Chapter 1 He Really Said It Right

That fan who had his tweet deleted by him was actually right. He, Durant, was unhappy with Nike's approach of focusing on a newcomer at such a critical time when they were negotiating his contract renewal. He couldn't say anything to Nike's people, so he chose to vent his emotions through a small account.

Being exposed didn't make him reflect; instead, it made him even more displeased with Tang Tian.

Tang Tian was just a newcomer, what virtues and abilities did he have to possess such high popularity?

In his eyes, inflated fame couldn't represent anything. If someone was blown out on the court, it would be like a castle in the air, collapsing in an instant.

He really wanted to go on the court himself and blow up Tang Tian, but on the one hand, that would inevitably be seen as using his position for personal revenge, bullying the small with the big, and on the other hand, he was a starter, while Tang Tian was a substitute, and it was difficult for the two to have overlapping playing time, so letting Jackson go up was the best choice.

He had seen Jackson's strength in training camp, and it was no problem for him to blow up Tang Tian.

"Yes, I will!" Jackson said excitedly.

After losing to Tang Tian in the streetball game last time, he had been practicing hard all summer, and now his strength had improved a lot compared to that time. He had been holding back for an opportunity to prove himself again, and now the team leader was making such a request, which was exactly what he wanted.

The warm-up time ended, and because it was a preseason game, there was no opening ceremony, and the starting players of both sides went directly onto the court.

On the Thunder's side, the three young stars came out together. Westbrook and Sefolosha were on the outside, Durant and Ibaka were on the front line, and Perkins was the center. Harden did not appear in the starting lineup, serving as the team's sixth man as usual.

From this starting lineup, it can be seen that the Thunder also wanted to win this preseason game at home.

Ibaka and Duncan's jump ball.

Ibaka had excellent jumping ability, pressing down on old Duncan and tipping the ball back to the Thunder's half, giving the home team the opportunity to attack first.

Westbrook went to the frontcourt and had a pick-and-roll with Perkins, then directly rushed into the inside for a layup, drawing a shooting foul from Blair.

The Thunder were full of youthful vitality, rolling up their sleeves and just getting to work.

Two free throws, Westbrook got the Thunder's first point.

Parker dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and gave it to Duncan to play as a high post facilitator. The ball was given to Jefferson, but Jefferson's layup was blocked by Ibaka.

The Thunder directly launched a defensive counterattack, and Westbrook scored a fast break dunk after three seconds in the frontcourt, scoring 4 consecutive points at the start.

The camera then showed Harden sitting on the sidelines. The team's core organizing player was still sitting off the court, and the Thunder had already played such a fast break. This team's talent was really overflowing.

The Thunder kept playing fast, and the Spurs' old arms and legs on the court couldn't keep up a bit, and they were given a 13-2 run at the start.

Popovich called a timeout and readjusted the tactics.

After the timeout, the Spurs strengthened their defense and continuously defended against the Thunder's strong attacks.

On the offensive end, Duncan also went from the high post to the low post. After opening up, he shook Ibaka off several times, either with a bank shot or a hook shot, scoring 6 consecutive points and helping the Spurs stabilize the situation.

It's hard to imagine that this was already a 36-year-old Duncan.

Duncan's excellent performance revitalized the Spurs' offense. The Thunder's double-teams came quickly, but Duncan's passing speed was also very fast. Ginobili, who had been substituted on early, made a three-pointer, plus Parker's backdoor cut layup, the Spurs played an 11-0 run and tied the score in one fell swoop.

The two teams showed their respective characteristics after the start, playing evenly.

The time came to about 9 minutes into the first quarter, and both sides began to enter the rotation one after another.

On the Spurs' side, Neal, Leonard, and Splitter were successively substituted onto the court, and Parker, Jefferson, and Duncan went off to rest.

On the Thunder's side, Reggie Jackson, James Harden, Daequan Cook, and Nick Collison were successively on the court, leaving only one Ibaka in the starting lineup.

Harden controlled the ball on the outside. After Ibaka came up for a pick-and-roll, he broke through to the inside for a layup with the ball, but Blair's resistance was very strong, and Harden's layup after the shot failed to go in.

Blair controlled the rebound, and Ginobili's serpentine breakthrough attracted a double-team. He passed the ball to Splitter under the basket.

A very good scoring opportunity, but Ibaka showed his talent, flying back to defend and interfering. Splitter's shot was butterfingered, and the rebound was taken by Ibaka smoothly.

Harden held the ball to the frontcourt, and Collison provided a high-quality pick-and-roll. Harden's three-point shot with the help of the pick-and-roll still missed.

Splitter grabbed the defensive rebound, Ginobili played another fast break, using his excellent vision to pass the ball to Neal who was following up on the weak side, and Neal had a near-open three-point shot.

"Clang!"

Unfortunately, this ball also failed to hit.

After the substitutes from both sides came up, Ginobili on the Spurs' side was given special attention, and his teammates failed to seize the opportunity. On the Thunder's side, Harden's touch was not good, and the scoring efficiency of both sides was not high, and the situation on the court was somewhat deadlocked.

Harden held the ball to the frontcourt again, but he didn't force an attack himself like in the previous two possessions.

He was a player with a very high basketball IQ. After missing two consecutive possessions, he also knew that his touch was not good, so he changed from attacking to organizing.

Jackson cut to the basket with Collison's pick-and-roll, and he passed a beautiful bounce pass inside. Jackson caught the ball and accelerated to get rid of Blair for a layup.

His speed was really a bit fast.

Ginobili's step-back three-pointer was interfered by Harden and missed. On the return, Jackson played a fast break, holding the ball in the frontcourt and facing Neal's secondary acceleration layup, not only scoring but also drawing a shooting foul from Neal.

After the ball went in, Jackson pounded his chest and roared at the audience.

He was a figure on par with Irving in the Atlantic League, but he was only selected at the end of the first round. Putting aside Durant's instructions, he himself was holding back a breath to prove himself.

Now he was scoring consecutively in the stalemate, and his performance was dazzling enough.

He made a steady free throw, scoring 5 consecutive points and helping the Thunder establish a 5-point lead.

The Spurs' last attack failed to go in. After the first quarter, the score on the court was 23 to 18.

In the second quarter, the starters from both sides went off to rest. On the Spurs' side, Bonner replaced Blair, while on the Thunder's side, Nazr Mohammed replaced Ibaka.

Both sides had pure substitute lineups.

The Spurs attacked first, and Ginobili's layup was deflected by a double-team interference, and the rebound was taken by Mohammed.

Back on offense, Jackson directly signaled his teammates to spread out and then go one-on-one against Neal. He directly went past Neal with a quick crossover and then made a pull-up jumper.

Counting the 5 points he got at the end of the first quarter, Jackson had already scored 7 consecutive points, and his state was skyrocketing.

Durant reached out and applauded his little brother.

"What the hell are you doing?!" On the other side of the court, Popovich went berserk and roared at Neal.

Completely different from when he was training, Popovich was a raging lion on the court.

In the Spurs' offense, Ginobili broke through and attracted a double-team and passed to Neal. Neal hesitated at the open opportunity, and his shot was interfered by Harden, who came to help defend, and the shot went wide.

Popovich spread his hands, then turned around and called Tang Tian up.