Hawks

Donovan chose to put Westbrook and Chen Xi back on the floor together. Both could do a decent job of limiting Booker's offense and switch freely on the perimeter. Especially with the rest of the Suns collectively off their game today, shutting down Booker meant shutting down the Suns' primary offensive threat.

As long as Westbrook's minutes were matched with Booker's, the Thunder held a huge advantage in a defensive battle because they had one more efficient scorer.

Once Westbrook returned to the court, he immediately made a huge impact at both ends. His successive Pick-and-Roll combinations with Chen Xi and Adams tore through the Suns, producing a 16-2 run in four and a half minutes and killing off any suspense in the game.

In the end, the Suns fell to the Thunder again, 98-116. Booker walked into the players' tunnel after the game with a dark expression.

The young shooting guard began to feel dissatisfied with the team's management.

"Damn it. Without Russell, what does that yellow-skinned kid have to be arrogant about? He's just a role player who relies on his teammates to draw the defense!"

He comforted himself to ease his frustration, yet he also felt deeply powerless.

The Suns were 7-18 so far this season, dead last in the League. The record was becoming almost too much for him to bear.

Although the team's plan was to tank during Rebuilding, for a proud second-year player, it was a stain on his career.

Booker, who entered the League in 2015, had somehow won only thirty games in total so far.

Such a long history of losing was undoubtedly deeply damaging to a young prospect still developing.

Of course, Chen Xi could not be bothered with what Booker was thinking. Having just scored 23 points in a win, Chen only cared about what to eat for a late-night snack. Maybe he should head to the pier for some fries?

After ending their losing streak, the Thunder players were all in fairly good moods. Following a brief celebration in the locker room, they gathered in small groups and arranged to go out and have some fun.

Having forgotten his old love after finding a new one, Chen unhesitatingly turned down Turtle Turtle's invitation and went looking for Veronica instead.

Turtle Turtle, stop calling me. I'm afraid my girl will misunderstand.

On December 19, the Thunder once again welcomed a visiting opponent from Atlanta at home.

The Hawks, led by Mike Budenholzer, upheld the Hawks' "tradition."

Their roster was always filled with plenty of excellent, qualified players, but not a single established star. The only player who could still be called a star was Dwight Howard, whom they had signed in July and who had long since declined from his peak. However, he was not on the active roster for this game. The team's official announcement cited shoulder discomfort.

The Hawks played as a team and with patience, consistently maintaining decent records, yet they were never quite good enough and never went far in the Playoffs.

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Team cornerstone Paul Millsap was entering the eleventh season of his career. Since his fifth season, this skilled forward had steadily produced averages of 15+ points, 3+ assists, and 7+ rebounds per game. His strength was that he had barely declined; his weakness was that he had not improved any further either. This was more or less the limit of his growth.

Their starting point guard was Little Black, Dennis Schroder, the seventeenth pick in the 2013 draft. He possessed reasonably capable all-around skills, a small combo guard at starting-caliber rotation level.

The Hawks' players all seemed to be like that—very competent, but merely competent. Perhaps that was one reason the team had always remained neither hot nor cold.

After the game began, in a development that was unexpected yet understandable, the Hawks seized the initiative. They repeatedly initiated Pick-and-Rolls at the top of the arc, then moved the ball again after drawing the defense and shifting the Thunder's formation, finding Kyle Korver coming off an Off-ball Screen for the finish.

A simple and effective tactic.

At the same time, their disciplined transition defense successfully limited the Thunder's Fast Break, leaving the Thunder at a loss for a while.

In the end, they could only rely on Westbrook's individual isolation scoring to hold things together.

Fortunately, Westbrook's Mid-range touch was on today, keeping the score within an acceptable range.

"Maybe Sam is right." Donovan's thoughts were not limited to a single game; he was considering the team's future. Oladipo, who was the same type as Westbrook but several levels below him, might truly not fit this Thunder team—not right now, at least. Donovan believed the hardworking Odie had a bright future, but Westbrook might not be able to wait for it.

Wasting the prime of a player on Westbrook's level would obviously be a terrible waste.

Eight minutes into the first quarter, Chen Xi checked in. Standing before him was a veteran wing in the same mold, Korver, who had entered the NBA in 2003 and established himself in the League with his exquisite shooting.

The difference was that Korver, as a white player, lacked athleticism and was not particularly good defensively. Chen, however, had rapidly developed above-average defensive ability thanks to his cheat.

Chen Xi's defensive rating this season had reached 105.6, absolutely among the League's best. That year, Westbrook was at 104, Kawhi at 102, and Green at 99. Combined with his excellent off-ball ability and outrageous three-point percentage, he had already reached the standard of an elite 3-and-D player.

Moreover, Chen Xi was only nineteen and a half years old, and his contract was worth just $550,000—a massive positive asset. The only flaw was that the deal lasted only two years, with a team option in the second year, meaning the team would have to begin extension negotiations by the second year at the latest. This prevented them from taking advantage of Chen Xi's incredible value for long to strengthen the team, but offering too small a contract also risked losing the hidden gem they had finally unearthed from a low draft position.

Over the past half month, Presti had received countless tentative inquiries. A great many teams had tried to ask about trading for Chen Xi. But GM Presti, who had long had a plan in mind, made it clear that Chen Xi was currently untouchable, while discreetly probing how highly other teams valued their starting forwards.

Putting the front office battles aside for now, back to the game: Thunder possession.

Chen Xi continued running the off-ball screen tactic that had repeatedly worked so well with Westbrook. He popped out beyond the three-point line and easily got his shot off.

The benefit of playing alongside peak Westbrook was that, no matter what, over a large sample, this elite combo guard was always the greater threat. As a result, he consistently drew more defensive attention, greatly helping his teammates create offense.

Back to the Hawks' offense. Schroder ran a high Pick-and-Roll with Sefolosha, then drove hard at the rim against Roberson. When his path was blocked after reaching the paint, he transferred the ball to Korver at the left wing. But Chen Xi stayed glued to him, and with plenty of time remaining, Korver chose to move the ball back to Bazemore to reset the offense.

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