After the game against the Wizards, the Thunder are about to travel to distant Canada to face the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors.
The Toronto Raptors are the most successfully rebuilt team among all teams in the league this season.
After drafting Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in succession, Hazy finally completed a multi-year rebuild after the departure of Dragon King Bosh.
It is conceivable that when Dragon King Bosh was there, it was difficult for the Raptors to even enter the playoffs. Their heyday was still the era of the demigod Carter in the early 2000s.
Carter led the Raptors all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals and had seven bloody games with the 76ers led by Answer AI. Although they ultimately lost unfortunately, they gave Toronto fans hope.
But what people didn't expect was that in 2003, Carter chose to leave the team and go to the New Jersey Nets. After the Raptors selected Bosh, they failed to rise in one fell swoop. In the end, they could only watch Bosh leave the team and once again enter the reconstruction period.
But this year's Raptors have become different. The growth of trash brothers DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, as well as the addition of future best sixth man Lou Williams, have made this Raptors a Became a strong team in the Eastern Conference.
In the 2012-13 season, the Raptors were only the tenth team in the Eastern Conference and could not even enter the playoffs. But in the 2013-14 season, the Raptors suddenly became the third team in the Eastern Conference.
This year, with the addition of the Cavaliers and Hawks, although their ranking has dropped, it still cannot change their strong strength.
DeRozan and Lowry are now considered the league's top defenders, and the Raptors are a big challenge for the Thunder.
Because the Raptors' forward line is still relatively strong, it limits players like Westbrook who focus on breakthroughs to some extent.
But the Thunder, with Durant and Lu Yao, will not fall because Westbrook is restricted.
At night, everyone in the Thunder boarded a flight to distant Toronto, preparing to challenge the Raptors away from home tomorrow night.
Similarly for the Raptors, the Thunder are an opponent they take extremely seriously and they dare not let down their guard at all.
Two days before the game against the Thunder, the Raptors never stopped training, just to get the Thunder in the best shape.
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Canada, Toronto, Scotiabank Arena,
Players from the Thunder and Raptors came to the court early to warm up and train before the game.
On the court, Lu Yao of the Thunder is particularly eye-catching. At this moment, Lu Yao is undergoing confrontation shooting training, practicing his strong shooting ability when double-teamed by two people.
Even though the two assistant coaches were holding objects in front of Lu Yao, Lu Yao was still unaffected and shot with a normal shooting posture. After the ball drew an arc in the air, it hit the basket steadily.
After several goals in a row, the fans around him were stunned to see that he could score easily like this. They gradually realized Lu Yao's abnormality.
On the other side, garbage brothers Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan also feel very good. They hit every shot in the confrontation training and are obviously ready to face the Thunder tonight.
In the commentary box, two of the most familiar commentators appeared in public view.
They are retired NBA star Charles Barkley and TNT celebrity Kenny Smith.
For today's game, tnt invited a special guest.
A tall figure walked over from the side. His huge body made everyone who witnessed it tremble.
He is the all-powerful NBA player, the 1992 NBA No. 1 pick, four-time championship winner, one-time MVP winner, three-time FMVP winner, Shaquille O'Neal, known as the Shark!
Today's TNT invited O'Neal as the special commentator for this game to explain this game to the audience.
There is no doubt that O'Neal's appearance also filled the commentary box of this game with a lot of color.
Barkley and O'Neal have been mortal enemies who dislike each other since twenty years ago. Now that they meet again, sarcasm is naturally inevitable.
"Baby, I didn't expect that your bald head is still so bright after I haven't seen you for so long?"
Faced with O'Neal's ridicule, Barkley mocked back without hesitation.
"Tch, Shaq, don't you also have a bald head? Let's see if your bald head shines brightly. Don't forget how I pinched your bald head and could control you easily twenty years ago."
O'Neal sneered and looked at Barkley. The smell of gunpowder filled the air, as if the two were about to fight in the commentary room in the next second.
Kenny Smith was so stared at that he had to suspend the dispute between the two.
"Harmony is the most precious thing. Harmony is the most precious thing."
After O'Neal sat down in the commentary box, he began to predict the game with the two people.
As one of the top centers in history, O'Neal was among the top in NBA history at his peak, so he is naturally qualified to judge the outcome of this game in terms of victory or defeat.
At the same time, highlights of recent matches between players from both sides began to appear on the big screen.
O'Neal couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw Lu Yao turning around and running into the paint on the screen, then dunking with both hands on the spot facing the defender.
"OMG! This looks too much like me! Sure enough"
When Buckley heard this, he couldn't help but smile disdainfully and said sarcastically: "Hey, this looks like you. With your weak attack, you still want to compare with Lu?"
Seeing this, O'Neal responded mercilessly: "Tsk, with your small body, can you block my inside impact?"
"Why did you forget how I handled you again?"
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Kenny Smith Unicom turned into a peacemaker and mediated between the two.
After calming down, O'Neal expressed his views on this game.
"Winning or losing this game, I think has been decided before it starts. The victory will belong to the Thunder."
When Barkley heard this, he just wanted to stand on the opposite side of O'Neal, but suddenly he thought that he seemed to be a fan of the Thunder.
Seeing Barkley's hesitant expression, O'Neal almost laughed.
Immediately, O'Neal said why he thought so.
"The Thunder will win this game because they have the monster Lu Yao. In this game, he will destroy the Raptors' proud forward and crush him to the ground and stomp on him."
"Just like when I beat Charles up."
"Huh?" Barkley sat aside, looking at O'Neal with big eyes and small eyes.
"That's natural. After all, the Raptors' big man is to Lu Yao what Shaq is to me. The main thing is easy!"
"Bragging."
"What, you don't allow me to do it anymore?"
Kenny Smith looked at the two of them and shook his head helplessly. In the commentary box, it seemed that he was the only one giving serious commentary.
