On the 8th, after the morning training session, Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbyn called the players for a conversation.

The Jazz have just suffered a three-game losing streak. Millsap needs a certain amount of rest due to a more serious heel injury, otherwise it can easily deteriorate.

When Millsap was unavailable, Derrick Favors took his place as the Jazz's starting power forward, and his role could not be compared to Millsap's, so the Jazz were in a difficult situation.

Corbyn's face was not very good-looking, and he said: "I heard that the atmosphere in the locker room has not been good recently, and some people have spread that the league deliberately let us out of the game and want to keep the Lakers in the playoffs." It's disruptive audio-visual! Al, should you explain? I've heard you took the lead in saying that. ”

Al Jefferson stepped forward, sighed, and said, "Coach, it's not what I said, it's what the ESPN experts said. Our style of play hasn't changed, we still focus on attacking in the low post, but after the star game, we made significantly fewer free throws, and the referee didn't care about the small actions of the opponent pushing me and putting his arm on my shoulder. How many free throws do the Lakers make with a jump shot? How can it be twice as much as us? Just because they are a Los Angeles team, all the referees are biased in their favor. ”

Corbyn said coldly: "Maybe you're right, but you don't do us any good by saying these things in the locker room, it only hurts the morale of the team." Shouldn't you be at the heart of the team doing this kind of thing? ”

Jefferson sighed. "I won't say that again."

Corbyn felt helpless, and he heard it in his ears as if "I'm done with this season." ”

That's exactly what Jefferson thought. He's fed up playing on a bad team, fed up struggling on the brink of the playoffs and wanting to go to a team that has championship hopes. At the end of the season, it doesn't matter if he gets a little lower salary, he wants to prove his worth with a good record.

Throughout his career, Jefferson averaged 16 per game. 4 points and 9 rebounds, although next season will be his 10th NBA season, but he is only 28 years old this year when he entered the league as a high school student and is in his prime.

He is one of the best interior players in the low post, with solid footwork, soft touch, back to the back and face frame, and a strong ability to grab rebounds. It's a pity that many fans say that it is a data brush, mainly for two reasons.

One is that he is not strong defensively, especially poor in assisting, slow in movement, and poor in bounce. He has done a good job in terms of resisting people and making meat shields. In particular, the single defense has a weight and an arm span, does not shake, and is very stable. I can't say that I am a master of defense, but I am above the level.

The second is the record. Jefferson's personality is relatively modest, not as competitive as Kobe and Garnett, and his requirements for himself are not so harsh, and his personality is not suitable for being the boss. The team he is on is basically a rebuilding period, the Celtics, Timberwolves, and Jazz, and it is not surprising that the record is bad.

The Jazz also want to go with Mo Williams. After leaving the Cavaliers, he was not as good as a year, and his statistics fell seriously. He hasn't won a championship yet, and he doesn't have much chance of wanting a big contract, so if he wants to play for a promising team, it doesn't matter whether he wants to play for the East or West. He thinks he's at least a good player on the offensive end, and there will definitely be strong teams interested in him.

As for Jefferson's words in the locker room, Mo Williams did not express his opinion, and he did not care whether he made the playoffs this year or not.

Jefferson's words did affect the morale of the players and seemed a bit irresponsible. He added: "I apologize to everyone here, we shouldn't say that the league is unfair, at least for now, the initiative is still in our own hands, we are one game ahead of the Lakers, they are not so easy to catch up." We're going to fight for the playoffs. ”

Reaching the playoffs, Jefferson will also be rated higher in free agency in the summer.

"That's right, don't give up hope, beat the Knicks to prove yourself, we're not bad!" Tyrone Corbyn said loudly.

After Sloan's retirement, Corbyn took over as coach, and he was unstable in his position, and reaching the playoffs would have cemented his coaching position, otherwise he could have been fired at the end of the season or in the middle of the season. For the sake of his position, he has to encourage his players to keep their spirits up and give their all to play every game.

That night, Jazz fans were emotionally charged and shouted wildly. Even when the team gets weaker, the fans will be there to watch the game, and Salt Lake City has always been a model for the Devils' home stadium.

Feeling the atmosphere of the home stadium, Jefferson thought to himself: the only good place here is the fans. I wonder if there will be so many people watching the game after I leave?

Changing teams in the summer, the Knicks are Jefferson's first choice, he is a complete free agent, so he wants to show favor to the Knicks.

He heard that Zhou Xuan was good at analyzing psychology and studying psychology. During the warm-up, he took the initiative to greet Zhou Xuan, although they were not familiar with each other.

"It's a pleasure to play against you, Stephen Chow."

"Hello, Al."

Jefferson smiled: "I heard that you predicted the game very accurately, do you think we or the Lakers, who has a better chance of making the playoffs?" ”

Zhou Xuan thought for a while and said with a smile: "It's all big, I'm optimistic that the Rocket team will win the ninth place, they often get the ninth, don't they?" ”

"Haha, that's right, thank you for your auspicious words."

Jefferson's mood suddenly improved. They always keep an eye on the enemy they are chasing, but they forget to be ahead of them, and the sixth-place rocket, who has been in terrible form lately, is also likely to be overtaken.

Zhou Xuan is really not optimistic about the Rockets, because they don't defend and don't pay attention to defense. After the transaction, instead of strengthening, it became worse than the original. Patterson is a very average No. 4 and can at least shoot threes from the bottom of the basket. However, Robinson, the No. 5 pick in exchange for the Kings, is a full parallel product, with average defensive awareness, playing with his body, and his shooting distance is still short. Now the Rockets can only rely on three rookies at the No. 4 position, which is self-defeating.

After chatting a few words, Jefferson went back to his team, and Zhou Xuan had already thought that Jefferson was here to show goodwill. The two didn't have much to do with each other, and although they had played many times, they didn't talk to each other. When you think of Jefferson as a free agent this summer, it's likely that you think of the Knicks hugging his thigh.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xuan was very excited. Chandler is weak in attack and is mainly responsible for defense. If Jefferson comes, he has a strong offensive point in the low post, and the disadvantage is that the defense is poor. If he asks for a small contract, it's still worth it.

Zhou Xuan planned to mention to Mullin that he would contact Jefferson's agent during the holiday and ask about his intentions.

Bletcher only signed for a one-year salary, and if he leaves in the summer, the Knicks will have to strengthen the interior. If Bletche is willing to stay with the Knicks, it doesn't matter if he brings in Jefferson or not. Bletche can shoot from the ground and do a good job of removing the inside. With Zhou Xuan here, the interior players will not get too many offensive opportunities.

After the warm-up, the game begins.

Looking at the lineup, the Jazz are not weak. The starters were Mo Williams, Randy Foyer, De Mar Carroll, Favors, Jefferson. The bench Jazz also have two quality interior players, as well as a point-grabbing swingman like Hayward. THEIR WEAKNESS IS THAT THEY STACK UP FOUR SHORT INSIDERS, BUT NONE OF THEM EXCEED 210CM OF ABAN HEIGHT.

The Jazz got off to a good start, leading 11-4 after Carroll and Foye hit back-to-back three-pointers. Zhou Xuan also made a three-pointer and sent two assists to help Matthews make a three-pointer, and Chandler scored on the basket. also overtook the score with a wave of 8-0.

Jefferson singled Chandler, forced a turnaround and shot, and played aggressively after the start of the game.

Don't look at Chandler winning the best defensive player, it's really hard to defend against Jefferson's type.

Jefferson is too strong, one of the best centers in the league to play in the low post, and perhaps only Pekovic of the Bobcats can compete with him now. And Jefferson, in addition to his strong attack, also has a steady mid-range shot, which makes him more threatening.

In the second half, the Knicks were dumb from the outside. After Zhou Xuan broke through, Favors relied on good mobility to form a bag with Mo Williams, limiting his scoring. The Knicks trailed 21-25 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Jazz's rookie Kanter also showed good individual ability, scoring two points in the low post and making a mid-range shot, showing his all-round skills.

After Hayward hit a three-pointer, the Jazz went on a 7-0 run to extend the margin to 11 points.

D'Antoni replaced Zhou Xuan in advance and formed a double back with Bledsoe, and then the game suddenly became one-sided. Parsons and Nick Young scored three points in quick succession. Zhou also hit three three-pointers in three minutes against Tinsley and Kante's defense. Coupled with Bledsoe's layup in the counterattack, the Knicks played a wave of 17-2 and overtook the score in one go.

The Knicks won 36-21 in the quarter and led 57-46 at halftime.

Without Millsap, the Jazz are a little worse at pick-and-roll. At the start of the second half, N'Golo Kante and Jefferson formed a twin tower, and neither of them could defend themselves. Zhou Xuan hit consecutive shots after getting rid of the perimeter by covering.

"Turkish prodigy" Kante is not as good as rumored to be, he has not played in two seasons, and is more like a parallel commodity. He's a talented young interior player with an aggressive mind, excellent rim projection, and a noble character, but that doesn't hide his lack of defensive awareness. At the moment, Kante's ceiling is at best to become another Oku, a guy who likes to float outside and shoot but has average rebounding ability.

After three quarters, the Knicks led 84-63.

Jazz still has no way to break through with Zhou Xuan. The inside line can't prevent him, the outside line chases and defends the bag, Zhou Xuan will share the ball, and the Knicks have found a feeling on the outside. Nick Young and Matthews hit three points in a row, and the Knicks led by as many as 33 points, making the victory and defeat out of suspense.

118-90, the Jazz suffered four consecutive defeats.

Their only bright spot was Jefferson's star stats with 26 points and 12 rebounds. He showed himself in front of the Knicks coaching staff.

As for N'Golo Kante and Favors, it really doesn't look like they can be rebuilt with them as the core. If Jazz do that, he'll regret it in the future.

Zhou Xuan played 35 minutes and scored 29 points, 2 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals. His efficiency is still very high, ranking second in the league behind James and ranking first in the league in assists.

Coupled with the team's best record, Zhou Xuan is getting closer and closer to the MVP three-in-a-row.