NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 194: Crisis at the start, 90% in the first quarter, 70% in the first half? !

Scarlett was sitting on the sidelines and couldn't hear the conversation between the few people, but looking at the reactions of several Thunder players around Durant, she roughly guessed what they were talking about.

Seeing Lin Chuan and Ibaka look shocked, or looking at her, and patting Durant's shoulder, Scarlett couldn't help rolling her eyes.

Fortunately, she was wearing a pair of sunglasses today, so no one saw her rolling her eyes, otherwise the media would have definitely captured this moment and made a big fuss about it in the news.

She took out her cell phone and prepared to send a text message to Durant, but the next moment, after hesitating for a moment, she put it away. Durant was about to play a game and had no time to look at his phone.

So she chose to wave at Durant.

Durant immediately ran over.

Behind him, Lin Chuan looked at him with contempt.
"Look at what has happened. He is about to play a game and still doing this. If he doesn't play well, Coach Brooks will punish him!"

Hearing the sour tone in Lin Chuan's voice, Ibaka glanced at him and said with a smile,
"Why, are you jealous? Even Durant, who has been single for many years, has succeeded in pursuing his dream, and you are still single."

"What nonsense! I'm worried about the game!"

Lin Chuan immediately retorted.

Ibaka laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be anxious, Lin, you are only 20 years old. You should know that at this age we are still focusing on basketball."

Lin Chuan shrugged.

indeed.

He is now at the age of pursuing honors. Doing these things is a waste of time and energy. He might as well practice more.

The two were still wondering if Durant was flirting with Scarlett and showing affection, but the reality was completely different from what they thought.

Seeing Durant approaching, Scarlett took off her sunglasses, stared at Durant, and said in a somewhat cold tone,

"Kevin, what do you think our relationship is now?"

"what relationship?"

The question was asked so suddenly that Durant was sweating profusely. He touched the back of his head to ease the embarrassment and said,
"Um, what's the relationship... I think we are friends now..."

"Yes! Friendship!"

Scarlett interrupted Durant and described the current situation between the two.

She leaned forward slightly, closer to Durant, and said in a somewhat dissatisfied tone,

"I couldn't hear it clearly from that far away, but I could feel that your teammates were guessing and making up something."

This action was obviously very ambiguous in the eyes of Lin Chuan and others. No one expected that the conversation between the two would be like this.

"I'm sorry to make you unhappy."

Durant scratched his head.

He was a little worried that their relationship would deteriorate because of these things.

"Nothing, but I still hope you can play well in this game. If you play well, I think we can go on a date?"

Scarlett's tone was a little teasing, which made Durant blush and his heart beat fast.

"Of course! Watch me beat the Spurs in this game!"

Durant patted his chest and vowed.

Are you kidding! Of course he will try hard!
After the last game, so many people questioned whether he was worthy of the MVP. Given his personality, it would be a shame for his efforts if he didn't put in a convincing game to slap them in the face!
"I'm really impressed. These two are so affectionate! Why don't they come back to compete?"

Lin Chuan was speechless. The game was about to begin, but he didn't take advantage of the final warm-up to maintain his condition and wasted time here. You know, the opponent was the Spurs, and he only won by one point in the last game!
At this moment, on the other half of the court, the Spurs team also entered the court and began their final warm-up.

Looking at their movements and expressions, Lin Chuan frowned.

It seemed like they had completely forgotten the outcome of the previous game, and everyone was still terrifyingly stable.

From this perspective, the Spurs are indeed a scary team.

The last few minutes of warm-up time ended, and everyone left the field and returned to the arena and stood inside.

Lin Chuan and Duncan once again stood in the center circle.

Looking at Duncan's calm face, the previous defeat did not have any impact on this player who has experienced many ups and downs.

"Looks like you guys have adjusted, Duncan."

Lin Chuan spoke.

"Well, we are ready for this one and are ready to win the game."

Duncan didn't say much. He simply answered and waited for the referee to serve the ball.

Seeing this, Lin Chuan also got ready.

Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee tossed the ball high.

The second game of the Western Conference Finals between Thunder and Spurs begins now!
Both of them jumped up at the same time, but in the end it was the younger Lin Chuan who touched the basketball first, earning the team the first offensive opportunity of the game.

Reggie moved forward slowly and was about to pass the ball to Lin Chuan when he saw Durant was very active, stretching his hand and shouting at him for the ball.

He had also seen the interaction between Durant and Scarlett during the warm-up session just now. Knowing Durant's thoughts, Reggie handed the ball to him without saying a word, allowing Durant to perform in front of his sweetheart.

Outside the three-point line, Durant received the basketball, and the defender in front of him immediately took two steps forward and put his hands on him to limit his offensive means.

Durant took a closer look and saw that the defender still had the familiar hook hairstyle and expressionless face, like a robot. It seemed that he was the same no matter who he was defending, whether it was the MVP or an ordinary role player.

It was that rookie again! It was Kawhi Leonard who had defended him to only a dozen points in the previous game!
Although he was repeatedly blocked by Leonard in the last game, Durant was not panicked at all when facing the close defense of the same person this time.
Feeling the force of Leonard's hand on his waist, Durant suddenly twisted his waist forcefully, used his muscles to push away Leonard's big hand, and jumped directly.

Pull out the shot!

Leonard immediately jumped up to interfere, but the height difference meant that he could only interfere slightly and was unable to touch the basketball.

The basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air.

"Shh!"

Durant's shot went into the net, giving the team a win.

This goal swept away the gloom of the previous game. Most of the fans on the sidelines were not the kind of people who held grudges, and they immediately cheered for their home team's star player.

Hearing the cheers of the fans, Durant did not seem very excited. Instead, he secretly glanced at the audience seats on the sidelines while returning to defense. It was not until he saw Scarlett, with blonde hair and sunglasses, clapping softly that he began to smile.

To him, the cheers of countless fans on the sidelines could not compare to Scarlett's cheering for him.

It was the Spurs' turn to attack.

Lin Chuan retreated back to the inside and watched his opponent's movement with interest.

Seeing Duncan also running into the inside, Lin Chuan was a little curious.

Before the game, he rarely spoke to himself about his desire for victory. He wondered what kind of strategies and tactics they would come up with in this game that would impress Lin Chuan.

The basketball was passed around the court in a dazzling manner, and the Thunder, who had trained against the Spurs' style of play many times, still looked a little embarrassed.

After several passes, Parker received the ball in an open position, broke through and easily scored a mid-range shot.

Back to the Thunder, after halftime, Reggie once again passed the ball to Durant without any hesitation, who was ready to wreak havoc and perform to his heart's content.

Durant did not disappoint his teammates in this shot. Facing Leonard's defense, Durant once again demonstrated his ability to shoot from all angles, shooting another three-pointer from the bottom corner.

This time, he still ignored Leonard's defense and scored again 22 feet away from the basket.

Hearing the fans' cheers getting louder again, Durant became more confident. While retreating, he glanced at Popovich.

It seemed like a provocation to him, and his defensive arrangements did not have the desired effect.

Indeed, based on these two goals in the first quarter, Leonard's defense against Durant seemed to be ineffective.

Just two minutes into the game, he had already scored nearly half of the points from the previous game.

But Leonard didn't seem discouraged at all. Even though he was hit with two three-pointers at face value, it was as if nothing had happened to him. He ran to the frontcourt as usual to prepare for this offensive round.

Popovich, who had turned pale due to Durant's provocation and was about to call a timeout to criticize Leonard, stopped his action abruptly when he saw Leonard's appearance and prepared to observe another round.

"That's right. After all, it's rare for a player like Durant to miss shots. Leonard was already defending these shots. If they were scored, it can only be said that his touch was so good. It's not Leonard's fault."

Popovich thought to himself.

"Based on Durant's physical strength, this performance can't last too long. The worst that can happen is that we can wear him down on the defensive end."

Thinking of this, Popovich stood up and shouted to the court,
"Leonard, you can improve your offense a bit more!"

After hearing this, the Spurs players on the court passed the ball several times and immediately passed it to Leonard who was cutting inside.

And next to him was Durant who was following along.

Seeing Leonard receiving the ball and preparing to layup, Durant was ready to block the ball.

He's just a rookie with strong defense. Shouldn't it be easy for me to block his layup?!
Durant thought about it, and he started moving, blocking the basketball with his big hand.

But the opposite happened. Leonard was not afraid of the defense on his side at all. He jumped up with his muscles tensed. After a solid collision with Durant in the air to create some space, he forced a layup.

The basketball hit the rim and then slid into the net.

Durant couldn't help but frown when he saw the rookie with the hook hairstyle score a goal under his defense.

In the next round, he once again singled out Leonard and made another turnaround jump shot from the free throw line.

He made three of three shots at the start, and his condition was completely different from the previous game.

Durant in this state is undoubtedly a big trouble for the Spurs.

Popovich moved his butt again as if there were thorns on the bench, ready to stand up at any time.

As long as his team's offense couldn't continue, he was ready to call a timeout and start adjustments, especially to find ways to limit Durant again.

However, today's Spurs did not show any weakness in the face of Durant's hot hand.

In the next offensive round, Danny Green received the pass and shot directly from outside the three-point line and made it!
At the beginning, not only Durant, but also the Spurs made three of three shots! It was completely called to the board!

"Damn, are they feeling so good today?"

On the court, Lin Chuan positioned himself well under the basket but saw the basketball go into the net, and couldn't help feeling depressed.

Seeing Durant in such a good touch, he thought the game could be won easily.

Who would have thought that the Spurs would have such a good touch and never miss a shot.

Now we can only hope that this is just a short-lived hot streak and it doesn't continue.

The game continued on the court, and two minutes later, Durant, who made five of five shots, launched another attack.

He received the ball on the wing and chose to break through for a layup, but was interfered by Duncan who was helping defend him. The basketball hit the back frame and bounced out, but was protected by Duncan.

This was his first miss of the game.

The situation of the game also changed quietly at this moment.

After the first quarter, Durant made 11 of 7 shots and scored 19 points, which was even higher than his full score in the previous game.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see how good Durant's form was in this game and how great his touch was.

But the cheers for this game gradually weakened until it even seemed a little deserted, which was quite abnormal.

At the end of the first quarter, Durant stared at the scoreboard, feeling somewhat helpless.

36: 26.

The Spurs lead by 10 points.

Even though Durant scored 19 points in a single quarter, the Thunder were still behind.

"Fuck, it's so accurate. Did you take it? Or did you take stimulants?"

Compared to Durant's 64% shooting percentage, the Spurs' shooting percentage is even higher, at 90%.

They missed just one shot in the first quarter.

This was also the last shot at the buzzer.

Durant was very unwilling.

He was prepared to give his all in this game, score at least 40-50 points, defeat the Spurs at home and let fans all over the world see his strength, but what the hell is happening now!

He could only hope that they were just cheating in the first quarter and would perform more normally in the rest of the games.

"I hope so."

Listening to Durant's mumbling beside him, Lin Chuan also expressed his own views.

However, seeing the Spurs team that lost a goal, Lin Chuan suddenly understood the bold words Duncan said to him before the game.

So here's the reason.

Only when each of them can make the shot can they confidently tell him that they are ready to win the game.

The second quarter begins.

The Thunder continued with their strategy from the first quarter.

Although they fell behind by ten points due to Durant's continuous attack, his 64% shooting rate and his ability to seize opportunities made him the most accurate player on the Thunder so far.

In this quarter, Durant still lived up to everyone's expectations and converted many shooting opportunities into goals.

He continued to fire in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in a single quarter.

In the first half, Durant scored 32 points and was in extremely hot form.

The Spurs' performance declined compared to the first quarter and they failed to maintain their terrifying 90% shooting rate.

But the Thunder still fell behind.

And this time, they are even further behind!
The score at halftime was 66:50.

16 points difference.

Currently, the Spurs are shooting 71% in the half.

(End of this chapter)