When a game comes down to the final minute to decide the winner, the inexperience of a young team becomes apparent. In the last game against the Denver Nuggets, Kayce lost a defensive rebound.
Therefore, in this game against the Mavericks, Kayce would absolutely not make the same mistake again. With both free throws made, the Thunder, leading by 4 points, took control of the game.
Head Coach Carlisle used his last timeout. Whether it was a 3-pointer or a quick 2-pointer, the next shot had to go in, followed immediately by a foul strategy.
But unfortunately, the opportunity arose, and Nowitzki missed the shot again. He had played too aggressively in the fourth quarter, and his stamina was affected in the final moments. Head Coach Carlisle could only sigh inwardly.
As Durant made both of his free throws again, the Thunder extended their lead to 6 points. The Mavericks knew the game was lost, and Jason Terry casually threw up a three-pointer after crossing half-court, which also clanked off the rim.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks 100-94 at home, reclaiming the top spot in the Western Conference with their win advantage.
After the game, players from both sides embraced. Nowitzki, despite the loss, still wore a friendly expression. He found Kayce, and the two chatted briefly.
"Kayce, you've been playing better and better recently. Maintain your current form; your style of play right now is excellent. A healthy body will allow you to have an even more brilliant professional career!"
"I still need to learn from you. Honestly, how do you execute such an exaggerated fadeaway jump shot? I really want to learn your shooting technique!"
Kayce truly admired Nowitzki's shot. The large fadeaway and high arc made it incredibly difficult to defend, as he realized after playing against him.
"Haha, actually, it's nothing. Everyone has their own preferred shooting style. I suggest you maintain your current physique and focus on strength training to make your body more efficient in generating power. Keep it up, Kayce!"
Nowitzki and Kayce exchanged many whispered words on the sidelines, which made the Chinese media, eager for an interview, quite anxious.
"I really want to know what they talked about. Have you noticed that Kayce gets along well with most players?"
The accompanying staff began to remind everyone around them that this would also be a small news hot topic. Upon hearing this, everyone started discussing it animatedly.
Su Qun, however, sighed silently to himself:
"If Yi Jianlian had this kind of social ability, he could at least score four or five more points for the Nets. Ultimately, playing basketball also involves understanding human relations."
Sina Sports secured the post-game interview slot. Seeing that Kayce had finished his pleasantries, the Sina Sports reporters quickly approached him.
"Kayce, congratulations on your victory over the Dallas Mavericks. We see that Oklahoma City fans are very enthusiastic. Can you briefly explain why the Thunder's performance has suddenly improved this season?"
The domestic media all knew that Kayce's Chinese was excellent, which made communication convenient, but it made it harder to fabricate news after the game. However, Sina Sports wanted to report truthfully, as Kayce was currently a hot topic in the domestic basketball scene.
"Actually, the Thunder's strength has always been very strong. They experienced a period of decline in Seattle, but after moving to Oklahoma City and two years of development, my teammates have begun to live up to their potential."
"Moreover, in the locker room, we also have experienced veterans leading the team. Coach Brooks and his coaching staff have also done a lot of work. Everyone is united, so our results are naturally good."
Kayce usually spoke comprehensively and flawlessly during interviews. The media had long experienced Kayce's skill. Aside from their initial interviews with Kayce, they later simply started making things up.
Anyway, as long as it wasn't too outrageous, Kayce didn't bother to argue. Many small media outlets gradually became more open, just hyping him up.
ESPN was already proclaiming Kayce as Jordan's successor, so small media outlets following suit and exaggerating were definitely not wrong.
Upon hearing Kayce's boilerplate answers, the Sina Sports reporter immediately felt his bonus slipping away and quickly asked a rather controversial question.
"In November, you won Rookie of the Month. Now, the December schedule is halfway through. Do you think you will win this award again?"
"Of course, whether it's team performance or individual statistics, I should be performing the best right now. Whether it's Player of the Week or Rookie of the Month, there's generally not much suspense for these awards."
"In terms of individual statistics, my good brothers James Harden and Stephen Curry are also playing very well, but unfortunately, the Thunder are currently first in the West, so I think the December Rookie of the Month will still be me."
Kayce was not overly modest about these awards. First in the West, 20+5+5—if the league wasn't blind, he would sweep all the rookie awards.
The Sina Sports reporter was stunned. Good heavens, it's still half a month away, and he's already claiming the award? But then he thought, this answer is great; it's sure to get traffic when it's sent back.
"Last question, you are very popular in China, and many fans like you very much. Is there anything you want to say to your Chinese fans?"
"Thank you all for your support and attention. The All-Star Game is coming soon, so I hope everyone will vote for me. Oh, and I've also registered for Sina Weibo, so you can follow me there. I'll give away signed jerseys when I have the chance."
"Can Sina Sports help me verify my account? It feels like many of your features are still in internal testing. Can you add a retweet lottery function?"
Kayce's latter half of the sentence was directed at the Sina staff around him. Weibo had just emerged in 2009, and joining now would certainly capitalize on the traffic boom.
"Uh, we'll provide feedback. Simple verification is definitely not a problem! Keep it up! See you at the press conference later!"
The Sina Sports media reporters and accompanying staff were a bit bewildered at this point. Didn't they say Kayce rarely paid attention to the domestic situation? How did he even know about something as trendy as Weibo?
After exchanging glances, a thought emerged in their minds.
"From now on, regarding news about Kayce, let's fabricate a little less."
After the game, in the Thunder's locker room, everyone was beaming. Returning to first place in the Western Conference, surpassing the Lakers, was indeed something to celebrate.
Coach Brooks also began to deliver a hearty pep talk:
"Guys, we're not looking at rankings or any of the media's fabricated news. I'm just speaking from my own feelings: the team is improving every moment, and everyone is growing rapidly."
"In the last game, in the final minute, we lost. But back at home, we withstood the pressure, and in the same final minute, we ultimately won."
"The Dallas Mavericks are a Playoff team, but we beat them. So what I want to say is, guys, don't underestimate yourselves. Although we are young, we are very strong."
"Keep up the hard work, young men!"
"Yeah!!!"
After an inspirational speech, the Thunder players were roaring in the locker room. Durant played exceptionally well in this game, efficiently scoring 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists, going 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Durant had found his rhythm with the whistles.
Feeling his leadership position might be slipping, Durant began to speak up actively in the locker room:
"Guys, after practice tomorrow, come to my place for a party. Thank you all for your support. I promise, all the famous hot girls from Oklahoma City will be there tomorrow night!"
"Wow! I can't wait, Kevin. You should have thrown this party sooner. The damn media is always attacking us; this is a good chance for everyone to relax!"
Jeff Green naturally had to support Durant. This was a great opportunity to win people over.
"That's right, a pre-Christmas party. Kayce originally wanted to host one too, but with Nina around, everyone definitely wouldn't be able to let loose. Thank you for this, Kevin!"
Russell also had to speak up for his good brother. The Thunder were now even starting to compete with their parties.
Kayce, who was accompanying Coach Brooks to the press conference, naturally didn't know about the small interlude that occurred in the locker room after he left. The struggle for leadership was slowly intensifying.
After attending the press conference and having Meg, the trainer, complete his physical therapy, it was already very late. Noticing that Kayce didn't show much fatigue, Meg couldn't help but chuckle softly:
"Kayce, your stamina is getting better and better, especially your recovery ability. It simply amazes me. It seems Tony's point was right; your current playing style is more efficient!"
Kayce, while stretching, replied jokingly:
"But many Oklahoma City fans are leaving comments under my Twitter, saying they miss my explosive Crossover from previous games. Luckily, they don't know Tony's Twitter, otherwise, you know!"
"Haha, that's certainly interesting, but your current playing style is still highly entertaining. Most importantly, you can avoid many injuries, and that's really important!"
"You need to think long-term, Kayce. We all hope you can play until you're 35. Then the three of us can retire peacefully."
As a trainer who had worked with many players, Meg had seen too many talented players fall. A healthy body is the foundation of everything.
"Don't worry, buddy, I guarantee you'll get a hefty retirement fund. It's still the same: you guys are the professionals, I trust you, and I accept all useful advice!"
Although Kayce was a cheat, the cheat couldn't exempt his body from injuries. Therefore, an appropriate, health-conscious playing style was beneficial for his physical well-being. Rose's style of play was not the path he wanted to take.
After driving home, Kayce quickly washed up and began replying to various messages on his phone. With so many superficial friends, maintaining them was a bit troublesome. Finally, after seeing Anne's message, his expression darkened.
"You two are really pushing it! Not coming home for Christmas, and you both want to come here to spend it with me?"
Although he felt some resistance, he had to agree to this immediately, otherwise, he would definitely suffer next year.
Kayce sighed helplessly, then immediately lay down on the soft bed. "Things will sort themselves out when they come to it; overthinking is useless!" With a devil-may-care attitude, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
In the Dream Training Space, Kayce called up the control panel and noticed two upgrade notifications in the achievement room, revealing an unsurprised expression.
"Sure enough, playing against strong teams and having the game decided in the final minute increases badge experience."
Entering the Achievement Room, after a quick check of his badge experience, he went to the two upgraded silver badges, touched them lightly, and checked the attribute changes:
Achievement Badge [Ball Control Master]: 2 / 500
Decreases the chance of being stolen by a defender and reduces stamina consumption after ball control confrontations.
Achievement Badge [Sticky Hands]: 1 / 500
Enhances the ability to receive difficult passes and quickly put the ball on the floor, and increases the shooting percentage when receiving difficult passes and shooting directly.
Kayce couldn't help but scratch his head when he saw the attributes of the [Sticky Hands] badge. This meant he was going to add more assists for Russell!
In the game against the Mavericks, Russell had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, with Kayce contributing two of those assists. The badge effect helped a lot, and now that the badge had leveled up again, he would definitely be more confident in taking difficult passes in the future.
"Is this the fate of a leader? I really want to experience the feeling of passing the buck…."
The Thunder once again returned to the top of the Western Conference by relying on their winning record. For this, TNT specially produced a special program on the Thunder, mainly analyzing their tactical play.
"Charles, you still have one chance to retract those views you said before. Admit it, man, you misjudged; you underestimated these young men!"
"OK, I retract some of my views. Kayce has changed this team; he is truly excellent. And by the way, James Harden, your performance has not met my expectations!"
Barkley remained stubborn, but on the matter of Rookie of the Year, he admitted he had misjudged.
"Alright, man, let's talk about something useful. Why do you think the Thunder have been successful this season? Is it because of Kayce's addition?"
Kenny Smith quickly brought the topic back to the main point.
"Of course, Kayce is definitely the core of this team. Look at what he does on the court: organizing offense, rebounding, scoring."
"In the game against the Dallas Mavericks, he had 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists, with only one turnover."
"Seeing such numbers, can you believe he's still a rookie? He is leading this Thunder team!"
Barkley had been thoroughly impressed by Kayce and was now almost a Kayce fanboy.
"Wow, very interesting point. What about Kevin and Russell? You know Kevin has always been the Thunder's primary scorer."
Kenny Smith started to stir up trouble; he knew fans loved to see comparisons between stars.
"Russell is excellent; his drives and transition offense are outstanding. But we know how the Thunder played last season without Kayce. He's still a second-year rookie and lacks some understanding of tactics."
"Kevin is definitely a genius scorer. Although I don't particularly like his playing style, I must admit his offensive talent is unparalleled. But it's worth noting that his defense has always been an issue."
"If you want to be a great player, if you want to be the core leader of a team."
"You must make yourself a two-way player. Look at how Michael Jordan played, look at how Kobe Bryant plays now."
"So, that's why I say Kayce is the core of this team; his defense is definitely underestimated."
"Look at his pressure on opposing guards, and then look at his previous defense on Anthony. I think Kayce is the undisputed leader."
Barkley praised Kayce so much that one might think he was paid for it.
The next morning, during a break, Durant watched the program and angrily chugged a large glass of juice.
"Shit! What a load of garbage! For the past two years, they said I bricked shots, and now that my shooting percentage is high, they say my defense is bad. I'm the leader of this team!"
"I must add some defensive skill training, fuck! I have to sanction Barkley's Twitter, that damn big mouth!"
On December 18th, the Thunder would host the Detroit Pistons tonight. After this game, they would immediately fly to Houston to challenge the Rockets on the road.
Although it was another back-to-back game, the Thunder players were in a cheerful mood. It must be said that Durant truly went all out to host the party and win over hearts.
Whether it was large balls or small balls, black balls or white balls, everything was available. The Thunder players said they wanted more of this kind of ball control training in the future.
Jeff Green began to show off his insider information again.
"Guys, Prince probably won't play tonight, so maybe the game will be a bit easier."
Kayce, who had been controlling large balls all night and was currently in good form, was swishing three-pointers. Hearing this news, he couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Do you have people in the Pistons' locker room too? It must be a smokescreen from them."
"Rodney Stuckey and I are still good friends. This guy has been on a roll lately, getting 25+ points in several consecutive games. We chatted a bit when we met this morning, so the news can't be wrong."
Rodney Stuckey was selected by the Pistons in the 15th overall pick of the first round in 2007, and he and Jeff Green were surface brothers. However, Kayce didn't have a deep impression of him from previous away games.
"Chauncey Billups has been starting for the Pistons in the last few games, so I also think our game tonight will be very easy."
Russell believed he could easily handle a 35-year-old veteran.
"Alright, boys, last tactical training session. Pay attention, and don't underestimate any opponent!"
Coach Brooks interrupted the players' chatter. He wanted to win the game early tonight, as there was another back-to-back game tomorrow, and he needed to conserve energy.
Chinese media reporters spent the entire day yesterday filming a lot of material in Oklahoma City. With the full cooperation of the Thunder, it was more than enough to produce a special program when they returned.
"I really didn't expect Kayce to be so popular in Oklahoma City. I looked around the forums here in America, and it's all praise!"
A staff member accompanying Su Qun said.
"He is indeed very impressive. TNT had a special program on the Thunder last night, and Barkley praised Kayce to the heavens. If it were us, we wouldn't dare to say that. We still know too little about Kayce!"
Su Qun knew that the domestic public opinion environment was not very good right now. Yi Jianlian was frequently questioned by fans. If they were to sing high praises for Kayce, it might even have the opposite effect.
"Sigh, it's not easy for a star player to emerge, but our own people can't even praise him. What kind of situation is this!"
The staff member also couldn't help but complain.
"It will get better gradually. Whether it's Yi Jianlian or Kayce, as long as they can maintain a high level of competitive form and play exciting games, I believe most fans will definitely support them!"
Su Qun hoped that Kayce's excellent performance could improve the domestic public opinion environment.
"I hope so!"
Kayce would arrive at the arena early for warm-ups before every game, but he had also been a bit troubled lately. He found that he had more and more muscular male fans, and he didn't even want to read the comments under his YouTube videos anymore.
Seeing three or five muscular male fans who had entered early waving frantically at him from the sidelines, Kayce's mouth twitched. He adjusted his facial expression and then waved back in greeting.
"Shit! Training too many muscles really does attract the same sex."
The Detroit Pistons currently had a record of 11 wins and 14 losses, ranking 9th in the Eastern Conference. Prince's injury absence made their already thin roster even worse.
Before the game started, Head Coach John Kuester looked at his starting lineup with some worry. Their perimeter defense was struggling, and their interior rim protection was weak.
"Stuckey, pay attention to your defense on Kayce. Be quick to get through screens. Ben, organize everyone's defensive rotations. If there's an opportunity, we can increase our offensive rebounding efforts!"
Ben Wallace immediately nodded, indicating he understood.
The Ford Center had extra seats tonight. The Oklahoma City fans' repeated complaints had indeed worked. Although many couldn't get front-row tickets, as long as they could watch the game live and cheer along, the tickets were worth it!
When the arena DJ introduced the home team players, Kayce felt that the volume in the arena must have created sound pollution; it was too wild!
Home commentator Twin began to introduce the Pistons' starting lineup:
"The Pistons have been dealing with injuries recently. Their backcourt tonight is Chauncey Billups and Rodney Stuckey, with Jason Maxiell and Jonas Jerebko at forward, and Ben Wallace at center."
"Russell will definitely enjoy the matchup with Billups. Playing against veteran point guards in two consecutive games, he will definitely learn a lot."
"The game begins, Kostić wins the tip-off for us!"
On the court, there was no talk of respecting the old and cherishing the young. Facing Billups's defense, Russell didn't use a screen. After a left-hand cross-body dribble, he held the ball with his right hand, accelerated straight, and drove to the basket.
He easily shook off Billups's defense, but Ben Wallace's defensive positioning was excellent. He stepped up in time to interfere. Russell didn't force the shot and powerfully swung the ball to Kayce at the 45-degree angle outside the three-point line.
It was a good pass. After catching the ball, he faked, almost shaking off Rodney Stuckey. He pulled back with a right-hand crossover dribble, then a left-hand between-the-legs dribble, followed by a behind-the-back dribble.
"Oh!!"
The crowd at the Ford Center let out a gasp. Rodney Stuckey had been faked to the ground.
Kayce hadn't expected his opponent to fall so easily. He took a step back, gathered the ball, glanced at the fallen defender, and then calmly shot a jump shot from beyond the three-point line.
"Swish!" The three-pointer went in cleanly.
"Ah! Ah! Ha ha!"
A huge cheer erupted in the arena. Seeing Kayce's spectacular Crossover right at the start of the game made the ticket purchase totally worth it!
Kayce also hadn't expected this shot to trigger the [Control Master] badge's bonus effect. Feeling good about his touch, he thought to himself:
"Maybe I can set a new scoring record in this game!"