Chapter 851: Chapter 278: He Is the Chosen One, and the Only One
When Kevin Durant left the court, his head hung even lower.
Su Wan watched him and knew clearly that this guy was blaming himself to an extreme.
This is Kevin Durant!
Although Durant later did something even crazier than LeBron:
Not only did he form a peak alliance, but he also joined the enemy team that defeated him, and this move happened just after losing in May, and joining them in July.
But the biggest difference between Kevin Durant and LeBron is this.
If the team loses, he will first question himself.
Especially when he doesn’t perform well, he will become incredibly self-critical.
But LeBron is different.
If he doesn’t play well... well, at least statistically, he rarely has bad numbers.
This only makes him more convinced that losing is never his fault, it’s always his teammates’ fault!
And if they lose, it’s because his teammates weren’t strong enough!
Also, both Westbrook and James Harden wore looks of dejection on their faces.
This year, the Thunder Team consistently held the second position in the Western conference and even got into the NBA Finals later. Hence, throughout this year, most media mentions of the "Thunder Three Youngsters" were mainly praises.
Therefore, this season, not only Kevin Durant but even Westbrook and James Harden were very confident.
Encountering such a defeat, there’s no way they wouldn’t be dejected.
And after this game, the media that favored the Thunder Team before the game completely went silent.
This means...
David Stern also gave up.
Indeed, it’s come to this, continuing to hype up the Thunder Team’s chances of winning would just be mocking fools.
Even the media in Oklahoma felt a bit hopeless after this game.
What can they do? Losing was just too ugly.
If there were even a glimmer of hope, for the Oklahoma media experiencing the NBA Finals for the first time, they’d still deceive themselves.
But the result is, no matter from which angle they look at the first two games, they only have one feeling:
The gap is really freaking huge!
They simply couldn’t find any reason to persuade themselves and the fans of this city to stay optimistic.
Oh, alright!
To be fair, there is a reason, like...
The Thunder Team has only lost two games so far, trailing 0-2. In NBA Finals history, it’s not unheard of for a team down 0-2 to come back and win it all.
Of course, in history, a team losing by a total of 45 points in the first two games and still turning it around has never happened in the NBA.
Yet, despite everyone overwhelmingly supporting the New York Knicks, for the third game of the Finals, Thunder Team fans still packed the Energy Square Arena.
After all, this is this city’s first Finals trip, even if the whole world has written them off, they must support their team until the very last moment.
The spirit of the "Youth Army" is truly endless.
Even though they left New York Knicks utterly dejected last game, once they returned to their home court, they each regained their fighting spirit.
Ibaka seized the ball for first possession again for the team.
Westbrook took the ball and charged decisively.
Before this game, "God Turtle" had made up his mind that he must attack with all his might, bearing the whole team on his shoulders.
This was supposed to be the responsibility bestowed upon Kevin Durant by this city.
Westbrook never intended to take his place.
But now that Kevin Durant has been underwhelming for two consecutive games and couldn’t step up, what else is there to say?
It’s his turn to step forward!
Stephen Curry was directly shoved aside.
His strength isn’t actually weak, but he’s lacking too much in tonnage.
If he was bracing himself, he even pushed past LeBron James. But without bracing, his lack of size gets exposed.
For instance, in this possession against Westbrook...
Starting off with a goal, the crowd erupted into cheers.
The entire arena exploded instantly.
It’s not surprising that Thunder Team fans still support the team under such circumstances.
As a "Youth Army" full of talent, this team is packed with slam dunk madmen, playing exceptionally thrilling basketball.
Especially Westbrook, being this "Energy Boy" goes even further...
"Energy Igniter!"
Even Su Wan must admit, watching Westbrook play is a pleasure.
However, seeing Westbrook in such good form, Su Wan wasn’t worried at all.
He wasn’t worried, but Brooks was faintly worried...
"Swish!"
Then the next possession perfectly explained why Su Wan wasn’t concerned, but Brooks was a little worried.
On the New York Knicks side, Dior held the ball steadfastly and handed it to Tyson Chandler under the basket for a slam dunk. As it turned to Thunder Team’s offense, Westbrook once again seized the ball and charged.
This time, Stephen Curry braced himself, stopped Westbrook, and as Su Wan dashed over, he passed the ball in time, sending it into Dior’s hands.
"..."
Brooks speechlessly raised a hand, wanting to cover his face but stopped.
Su Wan, however, showed an "I knew it" smile.
This is Westbrook!
A man whose highs and lows are almost infinitely apart!
He can make an astounding move that makes the opponent shake their heads in the previous second, only to commit a ridiculous blunder leaving teammates speechless in the subsequent one.