Chapter 048: Three consecutive wins at home
won the Jazz at home, in addition to Li Chen's MVP-level 25 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, Chandler also got 10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, David Lee 17 points and 10 rebounds and a double-double, Curry 13 points and 4 assists, Larry Hughes 8 points, and four of the starting five scored double-doubles.
In addition, Battier, who played as the sixth man, also scored double-digit points, counting that the Knicks scored a total of 5 double-doubles in this game, and the new look of the Knicks made the New Yorkers out of the limelight for a while, and more and more fans began to shift their attention to this old giant team that had sunk for many years, and after successfully winning the MVP of last season's Finals, the team seems to be on the road to rise.
"Daily New York" quoted Li Chen in its news report the next day - smart New Yorkers can always surprise you!
"The effect of Dolan's change has become more and more obvious, as the Big Apple said, we got the best start in recent years, even if this best start was only a two-game winning streak, but so what, I believe the Knicks guys will be able to bring us bigger surprises."
The New York Times, the official newspaper of the Knicks, made their statement even more provocative, "Through two games, the plant corps has gradually shown its might, whether everyone else agrees or not, we have survived the toughest moments, and everything is getting better!" Plus, smart New Yorkers want to say, 'It feels good to have a brain!'" ”
The topic of "brain battle", which was so noisy before the game, will not be forgotten by the scheming New York reporters. Since he won the game, he naturally had to mock it, when the Knicks were down in the past. The Jazz have also done a lot of things to beat the water dogs, and what the Knicks are doing now is just giving back to the other in the same way.
In a thriving situation, the Knicks ushered in the third game, from the three consecutive home games can be seen David Stern's love for the Knicks, of course, if you look at the next three consecutive visitors, it is not ruled out that the big boss simply wants to watch a good show.
Located in the Garden Arena. The New Yorkers have once again welcomed an underdog, the Saramento Kings.
Back in history, if there was any team in the league that would be worse than the Knicks. In addition to the Nets team that has lost its only spiritual sustenance, Vince Carter, may be the Kings who had the lowest record in the league last season.
Kevin Martin, this is the only Kings player you need to know. Their remaining core will be Evans, Garcia, Thompson, Hawes. Martin is a player unknown to pseudo-fans, but he is one of the best scorers on the planet. He just never went on TV. Because he was the king after Webb and Bibi had broken up.
It's true that Martin, who is good at scoring, should be able to score 25 points a night, but the problem is that he may not be able to get more support. The Kings' frontcourt was incredibly soft, so soft that there wasn't even a real center.
The saddest thing for the people of Saramento is that although they were down-to-earth last season, the treatment of the last No. 4 pick turned their efforts into a cloud for a season, and they didn't even get the flower pick, and there was nothing worse than this!
OK. The uniform team has a discerning eye, and Evans has proven it through the last few games. He's no worse than the guys ahead of him, especially compared to the Clippers' tragic champion, who can at least maintain an average of 30 minutes per game.
Compared to the previous two games, this one didn't get much attention, and even the local media in New York didn't pay much attention to this game, and in their opinion, it was a must-win game. Even if these two teams were still looking after each other like two stars last season, it doesn't mean that the Knicks will miss the old love that everyone put together to mess up.
D'Antoni made a small change, replacing Hughes with Battier, and Li Chen changed to the team's shooting guard. The reason for this is entirely because of Li Chen, Martin is one of the best players on the planet to cheat fouls, and if Li Chen or Hughes were to defend him, he might have to leave the game with six fouls in half a game.
Of course, some people will not agree with this statement, "Why don't you believe in my defense, that small body, I hit him and flew away, as for the six fouls left the field?" You're kidding, my highest foul record so far is four, but I've got more than four fouls out of the game! ”
D'Antoni was very disdainful of his disciple's quibbles, "What I'm afraid of is that he flies, you will definitely foul as soon as he flies, if you still want to score points, then listen to my arrangement, it stands to reason that you are no stranger to the position of quarterback, at least you were Kobe's substitute more than once last season!" ”
"Eh, eh!" Li Chen gave the coach a middle finger, "What is a substitute, that's called the sixth person, that's KFC Grandpa exchanged it with me with unlimited firing rights!" Spurs' Ginobili is also the sixth man, who do you dare to say who is he? ”
The disciple's resonance made the coach roll his eyes helplessly, "Okay, I apologize!" Anyway, you can fight your SG well, Martin will be handed over to Sean, he is much more experienced than you in dealing with such a cunning opponent! ”
The game was as D'Antoni expected, Martin, who thought he could make a big splash in front of the Finals MVP, was greatly reduced in offensive strength after encountering the defensive titan Battier, and the original cheat foul did not get a good effect in front of the scheming Battier.
Li Chen is the opposite, his height and arm span and strong physical fitness give him an advantage in the SG position, and he beats the opponent again and again directly makes Kings coach Paul Westfair helpless, whether it is Martin who should be opposite him or Garcia who has no choice but to change defenses, the two have nothing to do about this sudden change of offensive style in the Big Apple.
"See, I just knocked him off!" During the break, Li Chenzhi proudly showed off the goal just now, "That guy is really weak, although he is fast, he doesn't have a big role in defense." ”
Saying that, Li Chen turned his head and said to D'Antoni, "Mike." I found that there is a saying in the league that is true! ”
"Which word?" The situation is so good that even D'Antoni, who is a coach, is very easy to joke with his disciples, "Don't tell me 'defense wins championships'." That's what I hate the most! ”
"Of course not!" Li Chen hurriedly waved his hand, D'Antoni couldn't be clearer about his helplessness in defense, talking about defense with this diehard is tantamount to talking to Stan Van Gundy about running and bombing, "I mean, the body is born, and the technique is acquired!" ”
Someone flexed his muscles, "I can't believe what I'm going to do if I grow Martin's little body on the other side." You must know that my defense is already very bad, and without this body, I guess I will be beaten into a sieve directly! ”
"Even if you're physically handicap, you can become a legendary goalscorer like Reggie Miller. He's not as accurate as you! "He's as good as Martin, and he's recognized as one of the best scorers in the league, even though he's never been on TV!" ”
Chandler sees things from a tricky angle. "Cruz. If you don't have this body, I don't know how much your strength will drop, but I know to a certain extent, that is, there is probably not much left of your Yanfu, and the beauties like strong men like me! ”
The appearance of the boxing king's stinky fart made Li Chen pout, "Strong? Please, heal your back injury and talk to me about being strong! ”
The old injury on the boxer's back has a tendency to recur in the last two days, and the uniform team has decided. After this game, give Chandler a check-up. If necessary, his playing time can be reduced, after all, after Harrington joins, the Knicks' interior strength is still enough, even if that will put the Knicks into the embarrassment of zero interior defense, but it is better than getting Chandler injured.
The two teams fought from the first quarter to the last quarter, relying on Li Chen's strength on the offensive end, the Knicks always controlled the advantage in their own hands, and the double-digit point difference lasted from the end of the first quarter to the last quarter, and the New Yorkers rarely tasted the feeling of being fully crushed.
The fans in the stands were very excited, and the Knicks' predicament last year seemed to be still in front of them, and now, everything is getting better.
Marcus Thornton got more playing time in this game, he didn't have the consciousness of a second-round show when he came off the bench, and his decisiveness made the Kings very unhappy, yes, they are terrible, but this does not mean that they can tolerate a casual second-round show on their heads.
Evans, who is also a rookie, has become the brightest man for the Kings, and for a man who is aiming for the best rookie, any rookie who plays well is just a piece of cake in front of him.
First of all, Curry, who was at the same level as him, Evans's baby face was very depressed, the opponent's strong body made Curry very uncomfortable, and defensive problems directly affected his performance on the offensive end, even if the Knicks always maintained a big lead, but it is a very obvious fact that the No. 4 show exploded the No. 6 show.
Marcus Thornton's early appearance was inextricably linked to Curry's poor performance, and D'Antoni chose to give the opportunity to Marcus Thornton, who had a good preseason performance, considering that he wanted to keep the baby face calm and calm.
Thorton, who played for the first time at this time, also lived up to expectations, and the choice of shooting opportunities and the decisiveness and precision of his shooting made D'Antoni's eyes shine, and it is clear that this second-round guy did not have any moisture in the preseason.
Of course, what can be known is that the super second-round show still hasn't been able to engage Evans, the sharp breakthrough of the No. 4 show is unguardable, and the key people still have a good pass, which is even more difficult, D'Antoni frowned on the sidelines of the two breakthroughs in a row, compared to the mature performance of other rookies, their two rookies have not fully adapted to the rhythm of the NBA game.
It's worth mentioning that the No. 4 pick, who exploded, also threw a goal in front of last year's Rookie of the Year. This kind of provocation is something that someone can't tolerate, and it's already known to everyone that the defense is bad, and you don't need to be a rookie to verify it for yourself.
The direct consequence of making Big Apple angry was that Li Chen quickly found Evans, who had just tried to use himself as a stepping stone, and together with Garcia, who came with him, the two were bukkake by Big Apple.
Subsequently, the Big Apple used its own inside game to tell the Kings that there are no shortcomings of tough guy-type big men, and it is clear that they want to squeeze into the restricted area and work hard, but the Kings' Hawes and Thompson, the two interior generals, have no way.
At the end of the game, the Knicks won 116-102, and the three-game winning streak once again broke the record for the best start of the year set the day before yesterday.
Li Chen, who has a strong desire to attack, scored 36 points alone, in addition to 4 assists and 10 rebounds, and his alternative double-double performance made people mistakenly think that Big Apple was switching to playing power forward.
Thorton's 15-point stats are not nothing short of outstanding, and compared to Curry's inaccuracy on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, the second-round pick at least found his presence on the offensive end.
David Lee and Chandler also had double-doubles in rebounds, and three rebounds from one team double-doubled, so you can imagine how bad the Kings' interior line really is.
For the Kings, Evans scored the second-highest individual points in the game, even if he was more than a cut worse than Li Chen on the other side compared to the shooting percentage, but the 27-point performance was not easy for a rookie.
Martin was poorly tracked by Battier, scoring 19 points but making four turnovers, which is obviously a big deficit compared to the past.
The Knicks won three in a row, and New York fans were very excited, and they expressed their confidence in the team for the next three consecutive visitors! (To be continued......)