Chapter 454: One Night Back Before Liberation
At the moment when the King Sync Walker game ended, people from all walks of life on social networks began to brag wildly, and in less than a minute, the three keywords of Zhang Feng, King, and 33 consecutive wins became a hot topic.
'The Kings have brought us more than 33 straight wins, they've proven that they can do wonders without a superstar huddle, and now we can continue to chant that slogan – NBA, here amazing happens,' Pierce, who once criticized the superstar huddle, wrote on Twitter.
'Zhang Feng is to the king, like a meteor is to the dark night sky, like rain is to the long-arid earth, like a high wall to a ruined town, he brings hope to the king, he provides motivation for the king, he fills the king with warmth. #一个人, a city #'NBA famous poet Rashad McCantz INS wrote.
'I can't wait, I've written 100 articles complimenting Zhang Feng, I want to see Zhang Feng lift the FMVP trophy now, I'm going to praise him, I'm going to praise him like crazy, if I were a woman, I'm going to marry him now,' Bill Simmons tweeted.
Some Hollywood actresses who joined in the excitement retweeted Simmons's tweet and liked it, and as soon as they did so, 'enthusiastic' netizens immediately ran to Anjiali's various social networks to leave messages, saying that Anjiali may have competitors if she doesn't marry again.
Then Anjiali replied: "I'm not afraid at all, he's preparing dinner now."
Since the Pacers were going to continue to sit in the Golden One Center to face the Warriors the day after beating the Pacers, the Kings simply celebrated and went home, and Zhang Feng cooked for An Jiali as usual.
In the battle with the Warriors, fans are looking forward to it even more, 33 consecutive wins are not the first in history, and only by defeating the Warriors can the Kings create a new historical record.
Tickets are also hard to find, and some fans who didn't buy tickets directly set up tents and slept outside the Golden One Center, in order to grab a better viewing position the next day.
Just when fans from all walks of life were trying to get tickets, early the next morning, the Warriors' official Twitter released a message.
"Durant has a rib injury and Curry has a recurrence of his ankle injury, and the two will not be involved in the Warriors' away game against the Kings. Klay Thompson's left thumb injury needs to be re-examined, David West's arm soreness is doubtful; Drummond Green's shoulder inflammation requires daily observation"
In other words, the Warriors will send a lineup of Green + Thompson to play with the Kings at most. And that's a fart? Fans reflected, have left messages to accuse the Warriors, and hope that the NBA official will strictly investigate whether they deliberately did not play, excited fans are very disappointed, if the Kings 34 consecutive wins win the Warriors without Curry, without Durant, what does it mean?
NBA officials responded quickly and made an investigation, but no results were given until the start of the game.
In the end, the Warriors played the Kings with a starting lineup: point guard Quinn Cook, point guard Nick Young, power forward Draymond Green, small forward Iguodala, and center McGee. With such a lineup, the Kings played 32:20 in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, they directly took away a wave of 10:0 to stop the Warriors, and finally the Kings defeated the Warriors 120:100 and won 34 consecutive victories.
It may be that there was too much praise in the early stage, or that the opponent Warriors, who won 34 consecutive games, were too weak, and the King and even Zhang Feng did not receive too much praise after the game, and even the NBA officially announced that the best in March belonged to Zhang Feng and few people discussed.
While winning 34 in a row, the Kings also won 71 in the regular season, just one game away from the Bulls' winning record.
But they also ended a six-game winning streak at home and started a four-game road trip at the end of the season, and their first opponent was the Los Angeles Lakers, who are also in the Pacific Division.
Before Zhang Feng joined the Kings, Kings fans had always had a saying that they only needed to win four games a year. Obviously, those four games were against the Lakers.
But since '02, until the Lakers' 13-14 season declined, the Kings have been pressed and beaten.
The addition of Zhang Feng made the Kings rise instantly, and every game against the Lakers this season was a fierce beating, and one of them also created the largest point difference record in the past 20 years.
On top of that, even in the coming years, the Lakers don't have the capital to challenge the Kings, with five Dennis Smiths separating Ball and Zhang.
In the eyes of fans, this game will be another slaughter, and a victory over the Lakers will give the Kings a 35-game winning streak and 72 wins.
Unexpectedly, the Lakers and Kings, who were unwilling to become the historical background, fought tenaciously until the last minute, and relied on Ball to assist Kuzma to score a 3-pointer to drag the game into overtime.
Fortunately, in the subsequent overtime, Zhang Feng returned to the game, and a wave of sharp offensive organization and tight defense directly took away the game 8:0.
After the victory over the Lakers, the Kings flew to Arizona to challenge the Suns, and Booker and Zhang Feng played against each other.
Surprisingly, Zhang Feng did not surpass Booker, but the other Kings players played well, winning the Suns without blood, and there were only 3 games left in the entire regular season.
Towards the end of the season, the schedule was relatively loose, and the Kings rested for a full three days before facing the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies, who resolutely executed the pendulum to the end, did not make any resistance, trailing the Kings by 18 points in the first quarter, and Zhang Feng did not play directly after the start of the second quarter of the game, but the Kings' second team still easily won the Grizzlies and won 74 wins.
Similarly, fans have become numb to the Kings' winning streak, and even if they break the Warriors' record of 73 wins, it will only cause a small sigh, and the ratings of special programs made by major TV stations such as TNT are very low.
After another three days of rest, the King's plane landed at San Antonio International Airport.
In the game against the Spurs, Kawaii returned, Adeldridge recovered well from his injury, and the Kings had not yet switched from the rhythm of consecutive games against weak teams, and were directly beaten by the Spurs 33:20.
After sobering up, the king hurriedly changed his tactics and Zhang Feng singled out the main attack, but after Kawaii came back, his defensive skills seemed to be on a higher level, Zhang Feng was very uncomfortable to defend, and only recovered a 6-point difference after the second quarter, and his physical exertion was more serious.
In the third quarter of the game, in order to ensure a playoff spot for the Spurs, Popovich stood on the sidelines and shouted guidance throughout the game, and both teams were exhausted, but the score difference was still the same.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Kings finally relied on Zhang Feng's tough defense and excellent individual offense to tie the score, but in the process of a layup, he was surrounded by Pau Gasol, Al-Dridge, and Kawaii.
He still wanted to stand up and continue to fight, but was forcibly knocked out of the court by David, his teammates, and the team doctor, just because he was unsteady on his feet and looked very seriously injured.
Without Zhang Feng, even if the rest of the king fought desperately, they still couldn't stop the spurs.
In the end, the Kings lost 112-118 to the Spurs, and their 37-game winning streak was ended.
Subsequently, in the last game of the regular season against the Rockets, the Kings did not let Zhang Feng play, and the Rockets won easily, and the Kings' regular season record stopped at 74-8.
But the end of the winning streak and the inability to create a more awesome regular season winning record are not the most annoying things for Kings fans, but it is Zhang Feng's injury that makes them feel like pins and needles and frown.
This has also caused a lot of discussion among other fans, ten times more than the discussion of the Kings winning 74 games.
ESPN launched a special report, and the famous host and commentator Max wrote:
"We can see that the king without Zhang Feng has no strength to fight against strong teams at all, and according to the news I have got, it is difficult for Zhang Feng to make a comeback in the playoffs, is it possible that the king has worked hard for 16 years and returned to the pre-liberation period overnight?"