Champion, please stay!

Chapter 103, Section 101: A Crazy Debut!

Durant tried to dodge Yi Shui's physical fight, but he wasn't as fast or strong as Yi Shui...

Backpack: I don't have a ball! I don't have a ball!
Whose team has a good player who presses the half-court defense without the ball?
Durant, exhausted by the physical battles at Yi Shui, actually had a picture pop into his mind—Malone and Rodman pressing each other with full-court presses and physical defense, like they were fighting.

Durant ran to the sideline to use Mason as a screen, but the opponent was too close. Not only did he fail to shake off Yi Shui, but he was also sandwiched by Yi Shui, who followed him around the screen, and Da Q, who switched to defend!
Mason immediately cut towards the basket, received a pass from Watson, and forced a layup over Swift who had received the ball under the basket!
As a former dunk champion, Mason is obsessed with painting and has never practiced basketball during the offseason after entering the NBA. He also earns more from his art exhibitions than from playing basketball. He has little interest in improving his skills and earning a high salary. He has no technical skills at all, but he is physically strong and can still rely on his physique to get by at the age of 31.

Even though Swift received the 'instruction' to go to the basket to help when someone cut in, and even though she was in position to help, she still couldn't hold on and Mason scored a layup.

But as soon as Swift landed and regained her footing, she immediately executed another 'instruction,' quickly retrieving the ball and passing it to Curry, and the Knicks launched a fast break!
After Curry rushed out of the three-point line, he passed the ball to Yi Shui, the "arrow" of this lineup.

Yi Shui charged into the paint, pushing past Durant. The Thunder players who could get back to the basket surrounded Yi Shui. After being forced to stop, Yi Shui immediately raised the ball, dodged Watson's attempt to steal it, and passed it back to the top arc.

After the ball was passed out, Curry, who was trailing behind, received the ball and launched a three-pointer... a wide-open shot that went in cleanly!
Just as Durant was amazed by Curry's near-perfect catch-and-shoot rhythm, he was immediately marked by Yi Shui.

Backpack: Bro! I'll call you bro if you're a little older, but you're messing with me like this, aren't you going to care about the team's defense?
BIG: Do you think we have a team defense?
If it were a team that emphasizes defense, Yi Shui would naturally not defend like this.

Under D'Antoni, and with his interior teammates having some defensive awareness and strong execution, but being too skinny to defend head-to-head and only able to help defend, the former second overall pick, and David Lee, who had a strong physique and physicality but extremely poor defensive awareness.

Furthermore, as a tanking team, the Thunder's starting lineup disregarded everything else. The pick-and-roll between Watson and Jeff Green, and the wing screens between Nick Collison and Mason, were all designed to facilitate Durant's runs to receive the ball and shoot...

After Durant hit that three-pointer off a screen, Yi Shui decided to defend him that way.

The objective is to score more points than Durant, so the first priority is to keep a close eye on Durant and try to reduce his opportunities to receive the ball and shoot. It would be even better if he tried to take one-on-one shots.

It's impossible to keep up with every defensive play. The Thunder are really good at developing young players, and all their tactical resources are being focused on the key players they're developing.

Therefore, Yi Shui chose to engage in a physical battle with Durant in the half-court or even the whole court.

Even if Durant has greatly adapted to shooting after contact through a summer of physical training with muscular men, there must be a limit, right?
If your team can't defend, then attack!
By reducing the cost of attacking, Yi Shui's offensive strategy became simpler.

On a counterattack, he would sprint straight ahead, and if he received the ball and had a chance to score, he would shoot; if not, he would pass it out. Even if he couldn't receive the ball, his size and speed would allow him to push the opponent's defense into the paint, giving his teammates a good opportunity.

In positional play, when facing Durant's defense, the ball handler must take a one-on-one approach. He has already demonstrated this to the fans in the arena and watching on TV. Getting past Durant is a piece of cake. So, don't receive the ball. Seize the opportunity to cut or run back and shoot, reducing your movement.

Against the Thunder, the Curry-Swift pick-and-roll combination, David Lee's mid-range support, and Big Q's off-ball movement are enough!
Moreover, Yi Shui's shot attempts didn't decrease despite his "coasting" attitude; his offensive efficiency remained extremely high, creating numerous opportunities for the Thunder's defense...

...

After Durant made that three-pointer, commentators from two TV stations went wild, praising his intelligence, his ability to use screens to avoid defense when he was at a disadvantage in physical confrontations, his good positioning awareness, his accurate shooting, and so on. As for the similar playing style of Yi Shui in the first few preseason games, they commented that it was soft, but that doesn't matter.

Local New York TV stations, CNN, Time Warner, and other stations that favor Yi Shui predicted, after Durant made that shot, that Yi Shui and Durant would engage in a battle of ball-handling and off-ball play, with neither side able to defend the other.

Unexpectedly, Durant's situation became even worse than when he had the ball!
To defend against a ball-handling attack, Yi Shui also had to be wary of 'NHC', so he dared not touch the ball and could only use his body to pressure her.

When it comes to chasing and defending, it's a different story. You have to take the shot when you need to, use your elbows in contact, grab Durant's flesh to limit his speed... You can learn a lot of things in games that you can't get into in training. During the third season of 'Mad Worlds,' I encountered the ruthless Cunningham, and tonight I encountered the dirty Nick Collison. Yi Shui has learned a lot of new techniques in defense.

With Yi Shui's defense ignoring everything else, Durant only made one of his four shots in the first quarter!
Regarding the team...

While the Knicks' offense was somewhat relaxed, they didn't just sit around; they still set screens for teammates on the wings and were very active in creating space or cutting to shoot. They just ran less to conserve energy. The Knicks' teamwork was excellent, and their fast breaks were also very good, especially since the opposing defense wasn't significantly better. The Thunder, on the other hand, initially capitalized on Durant's screens to draw double teams, resulting in highly efficient drives to the basket.

But the Knicks' defense was bad, not stupid. Apart from guarding the players who used Durant's screens, the Knicks' defense gradually moved inwards, allowing the other Thunder players to shoot from the outside.

As for the Thunder's long-range shooting... when they were still called the SuperSonics last season, they averaged 3.8 three-pointers per game, the worst in the league, almost half the league average!
At first, the two teams traded baskets, but as the Knicks started focusing on close-range shots and the Thunder increased their mid-range and long-range attempts, the point difference gradually widened...

...

At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks led the Thunder 34-25 by 9 points!
Durant scored 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist on 2-of-5 shooting. The stats look okay, but after watching how Yi Shui tormented him for the entire quarter, you can tell how miserable he was.

On the Yi Shui side, after making both of his opening layups and fast break dunks, he followed up with a corner three-pointer, drew a foul on a drive and made both free throws, and scored on a fast break layup... He made 5 of 7 shots in the quarter, including 1 of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, for a total of 13 points!
In the second quarter, Yi Shui and Durant continued their battle.

Yi Shui tried to reduce the frequency of close combat. Although he was "coasting" on the offensive end, the consumption was still high, and he had to maintain continuity.

His choice was right!
After a whole quarter of physical battles, Durant's shooting touch was clearly affected. He did practice shooting after physical battles, but he had never engaged in physical battles for more than ten minutes in a row. It wasn't just about running and physical battles, but also about defending against Yi Shui.

Another factor is stamina. In the first quarter, he went all out on both offense and defense. Although Yi Shui defended him more aggressively, he was actually expending more energy. The intense physical exertion in a short period of time also affected his shooting touch.

Durant's performance continued to decline, and the Thunder's deficit gradually widened...

Westbrook, who came off the bench in the second quarter, had a very good debut performance.

Curry, Duhon, and Chalmers couldn't stop Westbrook's drives to the basket.

However, due to the Knicks' collapsing defense and his teammates' poor shooting on the wings, Westbrook's drive-and-kick plays were very effective, and the overall impact on the situation was not significant.

The game has entered the second half.

Durant was substituted by Carlesimo after three quarters and did not return to the court, essentially clocking out of the game. He played 27 minutes in the first three quarters, shooting only 6 of 16 from the field, including 2 of 7 from three-point range, plus 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, for a total of 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 4 turnovers.

The score is now 67-90, trailing by more than 20 points.

Yi Shui will continue to play in the final quarter!
During the break, D'Antoni originally wanted Yi Shui to rest, since they were already leading by such a large margin. Yi Shui had played 30 minutes in the first three quarters, exceeding the planned time, and had taken more than 20 shots and fought with Durant for so long, so his exertion was obviously greater than usual.

But after being reminded by Walsh, he quickly adjusted the starting lineup.

With 5 minutes and 22 seconds left in the final quarter, Yi Shui seized the opportunity to cut inside and received a pass from Du Hong, scoring a layup. The Thunder called a timeout!
The fans in the stadium erupted in the loudest cheers of the night.

Two photos appeared on the big screen: one of Yi Shui and the other of Wilt Chamberlain.

With this layup, Yi Shui improved his shooting percentage to 16 of 27, including 3 of 6 three-pointers, and added 10 of 11 free throws, bringing his total score to 45 points.

He surpassed Chamberlain's 43 points and broke the NBA rookie debut record!

(End of this chapter)