The audience has long suffered from Yang, Wang, Ke, and others.
Whale has broken into the scene with a unique commentary style at this time, giving fans new options beyond Penguin Sports.
With his big face close to the microphone, Whale sighed deeply and then shouted, "This, I can only say, dear viewers, if you’ve ever watched a game, you understand how the second quarter was brought back. Was it because of Mike Malone’s skilled command, or because Zeng Xingyang transformed into a superstar, single-handedly turning the situation around?"
"In the second quarter, Zeng Xingyang was like Sun Wukong from Dragon Ball defeating Demon King Piccolo to save the Earth, or Naruto Uzumaki defeating Paine to save Konohagakure, saving the Nuggets against a formidable opponent like the Blazers, delivering a superstar performance with 19 points in a single quarter despite having a saboteur on his team."
"This is the 7th pick, Zeng Xingyang. You have to admire his courage to face challenges and rise to the occasion."
"Every game, as soon as he comes on, he makes an impact, filling in the gaps."
"Mike Malone’s command is useless; he’s the team’s biggest saboteur. Couldn’t he solve the problem by starting Xingyang earlier? His commands are as lousy as ever! Just look at his idiot face when he commands; it’s infuriating..."
"A cancer, Mike Malone is the cancer of the Nuggets. I’m saying it here, if he doesn’t start Xingyang soon, he’ll be out of a job."
"What nonsense, putting a starting 20+ shooting guard on the bench, just thinking about it is infuriating."
Compared to the relatively orthodox commentary styles of CCTV and Penguin Sports.
Whale’s commentary is more down-to-earth, and he doesn’t hesitate to criticize the Nuggets’ head coach Mike Malone.
"He’s been bashing Mike Malone for more than 20 minutes in this 24-minute first half, haha."
"I feel like Whale’s sweating more than Zeng Xingyang."
"He didn’t repeat himself once while bashing for over twenty minutes, had me dying of laughter."
"I think this is the sentiment of every Nuggets fan, always infuriated by Mike Malone’s personnel management."
"Whale is truly a die-hard fan of Xingyang. Watching his live commentary, I always feel like he’s about to faint any second."
"Barton just showed his face and got bashed by Whale for two minutes, haha, had me laughing so hard."
"Xingyang is truly suffering, every game he comes in to fill the gaps, if he can’t fill them, the team loses."
"Nineteen points in a single quarter, even superstars aren’t , I haven’t been this excited watching a game in a long time."
Domestic fans also flooded Whale’s live chat with comments.
Jeremy Lin is also an Asian point guard, but fans always felt hard to relate when watching him play, whereas Zeng Xingyang brings full immersion to the fans.
This is truly one of ours, someone who grew up in our country and then went out there.
In his first year, he’s already making the Blazers’ defense despair, forcing them to double team this rookie, so dominant.
Inside the Nuggets’ locker room.
In front of Zeng Xingyang and Jokic’s lockers became the place for Mike Malone’s tactical setup.
Malone’s tactics increasingly revolve around their collaboration.
This is clearly a more efficient combination compared to others.
Zeng Xingyang was gasping for breath, taking a break while drinking water; he played the entire second quarter, which greatly taxed him.
In the second half, the Blazers’ defense on him would be even crazier, making it very difficult for him to perform like in the second quarter.
Luckily, there’s Jokic to help hold the fort.
Whenever Zeng Xingyang couldn’t initiate a play, he would pass the ball to Jokic.
Jokic has many ways to handle the ball, but he always finds the most suitable way.
As the second half began, Lillard and CJ McCollum continued their offensive.
But the Nuggets had already recovered from being dazed, with their offense revolving around Zeng Xingyang’s attraction and Jokic’s orchestration flowing smoothly.
Foye, Nelson, and Galinarli rained down threes.
Zeng Xingyang would attack occasionally when mismatched, but more often he was double-teamed.
Zeng Xingyang doesn’t hold the ball; when double-teamed, he passes, often letting Jokic handle it.
Overall, the Nuggets had the upper hand on the court.
Jokic also put on his best career performance, his presence on the court was strong.
In the fourth quarter, Lillard tried to take over the game, but his outside shooting touch was poor, leading to several misses.
Unlike the Blazers who rely on superstars’ performance, the Nuggets in the second half looked more like a team effort.
In the final moments, Lillard scored some points consecutively but couldn’t change the big picture, and ultimately the Blazers failed to make a comeback.
The Nuggets played steadily and smiled to the end.
The final score was 118 to 113.
This game was a hard-fought win for the Nuggets.
Zeng Xingyang racked up a luxurious stat line of 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists, hitting 8 three-pointers in a single game, breaking the NBA rookie three-point record.
Lillard got 45 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in this game, which looked good on paper, but he lost; he also took over Zeng Xingyang’s position as the head of the "empty stats" group.
CJ McCollum scored 28 points and 7 assists; his output was crucial for the team.
But except for the duo, the other Blazers players were quite underwhelming today, with overall low efficiency.
Jokic got 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists, achieving his career’s first triple-double.
If the first half was Zeng Xingyang saving the Nuggets, then the second half was largely thanks to Jokic, who acted as the stabilizing force on the court, with each possession efficiently spurring the Nuggets’ offense.
Other Nuggets players also highly cooperated with Jokic, gradually adapting to working together with him.
Compared to Zeng Xingyang’s past life of Jokic’s rookie season, Jokic now is given more of an organizational core role.
He’s holding the ball more, with a more significant tactical role.
Of course, Zeng Xingyang knows that even such an outstanding Jokic is still far from his true peak.
With the efficient performances of Zeng Xingyang and Jokic, the Nuggets managed to play the most tactically savvy half of the season.