Chapter 857: The Third Wish
The 2017-2018 season has been going on for a month and a half. So far, there are so many teams that have lost in the single digits.
The Golden State Warriors have a 16-6 record, the Celtics have a 19-4 record, and the San Antonio Spurs have a decent 14-7 record. Naturally, the Houston Rockets are also doing well, with 17 wins and 4 losses. And with Jimmy. The Minnesota Timberwolves, 14-9, after Butler, barely made it to this list.
With a frenzy across the league, many of the teams that have been heavily added this summer have achieved good results. But there is only one team in the whole league, and until now, it has not lost a single game!
This team is the Dallas Mavericks, who won both in October and November, and are currently in the opening stage of a 22-game winning streak.
If fans and pundits were asked to pick a team with a 20-game winning streak before the season began, people might choose the Warriors, the Rockets or even the Thunder. But absolutely no one would have anything to do with the Dallas Mavericks.
After the Mavericks lost last year, the problem of an overly old roster has been exposed. Aside from the addition of Hayward this summer, the Mavericks haven't attracted any other superstars. After all, it's the public enemy, and the stars are more interested in defeating the Mavericks than joining them. At that time, most people thought that the Mavericks had no chance of winning in the terrifying Westworld.
However, the Mavericks relied on the power of the draft to make the team once again have the top team in the league. There are many teams that have completed a rebuild through the draft, but it is very rare for a team to become a championship alternate through the draft. And the Dallas Mavericks, is one of them.
When Yiyang said the phrase "This is very close to the ultimate form of the Mavericks", the whole world was waiting to see Yiyang's joke. But Yiyang used a wave of 22 consecutive victories to seal everyone's mouths.
With a sought-after superstar, a promising rookie, a seasoned veteran and a manager who can tie them all together, the Mavericks have just about everything they need to succeed. The 22-game winning streak is the best proof of this, but it will never be the Mavericks' maximum ceiling.
On Dec. 6, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 122-105 at home after losing to Moodier. In this game, the Nuggets had no resistance at all, and Moodier, who was reborn after Nirvana, scored a season-high 23 points in this game, which can be regarded as an explanation to his old club.
Of course, the most exciting thing today was not Moodier's 23 points, nor Yiyang's 30 points and 12 assists. But after this game, the Dallas Mavericks officially surpassed the Golden State Warriors and won 25 consecutive wins, creating a new best start record in the history of the NBA and even the entire North American sports leagues!
"With teams like the Warriors and Mavericks, none of these records seem to be worth much. For more than 100 years, this record for the best start has not been broken. In recent years, however, these recorded figures have changed frequently. "After the game, Mike. These words summed up by Brin have made many fans feel the same way.
Is it becoming less difficult to break these records? No, it's not easy at all. It's the current Dallas Mavericks, who are really too strong.
It wasn't until a 25-game winning streak that the Dallas Mavericks' unbeaten streak finally came to an end. The next game was against the Boston Celtics, and the Mavericks suffered their first loss of the season by seven points.
The Celtics and Mavericks played not weakly in this game, but the Celtics themselves are an excellent team, so it is normal to win.
But now that the Mavericks are losing again, no one will stand up and say that they are not. Twenty-six games were played, which means that a third of the schedule has passed, and the Mavericks have only lost one. There is really nothing to say about such achievements. It's normal to lose a game in the regular season.
The loss to the Celtics gave the Mavericks just a brief respite for the league. For the rest of the game in December, the Mavericks continued to slaughter until the final day of December, when the Mavericks' record had changed to 35-2 after the Mavericks defeated the Thunder for the third time this season. What is the concept of losing only two games after the December game?
A very simple comparison, the Houston Rockets, who are ranked second in the West, have won a full ten games less than the Mavericks, the first place! In this year's regular season, the Dallas Mavericks are destined to stand out.
At this year's Christmas at Moodier's house, Yiyang made a total of three wishes. One is to bless the family to be healthy, and the other is to be able to thrive. As for the third, Yiyang didn't tell others, but hid it in his heart.
Fast forward to 2018, and like most teams, the Dallas Mavericks are starting to suffer injuries. Kyle. Kuzma, Donovan. Mitchell, Dirk. Nowitzki and Gobert, among others, have suffered injuries of varying degrees. For a moment, the Mavericks were unavailable, and the Mavericks were caught off guard by a massive injury outbreak, and Cuban and Carlisle had to sign a bunch of ten-day contracts from the Development League and the free agent market to play the role of firefighters.
But fortunately, most of these injuries are staggered. When Mitchell was injured, Kuzma just returned. When Gobert was injured, Mitchell happened to come back again.
Although in January, the Mavericks lost a few more games. But under the invasion of injuries, they finally survived. 45-6, with only four losses in a month despite the lack of players in the roster, and four games were lost to strong teams like the Warriors, Rockets, Raptors and Trail Blazers, the Mavericks also performed well. And the 45-6 record also allowed them to still stabilize their first position in the league.
In February, the Mavericks were finally able to get a respite, as the All-Star Weekend in February could take a few days off the NBA.
At this time, the shadow of injuries is slowly receding, and the Mavericks' roster has become complete, which can already be described as star-studded.
Donovan. Mitchell, the 13th pick, averaged 21.4 points per game at this time, ranking first on the rookie scoring list. He was named to the Rookie Game, the Skills Challenge, and also replaced Magic forward Aaron Brown during All-Star Weekend. Gordon was selected for the slam dunk contest and was arguably the busiest man of All-Star Weekend. And his average of 21.4 points per game also made him a veritable No. 2 scorer for the Mavericks.
Gordon. Hayward averaged 19.6 points per game, finishing third on the team. But on the court, his cold-blooded three-point and the tacit understanding he had cultivated with Yiyang long ago allowed him to stabilize the position of the second leader.
As for Gobert, he was selected to the Western Conference All-Star team with Yiyang this year, and has always ranked in the top three in the prediction ranking of Defensive Player of the Year.
Of course, we can't forget Kuzma and Moodier. Kyle. Kuzma's 16.2 points per game put him in a fierce competition for the Rookie of the Year award along with Mitchell and Ben Simmons. And Moodier's average of 12.3 points, 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game also makes him a veritable sixth man role.
The Mavericks are on the trajectory that Yiyang and Carlisle envisioned, waiting for the playoffs. Everything should be exactly as expected.
The biggest star of this year's All-Star Weekend was Mitchell. After winning the slam dunk contest, the rookie guard's name is increasingly appearing on the front pages of major news sites and newspapers.
The dunk contest itself is the perfect stage for people to quickly become famous. Gordon's sudden surge in jersey sales and playing time after the slam dunk contest in previous years shows how important the slam dunk contest is to the development of fame.
And the names of Yiyang and Mitchell are also being discussed more and more together. The same belongs to the Mavericks, the same guard, the same tribute to the team's veteran Carter and won the championship in the slam dunk contest, and the same fame in the absence of a name...... People are surprised to find that although Mitchell and Yiyang are two completely different players, the trajectories of their careers are surprisingly similar.
If Mitchell can also win the championship this year, it will be a replica of Yiyang's career.
This year's All-Star Weekend, the Mavericks were the team with the largest number of players involved, which naturally put the Mavericks in the spotlight. Of course, it's not just All-Star Weekend that makes the Mavericks hot, it's also that they played another all-win month in February!
55-6, the Mavericks' collective explosion from everyone in the Mavericks put them on a 10-0 offensive run in February. Now the discussion is not whether the Mavericks will be caught up by the Rockets, but whether they can break the record of 74 wins in a single season set by themselves!
It's a pity that in March, the patron saint of the Mavericks' penalty area, Rudy. Gobert collapsed again due to a sprained medial ligament in his knee. The last time I was injured was because of this old problem, but I didn't expect it to recur so soon.
This time, the Mavericks weren't so lucky, and team doctor Benjamin assessed Gobert as a 1-3 month injury suspension, which means that if everything goes well, Gobert will most likely not return until the playoffs.
Gobert's injury has undoubtedly dealt a huge blow to the Mavericks. But in the end, Yiyang still relied on the god-level data of 35.8 points, 12.2 assists and 2.8 steals per game in March to make up for Gobert's gap, so that the Mavericks only lost one game a month! Without Gobert's defensive strength, the Mavericks used offense to make up. In the regular season, the onslaught was enough for them to kill most of their opponents.
68-7, the regular season is still half a month away, but the Mavericks have won 68 games. With seven games remaining, if the Mavericks win all of them, they will once again set a new NBA record for most wins in a single season. But even if they don't win all, it's a sure thing that the Mavericks will have another season with 70+ wins.
But the Mavericks and Yiyang have never turned a blind eye to accolades, with the final seven games of the NBA regular season in April. The Mavericks took out the Trail Blazers, Magic, Pistons, 76ers, Suns, Cavaliers and Wizards respectively, winning seven in a row, making the NBA a new historical record!
From the Bulls' 72 wins to the Mavericks' 74 wins, there was a gap of more than a dozen years. And from 74 wins to the latest 75 wins, the Mavericks only took four years!
The record printing press became the new nickname of the Mavericks.
After playing the last game of the regular season with his friend Wall, Yiyang excitedly knelt in the center of the floor and kissed the Mavericks' logo on the hardwood floor to celebrate another great season that can go down in history.
From last season's defeat to the return of the king this season, only Yiyang knows how difficult it is. As the public enemy of the whole people and unable to recruit stars, they survived. Getting the rookies into the rhythm of the NBA, they got through. Injuries hit a large area, and they can be considered to have survived.
At this time, Yiyang's mind suddenly recalled the Christmas Eve scene when he and his family spent Christmas Eve at Moodier's house.
At this year's Christmas at Moodier's house, Yiyang made a total of three wishes. One is to bless the family to be healthy, and the other is to be able to thrive. As for the third wish...... It's to win the NBA championship trophy again!