I’m Really Playing Basketball

The Warriors, who achieved unbeatable records in October and November, are still making great progress in December.

On December 3, the Warriors returned to their home court to face the Suns. In this game, Chen Xiao made 11 of 21, 5 of 14 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws. He scored 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists, leading the team. Easily defeated the Suns 116-106.

For the Warriors, who had another major rotation in this game, backup point guard Jordan Poole performed well, making 9 of 15 shots, 6 of 12 three-pointers, and scored 28 points.

Jordan Poole's performance this season has improved compared to last season.

So far this season, Jordan Poole has averaged 2.5 three-pointers per game, and his shooting percentage is also quite good at 38%. As a third-year young player, Jordan Poole has done very well in both the production and quantity of three-pointers. Not bad.

The stability is good, and there are explosive performances from time to time.

It is indeed very profitable for the Warriors to select such a backup guard at the end of the first round.

Of course, most people attribute the growth of young players such as Jordan Poole, Alexander, and Herbert Jones to Chen Xiao.

After all, Chen Xiao's entire career has been a career of constantly counterattacking with young players who are not so talented.

From Boozer in the Nets era to Barnes of the Cavaliers, parallel importer Tyson Chandler, to Jimmy Butler of the Bobcats and now a group of young people of the Warriors, Chen Xiao has trained over the years How many low-ranking young people have been drafted?

Too many to count.

So much so that some experts joked that the number of young players trained by the superstars in the entire league combined is not as many as that of Chen Xiao alone.

This is a joke, but it is extremely true.

On December 6, the Warriors continued to play at home against the Eastern Conference underdog Magic. In this game, Chen Xiao only played three quarters. He made 8 of 12 shots in the game and 6 of 8 three-pointers. He scored 28 points and 9 rebounds. 11 assists, this game is one of the rare games that Chen Xiao did not get a triple-double this season.

However, it can be seen from Chen Xiao's data that Chen Xiao really does not brush data.

In fact, towards the end of the third quarter, Anthony deliberately gave way to Chen Xiao, but was ignored by Chen Xiao.

Because Chen Xiao had already taken the opponent's center, Jordan, and ran towards the frontcourt.

When Jordan retreated to the basket, Chen Xiao stayed at the three-point line, received the ball from Marvin Bagley from inside, and made a buzzer-beating shot from outside the three-point line.

Yes, for Chen Xiao and the Warriors, getting backcourt rebounds is not necessary.

Westbrook takes backcourt rebounds to better promote fast breaks and assists.

As for Chen Xiao, he can use backcourt rebounds to promote fast breaks and assists.

Likewise, he doesn't necessarily need this.

As soon as the rebound falls in his hand, he organizes a fast break.

If the rebound is in the hands of a teammate, because everyone on the teammate can pass the ball, then run forward and open up space for the fast break for your teammates.

Therefore, the Warriors' fast break this season is really crazy and fast.

In this game with the Magic, the Magic also felt it very clearly. In this game, the Magic played away from home 100-136 and lost to the Warriors by 36 points.

This is why one section is garbage time.

This season, the Warriors are still the team with the strongest offense in the league, the team with the most points per game, and the team with the most assists per game in the league.

The current Warriors have begun to be noticed by experts in the league.

After all, no one is blind. Ray Allen can feel that the current Bucks have completed reconstruction under the leadership of Chen Xiao.

Even if other people don't have Ray Allen's vision, they can naturally find it if they are a little slower.

Therefore, according to the odds of major betting companies, the odds of the Warriors reaching the Finals are on par with the Lakers.

Of course, in terms of odds of winning the championship, the Bucks are definitely still outstanding.

It can only be said that now everyone is beginning to regard Chen Xiao and his team as a championship contender team again.

On December 8, the Warriors faced the Trail Blazers in Lillard's absence. In this Warriors' home game, Warriors fans saw the outstanding performance of former team player Norman Powell.

Lillard, who was in talks to leave the team this season, was absent due to injury, but gave Norman Powell a chance.

This season with the Trail Blazers, Norman Powell is averaging close to 20 points per game. In this game against the Warriors, Powell also scored 26 points, although he was only 8-for-23 under the defense of rookie Herbert Jones. , but what more can you ask for from a former role player.

Okay, after all, not many Blazers players scored in double figures in this game.

In this game, the Warriors started with Chen Xiao, Marvin Bagley, Wilkins, Herbert Jones, and Morant.

The defense of this starting lineup is really amazing.

So much so that without Lillard in this game, the Trail Blazers were prevented by the Warriors from shooting 30% and 20% from three-point range.

In the end, the Trail Blazers lost to the Warriors 84-124 on the road by 40 points.

The defense displayed by the Warriors in this game definitely surprised many experts.

As a result, after this game, the Warriors' odds of breaking through the Western Conference have greatly increased again, and they have begun to surpass the Lakers.

According to Mai Zi, the commentator of this game: "Marvin Bagley's comeback and Herbert Jones' growth have changed the Warriors' defense!"

Maizi is right. The Warriors' past defensive problems were directly solved with the arrival of Bagley and Jones.

After all, the Warriors' lineup this season is really equivalent to having a smaller Big Eyebrow (Bagley) and a smaller Leonard (Jones).

This means that there are fulcrums both inside and outside.

With Bagley's presence, Chen Xiao can squat under the basket with peace of mind. To be honest, although Chen Xiao is a little shorter, his strength and confrontation are also very powerful when squatting under the basket. At the very least, Now 90% of the centers in the league can't hold up Chen Xiao under the basket.

Except for Jokic, Oden and a few other centers, Chen Xiao actually squats under the basket and is not afraid of anyone.

In addition, the emergence of Herbert Jones is equivalent to the team having one more striker to defend the opponent's offensive sharp point. It can lock the opponent's outside forward with Wiggins, and this defensive point also has More than 40% three-point shooting rate.

Herbert Jones is simply the perfect answer the Warriors can find after Klay is sidelined with a serious injury.

Therefore, fans who watch Warriors games can find that Herbert Jones is playing more and more time now.

The number of starts has also increased.

Historically, in his rookie season, Herbert Jones ranked first among rookies in wing defensive rating, and also ranked first among wing players this season. If post players are included, Herbert Jones' defensive rating was seventh.

To be honest, this is a treasure player, just like Luo Ge and Leonard back then, it is difficult for you to ignore him.

And judging from his performance in his rookie season, his performance on the defensive and offensive ends was even better than Leonard's.

So much so that after the defensive lineup was announced in history, a large number of fans complained about him, a rookie who was not selected for the defensive lineup.

So many experts say that he is the rookie with the strongest wing defensive performance in history.

This time and space is in the Warriors. Although the Warriors have many strong players on the wings, how can it be possible for Herbert Jones to be buried with Cole and Chen Xiao.

It is actually the Warriors and Chen Xiao's luck to have such a player who can make up for the team's weaknesses.

Therefore, on the Warriors' training ground, everyone can see Chen Xiao's love for Herbert Jones. On the training ground, Chen Xiao cultivates Herbert Jones just like he did with thick eyebrows and Jokic and the others. Cultivate the same.

It's almost as easy as getting started.

And Herbert Jones himself is indeed up to date.

On December 11, the Warriors once again started a consecutive road trip in the Eastern Conference.

On December 11, the Warriors' first game was against the 76ers led by Embiid.

What is very interesting about this game is not the outcome, but the fact that when the 76ers' head player Embiid faced Chen Xiao's defense, he singled out Chen Xiao in the paint. This big center couldn't stand up to Chen Xiao. In the end, this The big center actually committed all kinds of fouls and big loops in front of Chen Xiao. Not to mention the 76ers fans at the scene were stunned, Iverson at the scene was stunned, and even Chen Xiao himself was stunned .

Although Embiid, a young man, is often injured, Chen Xiao is still impressed by him. It seems that he was not so soft before. His footsteps are very good and his shooting is also very good.

But in this matchup with Chen Xiao, he couldn't show off his footwork to Chen Xiao. After being pestered by Chen Xiao and missing a few shots, he didn't have much confidence, and then he could only resort to various ways of drawing fouls. Yes, all kinds of fake tricks, lying down and fucking.

However, it is not wrong to do whatever it takes to win.

It's just that in the eyes of veteran players such as Chen Xiao and Iverson, this method is not very good.

Moreover, in a league dominated by the old-fashioned basketball style, there are several players like Kevin Martin, James Harden, and Embiid now. In fact, it is not that unacceptable.

So after the game, Chen Xiao, who led the team to defeat the 76ers 115-102 in an away game, still gave Embiid a hug after the game.

Apart from taking some shortcuts in the game, he is actually a very good young man.

Chen Xiao was really troubled by this game.

Chen Xiao was fouled 5 times by him in this game. This kid really took advantage of his home court advantage to the extreme. At the same time, Chen Xiao made 8 of 20 shots and 4 of 14 three-pointers in this game, his lowest hit rate of the season. Rate.

Of course, Embiid made 6 of 23, 1 of 4 three-pointers, and 11 of 11 free throws. Although he had the same 24 points as Chen Xiao, Embiid was much worse.

Because in addition to free throws, all kinds of things were missed by Chen Xiao.

Regardless of whether he flopped or not, at least visually, Embiid, the center representative of the younger generation, was beaten by Chen Xiao.

By the way, Chen Xiao scored 24 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists, 5 steals and 6 blocks in this game.

This is a super 5x5 triple-double. Chen Xiao has also become the oldest player in NBA history to get 5x5.

Chen Xiao committed a lot of fouls in this game, but he also stole a lot of balls and blocked shots.

It can only be said that Chen Xiao was a little annoyed by this kid during the game, and his defensive aggressiveness indeed became more and more intense.

In the end, Chen Xiao committed five fouls and was not sent off. It can only be said that he received the bonus of being the first player in history. The referee on duty was not Crawford, so he did not dare to gain prestige on him.

If it was Bald Crawford who was officiating this game, Chen Xiao would have applauded like Duncan off the court.

In this game with the 76ers, Chen Xiao was a bit exhausted, so after the game, although Chen Xiao said that he was okay, Cole rested Chen Xiao anyway.

Now that the Warriors have won 26 consecutive games, they have no pursuit of a winning streak.

After all, the winning streak belongs to the Warriors and Chen Xiao.

In this case, the health of the team must come first.

Chen Xiao averaged 40 minutes per game this season, which is incredible for a veteran who has passed his 39th birthday.

Unless Chen Xiao said that he had a cheat and was not afraid, it would be impossible for Cole and the Warriors to let Chen Xiao fight so hard.

On December 12, the Warriors played away against the Pacers led by Beasley and Sabonis. The Warriors played very hard in this game, but ultimately lost 102 to 108 on the road.

In this game, Pacers center Sabonis made 12 of 17 shots and scored 30 points. It was so efficient that it could almost be said to have defeated the Warriors.

However, without Chen Xiao's Warriors, there is indeed no center left.

Even if Chen Xiao is on the court, facing Sabonis with such a hot touch, the Warriors will probably be in trouble.

After all, Chen Xiao's height is indeed very passive when defending such a center.

Losing to the Pacers, the Warriors also suffered their first defeat of the season.

However, after losing to the Pacers, on December 14, the comeback Chen Xiao led the Warriors to easily slaughter the Knicks led by Westbrook in Madison Square, New York.

135 to 106. In this game, Chen Xiao scored 30 points, 12 rebounds and 18 assists in the three quarters, while Westbrook also had a 30+ triple-double.

But the content of the game is completely different between the two teams.

Especially Anthony, who took the blame for the Knicks crazy. In this game, he made 11 of 18, 7 of 10 three-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws. He scored a game-high 32 points. It can be said that he was ruthless in front of Knicks fans. It slapped New York management in the face.

After the game, Melon hugged Chen Xiao very happily and excitedly.

It’s really hard to say that Chen Xiao assisted 8 of his 11 goals in this game!

Being slaughtered like this in front of the home fans made Westbrook very unhappy. He pouted and left the court without saying goodbye or hugging Anthony, his former teammate.

Of course, Anthony certainly doesn't care about this.

After defeating the Knicks, the Warriors defeated the Celtics, but after defeating the Celtics, the Warriors lost back-to-back away games to the Raptors, 110-119.

In this game, Milicic shot 16 of 24 and scored 39 points. This veteran center was absolutely terrifying in this game.

It was really impossible to defend. The Warriors were defeated inside and outside.

After all, Milicic is under the contract of Nowitzki and Garnett, and is said to be a player with 90% of the strength of Nowitzki and Garnett.

He can pass the ball and he's very good at it.

After ending their five-game Eastern Conference road trip, the Warriors returned home and defeated the Kings and Grizzlies one after another.

Christmas fight on December 25th.

The Warriors are finally facing their fateful opponent this season.

Bucks!