The Road to Stardom: Start as a Slam Dunk Master.

Chapter 331 The true intensity of the NBA

The previous nine consecutive victories were only against weak teams. Since the Cavaliers, except for the Clippers, who are at the bottom of the Western Conference, the 76ers, Trail Blazers, and Bucks are not weak, ranking fifth or sixth in their respective divisions.

This record is enough to prove that the Sonics can beat strong teams with their running and gunning skills.

As a result, the resistance from various teams in the league finally began slowly.

Throughout December, the SuperSonics will face four high-profile tough battles against the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks and Pistons.

For the first three, the difficulty for the SuperSonics lies in the strength of their inside line. O'Neal, Duncan, and Nowitzki are all recognized as insiders at the NBA's historical level, now and in the future. In addition, the three teams have considerable talents. He has good firepower and has already beaten the Sonics once at the beginning of the season. This is enough to verify the truth that it has been recognized that "controlling the inside advantage can restrain the run and gun", whether it is applicable to the SuperSonics.

The Pistons are the dark horses that emerged from the Eastern Conference this year. Except for losing one game each to the Wizards and Lakers at the start of the season, they have maintained a complete record of victory. They just defeated the Cavaliers a few days ago, and the Cavaliers have broken the gold medal since losing to the SuperSonics. There have been successive failures behind them, first losing to the Lakers, then the Spurs, and then the Pistons. Now they rank second in the Eastern Conference with 4 losses and 17 wins.

The Pistons have a record of 3 losses and 18 wins, beating the Cavaliers and Wizards, temporarily ranking first in the Eastern Conference.

The Pistons' defense and the SuperSonics' efficient running and gunning have formed the two most unique landscapes in the East and West this year.

Ben Wallace and Clifford Robinson, who played in last year's defensive second team, are both absolute defensive warriors. Coupled with the Pistons' consistent tough style, they only conceded 21 points per game in 84.3 games this year. points, and the Sonics averaged 108 points per game this year. This is based on the fact that the Sonics have averaged points in the past few consecutive losses. Calculated based on their conversion to run and gun, the average points per game is 114. , already the highest in the league this year and even in recent years.

The strongest spear versus the strongest shield.

After all, these teams all have ambitions for this year's playoffs, and they are currently considered the most capable teams in the league to attack the Sonics.

Several games were full of highlights and attracted great attention from all parties in the league.

In addition to the fact that several teams have their own problems, for example, O'Neal is having trouble with Kobe Bryant recently, and the locker room is very disharmonious. The two people on the court feel like they are fighting for the ball and are not fully involved in the game; for example, the Mavericks Nowitzki seemed to be in poor health and was replaced after only playing 20 minutes.

Counting the games in between, after defeating the Mavericks, the Sonics have accumulated 21 consecutive wins, surpassing the 71 consecutive wins of the Milwaukee Bucks in 20, and ranking second on the NBA regular season winning streak list.

On December 12, 3:123, the SuperSonics narrowly defeated the Spurs.

Therefore, various speculations before each game, detailed analysis of the players, tactics, status, etc. of both sides were compared, and a lot of attention was drawn. It was determined that it would definitely be a fight between the dragon and the tiger, and the SuperSonics would have many difficulties to overcome it, but in the end, I did not expect The results are all shocking.

What's more important is the sudden rise of Sakuragi Hanamichi.

Before the game, all parties have undoubtedly changed their previous claims of a close match, and are more optimistic about the current SuperSonics. After all, this wave of winning streak is too terrifying. The power of running and gunning has caused the three favorite teams to lose one after another, and even some The good guys have already shouted that they have created a new era for the league.

Both the audience and the league are happy to watch the Super Sound continue to make history.

On December 12, at 17:116, the SuperSonics defeated the Mavericks.

He scored 10+ rebounds in each of the three games, and most of them were frontcourt rebounds. Although this performance plus single-digit scoring cannot be compared with the performance of the three big insiders, it is still quite good. This ensures that the Sonics' second offense will not lose so miserably in the paint.

As for the three powerful insiders who had high hopes from all parties before the game, they did not play a decisive role in the game.

Then came the game against the Pistons on the 20th.

Lin Dong has maintained his double-double average of 30+ points and 10+ assists in three games, as if he has completely stabilized his own data.

In addition, the Pistons also have guard Hamilton, who was just acquired from the Wizards, and the high-profile rookie center Darko Milicic, who was selected with the fifth overall pick in this year's draft. They have solved many of the Pistons' offensive problems and can be ranked among them. Being No. 1 in the Eastern Conference is definitely not a fluke.

This made Seattle fans completely crazy about it, shouting slogans to hit the first consecutive winning streak in history and surpass the 71-game winning streak of the invincible Lakers in the 72-33 season.

At 92:88, the Pistons narrowly defeated the SuperSonics by 4 points, ending the SuperSonics' second consecutive winning streak in history.

But the Pistons immediately slapped everyone in the face.

On December 12, 6:112, the SuperSonics defeated the Lakers.

Not only the madness from the fans, this long winning streak has also made the SuperSonics' own players start to feel a little drifting. Even Lin Dong has secretly felt that running and gunning equals invincibility across the ages.

The terrifying iron-blooded defense really taught the Sonics a tough lesson for their already complacent newcomers.

Lin Dong scored a game-high 42 points, but he made 23 of 5 shots and his shooting percentage was only 21.7%. Of the 42 points he scored, a full 31 points came from free throws, and almost all of them were concentrated in Lin Dong in the second half. When you want to turn the tide and save the team.

The Pistons' strategy against Lin Dong is very simple. As long as you dare to shoot, I will pull you. As long as you dare to break through me, I will directly pull you and even hug you back!
34 of 31 free throws, no matter how accurate the free throw percentage is? It means not letting you score normally, it means letting the referee blow your fast break rhythm to pieces, it means giving you intensity, making you afraid, and having the awareness that you can put the ball into the basket without someone hanging on you. You don't even think about getting any easy points. Sakuragi Hanamichi had 6 points and 2 rebounds. All 6 points were obtained through free throws. He made 10 of 6 free throws. The 60% shooting rate was acceptable for Sakuragi, but he only had 2 rebounds in the game, which was a breakthrough. Previously, many Japanese fans believed that Sakuragi could compete with the league's top insiders.

Facing Duncan, O'Neal, and Nowitzki, Sakuragi still had a chance to perform, but facing Ben, it felt like he couldn't even struggle.

It's not that Ben is stronger than them, but his style and attitude are different.

After all, all parties were badmouthing the Pistons before the game started, which also aroused the Pistons' anger.

Ben undoubtedly put much more energy into defending the basket than the three major centers. To put it bluntly, Ben was serious, and the physical strength he gave Sakuragi was something he had never felt in the game before. So much so that Sakuragi walked with a slight limp when he finally left the field.

Young people in the Sonics complained a lot about this, feeling that the Pistons were playing dirty, but Payton was quite happy.

Payton has noticed the atmosphere in the team that has started to relax after the previous 21-game winning streak. He is not very interested in winning streak records. If these guys continue to be so careless, they will not be able to win in the end. When you reach the championship, you will win another ten games in a row. It will be useless to break the Lakers' historical record. Maybe it will become a joke that "the regular season is as fierce as a tiger and the playoffs is as weak as a rat."

Then he would rather this failure come earlier.

"Dirty? Is this dirty?" Payton smiled and summed up the dejected young people in the locker room: "Where is this? It's just a normal playoff defensive strength. Wait until we reach the In the playoffs, all the teams you encounter will be like this!"

"Boss, even if you preach, this is too exaggerated, right? Didn't you say that this year's Pistons are the best defensive team in the league? How can every team be the same as them..."

"That's because the Pistons' defensive intensity in the regular season is equal to the intensity of other people's playoffs, and the Pistons' playoffs..." Payton responded with a smile: "That's hell! Is it hard to understand? You're talking dirty. , wait until then, you will know what it means to be really dirty! Don't underestimate the NBA, rookies!"

After some sermons, the newcomers were stunned for a moment, and then Payton proudly turned to look at the thoughtful Lin Dong: "Hi, Lin, what do you think?"

Payton feels that rookie is a title for newcomers, but this does not include Lin Dong.

Lin Dong was thinking about the process of the game. He made 23 of 5 shots. That was not because his shooting percentage was not good, but because 17 of the shots were forcibly taken away by the Pistons.

The physical strength of the confrontation was still too weak... This made the Pistons dare to reach out to him, because they knew that they would be able to pull him down if they stretched out their hands, and pulling Lin Dong down would break the rhythm of the Supersonic fast break.

But if they were stronger and could still score the ball even when being forced to create various 2+1s, would the Pistons still dare to do this?
Lin Dong seems to understand a little bit how Jordan felt in his rookie season when facing the Pistons led by Chuck Daly.

This is just a team with unique characteristics, and it is not even the Dacheng Pistons after the two Wallaces have gathered together, but it has already made the Sonics, who thought they were invincible, so uncomfortable.

But it's also a good thing. If things continue like this, by the time they meet strong teams such as the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavericks that really start to fight in the playoffs, it will be too late to wake up and be vigilant by then.

Hearing Payton ask at this time brought Lin Dong's thoughts back to reality.

He put away the knee pads on his legs and exhaled a long breath: "How else can you feel? Just practice and add a few more sets of strength training tomorrow... Tsk, we have to let Stephen re-formulate the training plan!"

The Pistons proved that their tight defense had an impact and restraint on the Sonics' offensive system. It also provided a reference for all teams in the league and made many teams feel more at ease.

After this game, the Sonics' next regular season trip finally became normal.

On the SuperSonics side, the run-and-gun scoring ability is still there, making it difficult for other teams that are still in the regular season to deal with it. After all, it is only the regular season. It is not that each team does not want to achieve better regular season results, but that in the regular season In this long season with extremely tight game arrangements, you are not allowed to perform 100%, not to mention working hard, because you are prone to injury.

Everyone tacitly expected to perform at 21% or %, and on the defensive end, it was only at % or %. Just like the SuperSonics were in a desperate state during their previous consecutive victories, most of the teams were experienced. No team would deliberately choose that way for a record, which is actually an advantage for the Sonics who choose to run and gun.

Lin Dong began to put more energy into daily physical training, and rationally gained muscle and weight under Stephen's training plan.

After all, you understand quickly, and after experiencing it, you will understand that you don't need to pursue the regular season record too persistently, especially before you have become a true king and do not have the level to control the NBA.

It is better to put those thoughts on preparing for the super competition in the playoffs as soon as possible. Lin Dong feels that this is his best choice at the moment.

After playing for two or three games, you need to relax a little. Since then, the team has maintained about 3 wins and 1 loss, a winning rate of about 75%. It has lost to strong teams and weak teams. It depends on the performance, but the Sonics are in The ranking of the Western Conference continued to rise slowly. By the end of January, it had risen to second place in the Western Conference, second only to the Spurs, who are now playing more and more stable games.

In December, January, and February, the team's record was stable. Lin Dong's special training had good results, and he gained 12 kilograms. Sakuragi has also reached a height of 1 centimeters, but it seems that the speed of growth has begun to slow down. On the one hand, the bone age has reached the upper limit, and on the other hand, after being stimulated by the piston, a large amount of training to increase muscle and weight cannot be persuaded to come back.

This guy is now focused on adapting to at least the intensity of fighting against the Pistons before the playoffs come.

However, compared to the team's record and the harmony and stability of the locker room, in the past three months, there have been more things happening off the court that are closely related to the team and Lin Dong.

(End of this chapter)