NBA: Rising Superstar!-Chapter 194 - 146, Durant’s heart aches as two super scorers trash-talk each other! _3
"Xingyang’s most terrifying talent is that he’s always improving."
Viewers eagerly posted comments.
Many domestic basketball fans were surprised by Zeng Xingyang’s speed of improvement.
Scarlett, watching from the sidelines, continued punching the air to cheer on, her impressive figure drawing the constant gaze of the male fans around her.
Thunder’s offense kicked in again.
Moro dribbled into the front court and passed to Durant.
Zeng Xingyang stayed close to Durant as Pope joined in to double-team.
This time, Durant chose not to play alone but passed the ball to Waiters.
Waiters accelerated with one dribble, bypassing Nelson and charging towards the paint.
Nurkic stood tall inside, raising his arms to disrupt Waiters.
The shot didn’t go in.
Nurkic controlled the rebound.
Nurkic might not be a top-tier center, but he’s reliable enough, providing some rim protection. It’s tough for opponents to attack without first shaking him off.
Seeing Waiters miss again, Durant was exasperated.
His teammates are really trash, huh!
How come they play so poorly when he can score so effortlessly?
Nuggets’ offensive turn.
Zeng Xingyang dribbled into the front court, Durant continued to defend.
"Come on, one-on-one."
"Coward."
Durant kept trash-talking Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang calmly waved his hand.
Horn strategy.
Nurkic and Grant sandwiched Durant from both sides.
Durant was frustrated!
Zeng Xingyang dribbled sideways as Adams became the new defensive player.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Zeng Xingyang executed an under-the-leg dribble repeatedly, finding a rhythm difference with Adams, then took a strong step to the right drawing Adams’ change in balance.
Zeng Xingyang quickly stepped back to create space and made a swift three-point shot.
Adams barely turned around to contest, but his interference wasn’t enough to break Zeng Xingyang’s rhythm.
The basketball traced a beautiful arc.
"Swish!"
Straight through the heart.
to 25.
Fans erupted in astonishment; Thunder fans couldn’t believe Zeng Xingyang’s performance, amazed that this rookie could confidently exchange shots with Durant.
"Another mismatch three-pointer. The shot opportunity wasn’t great, but Zeng Xingyang seized it."
"Zeng Xingyang and KD’s shootout made this match incredibly entertaining."
Barkley commented with great excitement.
Smith said, "KD and Zeng are destined to be historic scorers; their shooting touch is amazing."
The first quarter ended swiftly with the score frozen at 33 to 28, Nuggets leading by 5 points.
Zeng Xingyang delivered an outstanding performance with 16 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists in a single quarter.
Durant also scored 15 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and had 2 assists, showing an equally impressive performance as Zeng Xingyang.
After a brief break in the first quarter, the second quarter began swiftly.
Thunder’s Westbrook led the team, while Nuggets maintained their standard secondary lineup.
With Durant off, Westbrook played without any reservations; the Thunder’s secondary lineup charged aggressively.
Westbrook showcased his triple-double prowess, continuously coordinating scores amongst teammates, and on the defense end, he exhibited intense enthusiasm, completed two nifty steals against Nelson, invigorating the Thunder team spirit.
The passionate crowd, swept up by Westbrook’s emotion, shouted loudly to cheer for the Thunder.
The score quickly flipped.
Zeng Xingyang and Jokic were sent in during the second quarter with 7 minutes remaining, while Thunder also sent Durant back.
The two teams resumed their fierce shootout.
Westbrook broke in using a pick-and-roll, faced double-teams, and attempted an outer pass.
But Zeng Xingyang anticipated and completed a steal.
"Westbrook made another error, Zeng Xingyang stole the ball."
"Zeng Xingyang understood what Westbrook was trying to do!"
"Westbrook already has 4 turnovers; wonder if his record will be broken."
Smith shouted.
After the steal, Zeng Xingyang swiftly moved to perform a flying layup.
The camera spotlighted Scarlett at this moment, she stood up and yelled excitedly from the sideline.
Scarlett’s figure enticed the surrounding spectators to cheer uncontrollably. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Durant, witnessing this, felt extremely pained.
In the next play, fueled by anger, Durant took the ball and charged into the paint.
Jokic delivered a strong smack to Durant, knocking him to the ground, heavily breathing.
This play resulted in Jokic’s foul against Durant.
Durant stood at the free-throw line, scoring two points, while Jokic faced a foul crisis.
Subsequently, both teams fiercely competed defensively, causing a noticeable drop in offense efficiency.
The second quarter concluded quickly, the score locked at 56 to 56.
In the third quarter, with Jokic absent for an extended period, Zeng Xingyang was somewhat overwhelmed while Westbrook and Durant continued vigorously bombarding the Nuggets’ defense.
The defense of the Nuggets was strong enough, but containing both their advances posed a high difficulty—Thunder grasped the score advantage gradually.
Nuggets’ offense faltered, struggling to replicate the fluid drives seen in the first quarter.
Both teams intensified their defensive pressure.
Westbrook and Durant kept launching assaults inside, frequent whistles rang out at Thunder’s home games.
This left the Nuggets unsatisfied leading to rougher actions.
Game tempo became fragmented.
Zeng Xingyang and Durant flung trash talk, elevating tensions to near fistfight levels, only separated by teammates.
Even future close friends Westbrook and Jokic almost wrestled each other, locked in opposing holds.
Both head coaches protested penalties resulting in technical fouls.
The scene’s atmosphere was fervent—fans kept cheering relentlessly for the Thunder.
Under such intense game levels, Thunder who excel at charging held the advantage.
However, pulling away the score wasn’t so easy for Thunder, Nuggets occasionally had players stepping up to score.
Time swiftly approached the final 38 seconds of the fourth quarter.
The score stood at 100 to 108, Nuggets trailing by 8 points.
Mike Malone called a timeout!
Despite Nugget holding possession, everyone silently accepted their impending defeat for the night.
With this amount of time and such a score gap, what do Nuggets have left to win?
Holding his fist tightly, Zeng Xingyang looked unwillingly at the scoreboard and clock!
Tonight, Nuggets exhausted every effort, everyone tried hard to defend, but winning against Thunder away remains arduous, tremendously tough.
Seems now, winning is pointing towards a miracle.
