Chapter 165: Look! Defending champion
After the game with the Suns, the Kings achieved a sweep of the regular season against the Suns this season, and the Kings will usher in four consecutive home games, which will also be the last time that the Kings have more than two consecutive home games this season, against the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Houston Rockets.
Among these 4 opponents, only the Golden State Warriors can be said to be a real underdog, the Los Angeles Lakers are ranked 4th in the West, the Dallas Mavericks are ranked 6th in the West, and the Houston Rockets are ranked 8th in the West.
The Kings have played the Los Angeles Lakers twice this season, beating the Lakers home and away. Bryant was sidelined with an injury, and when the two teams faced each other again in Sacramento, Bryant was finally on the court.
In the All-Star game, Tyrek and Kobe Bryant are teammates, this is the second time the two have met this season, at the Staples Center Arena, both played 40+ performances, giving fans a big game, and finally Tyrek had the last laugh. This time in Sacramento, when the two met again, Kobe Bryant was also full of praise for Terrick's performance this season, after all, Tyrek has a great hope of winning the scoring title in the third season of his career in addition to his excellent team results this season, which is indeed very surprising, and now Tyreco's average points per game is close to 1 point ahead of the second-place Durant, and Tyreco's scoring ability this season is indeed strong.
At the pre-game press conference, Kobe Bryant also expressed his appreciation for Terrick to many reporters, and the proud Kobe Bryant bluntly said that Tyreck's scoring ability is now the top five in the league, and Durant, James and himself are all at the same level, for Tyreek, who has only played in the NBA for three years, this is indeed a very high evaluation, but Kobe Bryant said this is very objective from the data level, after all, in this season's scoring list, Tyrek occupies the top spot, Durant, Kobe, James ranks second to fourthTyreco's scoring ability is indeed on the same level as theirs.
At the Sleep Train Arena, the two teams once again staged a scoring battle, but the protagonists of this game were not Tyrek and Kobe, but Cousins and Andrew. Bynum!
Cousins with Western Conference All-Star starting center Andrew. Bynum, the two staged a wonderful inside duel, Cousins scored points on the Lakers with his all-round skills, and Bynum also responded with beautiful low-post singles again and again, and both of them scored 30+ high points in this game!
Kobe Bryant didn't feel good in this game, hitting only 10 of 27 shots, and scored 29 points with a 37 percent shooting rate, Tyreek's performance was not inaccurate if he didn't dominate the whole court, and the data of 22 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists was unsatisfactory.
In addition to these four players, the Lakers played better overall in this game, and finally the Lakers defeated the Kings on the road, after which the Kings are 30-17 and the Lakers are still in 3rd and 4th in the West with 29-17.
A day later, the next opponent, the Golden State Warriors, also came to Sacramento, at this time the Golden State Warriors had a record of 19 wins and 25 losses, although the Warriors still have the possibility of making the playoffs, but if nothing else, the Warriors basically missed the playoffs.
Why say that, this season Stephen. Curry unsurprisingly played just 26 games due to an ankle injury before the season was reimbursed, while sending away the team's top scorer in the middle of the season, Monta. Ellis, it's fair to say that the Warriors have set their sights on next season, and with the Warriors' roster at this point, it's hard to make a difference this season.
Nate. Robinson, Clay. Thompson, Dorrell. White, David. Lee, Jeremy. Taylor's starting Warriors were easily beaten by the Kings on the road, and the suspense was basically lost at halftime in the game, facing the 1.75m Nate. Robinson and the immature Clay. Thompson, Tyrek scored 31 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in only 3 quarters, and the entire fourth quarter was garbage time, and finally the Kings defeated the Warriors 112-83 at home.
The next game awaits the Kings is the Dallas Mavericks, the first meeting between the Kings and the Mavericks this season, who were the champions last season!
The Mavericks won the championship last season without being favored. Nowitzki finally got his dream of Dallas, but the Mavericks didn't keep their championship lineup after winning the championship, letting go of defensive core Tyson. Chandler as well as Jose. Barria, Caron. Butler, DeSean. Stevenson, Corey. Brewer et al., Peja. Stojakovic also opted to retire, with Dirk in the core lineup. Nowitzki, Jason. Kidd, Jason. Terry & Sean. Marion remains on the team, but Kidd's contract with John Terry will expire at the end of the season, and it is unlikely that the two will re-sign with the Mavericks.
It is also reasonable for the Mavericks to choose a lineup reorganization, after all, they themselves did not expect to win the championship last season, Nowitzki, Terry and other veterans may not be able to continue to play in the playoffs in the future, the already saturated lineup can not withstand the big contract renewal of the finals of a few people, and the age of the original lineup is indeed too big, maintain this lineup, how long the strength can be maintained, no one knows, Mark. Cuban needs to sort out salary space to find a younger and more capable helper for Nowitzki.
The Mavericks have indeed declined this season after letting go of several players, but Nowitzki, who is about to turn 34, still has the league's best quality, plus Terry, Marion, Kidd and Vince who joined this season. Lao Te, these veterans are still alive, and the Mavericks still firmly occupy the top 8 positions in the West, and although the Mavericks are old, no one can despise them.
At the same time, in the eyes of Terek and others, the aura of the defending champion brought by the Mavericks is extremely shining, no matter what the strength and record of the Mavericks are at this time, they are the defending champions!
It's always so exciting to play against the defending champions, and last season's Mavericks played a legendary playoff game, which made everyone on the Kings team look forward to this matchup, Nowitzki, Kidd and Carter, three future Hall of Famers, as well as well-known veterans such as Terry and Marion, are more than 10 years older than most of the Kings.