905. Must Win Tonight! (3rd Update: Commuter Pass)
In order to get the Durant Star Experience Card and avoid Rose's Star Experience Card being deleted, the remaining two games of the season against the Thunder must be won.
The key is that Sun Ce didn't expect to play overtime in the game with the Nuggets last night, he thought that he would either win or lose, but he didn't expect to play so anxiously, Lowry's 35 points, Lawson's 20 points and 16 assists, the performance of the double point guards is too strong, the key is the Nuggets' group of B+ to A- level players, although they left two before this season, there are still 11 people in rotation, which is just terrible.
Winning is winning, but they're tired enough for the Grizzlies.
The good news is that the Thunder side is in the last game of the back-to-back, the day before yesterday the Thunder lost to the Lakers away, and yesterday returned to the home court and the Spurs in a bloody battle, 109-107, Durant pressed the whistle to kill.
This makes Sun Ce feel a slight advantage, although they usually rotate 11 people, but in fact, they can rotate up to 13 people, and when there is a rotation, there is a Wazquis who guarded the water cooler before to play.
Sun Ce knew what the management meant, and he didn't send Wazquis out so early, just to drag it out until the All-Star Weekend and get through the last 5 days and 4 games before the All-Star Weekend.
In the recent wave of six consecutive home players, although their Grizzlies overall consumption is relatively large, they have done a good job of rotation rest and avoided injuries, and Gasol Jr. twisted his foot when playing the Jazz, a slight sprain, but it did not prevent the whole game, Battier missed two games because of hip tension, and Paul George stabbed his left hand when he stealed...... These are all minor problems, which did not affect them, with five wins and one loss in these six games, Sun Ce is very satisfied with the rotation and rest arrangement of the coaching staff.
After arriving at the arena, a simple tactical meeting was held, and Coach Hollins announced that Nash and Gasol Jr. would not play tonight, and Wazquez and Jimmy Butler were in the rotation.
The main thing is that Vazquez is in the rotation, Jimmy Butler has played 10 times so far this season, averaging 6 minutes per game, negligible on the offensive end, and Leonard's current feeling on the defensive end, a little rough, but the awareness is very good, the key is to dare to fight, and he has played against Kobe Bryant for a few minutes, and the effect is ...... It's courageous anyway.
Sun Ce knows that this is already the smallest rotation rest, the coaching staff attaches great importance to tonight's game, Randolph played 41 minutes last night, and he will play today, so that a player who can get an average of 20+ per game in the bag every night, even if he is just walking on the court, can contain the defense, and Randolph has actually performed well recently, much better than the pitchers.
This time, although except for the Nuggets, the other five teams are not considered teams that can play a stable strong team performance, but they can win five games, and it is really because of him and Randolph who support the team.
"You can only take one step at a time!"
Sun Ce is ready to go all out, if he can play, he will fight, if he can't beat, it depends on the situation, if he wants to lose but there is a situation where he can complete it with his outbreak, you can operate it well.
This game has to be won!
The incident on Westbrook's side is not too much of a problem, and Westbrook has only had one triple-double so far this season.
The shrinking season is not an easy thing for all teams, in order to compete with the Lakers and Nuggets for third place in the West, and retain the possibility of hitting the second or even first place in the West, the Thunder team does not dare to be careless at all, this season Westbrook does not even have the mind to occasionally brush up on triple-doubles like last season, and if he loses one or two more games, he will fall to fourth or fifth!
At present, the Thunder is 21-12 and ranks third in the West, but only one win ahead of the Lakers and Nuggets, who are fourth and fifth in the West, and dare not relax in the slightest.
……
After the pre-game tactical meeting, Sun Ce warmed up with his teammates, and at 8 p.m., the Grizzlies' away game against the Thunder began.
From the Grizzlies' entry to Yi Jianlian's jump from Ibaka's head, the boos of the fans at the scene have not stopped.
The starting lineup sent by the Grizzlies today is Sun Ce, Wazquis, Paul George, Randolph, and Yi Jianlian.
From the beginning of the game, the Grizzlies took the initiative, and in the second half of the first quarter, Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, who came off the bench, and Yi Jianlian, who returned to the power forward position at Randolph's break, each hit a three-pointer, playing a wave of 9-3, and stretched the difference to 11 points in one fell swoop!
When Sun Ce led by 5 points in the 10th minute of the first quarter, the opponent contracted the defense to block the other four and his mid-to-near distance, and let him shoot three points, he tried to shoot a top arc three-pointer, and scored, just like igniting the whole team's hand, three-point shots hit continuously!
On the Thunder side, this time the feeling was average, plus the Grizzlies defended well, and after the first quarter, the Grizzlies led by 11 points 33-22 and entered the intermission.
In the second quarter, Sun Ce, who played the whole first quarter, was replaced and rested for half a quarter, and the lineup of Wazquiz and Tony Allen, Klay Thompson, Speight, and Jordan Jr. came on.
On the Thunder's side, Westbrook, Harden, Daquane Cook, Durant, and Ibaka played with a large and small lineup.
Sometimes you can't underestimate any opponent...... And even teammates!
As a player with a stable core position in the team, Sun Ce can't really feel how hard a player who is eager to get playing time, wants to play in a different team, and wants to get more attention after changing teams!
Although Vazquez is only in his second year, and as a first-round pick, he still has two years left on his contract after playing this season, but his emotions after knowing that he is going to be traded this season are like those of a contract year player, and he will fight the court, so he has played a performance that makes many players want to get him.
Tonight, Vazquis, who fought as hard as he had in the previous dozen appearances, broke out!
At the beginning of the second quarter, in the face of Westbrook's defense, Wazquisli burst out and scored 6 points in a row, catching the Thunder off guard.
They didn't expect Vazquez to play so passionately and boldly.
It was the 10th time in a year that Wazquiz had scored in double figures in his Grizzlies career!
After playing a threat, after playing a threat, Wazquith and Jordan Jr.'s blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation fought, he was not idle in this half season, although the number of appearances was limited, but he was not idle in vain, he already had the strength of a rotation player, and he was also guided by Stockton and Nash and others, and had an extra good impression of such a thin floor flow white point guard, Stockton and Nash.
In this game, the out-of-form Wazquis played very well, only scored 4 points in the first quarter with two empty shots, passed a counterattack dunk to Sun Ce, only 4 points and 1 assist, and in the first half of the second quarter, he scored 8 points alone, plus 3 assists, helping the Grizzlies stretch the difference to 16 points in the middle of the second quarter!
Before the second quarter was over, the Grizzlies led the Thunder 50-34, and the Thunder called a timeout to enter the official timeout!
Sun Ce was stunned when he looked at the sidelines, and after reacting, he cheered loudly for Vazquis with Jimmy's younger brother and Yi Jianlian.
Randolph is waving a towel!
played 11 minutes, got 12 points and 4 assists, this performance, despite the help of the whole team, such as Sun Ce's 10 points in a single quarter in the first quarter, three-point shots were thrown, but to seize the opportunity is Wazquis's ability!
Originally, Sun Ce was ready, once the point difference was narrowed, he immediately asked to play, tried his best to play the first half, and used Roska in the second half, if he lost, even if he won the last regular season with the Thunder this season, he could only play a 2-2 draw, and Roska would be deducted.
But unexpectedly, Vazquez not only helped him hold up the half quarter of his rest, but also helped the team stretch the difference to 16 points!
And the Thunder side is also iron enough, Durant has shot 0 of 4 three-pointers today.
Sun Ce feels that it is really the God of the Americans who are helping Vazquis, and now that it is about to reach the All-Star Weekend, many teams want to trade him before entering the All-Star Weekend, so that Vazquez can receive team training and get used to team tactics during the All-Star Weekend break.
Now that Vazquez is playing with such an explosive performance against the Thunder while Nash is resting, it will definitely get him more attention from his new club.
And he studied with Stockton and Nash for half a season, and every time he played, he played a stable 20+ minutes, which was a treatment that Wazquis could not get in the original time and space, just like the grasp of the timing of the pass, Vazquis, who was only in the second year, did not consider the field of vision, only looked at the grasp of the timing of the pass, Sun Ce felt that the other party was better than himself......
This is a heart-stopping thing, Sun Ce looked at his A-level passing evaluation, first-class is first-class, but Wazques is a second-year student, and it is also a first-class A-level passing evaluation......
Sun Ce is not jealous of Vazquis's passing talent, a player like Vazquez who is not athletic and has average strength, and who relies on his touch and running to play, will not be able to gain a foothold in the NBA if he does not have a strong point.
……
After the official timeout, Sun Ce and the lineup of Neil, Paul George, Randolph and Yi Jianlian came on.
With the lead, and knowing which players on the other side shot well today and those players had a bad hand, the Grizzlies played more freely, after all, Sun Ce and others sat on the sidelines and rested for half a quarter and didn't just watch, cheering for Vazquez while analyzing why the team defended well and which players on the other side played badly.
In addition to Durant's side, even if he feels bad, he has to put pressure all the way, Paul George went up to take over Mr. Tony, continued to make physical contact with Durant, and worked harder than when he played against Durant in the past......
It's a rare opportunity!