Chapter 274: Kevin, Are You Panicking?

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On March 4th, the Warriors arrived in Boston to face the Celtics after a day of rest.

This season, like the last one, the Green Shirts have been fluctuating between 3rd and 4th place in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. They won't drop out, but they haven't touched the top two spots yet.

However, anyone with a sharp eye can tell that the Celtics' strength is by no means limited to just this, and the playoffs are their stage to shine.

That night, the veteran Celtics gave the young Warriors a lesson.

In front of the old and spicy Pierce, Butler seemed lost. He wasn't afraid of the stronger James, because when James attacked, Green and Chandler would help defend, and the assistance from his teammates gave him unwavering confidence.

But Pierce was completely different; he was full of fakes and could even shake people with his eyes. When he backed up with his big backside, the slightly immature Butler found it even harder to stop.

It's a bit crude to say it, but the "big backside" is a natural talent for NBA players, and Barkley was able to dominate the paint despite being less than two meters tall. The advantage of his huge hips played a crucial role.

Garnett's iron-blooded leap also left Green helpless. No matter how strong his defense and awareness were, he couldn't overcome the height gap between him and Garnett, and all he could do was watch the basketball slip through his fingertips and fall through the net over and over again.

Klay learned from Ray Allen, the master of off-ball movement, what is called running without the ball. His impressive off-ball offensive skills seemed small compared to Ray Allen's, who completely surpassed him both offensively and defensively on the wing.

In the end, with the power of the Celtics' big three, the Warriors lost the game 93-103.

Curry also played hard under Rondo's defense, but his current form hadn't reached its peak, and he struggled against Garnett, scoring only 22 points, with 7 assists and 3 rebounds in the entire game. The performance of the other players was also average.

On the same day the Warriors lost to the Celtics, the Thunder defeated the Hawks 111-104 on the road, with Durant easily cutting through 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, extending his lead in the overall scorer rankings, 13 points ahead of Curry.

On March 5th, the Warriors arrived in Philadelphia. Liam specially gave the players a day off, and after a brief rest, everyone's form finally recovered.

The following night, the reassembled Warriors faced the 76ers at the Phu Quoc Center Arena.

The 76ers, who are all soldiers, are very difficult to handle. Players like Zhu Holiday, Iguodala, Elton Brand, and Thaddeus Young aren't very well-known, but they are all powerful players, and the game quickly became a tough battle.

However, the Warriors soon fell into passivity, and their offense struggled.

The ability of the young team to run was exposed in this game. The players' form was unstable; Klay and Butler were both cold today. They were the second and third scorers for the Warriors, and after they froze, only Curry was able to carry the offensive load.

Although the Warriors relied on Jeremy Lin, Yi Jianlian, and Danny Green's excellent play to salvage some points, they still couldn't fill the gap left by Klay and Butler, and the Warriors stayed behind their opponents.

It was just that the 76ers, being all soldiers, were defeated by all the soldiers. They were like the Hawks, lacking a central star who could make a final decision. When Curry entered attack mode in the fourth quarter, he faced Zhu Holiday on the perimeter, hitting endless mid-range shots, and unleashed an offensive frenzy with his own strength. The 76ers also tried to stabilize the situation relying on team offense, but they couldn't match Curry's terrifying firepower. In the end, the Warriors won 107-103.

In the end, Curry made 15 of 26 shots, 10 of 18 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws, scoring 45 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, including 21 points in a single quarter in the final period, displaying supreme personal heroism and leading the Warriors to a huge 16-point comeback when the point difference was at its highest.

With this divine performance, Curry surpassed Durant, who scored 18 points against the Suns on the same day, and reclaimed the top spot on the total scorer list, 15 points ahead of Durant. However, he was still 0.1 points behind Durant in points per game.

Soon, Curry got the opportunity to surpass him as the Thunder faced the Grizzlies in a back-to-back, and after a total choke-out battle, the Grizzlies won 107-101. Durant had a bad shooting night, scoring only 20 points.

Up until now, Curry and Durant have played 62 games, and Durant is just 5 points ahead of Curry in the total scorer list. This small gap wouldn't show up in the rankings, but Curry finally caught up with Durant, and both now average 27.2 points!

...

Two days later, on March 9th.

Explosion!

In a hotel gym not far from downtown Phu Quoc, Durant dropped the dumbbell from his hand, exhaled deeply, grabbed the towel hanging around his neck, and walked toward the rest area while drying off the sweat.

After the win over the Grizzlies, the Thunder flew to Philadelphia to continue their road trip.

As Durant drank water, Russell Westbrook had also finished his workout, walked over, and sat down next to Durant, his skin covered in sweat and visibly out of breath, obviously expending more physical energy than Durant.

"Russell, save some energy, we still have games to play tonight," Durant put down the water bottle and reminded him.

Westbrook laughed good-naturedly:

"Haha, okay, just warming up."

Brooks had only arranged a light field training session today, so the two couldn't stay idle and came to the hotel gym to work on strength. They were all basketball addicts and felt uncomfortable if they didn't train for a day. They couldn't casually use the 76ers' training facility, so they had to hit the gym to work on their strength.

"Hey, you know what, the Warriors stayed at this hotel two days ago," Westbrook suddenly said.

Durant was stunned and nodded:

"Wow, what a coincidence..."

After saying this, he didn't continue the conversation but lowered his head and slid his phone.

The outside world considers Durant and Westbrook as the twin stars of the Thunder, and they are the most important pillars of the team. But their relationship wasn't very close; they were just casual friends.

The two stayed silent for a moment, then Westbrook teased with a mocking tone:

"Curry scored another 32 points in Cleveland yesterday and surpassed you on the scoring list. A lot of people are saying he'll be the first-ever scoring champion in history, the league's highest scorer, and that he'll step all over you in the future. Kevin, are you starting to panic?"

Durant raised his head, smiled, and said:

"Stephen Curry, you say? His three-point shooting is really accurate, and in a few years, he might actually become the league's top scorer, but in terms of scoring, he's still far behind."

Durant had mixed feelings about Curry, who had repeatedly put up great performances against the Thunder and defeated them. He admired Curry's ball-handling skills but resented Curry's rise, which stood in his way.

Without Curry, the Thunder would have made the playoffs last year and wouldn't have fallen to the best second team with a slight disadvantage. The Warriors have been pressuring the Thunder this year, and with the media playing up the relationship between the two "eternal enemies," it's hard for Durant not to feel conflicted about Curry.

He remained silent for a moment, his eyes sharpening. He put his phone in his bag, slowly got up, walked toward the fitness area, and said in a deep voice:

"Curry might catch up, but he's just eating up the bonus from an easy schedule... Look, the scoring title is going to be mine!"

Westbrook stood up and followed him, laughing:

"Don't worry, Kevin, with me helping you, you'll definitely win this scoring title!"

That night, Durant activated his offensive mode, and Westbrook also intended to pass him the ball. Durant took 27 crazy shots in the game, scoring 39 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, leading the Thunder to a 110-105 victory over the 76ers.

The Warriors, who faced the Nets consecutively, lost the game with a score of 114-127. Curry had a rough night, scoring only 21 points on 23 shots. Durant caught up with Curry again on the scorer list, and the battle for the scoring title was still in full swing.

...

The spring morning in Auckland was often covered in thick fog, but when the sun came out, the soft sunlight quickly melted the thin fog like a veil and gently fell on people's bodies, as if calming the bodies of those who had chilled after winter.

In this bright weather, Liam's mood also became comfortable.

He drove a pure white Porsche 911 on the wide 880 road, lowered all the windows, felt the fresh wind blowing on his face, squinted in comfort, and slowly hooked a smile on the corner of his mouth.

During the previous seven-game East road trip, the Warriors achieved a 5-2 record, losing two games: one to the Celtics' Big Three and another in the last consecutive game against the Nets on the road.

After taking advantage of this sweet schedule, the Warriors now had a 46-19 record, sitting in 3rd place in the West, 1.5 wins behind the Lakers and 0.5 wins ahead of the Mavericks.

In the West this year, aside from the Spurs, who were 3.5 wins ahead of the Lakers in second place, the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks, and Thunder, ranking from second to fourth, had similar records, and the standings could change at any moment.

The Mavericks suffered two consecutive losses after the All-Star weekend, but Bogut had been outstanding in his play and quickly integrated into the Mavericks' system, bolstering their interior defense, helping them achieve a 6-1 record after two losses, and were hot on the Warriors' trail, ready to surpass them.

However, Liam wasn't too worried about this at the moment. After the seven consecutive road games in the East, the three opponents the league arranged for the Warriors were the Magic, Timberwolves, and Kings, which wasn't too difficult, and Liam was confident they would keep 3rd place in the West.

But then, the Warriors would face the Mavericks at home, and after this game, the Warriors and Mavericks would have two more games left against each other. These three head-to-head games would have a crucial impact on the standings of both teams.

Fortunately, Liam had previously instructed the scouting department to pay close attention to the Mavericks' recent moves, and he frequently discussed with the coaching staff the tactical changes after the Mavericks introduced Bogut, and had a plan for how to play against the Mavericks.

However, Liam knew how great Nowitzki's form was this year, and due to his butterfly effect, the Mavericks hadn't brought in Chandler in the first half of the season, Nowitzki's performance was better than before. He was shooting 52% from the field, 40.2% from three, and efficiently scoring 24.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, and had been in the top five of the MVP race.

Of course, with Nowitzki's incredible performance, the names "soft egg" and "king of the regular season" once again surrounded him, and people thought this would be another "Nowitzki season": strong in the regular season, but only promises in the playoffs. Some even speculated whether the Mavericks would be swept in seven games or six this year. The only reason no one guessed that the Mavericks would be swept in eight games was because the Spurs' record advantage was too great, and the Mavericks basically had no hope of being first in the West.

Just like Nowitzki, Curry was a regular on the MVP list, even finishing first several times early in the season before falling outside the top five due to the team's ups and downs.

But with five consecutive wins before the All-Star break and a 7-2 record after the All-Star break, Curry won two Player of the Week awards and also reclaimed the top three positions in the MVP rankings. This was also the first time in over a decade that a Warriors player had ranked so high in the MVP standings, which excited Warriors fans.

It was just that Liam knew it was unlikely Curry would win the MVP, and the Bulls, who had emerged as the Warriors this season, had always stayed entrenched in the league's top spot. They even surpassed the Spurs, and Rose was also playing 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.

"Today is a good day~"

When Liam's view came into sight of the imposing exterior wall of the Oracle Center, he no longer let his thoughts wander aimlessly, hummed a cheerful melody, slowed down a little, drove to the Oracle Arena parking lot, parked the car, and began today's training.

After the Warriors returned to Oakland from their recent road trip, Liam had given the entire team a day off. Tonight, they would face the Magic, which would be a tough battle, so the training intensity wouldn't be too high, and the session would mainly focus on physical recovery.

When Liam arrived at the training facility, nearly all the players were there, chatting and laughing casually.

Liam smiled slightly. He walked directly into the conference room.

Tonight's game was very important. A win would allow the Warriors to remain in third place in the West and continue to build on their momentum.

"Kevin, are you panicking?" Liam muttered as he walked toward the door, thinking of Durant's words.

End of this chapter

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