Chapter 571: The Beast Comes Out of the Cage (3rd Update!)

After a month of playing, the Pelicans' record was much better than expected, which made the management and fans very excited.

But beyond that, there is another piece of good news.

Jokic has successfully reduced his weight from 133 kg last month to 120 kg!

He has reached the minimum weight required by the team!

The team originally thought that this process would take three to four months, but Jokic proved with hard work that one month is enough to lose weight!

Although most of the fat loss was lost, only Jokic knew how much sweat and hard work he had put in after that.

Although his weight loss plan will continue, because for him, about 113 kg is the most suitable weight.

But now he has obviously become more flexible on the court, especially on the defensive end. The idea that his body can keep up with his mind is no longer so easy to pass.

After playing the Spurs before, in order to protect Jokic, the Pelicans did not arrange Jokic to play again, and Evans replaced his previous rotation position.

This allowed Jokic to hold back for long enough. In the training game, he worked hard and even had the upper hand in the matchup with Whiteside for a while.

His talent is really extraordinary.

Williams was also very satisfied to see this, and put him on the activation list for the next game against the Nuggets.

When Jokic heard the news, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, like a beast trapped in a cage, it feels like it finally came out now!

On the last day of November, the Pelicans flew to Denver, where they will play the Nuggets.

Denver is the league's well-known plateau home court, with an average altitude of 1,655 meters, the highest in the league.

Living in this kind of place may not feel particularly big.

But if it is a high-intensity exercise on this, it will not take long for you to lose your strength and sweat profusely.

Occupying this favorable location, the Nuggets' home winning percentage ranks first in the league almost every season, which is also the origin of the "devil's home game".

Take the most glorious 2012-2013 season of the Nuggets as an example, they achieved the best record of 57 wins and 25 losses in team history.

Their away record is 19 wins and 22 losses, but their home record is 38 wins and 3 losses!

The difference is unbelievable, but the statistics do not lie.

No matter what period this team is in, it will not be easy to take a win from here.

Especially now or in winter, altitude sickness will be more obvious.

It's going to be a tough battle for the Pelicans.

And they definitely want to win this game too.

Not only is the Warriors chasing after them, but also because they lost all two away games they played here last season, and they need to justify themselves.

After arriving in Denver, Williams arranged for acclimatization.

It can be seen from the training that the physical exertion of the players is far greater than before.

The Nuggets have spent most of their time in Denver and are getting used to their bodies, but for a visiting team like the Pelicans, that's something they'll need to overcome.

"Damn Denver, I hate it here!"

After practice, Whiteside couldn't help cursing.

The teammates all laughed, and the words were not rough, and Whiteside yelled out their hearts.

Tang Tian also smiled at this time, which is a manifestation of the atmosphere of the Pelicans team.

After the training, the players got on the bus one after another and prepared to go back to the hotel.

Tang Tian found out that Jokic was not in the car at this time, and only after asking Borrego did he find out that the guy stayed in the training hall for extra training.

It seems that Jokic hasn't played a game for half a month, and he is really a bit suffocated.

The next night, the first day of December, the Pelicans played the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The attendance rate of fans at the scene is around 70%.

Although the Nuggets are the devil's home court, after Anthony left in the past two years, the arena attendance has plummeted, generally only about 50%.

The extra 20% tonight is also related to the fact that the opponent is the Pelicans.

Although many fans feel that the Pelicans' No. 1 record in the Western Conference will not be stable for too long, the Pelicans are now the real No. 1 in the league.

Playing against such a strong team at home, many fans will buy it.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were released one after another.

The Pelicans still have a regular lineup, with Holiday and Tang Tian on the outside, Ariza and Davis on the front, and Whiteside on the center.

On the Nuggets side, Ty Lawson and Efflalo on the outside, Wilson Chandler and "Orc" Faried on the striker, and Mozgov at the center.

George Karl brought the Nuggets to the pinnacle of team history in the 2012-2013 season, but after Iguodala left the team, Karl also left immediately.

His replacement is the Lakers, Phil Jackson's former assistant Brian Shaw.

Shaw continued Carl's tactics, and the Nuggets are still the main offensive team basketball.

Efflalo is the team with the highest scoring average, but only 14.3 points per game.

In addition to him, Lawson averaged 13.9 points per game, Chandler averaged 13.2 points per game, Faried averaged 12 points per game, and Gallinari on the bench averaged 11 points per game.

This kind of scoring distribution seems to be very average, but because the core of the team has not been established, the record is not good.

But even so, their home win rate this season far exceeds away wins. They aim to hit the playoffs and will go all out in every home game.

As soon as the game opened, Faried jumped and beat Davis, giving the Nuggets the opportunity to take the lead.

As soon as Lawson came up, he scored and assisted Chandler to hit a three-pointer.

The Nuggets played well at home and had a lot of confidence.

Tang Tian's confrontational layup after the breakthrough also scored 2 points for the Pelicans.

The Nuggets started off hot, while the Pelicans were stronger, and the two teams played evenly at the start.

The turning point of the game came from 7 minutes into the first quarter, when the Pelicans players had obvious problems with their touch.

The source of this problem is altitude sickness. They feel that the basketball in their hands is obviously heavier than usual.

In NBA-level confrontation, one point is a lot, and their offensive efficiency has dropped significantly.

Williams knows why this happened, and his approach is to enter the rotation early.

At this time, the advantage of the Nuggets' all-people soldiers began to show.

Gallinari, Nurkic, Randy Foye and others who came off the bench are obviously playing against the Pelicans.

After the first quarter, the Nuggets relied on their performance in the second half to lead the Pelicans by double digits 32 to 22.

The emergence of one thing must have been caused by many factors. This quarter of the game made Tang Tian deeply feel why the Nuggets could achieve the best record in team history in the 2012~2013 season, which they could not achieve in the Anthony era.

Is it true that relying on this plateau home court, all the people are soldiers, laying down your main force, and then using the substitute to kill you.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Williams replaced Jokic.

Veterans like Evans are more responsive to plateaus, and are out of breath after a few minutes of high-intensity confrontation.

Jokic stood up calmly when he heard Williams calling him.

But from his eyes, it can be felt that this guy is now a beast out of the cage.

Thanks for the simple reading 123, Qujia 0 Jiabin, and joabjoy for their rewards!