Overnight, the Internet was flooded with all kinds of news.
The conflict and suspension between Beverley and Westbrook made this series confusing.
But soon, these news were suppressed by two pieces of news.
The league announced that Zhao Chen was elected as the Sixth Man of the Year, and Durant was elected as the regular season MVP!
The selection criteria for the Sixth Man of the Year award is that the nominated player must have played more times as a substitute than as a main player in that season.
Since the establishment of the award, only Manu Ginobili, Detlef Schrempf, Leandro Barbosa, Toni Kukoc, and Ben Gordon have won the award. American born player.
Ben Gordon is the first player to win the award in his rookie season.
And now, Zhao Chen is the second player to win this award in his rookie season.
The domestic media screamed again.
Zhao Chen won the Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year awards at the same time, which is enough to compare with the rookie periods of all the legends in history.
In other words, Magic Johnson's honor is greater than that of Zhao Chen. It is difficult to say that other celebrities can suppress Zhao Chen's honor.
Magic Johnson has a Finals MVP, an honor that trumps all rookies.
The Thunder prepared a grand award ceremony for this.
First Zhao Chen, then Durant, the value of the regular season MVP is higher than that of the best sixth man.
For Zhao Chen, he didn’t have much expectations for the award ceremony. He was excited about the “30 victory points as a reward”.
At the MVP award ceremony, Durant finally found his sense of superiority over Zhao Chen and Westbrook.
Durant in a suit and tie held the trophy and said to Westbrook and Zhao Chen off the court: "I am especially grateful to my two brothers. They helped me win this award. I thank them. Of course, I also thank me." 's mother......"
As he spoke, Durant burst into tears.
Westbrook is very keen on Durant's regular season MVP trophy. .
Zhao Chen was unmoved. Zhao Chen was not that greedy. He did not expect to win the regular season MVP in his rookie season. That would be too unrealistic.
"Zhao, do you think I have a chance to win this award in the future?" Westbrook asked Zhao Chen from his seat.
Knowing that Westbrook was envious, Zhao Chen comforted him: "Yes, you will not only get this award, but you will also let everyone remember your name."
"Why do you have so much confidence in me?" Westbrook asked.
Zhao Chen often shows more confidence in his recognition of his strength than Westbrook himself.
"Because you have the kind of competitive spirit and self-confidence that neither KD nor I have." Zhao Chen said carelessly.
Zhao Chen can't say that in his previous life, he had a triple-double and became the first in triple-double history, right? Make the whole world hate you.
In his previous life, Westbrook did win the MVP in his peak period, and then his career average of triple-doubles in many seasons shocked everyone.
In the early days of being traded to the Wizards, Westbrook's criticism reached its peak, but by the end of the season, Westbrook finally beat those who criticized him speechless, using his strength to prove that the scumbags were wrong.
"Thank you, I hope I can achieve the goal you mentioned." Westbrook said seriously.
Seeing Westbrook competing, Zhao Chen smiled and said nothing.
If Westbrook can still win the MVP and triple-double king in the future, he may say at the award ceremony: "There is a man who gave me strength and confidence."
It's funny when I think about it.
.....
on the second day of the award ceremony.
The Thunder and Rockets started their G2 match.
"The Thunder don't have Westbrook in this game, and the Rockets don't have Beverley. In comparison, the Thunder suffer even more."
"However, the Thunder still have an advantage. Zhao Chen can replace Westbrook's organization to a certain extent, and the veteran Fisher may also get some opportunities again."
"The offensive power of Zhao Chen and Durant is a huge problem for the Rockets. Of course, the Thunder also need to consider that without Westbrook, their lineup depth will also be affected."
"Howard needs to make greater contributions on the offensive end, and he also needs to control his temper. In the two games without Westbrook, he has not been under so much pressure to protect the frame. This is a good opportunity for him to dominate the interior. .”
Zhang Weiping and Yu Jia are still full of confidence in this game against the Thunder.
The Thunder won a lot of points against the Rockets in their last game. This is a kind of blind confidence.
Most Thunder fans also have this mentality.
It doesn't matter if Westbrook is not here, we still have Zhao Chen and Durant.
As the opening time approaches, the atmosphere in the away locker room becomes more and more solid.
McHale emphasized to all Rockets players: "Their starting point guard is not here. This is a good opportunity for us. If we can win tonight, then the home court advantage will return to our side."
McHale didn't care what moves Beverley made in the last game, he cared about the results.
Westbrook is an All-Star point guard, and Beverley is just a backup point guard, a one-for-one exchange.
This result is great for the Rockets.
Harden and Howard also felt the hope of winning.
In the home dressing room, the atmosphere is very calm.
Westbrook also apologized for his rash action in the last game.
Then Westbrook was still cheering everyone up.
........
In the second game, both sides also understood each other's tactics.
Zhao Chen, the best sixth man, was moved to the starting lineup.
Westbrook's absence has had some impact on the Thunder. Their impact has been reduced, and the Rockets' defense has become more intensive.
The Rockets' offense is not much different from the previous game.
Although the impact of Thunder has decreased, its firepower has not decreased much.
Durant played at an MVP level and shot very accurately.
Zhao Chen, who scored 52 points in the last game, was caught between Jeremy Lin and Harden. Zhao Chen's offense was relatively obviously restricted.
McHale was obviously targeting Zhao Chen's scoring.
Zhao Chen continued to send assists and passes when his personal offense was limited.
Zhao Chen's containment power is huge.
The Rockets' main tactic is the pick-and-roll between Harden and Howard. If Howard is willing to block Harden, the offensive power of the two will be synergistic.
Howard played very well tonight, hitting the Thunder inside many times to complete dunks.
After 6 minutes of playing in the first quarter, the Rockets began to take the initiative. Durant, who had a good touch, encountered foul trouble and took two fouls to protect him.
The Rockets pursued the victory, and they used their momentum to tell the Thunder that this series was not that simple.
Brooks requested a timeout.
After the timeout, Lamb stood up and hit unreasonable shots one after another to help the Thunder catch up with the score.
The game quickly came to 2 minutes and 01 seconds of the first quarter.
The score was tied at 26-26. The two teams carried out a large-scale personnel rotation. When Zhao Chen thought he also needed to rest, Zhao Chen was left on the court by Brooks to lead the second team.
"Zhao didn't perform well tonight. The Rockets attacked him too hard and didn't let him catch the ball. Now Zhao Chen only scored 3 points, which is completely different from the high score in the previous game." Barkley said.
"The Rockets' tactical arrangement was great and they froze Zhao Chen." Smith said.
"It's not a freeze, but Zhao Chen's desire to attack is not that strong yet. Let's see how Zhao Chen will play in the next rotation." Barkley said.
On the court, Zhao Chen patted his heart and took a deep breath. It was time for him to work harder.
