Vol 3 Chapter 387: Warm up

At the end of September, the NBA, which had been quiet for several months, came back to life again.
Of course, the regular season hasn't been so fast yet, and we have to wait until mid-to-late October. In the first half month, the league will arrange a large number of preseason games to warm up the entire season. Although not included in the official games, this period of games is also very important for the league and the team. Through this warm-up, the nba league can refocus everyone's attention on themselves. And each team, you can seize the time to test their own results this summer. At the same time, you can also make a good break in the lineup so that the players can quickly find the state of the game. After all, actual combat is the best way to train.
On September 26, with the 76ers and the Melbourne United team, the NBA 2018-19 season preseason began. However, in the past few days, An Luo and others can only watch from the sidelines. This season, the Thunder were scheduled for a total of four preseason games before the start of the regular season. The first game was on October 3, they met the challenge of the Detroit Pistons in Oklahoma.
Because the Thunder are all tinkering in the free market, the lineup has not changed much. Suddenly the team was not particularly concerned about these preseason games. Under such circumstances, Westbrook and Paul George did not appear. However, An Luo still played. In Donovan's words, An Luo needs more time to consolidate his gains. Coincidentally, the core player Griffin of the Pistons also missed the game, led by his insider De Drummond.
Although it was only a preseason game, the atmosphere of the Chesapeake Energy Arena was no worse than the regular season. Especially when the Thunder players rushed out of the player channel, everyone was very happy. A very interesting episode occurred in the middle. When the home dj introduced the Pistons players and coach, he reported the name of his coach as Stan Van Gundy. You know, in the offseason, the Pistons have fired Van Gundy and signed last year's best coach Devin Casey. To say that this is also a very strange thing. He was fired as soon as he won the best head coach, which is indeed somewhat unexpected.
When the game began, the Thunder quickly gained the upper hand. Although Westbrook and Paul George are missing, the Thunder still behaved very strongly after Anlo took over the offensive power.
An Luo's first sports goal is still his iconic three-pointer. After passing the basketball several times in the hands of the Thunder players, it returned to his hands. Facing Reggie Baroque, who was about the same size as him, he stepped back, opened the distance, and then constantly dribbled under his hips, looking for opportunities. Baroque saw that An Luo was far from the three-point line, so he didn't post it. Just standing one meter away from An Luo, bowed his waist, staring at him. Feeling that the time was almost right, An Luo used his feet to break through. Baroque stepped back when he saw it, but An Luo slammed his right foot directly outside the three-point line. After pulling the distance away, An Luo pulled up easily and randomly shot the ball.
Decisive and confident! Such a ball is becoming more and more familiar to An Luo. Of course, he is also very sure.
Just like Westbrook's dunk, Anlow's three-pointer can easily ignite the enthusiasm of the Chesapeake Energy Arena. In the cheers of everyone, An Luo waved his hand to the fans. He liked the sound of everyone cheering for himself.
The Pistons' response is to hit inside. Drummond dropped his weight this summer. Now in this alliance, big men must also be more flexible. However, this is also a double-edged sword. After all, players like him still have a lot of deterrence to stand under the basket. The most important thing is that this guy obviously hasn't practiced a reliable long shot. However, in this game, he dominated the inside. With his stable and outstanding performance, the Pistons have always maintained the hope of winning the game.
An Luo played only 20 minutes, but it was amazing enough. He didn't show his newly mastered abilities, and only relying on three-pointers and mid-range back-up jumpers made the Pistons unable to resist. No one can stop him from scoring 6 of 8 three-pointers. At least, not in this game.
More often, Donovan is still honing his rotation. Players such as Grant, Kanter and Felton have all played longer than Anello. The newly added Diallo, Noelle and others have also received a lot of playing opportunities this year. There are also a few players with temporary contracts. The preseason is a very important opportunity for them. Whether you can stay in the Thunder in the end, the performance of these games is crucial.
After easily defeating the Pistons, the Thunder moved to Minnesota. After sending away the Butler who had been on the team last season, the Timberwolves have basically fallen out of the playoffs sequence. Even if they signed the former mvp Rose, no one is optimistic about them. In this game Westbrook still did not appear in the roster of the game, he did not even go to Minnesota with the team. Not only him, Anlo also stayed in Oklahoma. However, under the leadership of Paul George, the Thunder easily defeated the opponent.
The third stop ~EbookFREE.me~The Thunder returned to Oklahoma to meet the Atlanta Hawks. This time, Westbrook finally played. In Donovan's words, if it weren't for the expectations of the fans and the official pressure from the NBA, he would take his rotation players to the game throughout the preseason.
No one disappointed everyone. Although Westbrook played only 20 minutes like Anlow and Paul George, he was in excellent form. The versatile reach has allowed him to average a triple-double for two consecutive seasons, and now it seems that this miracle will continue.
The three-game winning streak in the preseason doesn't explain much, after all, no one is particularly true. But the state and momentum displayed by the Thunder still surprised people. It is the defending champion after all! It's easy to win every game.
After these three games are over, the Thunder have only one preseason game left. But this preseason game is a bit special! With the deepening of the cooperation between the NBA and international basketball, every year some games are held outside the United States. These games are basically concentrated in the preseason. Of course, the regular season will occasionally be arranged overseas.
The Thunder's next preseason game will not be played in the United States. Their opponent is no longer an NBA team.