Kayce shook him stupid! Can he still recognize the direction now? Oh my God, what a wonderful dribble! ”

When the Ford Center Arena was pulled back from under Li Ze's crotch, it began to let out bursts of exclamations, and when the shaking was completed and the three points were hit, the fans of the Russian City were completely happy, and everyone began to shout excitedly!

Li Ze didn't celebrate too much, in his opinion, this is just a trivial matter, although only three actions were used, but the overall dribbling rhythm, the grasp of the breakthrough timing, and the super sense of control of the ball player made Li Ze very satisfied.

In the remaining minutes, the two sides continued to attack the battle, and at the end of the first quarter, at 30:31, the Thunder led by one point.

In the second quarter, head coach D'Antoni made a change in the backcourt combination, with Tony Douglas and Bill Walker coming on, Ronnie Turyaf replacing Stoudemire, and Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler continuing to play.

Coach D'Antoni also learned the lesson of the last game, this set of rotation lineup, almost all of which is forward, the purpose is to directly change the defense when encountering the block, so as to limit Li Ze's play.

The idea is good, but the reality is that Li Ze doesn't need to block and dismantle at all, no matter who he encounters in defense, he can easily shake through.

The Thunder took the lead in attacking, and Bill Walker kept an eye on Li Ze's every move from the moment Li Ze passed half court, and Li Ze didn't care about the defender in front of him at all.

At the top of the arc, in the absence of confrontation, Li Ze held the ball in his left hand, quickly lowered the center of gravity of his body, and then made a confusing shaking of his body to the left, pretending to break through with the ball in his left hand, and then changed direction in front of his body with a large amount of force, exerting force under his feet, and accelerating the breakthrough with the ball in his right hand.

Bill Walker just slid to the left, and then it didn't feel right, and his body subconsciously wanted to stick to the right, and the contradictory thoughts of his brain were reflected in his body that he fell directly to the ground, like a stake, and fell to the ground with a bang...

Bill Walker, who was lying on the ground, had only one thought in his heart at this time:

"Destroy!"

Li Ze didn't expect the other party to be so dish, at this time he had already hit the basket, jumped with both feet, quickly rose into the air, faced Turyaf's block, dodged in the air, easily came to a big lever from left to right, and dexterously sent the ball into the basket.

"Oh!!"

The exaggerated shaking and wonderful lever completely detonated the atmosphere of the Ford Center Arena, and the Russian fans at the scene were really happy this time, especially the audience in the front row, all shouting and wanting to high-five Li Ze in celebration.

"Kayce, here! Oh God, ankle terminator! This kind of goal is really exciting! ”

"They're definitely not going to want to play in Russia again, haha, Kayce, come on!"

Li Ze retreated at this time, and at the same time high-fived the audience in the front row to celebrate, and there were bursts of excited shouts in his ears, this kind of on-site atmosphere also made Li Ze feel very happy, playing at home is cool!

After more than 5 minutes, Li Ze once again showed his excellent offensive skills, with the ball, without the ball, singles, and organization, without too much defensive pressure, Li Ze led the Thunder team and successfully played a wave of 16:8.

Even if coach D'Antoni got Stoudemire back early, he couldn't stop the Thunder's offense, and Ibaka was in good form and had a good performance on both ends of the floor, which seemed to show the coaching staff that he was ready.

At the end of the half, at 55:63, the Thunder easily took an eight-point lead.

In the second half of the game, Durant seemed to want to show himself, but Wilson Chandler had already held back the fire, and every time Durant wanted to show off, he was interrupted by the opponent's rough foul, although he frequently walked to the free throw line, but Durant became more and more depressed.

"The free throws didn't pull the wind..."

With a double-digit point difference, Li Ze began to run tactics step by step, Turtle Turtle launched tactics, Li Ze was responsible for controlling the rhythm, Stadameyer became more and more courageous, scoring continuously on the inside, but Ibaka's performance was not bad, and he even grabbed offensive rebounds twice in a row.

Coach D'Antoni on the sidelines saw this situation, sat directly back on the bench, and lost the rebound again, there is a high probability that he will not be able to catch up with this game.

When there were 3 minutes and 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter, with a 13-point difference, the Knicks took the lead in replacing the main lineup, and Stoudemire sat on the bench depressed, losing the game, and this season was double-killed by the Thunder.

In the end, 98:111, the Thunder easily defeated the Knicks at home, Li Ze once again got 29 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 turnover and 1 steal in this game, and 4 three-pointers in 10 also helped the Thunder team withstand the opponent's counterattack in the third quarter.

After the game, the Ford Center Arena was still jubilant, and Durant saw that Li Ze was signing autographs for fans on the sidelines, and he secretly made up his mind:

"You have to practice your ball skills, and the fans really like the good single attack!"

Simple catch-and-shoot and get a high score can no longer satisfy Durant, who has become lemon essence!

On January 24th, the Thunder flew to New Orleans to challenge the Hornets away, Li Ze actually didn't like to play with Chris Paul, the opponent's control of mistakes, the suppression of the rhythm, better than him, this is the gap in game experience.

And on the road, the Hornets' kind of low-round games are simply the natural enemies of the Thunder, and the most important thing is that David West can explode every time he meets Jeff Green.

In the game that night, the two sides once again played the rhythm of the game against the trend, with 79 shots, which was also the fewest shots of the Thunder team in the recent game, 91:96, the Thunder team lost to the Hornets on the road.

Chris Paul is definitely a competent surface brother, and after the game, he also invited the trio of the Thunder to go to the party he organized, unlike Durant's party where he likes to throw money, Paul is a lot quieter and more elegant here, with a jazz theme...

Taking advantage of everyone's inattention, Chris Paul slipped up to Li Ze again, holding a wine glass, and then said with a smile:

"Kayce, if your rookie contract expires and you want to leave the city, don't forget to send me a text when the time comes, although I don't know which team I will go to in the future, but I believe that together we will definitely become the strongest backcourt combination in the league."

Li Ze looked weird, every time he met Chris Paul, he would mention the matter of teaming, but the business blows had to continue:

"Of course, my promise remains the same!"

Seeing that Chris Paul started to get close again, Li Ze suddenly thought of the rejected deal:

"I hope Paul won't be depressed then, this is an old unlucky bastard..."