Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 143 Sprint in January!
On the 10th, the Sonics played a "suicide" game.

The team made only 46 of 7 three-pointers, hit the iron like crazy, lost to the Spurs 97 to 106, and paid tribute to the Rockets.

The Sonics' style of relying on offense to win has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The players are very confident in shooting. This is a good thing, but it has also become the "X factor" for the Sonics' unstable performance.

The Spurs' defensive efficiency in this game is actually mediocre. The Supersonic's outside shots are like this, but in the end they only lost by 9 points.No wonder the Spurs played well in the loss. It can only be said that the Sonics played badly and learned a lesson from it.

The next day, the Sonics lost back-to-back to the Hornets, 112 to 116, and suffered a losing streak for the first time in the season.

Peja Stojakovic, who came back from injury, broke out. He made 12 of 8 three-pointers and scored 35 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. He cooperated with Paul and David West to lead the team to victory.

After Peja's return, the Hornets' offensive firepower was significantly stronger, and the second half of the season is expected to return to the top three in the Western Conference.

The Supersonics couldn't play fast breaks and counterattacks, and their offensive efficiency dropped sharply. As other teams became more familiar with the Supersonics' style of play, this group of young people also encountered challenges and had to invest more energy in positional warfare to hone their basic skills and skills.

Back in Seattle, Lu Yong temporarily increased the team's training, and arranged for the players to focus on practicing running positions and cross-screening in positional warfare.

Fast-break counterattack is an important scoring method for the Sonics to always play a wave of offensive. Once the opponent strictly guards against fast-break, Lu Yong must enrich the team's offensive system in order to ensure that players can perform more stably in head-to-head games.

After entering January, the Sonics lost two games in a row. Lu Yong had to find a way to revive the team and avoid being hit by the losing streak.

On the 13th, the Sonics returned to their home court to fight the Hornets again.

In Durant's outbreak, he played against Peja with his talent advantage, and one-on-one singles are comparable to nuclear weapons on the court.

全场出战36分钟，24投13中，三分球5中2，罚球7中7，轰下35分7篮板3助攻1抢断，命中率54.1%。

Lu Yong made adjustments to the starting lineup, taking down Szczerbiak at the power forward position, letting PJ-Tucker play to defend against pick-and-rolls, and Delfino entangled Peja, which had a good effect.

上一场拿到21分的大卫-韦斯特效率下降，这场球14投6中，罚球3中2，只得到14分5篮板2助攻，表现不佳。

The most threatening point of the Hornets is the pick-and-roll offense initiated by Paul and West. Peja's scoring explosion depends entirely on his teammates to create opportunities.Once the threat of the Hornets' pick-and-roll offense drops, it will be difficult for even the shooters like Peja to get a good shot, and they were successfully revenged by the Supersonics overnight.

At the end, 121 to 108, the Sonics beat the Hornets by 13 points at home, stopping their losing streak.

On the 15th, the Sonics defeated the Bucks at home.

Durant still played strongly, facing Richard Jefferson with full firepower, scoring 28 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, and his leadership temperament became more and more sufficient.

Noah was also very efficient. He made 6 of 6 shots, 4 of 2 free throws, scored 14 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks. He beat the Bucks champion Andrew Bogut and contributed a quasi-triple double.

替补登场的巴图姆迎来里程碑，10投7中，三分球6中4，罚球2中2，得到20分3篮板3助攻1抢断，刷新生涯单场得分新高。

At the press conference after the game, a reporter interviewed Lu Yong and asked him to comment on Batum's performance tonight.

The style of play of "French Pippen" in his rookie season has not yet reached the level of maturity and stability. His offensive firepower is not as good as that of Neal, and his organization is not as good as Dragic. The only rookie who hasn't played a starter yet.

Lu Yong said with a smile: "Batum is one of the smartest players I have ever seen. He has great potential to be developed. I am not surprised that he can deliver an excellent performance tonight. He just needs time to grow. Definitely going to be a highly sought-after player.”

Batum has never been selected as an All-Star in his career, but his strength is very good. He is an all-around fighter in the swing position, and his tactical role is greater than his scoring data. At the age of 32, he also received an annual salary of 2700 million US dollars. He has no strength and the management will not poach people with high salaries.

With a day off, the Sonics beat the Jazz 112-91 away.

A total of 7 players from the Supersonic team scored in double figures in this game, played wonderful team basketball, and won three consecutive victories.

On the 18th, the Sonics challenged the Warriors back to back in an away game, and the two teams played a hearty offensive battle.

杜兰特状态一般，15投6中，三分球3中1，罚球4中4，只得17分5篮板3助攻。

However, with the outbreak of Francis, Neal, and Szczerbiak, the Sonics still won 119 to 114.

Lu Yong hoped that Durant could produce a good data to run for MVP, so Adu has not been arranged to take a rest during this period.Now it seems that it is necessary to let Durant take a rest. If he does not get enough rest, his competitive state will decline, but it will affect his personal data.

Back in Seattle, the Sonics are facing the challenge of the Suns at home.

The plan of arranging Durant's rotation can only be postponed later. The Suns have always been a strong team under the leadership of Steve Nash.

However, since head coach D'Antoni left the team, the Suns have given up the 7-second offensive style of play. With the addition of "Shark" O'Neal, the Suns' offensive rhythm has slowed down significantly.In Lu Yong's view, the current threat of the Suns is far less than that of the past, and O'Neal's running-in with the team also lacks soul, and can only be regarded as barely integrated into the system.

After the start of the game, the Suns took the lead in the "Small Overlord" Stoudemire.

After the pick-and-roll, he cut down the air very fiercely. He scored three consecutive rounds and scored 6 points in a row to educate Szczerbiak.

In recent years, Stoudemire has been in his golden age, and neither explosive power nor athletic talent can be dealt with one-on-one by Szczerbiak.

Fortunately, Szczerbiak can play a role in opening up space on the offensive end, and Stoudemire is also uncomfortable defending him. He must follow the outside defense and dare not lose his mind.

After a few rounds, Durant's singles veteran Grant Hill gained the advantage and scored consecutive jump shots to help the Sonics stabilize the situation.

O'Neal is a giant guarding the basket, but the Sonics' offensive end does not hit the basket at all. A large number of long-range shots perfectly avoid defensive strengths, and use offense to close the gap.

In the second quarter, the supersonic substitute players exerted their strength.

Neal, Taylor Tovic, and Batum hit three-pointers one after another, which was better than the second team of the Suns.

"Brazilian Lightning" Leandro Barbosa is indeed difficult to defend, but the overall performance of the Suns' substitutes is very average except for him.Barbosa was no match for four hands with two fists, and his personal heroism was quickly defeated in front of the team's attack.

At the end of the half, the Sonics led the Suns by 34 points with 9 points in a single quarter.

The Sonics still took the initiative in the second half, and the three-pointers of the role players were quite powerful.

The Suns' defense itself is very hip, and the offensive end has no advantage, so the game becomes extremely difficult to play.

In addition to the "Small Overlord" Stoudemire and O'Neal's twin towers, the Suns have a huge advantage, and the outside offense has not been able to shoot for a long time. They were forced to be taken away by a wave of offense from the Supersonics in the final quarter. The point difference widened to 16 points and entered garbage time.

In the contest between the fringes of the two teams, the Suns are not even opponents.

In the end, 117 to 96, the Sonics beat the Suns by 21 points.

全队六人得分上双，杜兰特24分5篮板2助攻、德尔菲诺15分4篮板2抢断、替补登场的泰勒托维奇手感火热，12投7中，三分球9中6，得到20分2篮板，命中率58.3%。

After defeating the Suns, the Sonics secured the top position in the new rankings of combat power.

The record of 38 wins and 6 losses is unstoppable, maintain the momentum, and this year's regular season champion is definitely in the bag.

(End of this chapter)