I'm good at basketball too

Chapter 258 Another Mountain

Although the Grizzlies miraculously turned the Lakers back, there is still an unattainable mountain in front of them.

The team with the best record in the regular season.

Another 70-win team after the Bulls dynasty.

Defending champion.

Li Ran's old club.

Led by Anthony, the Denver Nuggets have a number of super scorers and an extremely powerful lineup.

The Nuggets went all the way through the playoffs and reached the Western Conference Finals, losing only one game to the Spurs.

In that game, the old man Deng Duda chatted about being a teenager, and cut down the super god data to make the Nuggets lose unexpectedly.

Moreover, the Nuggets have already waited for the Grizzlies for two games. This time is just right, just enough for the Nuggets to recover their physical strength, and it will not cause the feel to decline due to not playing for too long.

More importantly, the Pepsi Center, home of the Nuggets, is located on the Denver plateau. Except for Li Ran and Kirilenko, it is difficult for the Grizzlies to adapt to the high altitude there.

Needless to say, Li Ran was a member of the Nuggets last year.

Kirilenko is the former Jazz, also located on the plateau.

In terms of altitude, the Utah Plateau is not inferior to the Denver Plateau.

But other people may not be able to adapt to Denver's high altitude conditions.

This round of the Grizzlies series is also the only game without home court advantage.

Their schedule is away-away-home-home-away-home-away.

When Li Ran got off the plane from Denver International Airport, he was surprised to find many fans wearing his No. 0 Nuggets jersey waiting at the airport.

There are also large slogans.

"Thank you for bringing a championship to Denver."

"Denver's No. 0 forever."

"Welcome home."

Li Ran was a little moved when he saw these slogans.

He and the Nuggets definitely get together and part ways, and Nuggets fans have no complaints about him.

Moreover, the return of Li Ran's departure to the Nuggets is rich enough.

That was almost half of the original main lineup of the Grizzlies, and it was the team that the Grizzlies worked hard to build with draft picks for several years.

Li Ran came to Pepsi Center with a good mood.

In the evening, Anthony took a group of old Nuggets teammates from last year, including O'Neal, Billups, Nene, and JR, and invited Li Ran, Ah Lian, and Livingston to dinner.

Everyone never mentioned the match that will be held tomorrow, but the atmosphere was harmonious.

What's more, O'Neill is a natural treasure.

O'Neal, who is one year older, has gained weight again, but no one cares about him anymore.

Everyone knows that this shark who once made waves in the league and covered the sky with one hand is not far from retirement.

Although the Nuggets' starter is still him in name, his positioning is already a pure pseudo-starter.

The audience played for more than ten minutes, and the rest of the time was handed over to Gortat.

After getting enough playing time this season, Gortat has improved rapidly, averaging 13 points and 9 rebounds per game, which is completely different from last season.

In general, the Nuggets' lineup is still strong and scary.

But Li Ran didn't retreat.

He took the Grizzlies, not for the runner-up.

Whether it is the runner-up in the division or the overall runner-up.

The next night, the Grizzlies lined up, accompanied by boos and cheers, stepped onto the court at the Pepsi Center.

The boos are for other people.

The cheers were for Li Ran.

Curry, Li Ran, Kirilenko, Randolph, Xiaojia, this is the strongest and most commonly used starting lineup for the Grizzlies.

On the other side, George Karl sent Conley, Rudy Gay, Anthony, Nene and O'Neal as starters.

Li Ran stood on the middle circle after a long absence, ready to jump the ball.

O'Neill saw that it was Li Ran who came up, but he just jumped up symbolically, and let Li Ran fight for the ball.

In the pre-match training, Calipari, Cole and Li Ran deeply analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the Nuggets lineup.

The advantage is, of course, their extremely powerful attack power. All five of them have their own unique skills, and they all have strong offensive capabilities.

What's more, they still have OJ-Mayo, JR-Smith, and Gortat sitting on the court.

But the disadvantages are equally obvious.

They don't have defensive gates like Li Ran and Kirilenko. Except for Conley, the defensive ability of the five players is quite average.

But in the regular season and the playoffs, this shortcoming was covered by their offensive power. They only need to attack, and no one can stop them.

Not even the Spurs' defensive prowess can stop them.

What about the Grizzlies?
Coming to the frontcourt, Li Ran received a pass from Curry. He slowly dribbled the ball and faced Rudy Gay in front of him.

Without Kobe's defense, Li Ran now feels much easier to breathe.

Of course Rudy Guy couldn't stop Li Ran.

After Li Ran just changed hands and dribbled, he used a very simple and crisp CrossOver to pass Guy in one step.

Guy said there was nothing he could do about Li Ran's exaggerated lateral movement like a bully.

After passing Guy, Li Ran chose the most effort-saving way of shooting - a jump shot with an emergency stop.

Mid-range shots are solid hits.

Looking back, Anthony faced Kirilenko's defense and used Nene's pick-and-roll to get inside. During the breakthrough, he used his signature washing machine to turn around, go deep into the basket and then hit a layup.

Li Ran was very familiar with Anthony's offensive routines. He immediately gave up his defender, went inside and jumped high, slapping Anthony's layup directly onto the backboard.

However, if Gua Ge was defended by Li Ran so easily, he would not be one of the most offensive kaleidoscopes in the league.

Sticking his butt, Gua Ge took off for the second time, grabbed an offensive rebound, and made another shot.

Li Ran jumped again and slapped the ball into the air.

Gua Ge grabbed again, this time, he did not choose to layup, but took off on the spot, dunking the ball directly into the basket with both hands.

Li Ran finally had no choice. . . .

Two people, one offense, scored 2 points, 2 offensive rebounds and 2 blocks.

The brush can't do without you. . . .

Although the process was a bit tortuous, let me ask you whether the goal was scored or not. . .

When it was Li Ran's turn, he also called the inside player's pick-and-roll.

Xiao Jia's broad and thick body completely blocked Guy from his side.

And O'Neill can't keep up at all.

Li Ran took advantage of this brief space and fired from beyond the three-point line without hesitation.

He felt very good today, and he also scored three-pointers.

Rudy Gay hit Curry with a misplaced back and turned over and made a jumper.

Curry and Li Ran made an outside pick-and-roll, pulled out the defender and made a breakthrough for a layup.

The two teams did not have any temptations, and directly started to attack, the scene was extremely exciting.

The head coaches of the two teams are sitting on the Diaoyutai, and both believe that their teams are on the right path.

Needless to say, George Karl, this is how the Nuggets played this season.

And Calipari believes that the Grizzlies are not inferior to the Nuggets in any way.

Regardless of offense or defense.

As long as the Grizzlies play normally, Calipari believes that his team has a great chance to win this round of the series.

The two teams played a rare fast pace and high shooting percentage in the playoffs.

(End of this chapter)