The Way of the Center

"Anjie's double-double, Yi Jianlian's home defeat, excellent performance has not been rewarded. ??"

"Yi Jianlian scored 29 points, and the Nets are still losing streak."

"The loss is not in the UAE, the difference between the Thunder and the Nets is huge."

After the wonderful Chinese Derby, the paper media is one of the biggest beneficiaries. Most of the nba games in the United States are played in prime time at night, but in China they are broadcast live in the morning. For most Chinese fans, they usually have to go to work and school in the morning, so the news and the next day's newspaper have become the channels for them to understand the latest developments in the NBA.

The two Chinese players, An Jie and Yi Jianlian, delighted everyone with their excellent swings. For the first time, the protagonists of an NBA game will be two yellow-skinned guys.

In fact, Durant's performance in this game was the best, scoring 40 points and shooting as high as 68%. But with Yi Jianlian and An Jie both playing well, Durant can only be reduced to a supporting role in China.

Just as the Chinese fans were reading newspapers and feeling the intensity of yesterday's game with relish, the Thunder had already returned to Oklahoma. After easily defeating the Nets, they will welcome the Washington Wizards at home today. team challenge.

The performances of Anjie and Westbrook are actually still within the "normal" range, but in the more than a month since Anjie was injured, Durant's state is fully worthy of the word "hot" .

In just one month, he frequently scored more than 40 points, but there were only a handful of games where he scored less than 30 points. This guy is only in the third season in the nba, but he has become a strong contender for the league's scoring title this season. You have to know that this guy is only young, and the other top ten scorers are all "old rivers and lakes" who have been in the league for many years. The word great has been used more and more on Durant.

One Durant on the Thunder is crazy enough, after all, this team has only been rebuilt for less than four years. However, Anjie and Westbrook have also grown up following Durant's pace. In today's increasingly utilitarian league, most teams rebuild through big deals.

However, the Thunder have come to today step by step through the draft.

The current Thunder has long been at a disadvantage when facing the Washington Wizards. Even if the "General" Arenas is very healthy, even if there are some injuries on the Thunder's bench, everyone is still very optimistic about the Thunder. After all, the three young men in the Thunder team may not be any worse than the "General".

The Thunder did have some injuries recently, but fortunately the main rotation players are very healthy. Only fringe characters such as Sean Livingston and Ethan Thomas cannot play. Their injuries will not greatly reduce the Thunder's strength.

So it can be said that both the Thunder and the Wizards are fighting with the strongest lineup.

The Wizards had already lost two straight, and Arenas was very eager to use a victory to get rid of the haze of losing streak. This young Thunder team is undoubtedly a good opponent.

However, Durant told the "General" at the beginning that this is his home court!

Wizards power forward Antawn Jamison, who is very similar to Durant in playing style, is not bad, but compared with Durant, the gap is clear at a glance.

If only Durant scored alone, the Wizards still have a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, after experiencing the dilemma of only three players scoring in the last game, all members of the Thunder returning to the home court hope to respond to doubts with their performance. So the Thunder's nine players who played today all scored, and the efficiency was not bad.

In contrast to the Wizards, except for the center Brandon Heywood, facing the Thunder's impregnable defense, their shooting percentages were all below 50%.

Among them, the second team players took 14 shots in total, but only the inside player Brac hit two goals.

Of course, this does not mean that there is a problem with Anjie's defense today. Although Haywood's field goal percentage was the highest in the team, he only made 2 of 4 shots. Although Blatche was the only player on the Wizards bench who could score, he was still only 2 of 7 shots by Anjie.

The Wizards' bleak shooting percentage highlighted Durant's strength. He scored 35 points on 12 of 19 shots from the field, and his shooting percentage once again exceeded 60%. Anjie and Westbrook also had to give up their shot rights under his strong performance, and were willing to be a supporting role to assist Durant.

That said, Ainger scored the Thunder's second-highest 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for another double-double.

Although 18 points is not very high, Anjie did not get any free throws today. If he also has the number of Durant's 11 free throws, with Anjie's strength at least he can get another ** point.

The Thunder, who fought back to back, not only did not show a trace of fatigue, but continued their strong performance against the Nets yesterday. Except that the Wizards resisted a little under the leadership of Arenas in the second quarter, the Thunder led the game at other moments.

11o to 98, facing the Wizards and the Nets, the two bottom-ranked teams in the East, the Thunder showed no mercy and won by big scores.

After this game, the Thunder won four consecutive victories and once again came to the mark of five consecutive victories. And their next opponent is the biggest mortal enemy after the Suns, the Utah Jazz.

It seems that the curse of the Thunder's inability to win five consecutive victories will continue again.

"The Jazz had the same record as us last season. They ranked eighth in the Western Conference only because they won one more game against us. It is not impossible for the Jazz to have the same record again this season, so for the Jazz, We will do our best to win. The curse of five consecutive victories? I don’t care about that record. No matter what the circumstances, as long as we are playing against the Jazz, we will definitely do our best.” After the game, many reporters asked Durant what he thought With the view of the game the day after tomorrow, he made no secret of his determination to win and was eager to try.

Durant's ruthless words were released here, and some reporters interviewed coach Jerry Sloan in Salt Lake City, hoping that he would respond.

"Durant threatened to defeat the Jazz in the game the day after tomorrow. The Jazz are indeed ranked behind the Thunder. Do you think you and your players have a chance of winning the game the day after tomorrow?" The reporter who asked the question was looking forward to Sloan's answer. , who knows what this grumpy old man will say, it is not impossible to scold Durant.

"Thunder? If I remember correctly, our opponent in the next game is the Timberwolves. If you ask me about Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, I will be happy to answer you, but Durant? I'm sorry I'm busy right now." After speaking, Jerry Sloan turned around and returned to the training ground. The Jazz had to go away to play the Timberwolves before the Thunder.

This is also an opportunity for the Thunder. The Jazz who travel back and forth will definitely have to pay much more energy than the Thunder. Although Jerry Sloan looked down on the Thunder and Durant on the surface, he actually had a headache.

On December 30, the day after the victory over the Wizards, when the Thunder players were recharging their energy at home, the Jazz players encountered stubborn resistance in Minnesota.

"Come on, Kevin, great shot! Beautiful shot!" Watching Kevin Love on TV foul Boozer again, Anjie and Morris shouted happily.

An Jie didn't expect that he would cheer for Kevin Love one day. The harder the Jazz played in this game, the easier it would be for the Thunder to play tomorrow.

An enemy of an enemy is a friend, at least today, An Jie is Kevin Love's number one fan.

Indeed, the inside combination of Al Jefferson and Love made the Jazz exhausted. The two, one inside and one outside, one left and one right, took turns to attack the Jazz's basket.

Boozer and Okur, the shooting percentages of the two insiders, are the lowest among the Jazz's five tigers. It can also be seen from this how thorough the Timberwolves control the inside line.

However, inside players are the positions that most need the support of teammates, and the Timberwolves just lack a guy like Deron Williams.

Williams' excellent performance made up for the vacancies of Boozer and Okur. The Jazz fought the Timberwolves in the cold Minnesota to the last moment. It was not until Deron made two free throws in the 6th second of the game that the Jazz finally sealed the victory.

1o7 to 1o3, the Jazz beat the Timberwolves in an away game. The victory of this game did not make the Jazz players cheer, because tomorrow, the Chesapeake Energy Arena will bring them a greater test, and tomorrow, what will greet them is the real hell.

"Coach, can you talk about tomorrow's game now?" In the press conference after the game, the reporters still asked Sloan what he thought of the Thunder.

"There's nothing to talk about. Don't you just want me to respond to Durant's kid's words? No, I won't say anything. All problems will be solved on the court." Sloan casually answered the questions of several reporters. After asking questions, they left in a hurry, and they had to rush to Oklahoma City overnight.

Before the big battle, everyone wanted to see a wonderful foreshadowing, but Sloan was very uncooperative, because he was not in the mood to talk and play psychological warfare with the Thunder.

In the last game of 2009, the Thunder once again stood on the threshold of five consecutive victories, and their opponent was the sworn enemy that pushed them out of the playoffs last season.

Exactly how this year's full stop will be drawn depends entirely on the outcome of the battle on the 30th. If you win, the entire Oklahoma City fans can celebrate the new year happily. If you lose, the Thunder will continue to be haunted by the curse, and the ranking will be reversed by the Jazz, which will also leave hidden dangers for the confirmation of the final playoff spot .

The revenge of last season will be avenged this season. Although the Jazz play back-to-back games, they are also very dangerous.

The direct battle for the playoffs has already begun.

While the Jazz players were still flying around in the sky, An Jie was already sound asleep, recharging his energy for tomorrow's game.

Many people focus on Durant, but they don't know that Anjie's performance is also a guarantee for the Thunder to win four consecutive victories! Don't forget that the Thunder's lore-killing opponent and the person who prevented the opponent's lore-killing most this season is not Durant, but the Eastern Tower!

In key battles, An Jie has always been the guy who decides the outcome. (To be continued.) 8