basketball scientist

On February 2, the Kings faced the Thunder at home, and Curry and Durant had a direct conversation to compete for MVP!

In the first two games of the season, the Kings double defeated the Thunder.But in the first round of the match, the Thunder did not have Westbrook; in the second round of the match, the team lost its main center Lopez.Therefore, Durant fans are unconvinced and insist that "Durant is not inferior to Curry!"

In the 1011 season, Durant ranked third in MVP; in 12 and 13, Durant was truly the second player in the league. After a long time, the league was tired of James winning awards, and it was impossible to give it to the little emperor again. Well, it would be so tragic if Curry overtakes him again!

In the history of the league, there has never been a star of this level who has not even won an MVP.This is also the reason why the media has been exaggerating Durant's strength this season.If Curry had led the team to 36 wins and 19 losses, 8 games behind Durant, the league would have awarded the award to Durant in advance.

On the day of the game, the Acker Center Arena was packed with seats, filling the arena that can accommodate 19685 people.

Not long ago, the Kings announced the progress of their new arena.The team's new arena is expected to complete all the main structure work in October this year, and then complete the layout and installation of high-tech equipment inside the arena within half a year, and then put it into use in May 10.

If the league passes it, the Kings can move into the new arena in the playoffs next season!

When the Kings players came on the court, cheers echoed throughout the stadium.The order of appearance of the Kings players is still led by Curry, and Harden is the last one. The fans support the team's star with shouts of "MVP".

The only MVP in the history of the team is Oscar Robertson, but at that time the Kings were still in Cincinnati and were called the "Cincinnati Royals". Curry is very likely to become the No. 1 player wearing a "KINGS" jersey and winning the MVP. .[-].

As for the Thunder's two young men, after seeing the warm atmosphere at the Kings' home court, there was more or less a trace of resentment in their eyes!

Needless to say, Westbrook, when interviewed in China, Ke Yan publicly said that "Westbrook is the most overrated star in the league" and "In 80 offensive rounds, Westbrook has more than 25 offensive options to let his teammates It’s even more uncomfortable”, “The Thunder only have one superstar” and other comments.As Ke Yan, after saying these words, it caused many fans to doubt Westbrook's true strength.

The reason for Durant's anger is the MVP battle with Curry. Or, to put it another way, based on Durant's understanding of basketball, he sincerely dislikes Curry's thinness, speed, strength, and jumping. There is no top defender, let alone competing for MVP;

On the other hand, there is also the Harden factor.

Thunder Showing their talents, they could obviously work together to chase the championship and even create a dynasty, but the team sent Harden away because of saving money, and directly helped the Kings take off, reaching the point of competing with the Thunder. . . . . .

The Kings' starting lineup has not changed, with point guard Curry, shooting guard Harden, small forward Middleton, power forward Harris, and center Gobert.

As for the Thunder, they have point guard Westbrook, shooting guard Sefolosha, small forward Durant, power forward Ibaka, and center Drummond.

The two teams jumped the ball in the middle circle. Gobert defeated Drummond with his wingspan advantage, and the basketball was given to Curry.

Curry faced Westbrook with the ball, advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, and opened up space to prepare for a single.

Westbrook's physical fitness is superb, and his prowess has not diminished after being seriously injured by Beverley. Fans often said that he was "returned to the factory for an upgrade", but in fact, his knee injury still has a great impact on lateral movement.In addition, Westbrook's defensive awareness is not very good. Curry quickly passed half of Westbrook's body with a quick change of direction. Upon seeing this, Ibaka immediately stepped forward to cover the defense, but Curry had already expected it and made a gesture. The ground pass was passed to Harris who cut in, but when Ibaka subconsciously turned around, he directly threw the ball and steadily sent the ball into the basket.

The Thunder attacked, and Westbrook held the ball through half the court. After dribbling for a while, he handed the ball to Durant, who was asking for the ball with his back at the top of the key.Behind him, Harris continued to challenge Durant.The action is a bit inelegant. In the words of fans, "It looks like Durant!"

Drummond came up and made a "bad" pick-and-roll for Durant. He couldn't wait to pass the defender before he could completely block it. This also left Durant not only without space for his subsequent breakthrough, but was even blocked by Harris and Gobert got entangled at the same time and forced his way to the three-second zone. Durant made an emergency stop and shot a jumper, which was a pity.

After completing the defense, Gobert immediately grabbed the rebound, causing Drummond to foul on the rebound!

One is the No. 27 pick in a big year of the draft, and the other is the No. 11 pick in a small year. In terms of "originality", Drummond is far better than Gobert, including statistics. After starting this season, Drummond averaged 10+5 per game. Lamond is also much better looking than Gobert's 8+[-].But when it comes to defensive habits and positive effects on the court, Drummond is far inferior to Gobert.

The Kings attacked, Harden dribbled the ball across half court, and Westbrook came up immediately.This is also Brooks' adjustment. Compared with Curry, who is flexible in movement and has greater shooting threats, Westbrook is more suitable for playing against Harden, who plays with the ball in his hand.

But Harden did not choose to fight Westbrook head-on. Instead, he reached out and called Harris to come up and pick and roll.Just when Westbrook felt the movement of Harris behind him and his concentration was affected, Harden suddenly started and broke through Westbrook's defense from the other side.

Ibaka immediately made up for the defense, and then Harden hit his arm and made a foul. After retreating to the baseline, Ibaka even laughed~

Having been teammates with Harden for so many years, I wonder if he deserves this moment?

Harden made two free throws and the score reached 4:0.Subsequently, the Thunder attacked, and Durant used a large change of direction to shake off Harris' defense, strode into the penalty area, and faced Gobert's defense to complete a dunk!

Looking at the history of the NBA, a height of over 2 meters coupled with such strong mobility and such a good sense of the ball is quite explosive!This is also the reason why Ke Yan supports Curry but never belittles Durant. The personal performance of "Death God Du" has always been beyond criticism.

But Curry also has his own way of leading the team's offense. In the next round, he used continuous running to get rid of Sefolosha, disrupting the Thunder's defense and then receiving the ball. He then faked a shot to chase the defender. Durant got excited and rushed to the basket. He deceived Drummond and immediately threw the basketball into the air. Gobert behind Drummond rose up from the ground and caught the basketball in the air. Dunk into the basket.

During the entire attack, Curry only dribbled the ball once, but played with Sefolosha, Durant, and Drummond respectively!All Gobert has to do is put the ball into the basket.

When the Thunder attacked, Westbrook squeezed Curry with his back and turned around to force a breakthrough. After attracting double-teams, he passed the ball to Sefolosha. The latter faked a shot and really broke through. He cut along the baseline and attracted Gobert to cover up the defense and hit the ground pass. It was given to Drummond, who easily scored a layup.

Back on the offensive end, Gobert went to the three-point line to provide a much more solid screen for Curry. Curry singled out Drummond and changed direction to the right, scoring an easy layup. (8:4)

Drummond's athletic ability is very good, but to complete a successful defense, it is not just about athletic ability. A small movement from Curry can make Drummond confused. Durant, who turned around to serve, was very dissatisfied. The ball hit the floor.

The Thunder attacked, Westbrook passed to Durant, and the latter played a pick-and-roll, found an opportunity to challenge Gobert in a misplaced position, and layup against Gobert's arm, easily causing a foul.

It is said that Harden is the "Porcelain King of JDZ", but don't forget that Durant is also a master of this method, and he was also known as the "Golden Wheel Punishment King" back then.

The stars of both sides show their talents, but Durant is determined to beat Curry in terms of statistics, especially scoring. He is somewhat "dominating" on the offensive end. Although this is the "daily life" of the Thunder team, Compared with the well-established Kings, it's a bit unsatisfactory.

According to Barkley in the commentary box, "Durant's gun almost shot out sparks. Looking closely, the Thunder are still 6 points behind the Kings!"

After the first quarter, the Kings led 37:31.

At the beginning of the second quarter, both sides retained a core player on the court, with Harden and Westbrook staying on the court respectively!In the first quarter of the game, Westbrook played relatively effortlessly. At this moment, with the help of Collison's pick-and-roll, he was full of energy and could rush straight into the penalty area with a speed increase. He forced Dedmon to complete the layup, causing Dedmon to foul.

Many fans see Westbrook's tendons and think that Westbrook has good physical talent and strong strength. However, Westbrook only practices confrontation, impact power, and core strength. His ability to complete follow-up shots after confrontation is average.This is also the probability that Westbrook will score 2+1, not to mention compared with Wade, and even much worse than the 0+2 expert Harden.

Harden's body is not as explosive as Westbrook, but his explosive power in the first step is not bad at all, and his core strength is better, and he can complete various rhythm-changing movements while traveling. "Ziru" easily knocked Robertson back a big step in singles, and then raised his hand and hit a mid-range shot. (39:33)

"James Harden~~~!" The DJ at the scene shouted Harden's name. Although the team inadvertently completed the transfer of power this season, Curry may have truly taken over the position of the team's boss intentionally or unintentionally, but Kings fans will not Forget Harden’s feat of single-handedly dragging the team back to the playoffs last season!

The Thunder attacked, and Westbrook took a pick-and-roll and passed Dedmon for a layup.

In the next round, Harden's pass to Blake was too obvious and was intercepted by Robertson. The Thunder quickly counterattacked. Westbrook scored a one-handed dunk, scoring six points in a row, helping the team narrow the point difference!On the way back to defense, Westbrook began to beat his chest and roar again, and finally glared at Ke Yan on the sidelines. (39:37)

Under Ke Yan's painstaking management, the Kings have rapidly improved the team's strength in a short period of time, but it has to be said that the Thunder, which has been strong for several years, has a solid foundation.Moreover, the Kings' loss of Chandler is far greater than the Thunder's loss of Lopez.Dedmon, Thomas, Simmons and Covington, who can play inside, are not strong enough.

Perhaps, Gasol really should have been traded before!

In the solo game between the second brother and the third brother, Harden failed to respond. He passed Robertson through a disguised breakthrough on the outside, then rushed inside and made an emergency stop jumper before Thabeet came up to defend, but failed to hit.

Robertson grabbed a backcourt rebound and threw a long pass to Westbrook for the first time. The latter surged again at great speed and forced an offense that was not a counterattack opportunity into a transition offense. Although he failed to score the ball, it caused Stephen Sen's foul.

After making two free throws, Westbrook led a wave of 8:2 attacks to tie the score, and Ke Yan was forced to call a timeout.

Being able to force Ke Yan, who was "degrading himself", to call a timeout, Westbrook "slapped" Ke Yan in the face with his actual performance. When he returned to the bench, he didn't even sit down and was still jumping towards the direction of the Kings bench.

Ke Yan ignored the "crazy" Westbrook, replaced Harden with Curry, and scolded Stephenson a few times.

The "junior brother" played emotionally and was too lazy to move if he couldn't touch the ball for several rounds in a row. He played with Harden and acted casually.As soon as Curry came on the court, his control of the ball was not as extreme as Harden's, and he was able to drive Stephenson a little.

With the ball in hand, Stephenson broke through the inside to attract a double attack and separated the ball. After three passes and two leads, the ball came to Curry. The latter raised his hand and hit a three-pointer to help the team exceed the score again.

Looking back, Westbrook continued his good state before the timeout, using his physical advantage to force past Stephenson, and hit the emergency stop zombie jumper steadily!

This can almost be regarded as the best performance of Westbrook's team against Ke Yan, right?The director's camera showed Ke Yan just right, and his expression was still indifferent, and he didn't take the other person seriously at all.

When the Kings attacked, Curry faced Westbrook's output. He first dribbled away Westbrook continuously and hit a three-pointer with a step back. Then, relying on Thomas' pick-and-roll screen, he rushed inside and skillfully passed the ball to the open Dedmon, helping him. Dunk completed!

In less than 2 minutes, Curry scored 6 points and sent an assist, helping the Kings reopen the point difference to 6 points.Forcing Brooks to pull Durant back to the court.

"Durant is back too, this game is going to be interesting~" Zhang Lili said excitedly.

In the eyes of Thunder fans, the Kings' previous double-kill of the Thunder took advantage of the Thunder's incomplete lineup; only by welcoming back Westbrook can the showdown between the Thunder and Kings be considered fair and have reference value.

Let’s not talk about how much the Kings suffered when Curry missed most of last season!