NBA: Rising Superstar!

Chapter 489 - 401: January Gone in a Flash!

Because the Thunder’s big three are basically operating independently.

Paul George dribbles the ball to play, Anthony gets the ball and immediately goes for a jumper. Both scored 20 and 18 points respectively, performing adequately, but such a chemistry-lacking Thunder cannot defeat the Nuggets.

Jokic alone dominated Adams in the paint. Whether it’s shooting from distance or connecting with teammates, he incredibly efficiently scored a triple-double with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists.

Jokic’s stats are similar to Westbrook’s, but the difference is, his playmaking is more impactful, unlike Westbrook who appears more focused on stat-padding.

Butler led the second unit and also performed well, with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He gave Paul George major trouble on defense, limiting his shooting percentage to just 28%.

The Nuggets’ second unit soundly defeated the Thunder’s second unit.

This summer, in order to acquire the big three, the Thunder weakened their bench strength.

Finally, the game ended with a score of 125 to 114, the Nuggets overall suppressed their opponents.

Westbrook was quite disappointed losing this game, he had thought the Thunder’s big three could at least stand against the Nuggets, yet that did not come to fruition.

They barely had much resistance, looking like a very raw and immature team.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets have completely gelled together, making Westbrook feel exhausted, as the Thunder currently seem hopeless.

After defeating the Thunder, the Nuggets headed to Minnesota to challenge the Timberwolves.

Towns faced his alumnus, fighting hard and vigorously, securing a superb double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Towns finally stood up against Jokic.

Throughout discussions of top centers in the West, Jokic’s ranking has always been above Towns.

Both entered the league in the same year, Jokic as a second-round pick, while Karl-Anthony Towns was the number one overall pick.

Yet, he was constantly overshadowed in comparisons.

However, Jokic also recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 18 rebounds, and 11 assists, performing equally excellently, and Towns could not suppress Jokic.

Zeng Xingyang observed the Nuggets indeed regressed in shooting compared to last season, mainly due to Pope being more injury-prone this season, and Butler, Siakam, Gordon’s three-point shooting is even outmatched by Jokic.

Resulting in most three-pointers being Zeng Xingyang’s effort to average out the stats.

In this match against the Timberwolves, the Nuggets were ice-cold from beyond the arc, otherwise, Jokic wouldn’t have grabbed so many rebounds.

His talent for offensive rebounds is evident.

Fortunately, thanks to Zeng Xingyang and Siakam continuously attacking the paint, they won the game.

to 102, the Nuggets secured another consecutive win.

After the match between the two teams, Towns and Zeng Xingyang also had a chat: "Zeng, I’m really envious of you, you guys have a championship lineup again this year."

"You should work hard too, should be no problem to make the playoffs, I hope to meet you guys in the first round."

"Hey, what’s the point of meeting you guys in the first round, your overall strength is too strong."

In Zeng Xingyang’s impression, the old Timberwolves reached the playoffs under Butler’s leadership but were eliminated in the first round.

Back then, both Towns and Wiggins were mocked by Butler as softies.

Later, Wiggins went to the Warriors and won a championship to prove himself, while Towns was continually on the path of proving himself, slightly better after going to the Knicks.

After playing the Timberwolves, they then faced the Jazz, where Mitchell once again delivered an impressive double-double with 24 points and 11 assists, but he was quite unlucky, encountering Zeng Xingyang who was particularly aggressive in offense today.

Zeng Xingyang exploded with 63 points in three quarters, with Jokic and Butler feeding him the ball the entire time, wanting to witness Zeng Xingyang’s high score performance.

Unfortunately, the Jazz couldn’t hold till the fourth quarter, trailing 28 points at the end of three quarters, Zeng Xingyang felt embarrassed to stay on the court.

Ultimately, the game concluded with a score of 131 to 113, as the Nuggets slaughtered the Jazz once more.

Jokic scored 8 points with 18 assists and 11 rebounds, Butler recorded 4 points with 10 assists and 6 rebounds, with their bizarre stats sparking discussions after the game.

Media and fans were surprised by the Nuggets’ team atmosphere.

They didn’t expect Butler and Jokic to be willing to sacrifice personal stats to set up Zeng Xingyang.

After defeating the Jazz, unexpectedly, the Nuggets stumbled against the Pelicans.

The Pelicans erupted as a team, sinking a total of 23 three-point shots, and Zeng Xingyang was troubled by fouls, leading to their regretful defeat.

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The matches in December swiftly concluded.

By January 1st, the Nuggets’ record stood at 31 wins and 5 losses, they had lost three games.

These three losses indicated Nuggets basically couldn’t break last season’s dramatic ambition of 75 wins anymore.

Mike Malone indeed did not intend to pursue record-breaking, as the pressure was too intense, not wanting to bear it, preferring the team to remain in a healthy and virtuous state.

He wants Nuggets players to maintain as healthy a state as possible, rather than suffering various injuries for regular-season victories.

Despite Mike Malone’s vigorous avoidance, the Nuggets still faced a spree of injuries.

In January, apart from the iron men Zeng Xingyang and Jokic, others consistently suffered minor ailments.

No choice, the Nuggets’ gameplay is grueling on the body, with players nearly all fighting desperately on the court.

Such a desperate defensive team is bound to have numerous injuries.

Moreover, the Nuggets are almost being targeted by the entire league, every team facing them fights fiercely.

As if defeating the Nuggets assures them a championship.

Even knowing they can’t win, those opponents won’t let the Nuggets win easily.

As long as these two are present in the Nuggets, their foundation won’t collapse, even getting to a point where only 8 players were available at one time.

After January, the Nuggets’ record came to 42 wins and 9 losses, losing 4 games this month, with their ranking overtaken by the Warriors.

The Warriors, as long as they don’t face the Nuggets, become very overwhelming, with Durant and the Splash Brothers playing extremely fiercely, typically defeating opponents in waves by the third quarter.

February rolled around, nearing the New Year...

Zeng Xingyang chose to take two days off before the All-Star game, taking a Spring Festival holiday to fly back home to accompany his parents.

For Zeng Xingyang, games aren’t the most important, family is.

After celebrating the New Year, Zeng Xingyang hastily returned for the All-Star event, as the vote leader, one cannot skip this type of match.