After the Christmas battle with the Magic, the Hornets ushered in a period of skyrocketing popularity.

After that, the Lakers relied on their deep bench roster to snatch a victory from the Celtics, which was their first win against the Celtics since losing the championship last season.

The victory greatly boosted the confidence of the Lakers, and at the same time, Kobe Bryant also had more demands for the Western Conference rankings - he hoped that the Lakers could surpass the Hornets and return to the first place in the Western Conference.

Elsewhere, the Mavericks took out the Trail Blazers, the Spurs once again hated the Suns, and the Cavaliers beat the Wizards.

These games, whether it is the Cavaliers or the Spurs, their victories seem so logical, but the victory of the Hornets always makes many people feel incomprehensible.

Because of the game against the Magic, the time for the Hornets to take an almost absolute lead was too early.

They got a 15-point advantage prematurely, which looks a bit incredible.

"Why do you think the Hornets were able to gain absolute dominance over the Magic so early?"

After the dust settles on the Christmas game, a famous interview appeared on major basketball forums, this interview with CBS's Royce in the United States. Poplar.

"It's not hard to imagine the Hornets this season, they have proven themselves to their opponents countless times. They are no longer the team they used to be in the belly zone. They have the league's brightest guard twins, and the Magic can't resist CP3's breakout, and they can't find a way to limit the shadow assassins. Naturally, they lost the game, and it was too early. ”

"From your point of view, can the Hornets continue to be the No. 1 player in the Western Conference?" Journalists continued to ask questions.

"It's up to them to keep up at their best, and previous experience tells us that the Hornets are a team that is often full of injuries, and I would say they're one of the top contenders for the championship, I mean, if they don't threaten injuries......

……

The December race is coming to an end after the Christmas War.

In the rest of the games in December, the Hornets finished with a 3-1 record and continued to hold the No. 1 spot in the West. However, injuries are back on the Hornets' list of record threatens.

First, West suffered an arm break and was out for two games, and then Peja also suffered a sprained ankle and was out for one game.

In the absence of West and Peja, the offensive burden of the Hornets was more on Jongwook.

In three consecutive away games, Zhong Yu scored 40+ in three consecutive games, and scored a total of 132 super points in three games. That defended him as the leading scorer and allowed him to average more than 40 points per game for the first time in a season, the first time in nearly 50 years that an NBA player has averaged more than 40 points per game in a season.

Zhong Yu, who created this earth-shattering record, didn't have much joy himself, because he was facing a lot of other things recently.

Over the past season, before West missed the game, Zhong Yu averaged about 36 minutes per game, but in these games, his average playing time per game has surged to 42 minutes...... No way, although the Hornets bench is not bad, but obviously they need Zhong Yu to play at a better level.

The Hornets' backcourt duo has now become two iron men, and Paul has also averaged around 43 minutes per game in recent games.

Paul is better, he has long been used to such high-intensity games, but Jongwook is different.

When he got up that morning, he looked at the time, and it was already more than ten o'clock in the morning. The alarm clock didn't get him up, but made him even more tired, his body was filled with a feeling of extreme exhaustion, as if every cell in his body was in pain and couldn't move, and even the sun couldn't make Zhong Yu recover his combat effectiveness.

He's really tired, and the team will be at home against the Memphis Grizzlies today. The Grizzlies are still an out-and-out bad team ever since their owner, famed NBA philanthropist Haysley took Paul. After Gasol was sent to the Lakers, the team was temporarily slumped.

However, to play this team, the Hornets also need to deploy well.

Soon after the start of the game, when the first quarter was 5 minutes into the game, Zhong Yu felt very uncomfortable in his body, and he was out of breath between running. With the help of that wedge-shaped sign, coupled with his own hard work, Zhong Yu's physical fitness is naturally not the same as before. However, his physical strength is far from top-notch in the NBA.

He played 9 minutes, in the second quarter, he played 7 minutes, and in today's game, the Hornets need Jongwoo's sharp and omnipotent scoring.

In such a game, Zhong Yu's physical strength was depleted extremely quickly, and the fatigue accumulated for a long time exploded in his body, ushering in an unpredictable fatigue. The second half of the game had just begun, and Zhong Yu played for 6 minutes, but on the court, although his performance was not like sleepwalking, he frequently missed his shots and left the game early.

In the next ball, the Hornets used a man-to-man defensive tactic, and Jongwook stared at Guy to enter the inside, but he couldn't defend it, so he could only use fouls.

At this moment, he got 4 fouls on him, and in order to protect him, he went off the court early.

At a critical moment in the final quarter of this game, Jongwook's jump shot was not as accurate as before, but fortunately with Paul, the Hornets beat the Grizzlies by 5 points.

But throughout the game, Zhong Yu scored a total of 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, but he had 3 turnovers and 5 fouls......

Jongwook did have physical problems. In the next game, challenging the Pistons in the East, Zhong Yu only scored 16 points and played 23 minutes.

After these two games, although it was not so blatant, there were still a lot of doubts about Jong-wook circulating. Because, now no matter who you are, you can see that Zhong Yu has encountered some problems.

This question...... Is it a late rookie wall? Many people thought of this speculation.

Indeed, although Zhong Yu's points in the last two games are not too few strictly speaking, they are a bit poor for his performance of averaging close to 40 points per game this season.

He had to find a place to adjust it well, this alliance, there were too many geniuses who withered in advance.

"Okay, listen to me, so be it." At the end of the day's training, Scott left Chung Yu alone, then patted him on the shoulder and said this. After that, Zhong Yu nodded with a somewhat complicated expression.

It's a tough decision for him, but it's probably the best option for him at the moment.

Then, on December 31, 2008, the Hornets made a big news - Zhong Yu needed to rest for 5 days due to a muscle strain.

As soon as this news came out, it received a lot of strong attention from fans.

Especially Zhong Yu's fans, they are even more anxious, after all, the current Zhong Yu, if the injury is serious, it may affect his entire career.

"What happened to Zhong Yu? What happened to him? ”

"Don't fall...... This is my favorite player. People's attention grew, and finally it came to the point where Zhong Yu had to come out to refute the rumors.

"I'm fine, it's just that when I used to play, I had some old problems, and in the game against the Pistons, I strained my leg muscles, which was a minor injury. At that time, I insisted on playing the game, but the team doctor advised me to rest for a week or so to adjust my condition. Zhong Yu said this in an interview with media reporters.

Zhong Yu's answer relieved everyone, there were rumors that Zhong Yu had bone cancer and had to be treated, some people said that he was infected with AIDS, and some people said that his meniscus was no longer there......

These rumors are scary and will affect the fans' confidence in Jong-wook.

However, after the interview, Zhong Yu finally refuted the rumors, he called Scarlett, and Scarlett asked, "Is your leg injury okay?" It's so anxious, the NBA is a scary place. ”

Zhong Yu smiled and said, "My leg muscles are only slightly strained...... It's like you accidentally pull your leg when you're walking, it's simple. However, the boss suggested that I take some time off...... Otherwise, if you continue to fight with your body like this, you will cause unimaginable damage to your career and even your life. And for many reasons, I will not have enough rest, and I will be beaten by others, and I will have no confidence after that. ”

"That's good! Then you should listen to your coaches, rest well, eat well and sleep well...... I'll see you in a few days. ”

"Okay." Zhong Yu said: "However, the recent rumors are really outrageous...... Before I knew it, I had a strong identity as an AIDS patient...... Hell knows who forced it on me. ”

Scarlett also laughed and said, "I heard someone say that you have bone cancer, which scared me...... But now it sounds like you're still alive, which is reassuring. ”

"I'll take care of myself." "All I have to do now is try to recover my strength and wait for the new fight to start," Jong said. You have to come back too, my dear. ”

"I see! Then you have to be good. ”

……

After the conversation between the two of them, knowing that Zhong Yu was in a good mood now, Scarlett was relieved.

Seriously, when she heard someone say that Zhong Yu had bone cancer, although she knew that it was a rumor, Scarlett was still a little worried. After all, now Zhong Yu is the person she cares about the most in this world.

The five-day offseason is not long, but it is not too long. Zhong Yu can make a comeback, and Zhong Yu also reappears in front of the media, indicating that his injury is almost better.

Moreover, within a few days of such a "recuperation" or rest, Zhong Yu also spent a New Year's Day like this, and the time was from 2008 to 2009, quietly growing by one year.

A year has passed.

This New Year's Day, Chung Yu walked a lot in New Orleans, including the stinking Bourbon Avenue when it rains, the winding Crescent City, and the majestic St. Louis Cathedral......

I've walked a lot, I've thought a lot, I've thought a lot about my NBA career, I've thought about my wedge. Most of what he's doing these days is some recovery training, and he's not working as hard as before.

Although he is still a few days away from reaching the age of 22 now, he is still very young, but many of the dark injuries left by NBA players are the results of his youth. Now Zhong Yu, he needs to pay attention to his body.

His body was tired and recovered quickly, and by the time he made his comeback for this match on January 6, Jongwook had basically returned to peak physical condition.

He has a lot of confidence in his game.

The news of Zhong Yu's resumption of training has debunked all the rumors, saying that he has bone cancer, a ruptured meniscus, a broken maniscus, a broken bone and so on, can basically be stopped.

And the next opponent of the Hornets, because Zhong Yu is back, also has to be busy.

During the five days of Zhong Yu's absence, the Hornets also showed that Zhong Yu was not lacking.

The New Orleans Times commented: "The Hornets without Chung Wook are like a different team, and they need to rely heavily on Chris Paul when their offense is deadlocked. Now, we don't have Morris. Peterson, the shooting guard, pale even more after losing Chung-wook, and we lost one of the two games without Chung-wook. CP3 played well...... But he seems to have lost the direction of a pass, a lot of balls, and maybe he was looking for someone...... But I didn't find it. ”

"And now, the good news has arrived, Zhong Yu is about to return, and we have reason to believe that Zhong Yu, who has never had bone cancer, torn meniscus, or broken bones, a healthy Zhong Yu, how powerful a threat can pose to his opponent."

This also represents the thinking of most New Orleans fans, who believe that only the Hornets with Zhong Yu are the real Hornets.

Of course, there are also doubts that Zhong Yu will be the same as the two games before the injury, with no hand at all and unable to find the direction of shooting.

All this has to be tested and solved by the competition.

The next opponent of the Hornets is the Rockets, one of the top three in Texas, and the collision between the Hornets and the Rockets immediately attracted a lot of attention. In particular, many Chinese fans are very excited.

This is the first meeting between the Hornets and the Rockets this season, with the Rockets having the fourth record in the West this season and looking good and having the demeanor of a strong team.

For Chinese fans, this is something that everyone has been waiting for for a long time, after Zhong Yu said that he would take a five-day break, and they were worried that Zhong Yu would miss the game against the Rockets, but now it seems that this is completely redundant.

Hornets vs Rockets, for everyone, it is the Chinese derby!

If the collision between the Rockets and the Bucks last season was called a Chinese derby, Yi Jianlian's side is more or less unworthy of the name. Then, the current game between the Hornets and the Rockets, Zhong Yu vs Yao Ming, is completely established.

Zhong Yu averaged 38 points per game this season, becoming the player with the highest average points per game in the past decade, and Yao Ming, who can still average 19 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, may not be regarded as the league's No. 1 center, but with his Rockets, it is definitely not a weak team.

These two people are enough to really carry the banner of the 'Chinese Derby'.

(To be continued)