Chapter 412: Chapter 324, Stand Up and Kick? Completely Crush Durant!
"For the Warriors, this is a crucial defeat, they are about to watch the Nuggets tie the 33-game win streak record!" Barkley’s emotions are intense, his voice transmitting through TV screens everywhere.
"Zeng Xingyang’s performance in this key game is still incredible, I suspect this guy is from outer space, otherwise how could he play basketball as precisely as a machine!" Kenny Smith said.
At this moment, the lights in the arena remain bright, Warriors fans sit in the stands, faces full of disappointment and unwillingness.
Their eyes are fixed tightly on the scoreboard, still reminiscing the just-concluded game, struggling to accept the fact of the team’s defeat.
The excitement of Christmas diminished greatly due to losing this crucial game.
"Today, the Warriors set up many tactics against Zeng Xingyang, but there was no way, they failed!" The local Golden State commentator continued, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.
"Yes, the Nuggets were too calm on the court, they consistently held the initiative." Another partner commented.
And many Warriors fans believe in the rumor that Zeng Xingyang is a smart robot developed in China.
They think that Zeng Xingyang was specifically created by China to end the dominant position of the NBA United States, born just for playing basketball.
In his rookie year, he was said to suppress Jordan, and in his second year, he aimed to lead the team to a championship, how does this resemble a normal NBA rookie growth trajectory?
This guy is here to end the NBA.
Court side, Cole walked toward Mike Malone with a sullen face.
Cole originally prepared a lot of words to chat with Mike Malone today, but the premise was to win the game.
The result today was they lost, should he shout, "Don’t bully the middle-aged poor?"
Cole feels very uncomfortable; he originally thought he built a Warriors super battleship that would be invincible in the league, but facing the Nuggets today still ended in defeat.
They are strong, but the Nuggets are stronger.
The Nuggets did not rely on the referee’s whistle or aggressive actions to win, but won the game fair and square, which made Cole hold his breath.
At the press conference, Cole attended with Curry and Durant.
The eyes of the media present all turned towards them, many of them looking at Durant with some pity.
When winning, the media will exalt you, but when losing a crucial game, they will step on you.
Especially after the Warriors lost to the Nuggets in last season’s playoffs and brought in Durant, yet today’s result was still a loss.
Durant was the first to be questioned, and the question left him a little embarrassed.
"KD, before you came to the Warriors, they lost to the Nuggets, and after you came, they still lost to the Nuggets. May I ask, what exactly has your arrival brought to the Warriors?"
The ESPN female reporter stood below, holding a microphone, her words sharp.
This question formed a closed loop, making Durant’s joining seemed meaningless in regards to the wins and losses between the Warriors and Nuggets.
Durant’s face instantly darkened, he opened his mouth but for a moment didn’t know how to respond.
Durant knew in his heart, he could only say that Zeng Xingyang was the nemesis of the Warriors, he and Jokic formed a team in the Nuggets that restricted the Warriors’ death lineup to the greatest extent, making the death lineup unable to exert its power.
The death lineup often relies on high-intensity defense to play transitions, and Zeng Xingyang and Jokic are both players who maintain low error rates and can play efficiently even under high intensity, causing the Warriors’ lineup to become quite awkward, and Jokic’s height maximized the compression of the Warriors’ defensive space.
Of course, saying these reasons out loud would only seem ridiculous.
Curry saw this and quickly took over the microphone to help Durant out: "This is just a regular season game, losing doesn’t mean we’re finished, we have many opportunities to adjust. I believe in KD, I also believe in our team, we will find a way to win."
On the other hand, Zeng Xingyang was not bothered to deal with reporters.
After the game, he directly went to find Scarlett.
Scarlett had prepared a Black Widow role-play package for him at the hotel.
After the Christmas battle, the Nuggets players all had a two-day holiday, and Zeng Xingyang did not fly back with the team’s plane but stayed in the hotel playing with Scarlet sister for two days.
The next day, the battle between the Warriors and the Nuggets made the headlines of newspapers nationwide.
"Zeng Xingyang leads team to break Warriors’ home unbeaten record, achieving an impressive 32-game win streak!"
"Lakers’ 33-game win streak record in sight, Nuggets are just 1 game away!"
"What has Durant’s joining brought to the Warriors? If they meet the Nuggets in the playoffs, they might still lose."
"Although Zeng Xingyang did not post god-like stats, he exhibited top superstar dominance on the court."
"Warriors were overwhelmed, Nuggets demonstrate frightening depth in their full lineup, they have too many players capable of playing."
"Cole was left looking gloomy, Durant did not help the Warriors clear the Nuggets hurdle."
"Scarlett conquered in mind and body, Zeng Xingyang didn’t leave the hotel for two days!"
"Stand up pedal? Curtain shadow possibly Zeng Xingyang and Scarlett’s silhouette!"
Durant’s reputation took a further hit because of this game.
The Warriors fans who used to support him saw Durant not leading the Warriors to defeat the Nuggets as expected, and they began feeling discontented.
"Mercenaries won’t do, we still need to nurture our own players as before, whether it’s us or the Nuggets, they basically rely on players they’ve selected, external cores are unreliable." A Warriors fan commented online.
"Kevin Durant will be left behind by Zeng Xingyang this season, Zeng Xingyang is playing like a competent leader on the court while he is dithering." Another fan commented.
"Every time KD takes the ball against Zeng Xingyang he seems to panic!" Another fan vented after watching the game.
In this matchup between Durant and Zeng Xingyang, Durant lost very thoroughly.
After returning at midnight, Durant was pained and reflected deeply on his problems.
He watched the tapes repeatedly and found that it wasn’t that he didn’t have scoring opportunities against Zeng Xingyang, he just lacked confidence!
"Must be more confident, more decisive." Durant encouraged himself in the mirror repeatedly.
During the Christmas battle, there were frequent trade rumors in the NBA.
There were rumors that Owen completely fell out with the Knights, and the Knights’ general manager is seeking a trade, there were also rumors that James personally called Zeng Xingyang to talk about the possibility of being the king in Denver, but was decisively rejected by Zeng Xingyang.
There were many rumors, but not many trades were made, mostly small peripheral deals.
The Nuggets also did not make any additions to their roster!
After the holiday’s end, the Nuggets’ first away game was against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
At the match site, the atmosphere was very heated, Minnesota Timberwolves fans dressed in home team jerseys, cheering and wishing the team could create trouble for the surging Nuggets.