Chapter 1701 34 Consecutive Victories, a New Glory Is Born
As much as the Grizzlies regret trading Ji Feng, they want to defeat the Lakers head-on.
This is not contradictory at all.
Trading Ji Feng was a mistake, especially treating Ji Feng as an add-on to the deal. It is considered one of the most losing trades in NBA history. When Barkley described it, he said, it was as if you traded Smith for Michael. Jordan.
Although he was chased and beaten severely by Smith, it still made sense.
Grizzly bears are generally recognized by their own people.
But the deal is done, and everyone knows that Ji Feng will not return to Memphis. For the Grizzlies, the best way to forget the past is to defeat the past, so whenever they face the Lakers and Ji Feng, they are very Want to win.
However, the gap in strength has caused them to suffer repeated defeats. They have only won one game in three seasons, not to mention losing all the other 11 games. They lost an average of 32.4 points per game and once suffered a defeat of more than 50 points.
When they met the Lakers for the first time this season, they also failed to escape the fate of defeat, although they are no longer what they used to be this season.
The rise of the Grizzlies still seems to start from that transaction. In the transaction, they traded away the future No. 1 player in the league. Their most important thing was to end the Gasol era and at the same time transfer Gasol Jr. Brought to Memphis.
At the same time, last year, they traded New York's discarded son Randolph, which was considered an important transaction that changed the trend of the Grizzlies.
No one thought that the infamous Randolph would stage a show of prodigal son turning back here. Randolph performed well last season. On offense, he was a stable scoring point in the team. On defense, he was good at grabbing offensive rebounds. He was very outstanding, helping the Grizzlies achieve the impressive data of No. 1 in offensive rebounding statistics in the league, and was selected as an All-Star.
Marc Gasol also made a lot of progress, raising his personal data to 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds. The team's second-year rookie O.J. Mayo steadily provided firepower averaging 17.5 points per game. Gay's mid-range jump shot also improved. In the end, The team achieved a record of 40 wins and 42 losses. Although it still failed to enter the playoffs, it increased its wins by 16 games compared to last season and bid farewell to the ranks of weak teams.
This season, they have further improved on the basis of last season. They won 18 of the first 30 games. For a moment, they dreamed back to 2004. The defense built by the two inside players made most teams in the league look at them. Conley's stable output on the outside also Let the league see the survival of traditional defenders.
The Grizzlies suddenly became one of the best defensive teams in the league. They even defeated the Spurs, Mavericks and other Western Conference teams in a row.
8th in the Western Conference, the Grizzlies seem to be only one step away from returning to the playoffs.
But compared to returning to the playoffs, maybe winning the Lakers today makes them more happy and excited, especially Gay and Mayo, who can't wait.
Of course, those who can't wait are the Lakers. Every time he returns to his old hometown, Ji Feng hopes to become a winner. This time, he is particularly strong.
"Tonight, I will bring victory back with my own hands." Ji Feng said in the locker room before the game.
The atmosphere between the two sides became heated from the first second, as if the pre-match pleasantries did not exist, and the competition filled the entire stadium from before the whistle sounded.
Game start!
Bynum gets the ball and the Lakers attack first!
Ji Feng took the ball and attracted the defense in the low post. Kobe took away the defense and then Ji Feng turned to the low post to face Gay with his back.
Everyone knows that the worst defensive player in the Grizzlies starting lineup is Gay. He has a body but no consciousness. Ji Feng has basically hit every shot accurately in the past.
But today, Mayo, who has repeatedly been at odds with Guy, abandoned Kobe and teamed up with Guy to double-team Ji Feng. It seems that the two of them have reached a consensus and will join forces to fight against Ji Feng's offense tonight. .
Ji Feng could only move, Kobe shot and hit the ball, but Gay was not happy for more than 3 seconds. Ji Feng turned around and shook him away, went inside and grabbed the rebound, and made a second attack under the basket, a very difficult rebound. The basketball flew past Randolph's fingertips and into the basket!
2-0.
"Two people are not enough!" Ji Feng arrogantly provoked Guy. It's not that the old grudge has not been avenged. In fact, Ji Feng no longer cares about the original grudge. After all, so long has passed. Although he and Guy are not friends, But they are no longer enemies.
Ji Feng naturally did this to anger Gay. He knew very well that Gay was a hot-headed player. When he competed with others, he would shoot a lot of unreasonable shots. This was Ji Feng's purpose. !
Sure enough, Gay just pulls up and shoots on the offensive end. In fact, what he is best at should be strong bursts, but he just likes to shoot. Coupled with his impressive shooting percentage, tsk tsk tsk~
And this ball happened to go in!
"ANSWER BALL~!z" the on-site commentator yelled, looking very excited.
Guy was also very excited, and he replied to Ji Feng; "I am enough by myself!"
Ji Feng spread his hands and was noncommittal. In fact, Ji Feng was very satisfied. Although he made it, it also strengthened his playing style!
As expected, Gay became even crazier after the ball. Even though Randolph asked for position many times, he just refused to give it and kept taking shots from the outside.
Except for the first one, Gay made only 2 of 8 shots after that, wasting a lot of opportunities. An angry Mayo had a quarrel with him. In order to prevent the problem from expanding, Grizzlies head coach Hollins blocked Gay's shot in the second quarter. Yi replaced.
This substitution put the Grizzlies on the right track. Conley controlled the ball and organized the game. The black and white bears attacked and defended. Gasol showed his ability and value. His ability to protect the frame in the paint was even higher than that of his brother. One step ahead, and his ability to go to the line for pick-and-roll screens has greatly improved.
The Black Bear was even more excited. They had a great time fighting with Bynum in the paint. Both of them are famous for their thick flesh. Their thick fat makes them very good in confrontation. It looks good when they fight. It's wonderful, and it makes people feel the style of the league's insiders in the 1990s.
The three men worked together to help the Grizzlies stabilize the situation, but Ji Feng's role in provoking Guy and causing Guy to lose his mind was revealed.
Although the Grizzlies played what they wanted, they still trailed by 7 points at halftime.
These 7 points are fatal 7 points!
In the second half, the Lakers clung to this point difference. Whenever the Grizzlies tried to narrow the score further, someone from the Lakers always stood up and responded.
The most thrilling thing happened in the last 4 and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Gasol successfully beat his brother in the paint and scored 3 consecutive extra penalty points to narrow the point difference to only 4 points.
Then Mayo stole the ball from Kobe, but made a dribbling error. Kobe didn't take two steps to get the ball back before Conley snatched it back. In just 4 seconds, the court was in chaos!
At the most critical moment, Ji Feng burst out from the crowd, took the ball decisively, shot an arrow on horseback, and threw the ball out at the buzzer.
Hit the board and put it in the basket!
Three points!
Seal the throat with one sword!
Ji Feng once again showed his true nature as a cold-blooded killer at a critical moment.
The Grizzlies were unable to catch up and eventually lost 109-103. The Lakers won their 34th consecutive victory this season!