Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 185 The playoffs are approaching

Durant still shot accurately, until Anthony passed all the basketballs on the basketball hoop, and then he stopped shooting. At this time, he has hit 18 consecutive three-pointers, and the rhythm is coherent. Very smooth.

Anthony looked at Durant's shooting, and wondered in his heart if this is the Durant he knew, then walked over, reached out and patted the excited Durant, and said with a smile: "Believe in yourself, let me shoot you!" The technology has been upgraded to the extreme, and I am waiting for you in the alliance."

Durant was already excited, but when he heard Anthony's words, his face suddenly shone. Anthony was giving him advice, and it seemed that he hoped to be his teammate!
After Anthony finished speaking, he didn't say much, and walked directly to Vandeweghe and the others. The three of them chatted together for a while, and then chatted with Smith for a while. At the end of the chat, all four of them showed a burst of satisfaction on their faces. smile.

After chatting, Anthony and the others greeted Durant, and then left Oak Hill High School.

Durant watched from a distance. He didn't dare to go up when they were chatting. Now that Anthony and the others had left, he walked to Smith's side and asked curiously: "Coach, Melo, how did he do this time?" What is the purpose of coming, I am curious."

When Smith heard Durant asking him, a smile appeared on his face, and he said excitedly: "Kevin, just now Kiki has walked out of the promise, as long as you participate in the NBA draft as a high school student in two years, they will Promise to trade for picks and pick you in the lottery."

Durant was surprised when he heard this, and looked at Smith in disbelief. Although he was very confident in his ability, a strong team like the Nuggets actually made a lottery promise to a player who was still a sophomore. , I am afraid that no one will believe this news.

Smith looked at Durant's surprised smile, reached out and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Come on, boy, Melo likes you very much, and he tried his best to make this happen. What you have to do is to prove yourself in the next two years." , to prove you're worth a lottery."

"I will!" Durant said without hesitation. He looked at the direction where Anthony disappeared and nodded vigorously.

After Anthony left Oak Hill High School, there was a smile on his face. If he had to beat Durant, the most effective way would be to let him participate in the election early. Years later, Durant, who is well-known in the United States, will come with a high pick. If the pick is not particularly high, the probability of the Nuggets trading for a draft pick will be much higher. Although he has not been baptized by college, Durant's The ability will be worse, but let him enter the NBA earlier and learn and grow first in the atmosphere of a strong team like the Nuggets. If he doesn't overdo it, it will be beneficial and harmless to Durant's growth.

In any case, this is the simplest method Anthony can think of at the moment. Although it is a method, whether it can be implemented depends on Durant's performance in Oak Hill in the past two years and his own ideas. After that, unless a contract is signed now, there will be great variables.

Anthony came back from Oak Hill High School and then went into the game again. The good news is that Korver has recovered from his ankle sprain and can continue to play, but Williams is a bit older because of his age. The ankle still needs to be cultivated for a period of time. In this case, Kenyon During can only replace it as the starting point guard for a period of time.

After the absence of Williams, the Nuggets experienced a long period of pain. In the game in late March, their success was mixed until early April. After Williams returned, their record It was relatively stable.

The season progressed unknowingly, and when it entered the 4th of April, the game also ushered in its final stage.

At this time, Anthony's Nuggets ranked first in the Western Conference with a record of 61 wins and 20 losses.

There is still the last round of the season, and the Nuggets still have a game against the Rockets, but what is more interesting at this moment is that the Rockets are leading the Jazz by one game, and the two teams occupy the Eastern Conference respectively. Eighth and ninth position.

The Jazz also did not play a game, and it was on the same day, but it was slightly earlier than the game between the Nuggets and the Rockets. In the confrontation, the record of 3 wins and 1 loss has a favorable advantage. If the Rockets and the Jazz both win or lose to their opponents in the end, then the Jazz will successfully rise to the eighth place in the Western Conference and enter the playoffs at the buzzer. .

And if the Jazz lose and the Rockets win, then the Jazz will regrettably miss the playoffs as the ninth place in the Western Conference, and vice versa, the Rockets will do the same.

It is worth mentioning that the opponent of the Jazz, the Lakers veteran Karl Malone has been resting for a long time due to injury, claiming that he will come back in the playoffs, and obviously he will not play in the last game of the regular season. Good news for the Jazz.

The intricate relationship between the Rockets and the Jazz is not the Jazz or the Rockets, but the Nuggets, because the game between the Lakers and the Jazz is played first, so as long as the Nuggets beat the Rockets, Then the Jazz will make it to the playoffs, but if the Nuggets lose, then the Rockets will be able to enter the playoffs by defeating the Lakers.

This process is actually picking an opponent for the playoffs for yourself, and the attitude of the Lakers will be more intriguing, because the Lakers now occupy the third place in the Western Conference. Not surprisingly, the two teams will be in the Western Conference. From the perspective of the Lakers, they naturally hoped that the Nuggets had a hard time playing in the first round. Only the head coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, would know what to do.

In short, in such a suspenseful game, on the night of April 4, both teams played.

Before the game, Anthony was called to the office by D'Antoni.

Anthony also guessed the question D'Antoni wanted to ask him, which was naturally about whether to win or lose the game, because Anthony had shown his unique judgment before, so it is normal to find him at this time .

In fact, before today, Anthony already had an idea in his heart, but it was difficult for D'Antoni to ask him if he didn't approach him. Now that D'Antoni approached him, he naturally knew everything.

As soon as he entered the office, after D'Antoni signaled Anthony to sit down, he asked, "Melo, you know that tonight's game is very special. Do you think we should win this game or lose on purpose?"

When Anthony heard D'Antoni's words, he felt his frankness, and said without much thought: "Mike, I guess your thinking should be similar to mine. Personally, I tend to play the Jazz."

"Oh, how do you say it?" D'Antoni smiled from the bottom of his heart, and he seemed to have the same idea as Anthony.

Anthony said: "First of all, to be honest, I don't want to play against Yao Ming's team. Yao will definitely cause a lot of damage to our inside players. Although our core Elton is excellent in offense and defense, he is short in height. , there is no advantage in facing Yao Ming, and Nene is still lacking in experience, and Williams has just recovered from his ankle injury. It is obviously not a wise choice for him to face Steve, and Mobley is also It will cause us a lot of trouble. In short, although I think we have a high probability of defeating the Rockets, it will obviously not be an easy game."

"But in comparison..." Anthony changed the subject and continued, "I think the Rockets and the Jazz have a better lineup. Their core is Kirilenko. The AK47 is very versatile and has excellent defensive capabilities, but His offensive danger is obviously not as great as Yao Ming's, and apart from Kirilenko's strong point, there are not many threats in their formation, and our old teammate, Leonard, is in the Jazz. In the formation, and it is said that they are still playing well, playing against people you know, I think things will become a lot easier, isn't it?"

"Haha..." As soon as Anthony finished speaking, D'Antoni couldn't help laughing out loud, "I knew you would make me more determined in my mind, well, go prepare for the game."

Anthony smiled and nodded, then stood up from his seat and walked out of the coach's office.

Anthony returned to the locker room. There was still more than half an hour before the start of the game. At this time, the game between the Lakers and the Jazz had already started. As expected before the game, Malone of the Lakers did not play, but all the other main players played , It seems that he wants to win the game and wants to throw the Rockets to the Nuggets as an opponent. It seems that "Zen Master" is obviously not stupid.

The Jazz are also doing their best. They are also preparing for the playoffs. If they win, they will enter the playoffs.

As soon as the two sides came up, the fight was full of gunpowder. The Jazz used Kirilenko to defend Kobe.

Because Kobe was entangled very fiercely by Kirilenko on the offensive end, he seemed a little unable to use his full strength on the defensive end. Leonard, the turret, played the power he should have, and hit three consecutive hits in the opening game. With a three-pointer, the Jazz even maintained their lead over the Lakers in the first half of the quarter.

(End of this chapter)