Dwight Howard: If nothing else, Lin should also be the MVP this season, right?

Kobe Bryant: Damn it! What a magical and dreamy day! Girls, go to bed early! We have to play the Thunder in two days!

Usually if someone is chatting in the group, Nick Young will definitely be the most active, but today I have sent dozens of messages, and I don’t see Nick Young popping up.

Obviously, Nick Young was having a great time in the nightclub and had no time to read the messages in the group.

Lin Tian also quickly sent a message.

Lin Tian: Thank you everyone! I’ll treat you to steak next time!

…

At noon the next day, after his appointment with Sistine, Lin Tian returned to the Lakers training facility.

He trained alone today, while the other players stayed at home.

After spending a day in the training hall, Lin Tian returned to his apartment and started watching replays of the Thunder this season.

Although the Thunder are ranked third in the Western Conference this season, their strength is definitely underestimated.

Although Lin Tian was not a Thunder fan in his previous life, he still felt sorry for the Thunder in the 2016 season.

They did lead the Warriors 3:1!

Although they did not reach the finals, Lin Tian believed that if the Thunder had surpassed the Warriors that season, they would have a good chance of defeating the Cavaliers.

The Thunder's starting lineup is extremely outstanding, especially their defense.

Looking through the Thunder's video this season, Lin Tian discovered that they are a team that likes to rob the rich and give to the poor.

When playing against strong teams, they are very aggressive and unstoppable, but many times they lose to teams that look weak on paper.

This is also the main reason why the Thunder rank third in the Western Conference.

After watching part of the video, the team's assistant coach sent the technical characteristics of all Thunder players to Lin Tian's mobile phone.

Although he had seen it before, Lin Tian watched it again, including the personal experience of Thunder coach Donovan.

If you want to understand a team, you must understand its head coach.

What many people don't know is that Billy Donovan actually played in the NBA. Although he was just a water cooler manager, this also made him different from many academic coaches and had valuable practical experience.

Donovan is best known for his coaching achievements in the NCAA, where he twice led his college teams to NCAA championships.

In today's league, there are still several players who were Donovan's disciples in college.

For example, Horford, Bradley Beal and others.

This season is actually Donovan's first season coaching an NBA team, and he is a rookie coach.

Donovan, who was born in the NCAA, attaches great importance to team basketball and even yearns for egalitarianism.

But this obviously won't work in the NBA. The NBA is not as pure as the NCAA. It is a business league and the head coach does not have much power.

Especially since Donovan has two superstars at his disposal.

How to balance the superstar's ball rights is a problem for Donovan.

And judging from some of the Thunder's game videos this season, Durant obviously doesn't take this rookie coach very seriously.

Lin Tian knows that although the Thunder's starting lineup is very strong this season, Donovan relies heavily on five starting players.

The Thunder's lineup is not deep enough, and Donovan does not have much trust in some substitute players.

This seemed to be a good opportunity for the Lakers, but Lin Tian changed his mind and realized that the Lakers' bench depth was worse, so he could only shake his head with a wry smile.

The next morning, the entire Lakers team flew to Oklahoma City.

According to the schedule and playoff rules, G1 and G2 between the Lakers and Thunder will start at the Thunder's home court.

Naturally, they had to come to Oklahoma in advance and take a walk on the field.

As the youngest team in the NBA, the Thunder have a lot of fans because they have two superstars.

After the players rested in the hotel for two hours, they entered the Chesapeake Energy Stadium to adapt to the environment.

Although this arena is not young, its various supporting facilities are relatively complete.

After the players warmed up, the day's training officially began.

The time between the regular season and the playoffs is actually not long, only two days.

After spending a day in Oklahoma City, the game between the Lakers and Thunder also started!

This time when the Lakers players stepped into the arena, the fans did not give them any more applause or cheers.
Chapter completed!