The strongest basket king

Chapter 255 Lost streak
After Christmas, the Nuggets started another road trip, with back-to-back away games at the beginning.

Back-to-back away games in the West, the first team they have to face is the Pelicans, who have not had a good time during this period.

The Pelicans improved their strength in the summer, but they are still in the running-in period, and they are unstable due to injuries.

Their inside line poses little threat to Xiang Chu. This time they directly chose a small lineup to start, with Davis playing the fifth position.

The Nuggets' response is also one big and four small. The opponent's fourth position, Anderson, spends a lot of time on the outside, so it should be enough for Jefferson to defend.

Now that the Nuggets' first and fourth juniors have become more and more mature, Jefferson is not the best candidate for the fourth position, but he is already the best choice for the Nuggets, and the problem of defense at the second and third positions, with the As the season progressed, Fournier and Middleton both improved.

Xiang Chu believes that they will become stronger in the playoffs.

Anthony Davis adapts to the rhythm of the league very quickly. He has speed and shooting, and his defense is also very good, but he is still a little bit close to carrying the fifth position, especially facing Xiang Chu.

As soon as the Nuggets came up, they turned their backs on customers, but this situation did not last long.

It is still a matter of stability on the perimeter. The Pelicans and Nuggets adopted the same defensive strategy, blocking three-pointers.

Of course, they also have to limit Xiang Chu on the inside, so they will also go around and flank.

Now there is a template for the tactics of dealing with the Nuggets in the league, which is to consider the team's defensive rotation speed.

The Pelicans weren't very good defensively, and it didn't take long for Davis to foul twice, but they did have an impact on the Nuggets' perimeter.

In terms of offense, Anderson hit 2 three-pointers on the Pelicans side, and substitute player Darius Miller also hit three-pointers. They tried to play a good defense but failed, and they also caught up with the first strong point Davis. , but unexpectedly played well on the offensive end.

An outside hit at the end of the first quarter helped the Pelicans overtake the score.

During the rotation time, the Pelicans took the initiative. Tyreke Evans performed so well. Not only did he score consecutively, but he also drove his teammates.

The old Miller is really old now, and he can't stand up to a stronger defender.

And Evans' performance also proved that the Nuggets really need a ball handler above the level. When Xiang Chu played again, the team was already behind by double digits.

Xiang Chu went up and bullied Davis again. In fact, Davis had a good offense and scored in front of Xiang Chu, but the Pelicans really suffered from using him to defend Xiang Chu, because he didn't play for a long time in the first half because of the foul.

The Pelicans can only use a lot of Frenchman Alexi Ajinsa to fight against Xiang Chu. Ajinsa's defense is so-so, but the physical confrontation is not strong enough, the same as Davis, but he is taller and heavier.

He doesn't care about defending the Pelicans, anyway, it is eye-catching.

The Nuggets narrowed the gap between the two sides to single digits, but still trailed in the first half.

The Pelicans feel good today. If the Nuggets want to win, they must shoot from the outside.

But I don't know whether it was because of the neglect of state maintenance during the festival or the reason for the away game. The Nuggets have been tepid outside today.

In the third quarter, Xiang Chu led the team to counterattack and once approached the score.

But when it came time for the rotation, Evans led the Pelicans' rotation to expand the score advantage.

This time George Karl did not let Xiang Chu fight because it was an away game or a back-to-back.

Of course, they have been behind and never thought of losing. The previous winning streak also made the team a little slack, but at the last moment, the double guards of Pelicans Holiday and Evans defended the victory very well.

Xiang Chu raised his thick eyebrows, but he didn't win.

The outside world was really surprised this time. The Pelicans also defended according to the method of dealing with the Nuggets circulated on the Internet, but their defensive strength is not strong enough, so many people were surprised that they were able to win the Nuggets.

In fact, maybe they won the game more because of the bench and three-pointers. The Pelicans' three-pointers were not good, but this time they made 11 shots, and the shooting percentage exceeded [-]%.

However, Xiang Chu's fans did not feel sad. The second result of the All-Star voting was announced, and Xiang Chu also had a slight advantage over James to become the second-stage vote leader.

His fans are very excited, as if it is a holiday, Olivia is also cooperating with Jim Smith to organize people to vigorously promote, intending to pursue the victory.

For anyone, it is an honor to get more votes for the All-Stars.

Especially in this era of rapid information development, more fans represent greater commercial value. If Xiang Chu can become the top voter, Jim Smith will definitely die laughing.

Xiang Chu himself didn't have time to pay attention, and he flew to Memphis with the team to challenge the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies started the season poorly, and to some extent were also affected by injuries. Gasol Jr. will not be able to play this time.

The Grizzlies didn't make too many adjustments in the summer, and the coaching change may be the biggest change.

Without Gasol, the Grizzlies' fifth position is former Nuggets center Costa Koufos.

Koufos's confrontation was much worse than that of Gasol Jr. Xiang Chu pressed the opponent when he came on the court.

But Randolph, the Nuggets really no one can match.

George Karl also asked Faried to try it first, and if it didn't work, he would call the first and fourth juniors to pull them out.

Now it is routine for teams to deal with heavy insiders and pull them outside. There are more and more big men who can shoot. If Xiang Chu is not too strong, big men like him who cannot be pulled out are not very popular.

The Grizzlies started off well with Randolph and Prince, and the Nuggets weren't very accurate outside, but they were still completely suppressed, and their offense was really bad.

In this case, the Nuggets are not worried about Randolph scoring two more goals.

However, another accident occurred during the rotation period. The Grizzlies were not good at three-pointers and did not have a strong substitute player. The Nuggets felt stable.

Unexpectedly, after Xiang Chu went down, the Grizzlies' defense made it difficult for the Nuggets' shooters to play well, and their bench was completely opened, and they still made three-pointers.

This is really unexpected for the Nuggets. Jerry Bayless, James Johnson, Mike Miller and Jon Leuer all hit three-pointers, and the Grizzlies completed the lead in a few minutes.

Xiang Chu sat on the bench in a daze. Is this a grizzly? He joked to George Karl, "Old man, you've been cursed for what you've done. You're so wicked."

After Xiang Chu came on the court, he caught up the score again, but in the third quarter, Randolph and Conley broke out, and the Grizzlies bench also did the same. The Grizzlies bench scored in double figures, scoring more than the main players Many, really evil.

In this case, Xiang Chu blasted the opponent's two insiders, but it didn't help.

For the first time since the new season, the Nuggets suffered a losing streak and dropped the No. [-] throne in the Western Conference.

(End of this chapter)