nycdaug Chapter 32 Silas: With the Nuggets' level of play, they still want to contend for the champions
Chapter 32 Silas: With the Nuggets' level of play, they still want to contend for the champions
The second quarter began quickly with the whistle blowing, and Wang Xiucheng once again led the substitutes onto the court.
The Nuggets made a change, bringing in Porter.
This one substitution made the Nuggets' defense tougher.
Porter, standing at 208cm, made Green, who is good at driving to the basket, fail to score on several occasions.
On the offensive end, without Jokic on the court and without Murray's playmaking and drives to the basket, the Nuggets' scoring was like constipation.
For a full three minutes, neither side managed to score a single point.
Strangely, the two head coaches acted like spectators, neither of them calling a timeout, seemingly quite satisfied with the situation.
On the court, Wang Xiucheng dribbled the ball, faked a move, and broke into the paint. Porter Jr. abandoned Green and came over to defend Wang Xiucheng.
This time, Wang Xiucheng didn't pass to Green, but instead opted for a floater.
Swish!
The ball goes in.
Wang Xiucheng scored the first point of the day.
Porter jumped high but landed helplessly, so he had no choice but to go to the baseline to serve.
He hates guards who can shoot floaters. If you're so capable, come at me one-on-one. Floaters are for girls.
The Rockets broke their scoring drought first, and the Nuggets started their offense. The ball was lobbed to Porter, who used his footwork to shake off the defender and then slammed it home with a dunk.
Basketball is such a strange game; if you say no, no one scores, and whoever scores is a coward.
In terms of points, neither side can afford to lose.
At this point, neither head coach would call a timeout; they'd already scored, so what was the point of calling one?
So after a few rounds, the referee had to call an official timeout to give the sponsor's advertisement time to play.
Jokic stood up at that moment, threw the towel on the chair, and knew it was time for him to go on the court.
In fact, he had wanted to play for a long time.
I just hope that the one named "wang" won't be replaced.
When the game resumed, the Nuggets finally brought back all their starters.
The Rockets also made a large-scale rotation, with all their key players returning.
Wang Xiucheng was naturally replaced as well.
The match appears to be entering a new level of intensity.
But the truth is, both sides' scoring ability is still constipated, while their defense seems to be doing very well.
At the end of the first half, the score was 47-46, with the Rockets still leading by one point.
After a relatively short halftime break, the second half of the game was a carbon copy, with both sides playing without any passion.
If there was any highlight, it was that Wang Xiucheng's 10 minutes on the court in the second half allowed the Rockets to take an 8-point lead at one point.
And with two minutes left in the third quarter, he had his first opportunity to play against Jokic.
After Wang Xiucheng missed a fast break for the Nuggets, he grabbed a rebound. Jokic, who wasn't involved in the attack, stood near the center line, blocking Wang Xiucheng's path like a wall.
Meanwhile, Green had already shaken off Porter and started making runs.
In terms of height and wingspan, Porter is several levels above Green.
But in terms of speed, Green can make Porter disappear without a trace.
Wang Xiucheng dribbled forward a step, and then he made a move that no one in the entire arena had expected.
He threw the basketball like a bowling ball, and coincidentally, it passed by Jokic not far away.
Jokic looked like a slow-moving old lady, trying several times to reach the ball but failing. He could only watch helplessly as Green bent down, grabbed the ball, and easily dunked it.
Coach Malone was amused by Jokic's actions.
But then he looked at Wang Xiucheng, who was pointing at Green.
Knowing the characteristics and habits of teammates, as well as the weaknesses of opponents, and being good at utilizing them.
"Wang Xiucheng, come into the bowl quickly!" Ma Long almost shouted out.
It smells so damn good, and he's only 19 years old. He's a gem in the rough.
Malone believes that if he hone his skills for a few years, the combination of Wang Xiucheng (7 years his senior) and Jokic, both inside and outside, will become the strongest combination in the league.
none of them!
Ma Long has lost all interest in watching the game.
His eyes were filled with Wang Xiucheng's image.
If Wang Xiucheng hadn't returned to the bench, Ma Long wouldn't have even known the third quarter was over.
After making the usual tactical arrangements, Malone kept Jokic on the court.
He wanted to see more of Wang Xiucheng and Jokic playing together.
Although the two are rivals.
The fourth quarter begins.
Both teams continued their sluggish performance.
The Rockets and Nuggets traded baskets, neither able to take a lead of more than 5 points.
Even though Silas replaced Wang Xiucheng, the situation didn't change much.
This infuriated Silas. How could the Nuggets, with their level of performance, possibly contend for the championship?
The final possession came quickly, and the Rockets had a chance to win.
But this time, Silas substituted Jalen Green out as well, without even calling a timeout.
Then, a scene that left the audience speechless unfolded.
Rockets power forward Wood dribbled the ball all the way down the court, stopped at the three-point line after being surrounded, and then passed it to Gordon.
Eric Gordon, who is only 191cm tall, resolutely drove to the basket, only to be blocked by Jokic's matchbox-like jump shot, ending the game with the Nuggets narrowly defeating the Rockets by 1 point.
Both head coaches, Silas and Malone, shook hands in front of the scorer's table with lingering fear, their hands gripping tightly as if there was some deeper meaning behind it.
The players from both sides shook hands in greeting. Wang Xiucheng didn't recognize anyone and wanted to leave directly, but was blocked by a tall figure.
"Good fight."
Wang Xiucheng looked over and saw it was Jokic.
"Thanks, you did well too." Wang Xiucheng didn't stand on ceremony; he genuinely thought he played quite well.
"Are you Chinese?" Jokic suddenly asked, a hint of expectation on his face.
Wang Xiucheng nodded. Isn't it obvious?
"Is he really Chinese?" Jokic's emotions clearly changed.
"Would you like to see my passport?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant." Jokic actually laughed and put his arm around Wang Xiucheng's shoulder in a familiar way. "I'll invite you to my house for Serbian kebabs."
Wang Xiucheng was a little uncomfortable being hugged like this, and with Jokic's mammoth-like weight, an ordinary person would probably be crushed.
But Jokic's mention of "Serbia" made Wang Xiucheng guess why the other party's attitude was like this.
Wang Xiucheng said somewhat awkwardly, "It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that the team is flying to San Francisco soon for a back-to-back game against the Warriors tomorrow, so I really can't go today."
Jokic clearly hadn't expected this, and he couldn't possibly be concerned about the schedules of other teams.
Jokic seemed a little disappointed, but still muttered something unusual: "I once met another Chinese player named Zhou, also from the Rockets, but his personality was different from yours. He was a bit reserved. I invited him to my house, but he refused outright and left right away."
Wang Xiucheng knew that Jokic was probably referring to Zhou Qi.
The education Chinese people receive from childhood instills in them a low-key, reserved, and polite demeanor.
However, such a personality makes it difficult to establish oneself in the flamboyant NBA.
Apart from Yao Ming, no other Chinese player has been favored by the NBA. This is certainly related to his ability, but his personality is also an important factor.
Wang Xiucheng and Jokic walked together toward the tunnel, talking as they went, completely ignoring everyone else.
“Zhou Qi and I are not the same type. Of course I’ll go if there’s food to eat, but I really can’t go today. Why don’t you and Silas ask for leave?” Wang Xiucheng pointed to Silas, who was still posing in the distance.
Jokic paused, turned his head, and the next moment, he actually strode towards Silas.
Wang Xiucheng was so frightened that he quickly grabbed Jokic, wondering if the guy was really going to go.
Jokic burst into laughter the next moment, seemingly pleased that he had fooled Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng laughed helplessly at this moment. This guy weighs 250 pounds but has the heart of a child.
The image of Wang Xiucheng and Jokic chatting and laughing also reached the land of China.
Penguin Live Room.
Yang Yi: "Am I remembering wrong? Judging from the way Wang Xiucheng and Jokic look, they don't look like they're meeting for the first time."
"First James, then Jokic, Wang Xiucheng has already gained recognition from many superstars in the league."
Wang Shipeng, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "I don't think the Rockets can keep Wang Xiucheng."
Wang Meng and Yang Yi both looked at Wang Shipeng, and even Xiao Qi put down her tablet, waiting for Wang Shipeng to continue.
"James and Jokic are the undisputed leaders of their respective teams. Logically speaking, they have no way of having any prior acquaintance with Wang Xiucheng, who just entered the league this year."
"But they still seem to be friends with Wang Xiucheng for many years. I have reason to believe that they probably want their team to trade Wang Xiucheng."
Yang Yi and Wang Meng looked at each other, both seeing a hint of excitement in each other's eyes.
If Wang Shipeng's guess is true, then this is a big deal for both Wang Xiucheng and the Chinese football fans.
Both the Lakers and the Nuggets are championship contenders, and it seems they have neither the space nor the time to develop young rookies.
But with Wang Xiucheng's current ability, he can definitely play in the rotation. Both the Lakers and the Nuggets need a player like Wang Xiucheng.
On the contrary, the Rockets didn't give Wang Xiucheng much playing time. Firstly, there were too many high-ranking rookies, and secondly, Wang Xiucheng's performance made Silas hesitant to use him for too long, because it was easy to lose the game if he wasn't careful.
Based on this analysis, the Rockets are indeed not a place for Wang Xiucheng, even though it is the team Yao Ming once played for.
At this moment, Xiao Qi's eyes lit up: "Um, I think Wang Xiucheng would be a good fit for the Warriors too."