"Rick, our team is not in good shape right now!" On January 3, 2004, during the Pacers' intra-team training session, assistant coach Lester Connell, who was standing on the sidelines, held the physical evaluation report of all the players just sent by the team doctor, and looked at the ongoing intra-team training game on the court, with a sad face.

After the Pacers defeated the Heat at home, they defeated the SuperSonics at home, increasing their winning streak to 31 games, only two games left from the longest winning streak in the Lakers' history, and Meng Xu also relied on the Pacers' undefeated record in December, and averaged 32.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 12.5 assists, and 3.7 steals per game to win the December Player of the Month for a second time. It stands to reason that Lester Conall should be happy at this time, but at this moment, not only Lester Conal, but even Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is also sad.

It has been more than two months since the start of the new season, and for most players, the energy accumulated in the offseason has long been exhausted, and as the season enters the middle of the season, their state will inevitably fluctuate, and even fall into a trough, if it is not for the idea of breaking the winning streak has been hanging, the Pacers will not be able to hold on to now, even in the face of the 33-game winning streak within reach, the Pacers' group of players are all high-spirited, after all, this is a history record, The opportunity to be remembered by the entire NBA history, but their current physical condition is a little bad, according to the test estimate just sent by the team doctor, the Pacers team of 15 players, in addition to the injured Mutombo, the remaining 14 players, at least five of the remaining 14 players have been at the critical point of injury, a little careless, injuries will find them,

And this is what the Pacers' coaching staff is worried about now, but 33 consecutive wins are just around the corner, no one dares to give up lightly, on January 4 and 5, the Pacers will play back-to-back games against the Nets and the Celtics away, although the Nets and Celtics' current record is somewhat unsatisfactory, ranking fourth and fifth in the East respectively, but these two teams are definitely not soft persimmons, and on the Pacers' side, more than half of the players are now close to running out of oil, even old ball ruffians like Reggie Miller, Now it's almost impossible to hold on, in the home game against the SuperSonics, Reggie Miller shot 5 of 16 from the field, and at least 4 of the open shots that must be scored were missed, and Reggie Miller, who has always been known for not being able to run, was also very rare in the fourth quarter of that game! After all, Reggie Miller is now 39 years old, and his average of 29 minutes per game this season is enough for him.

The old ruffians are like this, those young players who don't know how to reasonably distribute their physical strength and have no reservations on the court in the previous game, not to mention, in the game with supersonic speeds, the Pacers' internal and external lines are collectively sluggish, if it weren't for the supersonic strength is too poor, and Meng Xu is as stable as ever at the critical moment, the Pacers are likely to capsize in the gutter and be ended by the supersonic winning streak.

Although relying on Meng Xu's 8 consecutive points in the last three minutes, the Pacers finally defeated the SuperSonics without danger, but the thrilling process of this game also sounded the alarm for the Pacers' coaching staff.

"Rick, in the next two games, we might as well arrange for Reggie and his old players to rest first!" Rick Carlisle signed several veterans in the offseason can be said to be very powerful, but veterans also have the shortcomings of veterans, for these old guys who are over 37 years old after New Year's Day, and are riddled with injuries, physical strength has become a hurdle they can't pass, Reggie Miller, Kendall Gill, Steve Smith, these veterans who have played more time, are now facing the problem of physical exhaustion.

"In the next two games, we need to change the way we play." After hearing Lester Connell's suggestion, Rick Carlisle thought about it for a moment and nodded.

Recently, because of the Pacers' crazy streak after the start, almost the eyes of the entire American sports world have been focused on the NBA and the Pacers, and since the Pacers' 25-game winning streak, every game of the Pacers has been arranged by the ABC TV network to be broadcast live in the United States, not only ABC, including TNT, ESPN, and all several TV networks with NBA live broadcast rights, have also temporarily adjusted the Pacers' games to live broadcast in the United States, so during this time, The Pacers' limelight in American sports can only be described as terrifying, and even the upcoming NFL playoffs have been robbed of the limelight by the Pacers' crazy winning streak.

The Pacers' schedule in January is slightly better than in December, but six of the 13 games are back-to-back, and four of them are gathered at the beginning of the month, after the Nets and Celtics on the 4th and 5th, the Pacers will play back-to-back games against the Mavericks and Spurs at home on the 9th and 10th, and after these two games, the Pacers will also go to Detroit to face the Pistons, five games in a row, none of the Pacers' opponents are soft persimmons, In addition, the current state of the Pacers has obviously fluctuated, so many media in the outside world are not very optimistic that the Pacers can continue to win, and even doubt whether the Pacers can break the Lakers' 33-game winning streak, because in their opinion, even if the Pacers can beat the Nets and the Celtics, they will not be able to pass the Mavericks, not to mention that the Pacers are likely to not even be able to pass the Nets and Celtics.

"What is our goal?"

"Victory!"

|“ Victory! “

"Victory!"

"Yes, victory! We have only one goal today, and that is to win! Victory! “

Before this game, head coach Rick Carlisle talked to Meng Xu about the team's current situation and worries, hoping that Meng Xu could take more responsibility for the victory, after all, the current Pacers are in the best condition of Meng Xu, and Rick Carlisle is also very clear that since he changed to play organizational guard this season, Meng Xu has been playing all the time, and it has been more than two months since the new season, but Meng Xu, who is one of the super scorers with the strongest scoring ability in the league at present, has not even had a 50+ once, so in today's game, Rick Carlisle bluntly told Meng Xu that he hopes Meng Xu can increase the number of shots he makes, and the number of points Meng Xu scores, and the quality of his hand, is the key to whether the Pacers can beat the Nets today.

In today's game, Rick Carlisle rested several veterans in rotation, and Jermaine O'Neal, who was not in good shape, was also put on the bench, so the Pacers' starting lineup today has changed a lot, center Jeff Foster, power forward Nn Hilario, small forward James Posey, scoring guard Meng Xu, and playmaking guard Kenny Anderson.

After Mutombo retired from injury and Jermaine O'Neal rested, Jeff Foster ushered in his first start of the season, Jeff Foster's ability is there, especially his rebounding sense, which is absolutely first-class, otherwise Larry Bird would not have kept him with a long-term contract with the Pacers, but because the Pacers' interior competition is too fierce, Jeff Foster has never played more than 10 minutes in these two seasons, but in this less than 10 minutes of playing time, Jeff Foster can contribute 2.1 points and 3.6 rebounds. Rick Carlisle also has only one request for Jeff Foster today, and that is to strengthen the protection of rebounding, you can not attack, you can not score, but you have to do your best to grab rebounds. After all, with Mutombo and Jermaine O'Neal out on the court, and Meng Xu having to focus on the offensive end, the Pacers will definitely have problems protecting rebounds.

Today's opening jump ball is also very dramatic, the first time to represent the Pacers jump ball NN-Hilario, obviously a little nervous, the referee has not yet whistled, NN Hilario jumped up, causing the audience to laugh, fortunately, the referee has not blown the whistle, otherwise NN Hilario will definitely be blown the jump ball violation, but in the subsequent official jump ball, NN Hilario crushed Kenyon Martin on behalf of the Nets jump ball without any suspense, and won the ball for the Pacers for the first offense.

After grabbing the ball, Kenny Anderson, a veteran who started today, faced Jason Kidd's defense after dribbling through the halfcourt, and did not have any intention of one-on-one with him, but passed the ball directly to Meng Xu, who had reached the top of the three-point line.

After receiving the ball, Meng Xu shook a little, and then under the defense of Richard Jefferson, he stepped back and made a dry jumper.

"Beautiful three-pointers, Richard Jefferson's defense is nothing!"

"It's been a long time since I've seen Meng Xu shoot three points in the opening game, and it looks like today's game will definitely be a different game!"