I'm good at basketball too

Chapter 219
How is Curry doing this season?

The Grizzlies are second only to Li Ran in scoring, averaging 23.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, shooting 45.2% from the field and 39.9% from three-point range.

He scored more than Iverson and more than Randolph.

It is a whole level stronger than the equally good Curry in history.

As far as his performance is concerned, he will be trained as an absolute core in any team, except maybe the Grizzlies where Li Ran is.

In other words, it was also because Curry had an excellent relationship with Li Ran and knew how strong Li Ran was that he was willing to be Li Ran's deputy in the Grizzlies.

When he played against the Nuggets for the first time, Curry had just entered the league and hadn't fully adapted to the rhythm of the NBA.

In that game, the Grizzlies only lost by three points.

Now, Curry has played more than 20 games and has fully adapted to the rhythm of the NBA game. In addition, Li Ran's concentration on defense gave him a lot of possessions, which made Curry grow extremely fast.

At least, people have been able to see the college demeanor of this super scorer who broke almost all Davidson College school history records on the court.

Facing Billups' defense, Curry's footsteps were extremely fast, and the ball in his hand almost merged with him.

Billups has rich experience, but his physical fitness is not as strong as it was at the peak of the year.

Under Curry's constant shaking, Billups soon showed signs of losing control of his center of gravity.

Seeing this, Curry did not rush to the inside like Li Ran, but took a step back and shot cleanly from outside the three-point line.

The ball seemed to be equipped with a guidance device. It drew a perfect arc in the air and fell straight into the frame.

Billups shook his head helplessly. He almost made no mistakes in this ball, but Curry caught it unceremoniously with just a small flaw that was too small to detect.

and. . .

"This kid's shot is too fast."

Billups almost had a feeling that Curry shot in front of his face, but he had nothing to do.

On the other side, Anthony rushed into the inside for a layup, but was once again interfered by Li Ran.

This season, after the Nuggets lost Li Ran, Anthony's style of play returned to the way it was two years ago.

Fans say that Anthony is the essence of human jump shots, but what most people don't know is that, as the league's top scorer, Anthony actually has a much higher probability of shooting inside than outside.

Moreover, his inside shooting rate is much lower than expected.

There is an undeniable truth on the basketball court, that is "the closer to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage".

However, compared with several superstars of the same period, Kobe, James, Durant and Nowitzki, Anthony's inside finishing rate is the lowest.

His inside shooting percentage is just in line with the league average.

This is undoubtedly unqualified for a star like Anthony.

Anthony's breakthrough has a very bad habit. He doesn't like to throw shots or half-blocks close to the basket like Kobe Durant to end the offense, but likes to hit the deepest part of the basket.

However, his bullet speed is excellent, but his absolute bounce is average, so fans often see such scenes.

Anthony rushed to the basket, shot, was blocked, and then relied on his bullet speed to grab an offensive rebound and shot again.

Sometimes, such a scene will happen several times, and finally Anthony scores the ball or the ball is exchanged.

Later in his career, as Anthony gradually increased his percentage of shots from the perimeter, his true shooting percentage gradually improved.

Can you believe this?

The season with the highest true shooting percentage of Anthony's career was his season with the Lakers. At that time, Anthony had almost transformed into a pure shooter next to James.

And he shot a 59.4 true shooting percentage that season.

It's just that most people don't realize Anthony's problem now. For Anthony, apart from the championship, only scoring is the most important thing.

As long as it can score and the efficiency is lower, it doesn't seem to be a big problem.

Li Ran blocked Anthony's shot, and then took the ball with a second jump with a better bounce speed than Anthony, and directly handed it to Curry who had already started running back.

Curry held the ball for halftime, and Billups, who was back on defense, subconsciously took a step back inside the three-point line.

After all, when most people push to counterattack, the first thing they think about is to get to the basket and layup.

Obviously, Curry is that small exception.

By the time Billups realized something was wrong, Curry, who was hilarious, had stopped outside the three-point line, staring resolutely at the basket.

He played this game very well, and Li Ran could already vaguely see the shadow of the unanimous MVP of the 15-16 season.

The ball hits again.

Unknowingly, the 11-point lead the Nuggets got in the first quarter has been wiped out by Curry's rainy three-pointers in the second quarter.

George Karl folded his arms and stood on the sidelines expressionlessly.

It's also the first time he's seen a team that can match his own offensively.

After thinking for a while, George Karl just ordered the team to continue to attack.

It is impossible for him to abandon the strongest part of his team and let Billups press the rhythm to play positional warfare.

As a result, the next game suddenly became better.

O'Neal's hard attack on the inside, Anthony's long two-pointer, Billups's sudden shot, Curry's three-pointer and Li Ran's breakthrough.

The two teams came and went, and the score began to rise alternately.

This is the first time the Nuggets have fallen into such an anxious situation this season.

But George Karl is not afraid, because the Nuggets' current players on the court have rich game experience.

The Nuggets, who have retained almost all the championship team except Li Ran, have OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and others with strong immediate combat capabilities. They are not afraid of any team attacking them.

After Curry passed the pass to Li Ran, who made an air cut, and Li Ran scored a wonderful pull-up layup over O'Neal, the fans realized that there was not much left in the second quarter.

64-66, the Grizzlies lead the Nuggets by two points.

Anthony missed a three-pointer from outside, Li Ran received the rebound, and the time went to zero almost at the same time, and the first half of the game officially ended.

Li Ran put his arms around Curry's neck, talking and laughing as he walked off the field.

They have no reason not to be satisfied with their performance in the second quarter. While the Nuggets continued to score 31 points in a satisfactory manner, they scored a full 42 points in the second quarter.

On the other hand, the emotions of the Nuggets players did not fluctuate much.

Having won the championship, they know that although the opening streak is very attractive, no team will win a whole season in a row.

They will always lose, and this game, to put it bluntly, is just an ordinary game among the 25 games in the long regular season, and it is no different from the previous 82 games.

What's more, the two teams are just balancing power now, and it's hard to say who will win and who will lose in the end.

(End of this chapter)