One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy-Eight. The Fastest Triple-Double in History (5,000-Word Chapter)
From the current status of the Grizzlies and Thunder, the Thunder may be stronger. Durant has played 10 games since his return, and the Thunder has been running in better and better. The main reason is that Durant has recovered well and was not affected by the fracture. He did not fall behind in shooting training during the recovery period, and his shooting skills have improved compared to last season.
In fact, whether Westbrook averages a triple-double or not may affect all superstar players who partner with Westbrook, and only Durant is the least affected.
The 25-year-old Durant began to enter his peak period, and in the 15-16 season in the original time and space, Westbrook had the precursor of averaging a triple-double. That season, Westbrook averaged 23.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.4 assists.
With Westbrook's stickiness, Durant also averaged 28.2 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Westbrook here is not that strong, but Durant's strength is not much different from that season. Due to various factors, Westbrook averaged less than 20 points in the 10 games after Durant's comeback, and Durant's rebounds and assists decreased compared to last season... The effect is not bad, but very strong, with three consecutive wins in the past three games.
Durant is too suitable for taking the blame and shooting, and Westbrook's style of play really makes Durant play very easily, just needing to shoot and defend.
Due to habitual problems, Durant is a rush-grabbing type when grabbing rebounds. Now he only needs to block the opponent's front line with Ibaka, Perkins, Adams, Nick Collison and others, wait for Westbrook to grab the defensive rebound, and then play a positional battle offense.
Of course, it's not that they don't grab rebounds. If the ball flies in their direction, they will still take it.
On the defensive end, Durant's return will further improve the Thunder's already good defense. Although Durant does not have the defensive ability of the best defensive lineup, he also has first-class defense.
Therefore, judging from the strength shown by the two players, Durant's shooting efficiency and defensive efficiency have increased instead of decreased under Westbrook's style of play.
However, tonight's game is a little different...
The Grizzlies' crazy attack made the Thunder look helpless!
Yi Jianlian, Stoudemire, Richard Jefferson, Larry Sanders and other frontcourt players attacked like crazy; Tony Allen, Beverley and Prince defended like crazy; the two 3D players were extremely focused on doing what they should do; Livingston fought hard...
And the two new players felt huge pressure as soon as they came to the Grizzlies!
Seeing Larry Sanders, who has the strength of the best defensive team, Stoudemire, who is cheap and useful except for injuries, and Yi Jianlian, who is as strong as Valanciunas... Amir Johnson and Valanciunas immediately understood one thing -
They are not the so-called saviors,
They are not qualified to be the saviors, they are just candidates. The team even traded Gasol. If they don’t play well and don’t play the role they should, they will most likely be traded again!
Players who came to the Grizzlies in the past two years, if they didn’t get playing time, no one would want to leave.
Especially the players from Toronto, who came to Memphis, Amir Johnson and Valanciunas were just role players of the Grizzlies in people’s eyes, but they felt the enthusiasm of the media and saw that the news was full of their news... This feeling of being surrounded by the spotlight, no one would be willing to give up.
Also, it's not that they don't have a chance to fight for it, this is the most important thing. Amir Johnson has the ability to compete with Stoudemire and Richard Jefferson for playing time; Valanciunas has the ability to compete with Larry Sanders and Yi Jianlian for playing time.
They both fought hard tonight when they first arrived!
The Thunder were stunned by the impact of a group of Grizzlies players, and they didn't play at their normal level.
Halfway through the third quarter, the Grizzlies led the Thunder by 18 points, 70 to 52, watching the Grizzlies send Beverley, Tony Allen, Paul George, Prince, Valanciunas...
The Thunder's mentality is about to collapse!
Although Valanciunas' defense is far inferior to Gasol's, and he has no support ability, at this time, he can be used as a weakened version of Gasol with normal weight. The key is to fight hard tonight. The whole Grizzlies team played very hard. When leading by 18 points, they can go all out to defend!
After three quarters, the Grizzlies led by 19 points, 79 to 60, and scored 9 to 8 in 5 minutes... The Thunder simply stopped playing in the fourth quarter!
In addition to the torture of the main players, there were conflicts. Valanciunas and Perkins almost fought in the second half of the third quarter. Perkins was now unstoppable by anyone, and was scored by Valanciunas, a second-year player, with his back to the ground, pushing Valanciunas down.
Although Valanciunas is a bit stupid in private, he has a bad temper. After the referee blew the whistle, he got up and entangled with Perkins.
The Thunder replaced the main players and announced their surrender.
Westbrook played all three quarters, and under the rotation defense of Klay Thompson, Sun Ce, and Beverley, he scored 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists; Durant played 24 minutes in three quarters, scored 19 points and 4 rebounds, and scored less than 20 points for the first time this season.
As for the Grizzlies, Sun Ce did not play after the first half. He played for 17 minutes and 28 seconds, scored 13 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals... and got a triple-double.
Break the historical record of the shortest time to get a triple-double, which was 17 minutes and 45 seconds created by Jim Tucker in the 1950s!
At the same time, it also broke the active player record of Westbrook's triple-double in 18 minutes and 33 seconds when he played against the Hornets on December 17!
Sun Ce himself did not expect such a situation to happen. He can affect the team's momentum, and the team can also affect him in turn. He followed the momentum and vitality of his teammates, defending desperately, grabbing rebounds, rushing, passing, shooting... After halftime, he found that he had a triple-double!
Punching out at halftime, Sun Ce really couldn't imagine that he could punch out at halftime against the Du Wei Yi trio who are getting hotter and hotter now!
After the whole game, the Grizzlies defeated the Thunder with a score of 105 to 81!
……
……
An abnormal game, this is the evaluation of the media after the game.
"The strongest triple-double master in history", this is the evaluation of Sun Ce by the media after the game!
After playing 37 games, Sun Ce had 20 triple-doubles!
Westbrook also played 37 games and had 18 triple-doubles.
It's not that Westbrook is not good enough, but that Sun Ce is too strong!
He got a triple-double in 17 minutes, breaking Westbrook's shortest active triple-double record and even the fastest triple-double record in nearly 60 years, which once again sparked heated discussions!
Although Sun Ce's personal record of 20+ in 36 consecutive games was broken, when Westbrook was still on the court in the third quarter, Sun Ce did not play for the data, but won praise instead.
Of course, there are also fans who are attracted by Westbrook's data and feel jealous. They watched the Grizzlies try to position for Sun Ce tonight, and Sun Ce grabbed the rebound and counterattacked to assist... On the other hand, Westbrook was attacked by Sun Ce, Richard Jefferson, Stoudemire, Yi Jianlian, and Amir Johnson, which made Westbrook unable to get too many rebounds... In short, Westbrook is now averaging 23.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 12.4 assists per game, and still has a chance to get a triple-double.
Sun Ce was also excited for a long time after the game.
However, after returning home, he calmed down by taking a bath.
This is not normal!
When Durant returns, even if the original two bears are there, Amir Johnson and Valanciunas will be replaced by Randolph and Gasol, one of the strongest inside combinations in the league, and the weight of the two is not a problem, it is unlikely that they will play against the Thunder like this.
This is not a situation that can be used as a general example, but a special case.
The trade was just completed, and some teammates were relieved of their pressure. They played very hard tonight. When the interior defense was very hard and achieved good results, the defense on the outside, which had always been very good, was echoed by the inside and outside lines.
Paul George played at the level of first-class defense even when the interior defense was not good; and Beverley, Tony Allen and Sun Ce, when the interior defense was good, all received team bonuses, especially Sun Ce, who had 2 caps and 2 steals in the first half, 8 defensive rebounds, and the role of serial defense was reflected.
After Sun Ce calmed down, he knew that the team's strength must have been weakened, and the two bears became the starting interior of the Raptors... This would definitely not be an enhancement.
Therefore, the next direction of effort is to work hard with the double 3D according to the plan of the team coaching staff to improve and work hard to play the rotation strategy based on the outside.
Sun Ce didn't know whether such a change was good or bad, but the team made such a change. When Randolph was out and Gobert was still weak, they brought back five inside players with different functions, plus Richard Jefferson and Prince could also play power forward in the short lineup. In other words, the team has been prepared to use the outside line as the basis for rotation. Things have developed like this, so we have to try our best to cooperate with the coaching staff.
Whether it is right or not, there cannot be such a huge difference in opinion between the players and the coaching staff!
And he, Sun, as the strongest player of the team, his support is very important to the coaching staff!
Fortunately, the team wanted to make changes not to let the players change all at once, but to change since the team had a wave of injuries. There is a buffer period, and now Sun Ce is not so difficult to accept.
Moreover, Sun Ce also saw a hope tonight-the hope of improving the team's defense!
Valanciunas, who has the ability to play high under the basket, the ability to play low-post back-to-basket, and the ability to shoot from a fixed point, has a decent defensive efficiency when he appears on the court with Larry Sanders!
Although Valanciunas does not have Randolph's tonnage and mobility, his defensive awareness is much better. He is not a big threat under the basket, is not so good at slacking, and has no singles ability in the mid-range. On the offensive end, the duo of Valanciunas and Larry Sanders performed averagely, but they did a good job on defense. In other words, they may be able to "revive" the iron-blooded defense in some lineups!
In addition to Larry Sanders, there is also Amir Johnson, a new inside player who is passionate on the defensive end, and he is at his peak.
Although Stoudemire, Yi Jianlian, and Richard Jefferson are not very good at defense, with Amir Johnson and Valanciunas who can ensure a stable state, the team's inside defense has hope of improvement!
After experiencing many setbacks this season, Sun Ce has improved in many aspects.
For example, in-depth analytical ability. This time, Sun Ce was very calm and did not let himself get carried away after the team played a good game, but he did not deny himself and clearly saw the improvement of his team.
Although the Raptors' inside duo is only at an average level in the NBA, at least from the current difficult stage, the addition of the two people in the middle of the regular season has a stronger effect than Gasol alone.
After taking a bath, Sun Ce returned to the bed and got into the quilt. Lily Collins, who had returned home more than an hour earlier and washed clean, had been waiting for a long time...
After a big battle, Sun Ce hugged Lily Collins, who had many teeth marks again, and looked at the event prompts after the game with the Thunder.
"Challenger from the Sewer: S-level event, second stage of the bully event.
Goal: Every time the host plays against the Thunder this season, if Russell Westbrook gets a triple-double, the host must get a higher triple-double with a total of points + rebounds + assists; if Russell Westbrook does not get a triple-double, the host must get a triple-double or a total of points + rebounds + assists higher than Russell Westbrook. (Number of completions: 2, number of failures: 0.)..."
The second "Sewer Passer" is in hand.
This time, Sun Ce was always uneasy in the second half, ready to wear a blindfold at any time. As long as Westbrook's data might exceed his, Sun, he would immediately ask to play.
Fortunately, Beverly and Klay Thompson were powerful in the third quarter, and they prevented Westbrook's breakthrough points when Larry Sanders, Valanciunas, and Amir Johnson did a good job of defense in the interior.
……
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26 wins and 11 losses, after defeating the Thunder, the Grizzlies' record returned to third in the West.
However, after the four consecutive home games, there will be four consecutive away games.
On the morning of the 16th, Sun Ce and his teammates set off for Milwaukee.
Sun Ce calmly analyzed the real situation of the team, and after discussing with the coaching staff and veterans, he confirmed this idea, because the coaching staff and veterans had similar ideas to him.
In this case, we can start to strengthen the team defense!
However, we can't be too impatient about this kind of thing, but the Grizzlies are really impatient at the moment.
Almost half of the regular season has been played, and their overall defense is actually below the league average, becoming an offensive team. When there is an opportunity, the players and coaches want to improve their defense all at once.
And this idea makes the two new players very excited. They feel that it is because of them that the new team has the opportunity to change its defense.
These are all correct, but it's too impatient.
On the 17th, the Grizzlies challenged the Bucks away and successfully defended their opponents to only 91 points, but the Grizzlies themselves only scored 85 points... and of these 85 points, Sun Ce alone scored 43 points!
On January 19, the Grizzlies lost 91-96 in an away game against the Trail Blazers. Sun Ce played for 48 minutes, scored 41 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 blocks and 2 steals, but still could not save the game.
…
After two consecutive games with 40+ points, Sun Ce lost the game. He felt like he was slapped in the face by reality.
Although the addition of Amir Johnson and Valanciunas has improved the Grizzlies' defense, compared with Gasol who has successfully lost weight...the role played by the two of them combined cannot be compared with Gasol who has entered the best state!
After getting the two, they wanted to use the two to restore the defense to the state of the past few years. This idea is too radical!
Moreover, trying to strengthen the defense with the two newcomers and Larry Sanders also violated the original intention of the Grizzlies to change the rotation basis this season.
In these games, the defense was actually unsatisfactory. Although it did not achieve the most expected effect, it was not bad.
The most affected was actually the offensive end.
Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Livingston, the four of them have gradually become accustomed to the offense based on their rotation. These few games have been obviously affected, resulting in the game becoming Sun Ce swinging alone and others defending. Although the defense has really improved, the whole team has been affected on the offensive end.
The strength of these two games not only slapped Sun Ce in the face, but also slapped the entire Grizzlies team in the face.
The coaching staff now understands, and the players now understand that the team has really changed. Even if they want to strengthen the defense, they should not strengthen the defense as before.
As for how to adjust in the future... There is no other way except to try. It is difficult to make changes from the defensive methods that have been accustomed to in the past few years, but they must change.
The most important thing that Sun Ce and the rest of the team understand is - don't rush!
39 games have been played in the new season, almost half, but there is still half to play, right?
In this half of the season, the Grizzlies have changed from a tank army to an offensive brigade, and they have also slowly become like this. Then the next half of the season is to slowly make the offense and defense more balanced, ensuring strong firepower while strengthening defense.
The last time Sun Ce experienced such a situation was in the 2010-2011 season. That season was the season when the Grizzlies laid the foundation for two consecutive championships. That year they figured out the tactical system, playing style characteristics, tactical core... and so on. Then in the 2011-2012 season, they soared to success!
Successful before, so confident, Sun Ce was patient and accompanied the team slowly... But he had to vent, right? If he couldn't beat the Jets, he would beat the Rockets!
On January 21, the Grizzlies came to Houston for the first of two back-to-back games after their four-game road trip. Sun Ce led his teammates who didn't want to lose three games in a row and launched a crazy attack, slaughtering the Rockets 129 to 93!