At nine o'clock in the evening on June 12, local time in the United States, the Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder, was brightly lit, and the first series of the 2011-2012 NBA Finals was about to begin. .
Xu Nuo put his hands behind his back and stood on the court floor with his head held high. As long as he promises to stand here, he has already created a record, a record belonging to the Chinese. You know, this is the first time a Chinese player has stepped into the NBA Finals as the main player of the team! []
Prior to this, although two Chinese players, Battelle and Sun Yue, entered the NBA Finals in 2003 and 2009 respectively and won NBA championship rings, these two players were with the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers at the time. They all have the embarrassing status of "water cooler keeper" and have not contributed much to the team's championship, let alone becoming the team's main player. Nowadays, when fans talk about these two championship rings, most of them do so in a slightly mocking tone.
And other Chinese players who have played or currently play in the NBA don¡¯t even know what the NBA Finals looks like.
As the first Chinese player to land in the NBA, although Wang Zhizhi reached the playoffs with the Miami Heat in the 2004-2005 season, the team was eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and still missed the NBA Finals. What's more, Wang Zhizhi's status in the Miami Heat was not much better than Battle's status in the San Antonio Spurs and Sun Yue's in the Los Angeles Lakers. He was just a solid substitute player.
As the most successful Chinese player in the NBA so far, Yao Ming has only broken through the first round of the playoffs once in his nine-year career, and the team also stopped in the Western Conference semifinals. After that, Yao Ming retired due to injury, his career was empty-handed, and the NBA championship was even more out of reach.
In addition, Yi Jianlian¡¯s path in the NBA has been even more bumpy and tortuous. He has been suffering from injuries for years and has lost the aura he had when he first entered the NBA. Now Yi Jianlian can only linger at the end of the bench. His Dallas Mavericks were also eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the rival of the Indiana Pacers. The championship was only It could be just an idiot's dream.
But now, Xu Nuo is standing in the NBA Finals as the main point guard of the Indiana Pacers! With this alone, Xu Nuo has set a record.
It is precisely because of this that Xu Nuo¡¯s heart will always be filled with excitement. Xu Nuo knew that 1.3 billion people in the country were looking at him at this time. Looking at his performance on the court, Xu Nuo suddenly felt that the pressure on his shoulders was much heavier.
Across the court, Xu¡¯s opponent in the game, Oklahoma City Thunder main point guard Russell Westbrook, was practicing with a relaxed expression. Xu Nuo looked at Russell Westbrook from a distance, and suddenly felt that he no longer had the confidence in his heart to choose anyone else.
"Although Russell Westbrook's skills and speed may not be completely better than mine, his playoff experience is much richer than mine, and he is still an extremely difficult opponent to deal with!" Xu Nuo said in his mind. I was thinking, but then suddenly I thought, "But I also followed the team to break through from the East and defeated two strong teams, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. I also once played against the NBA's top point guard Rajon. Rondo has played against each other. Facing the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook, who are also entering the NBA Finals for the first time, I have no reason to be afraid of my opponents!"
Thinking of this, Xu Nuo¡¯s originally uneasy heart calmed down again.
And at the side of the court, Ellen Page, who was sitting in the first row of the audience, looked even more nervous than Xu Nuo. She crossed her fingers together and seemed to have been praying for Xu Nuo. Xu Nuo smiled at Ellen Page, as if to say that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her, and then Xu Nuo returned to the team's bench to listen to coach Larry Brown's tactics. Ellen Page put down what she had been holding on to her chest. hands in front.
Mike Callahan, who served as the referee of the first finals game, blew his whistle and signaled to the players that the game was about to start. After Xu Nuo walked onto the court and hugged every Oklahoma City Thunder player, he stood at his position near the free throw line. The two major centers on the court, Roy Hibbert and Kendrick Perkins, stood near the center circle, preparing to compete for the opening jump ball.
"Roy should be able to beat Kendrick Perkins!" Xu Nuo said in his heart.
Compared with the stocky Kendrick Perkins, Roy Hibbert's reaction speed and jumping are slightly better than Kendrick Perkins. Referee Mike Callahan threw the ball high in his hand, and Roy Hibbert immediately jumped high to grab it before Kendrick Perkins.He grabbed the ball in front of him.
"As expected!" Xu Nuo said in his heart as he reached out and got the ball.
"Viewers, the first game of the 2011-2012 NBA Finals has now begun!" the on-site commentator in the Chesapeake Energy Arena said, "Roy Hibbert grabbed the opening jump ball. The visiting team, the Indiana Pacers, controlled the ball first."
As Xuxiu dribbled the ball forward on the court, he suddenly felt that the commentator's voice seemed a little familiar. He couldn't help but sneak a glance at the commentator sitting on the side of the court, and saw that the commentator was actually from ESPN again. Bald commentator Jeff Van Gundy! "We are all old acquaintances" Xu Nuo muttered.
"The two teams on the court are both very young teams, and their playing styles are also very similar. They have a lot in common in terms of offense and defense. I wonder who can win the championship when these two teams meet. Win the final O'Brien Gold Cup!" Jeff Van Gundy continued.
On the court, Promise dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and handed the ball to power forward David West, who was supporting in the high post. He began to roam back and forth outside the three-point line, disrupting the Oklahoma City Thunder's defense. At the same time, the team's leading scorer Danny Granger used the screen of center Roy Hibbert to run from the baseline to the free throw line, took the ball from David West, and then held the ball Driving into the paint for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"Compared with the Boston Celtics' insiders, the Thunder's insiders are much younger. It seems a bit difficult for Danny to use breakthroughs to cause damage." Xu Nuo thought to himself.
However, coach Larry Brown arranged it like this before the game. Since the star of the Oklahoma City Thunder is small forward Kevin Durant, and if Kevin Durant is opposite Danny Granger was able to suppress Kevin Durant on the offensive end at the beginning of the game, forcing Kevin Durant to devote his energy to defense, so Kevin Durant's offensive efficiency will be slightly reduced. However, Xu Nuo suddenly discovered that the Thunder player responsible for marking Danny Granger was not Kevin Durant, but their perimeter defense expert Thabo Sefolosha.
¡°It seems that coach Scott Brooks has also thought of this and made quite targeted arrangements.¡± Xu Nuo thought in his mind.
Danny Granger was surrounded by the two Thunder inside players Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka and then pursued by defensive tip Thabo Sefolosha. It is difficult to break into the Oklahoma City Thunder's three-second zone, and with several pairs of big hands covering your head and face, it is also very difficult to take off and shoot. In desperation, Danny Granger had no choice but to pass the ball, and the ball came into Xu Nuo's hands again.
"Promise caught the ball!" Jeff Van Gundy said loudly.
Xu Nuo could not help but frown slightly. At this time, Oklahoma City Thunder's main point guard Russell Westbrook had moved quickly and once again blocked Xu Nuo and the basket. Seeing that the attack time is about to enter the last ten seconds, a decision must be made now.
At this moment, Xu Nuo suddenly started and broke through Russell Westbrook's defense with the ball. Although Russell Westbrook is also very fast and has strong physical explosiveness, it is difficult for anyone in the current NBA to keep up with Xu Nuo's speed when breaking through the first step, even if he is facing a puller. Serge Westbrook. Just when Russell Westbrook turned around to chase Xu Nuo, Xu Nuo had already swept away most of his body.
¡°This kid is really too fast!¡± Russell Westbrook couldn¡¯t help but admire in his heart.
However, at this moment, Xu Nuo suddenly threw the ball high in his hand. The ball was spinning rapidly in the air. Russell Westbrook could not guess what the purpose of this ball was.
Just as the ball started to fall, Indiana Pacers shooting guard DeMar DeRozan suddenly jumped high, got the ball in the air, and then slammed the ball into the basket with one hand! Suddenly, the players on the Indiana Pacers bench all jumped up excitedly. They probably didn't expect that the team's first score would be an alley-oop dunk!
"The intention of passing the ball is very hidden!" Russell Westbrook turned his head, looked at Xu Nuo's back, and thought in his heart.
On the sidelines, Indiana Pacers head coach Larry Brown had a smile on his face.
In fact, at the beginning of the game, the Indiana Pacers did not just concentrate the ball in the hands of Danny Granger. The other core of the team's offense is naturally - Promise!