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Chapter 138, Section 136: The Silver Horn King in His Transition Period
Durant and Yi Shui traded three drives to the basket, but neither scored.

Yi Shui combined McGrady's twisting back step and James' tank-like drive to forcefully penetrate the defense. Durant couldn't stop him from making a single play, and on one occasion, he couldn't even stay close enough to defend, allowing Yi Shui to charge at full speed. Krstic, who was positioned under the basket, didn't have time to dodge and was dunked on...

Durant was prepared that he couldn't break through Yi Shui's defense. Although he had been learning for two months, he didn't have much time to practice during the season. He had only reached the level of 'learning' and was not yet proficient. He was okay against Gay, who didn't like physical contact, Beasley, whose defense was terrible, and other forwards, but he would definitely have a hard time against Yi Shui.

Last week, during a road trip in the Eastern Conference, he struggled to penetrate against the defense of James and Pierce.

But Yi Shui used a similar breakthrough, making Durant question his life. This morning, he heard from Westbrook that Yi Shui was also practicing the kind of breakthrough that McGrady had been practicing since after Christmas. At the time, he thought, "Great minds think alike." Now, he feels like Westbrook is about to crack.

It's only been a few days since Christmas? How come you're already so skilled?

He paid close attention to Yi Shui's performance. Whenever he had time, he would watch the Knicks' games live. Yesterday, he even watched the recordings of the Knicks' recent games and was certain that Yi Shui had never used this tactic.

Durant recalled that it took him about three weeks from the start of practice to daring to try it in a game! It wasn't until the middle of this month, after more than a month of hard practice on left-handed ball control, that he was able to control his turnovers!

However, he quickly adjusted his mindset. Through playing against Pierce, James, and Yi Shui, he at least realized that strengthening his left-hand ball control and using the reverse step could effectively avoid mistakes when playing against these physically strong opponents, so this approach was correct.

Moreover, Yi Shui's breakthrough technique is obviously inferior to his. Yi Shui did not use his non-dominant hand to control the ball when he broke through. He only added a reverse step. His breakthrough was stronger because he was stronger and had better ball control.

Durant believes that as time goes on, he will definitely be able to catch up with Yi Shui, after all, he is one year and three months younger than Yi Shui!

Instead of continuing to confront Yi Shui head-on, Durant, unable to win, started off-ball offense, letting Westbrook take the lead.

But tonight, Westbrook wasn't really looking to be the main offensive threat. He felt tired, more tired than playing back-to-back games or four games in five days. He had been tricked by his despicable business partner yesterday.

But with the ball in his hands, he had no choice but to shoot, so he could only blindly rush forward!
Curry was mentally prepared to be unable to defend, but he defended very actively and hard, trying his best to keep up with Westbrook's footwork... and he actually managed to keep up!

Curry stuck to Westbrook, guiding him to drive into the paint from the baseline, but Swift collapsed in and swatted away Westbrook's floater with a powerful block!
The elementary school student's body trembled. He didn't know why; maybe Turtle had been drained dry by some girl yesterday? That didn't matter. What mattered was that Turtle wasn't in good shape today! Tonight, he was going to crush Show Number 4!

...

The outcome of the game was hardly in doubt; the Thunder were just hoping to lose every night, finish last, and defeat Griffin.

Scott Brooks prioritized ensuring Westbrook had good one-on-one opportunities to drive to the basket, and secondly, ensuring Durant had enough shot attempts.

Durant's performance tonight was much better than in the opening game. After starting 0-for-3, he went 8-for-16 at one point. His off-ball movement and shots off screens were difficult for Yi Shui to keep up with.

However, after playing more than 35 minutes and taking nearly 20 shots, Durant's shooting performance declined rapidly, missing his last three shots.

最终22投8中、其中三分球9中3，加上5中5的罚球，拿到24分。

Westbrook... Tonight, he made 3 of 13 shots, plus 2 of 4 free throws, for a total of 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. This was his worst performance since becoming a starter. Although his shooting percentage was also low at only 35% when he started, tonight was unprecedentedly bad.

Despite his poor form, Scott Brooks still played him for 30 minutes and assigned him to be the primary scorer...

19投11中、其中三分球2中1，加上9中8的罚球，易水打了35分钟，拿到31分10板6助攻1抢断2盖帽。

库里面对疲软的维斯布鲁克表现出色，14投8中，其中三分球6中4，加上2中2的罚球拿到22分3板6助攻2抢断。

两人携手率队，以117比98轻取雷霆队，尼克斯队用一场胜利告别2008年！21胜9负！
...

On the last day of 2008, Yi Shui and his teammates were on their way from Oklahoma City to Dallas.

After a night's rest, January 1st, 2009, marked the start of a new year.

When Yi Shui woke up, he received a system notification that he had become a 210+230 power forward. However, when he looked in the mirror, he didn't feel any difference from yesterday. This 'development' did not result in any changes in the assessed values ​​of speed, agility, jumping ability, etc. The system's reply was that the degree of damage to his athletic ability did not reach the level of a decline in values.

There will definitely be an impact, but he has maintained high-intensity training for a long time, as always, which has greatly reduced the impact of 'development'.

There's only one month left. Perseverance is key to victory!
The official winners for the latest monthly awards were announced this morning.

Rookie of the Month.

东部：易水，14场，9胜5负，场均25.9分9板4.6助攻1.8抢断2盖帽。

Western Conference: Kevin Love, 16 games, 4 wins and 12 losses, averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds per game. Coach of the Month.

Eastern Conference: Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, 13 wins and 3 losses.

Western Conference: Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl, 12 wins and 3 losses.

Player of the Month.

东部：詹姆斯，16场，13胜3负，场均27分7.3板7.5助攻2.3抢断1盖帽。

西部：科比，15场，13胜2负，场均26.2分4.8板5.4助攻1.6抢断。

Although he didn't have high expectations, Yi Shui was still a little sad when he saw that he wasn't the Player of the Month... However, James has been incredibly strong in the regular season these past two years, and his record is excessively good. In the end, it seems that he overtook the Celtics and Lakers to take the top spot in the regular season?

It seems the Cavaliers will also secure the top seed in the regular season next year.

At 8 p.m., the Knicks began their 2009 campaign with a matchup against the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

After a two-and-a-half-hour battle, the Knicks narrowly defeated the Mavericks 114-109!
易水21投10中，其中三分球9中4，加上6中6的罚球，拿到30分11板3助攻2抢断1盖帽，成功将印着小牛队logo的挂件扔向了观众席。

大卫-李13投8中，加上5中4的罚球，拿到20分15板。

The two players led their team to dominate the Mavericks' rebounding, with the Knicks grabbing 58 rebounds compared to the Mavericks' 37, a net gain of 21 rebounds.

In terms of offensive rebounds, Yi Shui had 5, David Lee had 7, and the team had 20!
To reduce Nowitzki's movement and energy expenditure on defense, Carlisle assigned Nowitzki to stay under the basket, with Josh Howard and Kidd blocking him in the middle and on the wings, while Nowitzki was responsible for the final interference.

Therefore, the aging Dampier was benched and substituted after only 3 minutes in the starting lineup. Backup power forward Brandon Bass has been playing more minutes than Dampier. He is stronger than Dampier in the paint because of his speed and ability to collapse and double-team.

The effect was actually very good. Nowitzki's average points per game soared from 23.6 points last season to 26.4 points, and his defensive efficiency also improved. He is indeed not suitable for perimeter defense. If he stands still, he can at least use his height to interfere with shots.

Dirk Nowitzki's defensive performance was actually quite good tonight, and he dominated the Knicks offensively, scoring a game-high 33 points, but he only had 5 rebounds... He was repeatedly attacked on second-chance points by Yi Shui and David Lee!

With Bass's collapse defense, Josh Howard's delaying action, and Kidd's help defense, Nowitzki's regular rim protection is really good.

Without Dampier's positioning, Nowitzki couldn't guard the boards effectively, and he was helpless when the opponent grabbed the offensive rebounds. The Knicks scored 28 points on second-chance opportunities tonight!
The Mavericks, in a period of transition, are going through their most difficult phase. After losing to the Knicks, their record dropped to 18 wins and 14 losses. This is the worst record for the Mavericks in the same period in nine seasons since 2000-01, and it is even worse than the season of the 'three All-Star power forwards' in 2003-04.

In their first game of the new year, the Knicks won, improving their record to 22 wins and 9 losses. The next day, on the evening of January 2nd, the Knicks flew from Dallas in the Southwest to Charlotte on the East Coast to face the Bobcats in a back-to-back game... and lost 89-96.

Unable to make shots from the outside and unable to defend inside... After the first quarter, D'Antoni let Yi Shui start playing.

Facing Gerald Wallace's primary defense and Okafor's close-range double-team, Yi Shui scored 31 points.

就是命中率差了点，将将超过40%，27投11中、其中三分球11中3，加上8中6的罚球。

...

Returning to New York with a 2-2 away record, Yi Shui hung up two ornaments he had brought back in his study.

He had heard Yao Ming say that the period between Christmas and All-Star Weekend is the most difficult phase of the regular season.

I've been playing for two months now, and the enthusiasm and desire I had before the season started have almost worn off, and my body is starting to feel fatigued.

He personally didn't feel anything about it; he enjoys playing games and doesn't care about physical strength.

但队友们……昨晚他27中11拿到31分已经很铁了，但队友们更铁，60投22中只拿到58分。

His outside shooting was actually quite average on the day he played the Mavericks. He took nine three-pointers that day, which really required him to create space and he and David Lee to fight for the rebounds together. Fortunately, he made four of them that day.

Yi Shui took out the team handbook and saw the tight schedule ahead... It was foreseeable that he would be facing the most difficult period since entering the NBA, which was very anxiety-inducing, but he was not afraid!
Just do it! Losing may be inevitable, but only by giving it your all to win every game will you have no regrets!

(End of this chapter)