The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 665 - 253 You Can Always Trust LeBron James! (Happy National Day!)

Chapter 665: Chapter 253 You Can Always Trust LeBron James! (Happy National Day!)

The buzzer sounded, and the game concluded with the New York Knicks triumphing over the Thunder Team with a score of 109 to 98.

Su Wan continued his strong performance, scoring 33 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, shooting 55% from the field, 40% from the three-point line, and making all 5 of his free throws, maintaining a 100% success rate.

Whether facing Seferosa or Kevin Durant, he played with ease.

Looking at Durant...

He made 7 out of 19 shots, with a field goal percentage of 36.8%, and barely scraped past 20 points with free throws, but he had 5 turnovers.

Bill Walton said, "Even though he won the Scoring King last season, Kevin Durant still has a long way to go. However, Thunder Team fans can look forward to his future."

The statistics for other main players of the New York Knicks are as follows:

Stephen Curry made 7 out of 15 shots, 3 out of 6 from beyond the three-point line, and 2 out of 2 free throws, tallying up to 19 points; Danilo Gallinari made 5 out of 10 field goals, 2 out of 5 three-point shots, scoring 12 points.

Tyson Chandler made 6 out of 8 field goals, 1 out of 3 free throws, for a total of 13 points; Artest took 12 shots and also scored 15 points.

All five starters scored in double figures...

Compared to the last game, they obviously weren’t as nervous.

No wonder, the number of celebrities on the sidelines in the last game indicated the attention from outside world towards New York’s season opener.

It’s quite normal for newcomers like Curry and Gallinari to struggle on such a stage.

Apart from the five of them scoring double figures, the substitute Paul George made 3 out of 8 shots, and 2 out of 2 free throws, obtaining 8 points.

From what Su Wan observed during the entire training camp and the preseason, he felt that Paul George indeed needed some time to grow. He had decent capabilities, but because he had previously played in the NCAA Division II, there was a significant difference in intensity and pace compared to official NBA games, which was the biggest challenge for him to overcome.

If one were to draw a comparison...

Yao Ming!

He had the skills, just needed some time to adapt, and once he did, Paul George could become a perfect substitute ready for immediate action.

If Su Wan remembered correctly, the original Paul George didn’t truly seize his chance to rise until Granger got injured.

This gave him a considerable amount of time to develop.

The good news was that even if he was sitting on the bench, it wouldn’t affect his growth, which the original Paul George had already proven.

Su Wan wasn’t in a hurry for him to perform well right now.

As long as by next summer, he could smoothly take over from Artest, that would be enough!

On the Thunder Team’s side, aside from Kevin Durant, Westbrook scored 24 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, beginning to show his "sewer" temperament; Jeff Green got 16 points and 6 rebounds; James Harden scored 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists; Ibaka had 10 points and 8 rebounds...

Including Kevin Durant, they also had 5 people scoring in double figures.

The Thunder Team’s "Youth Storm" actually started this season, and their final performance in this season was very good, even reaching the Western Conference Finals.

Tonight, Su Wan could feel the overflowing talent of this "Youth Army."

The New York Knicks won thanks to Kevin Durant’s extraordinarily high fighting spirit tonight. If not for his desire to prove himself in front of Su Wan, the Thunder Team’s "Youthful Run and Bomb" could have suppressed the Knicks.

But unfortunately, they didn’t maximize their greatest weapon, their youthful vitality.

After the game, Brooks praised Kevin Durant, "This is normal, Kevin has higher goals in pursuit, he showed this side too, just like in the past, players wanted to challenge Michael, Kevin and the others will see Su Wan as a target to surpass. In the 2010s, this will keep happening. I look forward to Kevin growing more from this game!"

He said this during the post-game press conference.

Sitting next to him was Westbrook, who showed the best performance for the Thunder Team tonight. A flicker of disdain passed across his naturally "turtle face," as he wanted to say:

Coach, your flattery makes me sick.

In his view, if Durant had been at least decent tonight, the Thunder Team could have won the game.

He didn’t showcase his true characteristics.

Taking the ball to play one-on-one against Su Wan, was that something Durant could handle?

However, he and Durant were brothers.

There was nothing to say between brothers.

Just as when he occasionally, well, often got too heated and made mistakes, Kevin Durant didn’t complain, it was the same.

Defeating the Thunder Team allowed the New York Knicks to secure two consecutive victories at the start of the new season.

The New York media excitedly reported, as if it wasn’t just a "two-game winning streak," but as if they had already claimed "two consecutive championships"!

If they really had won "two consecutive championships," Su Wan couldn’t imagine how excited the New York media would be.

The third game for the New York Knicks was an away challenge against the Phoenix Suns.

The departure of Little Si meant that the Suns would completely rebuild, and as a result, the management was actively trying to sell Vince Carter.

From the Raptors to the Brooklyn Nets, then from the Brooklyn Nets to the Cavaliers, and then to the Suns.

The once "half-man, half-god" Carter’s value kept decreasing. When the Suns traded for him, they used Shawn Marion, the team’s third leader. However, after the Suns put out feelers, the number of managers inquiring was few and far between.

There was no choice, Vince Carter was already 33 years old.

At that age, superstars generally only have a little bit of their peak period left, and it’s uncertain when they would completely fall off.