The Way of the Center

The first game of the playoffs is often the one that has received the most attention in the first round. Not only the players, but the fans will also cheer for the arrival of the playoffs. The first game is often the most eye-catching. So at the Pepsi Center, the Nuggets fans almost overturned the roof of the stadium.

Their enthusiasm is high, and they look forward to watching the Nuggets, who stopped in the Western Conference finals last year, make up for their regrets this year. What Durant is, we own Anthony. What is Westbrook? We own the FMVP Chauncey Billups. Anjie? The Nuggets fans are not afraid either. The Brazilian *** 2000 champion Kenyon Martin, "Birdman" Chris Anderson... The Nuggets’ perverted sportsmanship inside is also enough. Let the Western Stars starting center drink a pot.

The Nuggets' score was one higher than that of the Thunder, so the young Thunder's first playoff game had to be spent amid the huge boos from fans at the Pepsi Center. The Thunder have played so many regular season games, but no game has such a feverish atmosphere as the playoffs.

In addition to the fan factor, the intensity of the game itself is unmatched in the regular season.

Whether it is physical confrontation or technical competition, whether it is the rhythm of the game or the intensity of the game, everything is more than one level higher than the regular season.

The Nuggets are a regular visitor to the playoffs and the team that has reached the Western Conference Finals last season. They have played in more intense games than this. But the Thunder is a team that has only played the regular season. They are obviously still very uncomfortable with the sudden increase in the intensity of the playoffs.

There are two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the third thunder is already sitting on the bench. There are generally only two situations where Van Gundy would let the Thunder's Third Young Master take a break in advance, either because he has the winning ticket, or he is unable to recover.

It's a pity that today, at the Pepsi Center, the reason for the third thunderbolt to rest belongs to the latter.

"Twenty minutes, Charles, you said before the game that you are more optimistic about the Thunder, but judging from the performance of this game, the Thunder have nothing to fight back against the Nuggets. Maybe coach Jeff Van Gundy and his The team has never been able to break the curse of being eliminated in the first round." Kenny Smith wanted to see how Barkley would react. After all, the result of the game was very different from what he predicted.

"I have to admit that the Thunder are still playing as they did in the regular season, while the Nuggets entered the state very early. However, the playoffs are a seven-game four-win game. It's a reminder. The playoffs and the regular season are completely different!"

With Barkley's commentary, the whistle sounded at the end of the game. 103 to 126, the Thunder lost the game by 23 points. An Jie has never suffered such humiliation.

Carmelo Anthony was a hit in the game, scoring a game-high 42 points. The Nuggets' sixth man, J.R. Smith, also scored 20 points.

In contrast to the Thunder, although Durant scored 26 points, Anjie scored 19 points, Westbrook scored 17 points, and even Morris scored 15 points. But in this game, they lost not because of offense, but on defense, the defense they are most proud of.

After the game, Anthony frantically showed off in front of the home fans. Last year he lost the Western Conference finals. This year, the Nuggets' lineup and tactics are for the Lakers. Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round? Sorry, you are not our real opponents! It's a matter of course to win you!

The players of the Thunder just want to quickly leave this sea of ​​winners. One by one they lowered their heads and remained silent. The playoffs, they have been looking forward to the playoffs for a long time, will be so cruel and bloody.

Ambition before the game, but Anjie and the others felt a lot of discomfort right from the start of the game. Take An Jie himself, facing the Nuggets' perverted and active inside line, it is rare for him to feel that it is very difficult to keep up with the opponent's rhythm.

In the regular season, An Jie has not played against them. It can even be said that An Jie has won them more times. But in the playoffs, those guys just changed. They are more aggressive, faster and more impactful than the regular season.

Van Gundy looked at the lifeless locker room and didn't know what to say for a moment. He is not a "chicken soup coach" and it is not his specialty to mobilize the players' emotions. And this kind of defeat is something Van Gundy has never seen since taking over the Thunder.

A group of young people stepped into the playoffs with confidence, but was hit mercilessly. This mood can't be reversed by Van Gundy in a few words.

"Bang!" Just when there was silence in the locker room, An Jie suddenly made a loud noise.

Turning his head to see, An Jie's fist was pressing against the cabinet. He gritted his teeth, his face was full of unwillingness.

"It's all my fault guys, I'm all to blame. There is no problem on the offensive end, the problem is on the defensive end. It's all on me, I haven't adapted to the rhythm of the playoffs." An Jie began to speak for himself.

"Don't be a **** hero, it's the inside line that I guarded with you. Losing the game will count as me!" Morris stood up as he listened.

"Okay, your abilities are okay. I blame me for not being able to bring you more experience. I will do this part of the work before the next game." Nick Collison, the most experienced of the Thunder One of the center forwards also spoke.

After that, almost everyone said that they did not do well in this game. In this way, everyone not only shared the responsibility of losing, but also allowed Van Gundy to see the problems in the game more clearly. After all, no matter how good the coach is, it is the players who can feel the details of the game most intuitively.

"Okay, don't say anything. Anthony's 42 points have the most to do with me. I did not fulfill my responsibility for the first attack point. In the next game, I promise not to let you down!" In the end, always Durant, who was silent, also boldly admitted his shortcomings.

"Do you believe me?" Van Gundy spoke only after all the players had finished speaking.

"We have always believed that your boss, you took us to this point." An Jie took the lead in answering. The most aggrieved person in Kalesimo's period may be An Jie. An Jie knows the great changes that Van Gundy has brought to the team best.

"Yes, of course we believe in your boss."

For a while, others echoed underneath.

"Very well, believe me, you have to listen to me. Because listen to me, I will let you win the game! Now, I want you all to go back to the hotel to rest. Tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, we will gather here!" No matter how badly you lose a game, it is irreversible. Now, Van Gundy and the Thunder must focus on preparing for the next game.

The loss of a game is inevitable in the series. The Thunder can only make the end of the playoffs different from today.

....................

Before eight o'clock the next day, the No. 2 training ground of the Pepsi Center was full of people. None of the Thunder's players were late, all came here early, even though they only experienced a costly game yesterday.

Everyone on the Thunder team is full of fighting spirit, and they all want to win back in tomorrow's game. Although they encountered a lot of problems in the first game, it didn't matter, as long as the problems were solved one by one, wouldn't it work?

When Van Gundy stepped into the training ground, he thought he was in the wrong place.

"Everything came so early? Very good, come on, let's solve the problem one by one. First of all, I think you already have a deep understanding of the rhythm and intensity of the playoffs!" When saying this, Van Gundy looked at Anjie. Yesterday, Anjie was the most uncomfortable person when he played against the Nuggets' inside team.

"In the regular season, maybe you only use 70% of your strength to defeat an opponent. When you encounter a strong enemy, you may spend 80%-90% of your energy. However, as soon as you play in the playoffs, you must Use all 100% of your abilities to fight against your opponents and truly spare no effort! It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, how to let you rest is my problem, you don’t have to share it for me. As long as you play, you will fight for me and give I'll fight!" Van Gundy must first let his players know what the playoffs are.

"Okay, now, let's talk about the various problems encountered during the game. In fact, as long as you achieve what I just said, there will be very few problems. Ann and KD, if you also work hard It’s impossible for Anthony to get such a high score. And you, Westbrook, Billups, and those opponents you’ve met before are different..." After that, Van Gundy started to solve one by one. The doubts in the players' hearts.

As the second game of the Thunder and Nuggets series will start the next day, the training intensity scheduled by Van Gundy today is not high. Even if the players are full of energy, he just arranged a few tactical drills. These strengths should not be spent on the training ground, but in the next day's game.

"Go to bed early, Morris, tomorrow Kenyon Martin will not be weak." Back to the hotel, Angel and Morris watched TV on the sofa for a while, and then prepared to recharge for tomorrow's game.

"It should be me reminding you. The time you make on the phone every night is enough for me to sleep several times."

"Okay, you guy, I won't be polite to you tomorrow if I don't behave well." An Jie threw a pillow at Morris, and Morris quickly closed the door and escaped the crisis.

An Jie smiled and walked back to his room. He took out the phone and called Catherine. But today, the phone "dating" between Anjie and Catherine lasted only five minutes. Anjie knows that he must now focus on the playoffs...

....................

"Beat, OKC! Beat, OKC..." The door to the locker room was still closed, but even so, the Pepsi Center's locker room, which was originally excellent in sound insulation, could still hear the big words of the Nuggets fans. cry.

"Have you heard Cameron, the fans have high hopes for us!" Kenyon Martin enjoys the cheering of the fans. Playing in such an environment really helps the home team players to burst out more. the power of.

"We must not lose at home, so that the old man can recover in the hospital. Let's go to the second round and wait for him to come back!" Anthony jumped to his feet. The last game scored the highest in the career playoffs. 42 points, don't say how excited this guy is. So for the second game of the series, Anthony is also struggling.

"We are the Thunder~www.NovelMTL.com~ We have come here all the way through, not for the Nuggets! They are just one place higher than us. The Nuggets are nothing terrible. We , Will be the final winner!" After Van Gundy finished speaking, he pushed open the locker room door and walked out first.

"1, 2, 3, Thunder!" The players followed Van Gundy, shouting like hungry wolves.

Van Gundy and his Thunder warriors will step into the battlefield again. But this time, the Nuggets won't play as easy as the last game.

The current thunder is hungry, bloodthirsty, eager to fight, and salivates even more to victory.

An Jie stared at the Nuggets players and clenched his fists as soon as he came on the court. Butcher, it's not a vain name!

"Hello everyone, audience friends, and welcome to ESPN's live broadcast of the second game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. The second matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets is about to begin!"

The atmosphere in the Pepsi Center became more and more enthusiastic, and An Jie's heart also became hot. (To be continued.)