Zeng Xingyang dribbles to the right side beyond the three-point line, then passes to Jokic.
Jokic then gives the ball to the cutting Grant and sets a screen for Zeng Xingyang.
James is delayed by Jokic, TT switches to defend Zeng Xingyang.
At the moment of the switch, Zeng Xingyang explodes with speed, rushing to the right side.
Zeng Xingyang’s speed is faster than TT’s turn; he breaks through.
But Zeng Xingyang catches James rushing over to help defense from the corner of his eye.
Not confident in avoiding James’ block, Zeng Xingyang quickly looks for a teammate.
At this point, Pope has moved to the right corner.
Zeng Xingyang passes the ball to Pope.
JR Smith obviously can’t keep up with this positioning.
When Pope receives the ball, there’s no defender in front of him, he decisively shoots a corner three-pointer.
The shot goes in like a sharp stroke.
After Owen’s three-pointer, the Nuggets quickly respond.
Pope waves to Zeng Xingyang in greeting; finding him for that shot was already pretty good.
If Zeng Xingyang had actually gone for the layup, nine times out of ten, he would have been blocked hard by James.
Barkley said, "Zeng’s offense against mismatches in the post is very strong, forcing the Knights to help defend against him, and this allows him to easily find open teammates."
Smith said, "Zeng’s ability to read the game on the court is great, and in this round, he didn’t go for a personal play but made a decisive pass instead."
On the court, James stared at Zeng Xingyang for a moment, surprised that he could evade even such a defense.
If Zeng Xingyang had gone for that open layup just now, he would have been blocked.
The Knights’ offense comes up.
Harris continues to try hard to defend Owen.
Owen gets past half-court and gives the ball to James.
James holds the ball high on the right side, trying a triple-threat stance.
Zeng Xingyang sets a defensive posture, but James has no opportunity and passes the ball to Love in the corner.
Love fakes, tricking Grant to jump, then recalibrates and shoots a three-pointer.
Grant smartly controls his body after being tricked, not giving Love a chance to draw a foul on the three-point shot.
Love’s three-pointer slams heavily against the rim, TT secures a good position for the rebound, but Jokic boxes him out effectively, preventing a second-chance attack.
TT passes the ball to the middle for James.
Zeng Xingyang doesn’t stick close to James, giving him a chance to start, and he decisively drives the ball in.
Zeng Xingyang rushes up to clash with James.
James, relying on his powerful physique, makes it to the basket with a slow-motion gather layup.
However, the physical clash with Zeng Xingyang has already consumed much of James’ power, reducing his lift and speed.
And Jokic has a great defensive position.
Jokic withstands the contact with James.
Jokic blocks James’ layup.
The basketball falls down, causing chaos under the basket.
TT gets it again, but Zeng Xingyang and Pope both slap the ball from his hand, knocking it free.
Grant dives down and secures it, protecting it by his chest, then passes to Jokic.
Jokic lifts the ball high.
Love tries to snatch again, committing a foul.
Harris and Zeng Xingyang pull Grant up, all three are roaring.
This time the Nuggets’ defense was nearly all hands on deck, every player giving their all in defense.
Nearly all were powerful collisions of bodies and muscles.
Blood-pumping excitement.
Kovan shouted, "One wave after another, originally it seemed like Knight had an opportunity to score, but was stopped by strong defense, Nuggets’ defense is good!"
Wang Meng shouted, "Beautiful defense, Nuggets’ team defense is really strong."
The front-row audience lets out cheers and screams.
A spectacular defense makes adrenaline soar.
James and Love are both gasping for air.
Neither imagined that attacking the Nuggets’ defense would be so difficult.
The layering of the Nuggets’ defense is exceptional, even if you break through the first line of defense, there is more to come.
Barkley couldn’t help but exclaim: "I really like the Nuggets’ current style, it’s getting more and more like how we used to play."
O’Neal said, "After the trade, their defense has obviously risen a notch, getting tougher."
Miller said, "When everyone on the team is good at defense and the team leader is willing to sacrifice, the energy of this team becomes very strong."
On the court, the Nuggets’ offense was back.
Zeng Xingyang received the ball and passed it to Jokic while still in the backcourt.
Jokic dribbled past half court.
Jokic passed the ball to Zeng Xingyang, who then passed it back to Jokic at the free-throw line.
Zeng Xingyang and Grant cut in at the same time.
James and Love followed them inside.
After entering the interior, Zeng Xingyang ran out to the right.
At this point, JR Smith took over guarding Zeng Xingyang.
Zeng Xingyang approached to receive Jokic’s hand-off pass.
Using his wide frame, Jokic set a solid screen, simultaneously blocking TT and JR Smith.
Zeng Xingyang created an open gap at the top of the arc.
Decisively took the shot.
Another three-pointer made.
The fans continued to shout and scream.
The Knights’ defensive pressure was clearly not enough, and their enthusiasm for going around screens was also low.
Players tend to be lazier playing on the road.
This allowed Zeng Xingyang to get a huge open space.
Zeng Xingyang spread his arms, waving them, signaling the fans to pump up.
The live audience responded with continuous cheers, complementing Zeng Xingyang’s gestures.
The Knights’ offense was back.
James dribbled to the front court; this time he didn’t break through himself but passed the ball to the low-post Love.
Love and Grant formed a one-on-one opportunity.
Love had the advantage in weight, while Grant’s strength was his agility.
Clearly, Love had more experience.
After consecutive backdowns, Love chose to jump-step forward, gather the ball, and took a fadeaway jump shot.
This shot was highly difficult, but Love’s physicality made it hard for Grant to contest.
Love made the difficult close-range fadeaway.
The Nuggets’ team defense is strong, but their individual defense is not perfect.
The Knights’ players have strong personal abilities; as long as they settle down to play, one-on-one opportunities are still there.
For the next period, both teams continued to fight hard on defense, and scoring became very difficult for both.
The Knights’ defensive intensity was up, causing the Nuggets’ outside shooting to start missing.
The Knights found an opportunity against the Nuggets by spacing the floor and attempting as many one-on-one plays as possible.
Either Owen or Love would go for isolations; even though their isolation plays weren’t a hundred percent successful, their efficiency was higher than their offensive plays after multiple passes.
The Nuggets’ offense still revolved around Jokic, with Zeng Xingyang as the main attack point, and most of the time, Jokic would initiate plays with Zeng Xingyang.
If other players had better opportunities, they would give it to them.
Zeng Xingyang was a key problem-solver; his shooting completion rate was noticeably higher than other players.
The Nuggets’ starting lineup had an advantage over the Knights’ starting lineup.
But when it came to the Nuggets’ second unit, their firepower slightly diminished.
The Nuggets’ second unit now has Nurkic and Zeng Xingyang as the core points inside and out; sometimes, when Zeng Xingyang is off the court, they primarily focus on Galinarli and Nurkic.
Both have offensive capabilities, but in such high-level games, their efficiency drops slightly.
On the Knights’ second unit, JR Smith and Love’s form was much better, making it easier for the Knights’ offense to break through the Nuggets’ defense.
When it got to 8 minutes and 11 seconds left in the second quarter, the advantage the Nuggets’ starters had created was exhausted.
Mike Malone called a timeout.
The score was 26 to 26.
Both teams were showcasing playoff-level defensive intensity, with lots of body contact and confrontation, with each possession being fought over with determination.
"I love watching these defensive battles."
"Only scoring under such intensity counts as real skill."
"It’s a pure slugfest between the two teams."
"Incredible, absolutely incredible."
"The Nuggets are playing as hard as the Knights now."
"The Nuggets are finding their defensive rhythm."
Fans were heatedly discussing the Nuggets’ defense online.