NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 96: First defeat of the season, nine-game winning streak ended (15)

After defeating the Lakers, the Thunder won 9 consecutive games and continued to maintain their first place in the Western Conference.

And they finally ended their road trip and flew back to Oklahoma.

The Lakers, who lost to them, had to swallow the bitter fruit of defeat, with a record of 3 wins and 5 losses, falling to 11th in the Western Conference, one step further away from the playoffs.

The Thunder were riding high in their prime, but in their first game back at home they suffered an unforgettable defeat.

The first ten-game winning streak of the season was also snapped.

Back at home, the Thunder were well-rested and waiting for the Houston Rockets who had come from afar.

The core of the current Rockets is James Harden, who was traded by the Thunder during the offseason.

So far this season, he has played 9 games and his average stats are as high as 26.7 points, ranking fourth in the league, behind only three top scorers: Anthony, Durant and Kobe.

At the same time, he also had 5 rebounds and 6 assists, showing his all-around superstar qualities.

Harden, as the sole core of the team, has led the team to a record of 6 wins and 3 losses, and is currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference, which has surprised many people, including Lin Chuan.

Although Lin Chuan knew that Harden had a high ceiling and had never missed the playoffs in his career, he did not expect him to perform so well in his first season with the Rockets.

The starting player in the backcourt with Harden was the first generation of "Linsanity" Jeremy Lin.

Four months before Lin Chuan's crazy performance against the Heat in the finals, in February 2012 with the Knicks, as Anthony was injured and the ball possession increased, he suddenly began to explode and led the Knicks to seven consecutive wins, averaging 2 points, 7 rebounds, 25.3 assists and 4.6 steals per game. During this period, he also made a famous scene of a three-pointer to defeat the Raptors with 8.4 seconds left and a 2.3-point competition with Kobe.

In this game, Durant, who had always been stable, had an extremely poor touch. He made 30 of 11 shots, with a hit rate of only 36.7%. Although he scored 26 points with a high number of shots, his extremely low efficiency made Durant, as the team leader, hurt the team more the more he shot in this game.

而威斯布鲁克本场反而表现不错，本场18中10高效砍下24分5篮板5助攻，少见的打出了50%的命中率。

For a point guard, this shooting percentage is already very good.

Lin Chuan, who is more stable than Durant, was still stable in this game. He made 20 of 12 shots, scored 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and achieved a triple-double again.

This is also his fourth triple-double at only 1/8 of the season, which also allows him to continue to lead the triple-double list.

But even though the two played so well, they failed to defeat the Rockets at home, and instead suffered their first loss of the season.

Facing his old team, Harden seemed to be trying to prove that the Thunder made the wrong choice in trading him and that he was strong enough. He played like crazy throughout the game, scoring 55 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. In the fourth quarter, Harden completely entered the explosion mode, killing everyone who stood in his way, and scored 18 points in a single quarter. In the last 2 minutes, facing the counterattack of the Thunder, Lin Chuan and Westbrook, Harden scored 6 points in a row and completely crushed the Thunder, who had won 9 consecutive games.

林书豪本场也打出了18+8的漂亮数据，和17+4+6的“高富帅”钱德勒·帕森斯作为本场球队的2，3号当家携手哈登帮助球队拿下胜利。

After the game, Durant apologized to reporters, saying that he played so badly despite being the leader of the team. Lin Chuan was also asked a lot of questions by reporters. He raised his eyebrows and said,

"I personally think Harden's performance in this game was amazing. We were about to turn the tables in the fourth quarter, but he made two consecutive three-pointers, and the pass to Parsons in the corner at the last moment completely killed the game and ended our winning streak."

"As a former teammate, I really didn't expect Harden to lead the Rockets to such an excellent record this season. He also made the top five of the MVP list. I can only say that trading him is a big loss for our team. We directly lost an MVP-level player and directly funded our rival in the same division."

"Regarding Jeremy Lin, I want to say that as the first generation of Linsanity, his performance in this game was indeed good, especially the shot he made when he broke through into the paint and faced me. I didn't expect him to dodge my block and cause a foul. You know, even players of Parker and Ginobili would also be defeated when facing me one-on-one in the paint."

"He was not at all nervous and played like an All-Star point guard. It was great. I hope he keeps working hard. The better he performs, the more he can encourage more Asian and Chinese players like me, letting them know that as long as they work hard, they can enter the NBA one day and stay here to create their own legends."

"We let you win this game. We will definitely win the next one. Harden, wait and see!"

Lin Chuan pointed at the camera with a determined look, and the next second he was amused by his childish look and couldn't help laughing out loud.

After this game, the Thunder's unbeaten streak was finally broken, and then they lost again in late November, being upset by the Bucks, ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference.

In that game, the Bucks team had an extremely hot three-point shooting feel. Former Warriors boss Monta Ellis and 55-pointer Jennings scored 70 points in this game, making 9 three-pointers. The team made a total of 60 three-pointers with a hit rate of 24%, and set a single-game three-point shooting record in team history.

The final score was 119:101, an 18-point win over the Thunder.

So far, the Thunder's record for the entire month of November has been fixed at 11 wins and 11 losses, still leading the league and ranking first in the Western Conference.

And their average net score per game is still 9.7 points, which is far beyond the reach of other teams.

至今为止，林川场均砍下20.4分11.2篮板7.8助攻1.7盖帽1.5抢断，三项命中率分别为54.2%，37.8%，87.7%。

With his all-around stats of nearly a triple-double and super high efficiency, Lin Chuan beat Durant, who was also nominated for the MVP award on the same team and averaged 29.1+7+5 per game, to win the first monthly award in the Western Conference this season.

The Eastern Conference Player of the Month for November was given to Carmelo Anthony, who is at the top of the scoring list. He is currently the only player in the league to break 11 points, averaging 30 points per game. He leads the Knicks to a current record of 30.3 wins and 8 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Big Three Heat.

Lin Chuan also joked in the interview that Durant should give way to him and become a full-time off-ball scorer, while he, Lin Chuan, would be the boss.

He also said that in fact, he had already beaten Durant in a private one-on-one duel, but you guys didn't know about it. If it were released, I believe that you journalist friends would also support me as the boss.

Everyone thought Lin Chuan was joking and didn't take it seriously.

But only Lin Chuan and Durant knew that this was actually true. He, one of the top three one-on-one players in the league, was beaten by Lin Chuan in a 1v1.

(End of this chapter)