Soon, the warm-up time is over and the official game is about to begin.
After DJ's passionate player introduction, the starting players from both sides put on their jerseys one after another, followed the referee onto the court, and gathered in the center circle.
What is about to happen is to determine the right to kick the ball, jumpball!
Those who performed the jump ball were Lu Yao of the Thunder and Valanciunas of the Raptors.
As a player from Lithuania, Valanciunas is a typical European center, with a strong body and strong confrontation. Even Lu Yao felt that if he faced Valanciunas, he might not be able to beat Valanciunas. .
The referee came to the center of the two men. The two men bent their knees and gathered strength, tensing up, waiting for the ball to be thrown into the air at any time.
"Beep!"
A piercing whistle sounded, and the moment the ball was thrown into the air, their nerves were touched. They jumped at the same moment and stretched out their hands towards the ball in the air.
At this moment, Lu Yao's historical level of physical talent was revealed. Lu Yao was not only taller than Valanciunas, but his wingspan was even longer than that of Valanciunas.
What's more, Lu Yao also deliberately avoided a confrontation with Valanciunas. Now, it has become clear who can win the jump ball.
Lu Yao pointed the ball towards his own camp. Westbrook was already familiar with this. After protecting the ball, he slowly carried the ball across the half court and moved forward according to the tactics.
The main defender against Westbrook is Kyle Lowry, the Raptors' starting point guard. As the Raptors' leading scorer, Lowry is the core of the entire Raptors.
And his perimeter defensive ability is considered top-notch in the league.
The strong Lowry caught the impact from Westbrook. Seeing that Westbrook was unable to do anything, he could only flick the ball in the direction of Durant on the wing and hand it over.
Durant on the wing received the ball and hit the defender with a pull-out shot. Unfortunately, the direction of the ball deviated a little and hit the basket. It was a pity.
Valanciunas on the inside had already been waiting for a long time, took the ball into his arms, and collected the first rebound of the game.
After receiving the pass from Valanciunas, Lowry was not impatient and slowly dribbled the ball across the half court, organizing the Thunder's offense in an orderly manner.
Arriving at the top of the arc, Lowry faced Westbrook and kept testing with his crotch dribble, while constantly looking for his teammates' positions on the court.
At this moment, DeRozan followed Valanciunas' pick-and-roll, moved from the high post to the low post, and waved towards Lowry for the ball.
Lowry did not hesitate and handed the ball to DeRozan. After receiving the ball, DeRozan made a decisive mid-range shot. The ball hit the basket steadily and the Raptors scored the first point of the game.
It is relatively rare for the Raptors to score the first goal of the game in front of the Thunder.
DeRozan plays a very classic shooting guard style, that is, like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, which focuses on mid-range shots. This type of player has a picturesque shooting posture, excellent viewing ability, and The final word at the critical moment.
The Thunder were in poor shape at the beginning. Westbrook's inside breakthrough was blocked by Lu Wei at the free throw line. He made a mid-range shot and hit the ball twice in the opening. This kind of start was very unfavorable for the Thunder.
Valanciunas took the defensive basketball and quickly passed it back to Lowry. Lowry led Hazy to launch a fierce counterattack.
The Raptors attacked at a fast pace, and a four-on-three situation suddenly formed in the frontcourt. Faced with a dominant situation, the Raptors obviously grasped the situation very well.
Lowry brought the ball to the wing, and at this time, DeRozan had already cut inside and was about to reach the basket.
The two looked at each other, and it goes without saying that they have a tacit understanding for several years. Lowry directly threw the ball in his hand to DeRozan without hesitation. After DeRozan received the ball, he dunked with one hand, and then Next ball!
In less than a minute, the Raptors had already led by 4 points and established an opening advantage.
On the other hand, the Thunder not only missed two shots, but their defense is also in a mess so far.
Thunder fans who were watching the game online saw this scene and were also anxious. What happened to the Thunder!
Westbrook, who had a stable performance before, seemed to be struggling in today's game and his condition declined.
Lu Yao seemed to be invisible, and his shadow seemed invisible in both defense and offense.
Taking advantage of the Thunder's sluggish state, the Raptors seized the opportunity and continued to expand the score.
Lowry and DeRozan showed off their power respectively. DeRozan then faced Durant on the wing, turned over and shot a fadeaway jumper, and the ball came out of his hand. If time were frozen at this moment, then DeRozan would be facing Durant in this scene. It will become an exquisite painting.
The ball drew an arc in the air and then fell steadily into the basket.
As the crisp sound of brushing the net sounded, the fans at Toyota Bank Center suddenly burst into cheers. The Raptors started with a 6-0 victory, beating the Thunder to a pulp!
It seems that tonight, this Raptors team will end the Thunder's 18-game unbeaten streak!
The fans watching this game were heartbroken when they saw this goal scored, and they couldn't help but wonder in their hearts.
What happened to the Thunder?
The three people at the commentary table looked at this scene and had the same question in their minds.
The complete Thunder faced the Raptors, who were fourth in the Eastern Conference, and were beaten like this at the beginning. It was simply unbelievable.
"What happened?" O'Neill scratched his bald head helplessly.
"You're really open-mouthed." Buckley couldn't help complaining.
But then, something even more shocking happened.
Lu Yao, Durant, and Westbrook appeared one after another, but they were all blacksmiths. Five minutes into the first quarter, the Thunder team did not score a single goal, not even a free throw!
The Raptors took this opportunity to expand the score to a huge 19:0 difference, which directly stunned the audience.
Even Toronto fans didn't believe that the Raptors could beat the Thunder like this.
"Wtf?" Buckley's lips trembled, with a puzzled look on his face.
The Thunder actually didn't score a single goal?
This huge point difference of 19:0 is also quite unparalleled in NBA history.
What's more, a strong team with 18 consecutive wins in the league was beaten like this, which can't help but be even more bizarre.
This makes people wonder whether the Thunder's 18-game winning streak was created with water.
The Raptors' DeRozan scored 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting in five minutes, with a 100% shooting percentage. He helped the Raptors open a huge score and is the Raptors' biggest contributor so far.
Donovan on the sidelines also stared blankly, looking confused.
Obviously he didn't know what happened.
However, if the current situation on the field is not stopped, the car will never be stopped.
As the referee's whistle sounded, the Thunder called a timeout.
