Chapter 1886 The Opening Game Is the Climax, the Christmas War Begins
After 12 days of training camp, the Lakers finally returned to the familiar arena.
On December 20, two hours after the training camp ended, the Lakers also ushered in the first regular season of the new season, playing against the Los Angeles Clippers at home.
That's right, the opening was a thunderbolt, and the Los Angeles derby was staged in the first preseason game.
The Clippers can be said to have all their elite players, Paul, Billups, Butler and other new players have appeared on the court, they are all full of fighting spirit, and seem to want to use the Lakers as their whetstone, especially Griffin, who is so red-faced. Obviously, he has experienced the "fun" of having Paul in training, not to mention that there is more than Paul, and Billups is spared. Although Chauncey's peak period has long passed, he is more than enough to play as a substitute. With Mo Williams Moss who came here in the middle of last season, the Clippers' back line is also luxurious enough.
Unfortunately, the Lakers were not prepared to compete with the Clippers in the preseason. Ji Feng, who was in the best condition, was on the sidelines. Kobe and Gasol played for only 15 minutes and then stopped. The main players were naturally the two new players, Kapono and Jordan Hill, who played for about 35 minutes each.
The final result was that the Lakers lost by 6 points 108-114, but this was just a preseason game, so there was nothing to analyze. Griffin looked unsatisfied after winning the game, and continued to make a few bold statements after the game, saying that we would see each other in the regular season.
Ji Feng snorted and said that this was what he wanted to do.
Two days later, on the 22nd, the Lakers faced their second preseason opponent. Well, you guessed it right, it was still the Clippers, but this time the Lakers were on the road, of course, there was still no difference.
In this game, Ji Feng played, Kobe and Gasol took turns to rest, and the Zen Master continued to experiment with the lineup. The Clippers felt that they had won the last game and did not use their main players as hard as in the previous game. Although Griffin was very active, he was benched after only one quarter.
The final result was that Ji Feng led the team to a 118-104 victory with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
After the game, the reporters wanted to hear Ji Feng's response to Griffin in the previous game, but Ji Feng still said calmly: "It's just a preseason game, winning is no big deal, the Clippers are still very strong and are our main opponent."
Reporter: "..."
Okay, it seems that Ji Feng will be stable this season.
Once the Cavaliers' interested people found out, not only Ji Feng, but also the whole Lakers team's atmosphere has changed. In the previous seasons, the Lakers showed extraordinary dominance, both on and off the court. Now, the Lakers seem to be deliberately moving forward in a low-key manner. From Ji Feng to other players, their words are very low-key. Trash talk before and after the game is almost extinct, and the flag-raising activities that reporters love to see are gone.
On the contrary, the Heat next door are as high-profile as last season. After two consecutive wins in the preseason, from coaches to stars to ordinary players, they all made bold statements to win the championship this season.
The flag is raised now, well, this is very hot.
However, they still have some confidence. It can be seen from the two preseason games that the Big Three have a better understanding of each other. The long offseason is also a good thing for them. They have more time to run in. Although Wade has a knee injury, James has become more comprehensive. It is said that in addition to being busy with negotiations during the offseason, James has spent time on the training ground and found many teachers to enrich his arsenal, especially back-to-the-basket techniques and shooting. He has worked hard and now it seems to be true.
As for Bosh... well, slightly~!
Such Heat are really getting more and more difficult to deal with.
"It seems that we still need to pay more attention to the Heat this season." Ji Feng muttered to himself after watching the highlights of the two preseason games of the Heat. The idea after the finals last season may indeed become a reality. The Heat should have reached its peak this season.
However, Ji Feng is not in a hurry. He still has a long time to observe the Heat, and the matter in front of him is obviously more important. That is, three days later, on Christmas Day, the curtain of the 2011-2012 NBA regular season will finally open!
After much anticipation, the ill-fated new season is finally about to unveil its mysterious veil. This time, the opening game has some different meanings than in the past. Just look at the time when the game starts. This time, the opening game is also an important reserved program of the NBA - the Christmas game!
The league attaches great importance to the Christmas game, even more than the All-Star Game, because the ratings of the NBA regular season, the Christmas game has always been better than the All-Star Game, and the Christmas game has a greater influence in North America, so the league puts the opening game of the new season on the day of the Christmas game, which is also a lot of thought.
As mentioned before, due to the lockout, the league has lost a lot of fans, and many fans are very disgusted with this naked pursuit of interests. Therefore, this time the Christmas game and the opening game are put together, which is also an important move for Stern to win back fans.
So naturally, a lot of effort has been devoted to the schedule arrangement.
Without further ado, the new season's opening game, the Christmas game, has a total of five matchups, namely: New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma Thunder vs. Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Clippers.
From such a lineup, everyone can see the hard work of the league. Nowadays, almost all the most watched teams in the league have made their debut, and stars from all walks of life have also appeared one after another. Vertical comparison, they are enough to occupy a place in previous Christmas games. .
Although it is surprising that the Lakers and Heat, the opponents of last season's finals, did not meet, the opponents arranged for each of them are also important enough.
The Lakers' first opponent in the new season is last season's biggest dark horse, the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls, who went all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last season before finally losing unfortunately, are making a comeback in the new season. They have once again strengthened their lineup in the new season. In addition to the players they got from the draft, Butler and Hamilton, one of the Pistons' five tigers, are their biggest gain, and the addition of Jazz Korver has given them a qualitative improvement in their outside ability. Among other things, last season's lack of qualified outside players led to the Eastern Conference's failure. They were definitely defended by the Heat. Now, the Bulls lineup is obviously more reasonable than last season. They are also considered to be one of the strongest teams in the Eastern Conference this season. As the Lakers' first opponent in the new season, they are undoubtedly very interesting. of.
Time flew by, and three days flew by. At 3 pm on December 25, local time, the long-lost music sounded in Staples.
With DJ shouting, Ji Feng was the first to run out of the player tunnel!
The new season is finally here!