The Way of the Center

A nurse was pushing a treatment trolley to a single ward, and a colleague said that the old man living in that ward was some kind of basketball coach with a particularly weird temper. A few days ago, because the team I coached lost, I lost my temper in the ward.

Walking to the door of the ward, the nurse became nervous. This ill-tempered patient is the most dreaded object of all young nurses.

"There's nothing scary about Kaidi, he's just a patient!" After taking a deep breath, the nurse pushed open the door of the ward.

In the ward, the TV was turned on, and the voice of the commentator and the noise of the auditorium came from inside. Katie didn't like the sound because her father was a football fan, so she had to put up with the exact same noise coming from the TV every day when she got home.

An old man with gray hair was sitting on a stool. Logically, this old man should have to rest in bed, but he insisted on sitting in front of the TV to watch the game.

Hearing someone walk in, the old man turned his head. However, to Kaidi's surprise, this old man who was called "sinister" by his colleagues smiled kindly and friendly at her and nodded.

"Uh... Excuse me, is this Mr. George Karl from Ward 25?" Kaidi hurriedly checked the identity of the other party. Could it be that he went to the wrong ward?

"It's me, need another infusion?" George Karl looked at the treatment cart, and there were two or three bottles of medicine on it.

"Yes sir, can you please lie back on the bed..."

"Shh..." Before Caddy finished speaking, George Karl put his index finger on his lips, signaling her to keep quiet.

Kaidi looked at the TV in puzzlement. On the screen, it seemed that the player's introduction ceremony was being carried out. But when the players in the sky blue jerseys came on the field, they were greeted with overwhelming boos.

Especially after a baby-faced player named Anthony came on the field, the boos were so loud.

"Hey, okay, go on, miss, I just want to see the appearance ceremony of my players. By the way, I'll just sit and get an infusion. I don't want to lie on the bed and watch this game." George Karl's tone remained the same mild. Now that the game hasn't started, he certainly has no reason to get angry.

"Your player? Are you the head coach of an NBA team?" Caddy asked in disbelief while preparing supplies for George Karl.

"Hahaha, of course, it's just that my career performance is not very good, and I often lose, so my temper is a bit grumpy.

"As a coach with thousands of victories, only people like Caddy who doesn't pay attention to basketball at all will believe George Karl's nonsense.

"No matter how bad your grades are, you have to put your health first. Your illness has nothing to do with your usual yelling on the court." Seeing that George Karl is actually very easy-going, Caddy also followed him They chatted without a word.

"I will remember your advice, okay?" Seeing that Caddy skillfully inserted the needle, George Karl looked at the little girl.

"As long as you don't move around, you'll be fine."

"Thank you girl, the game is about to start. I think after the game starts, I will become the evil old man you say. So if you can, please leave me alone for a while." Carl actually Also didn't want to throw a tantrum at the innocent nurses, but that's just the way he is. The game affected his emotions, and a person who dared to yell at Ray Allen and Anthony, would he control his temper for the sake of a few nurses?

Caddy pushed the treatment cart out of the ward, looked at the focused George Karl, and shook her head in confusion. Can basketball really have such a magical power that it can even change a person's temperament?

The answer is yes, not only George Karl will be like this, An Jie, who is gentle off the court, will also become irritable and bloodthirsty once he is on the court.

"Nene changed his hand to hook, and An's defensive height is amazing! Sure enough, the Brazilian missed the hook under such interference! Today the Nuggets' inside players have nothing to do with Anjie. Although the game only played a few round, but we can all see that the Thunder are desperately defending, while the Nuggets are attacking crazily. But judging from the current situation, the Nuggets' offense is even better!"

Although Nene missed the ball, even though Kenyon Martin's air-cut layup was also missed due to Anjie's interference. But at this moment, the Nuggets still lead by three points. The cause of this situation is none other than Carmelo Anthony, who was aggrieved by the loss in the last game.

Although the team is leading the score now, Anthony feels that it is very difficult to maintain this slight advantage. You know, this is the first quarter of the game. In the first quarter alone, the Thunder's defense made him feel very weak.

"This damn guy, where did Presti dig such a guy!" George Karl believes that his inside combination can play at the same level in front of Gasol and Bynum. This lineup was originally designed to deal with the Lakers team exists. But now this Anjie has caused the Nuggets' inside offense to stagnate. If it weren't for Anthony and Billups' excellent touch, the Nuggets would never be able to sit in the lead.

George Karl can be prepared for danger and see problems on the field, but Adrian Dantley, his assistant coach, may not be able to see these.

Now that the Nuggets are leading and have been playing against the Thunder, Dantley feels that his tactics are working. Nene's and Martin's few offensive misses didn't hurt at all.

At the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets took a 27-21 lead on the road. This strengthened Dantley's thinking even more. The temporary victory made him ignore the team's problems. However, in Van Gundy's view, this loophole will only get bigger and bigger.

"Let's, go, Thunder! Let's, go, Thunder!" Shouted by Thunder fans, the second quarter started soon.

Today, the Chesapeake Energy Arena is completely transformed into an ocean of blue. 80% of the fans at the scene stood in the auditorium wearing the Thunder's blue short-sleeves, cheering for the Thunder.

Anjie, Durant and others had never seen this formation. With the support of these people, the Thunder players are even more motivated.

This is why the opportunity to play at home in the playoffs is so precious. In the Chesapeake Energy Arena, the psychology of the Thunder players has always been dominant!

Under the deafening cheers, in this frenzied blue ocean, An Jie leaped high, and he just flew the ball from the hands of "Birdman" Anderson, smashing the hands that Anderson was bound to win. The dunk fanned out of the restricted area.

"The second block! Ann put all his energy on the defensive end today, and the inside offense of the Nuggets was completely choked by Ann! Is he going to follow Ibaka's pace and also come up with a Exaggerated blocked shots!?" Ibaka sent a career-high seven blocked shots in the last game, which made the Nuggets' inside players hard to let go, but today, Anjie also used a tough and positive performance Let their nightmare continue.

At this time, Anthony's offensive efficiency can still be maintained, but the efficiency of Billups and others has begun to decline. Without the support of inside players, the Nuggets' offense has actually fallen into a quagmire.

"Let Nene get Allah out!" George Karl yelled at the TV screen by himself, but Dantley couldn't hear him.

4 points, 2 points, tie, Thunder overtake 3 points, 5 points...

Dantley watched as the Thunder approached the score under his slack defense until they overtook. But in his view, Billups and Anthony's offense did not have any problems at all. What he didn't see was that the offense of Nene, Anderson and Martin could already be described as horrible.

Especially Nene, offense should be the Brazilian's specialty. But under the defense of An Jie, after playing for so long, Nene only scored one goal.

After seeing Anjie's interesting data, ESPN also took the opportunity of a dead ball to attach it to the bottom of the screen.

2 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Every part of this data reflects Van Gundy's defensive strategy very well, but Dantley is still immersed in Anthony's high shooting percentage and scoring.

Once Anthony and Billups can't score, the Nuggets' offense also stagnates. Because other Nuggets players other than these two have been completely guarded to death. Van Gundy is waiting for this moment, waiting for the moment when Anthony and Billups can't.

At the end of the second quarter, Dantley also hoped that J.R. Smith and Ty Lawson could lead the team's second team to recover from the decline. However, the defense of Ibaka and Livingston made the performance of these two dim. .

52 to 48, the Nuggets went from leading by four points to trailing by four points. Although the score difference is not big, the change in it is very huge.

If George Karl was confronting Van Gundy on the court at this moment, Van Gundy would really have to scratch his head. But unfortunately, now the Nuggets can only rely on Dantley's arrangement to play the second half, and Van Gundy has completely understood Dantley.

In the third quarter, Anthony continued to score. But everyone else except him lost their effect under the high-intensity defense.

Van Gundy's strategy of letting Sefolosha defend Billups has clearly paid off. The only remaining two backcourt guns on the offensive end of the Nuggets have now been withdrawn. The Nuggets, who were originally unfavorable offensively, now have even less offensive firepower.

At this time, it is time to open the score! With a big wave of Van Gundy's hand, the Thunder players, who had been holding back for half the court, frantically attacked the Nuggets' basket like crazy. The sudden outburst of the Thunder team played Dantley unexpectedly.

The offense failed to open up, and now the already useless defense has been beaten through. After defending for two quarters, An Jie finally went on a killing spree in the third quarter.

With the cooperation of Westbrook, Anjie completed all kinds of wonderful goals. Cut dunks, alley oops, everything.

And An Jie's singles in the low position also gained a lot. On the offensive end, he alone suppressed the Nuggets' seemingly menacing inside combination.

After hitting the back, the Nuggets really had no choice but to foul Anjie. Nene and Martin are the players with the highest number of fouls in the league. It is also in Van Gundy's expectation that Anjie can get so many free throw opportunities.

In the third quarter, the Nuggets, who were under the banner of attacking, were defeated by the Thunder's sudden force. 70 to 84, George Karl pulled the needle out of his hand and broke the chair he was sitting in in a fit of frustration. In his opinion, it is simply unacceptable for his own team to play like this.

By the fourth quarter, the demoralized Nuggets could no longer organize an effective counterattack. Anthony's attack was still dangerous, but unfortunately, the others almost disappeared.

In the end, in the blue ocean of the Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Thunder defeated the Nuggets 105-93 at home, ushered in a good start at home!

The Thunder led by Van Gundy came from behind and surpassed the total score. The performance of the Nuggets in this game was even worse than the previous game.

Dantley has completely lost his way, and so have the Nuggets players.

Reaching the Western Conference finals last season was just the performance of last season. This season, you should think about how to pass the first round! (To be continued.)