The Lakers and Rockets won five consecutive games; the Thunder finally lost; the record of the triple-double kings

Jokic quietly had 33+15+16, his fifth triple-double this season. Continue to lead in assists. 30+15+15 in the seventh game of his career - the others in the 21st century (Luka Giannis, Westbrook and Harden) combined for six games.

Adebayor played for a while today, but Jokic looked bored.

In several rounds of the third quarter, when on defense, he instructed his teammates to quickly decipher the Heat's tactics, "I know what you are going to do." On offense, "It was so boring to watch my teammates running for a while. I passed the ball to me, assisted, and then ran back."

Some people can be enthusiastic about the long regular season. For example, Jordan insisted on winning every game, Chamberlain was willing to break more data records, and Bird and Shark both had games where "the regular season was so boring that they had to have fun for themselves."

Jokic is very Birdy in this regard.

Westbrook triple-double.

I just signed with the Kings three weeks ago and became a starter last week. Today I had my 204th career triple-double, 35 ahead of Jokic.

This is Westbrook's seventeenth season with a triple-double. Since joining the industry, he has had a triple-double every season except 2012 - the year he scored 43 points in a single game in the Finals.

By the way: Jokic has a triple-double every year except his rookie year. Magic and Bird had triple-doubles in each full season. LeBron has had a triple-double in twenty seasons.

The Thunder can be considered a loss...

Without Jaywee, they started the season with a complete victory. Chet Caruso took turns to rest. Today, Jaywee, Chet Caruso and all four aces of Dortmund are resting. Coach Ma Dai is like In the ultimate test:

"Alexander, can you win without Jaywee? Give up Chet? Give up Caruso? Can you win back-to-back away games with three substitutes and one fake starter?..."

The Rockets have won five consecutive games after changing formations.

Durant made 5 of 18 shots and scored 11 points, but the team's third-highest +20-Amen and Jabari +22.

Can the team score even if Durant fails to score?

Today is the day when Du Yougongli opened.

The Rockets averaged 19 assists per game in the first two games of the season and lost two games in a row; Okogie has won five games in a row since starting in a fast attack, averaging 29 assists per game--29 assists today.

In the past four games, Durant averaged 24 points on 16 shots per game, with a true shooting percentage of 64%.

Shen Jing averaged 13 shots, 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in the past four games, with a true shooting percentage of 62%.

Amen averaged 13 shots, 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the past four games, with a true shooting percentage of 59%.

Durant's score was low, but Shen Jing and Amen released - speed and space, Durant didn't have to take over.

Today the Rockets tried many new routines, such as Durant and Shen Jing's pick-and-roll, and Amen cutting inside for dunking.

But what’s even more interesting is: Du Yougravity is starting to be used instead of attacking with the ball.

Shen Jing pushed forward with rebounds in the backcourt, and Durant cut inside and pulled the Grizzlies away without even touching the ball, so Shen Jing fed Jabari's long shot from the bottom corner.

Durant reached the top of the arc, Shen Jing cut inside and moved inside. The two opened up the Grizzlies inside line, and Okogie cut inside to attack the basket.

When Durant was flanked in the bottom corner, Jabari crossed to the weak side.

Durant passed several passes today, all of which were Jokic-style looking for the back door: Ethan and Amen's inward cuts.

Half of Amen's tip-in today was the gap created by Durant.

This can explain why Durant made 5 of 18 shots today but +20: In addition to 5 assists, there were also several times without the ball.

Probably the logic of this wave: Okogie started to speed up and open up space → Amen and Ethan were released in counterattack and space → Shen Jing’s support also gained value → Durant was more comfortable holding the ball → The Rockets were able to take advantage of Durant’s involvement.

In addition to Durant's firepower, Shen Jing's versatile axis, and Amen's explosion and ball play, the most comfortable one is probably Jabari:

After Okogie started to open up space, Jabari averaged basically +18 per game.

He provides the long-range shot that Amen lacks, the rotation that Durant and Shen Jing cannot cover, and the bonding and receiving ability that Ethan lacks.

When Durant was flanked more than once today, Jabari was responsible for moving and picking up the ball; when the Grizzlies counterattacked, he was a seven-foot mobile forward who was perfect from applying pressure to retreating to protect the basket.

The Rockets are the perfect snake oil right now.

The Lakers defeated the Spurs, winning five consecutive games and giving the Spurs their second consecutive loss.

In the big showdown between offensive and defensive superstars between Luka and Bunyama, the one who steals the show is Smart.

The aces on both sides have their own special situations: the Spurs used Champagne and Sohan to take turns to kill Luka. In the first 11 minutes, Luka made 11 shots, 4 free throws, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and then missed the free throw: it has proven that this night will be tiring and long.

The Lakers used Van Der Biao and Smart to hold down Castle in turns, allowing Castle to make 3 of 11 shots: But Castle and Luka are not the same. If they are locked, they are locked. Luka can do many other things.

The Lakers today mostly use Hachimura, Laravia and even Smart against Wenban. This is the old wisdom of "Hachimura versus Jokic, thick eyebrows to protect the basket".

The Suns used Royce O'Neal's new trick to post up the post: Since Coach Spoelstra started playing the post, everyone has gradually figured out a way to deal with the post, including irregular flanking + holding the plate + locking the basket.

The aces of both sides were clamped: Luka made 9 of 27 shots; Wenbanyama was even worse, making 5 of 14 shots and was sent off for a foul in the final basket.

But the Spurs' offense suffered even more: the Lakers' last comeback in the first half hit home to the Spurs' lack of positional warfare without Fox and Harper:

Hachimura stole the ball and Champagnie went out of bounds. At one point, Vassell was in charge of getting the ball, forcing Bunyama to run into the center circle without the ball, trying to occupy space.

Sohan's comeback did waste Luka's energy, but Luka still played 20+5+5 in the first half of his career for the 55th time in his career.

At the beginning of the second half, Hachimura continued to play the defense class, Luka switched to the defense class, and Ayton stepped in from behind..

The Spurs' lead came from Barnes' long-range shots - they were experienced from running to catching the ball. At the same time, the Lakers' shooters did not respond to Luka in the same way, such as Knecter's missed shot at the end of the third quarter - but the key was Castle's brief release at the end of the third quarter, but it was only for that moment.

The literary class has not been untied.

In the fourth quarter, Luka and Ayton started: Ayton's block and Smart's chip.

The most iconic goal: Smart's super long pass was intercepted by Wenban. Wenban turned around and was flanked by Luka on the weak side. Then he made a free throw to catch up to 1 point, and Smart tied the game with a layup. Wenban made a free throw, but Luka countered with a long-range shot: the Spurs' offense could only rely on Wenban, and the Lakers' Luka still had room to spare.

When he got sent off in the literary class, the game was actually decided.

So this is it:

The Lakers used the strangulation of Hachimura, Laravia and Smart to strangle Wenban; Champagne and Sohan also consumed Luka, but Luka's ball can still point the way.

Today Ayton scored 20+10 in his third game this season - he had six games last season - the attack in the fourth quarter was the key, and Wenban was not allowed to come in and out at will.

But I think that apart from Luka, the most important thing for the Lakers is Smart.

On both offense and defense, Smart made the right choices possible. The offense did what Reeves should do, and the defense did what Reeves couldn't: disrupt the Spurs' rhythm, convert fleeting opportunities into free throws, stick to the Spurs' perimeter, and rotate to stitch up the Lakers' mismatches.

Of course, there was also the baseline serve error at the last minute that was well-intentioned but did bad things.

One thing no one seems to have mentioned:

Luka’s offensive performance has exploded since he lost weight. Not to mention, he is still the Lakers’ leader in defensive rebounds and steals per game this season.

In addition to 35 points and 13 assists today, he led the team with 6 defensive rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks. In the first half, he and Smart took turns directing the defense (look at Jokic next door), not counting the rounds when he switched to defensive classes.

Although "Luka's defense is not good" has been bitten to death by many people - those who have watched the entire 2024 playoffs should know that this concept is not accurate - but so far this season, the overall performance on the defensive end should be the best in Luka's career so far.