Before the start of the 2014-15 season, almost everyone's eyes were drawn to Cleveland.

Last summer, the Cavaliers welcomed back their "Emperor" LeBron. James, got the "two-pair machine" Kevin. Lefou, plus the 2011 popular champion show Carey. Irving. A younger, more powerful Big Three, thus took shape.

In the eyes of most people at the time, such a lineup was not even in the East, and even if you look at the whole league, there are few teams that can compete with it.

Even the Memphis Grizzlies, running into the younger Big Three, don't necessarily guarantee a 100 percent defeat.

The east is almost a dominant situation, except for the knights, no one can spy on the first position in the east.

But when the season really started, it wasn't the Cleveland Cavaliers who surprised people, but the Atlanta Hawks that almost no one remembered last season!

Under the leadership of Coach Budenholzer, the Hawks have been in first place in the East since the beginning of the season, and have won more games than the Cavaliers.

The Eagles' five starters are Jeff. Teague, Kyle. Korver, DeMar. Carol, Paul. Millsap and Al. Horford.

None of these five can be called absolute superstars, and there is no comparison with the brilliant knights.

The highest scoring average of the Hawks in the East is none other than Millsap's 16.7 points. And so far this season, there hasn't been a single game in which a player has scored 30+ points.

By all accounts, the Eagles are unlikely to be a winning team.

The Eagles don't really have a lot of individual heroism, but they take the spirit of team basketball to the extreme.

This has to mention their head coach Mike. Budenholzer too.

The coach, who came from the Spurs system, successfully injected the Spurs' tactical philosophy into the Hawks.

The Eagles play a team-based basketball game with rigorous tactics, and each player maximizes his or her strengths. As the leader and commander of the team, Budenhozer has made a great contribution.

So much so that many fans called this Hawks "Spurs No. 2 team", and even jokingly ridiculed the Spurs as "Little Hawks".

Of course, their most well-known nickname is the "Eastern Spurs".

In fact, the Atlanta Eagles have always had a good foundation.

Since the 2007-08 season, there have only been two teams in the NBA that have not missed a single playoff game.

The Ageless Spurs are naturally among them, and the other team is the "Eastern Spurs" Hawks.

The Hawks finished eighth in the East last season, a full 18 fewer wins than the first-place Pacers.

But the Hawks lost in the playoffs last season with the Pacers in a tie-break and almost staged a Black Eight miracle.

It's just that this team with a simple style of play and no big-name stars has received too little attention, so few people remember their results, and few people remember that they almost performed the Black Eight Miracle last season.

That's why it's a surprise to be surprised by their sudden rise this season.

There's no doubt that the Atlanta Hawks are now the league's top team. Their record is not only outstanding in the East, but even in the West, they are second only to the Grizzlies and Warriors.

Facing such a top strong team with an uneven lineup, Jogel is naturally a headache.

But fortunately, before the Hawks, the Grizzlies can still play the New York Knicks to warm up.

On January 5, the Grizzlies after losing Gasol faced the Knicks, who currently have a 5-31 record.

The New York Knicks have also been "tortured" by injuries this season, but what is worse than the Grizzlies is that they have lost their star Cameron. Anthony.

After Anthony was out, the Knicks didn't have much fighting power at all. Coupled with the chaos of management, the Knicks' record can be described as a cliff jump.

In previous seasons, the Knicks were also a strong contender for the championship. Last season, the Knicks were a powerhouse in the East.

But this year, they went straight to the top prize to sign ......

If the league were to pick a "fastest regression team", the Knicks would be the undisputed champion.

There is nothing to say about this game, and the Knicks are naturally abused to be able to take care of themselves. People joked that it would be hard enough for this Knicks to play in the NCAA.

In the end, the Grizzlies beat the Knicks directly to the spot with a score of 105-83 at home.

Link clocked out in the third quarter, scoring 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. In the middle of the third quarter, the Grizzlies still won the Knicks by nearly 20 points.

This shows how solid the Knicks' bottom-to-bottom ranking is. After this game, the Knicks' losing streak has reached a staggering 12 games!

After the game, even Mike, who was based in New York to comment on the game. Brin couldn't help but complain, "The Grizzlies can beat the Knicks by nearly 20 points without the black and white bears, and it is too much to say that the Knicks can't play in the NCAA." In my opinion, the Knicks are at least at the level of the Development League. ”

Mike. Brin rarely has a venomous tongue, but this time, he really doesn't vomit or be unhappy.

There seems to be no bright spots in this game, but if you look closely at the data tables of both sides, you will still find something different.

In the Knicks' dismal data sheet, Quincy. Assi, a 12-year second-round pick, scored a big double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds! Scoring and rebounding are team-high!

Assi has been a bottom-level blue-collar player since he entered the league, averaging just 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game so far this season. Even on the Knicks, the league's bottom-of-the-league, Assi couldn't get a chance to start.

It was such a dragon player who won two double-doubles in the league......

The reason is actually very simple, the time Assi plays is exactly the time when the Grizzlies have no interior available!

After Gasol's injury, the Grizzlies naturally pushed Whiteside to the starting lineup. Although Whiteside's overall strength is not as good as Gasol's, the most basic frame protection and basket grabbing are absolutely enough.

He may not be able to do it if you give him the icing on the cake, but Whiteside can definitely do a great job.

As a result, the Knicks started two inside linemen Kerr. Aldridge and Jason. Smith was so abused that he couldn't take care of himself.

The former had only 7 points and 3 rebounds, while the latter had 10 points and 5 rebounds, but only made 4 of 11 shots. As an interior player who focuses on low-post offense, such data is obviously failing.

But after Whiteside was gone, the Grizzlies had to use Tobias. Harris goes to play center!

There's no doubt that the Grizzlies' ability to protect the rim has dropped dramatically as a result. So, the Knicks came off the bench with Quincy. Assi happened to pinch this soft persimmon and brushed two pairs of data out.

Although the Grizzlies won easily against the Knicks, the huge holes left by Gasol's injury were also exposed.

Just a Quincy. Assi can blow up the Grizzlies' bench inside like this, and the next game against the Hawks, won't it be even worse?

If Harris runs into Hawks backup center Payne. Antici was fine, but if he had run into Millsap or Horford, it would have been quite bloody.

Joggle has to rejoice that today the Grizzlies are facing a Knicks who are so rotten that they have no bottom line.

Otherwise, the Grizzlies may really be upset.

So the day after the game, the day before the Grizzlies vs. Hawks battle.

Joggel called Link to his office early in the morning and made a very bold offer.

"Next game, Link, I'm afraid...... I'm afraid that in the rotation time, I will put you on the top of the number five position! ”

Just like in 1980, after the Los Angeles Lakers lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lakers coach Paul . Westhead had to push "The Magician" to the No. 5 position.

Joggle also opted to fill the No. 5 spot with a superstar on the team.

It's weird, but it's the only way.

Link wasn't surprised to hear Jogle's proposal, for there was no one better suited for the task than him.

Link wasn't nervous, but very excited.

The face of the alliance, of course, cannot be afraid of challenges.