One Thousand Six Hundred and Seventy-Seven. The Battle for the Scoring Title Is Reignited!
On the morning of December 5, 2014, Westbrook left the hotel early and arrived outside the FedEx Arena at 7:30. Looking at the huge LED screen above the entrance of the Grizzlies Arena, which was always marked with 22-0 no matter how the content was switched, Westbrook felt a little suffocated...
What kind of terrible state can allow the Grizzlies to win all the way to now?
If he hadn't just seen the Heat's 30-game winning streak two years ago, even if he was as confident as he was, he would be scared by the Grizzlies' 22-game winning streak at the beginning.
Yesterday, the Thunder came to Memphis, and the media had already started to warm up for this game.
There are many highlights in this game. On the forward line, Paul George and Durant are competing for the best lineup.
Sun Ce and James will definitely occupy two first-team positions, almost certainly the forward position. The league always puts Sun Ce in the forward position. Some fans joked that it was a good thing that there was no separate position for him.
Although Paul George's statistics this season are not particularly good, after all, he controls his shooting rights to the fourth place in the team, averaging only 10.2 shots per game, but 5.5 rebounds and 7.6 assists are very good, the key is the good record!
Compared with Klay Thompson and Aldridge, Paul George, who averages 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 2 steals per game, is more likely to be selected into the best team. If the record is good enough and Paul George does well enough in the match with Durant, he may even be selected into the second team, because Durant is far inferior to Paul George on the defensive end. Durant's defensive efficiency of 4.4 so far this season is very good, helping the team limit the opponent's score to 105 points per 100 possessions, which is similar to Klay Thompson, who is a defensive expert on the edge of the second defense.
But Paul George's defensive efficiency is 6.2, limiting the opponent's score to 100 points per 100 possessions, ranking first among forwards this season, better than Anthony Davis and Leonard, both of whom scored 102 points.
The best defensive team only looks at defense, but the best team is comprehensive, and offense, defense, and record must all be considered.
There is also the duel between Aldridge and Ibaka. In the previous few seasons, Ibaka was the most popular power forward. He had strong defense, accurate mid-range shots, and could play top-level offense and defense without occupying the ball. Any team wanted him.
Aldridge has always been frustrated and had to complain to the media about why he was not selected when he played better than Ibaka, Gasol, and Bosh. Then the head coaches of various teams realized that Aldridge was so good. At the beginning of the lockout season, he was selected to the All-Stars for the first time in his sixth year.
Ibaka's defense has declined a lot this season because of his impaired athletic ability, but his offense has become better. In the past, he mainly cut in and caught the ball at a fixed point to shoot.
But in the summer, he clearly felt that his athletic ability had declined, so he began to adjust his playing style. The Thunder helped him find Radmanovich to teach him skiing... No, teach him to run. This season, his average points per game soared to a career high, averaging 18.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game.
The duel between these two players is also very interesting. Both are mid-range shooting experts and perfect third-in-command.
The biggest attraction is the duel between two active players among the three super triple-double kings.
Westbrook VS Sun Ce!
In the eyes of most fans, Westbrook is obviously more of a superstar than Durant.
Even in terms of popularity alone, neither Durant nor Harden is as popular as Westbrook. Many people think that Durant's temperament is not good enough, and that Harden's playing style is more rigid, while Westbrook has both viewing, star temperament, and data performance.
Westbrook has played 22 games this season, averaging 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 10.41 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He has played more than a quarter of the games. Westbrook's data has stabilized, and there is no problem in hitting a triple-double.
As for Sun Ce, he has performed very well since the beginning of this season. Although his data is much different from the same period last season, averaging 29.227 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.68 blocks and 2.5 steals per game, his shooting percentage is still 52%, his three-point shooting percentage is 41%, and his free throw shooting percentage is 81%, all of which are career highs. The most important thing is that his defense has recovered to the level of the first defense period. The Grizzlies' overall defense is getting better and better, and Sun Ce is the biggest beneficiary.
The team's record continues to refresh historical records. The best start in history of 20 wins and 2 losses maintained by the Bulls and Celtics has been broken. When Sun Ce finished his first month of competition, he was already regarded as the first favorite for MVP.
This start, even if it is a consecutive MVP, Sun Ce's start performance is enough.
What fans want to see most is the duel between Sun Ce and Westbrook.
Sun Ce's triple-doubles this season are far less than the number of games he played last season. Although 4 triple-doubles are the second highest in the league, they are far behind Westbrook's 9 triple-doubles in 22 games.
Coming to Memphis again, he will face Sun Ce again. Westbrook feels that he is almost in a shadow. He played MVP-level performance last season and averaged a triple-double. Who knew that Sun Ce actually got a more terrifying average triple-double? It's simply unfair.
This season, Westbrook is back and ready to continue to average a triple-double. With Durant, he can organize the offense well and pass more points. 10+ assists are easy to get. In terms of rebounding, Adams is more powerful in positioning, and Ibaka is also focusing on positioning because of his impaired athletic ability.
There is no problem with scoring. Westbrook feels that he is fully capable of competing for the scoring title.
However, when Westbrook wanted to compete with Sun Ce again, Sun Ce no longer played triple-doubles.
However, last season, Sun Ce had a wave of consecutive triple-doubles that set a new record, and he surpassed the Grizzlies in an instant. With the Grizzlies' style of play, Sun Ce is not without the opportunity to continue to get a lot of triple-doubles. Fans hope to see two triple-double masters who have got 30 or 40 triple-doubles in a single season compete again.
Anyway, seeing Westbrook's data this season, Big O's historical status in the minds of the media and fans has declined again, and Westbrook's goal this season is to average a triple-double back to back!
Above this, the more important goal is the championship.
Just after Westbrook stood still for more than ten minutes, the sky began to drizzle. There are many rainy days in Memphis in autumn and winter. The Grizzlies' security guards still took the umbrellas prepared by the team and handed them to the visiting team stars.
Westbrook was distracted until the security guard walked up to him. He was silent for a moment, took the umbrella, said thank you, turned around and walked towards the sewer... No, it was the way back to the hotel.
…
The Thunder team took this game very seriously, and the Grizzlies took it very seriously. The opponent "gave up" to the Spurs in the previous game, but that was just because the Spurs didn't want to fight so hard at the beginning of the season. It was unnecessary for them. The Spurs didn't care so much about the ups and downs of the regular season. Anyway, Duncan played for 17 or 18 years and still had a double-team performance. There was no need to compete with others in the regular season. Even if it was a strong opponent, they knew how to adjust in the playoffs.
The Thunder team was different. They were not a successful team like the Spurs. They urgently needed to prove that the combination they had now was enough to defeat the championship favorites. Their combination had been together for too long, but they always lost to the championship favorites in the playoffs. If this continued, their combination would be over.
Therefore, every time the Thunder faced the championship favorites, they would fight hard. In the past few years, they also won more when they met the teams with the highest probability of winning the championship in the regular season... except for the Grizzlies.
Since the 2009-10 season, the two teams have played against each other 18 times in the regular season in the past five seasons, with the Thunder winning 5 and losing 13!
Even in the 2009-10 season when the Lakers defended their title, the Thunder defeated the Lakers twice in the regular season. In the past few years, the Lakers have been extremely strong with Paul and James joining the team. The Thunder not only did not lose to the Lakers in the regular season, but also won a small victory over the Lakers in the regular season.
Playing against the Spurs, the Bulls, the Heat... the Thunder rarely have a disadvantage in the regular season.
The Thunder has not proved themselves in the playoffs. There is no way. They always meet the final champions in the playoffs in recent years, but they still want to establish confidence in the regular season, otherwise the playoffs will be even worse.
But playing against the Grizzlies, they lose no matter how they play. They finally win once, and then they will lose two or three times.
The Grizzlies are also very afraid of the Thunder's three youngsters who are entering their peak period.
In the morning tactical meeting, Coach Hollins emphasized that Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka have all entered their primes. Adams has also made great progress in his sophomore year, averaging 3.5 offensive rebounds per game, ranking second in the league, higher than Jordan, second only to Drummond's 4.4 offensive rebounds per game, and averaging 6.8 rebounds per game... This is quite unique.
And the shooting guard Dion Waiters they traded for has greatly improved their scoring ability at the shooting guard position, allowing them to have an excellent substitute when Andre Robertson is resting.
They had a poor record at the beginning of the season, mainly due to the pain caused by their state and Ibaka's adjustment of their playing style. As their state recovered and Ibaka, who began to change his playing style, got better and better, their record began to recover.
The most critical thing is Durant and Westbrook, both of whom are 26 years old and are beginning to enter their prime!
Sun Ce watched Durant average 28.5 points with a career-high 53% shooting rate. This was the second time in Durant's career that his shooting rate exceeded 50%, but his shooting number was the lowest since his rookie year, averaging 17.5 times per game!
The reason is simple. Scott Brooks finally got it right after Durant missed half of the season due to injury and Ibaka fell and injured in the playoffs due to excessive matching, which led to a decline in athletic ability. He controlled Durant's playing time to about 35 minutes, allowing Durant to play at the best efficiency of his career.
Westbrook also improved after Durant's efficiency improved, of course, his personal ability also improved, and his shooting rate reached 46%, the highest in his career!
…
After a day of preparation, at 6:40 in the evening, Sun Ce and his teammates entered the court after warming up.
"Durant S, Westbrook S, Robertson B-, defense A+, Ibaka A, Adams B+, Waiters B, Morrow B+... Aquaman with a beard is quite impressive, he was already at B+ level in his second year...
Morrow should have been brought back last year..."
Sun Ce looked at the performance of his old teammate Anthony Morrow, who was signed by the Thunder with a three-year mini-mid-term contract. It was amazing. His 47% three-point shooting rate ranked first in the league, and he averaged 2.2 three-pointers per game!
However, their first target last year was not a regular three-point shooter. They had enough three players on the outside, and they also signed Blake, who was not that good but had a stable open three-pointer. Blake played 11 times this season and averaged 1 three-pointer per game, with a hit rate of 40%, and he also had the ability to pass.
Sun Ce was analyzing the opponent's lineup, and it was a pity that some players could not be brought back.
On the other side, Durant, who was looking at the Grizzlies' lineup, really wanted to hit someone.
Looking at the five starting players on the opposite side, is there still justice? Is there still law?
Sitting on the bench were Yi Jianlian and Larry Sanders, two players with an annual salary of nearly 10 million yuan, and the other substitutes... too much!
But fortunately, there were only 5 players on the court. In terms of the strongest lineup, their Thunder team was not inferior. When the main players needed more playing time, their overall strength would not be much weaker.
Durant felt that he was now carrying a mission - to kill this evil big devil!
Looking at Sun Ce, Durant seemed to see the figure of the big devil who had already covered the basketball field with his evil big hand.
Sun Ce waited until the cheerleading performance was over and was about to apply magnesium powder when the system prompt came!
"The competition for the scoring champion has been reignited.
Scoring is the most important indicator in basketball games. The host's goal is to become the overlord of the basketball world, and the scoring champion is indispensable.
The host is in opposition to Kevin Durant, who has the most stable score and very strong scoring ability in the current league, and will have a long-term battle for the scoring champion.
A-level exclusive challenge event: Epic scoring champion has been triggered."
"Epic scoring champion (A):
Goal 1: Score at least 39 points in tonight's game against the Thunder, and increase the host's career regular season total score to at least 10,000 points.
Goal 2: Become the seventh player in NBA history to win at least three scoring titles before Kevin Durant.
Event reward: Complete the goal 1. Reward: One B-level lottery card, and Kevin Durant's star experience card for the season.
Failure penalty: If target 1 is not completed, the host will enter the cold shooting state for how many games the host is away from 39 points; if target 2 is not completed, one star experience card of the player who has won the scoring title that the host currently owns or will get in the future will be deducted.
After completing the three consecutive scoring titles, this event will start the subsequent events. ”
…
At 6:58 p.m., Sun Ce and his starting teammates walked onto the court. Tonight, the Grizzlies played with all their main players. Blake and Stoudemire were not on the activation list. The starting lineup of Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Randolph, and Aldridge appeared.
For the Thunder, Westbrook, Andre Robertson, Durant, Ibaka, and Adams appeared in the starting lineup.
Originally, Sun Ce had no interest in the scoring title this season. If he was overtaken or his average points per game dropped, it didn't matter, but now... he had to fight for it!
He is 39 points away from becoming the fifth player in NBA history to score more than 10,000 points before the age of 25, following James, Kobe, Durant and Anthony. But he doesn't care much. He can definitely do it. He is still a full month away from turning 25.
But he must get at least 39 points tonight, otherwise there will be problems in the next few games... If he doesn't fight for a winning streak, his hands will feel cold. It's not like he hasn't felt cold before, but he is now striving for a 25-game winning streak.
Then he must complete it, but the team must win. Now he doesn't have to score high points. Sometimes he is willing to score single digits to win, but he must get 39 points tonight, otherwise it will be difficult to play the Knicks later, which means that the difficulty of tonight's game will also increase!
At 7 o'clock, this highly anticipated strong duel began. The referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air. Adams beat Aldridge to win the jump ball.
Seeing this scene, Yi Muhualian on the sidelines suddenly felt very proud, thinking about the team's jump ball winning rate of more than 70% when he started last season!
The Thunder attacked first, Westbrook slowly advanced to the frontcourt, waiting for his teammates to run, seizing the opportunity, facing Paul George's defense, and accelerating.
With the strongest straight-line acceleration ability in the league, Westbrook accelerated against Paul George who was sticking to him, leaving Paul George who was in a passive state of defense behind.
Sun Ce was ready to make up for the defense, Westbrook was also familiar with Sun Ce's defense, and his teammates also knew how to run. Andre Robertson, who was left open by Sun Ce, cut in. Westbrook passed the ball immediately, but not to Andre Robertson who attracted Aldridge to move to the right sideline of the three-second zone to defend, but to Adams who cut in from the left baseline after Aldridge moved to the right side of the three-second zone!
Adams easily ate the cake and scored two points.
Among the players who average more than 5 points per game this season, three players have a hit rate of more than 60%, one is Jordan, one is McGee, and the other is Adams!
The main scoring method of these three players is to eat cakes.
In the attack and defense transition, seeing that the Thunder team retreated quickly, Sun Ce was not in a hurry and picked up the ball to Paul George.
There was no way to do this ball just now. Even a strong defender like Paul George could not do anything against Westbrook's breakthrough.
No one can defend this!
Westbrook can get so many assists, not just by sticking to the ball. There are many players who stick to the ball, but there are only a few players who can average 10+ assists per game.
The awareness of judging the timing of breakthroughs based on the running positions of teammates, the ability to break through, the ability to score at close range and under the basket... these are all top-notch for Westbrook!
When it came to the Grizzlies' offense, the Thunder slowed down the tempo very much!
This season, the Thunder is one of the lowest scoring teams in the league, averaging 104.5 points per game, lower than the league average of 105.5 points per game, and averaging 98 points per game. It is one of the slowest teams in the league and one of the few teams that can suppress the opponent's score to less than 100 points!