in2ebook Chapter 301 Nets vs. Celtics, the battle for the top spot!
Chapter 301 Nets vs. Celtics, the battle for the top spot!
Evening, Barclays Center.
Compared to the match a few days ago, which was dubbed "the first Chinese derby in 12 years," this match still generated a lot of buzz in China.
After all, it's only been a few days, and the derby's hype is far from over.
Unfortunately, Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is on the injured management list today and will be unable to play.
Without Lillard, the Trail Blazers struggled to keep up with the Nets' pace on the road.
Without Lillard, Yu Jiahao's slow movement makes it difficult to compensate for the positive effects of his pick-and-roll.
After all, Anfernee Simmons' ability to use pick-and-roll is simply not on the same level as Lillard's.
As a result, when Yu Jiahao was on the field, most of his running was ineffective.
The effect was far less impressive than the previous match.
The Nets' strategy in this game was to gradually simmer the game like a frog in slowly boiling water.
In the four quarters, the Nets won by three or four points in each quarter, and finally defeated the Trail Blazers 111-97.
This victory can be considered a good start to the "sweet journey".
The following day, the Nets faced the Magic at home in a back-to-back game.
Despite having the number one draft pick in Cairo this season, the Magic, who are still aiming to tank, did not pose much of a challenge to the Nets on the road.
The Nets ultimately defeated the Magic 109-102.
Two days later, the Nets continued their winning streak, defeating the Wizards 113-107 at home.
The allure of the Japanese derby still drew considerable attention from Japanese fans and journalists.
However, Wang Xiucheng drew three fouls from Rui Hachimura in the first quarter, forcing Hachimura to sit on the bench and start biting his nails after playing for only 6 minutes.
After that, whenever Rui Hachimura was on the court, Wang Xiucheng would switch to defend him, frequently scoring against him and making Hachimura's head shake so badly it felt like it was going to break.
In the end, they had to make a mistake by appearing in a different scene from Wang Xiucheng.
However, Rui Hachimura, whose mentality had been affected, only played 17 minutes in the entire game, making one of five shots and managing to score two points, avoiding a zero-point game.
On the contrary, his fellow countryman Yuta Watanabe scored 14 points when Wang Xiucheng made several open passes, which made the Japanese fans at the scene feel a little gratified.
After the game, the Nets rested for two more days before their first game in December, where they defeated the Raptors, the "Kings of the North," 114-105 at home.
With this win, the Nets have now won six straight games, bringing their overall record to 16 wins and 8 losses.
They also climbed to second place in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Bucks in terms of record.
The Celtics, ranked first, have a record of 18 wins and 5 losses.
Coincidentally, the Nets will face the Celtics at home in their next game.
Prior to this, the Celtics had won eight straight games against the Nets, including a 4-0 sweep in last season's playoffs.
This is absolutely unacceptable for the Nets.
This is especially true for the Nets during their Big Three era.
As a result, tickets for the Nets vs. Celtics game were sold out several days before the Nets vs. Magic game.
……
12 month 4 day.
Barclays Center.
TNT was in charge of broadcasting the entire stadium today, and O'Neal and Barkley were sitting in the broadcast booth early, teasing Wang Xiucheng.
"I never expected someone worth 42 billion to actually play basketball himself!" O'Neal shouted as he looked at Wang Xiucheng who had just passed by.
Wang Xiucheng, holding the ball, glanced back at this clown, smiled, and didn't reply.
Barkley, standing next to him, burst out laughing, "I feel like you're talking about Jordan."
"Hahaha, I wouldn't dare, hahaha!" O'Neal laughed so hard he almost fell over.
Jordan sold his shares in the Wizards so he could continue playing basketball.
Although Wang Xiucheng's net worth has skyrocketed and is now close to that of Jordan, he does not own any team shares, so the two were just joking around.
After laughing for a while, O'Neal pointed to the front row of the court and said, "Look, there are quite a few people here today, Federer, Carter, and Bruno. By the way, I really like his Uptown Funk."
“I love 24K Magic,” Barkley immediately added, and even sang a couple of lines into the microphone.
Bruno, who was sitting at the end of the Nets' bench, seemed to have heard the two talking about him. He actually stood up, walked over, and bumped fists with O'Neal and Barkley.
"Wang, this is my brother." Bruno pointed to Wang Xiucheng, who was practicing three-pointers, after bumping fists with him.
After saying this, Bruno returned to his seat, exchanging high-fives or fist bumps with some other people along the way.
As the diminutive Bruno walked past the players' bench, both O'Neal and Barkley looked somewhat embarrassed.
But neither of them said anything.
A musician of Bruno's caliber is roughly equivalent to their status in the basketball world.
"Mr. Bruno, do you know O'Neal?"
Jennie, who was sitting next to Bruno, asked after Bruno sat down.
“I told you, call me Bruno. The king and I are brothers, and you and the king…”
Bruno, who was about to say something, saw the three sisters next to Jennie and remembered Jennie's instructions, so he changed his words and said, "If you call me 'sir' again, I'll get angry."
“Yes, Mr. Bruno.” Jennie nodded.
"Jenny, when did you meet Bruno?" At this moment, a woman with long black hair sitting next to Jenny asked in a low voice.
Jennie paused, seemingly considering how to answer the question.
Just then, the two women sitting next to Jennie screamed and instinctively reached out as if to block something.
With a snap, before Jennie could react, Bruno reached out and blocked a basketball.
The basketball fell to the ground, and Bruno rubbed his hands with a grim expression.
Damn, those guys have incredible strength when they play ball.
Wang Xiucheng walked over at this moment, bent down and picked up the ball with one hand, then looked at Jin Zhenni, who looked bewildered, and asked, "Are you alright?"
Jennie blushed and shook her head, not daring to answer.
"It's good that you're alright," Wang Xiucheng said.
“Hey, bro.” Bruno stood up at this moment.
"Hey Bruno," Wang Xiucheng greeted him.
The two made a complicated greeting gesture, the kind used by Black people.
Wang Xiucheng was actually a little surprised, as Bruno rarely came to watch NBA games in person.
I never expected that not only would I come today, but I would also sit in the front row.
Moreover, you said you came by yourself, but you also brought Jennie Kim and her three girlfriends from Korea with you.
Jin Zhenni just got pregnant. If it had been two or three months, Wang Xiucheng would have made sure she went back.
Sitting in the front row to watch the NBA is risky.
Wang Xiucheng knew this better than anyone.
Wang Xiucheng then looked at the three teammates from her group next to Jennie Kim: Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa.
Wang Xiucheng especially lingered on Park Chae-young's face a couple more times.
Park Chae-young noticed Wang Xiu-cheng's gaze, and nervously touched her face, mistakenly thinking there was something on it.
"I'm going to warm up." After saying goodbye to Bruno, Wang Xiucheng grabbed the ball and returned to the court.
Just as Wang Xiucheng turned around, he glanced at Watanabe Yuta, who seemed completely unaffected in the distance.
Damn it, it was this guy who missed the ball and it bounced right in front of Jennie Kim.
With that in mind, Wang Xiucheng went to the three-point line and pretended to shoot a three-pointer.
But the basketball flew towards Yuta Watanabe, who was about to retrieve it under the basket.
With a loud thud, the basketball slammed into Yuta Watanabe's head.
Watanabe was hit so hard he almost fell to the ground.
Supporting the staff member next to him, Watanabe Yuta looked up and saw it was Wang Xiucheng. He smiled and, as if nothing had happened, tossed the basketball back to Wang Xiucheng.
Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley in the commentary booth were dumbfounded.
Wang Xiucheng's shot looked like it was intentional.
Moreover, Wang Xiucheng didn't even show the slightest expression of apology after hitting someone.
On the contrary, Watanabe seemed a little embarrassed.
O'Neal and Barkley exchanged a glance. Wang Xiucheng's status on the team was probably not much different from Durant's now.
The enjoyable warm-up session ended quickly.
The players from both sides returned to their benches to begin their final preparations.
Wang Xiucheng picked up the water on the chair, took a sip, and then looked towards Bruno.
After giving a brief explanation to the staff, Wang Xiucheng threw down the bottle, took off his coat and trousers, and went to the edge of the wall.
"Fuck him!"
Durant shouted something.
The current Durant can say that phrase perfectly now, and he doesn't feel embarrassed at all.
Especially the recent six-game winning streak has made Durant feel that it was because of his saying that he was able to win so many games.
"Fuck him!"
Wang Xiucheng and the others gathered together and shouted it out loud.
Even Nash and the other coaches put their hands on Wang Xiucheng and the others' backs and shouted a greeting.
Then, the starting players from both the Nets and the Celtics took to the court.