NBA: Rising Superstar!

After finishing the game against the Kings, the entire Nuggets team hurriedly headed to Golden State, fully immersing themselves in the preparations for the Christmas game.

Upon arriving in Golden State, they checked into a hotel that was already enveloped in the Christmas atmosphere.

In the lobby, a giant Christmas tree was glittering brilliantly, Christmas lights flickered and danced, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of the holiday. Workers dressed in Christmas attire bustled around enthusiastically.

Pope stepped into the lobby, looking at the Christmas decorations in front of him, and couldn't help but complain to his teammates beside him: "Players are human too, we also need time to rest and be with our families. F*ck, I really want to go home right now."

Beside him, Gordon shrugged slightly indifferently and said, "The NBA is a commercial league, maximizing interests is the core, humanity often takes a backseat here."

Harris echoed, full of complaint in his tone: "This is too unfair to us."

However, Jokic said rationally, "So many people watch us play on Christmas; that means we're doing a good job. Moreover, our income far exceeds that of many ordinary people; to gain so much, we must lose some things."

Zeng Xingyang stood by, quietly watching all this. To him, Christmas was nothing but an ordinary day, far less important to him than the Spring Festival.

At this moment, Mike Malone stepped forward, clapping vigorously and scanning everyone with a determined expression: "I don't care about the holiday. In the next game, we have to win, we must defeat the Warriors!"

"OK!"

"No problem!"

"They should be the ones worried!"

"Just like last season, take them down."

Siakam, Zubac, Brogdon, and other rookies responded loudly, their faces glowing with the unique energy and fighting spirit of youth. As newcomers to the league, they don't have deeply-rooted family attachments.

In their eyes, the Christmas game means ultra-high attention, and if they can shine in this highly-watched match, endorsement opportunities off the court will come rushing, and their future development prospects will be even broader.

Despite the complaints from many in the Nuggets team about playing on Christmas, everyone knows winning or losing the game is the top priority.

Everyone understands perfectly that on Christmas day, they absolutely cannot lose to the Warriors; otherwise, this holiday will turn much worse.

...

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Swish!"

In the Warriors' training gym, Durant was fully focused on practicing three-point shots.

Time after time, he stood outside the three-point line, holding the ball, jumping, shooting, performing the actions seamlessly.

The basketball traced graceful arcs through the air, some going through the net with a crisp "swish" sound, while others hit the rim with a dull "bang."

Green, who was feeding balls to Durant on the side, looked at Durant's somewhat erratic shooting accuracy, couldn't help but speak: "KD, this doesn't look like your usual standard, are you worried about the Christmas game?"

Since Durant joined the Warriors, Green felt his relationship with Durant had become much closer, often proactively getting close to Durant.

"Stop nagging," Durant glared at Green coldly, continuing to focus on his shooting.

In his heart, Green was just the kind of person who goes with the flow, always following whoever was strongest. Such fickle nature made Durant very disgusted. Even though Green always tried to get close and act like brothers, Durant's attitude remained indifferent.

After leaving the Thunder, Durant could never regain the feeling of being as close as brothers with his teammates.

Curry was kind, Thompson was nice too, but interacting with them always lacked the unreserved, wholehearted camaraderie he had when with Russell.

Curry devoted himself to family, Thompson cared deeply for his pets—all of which made Durant realize profoundly that the court and personal life are ultimately two separate worlds, not to be mixed.

Durant shook his head, trying to dispel these chaotic thoughts.

He and Westbrook had completely fallen out, their contact info long deleted, and everything in the past had become history.

Now, the Warriors needed his formidable skills, and he also desired to leverage the Warriors' luxurious roster to win the championship—both parties just seeking benefits from each other.

In this profit-oriented league, investing too much personal emotion would only lead to getting hurt.

The championship was the sole reason he joined the Warriors. This period of experience had matured him a lot.

Since the new season began, the strong performance displayed by the Warriors further assured Durant that his choice was correct.

The Splash Brothers' astonishing ability to stretch the floor created perfect opportunities for his one-on-one plays.

Whenever opponents double-team him, he could easily pass the ball to an open Curry or Thompson, delivering a fatal blow to the opponent.

And his arrival precisely filled the Warriors' most urgent need for a strong one-on-one player.

During the first ten games, Durant felt the championship trophy seemed almost within reach.

Many times, before he fully exerted himself, Curry and Thompson were already battering opponents into disarray with their accurate three-pointers.

However, as the season progressed, Durant gradually realized: the Warriors weren't invincible.

Denver Nuggets—this team, which eliminated the Warriors in last season's playoffs, upgraded their strength further after bringing in Butler and several rookies. With a third of the season gone, the Nuggets astonishingly captured 31 consecutive wins, remaining undefeated.

Durant, having struggled in the league for years, knew too well how difficult it was to achieve such a stunning winning streak.

The NBA regular season schedule is long and arduous, teams often have to battle intensively in a short time, possibly playing 3 to 4 games a week.

Such high-intensity schedules make it hard for a team to maintain its best form all the time.

Furthermore, there are no absolute underdogs in the NBA. Even teams at the bottom of the rankings boast outstanding players who can upset strong teams at any moment.

The Warriors' previous winning streak was coldly ended by the Jazz.

With the increasing number of consecutive wins, the team becomes the focus of the entire league, opponents analyze their tactical systems and player characteristics deeply, formulating highly targeted offensive and defensive strategies, and winning becomes increasingly difficult.

Most crucially, the long season and high-intensity games can easily lead to player injuries or fatigue. Even with excellent physical fitness, it's hard to maintain health and peak condition throughout a winning streak.

Once players are fatigued, problems arise on both offense and defense, mistakes increase, and defense leaks.

Additionally, the external pressures faced by the team will grow day by day. The more consecutive wins there are, the more pressure players endure from media, fans, and themselves. Everyone worries about the winning streak ending; this psychological burden affects performance during games, making mistakes more likely, even leading players to hesitate in action.

This makes the Nuggets even more terrifying!

31 consecutive wins—if they cannot stop the Nuggets in time, the Nuggets are very likely to break the Lakers' 33-game winning streak record.

This is also why the whole league is watching the Warriors closely, to see if they can stop this crazy thing from happening.

...