Chapter 749 [The First Battle with Thunder, the Nightmare Begins]

The NBA's first official strength rankings were announced. The Clippers' preseason record was only 2 wins and 5 losses, but they still ranked first. No expert dared to underestimate them for fear of being slapped in the face during the regular season.

Since Yang Rui arrived in Los Angeles, the outcome of some games has become easy to predict. It is correct to guess that Yang Rui's team will win, and there is basically no upset.

The Cavaliers are ranked second, and the addition of Ray Allen is the key.

The third-ranked Nets were also within the scope of Ray Allen's investigation, but after the Nets traded for Joe Johnson, Ray Allen gave up, and the two positions overlapped.

Ranked fourth are the Lakers. At least they have a strong lineup and performed well in the preseason, with 6 wins and 1 loss. Experts agree that the team most likely to compete with the Clippers in the West is the Lakers.

There are not many fans online who are optimistic about the Lakers. The stars have changed one after another, but the record has been declining. Except that Kobe's statistics are still beautiful, there is no comparison with Yang Rui when he was there.

The Spurs ranked fifth and the Pacers sixth. Neither team had any big-name signings in the summer. The Spurs' role players have improved. They left Scola, signed Boris Diaw, and signed swingman veteran Stephen Jackson.

The Thunder only ranked seventh because James Harden still left.

The Thunder and the Rockets reached a six-player deal. The Thunder sent Harden, Cole Aldridge, Lazar Hayward and Daquan Cook to the Rockets in exchange for Kevin Martin and rookie Jayson Remy Lamb and two first-round and one second-round picks.

There is also bad news for the Thunder. They will challenge the Clippers away from home in the opening game.

Thunder fans are generally pessimistic, thinking that this is the beginning of a nightmare. If they are beaten by the Clippers in the first game, it will greatly affect the morale of the team. They were almost defeated last season. Even if Durant is the scoring champion, it will not change this. a little.

On the 30th, many TV stations broadcast the opening game live.

Before the game, there was a championship ring awarding ceremony for the Clippers, which set off a small G wave. This was the first time the Clippers won the championship since the team was founded. It was of great significance and the scene was particularly grand.

Before the game even started, the morale of the Clippers team had increased to an astonishing level. All players were full of strength, and the pressure on the Thunder players doubled. They all know that this is a team that is likely to successfully defend its title against the strongest team in the NBA.

TNT Barkley said: "The Clippers players generally look very relaxed. The Thunder side is just the opposite. Everyone has an expression similar to Perkins. If they take off their jerseys and put on capes and red pants, this expression will be more interesting." Morale.”

Smith laughed: "This is not Sparta!"

Curry hit consecutive three-pointers during the warm-up and felt hot, but he still had to sit on the sidelines and wait for the opportunity to play as a substitute.

Clippers starting lineup: Paul, Danny Green, Gay, Griffin, Chandler.

Thunder starting lineup: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins.

Chandler won the jump ball and the game was on.

After winning the gold medal at this Olympics, Chandler felt that his life was complete. He not only won the NBA championship, but also won the World Championships and Olympic Games. He also had the personal honor of being the best defensive player. Chandler was very excited. He didn't play in the preseason, and his desire to perform was even stronger.

Paul dribbled the ball to the three-point line, and Chandler screened Westbrook.

Paul broke out to the left, Ibaka switched defense, Chandler took advantage of the situation and made an air cut. Paul passed the ball to the center in time. Chandler squeezed Westbrook away and made an air cut with the ball.

Perkins retreated to the basket and blocked Chandler's path. Chandler did not pass to Griffin on the right baseline. Instead, he leaned against Perkins and turned to the left to shoot.

His footsteps were very smooth, and he showed off his few offensive skills without any pressure. Perkins was disadvantaged by his size and could not cover him, so he could only interfere as much as possible, and the ball bounced out of the frame.

Perkins just breathed a sigh of relief when he turned around and saw Griffin cutting in from the air. He leaped high and directly grabbed the offensive rebound and dunked it into the frame with both hands. 2 to 0.

The unlucky Perkins became a background again because he was standing under the basket. Griffin threw his legs on him, which looked a bit like he was dunked.

CCTV5 Zhang Liyi said: "In the summer, many people were worried that Griffin's knee injury would affect his jumping ability. Now you can rest assured that he is still the violent power forward."

Yu Jia said: "The Thunder's two inside defenders are excellent, but their offense is not very good. If they want to win today, it depends on whether they can break the Clippers' defense."

Westbrook dribbled to the frontcourt and waited for his teammates to pull away. He didn't look for a cover and just went one-on-one. He changed his direction and broke through to the right, stopped in front of Paul and shot a jumper, interfering with the ball and popping out of the frame.

Yang Rui said to Cole on the sidelines: "If the Thunder keeps attacking like this, it will be interesting today."

Cole nodded. "Westbrook's character is hard to change. I think he will only play like this."

Is it a weakness that Westbrook is too alone?

No, his weakness is that he is too strong! Watching Thunder games, you will find that Wei Shao passes a lot of passes, but his shooting percentage is not higher. Especially in the playoffs, Wei Shao couldn't even reach 45% from the field. Stars should take responsibility. The premise is that you can score. If you can't score, it will be a cancer.

In terms of helping the team win, Westbrook is not as good as Paul.

As of this season, the two have competed in a total of 14 games, with Paul having the advantage with a record of 10 wins and 4 losses.

In terms of statistics, Paul averaged 19.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 3 steals, and 2.4 turnovers, and his shooting percentage was 48.7%.

Westbrook's statistics are 18.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.7 steals, 3.9 turnovers, and a shooting percentage of 40.8%.

As for three-pointers, there is no need to compare. Wei Shao's career three-point shooting percentage is 30%, even worse than Kobe.

Facing his nemesis, Wei Shao chose to fight bravely. This was due to his character. He was also a paranoid person.

Griffin grabbed the rebound, and Paul slowly brought it to the frontcourt, playing a pick-and-roll with Chandler in the middle. This time he went to the right. The Thunder's defense is man-to-man, Ibaka switches defense very quickly, Paul distributes the ball to the middle, and Chandler cuts to get the ball.

Wei Shao chose to chase Paul, and Ibaka retreated a little slower. This time Perkins went to the basket to cover up, forming a partial attack. Chandler passed the ball to Griffin in the bottom corner.

Ibaka hurriedly jumped out to interfere with the shot, but was a step too late. Griffin made a three-point jumper, but his accuracy was not good enough, and the ball bounced out of the frame.

Chandler saw the opportunity, jumped up, and moved the ball out of the penalty area with one hand. Perkins was stuck in position and failed to get the rebound. Green cut in in time from the left, picked up the offensive rebound, hugged the basketball when he landed, and passed it to Paul who was receiving from the outside for secondary organization.

Paul gestured for the players to change positions, Chandler stood in the low post to attract defense, Griffin went to the middle to cover, and Green ran to the right corner.

Paul relied on a pick-and-roll to get rid of Westbrook and headed to the right. He suddenly accelerated and changed direction and passed Perkins. He took three steps. Perkins was half a body behind and could no longer block the shot.

Ibaka has a good sense of assisting defense and retreats to the basket to cover up defense. Paul jumped to the basket, missed the layup, shrank in the air and passed the ball from Ibaka's armpit to the other side. Chandler caught the ball and took off with one step, dunking with both hands and scoring! 4 to 0.

The Clippers players quickly returned to defense and mixed defense, with Paul following Westbrook on the outside.

Ibakala went out to cover, Griffin quickly switched defenses and kept a distance to interfere, while Paul chased from behind. Westbrook chose to break through Griffin, European step to the basket, and Chandler made up the defense again.

Wei Shao still didn't pass the ball. He knew that Perkins couldn't make a mid-range shot after catching the ball from the baseline, so he picked the basket in the gap and avoided Chandler's block, and the ball bounced out of the frame.

Unfortunately, Perkins is not as fast as Griffin. He did not receive the assist and the ball did not bounce in his direction. The rebound was grabbed by Griffin. Paul caught the ball and stabilized the rhythm. The Clippers fell into position again. .