nycdaug Chapter 498 The Way Claxton Says "Thank You"!
Chapter 498 The Way Claxton Says "Thank You"!
Wang Xiucheng wanted to chase after him, but was blocked by Jokic, who appeared out of nowhere.
Murray found himself in an open position, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Although there were still 5 seconds left on the shot clock, he decided not to wait any longer.
Collect the ball, jump, release the shot...
The basketball flew towards the hoop.
Bang!
Swish!
It hit the rim, but the basketball still managed to go into the net.
Murray swung his fist hard.
With this three-pointer, the Nuggets are now tied with the Nets again.
27:27.
Murray immediately turned around to look for Wang Xiucheng, wanting to keep an eye on him.
However, Murray, who had just turned around, saw that Wang Xiucheng had already run into the center circle, and Jokic was chasing after him, shaking his head.
With a whoosh, the basketball flew over Murray's head.
Jokic seemed to sense something and glanced at it, then reached up and ruffled his hair haphazardly, hoping to touch the basketball.
Jokic even tried jumping.
The height of the matchbox alone is of no use.
In the end, Jokic could only watch as the basketball flew to the frontcourt, where Wang Xiucheng caught up with it in two big strides.
Then Wang Xiucheng slowed down and moved to the side, reaching the outside of the arc.
Gather the ball, lower your shoulder, jump, release the shot...
Swish!
The basketball once again swished through the net like a guided missile.
Wang Xiucheng made another three-pointer!
Jokic had just entered the center circle at that moment.
Somewhat disappointed, Jokic stopped walking, feeling his blood sugar drop even lower.
He just wants to go downstairs and get some Coke.
With little time remaining in the first quarter, and under the Nets' full-court press, the Nuggets had no choice but to pass the ball to Jokic.
Jokic received the ball, dribbled a few steps, and threw the basketball just past the center line.
The basketball flew directly out of bounds.
With a beep, the first quarter ended.
Thanks to Wang Xiucheng's eight consecutive points in the final minute, the Nets led the Nuggets 30-27.
In the media broadcast booth, in the Tencent Live room.
Wang Meng, speaking loudly through his headset, finally said after a brief announcement: "The first quarter is over. The game was very exciting. Both Jokic and Wang Xiucheng played irreplaceable roles."
"Jokic had 8 points and 5 assists in the first quarter, while Wang Xiucheng had 12 points and 3 assists."
"Does Professor Yang Yi have anything to say?"
Yang Yi then picked up the conversation: "We see that out of Xiao Wang's 12 points, 8 points were scored in the last minute."
"When Durant and Westbrook are on the court, Xiao Wang will intentionally slack off a little and mainly play the shooting guard position."
"And when Westbrook and Durant went to the bench in the 6th minute, Xiao Wang took over the game."
"Even though the Nets' shooting percentage wasn't high today, they still scored 30 points in the first quarter."
"So Nets fans always say, 'Don't panic if you're down by three or five points,' and there's truth to that."
"Furthermore, it must be said that Jokic is indeed strong; there has never been a center like him in NBA history."
Wang Meng and Mina, who were sitting next to him, felt something was off when Yang Yi suddenly started praising Jokic.
"However, the Nets are currently in the lead, and that's Wang Xiucheng."
"Compared to Jokic, our Xiao Wang is just as good."
Wang Meng and Meina exchanged a glance. Sure enough, after going around in circles, it all came down to praising Wang Xiucheng.
Calling you the biggest Wang fanboy in China is not an exaggeration.
Fortunately, time was limited, otherwise you could have bragged about it all night.
The second quarter finally began at Barclays Center amidst the cheers of the fans.
Whether it was Jokic, Murray, or Wang Xiucheng, they all sat on the bench at the beginning of the second quarter.
Both sides started the second quarter with substitutes.
Although they were supposed to be substitutes, the Nuggets kept Porter Jr. and Pope on the court to counter the Nets' Durant and Westbrook.
The two sides have once again reached a stalemate.
The shooting percentage has dropped, and the number of mistakes has increased.
Westbrook even dropped the ball, handing possession to Pope.
Pope didn't disappoint Westbrook's trust; he missed an open layup and then made a lobbed layup!
Malone and Nash stood in front of the scorer's table, staring at each other as if they were looking at idiots.
Did you guys bet on the game?!
Even with my old bones and limbs, I wouldn't have ended up like this!
With eight minutes remaining in the game, during a dead ball situation, Coach Malone finally substituted Jokic and Murray onto the court.
Wang Xiucheng is still resting. If he doesn't take advantage of this time to grab more points, what will he do when the last minute comes?
As expected, Jokic's entry into the game put the Nuggets in the lead.
When the game entered its first timeout with six minutes remaining, the Nuggets led again by two points, 42-40.
Jokic glanced at Wang Xiucheng as he walked back.
He rested for 4 minutes, but Wang Xiucheng rested for 6 minutes.
However, the Nuggets only managed a 2-point lead.
Jokic inevitably recalled that night last year when Coach Malone had a conversation with him.
"I'm thinking of trading Murray for Wang Xiucheng. What do you think?"
When Jokic heard Coach Malone's idea, his first thought was that the coach had gone crazy.
But upon closer reflection, Wang Xiucheng does indeed have much more potential than Murray.
Jokic knew that Coach Malone had no say in this matter; he simply meant to inform the manager of the idea.
As it turns out, Coach Malone's judgment was correct.
Let alone potential, even now, Wang Xiucheng, who is just 20 years old, transferred from the terrible Rockets to the Nets and immediately made the Nets take off.
If the Nuggets had offered a little more, would it have been possible for them to snatch Wang Xiucheng away?
If that's the case, then the one fighting alongside me today should be Wang Xiucheng!
Shaking his head to dismiss these unrealistic ideas, Jokic began to listen to Coach Malone's tactical instructions.
Wang Xiucheng took the towel off and threw it on the chair, drank the last drop of water from the bottle, and then returned to the field first.
Suddenly, many fans in the stadium started shouting loudly.
It seemed they hoped Wang Xiucheng would glance at their place.
Wang Xiucheng could actually tell that many of these people were Chinese calling him.
Claxton stood beside Wang Xiucheng, smiling as he looked at the Chinese faces.
In fact, he was unsure whether these people were of Chinese descent or other Asian descent.
But those who can watch Wang Xiucheng play are probably of Chinese descent.
"Zhao Si, you know I'll be going to China this summer, and I'll even be signing a sneaker contract with a Chinese brand, right?"
Claxton said in a low voice.
Wang Xiucheng nodded.
Claxton bumped Wang Xiucheng with his shoulder, then went to the sideline and waited for the referee to give him the ball.
Claxton is well aware of his shoe contract because he and Wang Xiucheng are on the same team.
If it weren't for his time with the Nets, he might never have had his own shoe contract.
He didn't thank Wang Xiucheng; he felt it was better to eat more of the pancakes Wang Xiucheng made.
Getting Wang Xiucheng a few more assists in each game is better than anything else.
Claxton received the ball from the referee and passed it directly to Wang Xiucheng. Then he stood at the top of the arc, waiting for Wang Xiucheng to come over.
Jokic started pushing Claxton, seemingly trying to push him out of the way, so Claxton suddenly pulled back his chair and turned to go inside.
Just as Jokic lost his balance and failed to keep up, Claxton had already reached the basket.
With a bang, Claxton slammed the ball passed to him by Wang Xiucheng into the basket with one hand.
This is how Claxton says "thank you"!