The Godfather of Basketball

Booker's unstable performance also had a certain impact on the Nets' record.

From the perspective of lineup rotation, Gordon is originally the sixth man, and there is not much difference in playing time between the substitute and the starter. Booker's playing time has dropped sharply, which means that someone else must be on top.

But now the Nets, the strength of the starting lineup and the bench has increased, and the strength of the bench is naturally relatively weak. Taylor Johnson can't play much in the limited playing time. After all, he doesn't have many opportunities when he is young. No, you know McGrady is 36 years old.

After the 7-game winning streak at the beginning, the team's record so far is 13 wins and 4 losses. Although it looks good, it has only 6 wins and 4 losses in the last 10 games.

And the next game is not easy to play. The Nets will fly to Toronto to challenge their main rivals in the East, the Raptors.

The core of the Raptors has not changed this season. It is still the combination of Lowry and DeRozan. However, their role players have improved a lot compared to last season. Not only did they poach their starting small forward Carroll from the Hawks, Moreover, they signed Scola, Biyombo and Spurs player Corey Joseph from the free market. Their overall strength has increased significantly compared to last season.

This is also the first time the two teams have met each other this season.

Previously, there were many topics about who the Nets and Raptors are the second best team in the Eastern Conference. This face-to-face confrontation is also the best opportunity to give an answer.

The flight center arena that night was packed with fans.

The outside world has paid a lot of attention to this game, and the enthusiasm of the fans is naturally high.

Amid the enthusiastic cheers of the Canadian fans, the starters of the two teams were introduced one after another.

For the Nets, Tang Tian still used the regular starting lineup, Booker was still the starting shooting guard, and the other positions remained unchanged.

On the Raptors' side, Lowry and DeRozan's double guns are on the outside, Carroll and Scola are on the front line, and Valanciunas is the center.

Valanciunas flicked the ball back up half court, giving the Raptors a chance to take the lead.

DeRozan faced Booker with the ball in the frontcourt, and it was as expected. After receiving the ball, he directly signaled the others to pull away and play singles.

"Breakthrough prevention!" Frank shouted anxiously from the sidelines at this time.

He didn't know Booker's change, and he was obviously anxious when he saw his opponent playing on this point again.

Moreover, DeRozan's technical characteristics are strong in breakthroughs and mid-range shots, which happen to be the most Ke Booker kind.

In fact, before today's game, he also mentioned to Tang Tian that Gordon should start, but Tang Tian refused, and now he looked even more anxious looking at this matchup.

DeRozan didn't hesitate, and when his teammates opened up the space, he changed direction and accelerated.

Booker's lateral speed has previously proven to be the biggest weakness, and this is exactly what he can take advantage of.

Sure enough, Booker didn't even react, DeRozan made a one-step pass and then stopped in the middle of the shot.

"boom!"

The shot was very accurate, but the shot was a little heavy, and it bounced out after going in. The rebound was accepted by Jokic.

There was a commotion at the scene.

DeRozan also shook his head helplessly, wondering if it was too easy to pass Booker just now, and the shot that was originally a surefire shot didn't make it.

Tang Tian was also taken aback. Booker's behavior just now, is this... a system failure?

No, the system cannot fail.

The only explanation is that Booker may not be aware of the change in his traversing speed.

It's not an injury after all, it's something you don't find out if you don't try.

"Devin, grab the defensive position in advance."

He got up to the sidelines and yelled at Booker.

Booker nodded, then ran forward with his head buried.

He was recently suddenly suspected of being dead, and he didn't even try it just now.

Deron used Jokic's pick-and-roll layup in the frontcourt. He hit the first goal of the game and let the Nets take the lead.

Looking back, it's still DeRozan, still playing Booker with the ball.

Originally, he should have scored the goal just now, so that the home team would be able to beat the Nets in the opening momentum.

But fortunately, there are always opportunities. Before the Nets were forced to replace Booker, he had a great advantage in matchups.

There was also a burst of booing from the fans at the scene.

As a rookie, Booker's strength is far behind that of DeRozan, not to mention that the past few games have proven to be a defensive black hole.

Change direction, accelerate, and after starting the first step, DeRozan is ready to shoot.

This time he won't let the score slip away.

But at this moment, he suddenly saw someone in front of him!

Booker, he actually followed him!

There was also a burst of surprise from the fans at the scene.

This... that one just now was so fast!

Booker listened to Tang Tian's suggestion, took a step back in advance, put on a defensive posture to prevent sudden shots, and then moved laterally to block DeRozan during the retreat.

He has actually done this before, but his speed is really not good. If DeRozan speeds up again, he still can't keep up.

But after starting it, he was surprised to find that he had become faster, and suddenly he was really blocked!

He didn't know what happened, but it just happened!

The only explanation is that he didn't eat much recently because he was in a bad mood. After losing weight, he moved faster?

DeRozan also looked incredible, he dribbled the ball and then changed direction to the left to accelerate.

But after Booker moved laterally again, he was still guarding the defensive position.

Booker's eyes were full of excitement, he really got faster!

After a while, like Gordon, the disadvantage of short hands is no longer so obvious!

The offensive time took more than half, and DeRozan directly chose to turn his back, and after turning around continuously, he leaned back and shot.

"boom!"

Booker's confrontation was not bad, and DeRozan's shot still failed to hit.

Frank was also dumbfounded. Was Booker suddenly enlightened?

Jokic took off the defensive rebound, the Nets played a fast break, and Butler received a pass from Deron in the frontcourt and scored a layup.

The Nets started 4-0.

DeRozan didn't believe in evil anymore, and even singled Booker in the frontcourt.

Change direction, accelerate, change direction, accelerate again.

Booker still held the defensive position.

Only then did Tang Tian's expression change to normal.

The change brought about by the lateral speed is still obvious. Just imagine Harden whose weight has not changed after increasing the lateral speed. It is scary to think about it.

DeRozan shook continuously and couldn't find space, so he went straight to the basket and shot.

Although Booker's lateral speed has increased, he still has a gap with DeRozan in experience. He hit DeRozan's hand and was called a foul by the referee.

DeRozan went to the free throw line, but his expression was not good.

In fact, it wasn't just him, the audience also looked depressed.

Booker was beaten casually in the first few games, and DeRozan is much stronger than those people, but why did he get here and couldn't get in?