Chapter 388: Chapter 300, Start chasing points!!
After defeating the Knight, with Butler and other slightly injured players gradually returning, the Nuggets consecutively defeated the Grizzlies, Pelicans, Pistons, and Wizards, smoothly achieving a 21-game winning streak.
In the 22nd game, which was about to tie the Rockets’ 22-game winning streak record, the Nuggets, due to carelessness and complacency, were trailing by as much as 20 points against the Thunder on the road after three quarters.
After all, in the eyes of the Nuggets, the Thunder is a team whose star players have all left.
Without Durant, this team is nothing.
But unexpectedly, Westbrook led the Thunder to play fiercely at home.
Since the start of this season, Westbrook has been playing freely, charging the court with inside-outside scoring, assisting, and rebounding. He was like a ferocious beast, charging through the court, often relying on his astonishing explosiveness and speed to forcibly tear through the opponent’s defense, creating opportunities for himself or his teammates.
Westbrook wasn’t just crazy tonight; he’s been like this since the new season began.
Every night, Westbrook was the engine of the team, accelerating the momentum and leading his teammates forward time and again.
This kept the Thunder’s record always in the top eight. This season, Westbrook averaged a super triple-double of 31.5 points, 10.5 assists, and 10.5 rebounds, better than Zeng Xingyang’s stats.
If the Thunder’s record wasn’t so incomparable to the Nuggets, right now in the MVP standings it should be him first, Zeng Xingyang second.
The entire Nuggets team was a bit overwhelmed today, Westbrook’s toughness even left Butler speechless.
When Westbrook broke through Butler to score an and-one in the fourth quarter, the point difference widened to 23 points.
After Westbrook made the free throw, he was full of pride, taunting the Nuggets bench: "Softies, a bunch of guys softer than cake!"
As he spoke, he pointed towards the Nuggets bench, his expression full of disdain.
The Nuggets are at the same level as the Warriors; seeing such a team makes Westbrook excited, he wants to prove that he can lead a team to beat such a team by himself.
"F*ck!" Butler, who was resting on the bench, instantly stood up, eyes wide, veins popping on his neck, wanting to confront Westbrook.
"Forget it, don’t get angry." Jokic was quick-eyed and swiftly pulled Butler back, gently advising.
Butler’s temper had grown since coming to the Nuggets.
Jokic also knew Westbrook’s personality, knowing that this guy didn’t have any bad intentions, just a bit straightforward.
Convinced by Jokic, Butler reluctantly sat down, still muttering: "This guy is too much!"
Mike Malone called a timeout at this point.
The entire Nuggets team kept their heads down, not daring to meet the coach’s eyes, knowing in their hearts that they played terribly tonight.
Mike Malone was very helpless today; the team was playing very slack, and no matter how hard he emphasized, it was useless.
At this point, Mike Malone directly signaled for Zeng Xingyang to say a few words.
Zeng Xingyang stood up, his expression serious, holding back a bellyful of anger: "We have already won 21 games, if we lose tonight, the fans and coach won’t blame us."
"Even with a record of 21 wins and 1 loss, we are still the number one team in the league, because the Warriors just lost too."
"But, are we satisfied just like this?" Zeng Xingyang raised his voice, his eyes revealing determination and unwillingness.
"We are losing to a Thunder without Kevin Durant."
"This team has no chance of contending for the championship, their strength is far inferior to ours."
"And just now, Russell Westbrook mocked us as a bunch of softies."
"Are we?"
"I believe we will use our actions to tell him the answer."
Zeng Xingyang was gradually learning to inspire people’s hearts.
Some words, when said by the coach or by him, have different effects. After all, the coach is not on the court, and he has to fight alongside them.
Butler, Grant, Pope, and others clenched their fists, their eyes gleaming with fighting spirit, feeling that Zeng Xingyang did not want to lose here.
After Zeng Xingyang’s speech, Mike Malone began to set up tactics.
Still trailing by more than 20 points, this was the first time the Nuggets had experienced such a difficult situation this season.
Mike Malone knew there was only hope of catching up if both the offense and defense were executed.
On offense, Mike Malone believed Zeng Xingyang and Jokic could solve the problems, but on defense, it depended on these guys’ defensive activity and willingness.
Timeout quickly ended.
Barkley, sitting at the commentary table, laughed and said, "I’m looking forward to seeing the Nuggets lose a game."
On the court, the Nuggets’ offense.
Butler passed the ball to Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang dribbled slowly to the frontcourt.
Tonight, the Thunder’s strategy was to force Zeng Xingyang and Jokic to play one-on-one rather than bringing along the whole team.
They felt that when the Nuggets were at full strength, Zeng Xingyang and Jokic wouldn’t always hold the ball to play alone.
Indeed, in the first three quarters, Zeng Xingyang and Jokic were making plays for their teammates, always trying to get the team rhythm going.
The two were kind of insisting, but the Nuggets’ players were in poor condition, making it hard to get the ball in the basket.
At this point, Zeng Xingyang knew he had to stick to playing himself.
After coming to the frontcourt, facing Westbrook, Zeng Xingyang signaled with a wave for teammates to clear out.
The Thunder continued their one-on-one defense strategy, Westbrook lowered his center of gravity, slightly bent his legs, spread his arms like a barrier, and his eyes locked onto Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xing began frequently changing hands under his legs, adjusting his rhythm.
"Bang!" "Bang!" The sound of the basketball hitting the floor was crisp and powerful.
Zeng Xingyang continued adjusting the tempo, Westbrook opened his hands trying to defend both the breakthrough and the shot.
But the result was that he couldn’t defend!
Zeng Xingyang dribbled to the right side, suddenly accelerated a step, and Westbrook reacted quickly, closely following.
However, Zeng Xingyang quickly stepped back after taking a step, pulling out to the three-point line. Then he made a quick jump shot for three.
Westbrook tried hard to chase and defend but stumbled and fell to the ground.
Westbrook on the court indeed put in his all, defending with all his strength, trying to stop Zeng Xingyang from scoring.
But he didn’t interfere with this shot by Zeng Xingyang.
The basketball traced a beautiful arc.
"Swish!"
to 90.
Zeng Xingyang brought the gap back to 20 points. At this point, there were 9 minutes and 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
"Brilliant, Zeng Xingyang started being unreasonable."
"Dribbled to the frontcourt, a one-on-one shake and just shoots."
"Although Westbrook was shaken off, you can’t deny he worked hard on defense."
"It’s not easy for Westbrook to lead this Thunder."
"If the Thunder can beat the Nuggets tonight, Westbrook will absolutely become a legend."
The fans were discussing animatedly.
Zeng Xingyang led the entire team quickly pressing on the Thunder.
This was the time to fight with intensity.