bayedsolid Chapter 342 19-Game Winning Streak! Before the League!
Chapter 342 19-Game Winning Streak! Before the League!
The Christmas battle on the evening of December 25th.
Five games have been scheduled across the league today.
One of them was the Nets' away game against the Cavaliers.
The Nets currently have a record of 25 wins and 8 losses, ranking first in the league with a winning percentage of 75.8%.
The Cavaliers, with a record of 22 wins and 12 losses, have quietly climbed to third place in the Eastern Conference.
This clash between two strong teams from the East is also considered the main event of the day.
The Nets took the initiative right from the start of the game.
Wang Xiucheng and Durant hit consecutive shots, while Royce, O'Neal and Joe Har also had hot hands.
The Nets quickly extended their lead to double digits on the road.
The entire Cavaliers team seemed to still be immersed in the joy of Christmas and hadn't quite snapped out of it.
Only Garland was in good form on the team.
But one Garland cannot withstand the combined onslaught of Wang Xiucheng and Durant.
In the 7th minute of the second quarter, Wang Xiucheng broke through the paint, drawing the defense before passing the ball to Durant, who was now open on the perimeter.
Durant also scored his 13th and 14th points of the game.
This basket also brought Durant's career total points to 26498.
He officially surpassed Duncan, ranking 15th on the all-time scoring list in the league.
Even the most discerning Cleveland fans applauded Durant at this moment.
But soon, Cleveland fans turned their boos on Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng intercepted a pass from Mitchell, then drove to the basket alone and slammed home a dunk from the free-throw line.
Although it's Christmas, it's clear that fans don't want the Christmas gift Wang Xiucheng gave them.
With this basket, the Nets' lead reached 15 points.
Mitchell then improved his form, and the score began to go back and forth.
In the second half, thanks to Mitchell and Garland, the Cavaliers narrowed the score to single digits at one point.
But Durant, who achieved a milestone today, clearly doesn't want the victory to slip away.
Durant's consistent outside shooting helped the Nets maintain a double-digit lead.
Wang Xiucheng's ball handling and occasional three-pointers meant that the Cavaliers were repeatedly on the verge of closing the gap when they realized that nothing had changed.
In the latter part of the fourth quarter, after a short rest, Wang Xiucheng made four consecutive mid-range floaters, scoring 8 points and widening the gap to 20 points.
But the Cavaliers didn't give up. Garland seemed to have turned into a Gatling gun, hitting every shot from beyond the arc, narrowing the gap to 9 points again.
Durant's unusually aggressive defense this season forced him to foul out.
Fortunately, Wang Xiucheng and his teammates managed to maintain their advantage.
The Nets ultimately defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 125-117 on the road.
They also won this year's Christmas battle.
In this game, Durant reached a milestone, surpassing Duncan to become the 15th scorer.
The Nets continued their winning streak.
A 16-game winning streak is enough to make the Nets go down in history.
ESPN compiled some statistics after the game.
In today's game against the Cavaliers, the Nets took a total of 82 shots, making 47 of them, for a field goal percentage of 57.3%.
His three-point shooting percentage was 18 out of 30, a remarkable 60%.
After this game, the Nets' overall field goal percentage for the season was 51%, while their three-point percentage was a remarkable 39.1%.
Calculations show that the basketball team's true shooting percentage is 61.5%.
These three data points are all ranked first in the category.
This is enough to show that the Nets' scoring ability has been completely transformed since last year.
This is also the biggest reason why the Nets were able to achieve a 16-game winning streak and rank first in the entire league.
At first, no one believed that the Nets would win so many games in a row.
Almost every time the Nets win a game, some commentators predict that the Nets will lose.
However, the Nets' winning streak continues.
After Christmas, the Nets continued their road trip, defeating the Hawks and Hornets, ending their 2022 season with an impressive 18-game winning streak.
But this is not the end!
On January 2, the Nets defeated the Spurs by a large margin at home, a team that was tanking and looking to acquire a coach.
19 consecutive wins!
The Nets solidified their position as the league's number one team with a 19-game winning streak.
The Nets' 19-game winning streak propelled them into the top ten of the league's all-time winning streak list.
Although they are only tied for tenth place with the Celtics, Lakers, Hawks, and Spurs, it's enough to drive fans crazy.
1 month 4 day.
Chicago.
The Nets' winning streak has finally come to an end.
With DeRozan, Williams, and Vucevic all scoring over 20 points, the Bulls defeated the Nets at home.
Although Durant scored 44 points and Wang Xiucheng contributed 25 points and 11 assists, the Nets still couldn't beat the Bulls, whose entire team contributed.
What made Wang Xiucheng both laugh and cry was that Royce O'Neal couldn't get a single shot off today, no matter how hard he tried.
Wang Xiucheng was speechless as he missed all eight of his three-point attempts.
The Nets' road trip continues.
The league's All-Star voting has officially begun.
As many commentators and reporters predicted, Wang Xiucheng ranked among the top five in the Eastern Conference.
It's not just the fans who highly approve of Wang Xiucheng this season.
Even journalists with voting rights have a very high opinion of Wang Xiucheng.
It seems that Wang Xiucheng will have a chance to make the All-Star team in his second season.
Meanwhile, calls for Wang Xiucheng to continue participating in the dunk contest are growing louder.
Some, including Shaquille O'Neal, have publicly stated that, based on last year's All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, if Wang Xiucheng doesn't participate this year, no one will watch the Slam Dunk Contest.
The alliance did not respond to whether it would proactively invite Wang Xiucheng.
Nets head coach Steve Nash stated in several post-game press conferences that he was unsure whether Wang Xiucheng would participate in the dunk contest.
It seems that this mystery will be gradually revealed over time.
The Nets continue their road trip.
Although the Nets won their next two games against the Heat and the Pelicans, the victories were hard-fought.
Especially the game against the Heat, the two teams fought until the last second.
Fortunately, the Nets defeated the Heat by one point, bringing them back to New York with a record of 31 wins and 9 losses.
In their next game, the Nets will host the Celtics.
This game also attracted the attention of the entire league.
The last time the two teams faced off was only a month ago.
The rivalry between the two teams is still fresh in everyone's minds.
Jayson Tatum, in particular, said in an interview with TNT after defeating the Pelicans: "Although the Nets have won 19 straight games, for fans, the Knicks are the true representative of New York."
This statement is somewhat hard for Brooklyn fans to accept.
Although the whole United States, and even the whole world, knows that the representative of New York is the Knicks.
However, the Nets' record this year is much better than the Knicks', so Tatum's words were clearly provocative.
Wang Xiucheng was asked about this matter during an interview.
"Tatum said the Nets aren't as strong as the Knicks, Wang, what's your response?"
Wang Xiucheng glanced at the white reporter who had asked the question, then asked with some puzzlement, "Tatum? Is there something wrong with his head? Didn't he take a two-week break?"
Instantly, several reporters burst into laughter.
Wang Xiucheng knocked Tatum so hard he had to rest for half a month last time.
Wang Xiucheng's meaning was clear: Tatum has something wrong with his head, which is why he's been resting for so long.
The Nets and Celtics game hasn't even started yet, but the atmosphere off the court is already tense.