super heavy artillery

Chapter 883 A New Level
As far as An Luo is concerned, he naturally hopes to be selected for the All-Star starting lineup.You must know that among the more than 20 All-Star players every year, only the starter can be regarded as the best existence in each position.Especially after the reform of the All-Star voting system, NBA industry insiders' evaluation of players has a crucial impact on whether a player can be selected for the All-Star.To a certain extent, the All-Star players selected under this set of mechanisms are truly superior and loved by fans.

Last year, An Luo had the opportunity to be selected as the All-Star starter, but unfortunately lost in the subsequent media and player voting.But this season the situation is different!After the Thunder lost one Paul George, Oklahoma fans will focus more on Westbrook and An Luo when voting.

Of course, this is not the most important reason. The most important reason why An Luo can be confidently selected as the starter is that his own strength has been recognized by fans all over the world. At the same time, his social influence has also undergone earth-shaking changes after the offseason.The Finals MVP and the World Cup MVP gave An Luo the capital to compete with those NBA superstars.

"Being selected as an All-Star is already a very remarkable thing! After all, every year, only more than 20 players can be selected for the All-Star, and there are as many as 600 people playing in this league."

When faced with reporters asking questions about the All-Stars, An Luo was still as humble as in the previous two seasons.This is the consistent image of Chinese players in the NBA, and An Luo doesn't want to be different.However, as a player who came into contact with American basketball very early, An Luo is still tainted with the boldness of many European and American players.

"Everyone wants to be the best player in this league. Of course I am the same. The difference is that I am luckier than most. I have that ability, can help the team win in the game, can win the championship, To be able to win the World Cup. More importantly, I have the support of countless fans. I will not live up to everyone's expectations, and I think I have that ability."

After making a clear statement, An Luo began to get votes for himself.At the same time, An Luo's agent team, Thunder officials, including Anta Sports, all started to act.The All-Star Weekend is the stage for the players, but it definitely doesn't just belong to these players.

Of course, no matter how pervasive the publicity is, it always needs the players to play well enough to support it.Otherwise, it's a scam.When the institutions and groups closely related to An Luo began to build momentum, he himself also tried to perform better in the game.

In the game against the Pelicans on January 1, An Luo didn't get too many opportunities.

It's not that his condition is not good, but that the Thunder's overall performance is so good that the Pelicans quickly lost their resistance.Under the tandem of Westbrook, An Luo, Gallinari and Alexander, the three most powerful scorers of the Thunder, took turns to attack, shooting from inside and outside, and it took only half of the game for the New Orleans to raise their hands and surrender. .

In the last quarter, An Luo could only sit silently on the bench, watching Alexander kill all directions, sighing secretly.In fact, in the third quarter of this game, he didn't play too long.The Pelicans who lost Davis, although they have witnessed Ingram's growth, they still lack a key figure who can lead the team to win continuously.As a former All-Star player, Holiday's ability is naturally beyond doubt, but he doesn't seem to be able to take on the rise of the Pelicans to get the helm.And Ingram and Ball are too young, and the favorite Zion is almost reimbursed for the season. If the Pelicans want to make a career, they have to wait until next season.

A day later, the Thunder traveled to San Antonio for an away game against the Spurs.

Two months later, the Spurs have fallen out of the Western Conference playoffs.This was originally expected by everyone, but due to the wonderful performance of the Spurs at the beginning of the season, this matter caused some twists and turns.

Although the old man Vicky has the ability to make flowers out of nothing, and can often turn decay into magic, but he doesn't have the ability to create something out of nothing.In the past two seasons, the Spurs can no longer be regarded as a strong team in the Western Conference in terms of strength on paper. Aldridge can still perform amazingly from time to time, but that is also short-lived, more like a flashback.After all, it's a lot of age!It is still rare to see people as old-fashioned as LeBron James.As for DeRozan, he is indeed a victim of this era.He can still average 20+ points per game, but his personal efficiency and impact on the team are far inferior to other star guards.

There is no such thing as a successor, even San Antonio, which has been strong for more than 20 years, has nothing to do.The only way out for them is to tear down and rebuild.After all, it is not an international metropolis like Los Angeles, and it is difficult to attract those big-name players in the league to join.This is the sad part of the small ball market!I just don't know if the Spurs can wait for a Tim Duncan like they did 23 years ago.

But in this game, the Spurs played well.They fought the Thunder until the last moment, and lost by 4 points.

Both DeRozan and Aldridge broke out, giving the Spurs a double-digit lead in the first half.

Aldridge flipped the ball over Adams' head to teammate Lyles, and the ball went to Dejounte Murray at the one.As An Luo's old acquaintance in the NCAA, Murray had a good life in the Spurs.He quickly approached the top of the arc with the ball, and then used Aldridge's cover to rush to the inside. The Thunder immediately changed defenses, but Aldridge moved down very fast, and Westbrook was not able to stand in the best defensive position.After Murray took Adams two steps in, he looked back at the moon and threw the ball to Aldridge.The latter slammed Westbrook out of the way, jumped high, and hit the ball to the basket.

0:2
The Spurs took the lead at home.

Adams sent the ball quickly, Westbrook caught the ball and ran wildly, perhaps too anxious, and threw the ball directly out of bounds when passing the ball to Gallinari.

The first offense made a mistake, which shows that the Thunder has not yet found the state of the game.

The ball once again returned to the hands of the Spurs.Murray seized the opportunity from outside the three-point line, found DeRozan who cut into the free throw line with a tricky through ball, assisted the latter to score the ball, and the Spurs scored two more points.

After making a mistake in the last round, Westbrook was also annoyed.In this attack, he called Adams' cover early on.However, after he used the cover to get rid of Murray's entanglement, he did not choose to end the offense by himself, but passed the ball back to Adams who was running down.

After Adams received the ball, he pressed Murray and stepped over. After approaching the basket, he jumped up, raised his right hand, and was about to hit the ball into the basket.At this time, Aldridge, who was originally in the horn area on the right, had already chased in, jumped up after Adams, and slapped the basketball away from behind.

I have to say that Aldridge's return to defense is really fast!
"Di!"

The referee's whistle sounded immediately.Looking at the gesture, it was Aldridge's defensive foul.

Adams walked out of the shadow of the hat in an instant, clapped his hands vigorously, and then walked to the free throw line.On the other hand, Aldridge looked extremely surprised, holding his head in his hands, and hurriedly shouted at the referee.

However, the referee did not listen to Aldridge's appeal, but told him firmly that the ball was not wrong.

Standing on the free throw line, Adams took the ball steadily amidst the boos and made two shots.

However, the downturn of the Thunder has not changed because of the score this time.In the 4 minutes from the start of the game to when Donovan called the first timeout, the Thunder were beaten by the Spurs in a wave of 14:6 offense.Except for Adams who scored 2 points with two free throws, the remaining 4 points came from An Luo, a three-pointer and a free throw.During this period, Westbrook, Gallinari and Adams all attempted shots, but without exception, they were rejected by the San Antonio basket.

Donovan adjusted the team's lineup. He found that the players were not in good condition, especially Gallinari and Westbrook, so he replaced Grant and Alexander.In this way, the Thunder's possession of the ball came to An Luo's hands.Donovan also clearly told An Luo that he can control the ball at will during the game.Ever since, An Luo started tonight's performance.

After returning from the timeout, An Luo immediately made a goal nearly one meter beyond the three-point line on the right.Defending him was the Spurs' second substitute, Derek White. This guy was obviously not ready yet, and he took An Luo a big step.If it were to defend Curry, Lillard or even James, White might not be so careless.It's not that An Luo doesn't have as much deterrence as the previous players, but that An Luo really rarely shoots ultra-long three-pointers in games.His consistent shooting position is close to the three-point line.This caused some disturbance to those defending him.Of course, as long as he votes once, the opponent will be more vigilant.But it was also a pleasant surprise.

Seeing that An Luo made another three-pointer, Mr. Vicki, who was sitting on the sidelines, stood up and yelled at the Spurs players on the court.An Luo didn't hear what the other party yelled, but it was nothing more than "keep an eye on An Luo, don't let him make a move".

In other words, this old guy really hates three-pointers!Although the three-point shot has become a must-have skill for players at every position in the league, his tactical board is still full of many more traditional tactics.I don't like it, and I don't like to see the other party beat me in that way.

In the next game, the Spurs and the Thunder played back and forth, and it was very lively.

But in fact, judging from the data, that is, DeRozan and Aldridge teamed up to resist An Luo's indiscriminate bombing.The other players have almost become a foil.

An Luo seemed to have completely opened the shackles, completely opened.In only 17 minutes of playing in the first half, he scored 28 points!Just scored 5 three-pointers!Of course, he put almost all his energy into scoring.This can be seen from the fact that he only sent out one assist throughout the first half.After the ball was in An Luo's hands, he almost played and shot it by himself.

Perhaps seeing that An Luo's state was hot enough, Donovan didn't intervene too much in the game.Even at the end of the second quarter, the Thunder still trailed the Spurs by 3 points, he accepted it happily and didn't say anything.Even during the intermission, Donovan was full of praise for An Luo's performance and encouraged him to maintain this state to play in the second half.

In fact, the NBA has always been a star basketball place.It is a commercial league that requires some players to become fans' idols and represent the league to gain fans' recognition.Furthermore, if you can have omnipotent players like Jordan and James, which head coach would not be willing?Isn't the day when you can win the race by paddling without worrying too much?
Just when everyone was amazed by An Luo's hot performance in the first half of the game, An Luo in the third quarter once again refreshed everyone's perception.

As soon as he came up, the Spurs' Lonnie Walker made a three-pointer against An Luo.But before his excitement subsided, An Luo responded in the same way.

But this is just the beginning.Afterwards, An Luo opened fire.Whether it is in the first position or the second position, whenever a basketball comes into his hands, he will throw it without hesitation.Whether he is outside the three-point line or inside the three-point line at that moment, whether there is one or two or even many people around him defending at that moment.

Seeing that An Luo's offensive state was so hot, Mr. Vicki had to use a timeout to try to interrupt his rhythm.Donovan also took the opportunity to ask the Thunder players to help An Luo as much as possible, emphasizing defense and rebounding by the way.Now that An Luo's eyes are red, let him continue to attack.What other people have to do well is to get more shots for An Luo.

An Luo did not disappoint the hearts of Donovan and Thunder.He took as many as 15 shots in a single quarter in the third quarter!Hit 9 of them and scored 23 points!It was also thanks to An Luo's explosive performance that the Thunder finally completed the overtake in this quarter.

Entering the last quarter of the game, whether the Thunder can win the game is no longer the most concerned thing for everyone.An Luo's ability to complete the feat of scoring 60 points in a single game is what everyone is most concerned about.

At this time, the Thunder has "blatantly" played the ball for An Luo.After all, for a player, 60 points in a single game is really a level that ordinary people cannot achieve.Perhaps those superstars are not all good at scoring, but the star players who can score 60 points must be the most dazzling players of that era.

Now, An Luo was already standing at the door, so there was no reason not to go in and take a look at the scenery inside.

(End of this chapter)