This Forward is Not Serious

Half a month later, the Nets and Thunder headed to Shanghai with a plane full of game floors.

There they will start the first game of the China competition.

When he arrived in Shanghai, Durant took Lin Ying to introduce him here and there.

The first stop of his trip to China was Shanghai. Returning here after just over a month made him feel extremely familiar and friendly.

Lin Ying originally wanted to say that he was Chinese, but seeing Durant's enthusiasm, he finally chose to treat him as a tour guide.

You say yours, I see mine.

Until he arrived at the hotel, Durant wanted to take Lin Ying to see the Oriental Pearl Tower, but Lin Ying interrupted him.

"I have activities planned for the evening."

Lin Ying was telling the truth.

I promoted the event before to accompany Swift, but now I have to make money. I should try my best to make up for it while taking advantage of the China competition.

In fact, domestic endorsements are not a small sum for him.

"Shadow, you have changed."

Durant couldn't help but sigh.

Lin Ying used to be disdainful of money.

Unexpectedly, in order to make money, he has already put his best brother aside!

The world is in a hot and cold state, and people’s hearts are not as old as they used to be!

"How about I take you with me?"

Lin Ying asked.

"Becoming more likeable."

Durant said with a smile, hooking Lin Ying's shoulder and giving him an ambiguous look.

Lin Ying: Roll your eyes, open!

In addition to being with Lin Ying, Durant actually also wants to find more endorsements.

Even though he is very arrogant, his business acumen is not low at all.

Historically, his commercial investment in the NBA was only less than that of James, and he had 13 major endorsement contracts at his peak.

Now, he has a full-time agent named Kleiman by his side, and he has also roped in their former teammate Randy Williams, the senior who has very good communication skills, to be his brand ambassador.

Lin Ying now has his own personal team, and Durant already has his.

After finishing business matters, the two of them sat at the Oriental Pearl Revolving Restaurant for dinner.

Looking at the scenery of SH City outside the window, it feels much better than when Lin Ying and Yi Jianlian looked at the Huangpu River when they were having dinner.

"Shadow, I think we will meet in the finals this year."

Durant glanced out the window and turned back and said.

"It was possible, but when you put it this way... I don't think the chance is high."

Lin Ying said seriously.

You, an old general who puts up flags on stage, have come true countless times before in the Western Conference Finals.

"No, I think it will happen this time."

Durant is very confident.

Lin Ying thought about it for a moment. Although he lost Harden like history, the Thunder team has not weakened.

If Harden can score in the transition period, Martin can also score.

As for organization, the Thunder's style of play doesn't require much organization.

And they also added a good small forward in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. McGee for short.

Although this player has not been worth much in history, his strength is actually not bad. The most important thing is that he can serve as a substitute for Durant.

"Durant has no substitute" has always been a problem that has plagued the Thunder youth team in history.

In history, the Thunder have won 60 games and are first in the Western Conference without Durant as a substitute.

Now, it can only be better than that.

Of course, the most important thing is that because of the butterfly effect, the Thunder will never meet the Rockets again, and Westbrook will naturally not be eliminated by Beverley.

This leaves the Thunder with endless possibilities.

"Okay, wait until then."

Lin Ying took Durant's word for it.

This person can't keep raising flags, right?

…

The next day, the Mercedes-Benz Arena, which can accommodate 18,000 people, was packed with seats.

Although it is only a preseason game, there is so much to watch in this game.

Sloan's first game coaching the Nets, Durant's civil war with the Texas Twins, and a preview of what could be the Finals.

Coupled with the popularity of Lin Ying and Durant on social media this summer, this game was not only watched by the fans in attendance, but also by many online media.

The show is about to begin.

The floor of this court is that of the Nets, with a black penalty area and a big letter B in the middle circle.

Tonight is the home court of the Nets.

Considering the presence of Lin Ying and Yi Jianlian, this home court is considered genuine.

The visiting team Thunder played first.

Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins.

Durant enjoyed wild cheers when he came out.

As mentioned before, Durant's down-to-earth character has greatly increased his number of domestic fans.

Durant felt the enthusiasm of the fans and blew a kiss to the fans directly.

Something's wrong with you!

The Nets came on stage as the home team.

Delong, Johnson, Lin Ying, Yi Jianlian, Chandler.

After changing coaches, whether there will be changes in the Nets' starting lineup is also a matter of concern to the outside world.

After all, the team's lineup in the new season is much stronger than last season.

But the result came out that it was not replaced.

The fans at the scene were very happy to see it.

Because whether to change or not mainly depends on whether Yi Jianlian can still play in the starting lineup, he is still naturally happy now.

And when the players introduced the coach outside the field, the fans at the scene also gave Sloan explosive cheers.

They also have full respect for the old coach!

The final warm-up is over, and all starters from both sides come on stage.

A whistle sounded on the sidelines, Chandler moved the ball back to the Nets half, and the game officially started.

Deron advanced to the frontcourt with the ball and started a UCLA pick-and-roll as soon as he came up.

Deron gave the ball to Lin Ying, who was outside the 45° three-point line on the right, and then used Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll to cut to the basket from the center.

At the same time, Johnson also borrowed Chandler's pick-and-roll from the left baseline to move to the right baseline to attract defensive attention.

The Thunder's defensive formation was affected, and Lin Ying used Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll to directly change direction to the left and break through to the free throw line.

At this time, except for Westbrook who worked hard to make up for it, Lin Ying only had Perkins in front of him who couldn't get out.

Lin Ying chose the emergency stop jumper without hesitation.

Westbrook's reaction was fast enough, but the time difference caused by the pick-and-roll prevented him from catching up with Lin Ying's shooting speed.

Or if he catches up, it will be difficult for Lin Ying to interfere.

"Uh-huh!"

The pick-and-roll and Lin Ying's ultimate move produced an excellent chemical reaction!

The Nets come out on top!

Looking back, the Thunder played a relatively simple game. Durant directly singled out Yi Jianlian, then changed direction and made a sudden stop.

Yi Jianlian's defense was excellent, but the difference in physical coordination between him and Durant could still be seen in the final moment.

In other words, they are about the same height, but in comparison with Durant, Yi Jianlian seems a little slow to react.

"Uh-huh!"

Durant's first shot was also a solid hit.

The first attack on both sides was completed by the core of the team, and both scored.

Preseason games basically don’t play the whole game, but they usually play half the game, and I watched a lot of this half.

Deron advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, the same tactic, but this time Sefolosha grabbed Lin Ying's side in advance and restricted Lin Ying from receiving the ball.

Sefolosha's offense basically only consists of fast breaks and three-pointers, and the three-pointers are not very stable. He can gain a foothold in a strong team like the Thunder by relying on defense, elite-level defense.

His contribution to the Thunder's defensive counterattack tactics is second only to Perkins.

His defensive characteristics are what he showed in this round. He is very keen on the offensive team's passing choices and can limit the opponent's arrows to the greatest extent.

Deron did not force it, but continued to play the UCLA pick-and-roll.

Of course, pick-and-roll tactics rather than pick-and-rolls are also reflected in this possession.

Same tactics, different launching sequence.

This time, Johnson first used Chandler's pick-and-roll to run from the baseline to contain the defense, and then Yi Jianlian moved to the high post to play a pick-and-roll for Deron.

The difference is that the quality of the pick-and-roll provided by Chandler is high enough, and Perkins has to follow Johnson to move to the right.

Then Deron met Ibaka in a mismatch and went directly to the basket.

Westbrook knew that Yi Jianlian had the shooting range and did not attack Deron. Deron challenged Ibaka one-on-one.

In the past, even last season, Deron would have hesitated when encountering this situation.

Because Ibaka's defense is so good, he needs to consider whether passing the ball would be more appropriate.

But this time, he didn't even use his throw, but... flew up and tried to dunk Ibaka!

"boom!"

The ball flew away.

If he could dunk this, he wouldn't be Deron, but Malone!

However, Ibaka didn't seem to expect that Deron would dare to try to dunk him. His blocking movement was too slow and directly blocked Deron's hand.

The referee's whistle blew and Deron got two free throw opportunities.

Although he didn't score, the fans who chose to watch were excited.

Opposite is Ibaka!

Lin Ying didn't expect it, but he could understand that Delong wanted to prove himself again in front of Sloan!

"The season is long, so stay tight and don't get hurt."

Deron made a free throw, and Lin Ying gave him a timely reminder when he went over to give him a high five.

He doesn't want history to repeat itself. If Deron is injured like in history, the Nets' championship dream will be unsuccessful.

Deron made both free throws, and the Nets' second wave of pick-and-roll tactics was considered successful.

Looking back, Westbrook used Ibaka's pick-and-roll to rush towards the basket.

But there was his Dream Team teammate Chandler under the basket, and his iconic moon scimitar dunk also missed.

The difference is that this time the referee did not blow the whistle, and Chandler steadily collected the defensive rebound.

Just as American fans hotly discussed after the Olympics, although the Dream Team lost, the performance of Kobe and Chandler deserves recognition.

Standing under the basket is a defensive gate.

However, the Thunder retreated very quickly, and the Nets' fast break was unable to play and they moved into position.

Moreover, the Thunder rely on defense, and their defensive response is indeed fast enough.

Deron repeated his old tricks and drove to the basket again. Ibaka's defense was in place this time. Deron had no chance at close range and could only dribble to the left sideline.

However, the variability of pick-and-roll tactics is once again reflected.

Just when the Thunder thought Deron was going to move back to the top of the arc to reorganize, Lin Ying took the pick-and-roll from Yi Jianlian's right elbow and moved to the free throw line.

Deron looked back and handed the ball to Lin Ying. Lin Ying caught the ball and saw that Perkins didn't come back and rushed to the basket without slowing down.

The gate is now open for you!

"Bang!"

Under the attention of 18,000 Chinese fans, Lin Ying performed a violent penetration on the spot!

This is the instant sense of déjà vu when Malone cuts inside!

"Don't tell me, the Nets are already like the Jazz."

Over at the commentary box, Su Qun said happily after seeing this scene.

"This shot is very reasonable. You can see that it ends easily every time."

Zhang Weiping on the side also laughed and echoed.

The biggest feature of the pick-and-roll tactics is that it is simple and efficient. Although this is Sloan's first game coaching the Nets, the Nets seem to have already mastered it.

Thunder coach Brooks was holding his chin in his hands and frowning.

If the Thunder can't defend against the Nets' attack, they won't be able to counterattack defensively, and they will be very passive if they keep playing positions like this.

But it was at this time that the Thunder made an "eye-catching" attack.

That was Durant running without the ball.

The moment he caught the ball, he attracted a double attack, and then he hit the ground and passed the ball straight to Ibaka after the pick-and-roll.

The ball was so beautiful that Ibaka immediately took off and dunked with both hands after receiving the ball!

I really thought that Durant didn’t play in the Olympics in the summer and just showed off his affection with Scarlett!

If you are a fan who has followed the Texas Twins since the NCAA era, you will definitely know that this is not the case. Durant is a complete training fanatic!

This round just now also showed the results of his summer training.

He developed the organization!

Last season, Durant was the scoring champion, and he won it with super high efficiency.

In terms of offense alone, he is already the strongest in the league.

But his organization is still lacking in comparison.

The most intuitive data shows that in his five-year career, he averaged 3 assists per game in only one season, 3.5 last season.

It’s melonization!

But it's obvious that Durant is not Anthony, and he realizes this.

In addition, the team traded away Harden in the summer, which further encouraged him to develop his organizational skills.

Facts have proved that his talent is really good.

He is tall to begin with, but once he gets good at this skill, although he is still slightly inferior to Lin Ying, he is still a good hand!

You can even understand that he has officially evolved into an MVP!

No wonder he was so confident while eating in the revolving restaurant.

All self-confidence comes from one's own strength.

Moreover, the Nets used pick-and-roll tactics in the frontcourt again, but this time they were really restricted by the Thunder.

Johnson's shot missed, and Ibaka leaped high to grab the defensive rebound and gave it to Westbrook.

Westbrook blew directly to the frontcourt like the wind.

At this speed, there are rockets inside the shoes!

In fact, due to rules, super breakthrough players like Iverson, Rose, and Westbrook are destined to perform worse in the international arena than in the NBA.

But in the NBA, they are superb.

Especially Westbrook before he was injured, that was the real Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

"Bang!"

Amid the exclamations of the fans, Westbrook finally stretched his body into a full-moon scimitar, passed the jumping Johnson in the air, and slammed the ball into the basket.

And after the dunk landed, Westbrook's veins popped out and he roared like crazy.

The scene was in a state of excitement!

This ornamental explosion makes people’s blood rush!

So you can understand why Stern thinks it would be good for the Thunder and Nets to play in the Finals.

There are Lin Ying and Durant, but there are more than just Lin Ying and Durant!