Hello everyone, I'm A-Du.

Chapter 19 Regular Season Opening Game

With an easy 4-1 record in the preseason, Durant earned the nickname "Preseason Kaleidoscope" thanks to his explosive stats in the first game and his ever-changing, all-around and dazzling playing style, and his popularity soared across the United States.

This has fueled the anticipation among American fans for Kevin Durant's return to the regular season.

On October 31, 2007, Du Xiaoshuai flew with the team to Denver to join the Nuggets.

The regular season opener between the SuperSonics and the Nuggets has garnered significant attention after a week of anticipation.

TNT secured a nationally televised broadcast of the game.

TNT's Golden Trio of Ernie Jensen, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith all made an appearance. Upon their first meeting, the chubby Barkley walked up to Du Xiaoshuai, gestured Du Xiaoshuai's height with his head, and then cut the line diagonally down to his own chest, as if Du Xiaoshuai was just a child whose head only reached his shoulder.

In his previous life, Du Xiaoshuai's favorite basketball host was this big-mouthed guy who liked to be cheeky. He opened his arms and hugged Barkley, then rested his chin on Flying Pig's bald head.

Ernie and Kenny, who were standing next to him, almost burst out laughing and told the photographer to record it quickly.

"Sir Charles, I'm a fan of yours," Durant said before Barkley could react. "You know, I can imitate the playing style of most of the league's superstars, but you can't."

"Oh?" Barkley, flattered, was overjoyed. "You've heard my story too?"

"Is it because he's too short?" Kenny Smith chimed in from the side.

Seeing Barkley's face turn sour again, Durant quickly said, "Of course not! Jordan is the same height as you, but I can still play like him."

Barkley's expression softened slightly: "Why?"

"I'll never have your big butt." Du Xiaoshuai raised his hand and patted Barkley's butt with a laugh.

"Hmm—you're right, it seems you really are my fan." Barkley had a smug look on his face that said "you know me." His naturally large buttocks had always been his proudest feature, and Durant's flattery had really hit the nail on the head.

Kenny Smith and Ernie Jensen exchanged a speechless glance.

"So, for your debut in the league, how many points are you planning to score today?" Barkley asked, shoving the microphone right up to Durant's lips.

Are you being polite? What did you put in my mouth? If this were censored, how could I ever face anyone?!

With a tactical lean back, Du Xiaoshuai made a delicate gesture with his pinky finger, held the microphone a little distance away, and said slowly, "That depends on how many points the opponent can score."

Du Xiaoshuai used a pink status card again today; he's incredibly strong right now!

Barkley laughed heartily. He loved this kind of subtle yet confident high-level talk. As one of the few black basketball superstars to have earned a college degree in economics, he felt that the overall cultural level of the league was too low, and that many players' trash talk was vulgar and lacked substance.

Judging from his interviews after joining the league, Durant's answers have a certain artistic flair, and many of his memorable quotes will become classics as his strength and fame grow.

This is an innate superstar quality, and it will make them the darlings of the media.

The Nuggets' roster consists of point guard Allen Iverson, shooting guard J.R. Smith, small forward Carmelo Anthony, power forward Kenyon Martin, and center Marcus Camby.

This starting lineup continues the golden duo from last season, plus the track and field style specially tailored by George Karl for the Nuggets. On the Denver plateau in Colorado, at an altitude of over 1,600 meters, the home team has a clear advantage in terms of physical strength.

The Nuggets have a consistently high home winning percentage, but this team has a major weakness – a weak defensive system.

On paper, the Nuggets' frontcourt is in the upper-middle tier of the league, featuring the league's best defensive player—DPOY and shot-blocking champion Marcus Camby, All-Star power forward Kenyon Martin, Nene the one-ball superman, and the relatively unknown forward Edondo Najera.

In addition, there are Linas Kleiza and Carmelo Anthony on the front line.

But a roster on paper is just that—on paper. Most of the Nuggets' big men are more famous than they are actually talented, especially Marcus Camby, the second overall pick in the same draft year as Kobe. He was a fragile, athletic player who squandered his talent, a notorious stat-padder in the league, prioritizing salary over stats. He often lost his position for a single block, severely damaging the team's defense. Can you imagine a team with the second-worst defensive efficiency in the league producing a Defensive Player of the Year? —Duncan commented that NBA coaches' evaluation standards are quite arbitrary! Whatever makes you happy!

Kenyon Martin was better on offense. As the first number one draft pick of the 21st century, he reached the NBA Finals with Kidd. He was very passionate and his dunks were brutal. His defense was average. This guy was also a bit of a bully. He was good at dealing with weaker interior players, but he would be completely overwhelmed by stronger power forwards. He was overwhelmed by the four great power forwards in the early 2000s.

If the Kings hadn't caught the controversial call in 02 and had bypassed the Lakers to reach the Finals, Chris Webber, the weakest of the four forwards, would likely have dominated Kenyon Martin and won the Finals MVP.

Brazilian football star Nene Hilario, a man who is about to have one of his testicles removed due to testicular cancer, is actually the most reliable center on the team, yet he is a substitute. Isn't that absurd?

On paper, strength often needs to be supported by US dollars. These "hidden dragons and phoenix chicks" have quite a reputation, and their strength is not much stronger than the supersonics' inside players, but their cost is much higher.

In the past two years, the Nuggets' salaries have far exceeded the salary cap. The trade for Iverson, a star whose popularity had declined, was also to boost the team's market value. Otherwise, the high luxury tax would be a headache for the team owner.

The team's head coach, George Karl, is a controversial white coach who is considered second to none in the coaching world. He has a bad relationship with almost all of his players and is a cancer patient who can be even more verbally abusive than P.J.

He has some coaching skills, but not many. His story could fill five thousand words.

It's worth mentioning that George Karl's rise to prominence began with the SuperSonics. During his seven years as coach, he averaged over 60 wins per season. In the late 90s, he led the SuperSonics, with Payton and Kemp as their core players, to the NBA Finals, going head-to-head with Jordan's 72-win season, thus establishing himself as a renowned coach.

The Nuggets players and the SuperSonics veterans have a close relationship. Collins and Martin are former teammates of the Nets, and former number one draft pick Joe Smith was still with the Nuggets last year. Before the game, he acted as a middleman, leading Durant, Billups, James Posey, Anthony, Iverson, and Marcus Camby to greet everyone.

Apart from Du Xiaoshuai, the others who hadn't even warmed up yet all had big gold chains and tattoos, making them look like gang leaders at a gathering.

"Kevin, welcome to Denver. Let's go clubbing sometime." Melo, with his gangster-like demeanor, stepped forward, gave Du Xiaoshuai a big hug, and patted his butt as he spoke.

"Sure, you can come find us when you come to Seattle." The seemingly harmless and well-behaved Du Xiaoshuai replied instantly, "Changxi and I are always available, we're brothers!"

The crowd surrounded Du Xiaoshuai, laughing heartily, like the Liangshan heroes who had just recruited government troops...

At 7:20, the game started as scheduled. The Pepsi Center was filled with fans wearing baby blue jerseys, most of whom wore the numbers 15 and 3 on their chests.

Marcus easily won the jump ball, and the Nuggets' first offensive possession saw Carmelo Anthony receive the ball on the right side of the backcourt and post up against Kevin Durant.

Anthony set up his classic triple threat, took two steps, then turned and jumped back for a fadeaway jump shot. Durant stretched out his long arm to contest the shot, the ball bounced off the rim, Camby grabbed the rebound, and passed it to Iverson at the high post.

AI dribbles the ball twice quickly, shakes off Billups in front of him, rushes into the three-second zone, stops and shoots, and scores off the backboard.

Supersonics 0-2 Nuggets.

This is the power of the Golden Twin Guns; even if one of them is restricted, the other's offensive capabilities are still a headache.

Billups dribbled the ball across half-court and set a screen with Durant at the top of the key.

Billups passed the ball to Durant, who received it beyond the three-point line. Facing Anthony, who was defending with his hands outstretched, Durant shrugged the ball, bent his knees, took a step forward, faked twice, and pulled up for a three-pointer, which went in with a "swish".

Simple and efficient, yet effortlessly sophisticated!

Carmelo Anthony, whose defensive resolve was waning, ignored the increasingly agitated Karl on the sidelines and ran towards the front without looking back.

3-2.

Anthony called for the ball in the low post, backed down Durant, turned and fadeaway, but missed. Thomas, who was in position, grabbed the rebound.

Billups orchestrated the play, passing to Jeff Green who was cutting in. Green's layup attempt was disrupted by Camby and missed.

The Nuggets launched a counterattack. Iverson made a quick pass to Kenyon Martin, who made a layup on the sprint. Durant chased after him from behind and blocked the shot! Martin flew out of bounds.

The basketball bounced off the backboard and was grabbed by Iverson, who was following behind. However, Jeff Green also caught up. Iverson was too short to shoot, so he rushed into the restricted area, ran out of the paint, and passed the ball to Anthony, who entered the three-point line. Anthony then made a mid-range shot at a 45-degree angle.

3-4.

In the second half, Du Xiaoshuai received the ball at the top of the arc on the right side, took a probing step, rushed two steps inside the three-point line, and then made a mid-range jumper and fadeaway jumper.

5-4.

During the Nuggets' offense, Iverson saw Durant in front of Anthony and made a long pass to Kenyon Martin. Martin dribbled the ball and quickly drove to the basket, where he dunked over his former teammate Collins, who was standing guard.

5-6!

Kenyon Martin roared with passion.

The Nuggets were gaining momentum, so Billups decided to play it safe. He dribbled the ball across half-court, directed his teammates to run, and saw Iverson, who was shorter than him, standing not too far away. He raised his hand and shot.

That's just how Langbi is!

The ball went in! Aren't you angry?

In the original timeline, Billups and Iverson were to swap teams next season. After acquiring Hafner, the Nuggets took off and immediately led Anthony to the Western Conference Finals, proving themselves once again.

You should know that I played for over a decade before ever reaching the Western Conference Finals.

8:6.

George Karl didn't care about Iverson's height or defensive ability; he just couldn't stand Iverson's defensive stance and stood on the sideline of the team bench, hurling insults at him.

Having been through Larry Brown's baptism, Answer is already a tough nut to crack. Once on the court, he only plays according to his own will, completely ignoring the noise from George Karl.

At the start of the game, both sides had decent shooting percentages. After 6 minutes, Karl called a long timeout.

18:18, Supersonics have possession.

Back in the coaching area, Du Xiaoshuai, who had scored 9 points, stood with his hands on his hips, listening to P.J.'s excited gestures.

"Listen, Kevin, you can try posting up today. Their interior defense is just as trash as ours. Just play like you do in practice and dominate them!"

The big, experienced guys standing behind P.J. looked grim.

Although, but—

Don't we have any pride?

The home fans cheered enthusiastically, and during the break, a few young people even shouted "Come On" to Durant. The atmosphere was harmonious and friendly, without any of the arrogance that would later be associated with asking where someone's father was.

George Karl of the Nuggets didn't have time to criticize anyone; he quickly devised new tactics to limit Kevin Durant.

To be fair, Coach Karl's tactical repertoire is indeed extensive. After returning to the court, Durant felt uncomfortable on his first possession. Anthony, whose defense was terrible, was moved to power forward, and the passionate and energetic forward Edondo Najera was brought on to match up against him.

Edondo Najera immediately went up against Durant, playing rough and aggressive defense. When Durant drove to the basket, Najera would wrap his arm around him and squeeze his lower body when shooting. He used many dirty tricks.

The shot missed.

Little Melon stuck out his butt and grabbed the rebound.

With no need for defense, Carmelo Anthony's offense was also unleashed. He quickly ran back with the ball, coordinating with Iverson in the elbow area, easily tearing apart Jeff Green and Billups' defense, and scoring with a layup.

"Towards the inside!" P.J. shouted from the sidelines, his hands clasped together as a megaphone.

On the next play, Du Xiaoshuai indeed called for the ball in the low post, his teammates spread out, and Edondo Najera entered the three-second zone to defend.

George Karl seemed to have planned this all along. As soon as Durant received a pass from Billups in the paint, Camby and Anthony in the center quickly moved in to double-team him.

Du Xiaoshuai raised the basketball high with both hands and passed it to Collins, who successfully made the layup.

"Is this a test of my passing and vision?" Du Xiaoshuai scratched his head as he went back to defense.

In the next two rounds, Du Xiaoshuai understood Karl's purpose in making the adjustment.

The Nuggets relied on Edondo Najera to slightly limit Durant's offensive speed and difficulty, and then let Anthony fully engage in the offensive end and play a defensive counter-attack strategy with Iverson, allowing the Nuggets to speed up their pace.

After Durant scored a few baskets early on, Karl realized that the Nuggets' defensive resources were simply insufficient to completely limit him on the defensive end.

Since that's the case, let's just go head-to-head. The Nuggets have two sharpshooters, and their firepower is famous throughout the league. I don't believe that Iverson and Anthony can score less than Durant.

Furthermore, once they get going, the Nuggets can use their home-court advantage to wear down their opponents.

Du Xiaoshuai saw through the opponent's tactics and continued to follow the coach's instructions, penetrating deep into the paint and using low-post back-to-the-basket moves to increase his success rate.

At first, I was a little nervous about the Nuggets' triple-teaming, but I found that Anthony wasn't putting in much effort and the double-teaming speed was always a beat too slow. Camby was easily faked out, and Edondo Najera was aggressive but short, which gave him room to easily take on three opponents.

With the ball in hand, Durant dribbled behind Edondo Najera's back, circled around to the left, grabbed the basket with one hand and shot. Camby jumped up to block the shot, grabbed the basketball with his big hand, spun around on his toes, and then switched sides, pressing down on the jumping Anthony and smoothly flicking the ball into the net.

The Nuggets lead by one point at 28:29.

A sharp pain shot through his waist; it was from Edondo Najura who had quietly elbowed him while Du Xiaoshuai turned around.

Du Xiaoshuai touched his slender waist with his eight-pack abs and retreated without expression.

The Nuggets were on offense. Iverson got the ball and rushed to attack. Billups followed up and came to the right elbow sweet spot. Iverson pulled up and took a fadeaway jump shot.

"Whoosh."

28:31.

Going back, Durant called for a three-pointer this time. After receiving the ball, he drove straight to the basket but was blocked by Camby. Durant then accelerated back to the three-point line, circled around, and charged at Najura, who was near the free-throw line, like a wild boar, before driving straight to the basket.

"Bang!" Najella, who had just been hit by Du Xiaoshuai's White Weakness Card, Brainless Card, and Taunt Card, was brought into the paint by the accelerated Du Xiaoshuai and pushed into the restricted area. Du Xiaoshuai suddenly stopped, turned around, dribbled, and leaned his back against Najella. Seeing Anthony preparing to surround him, he turned around, faced the basket, and slammed a dunk over Najella!

30:31.

Wearing purple-grade underwear, Du Xiaoshuai straightened his back in mid-air and used his groin to push the unbalanced Nahura away again.

Barkley, who was sitting on the sidelines hosting the live broadcast, jumped up excitedly.

"Flying pig to the sky!" Du Xiaoshuai's shot just now was exactly like his unstoppable style of play during his peak years, but it didn't do much damage and was extremely insulting!

"During the interview just now, Kevin said he couldn't imitate my style of play. He's a liar! This is my style of play. Yes, it was the strongest move in the league back then, bar none! The only thing that can limit me is the league's rules!" Sir Alex Ferguson boasted wildly.

Du Xiaoshuai's dunk was incredibly inspiring. After landing, he gave Najura a teasing look and said, "A million or two a year, why are you risking your life like that!"

Under the influence of the taunt card, Mexican player Najura felt his self-esteem had been greatly insulted and, in a moment of madness, shoved Du Xiaoshuai in the chest.

The referee blew his whistle and rushed over to separate the two.

Du Xiaoshuai raised his hands and stepped back, standing behind the referee and silently mouthing "Fu*k" to Nahura, looking completely calm.

Nahura suddenly felt a surge of anger, pushed the referee aside, and prepared to continue forward.

At this point, players from the Nuggets and SuperSonics gathered around, and the referee immediately gave Najura a technical foul, ordering everyone to disperse.

"Give him a urine test after the game, he definitely smoked! So impulsive! Mexican!" Du Xiaoshuai pressed on, adding fuel to the fire.

"Shut up!" the referee warned.

Anthony, unaware of the specifics, as the team leader, restrained the slightly out-of-control Najera and even gave Durant an OK sign.

"Oh—Edondo got his defense broken, Kenny, now you understand why I keep emphasizing the word 'tough'? Back in the day, if you played like that and weren't tough enough, you'd run into a lot of trouble like this. The league these days definitely has less physicality, and the Nuggets' interior defense is still so soft!" Barkley said gleefully.

Charles has no problem with the Nuggets and Anthony, but he has a grudge against George Karl. Back in the SuperSonics Western Conference Finals, Karl berated his players, saying they couldn't even beat a pig, and then dragged Charles into the game as well.

Of course, the result was that Barnes didn't lose out either. The Suns' peak-era "Big Three" was furious and used 44 points and 24 rebounds to take the game in Game 7, sending him to the Finals to meet the old rogue.

Who says you can't hold grudges after winning?

"Come on, Charles, nobody wants to see a bunch of millionaires and billionaires wrestling on the basketball court right now," Smith interrupted.

"No, you want to!"

Two free throws and possession, Du Xiaoshuai made both shots.

32:31.

PJ called a timeout and brought in a substitute. Du Xiaoshuai did not play again in the first quarter, and his score remained at 15 points.