The Way of the Center

Chapter 66: All the Eyes

Oklahoma City fans conveyed a message to the Thunder players with their enthusiasm: You have a very strong backing!

From the moment everyone in the Thunder team stepped onto the field, the cheering of the fans has never stopped. After experiencing the neglect of the fans in the preseason, the Thunder team was unexpectedly favored during the regular season.

Even the preseason game between the Celtics and the Lakers did not attract too many people's attention. After all, there are two types of preseason games, or they are commercial games purely for financial interests, such as the NBA China Games that have been held in full swing in recent years. Either it is the practice match played by the team to adjust the lineup. Generally, in this kind of game, the team will not deploy its own main lineup, and the two sides will not compete with each other. The Thunder's four preseason games undoubtedly belong to the The second type. But now it’s different. Now every score and every rebound the players grab will be recorded in the NBA’s huge database. This is a real NBA regular season competition!

The fans know the priority. In such an important game, the fans will not let the players on the field fight alone.

P.J. Carlesimo's starting lineup is still a little different from last season. Russell Westbrook, who made his debut for the first time, became the Thunder's starting point guard for this game. who is coming. The starting shooting guard is played by Earl Watson, who performed quite well.

The small forward is still unshakeable Kevin Durant starts, and the power forward is continued by Chris Wilcox from last season. But in the center position, the Chinese fans did not see An Jie's name, and the experienced Nick Collison stood in the center circle. Originally, it was very unusual for a rookie player to start the first game, so after Westbrook started, Anjie could only be placed on the bench by Carlesimo.

Chinese fans can also understand this. Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian have both played in another stadium, and now they can't wait to see the appearance of the third Chinese athlete.

With the whistle of the referee, he threw the orange basketball high into the air. In the scrimmage, Nick Collison was completely at a disadvantage when facing Bogut. Bogut easily won the ball. Michael Reid caught the ball firmly and the game began. up!

"Hello, viewers, welcome to the first NBA game of the Oklahoma City Thunder!" The ESPN commentator also got a little impatient to wait, whether this new face of the NBA can bring them How about some surprises?

Facing the mighty Westbrook, Michael Reid actually felt that he was a bit struggling to face this kind of defense. You must know that he is an All-Star player!

Through Bogut's pick-and-roll, Reed quickly bypassed the wall, thinking that this time he must get rid of the damn rookie. But he really underestimated Westbrook's speed. The opportunity only appeared for a few tenths of a second, and the gap after the pick-and-roll was blocked again by the fast-moving Westbrook!

"This!" Reed couldn't believe that his first attack was actually watched dead by this kid, but it didn't matter, after the pick-and-roll, Andrew Bogut had already gone down, Michael Reed moved the wrist and passed the ball to Bogut special hands.

Facing Nick Collison's defense, Bogut had no worries at all. After he went down, he made a three-step dunk. As expected, this move attracted the attention of all the members of the Thunder team. They all shrank to the basket, ready to stop Bogut's attack.

As soon as the lineup shrunk, the Bucks' starting power forward Villanueva was missed. Bogut passed the ball again at the moment of take-off. He didn't forget what his inside partner was good at.

There wasn't a single Thunder player around Villanueva who caught the pass from beyond the arc,

He who is already good at shooting will not waste this chance to start the lottery.

Take off, lift the ball, release softly. The basketball flew high over the penalty area, as if laughing at the Thunder players who were being teased in the air. In the end, under the attention of everyone in the audience, it flew into the basket precisely.

"Three-point hit! This big shooter feels very hot as soon as he comes up! However, the Thunder's defense is too loose. Only two passes allowed the Bucks to easily get a three-pointer." ESPN commentator I couldn't help shaking my head, as the saying goes, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

After being scored, fans hope that the Thunder can pull back a victory on the offensive end. Speaking of offense, all eyes are on Kevin Durant, last year's Rookie of the Year. Westbrook handed over the ball after taking the ball halfway. After all, he is just a rookie and doesn't have many chances to attack independently.

Earl Watson is the real point guard on the field. He controls the rhythm unhurriedly, hoping to find a gap to pass the ball.

However, after passing the ball a few times, the Thunder didn't get any decent chances. Finally, after a low-quality off-ball pick-and-roll by Nick Collison, Durant ran to the corner and raised his hand for the ball.

Even if Durant is a rookie, Watson dare not neglect. When he saw Durant asking for the ball, he immediately responded and fed the basketball into Durant's hands firmly.

Catch and shoot, but what Durant didn't expect, the old flying man Richard Jefferson caught up with him so quickly, and completely blocked his sight of shooting with the palm of his hand!

"Durant made a three-point shot! Can the Thunder tie the score!? Oh, it's too short!" the inland commentator cried out regretfully, one defense and one offense were defeated, and the Thunder had no achievements.

Durant missed a three-pointer, and Bogut easily picked up a defensive rebound. Judging from today's back-and-forth confrontation, he is bound to play well in this game.

The situation was exactly as Bogut expected. In the second offense of the Bucks, he directly hit Collison with the ball on his back, and then easily hit a hook near the penalty area, scoring his first point in an NBA game this season.

A missed shot is nothing, the fans still had expectations for Durant, but when Durant missed the three-point line for the second time, the hearts of the Oklahoma City fans suddenly It was quite cold.

This young man who shined last season has been unable to find his feeling in this game.

Four minutes into the first quarter, the Thunder trailed in Durant's slump. P.J. Carlesimo had to take a timeout, he had to make some adjustments to the lineup.

He first replaced Durant, who was in poor condition, with Desmond Mason. This move made Durant very depressed. He only missed three shots and was ruthlessly replaced by the head coach.

Afterwards, Quincy Dolby, who was traded to the Thunder by the Kings with Angie, replaced Earl Watson, who also felt bad.

Finally, P.J. Carlesimo called Anjie's name under the yelling of the fans.

"Ann! You are replacing Nick Collison. You have only one task. Limit Bogut's performance!"

An Jie stood up immediately and took off the training jacket that made him sweat all over. Immediately, all the cameras turned to the Thunder's bench. This yellow-skinned big man who has received much attention is finally ready to play!

"Oh! We saw that Anjie is about to appear on another field! Let's hope he can bring us a good performance!" CCTV was originally broadcasting the game between the Rockets and the Grizzlies, but after Anjie appeared, they In the form of picture-in-picture, a picture of Anjie getting up and taking off his clothes is shown in the lower right corner of the screen.

The Chinese fans couldn't watch it anymore, and some watched the live broadcast of CCTV while watching the live broadcast on the Internet, in order not to miss the game of these three Chinese players. Stern really had to wake up laughing when he fell asleep. The market behind these three people is simply immeasurable!

Wearing a white Thunder home jersey, carrying his own brand-new number 16. The guy whose name is only two letters on the back of the jersey is finally playing!

Leaving aside the pre-season game that was like a chicken help, this is An Jie's first appearance in the true sense!

After high-fiving Westbrook and other teammates, Anjie's playing time was officially recorded in the NBA database.

Let everyone wait for a long time, now, the Oriental Tower has officially landed!

(Third watch, the pace of these chapters is a bit slow, and I hope everyone can forgive me. Book friend group: 426042887, everyone is welcome to join.)

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