Chapter 669: A strong desire to win
The Pacers continued their winning streak and were in great form after the All-Star break.
On Feb. 25, the Pacers took on the Thunder on the road, the last leg of their home-and-away back-and-forth post-All-Star campaign.
The Thunder, like the Warriors, have a disorganized roster and the team is missing a key man, Kevin Durant – Durant's injury is not promising.
There is a good chance that he will miss the rest of the season.
The Thunder are swallowing the bitter pill of easily sending Harden away.
Playoffs are lost, injuries are on the rise, and new powerhouses are on the rise.
In the cutthroat competitive environment of the NBA, it is a crime not to value any opportunity.
Because you don't know when the next opportunity will come.
However, in this game, the Thunder, who were playing at home, played at a very high level under the leadership of Westbrook.
The Pacers, on the other hand, struggled with consecutive home and away turnbacks, and the whole team was not in good shape.
JR Smith, who is the team's barometer, made 5 three-pointers in the last game against the Warriors, and today he played the Thunder, and he made 1 of 6 three-pointers.
Of course, if Smith is a barometer, Li Liang is the team's stable gyroscope, and his performance is stable and motionless like Wang Ba.
But the single-core team is like this, sometimes one person really can't lead it.
With three iron lumps on your legs, how do you fly?
Li Liang scored 33 points and hit four three-pointers, and then the Pacers made five three-pointers......
The three-point shooting inconsistency has been a problem for the Pacers this season.
It's about the quality of the players, it's also about the team's tactical system.
When Bird began to move his team from offense to defense and play easier on the offensive end, a drop in three-point shooting percentage was inevitable.
And tonight in Ohio, the Pacers haven't been able to stop Westbrook's onslaught.
The Thunder were in full bloom, beating the Pacers by 8 points at home 116-108.
But for the Pacers, the loss didn't hurt.
Because the Pacers have climbed to second place in the East, just behind the Atlanta Hawks.
They are only one win away from the Hawks, and as long as they work harder, the first place in the East will still be the Pacers.
If the Pacers can finish first in the Eastern Conference, then Li Liang will be at the top of the half of the regular season for three years after entering the league.
What a natural winner.
……
After a back-and-forth home-and-away trip, the Pacers were finally able to return to Indianapolis for a week's time.
They will all face their opponents at home for the next four games.
For Li Liang, the NBA's regular season is too long.
82 games, stinky and long.
And he's not only going to play real-world games, but he's also going to get into the system and play games in NBA history.
Recently, he's been doing some tasks with low personal ability values, and novice tasks with more than a dozen points.
A little bit to the '60s, the St. Louis Hawks and Bob Petit played center.
I'm going to go to the New York Knicks in the '70s and learn how to throw with Walter Frazier.
With Li Liang's current strength, there is basically no big problem in dealing with these task competitions.
But as long as you play a game, you will still be tired and consume energy.
Anyway, Li Liang slowly mentioned some of the more unpopular skill points a little.
The advantage of mentioning it is that Li Liang finds himself in the attack, and his physical flexibility will be improved.
While some techniques don't always work with high confrontation, they are good for the coordination of the whole body.
Anyway, I have to improve in the future, so I can practice now when I have time.
Of course, there is another important reason that life in Indiana is really boring.
There are still a lot of entertainment in Los Angeles, in addition to eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling, you can also go to movie opening ceremonies, participate in some fashion exhibitions, singer performances, as well as large amusement parks, beaches and so on.
When you arrive in Indianapolis, the biggest entertainment here is sports – sports.
Li Liang's main role here is to provide entertainment, not to consume it.
In addition to basketball, the people of India are also crazy about racing.
But Li Liang has little interest in racing, and NBA athletes are contractually required to stay away from this dangerous sport.
Therefore, Li Liang had to spend a lot of time doing tasks in the system.
However, on February 27th, Li Liang still took time to rest for a day.
Because on the 28th, the Pacers are going to play the knights again.
Heading into the end of the season, the Cavaliers are getting better and better, and they are currently moving up to third place in the standings, just behind the Pacers.
Although there is still a gap of several wins with the Pacers in terms of record, it has to be guarded against for the Pacers.
They definitely don't want to be caught up by the Cavaliers in terms of record.
As a result, the Pacers team carefully prepared for this game, but on the day of the game, the Cavaliers announced that James and Irving would not play this game due to physical injury problems.
Don't fight again?
Although the Cavaliers are back-to-back, they will definitely want the star of the house to get a chance to rest.
Especially if the opponent is still the Pacers, James is a veteran who has played for more than ten years after all, and Irving has always had more injuries.
So out of prudence, the Cavaliers still chose to take turns resting the two main forces, and let George lead the team alone.
Well, the Pacers are fully on the line.
Li Liang never mentioned that he was only in the third grade, and he was a fart on rotation.
Besides, Li Liang has always been cautious and cautious, and his body is very well protected, not to mention major injuries, small injuries are rare.
Even the team doctor of the Pacers sighed that Li Liang's body is really different from ordinary people, and he has never seen such a healthy body in an NBA game.
Of course, I've never seen socks smell like that.
Every time I massaged Li Liang's feet and wrapped a bandage, I felt that I needed to be fully disinfected.
James and Irving watched from the wall, and Li Liang was still in full shape.
Since you have shrunk your heads, then don't blame me for beating to death.
Anyway, the knight has a George.
It's hard for George now, the two of them don't fight, let him lead the team alone, or play in Indiana.
It's really damning.
The Pacers were leading from the very beginning of the game, and Li Liang was even more firepower, without saying that his subordinates showed mercy at all.
At the end of the season, it's time to get out of shape.
Li Liang should adjust his mental and physical competitive state to the best.
And in the regular season, Li Liang and Bird said that he felt that the team should hit 60 wins to get all the home court advantage in the East.
Bird was noncommittal about Li Liang's advice, after all, the regular season record is sometimes not that important.
But Li Liang's energetic state is very important for the morale of the whole team.
Bird can understand why Li Liang can win the championship two years in a row.
Strength, luck and mental factors are all indispensable.
Li Liang has a strong desire to win, and he never hides it, which is very similar to Kobe.
In the first half of the game, Li Liang hit six three-pointers, and one person shot the outside of the Cavaliers into a sieve.
In the second half, Li Liang did not feel like stopping at all, and continued to shoot frantically on the outside.
When the knights felt that something was wrong, they couldn't stop Li Liang, who was full of firepower.
In the second half, he made 8 more three-pointers, 14 of 21 shots in the game, once again setting a new NBA single-game three-point shooting record!
This season, Li Liang's performance in all aspects has become more and more balanced and comprehensive, making many people forget that he is probably the most feared three-point player in NBA history.
It doesn't feel like he's anything special, but he can just throw it.
At 127:98, the Pacers swept the Cleveland Cavaliers at home.
Li Liang scored 55 points with 14 three-pointers, scoring 50 points in a single game for the third time this season.
He is getting more and more secure in the scoring title.