The strongest basket king

Chapter 236 Strong Team Test

After losing to the Rockets in the away game, the Nuggets will go to Oklahoma to play against the Thunder, the powerful western rival.

After the Thunder renewed Ibaka in the summer, they gave up the team's sixth man, Kevin Martin.

They didn't do much in the free market, they just gave Reggie Jackson more opportunities.

After Westbrook was injured last season, Reggie Jackson performed well, and the opportunity was earned like this.

However, the Thunder also planned to save money in their summer operations. The team obviously had two strong All-Star players, but the boss didn't care much about finding help for them.

That is to say, Durant and Westbrook are strong enough, no matter how the team struggles, they are all strong teams in the Western Conference.

But there is also a difference between a strong team and a strong team. After all, the Thunder does not have the attitude of competing for the championship. Unless Gemini can go against the sky, otherwise it will be difficult for them to break through in the West.

The Thunder still had the same lineup as last year, but Xiang Chu's feeling was different from before.

He is stronger than last season, but Perkins is obviously weaker. Perkins is not too old, but some players can't maintain their own state very well.

Xiang Chu hit him as soon as he went up, and when he came back, he used confrontation to cause the opponent's mistakes.

Perkins can't keep up with the rhythm of the Thunder. If he can't make contributions on the defensive end, he will be of little significance to the Thunder.

The Thunder's counterattack was Durant's singles, and Jefferson couldn't stand it at all.

However, the Nuggets' offense is also very sharp. They both had a good start this time. Both Jefferson and Fournier hit three-pointers.

The Thunder replaced Perkins within half a quarter and replaced rookie Adams.

The Thunder are good at cultivating rookies. Some people joke that they are not willing to spend money so they are very concerned about this aspect. On the contrary, the Lakers have no patience to wait for their rookies to grow, and they just want to get famous stars.

As the No. 12 pick, Adams still has some strength, but it is a bit too much to let him face Xiang Chu directly. After he came up, he didn't dare to make a shot and couldn't grab a rebound, which was simply transparent.

During the rotation period, Dunleavy and Chandler also hit three-pointers, and the Nuggets suddenly expanded their score advantage to double digits.

The fans are a little surprised that the two teams will play like this.

Especially the fans who despised the operation of the Nuggets at the beginning, they didn't expect the Nuggets to become a team that shoots three-pointers very well in one summer.

The Thunder is not a poor defensive team, they reacted and began to strengthen the defense to change the rhythm of the game.

On the offensive end, Durant and Westbrook play various singles, but such a simple tactic is very effective, just like Xiang Chu's singles.

Knight has not fully recovered now, and he has not played a particularly long time in each game. It is easy to say when he meets other players, but he seems weaker when he meets Westbrook.

Durant and Westbrook shot consecutive free throws and gradually caught up with the score.

By halftime, the Nuggets were only leading by 3 points.

Thunder coach Brooks is also ruthless. He is basically playing the stars at the beginning of the season. Durant took a lot less rest in the first half than Xiang Chu.

When Durant has physical strength, no one can guard against him. To be honest, even the Nuggets have no obvious effect in flanking.

But it is much easier for them to restrict the Thunder's role players, so George Karl did not deliberately choose to attack, but just reminded the players to strengthen their physical confrontation and display the defense practiced during this period.

In fact, Ibaka is also much stronger on the Thunder side in the new season, including the offensive end.

But this time he was entangled by Faried. The two have similar styles. Ibaka is slightly stronger, but if they are entangled together, they can't play much advantage. Faried also gets better playing time because of this.

He has a lot of passion on the court, which is why the team keeps giving him opportunities.

A good fourth position is too expensive, and his obvious advantages and disadvantages are not so bad to use.

In the locker room, George Karl emphasized tactics. They played well in the first half, and only needed to pay attention to some details in the second half, such as making Durant and Westbrook uncomfortable on defense.

It is not difficult for the Nuggets to have some defensive tactics now. If the outside team is forced to Xiang Chu's side, Xiang Chu will naturally give a very strong interference.

They are not worried that Xiang Chu will bear too much defensive pressure. Since Xiang Chu entered the league, he has rarely been troubled by foul problems. His defense is tough but not messy.

Given that there are very few strong insiders in the league, he can also control fouls. When he doesn't have a few fouls on his back, he can naturally display his defensive ability to his heart's content.

In the third quarter, Thunder Westbrook's efficiency dropped a bit.

But Xiang Chu was still unmatched in the interior, and the Thunder hit a three-pointer from the outside as soon as they flanked Knight and Fournier.

The Thunder were very helpless. They had two All-Star players, but the others couldn't help. The Nuggets only had Xiang Chu, but they were very irritable when they shot three-pointers. The score gap between the two sides widened to two digits.

The Thunder simply became ruthless, and Durant did not end up resting.

At the end of the quarter, their tactics simply turned into star singles, and the pass was also passed between the two stars, and the others did not shoot at all.

In this way, the efficiency is even stronger. Perhaps at the end of the game, star singles is the most efficient of all tactics. The Thunder have two stars, so they started their performances ahead of schedule.

When Xiang Chu went off to rest, the Nuggets were almost defeated by the opponent.

After Xiang Chu came on the court, he grabbed the offensive rebound and used a heavy dunk to stabilize the situation. Now the Thunder is using Ibaka to play the fifth position. Ibaka looks black, tough and fierce. In fact, he is not as tall and heavy as Xiang Chu. , Not an opponent at all in the paint.

The Thunder's offensive end Ibaka can also be pulled out, but on the defensive end, they can only choose to flank.

The Nuggets have also slightly changed their defensive strategy. Both juniors have made it clear that they are not stubborn in singles, and they will also flank once the opponent reaches the three-point line.

Both sides flanked their respective stars, the difference being that the Nuggets' role players had better three-pointers.

The Thunder also had three-pointers, but Durant and Westbrook took more of their shots, but the Nuggets could support three-pointers when Xiang Chu was flanked.

Xiang Chu was often bullied by other teams' three-pointers in the previous two seasons. Now it's finally their turn to bully others with three-pointers. It feels like one word, cool!

At 4 minutes and 38 seconds, Durant scored Westbrook after being flanked. The latter hit a three-pointer, and the score between the two sides was once again reduced to within 5 points.

After Xiang Chu came up, the two teams have been struggling with this score.

The Thunder found opportunities several times, but they were held down every time.

This time, it was Xiang Chu who stood up again. After the Thunder caught up to the score, they successfully defended and Fisher made a steal.

Ibaka went down quickly and was about to dunk after receiving the pass, but when he pulled up, a shadow chased him from behind and enveloped him.

(End of this chapter)