The era of point forwards in the NBA

Chapter 270 Fighting James Again

At this point, the two sides entered a tug-of-war, and the steady play of the Grizzlies made it difficult for the Thunder to widen the gap.

Curry has just returned, and the cooperation with his teammates is not very good. The Thunder need time to adjust.

Fortunately, the overall strength of the Thunder team is still stronger. Durant made great efforts in the late stage. In the case of a bad start, he finished 23 of 10 and scored 30 points, 8 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

He is only responsible for scoring, and the task of assisting is handed over to Lin Yue and Curry.

In the end, the Thunder scored 94 to 92 in the away game, and the results of the recent games were very close.

However, the Thunder's road trip is not over yet. On January 1, they played back-to-back away games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is the second time the Thunder have played against the Cavaliers this season.

This time James is bound to defeat the young Thunder at home, not only to lead the team to victory, but also to gain a statistical advantage.

Durant has made rapid progress this season, jumping to the top of the MVP selection, ranking third in the league, while Lin Yue, who was hot in the early stage, fell out of the top five.

This is also normal. As the schedule progressed, Lin Yue's lack of experience was exposed. After all, he was a rookie. After the Thunder's record declined, Lin Yue's statistics also declined.

Only Durant was not affected. On the contrary, in the games won by the Thunder, Durant's statistics were mostly the highest in the game. His offensive talent was stimulated again and again, and he also successfully became the league's scoring leader.

The schedule is about to pass halfway, and Durant and James' top small forward contest has attracted media coverage.

This is also the situation that David Stern wants to see. Now there are more and more topics in the league, not just the ownership of the championship this season.

The rise of rookies, the stability of veteran teams, the confusing situation, and various topics have attracted the enthusiasm of the NBA.

In addition, the recent voting results show that Lin Yue is very likely to win the All-Star votes. His votes surpassed Kobe, James and others. This is the mysterious power from the East.

What happened to Yao Ming back then happened to Lin Yue again.

Before this contest, Stern had done enough publicity.

The two teams also seemed full of gunpowder in the trash talk session before the game. Although James said in front of the media that he admired this young Thunder team, it does not mean that he will lose to this Thunder team.

The challenger who faced the difficulties was the third young master of the Thunder, not James, who was approaching the throne.

……

Although there are many gimmicks off the court, the exhausted Thunder still have to try to find the state of the game during training.

Although the Grizzlies are not a strong team, they still hurt the Thunder's vitality. It has to be admitted that this kind of dog skin plaster defense is similar to that of the Spurs.

Even if they can't win the game, they can still peel off the opponent's skin. It is estimated that anyone who meets the Grizzlies in the playoffs will feel uncomfortable. The black and white double evil inside organization has just started.

However, it is not easy for the Grizzlies to enter the playoffs. The competition in the West is too fierce.

The Thunder are still ranked fifth in the Western Conference, and the Spurs are biting behind the Thunder. The recent records of the two sides are very similar. Both have suffered upset losses and lost to top teams.

The tight schedule leads to insufficient rest for the players. It seems that winning or losing every game is possible. Everything depends on the state of the players that night, not how many All-Stars there are in the team.

Ohio, Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena is already overcrowded at this time.

This game is the focus of this round. Apart from other factors, the small forwards of the two teams alone make the fans collectively climax.

Durant, a small forward with full offensive talent, is one of the most promising small forwards in the league in recent years. He has an epic shooting touch and a completely different style of play from James.

Needless to say, James is not bad at anything, he just needs a championship to stand on the throne naturally. Of course, for players, the most important thing is the championship.

No matter how many personal honors James has, breaking the youngest NBA records again and again cannot prove his ability to lead the team.

The city of Cleveland regards him as a god and a savior. However, what this small city, which has not won a sports championship for decades, is looking forward to. It is as strong as James, and the NBA, which is full of masters, can't bring the Cavaliers a championship.

This season is the last chance for the Cavaliers. If they fail again, James will most likely no longer stay in the Cavaliers.

This year is his contract year. He gave up the early contract extension with the Cavaliers. The purpose is obvious, which is to decide the next action based on the results of this season.

If he wins the championship, he will definitely stay in his hometown and fight for his hometown without hesitation.

But if he didn't get it, he would have to think about his career honor.

Loyalty allowed him to stay in Cleveland for seven years, just like the Wolf King back then.

But Garnett won his first championship with the Celtics after leaving the Timberwolves. Whether leaving is a better choice, everything can only be proved by time.

However, this season's Cavaliers can look forward to the future a little bit. They are currently ranked first in the Eastern Conference, leading the Magic by 0.5 wins. This is their advantage.

The Cavaliers' second-generation signings this season were still successful.

O'Neill has recovered recently. Although he is not as brave as before, he is still bigger than a horse because of his emaciated camel. He can still suppress many young people under the basket.

The Thunder's weak interior is in jeopardy.

On the opening jump ball, Collison beat O'Neal, but in the following matchups, O'Neal used his size to hold Collison firmly, both offensively and defensively.

Collison, a veteran who is not young, can't stand it anymore. O'Neal was once the No. [-] center who dominated the NBA, and he is old and capable.

James' organizational skills came into play.

In the scout's report to Lin Yue, he said that he was like a combination of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, but he was not bound to James.

It's because James' versatility is not just scoring and extreme physical fitness. His organization is not inferior to any point guard. With such a physical talent, he also develops other skills.

This is the proud son of heaven who was born for basketball, and he is also the big devil that the Thunder will not be able to avoid in the future.

O'Neal's continuous strong play at the basket helped the Cavaliers gain the upper hand.

When James defended Durant alone, he used physical confrontation to put a lot of pressure.

The chances of shooting were concentrated on Curry and Lin Yue.

Curry's outside three-pointer helped the Thunder stabilize the point difference, and Lin Yue also used his own defense to cause trouble for the Cavaliers on the defensive end.

The players from both sides were full of gunpowder as soon as they came up. The first quarter played very tragically. The physical confrontation and defensive intensity made the shooting rate drop.

At the end of the first quarter, the two teams scored 18 to 15, and the Cavaliers temporarily led by three points.

(End of this chapter)