Chapter 131: The darling of the alliance and the media
On February 5, the Suns have come to Atlanta to prepare for the Hawks, and the Internet is also very lively at this time, of course, not because the Suns have won two consecutive victories, nor because Chen Shu has played 37+7 and 25+11 data in a row.
It's because in yesterday's two games, one is the Heat's 99-79 victory over the 76ers, James got 19 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks, which also brought his career score to 18,000+ points. At the age of 27 years and 35 days, he became the youngest Mr. 18,000 points in NBA history. Although James has not yet won a championship, as the league's recognized chosen son, his NBA legendary career has already begun, and he has broken one NBA record after another.
The second game that attracted attention was yesterday's strong clash between the Spurs and the Thunder, which ended in a 107-96 victory for the Spurs, and this game was even considered by many sports media to be a preview of this summer's Western Conference Finals. In this game, Parker shot 16 of 29, 0 of 2 three-pointers, and 10 of 12 free throws, scoring 42 points and 9 assists. While Parker scored a new season high, his 9 assists also managed to bring his assist tally to 4,477 assists, successfully surpassing Spurs legend Avery Johnson (4,474 assists) to become the Spurs' all-time assist leader!
Seeing that these great gods of the alliance are killing all sides, they are also receiving the attention and popularity of the alliance and the media, and Chen Shu is also very greedy. But he knows that to be the darling of the media and the league, either you can lead the team to a great record and make trouble in the playoffs; Either that, or just hit crazy personal data. Of course, these two aspects sometimes complement each other. Thinking that it is difficult for the strength of the team to become a team with an excellent record, then he can only play crazy personal data by himself, but when he thinks of his current B-level rating, Chen Shu is cold, let's prepare for the evening game first.
Tonight's opponent, the Hawks, is a long-established team, but after the '90s, the Hawks were in a swing until the 2007-08 draft, when the 22-year-old drafted Al Horford, a 22-year-old who contributed 10.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game as the main center. The addition of Horford has taken the team's interior defense and rebounding capabilities to the next level, while Bibby led the team to win 11 of the last 18 games after a run-in period of more than a month and months, and it was this small explosion at the end of the regular season that allowed the Hawks to successfully reach the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. In the end, the Hawks finished with a 37-45 record, returned to the playoffs after nine years, and played seven games in the first round of the playoffs against the eventual championship team Celtics.
After that, during the 2008-2011 season, the Hawks made it to the second round of the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. In 2010-2011, the Hawks defeated the Magic team with the league's No. 1 center Howard with a total score of 4-2, but unfortunately, they were finally cut off by the regular season champion Bulls led by new MVP Derrick Rose.
This season, the Hawks currently sit fifth in the East with a 13-8 record, and it's no surprise that the Hawks are a proper playoff team.
Although after January this season, the main center Horford was injured and could not play, but the current Hawks are also full of talent, the main scorer contemporary Jordan Joe Johnson, who can average 18.5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game, and the main forward Josh Smith, since being selected by the Hawks, has played for the Hawks for 7 seasons, although the poor shooting selection has been questioned, but it has had a great impact on the team on both the offensive and defensive ends. And this season, Josh Smith averaged 19 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, and all statistics reached the peak of boosting.
Josh Smith and Joe John are both A-level players, and Jeff Tig, Marvin Williams, and Zazapachulia are B-level players, and the overall squad strength should not be underestimated. Therefore, if the Suns want to win in Atlanta, it is not something that Chen Shu can achieve by his outstanding performance, but also requires the sincere cooperation of the whole team.
In addition to the above players, there is another player in the Hawks that Chen Shu cares about, that is Tracy McGrady, since Maddy requested a trade to leave the Rockets, his form has begun to decline, this season on December 8, 2011, McGrady, who became a free agent again, signed a veteran base salary contract with the Atlanta Hawks. As an alternate player, he showed signs of recovery at the beginning of the season, and played all-around performances in limited playing time many times, but as the season progressed, he became less and less valued, and his ability was also limited by age and physical strength, and he rarely performed well, and currently only averaged 5.6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
Before Chen Shu entered the NBA, Maddie had always been one of his idols, and after entering the NBA, he drew Maddie's dry pull-up jump shooting skills from the system, and this skill also gave Chen Shu a lot of help, so Chen Shu has a good impression of Maddie, and also hopes that this game can compete with Maddie, so that he has the opportunity to pay tribute to his idol.
Before the start of the game, Chen Shu, who knew the strong lineup of the Hawks, was also a big enemy, but when the game really started, the Hawks, who had just experienced two consecutive defeats at home, were pressed by the Suns who had just experienced two consecutive wins, and were completely dominated by the Suns' fast-break rhythm, which did not reflect the basic qualities of a strong team.
The previous Hawks' two-game losing streak were 77-96 to the Grizzlies, fourth in the West, and 87-98 to the 76ers, the eighth in the East. In the game with the Grizzlies, the two players scored 11 and 13 points respectively, and in the game with the 76ers, Joe Johnson only scored 10 points, but what is even more outrageous is that the team's boss Smith made 2 of 14 from the field, 0 of 4 three-pointers, and 3 of 8 free throws, and only scored 5 points in the game. If it weren't for Jeff Teague's outstanding performance and 26 points and 6 assists to lead the team's stubborn resistance, the Hawks would not have survived the fourth quarter of the game.
And in this game, facing a weak team like the Suns, the Hawks still didn't play morale.
Not only did the Hawks get fouled as soon as the game started, Josh Smith was substituted for two fouls after playing just four minutes in the first quarter, and Joe Johnson didn't take advantage of Dudley's defense, scoring just four points on 2-of-6 shooting in the first quarter.
Jeff Tigue, who played well in the last game, has attacks and passes, and is as thin as Chen Shu, only 84 kilograms, but his strength is indeed not as good as Chen Shu, and he is not dominant in the face of Chen Shu, and he seems to be at nothing in the whole game.
With Smith off the court, the Hawks lacked an offensive core on the inside, and Joe Johnson, the core on the outside, was slow to find his rhythm. Point guard Teague was pinned down by Chen Shu on both the offensive and defensive ends, and there was no play, and Chen Shu also experienced the thrill of blowing up the opposing player.
At the end of the first quarter, the Suns dominated the game and led the Hawks by 10 points at 28:18. Chen Shu scored 5 points, 3 assists and 1 steal on 2-of-4 shooting.
(End of chapter)