Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 180 The situation is very good

The Thunder's upcoming schedule will not be as easy as before. Generally, strong teams and weak teams start to play intertwined.

First, they challenged the Pelicans in an away game. This is a weak team in the Western Conference. Although Big Eyebrow has made great progress this season, it is clear that the whole team still needs someone who can handle them. It can be a coach or an experienced veteran. It is not very good now.

Coupled with the fact that Brother Nongmei himself is too fragile, this game was truce due to injury, and without an inside offensive and defensive core, it was even easier for the Thunder to win this game.

In the first quarter, they lost by 2 points, but they played against the Pelicans in the next three quarters, and finally won by 120 points at 96:24.

杜兰特本场仅出场32分钟便拿到了32分8篮板7助攻，威少16中8拿到25分，伊巴卡17+13，字母哥7分9篮板6助攻3抢断3盖帽的全面数据，戈贝尔也拿到了10分3助攻。

Reggie was in a bit of a slump, scoring only 11 points on 4 of 9 shots.

Five players from the Pelicans scored in double figures, but Anderson made 17 of 5 shots and Aminu made 14 of 3 shots.

The next day off, on Sunday they will challenge the No. [-] Pacers in the East.

After the Pacers broke their undefeated gold first, they lost another game before that. They are still the top three in the league. It can also be said to be the biggest opponent of the Eastern Heat, and may also become a potential opponent in the finals.

However, the Thunder still won this game, and it was another big victory.

The lineup of the Pacers is still very good, but it is only good. Their players are relatively balanced, and the only outstanding point is pickled peppers.

West is old, and his scoring has dropped further this season. Hibbert has no scoring ability. It looks more like a "special attack" against the Heat in the playoffs.

As for Stephenson and Hill, the upper limit of the two is there. They can only play as support and cannot afford to be able to afford it.

George is now the undoubted core of the Pacers. This is the fourth season of his career. In these four seasons, he has made a leap forward in each season. This season, he averaged 20+ per game and entered the ranks of the league's top scorers.

After Granger was plagued by injuries and fell, George's rise gave the Pacers new hope, so they immediately helped him upright.

In this game, George scored 32 points, against Durant's 36 points, but it was difficult to save the savior.

Because the Pacers also encountered back-to-back away games that the Thunder encountered before, and they are still in the top two in the Western Conference.

They beat the Spurs in three quarters in yesterday's game, but they were clocked out in three quarters against the Thunder today.

And they seem to have lost the second back-to-back game of this season, especially when they met the Thunder back-to-back twice, which has to be said to be quite unjust.

The teams from the two divisions may only meet this twice in a season, and they don't know how the league's schedule is arranged. It is probably enough for them to be depressed.

Perhaps because of the impact of back-to-back, the Pacers' weak offense in the first quarter allowed the Thunder to lead by 10 points. The score continued to expand in the second quarter, and the difference was already 19 points at halftime.

In the second half, under the leadership of George, they went all the way to catch up. Unfortunately, the Thunder waited for work. In the end, their physical strength declined and there was no hope of a comeback. They gave the Thunder another 24-point victory.

In this game, Westbrook also returned to the normal rotation for the first time. If it were not for three quarters, it is estimated that he could play 36 minutes. Li Sheng had given him control within 30 minutes before.

His efficiency is also good, scoring 17 points on 11 of 26 shots, but the three-pointer is not very accurate, but Li Sheng also encouraged him to shoot more when he has an open spot. The kind of self-directed shots such as step-back three-pointers are not necessary except when the hand feels good. After all, he is not Curry or Harden.

Then when I went home at night, I heard the sound of practice in the arena. When I came over and saw that Westbrook was still practicing hard shooting, mainly for extra three-pointers, Li Sheng also nodded with satisfaction.

In fact, Westbrook himself probably doesn't know that his shooting percentage in the game is actually higher than in training, because Li Sheng secretly helped him and added a little "fighting spirit" to him.

This BUFF worth 5 points is not simple. It is a bit like the law of cause and effect, that is, the more motivated you are, the stronger your ability will be, and the better your state will be.

Westbrook himself has this kind of trait. He always performs very well when he is full of fighting spirit, so there is the phrase "Westbrook's grievances have never disappointed."

However, this BUFF will still be affected by some other factors, and sometimes it may even have a counterproductive effect and become a DEBUFF. For example, Westbrook is a very emotional person. If he is irritated, this "fighting spirit" may make him use it for hitting people instead of playing.

This kind of side effect can be regarded as a limitation. After all, it can’t always be beneficial, and there should be a corresponding price. It depends on how Li Sheng handles it when the time comes. It may be a good way to replace him in time to calm down when the situation is not good.

As for why Westbrook's three-pointers are not like this, it is because his three-pointers and jump shots inside the three-point line are originally two ways. When he shoots three-pointers, he tends to be more conventional, and then I don't know why, this BUFF doesn't give him that much bonus.

However, Westbrook's three-pointer is a surprise, and it is not too surprising if it is not. It mainly depends on the breakthrough.

……

On November 11 and 10, the Thunder will usher in another back-to-back away game against the Eagles in the East and the Grizzlies in the same district.

The Grizzlies were the old opponents who eliminated them last season. Because Westbrook was injured in the first round, they had no way to fight back against the Grizzlies in the second round. They were swept out by the gentleman. This game is obviously enough for Westbrook.

As for the Hawks themselves, they are a team on the fringes of the Eastern Conference playoffs, with a winning percentage of less than [-]%. Naturally, they were easily won by the Thunder, and their double-minor statistics are all good.

Durant got 30+10, and now it is common for him to take this data. Westbrook also got his first triple-double this season, but his scoring efficiency is not very high. He only made 16 of 6 shots and 4 of 1 three-pointers, but he had 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

Today, his excitement level is not bad, but his "fighting spirit" seems to be not so good, maybe because the opponent is not strong enough?
In the second back-to-back away game against the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies were not in a complete lineup due to Marc Gasol's injury and lacked a strong point in the interior defense, which gave Westbrook a chance to flex his muscles.

He scored a season-high 31 points, shooting 60% from the field, and even made 5 of 3 three-pointers.

Reggie, Antetokounmpo, and Ennis also took advantage of his illness to kill him, and all scored in double figures. Seeing that his teammates were in good condition, Durant also gave them the stage. He only took 12 shots and scored 20 points without any surprises. On the contrary, he scored 9 assists.

After losing to the Warriors, with Westbrook's comeback, the Thunder quickly ushered in a wave of seven consecutive victories, continuing to firmly occupy the No. [-] position in the Western Conference and the league.

Those who worried that Westbrook would not be able to integrate into the team after his comeback and would cause damage to the Thunder's chemical reaction stopped talking at this time. The fans who were simply worried about the Thunder were very happy, and they were not afraid of being slapped in the face. The more such slaps, the better.

In fact, many people have also discovered that Westbrook has changed compared to before the injury. Some people say that he just stopped beating, and some say that he listened to Li Sheng's arrangement, but anyway, it seems that this is a good trend.

And no matter whether it's just playing back or just getting used to it, when he fully integrates, it is conceivable that Lei Ting's combat power will definitely be different again.

(End of this chapter)