After the summer transaction, Pelicans's record has not declined much.
On the contrary, the pairing of Butler and Holiday is an unusual fit.
The two of them worked together to raise Pelicans's outside defensive efficiency to the top of League.
This game will be a big challenge for Thunder's outside combination.
Time gradually came to night.
The game officially started with the whistle of Referee.
McGee beat Little Sabonis without any doubt.
After Westbrook took over Basketball, it was slowly transported to Frontcourt.
Chen Xi Move up for pick and roll, Westbrook took advantage of the situation to break through, rushed into Mid-range and then were blocked by Butler who changed defense.
Turtle Turtle immediately played the ball and passed it back to the outside.
Chen Xi Catch the ball Isolation Holiday.
Pelicans, deliberately entered the Starting Lineup lineup with one defender and two forwards, in order to limit your Westbrook and Chen Xi's Pick-and-Roll.
Everyone knows that Davis can't beat you, so as long as you kill the two outsiders, Thunder will be useless.
Chen Xi looked at Holiday with a calm expression.
Things are different now, sir!
Chen is no longer the Chen of 2016!
Hold the ball Triple Threat, after the continuous Jab Step, Chen Xi remains in place Hesitation Dribble, then Step-back, directly Three-Point Shot.
Huh~~
Basketball Swished Through the Net.
Brother Zhu's opponent Chen Xi's biggest problem is still his height.
Especially now that Chen Xi's strength, speed, and jumping are all up.
His strength is even more difficult to limit.
One step slowly, each step slowly, Brother Zhu could only watch helplessly as he took action.
Offensive and defensive transition.
Returning to Offensive End, Holiday brings the ball to Frontcourt, and then passes the ball to Butler.
JB Top of the Key got Pick-and-Roll from Little Sabonis, then accelerated the breakthrough into Interior, facing McGee's defense, Contact Layup scored.
2 to 3.
What a familiar scene.
Chen Xi is in a trance when standing not far away.
On the offensive again, Westbrook dribbled the ball to Frontcourt, waved to attract Grant's cover, and then broke through.
On the other side, Chen Xi moved quickly towards Baseline, and then suddenly a Reverse cut opened the distance from Butler, and then burrowed in from the side of Collins.
Finally, relying on the cover of Collins, he ran out of a short space.
Then quickly came to the Baseline Three-Pointer line on the left, and the sudden break of Westbrook also arrived at the right time.
Chen Xi catches the ball and raises his hand Shot Fake, then directly knocks away the defending Randle, and then slowly completes Shot.
[Ding~~~Corner Three-point Shooter!]
Huh~~
2 to 6.
In the opening two attacks, Chen Xi scored 6 points in a row.
Chen Xi's running position is very targeted. After knowing your outside defense, I won't argue with you and go directly to Off-ball Screen of Interior.
Once Pelicans chooses to switch defense, then Chen Xi's opportunity will come.
Whether he is catching the ball and shooting in an open position, or taking advantage of the situation and naming Mismatch Isolation, this is his offensive comfort zone.
Pelicans attack.
Butler Top of the Key holds the ball, looks for Pick-and-Roll of Sabonis, and then breaks through and passes the ball to Randle in the low post on the other side.
After Randle received the ball, Two-Pointer took action directly from the mid-range and short range, and despite the interference of Collins, sent the ball into Basket.
When Davis is away, Thunder's strongest Power Forward becomes the team's weakest Weaknesses again.
The ball possession was changed, Thunder attacked again, Westbrook hit the ball again.
Chen Xi Top of the Key held the ball until Pick-and-Roll from McGee, then dumped Butler and entered Interior. Mid-range made an emergency stop and hit the ball.
Thunder and Pelicans, both sides have very clear goals.
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The opponents all have obvious thin Weaknesses, just grab them and hit them.
It mainly depends on which side has the firepower. The problem will occur first. Once it is not renewed, it will be cool for a while.
After the first quarter, Thunder led 29 to 26, leading by 3 points.
The only good thing is that the bench of Pelicans is also poor and the level is not high.
In comparison, on Thunder's side, Alexander gradually found its game form and started with a brave start.
In the first 4 minutes of his appearance in the first quarter, he scored all the points on the bench, making 3 of 4 shots and 2 of 2 Free Throw, scoring 8 points and 1 rebound.
Successfully made up for the team's firepower during the absence of Chen Xi.
The next few quarters of the game were basically the same situation.
But the variable is that on the Pelicans side, Randle is in very good condition, and Interior on Thunder can be requested at any time.
Except for the occasional opponent Mismatch of McGee, whose efficiency is slightly lower, at other times, Interior of Thunder is played.
Plus Butler Holiday's stable scoring delivery.
This puts Thunder at a considerable disadvantage.
In the following game, sga was targeted by Butler and was strangled.
Now Alexander is inferior to Butler in all aspects of physical, technical and experience.
The status of Westbrook is relatively average.
At the end of the game, Thunder suffered its first defeat of the new season 107-112.
Chen Xi made 14 of 24 shots from the field, Three-Pointer made 8 of 13 shots, and Free Throw made 6 of 6 shots. He scored 42 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, but it was a pity that he scored for nothing.
After the game, Butler walked up to Chen with a smile and winked at Chen.
"Chris, I won the first game after becoming my opponent."
"I scored 42 points!"
"You lost."
"I blew up your perimeter!"
"You lost."
"Fuck you!"
Good friends are like this sometimes. The closer the relationship is with someone, the more they want to be mean in front of them.
The swear words from strangers make me furious. The swear words from good brothers... "Oh~~ki moji~~"
JB is still chasing after Chen Xi.
Chen Xi couldn't help but turned around and walked towards Little Sabonis.
"Hey, Domantas, this was a good fight, how's the best? How are you doing? Are you adapting to New Orleans's environment?"
After finishing the competition with Pelicans, Thunder will soon rush to Cleveland to challenge Cavaliers.
Cavaliers is a warm team this season.
After James left, there was another mess.
Only the Rebuilding version of Cavaliers, led by Love, was beaten by Thunder.
The potential newcomer Sexton was even educated by Chen.
It was originally an extremely smooth game. Winning the victory helped the team stabilize its position and prevent it from falling into a losing streak.
As a result Fourth Quarter, the accident happened again.
Westbrook poked his finger again when he reached out to steal.
After the game, the team checked and found that the index finger was fractured...
Expected to be absent for 6 weeks.
The house leaked and it rained all night.
It was obviously the beginning of the season, but a sudden wave of injuries suddenly killed two core players Thunder.
All of a sudden, Thunder changed from the top team of League to a low-profile lineup with a worrying record.
Chen Xi suddenly shouldered the heavy responsibility of leading the team alone.
What's even more difficult is that in the next game, Thunder will fly to Houston, and Back-to-Back will play Rockets.
In this case, almost no one will be optimistic about Thunder.