ctnovel Chapter 79 came in handy right from the start!
Chapter 79 came in handy right from the start!
The Thunder are a weak team now, and Zeng Zhen is prepared for how bad they can get.
On the court, Durant drove into the right side of the court with the ball after a crossover dribble against Pierce. He was met with help defense from Garnett. Faced with such a tight defense, Durant could only manage a shot, which was blocked by the tall and long-armed Garnett.
There's a chance for the ball to go out of play.
At this moment, Watson walked to the sidelines, panting, and gave Zeng Zhen a high-five: "Zeng, be patient, their defense is very strong."
Watson tried everything to get the team going, but his abilities were limited. Rondo easily shut him down one-on-one, and his drives couldn't break through the Celtics' defense.
Zeng Zhen nodded and strode onto the court. Rivers, seeing Zeng Zhen enter the game, quickly substituted Tony Allen for Ray Allen: "Tony, mark Zeng!"
Tony Allen nodded solemnly, and as soon as he came onto the court, he moved close to Zeng Zhen.
Zeng Zhen observed that Perkins was interfering with Collison's inbound pass on the sidelines, Durant was being closely guarded by Pierce on the right side of the three-point line, and Garnett was standing in the middle, with his hand on Wilcox while scanning his surroundings!
The Celtics' defense looked impenetrable, with each player marking their assigned defender.
Collison passed the ball from the sideline to Zeng Zhen.
Perhaps too eager to intercept Zeng Zhen, Tony Allen attempted to steal the ball by half-circling around him. Zeng Zhen didn't give Tony Allen the chance, tapping his hand with his left, then taking a step forward and firmly controlling the ball with his right hand.
The moment Zeng Zhen received the ball, he used a slight deflection to deflect the force, causing Tony Allen to lose his balance and lunge forward. Zeng Zhen then completed a turn and burst onto the right side, getting past Tony Allen.
Zeng Zhen demonstrated top-notch defensive anticipation ability as soon as he entered the game. Garnett tried to help defend immediately, but as a big man, his feet were slower than Zeng Zhen's. Zeng Zhen dribbled the ball from the right to the left, then accelerated twice to get past Garnett, caught the ball with one hand, glided to the basket, and made a layup.
15 is better than 7
Light and airy!
The burst of speed is very well connected with the rhythm of dribbling and ball handling.
"pretty!!"
"Fight like this."
The fans at the Ford Center cheered.
"That was fast."
Rivers sighed on the sidelines; he knew this 8th pick wouldn't be so easy to deal with.
After scoring, Zeng Zhen passed by Pierce and nodded at him with a hint of provocation in his eyes.
Pierce also looked at Zeng Zhen with a playful expression!
"Hey, I like this kid's straightforwardness." Barkley clapped and laughed when he saw Zeng Zhen take the initiative to provoke Pierce.
Barkley likes the drive of young people. He admires the mentality of a rookie who dares to challenge the previous season's Finals MVP as soon as he enters the league.
"So how many points do you think he can get tonight?"
"No more than 20 points, Boston's defense is not so easy to break."
"Haha, Charles, so you still say you like him?"
"I don't think he can now face championship-level defense with impunity."
"Shall we make a bet?"
"No, no, no, I swore that I would never participate in gambling games involving Chinese people."
Smith was exchanging barbs with Barkley in the commentary booth.
Tony Allen was under immense pressure on the court; Zeng Zhen had easily beaten him right from the start.
Rondo dribbled the ball up the court, and Zeng Zhen was assigned to defend Tony Allen. Tony Allen is not a player whose specialty is offense, and under Zeng Zhen's semi-frontal defense, Tony Allen had some difficulty receiving the ball.
Rondo lobbed the ball high to Garnett at the free-throw line. As soon as Garnett received the ball, Zeng Zhen quickly went over and double-teamed him.
Garnett decisively passed the ball to Tony Allen, who was open on the other side. As soon as Tony Allen received the ball, Zeng Zhen came to defend.
This was Zeng Zhen's plan; he hoped the ball would rotate to someone outside the Big Three to take the shot.
Tony Allen's three-point attempt was a little slow and was interfered with.
"box!!"
The basketball slammed heavily onto the rim, and Wilcox leaped up to grab the rebound.
Garnett tried to steal the ball, but Wilcox swung his elbow and knocked him away.
Ray Allen's absence will weaken the Celtics' outside offense.
Zeng Zhen went over and received the ball.
After Zeng Zhen came on, the other starters felt much more relaxed. In their eyes, although Zeng Zhen occupied a lot of the ball, he would occasionally organize the offense, unlike Durant who only cared about his own one-on-one play.
Even Durant feels like he has roots now!
I feel more at ease handing the ball to Zeng Zhen.
Zeng Zhen dribbled the ball across half-court, and Tony Allen was still entangled with him. It has to be said that as long as Tony Allen didn't rashly try to steal the ball, his defense would interfere with Zeng Zhen.
If Zeng Zhen tries to attack, even if he gets past Tony Allen, he will easily be surrounded by multiple Celtics players, forcing him to pass the ball.
Zeng Zhen gestured for Durant to stand at the free-throw line.
Durant leaned against Pierce, Zeng Zhen passed the ball to Durant, and then Zeng Zhen ran to make a crossover move with Sefolosha.
Tony Allen switched to guard Rondo, and Zeng Zhen took the opportunity to guard Rondo again on the left low post.
Pierce kept battling Durant, who was a bit shaky and struggling to control his core. Durant saw a mismatch with Zeng Zhen and passed the ball to Zeng Zhen again.
Zeng Zhen used his height and weight to his advantage when posting up Rondo.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
After repeatedly hitting Rondo, Zeng Zhen made a turnaround jump shot along the baseline.
Rondo posed no threat to Zeng Zhen.
"Whoosh!"
The basketball went into the net.
15:9.
Zeng Zhen scored 4 points in a row right from the start, and the fans at the Ford Center cheered.
"It should have been Zeng promoted a long time ago."
"This coach is no good."
"Zeng's attacking ability is so strong, he could easily outmaneuver a short defender like that."
The fans were buzzing with discussion.
Westbrook and the substitutes on the sidelines got up and started celebrating with fist pumps; they had been holding back their frustration for a long time.
"Pass it on to Ah Zhen."
"Tony Allen has switched with Rondo on defense."
"Okay, Rondo is going up against Ah Zhen in the low post."
"Hehehe, let's mess with him, Ah Zhen, let's mess with him. Rondo's height is nothing to mess with, right?"
"That's right, it went in easily and effortlessly. That's how the Thunder should play."
In the CCTV studio, Zhang Weiping shouted excitedly.
Rondo was having a tough time on the court. His chest was hurting badly from Zeng Zhen's side-step collision. This was the first time he had encountered such a fierce point guard rookie. He had only felt this way before when facing Baron Davis and when defending Kobe in mismatch situations.
Garnett shook his head. This rookie number 8 was indeed very aggressive. Their perimeter defense was pretty good, but they still couldn't stop him.
Fortunately, Garnett ran a pick-and-roll with Rondo and received a pass from Rondo, getting an open shot from the high post of the free-throw line and making a mid-range jumper.
17:9.
As Garnett gets older, he relies more and more on mid-range and long-range jump shots, leading many fans to question whether he's becoming softer.
Garnett himself believes that his big jump shot is not a sign of weakness. Others make ordinary jump shots, but his is a jump shot with a fierce will. It's different on a mental level!
Especially after winning the championship, Garnett became even more convinced that he was right.
Zeng Zhen dribbled the ball quickly forward, and Tony Allen continued his relentless pressure.
Approaching within two meters of the three-point line on the right, Tony Allen watched the number 8 draft pick dribbling in front of him. He dared not easily attempt to steal the ball, already feeling the passivity that would follow if he were beaten.
Tony Allen became very steady, spreading his arms, lowering his center of gravity, and continuously adjusting his footwork to follow Zeng Zhen's rhythm, not giving him an easy chance to break through. Zeng Zhen kept his hands in excellent position, without any chance of drawing a foul.
Zeng Zhen called for cover, and Wilcox stepped up.
Wilcox's screen was very solid, and Tony Allen was immediately blocked, with Garnett switching on to guard him.
Garnett switched onto the defense, and Tony Allen double-teamed him.
I was under pressure and almost got squeezed.
Fortunately, Wilcox got into position. Zeng Zhen had a wide field of vision and slammed the ball in with both hands. Collison blocked Perkins, and Wilcox, facing an open space in front of him, took off and slammed the ball down hard with one hand.
A tomahawk-style dunk.
"box!"
Wilcox powerfully slammed the basketball into the hoop.
Zeng Zhen assist +1.
17:11.
The fans at Ford Center were absolutely thunderous!