Chapter Forty-Three: Orlando Monsters

The Orlando Magic have been in excellent form this season, going unbeaten in the regular season so far, winning 10 straight games and equaling their all-time best opening record. At present, the Orlando Magic are undefeated, two wins ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have eight wins in ten games and two losses, and one win ahead of the Celtics, who are now half a win ahead of the Cavaliers with a record of nine wins and two more games in 11 games.

The top three in the East are so close and difficult to solve at the beginning of the new season, it is estimated that many have broken the glasses of many experts.

This battle between the eastern giants has also attracted the attention of the whole United States. A win for the Orlando Magic would cement their position as the top spot in the East, while a victory for the Cleveland Cavaliers would break the Magic's winning streak and catch up with the Celtics.

At the same time, this is also the so-called 'No. 1 center in the East' battle.

At the beginning of the new season, Orlando 'Monster' Dwight Howard can average 25 points and 15 rebounds per game, and now that the big sharks are getting older, it stands to reason that such data should be undoubtedly the first center in the East, and a center can score an average of 25+15 data per game, which is enough to show that this center has extraordinary dominance. What's more, since the beginning of this season, Warcraft Howard has had two performances close to 30+20.

Against the Suns on Nov. 11, Howard scored 33 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and dished out three assists and one block. On November 14, against the SuperSonics, he scored 36 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks. Two consecutive 30+ games are enough to show Howard's hot state.

In the three seasons since joining the NBA, Howard has grown a lot, from the original superman 'Howard' with outstanding physical fitness to a monster with sharp claws.

Historically, it was also this season that Howard began to establish himself as a super-center. It was also this season that he became an All-Star starter for the first time. But alas, now he has met Zhang Kong. Since the 07-08 season, in the first ten games of the regular season, Zhang Kong has averaged 18.5 points, 22.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 4.2 blocks per game. This terrifying all-around statistic also made Howard's 25+15 shine go away.

Now, in the position of the No. 1 center in the East, Howard falls behind Zhang Kong, and he is a long way away.

At the beginning of the season, though, there is no game that must be won. But for this game, the Cavaliers as a whole still put the most emphasis on it.

Mike Brown wants to put the Cavaliers in the first place in the East in the months leading up to the All-Star break. The head coach of the All-Star Game is the head coach of the two best teams in the East and West, and it is clear that Mike Brown is very keen on the position of All-Star head coach.

But just before the fight began, the Cavaliers were knocked out.

James was knocked out, to be exact!

It doesn't matter if you're a superstar or not, even if you're as strong as a lion, you're still going to fall to the ground when the flu comes. On the night before the game, James had a fever of 38°, which scared Mike Brown. If the Cavaliers can't afford to lose the most is definitely not head coach Mike Brown, in fact, most of the time this position will not have much impact on someone else, but LeBron James.

This is the true heart of the Cavaliers!

After seriously inquiring about James' physical condition, Mike Brown removed James from the starting lineup. After all, it's just a regular season, and it's far from the point where you have to win every game, and it's a very unsmart decision to let James play with illness.

After a few hesitations, Mike Brown still didn't put James on the injury list, but chose to put him on the bench, so that if James felt better during the game, he could at least play.

And in addition to that, he also sent out the strongest lineup he could.

C: Zhang Kong.

The position of the top center can be said to be the most comfortable for Zhang Kong, although it is said that the position of the big forward does not interfere with his play, but after all, it is not as handy as the position of the center forward. At the same time, this also means that Zhang Kong must face Howard head-on in this game.

PF: Drugurdon, this is also an option without a choice, the Cavaliers are really weak and excessively weak on the inside. Fortunately, substantial progress has been made on Anderson Vallejo's contract issue. It is estimated that it will not be long before the Brazilian actor can return to the game.

SF Sasha Pavlovich, the Cavaliers' bench player at the small forward position, his ability is just a qualified bench, a small forward from Montenegro, has three points, but is not stable enough, not strong enough, not fast enough...... When the Cavaliers have been standing at the small forward position for a long time, LeBron James is an iron man, and the Cavaliers can't find any good players at the small forward position, and he can't get any stable playing time in the Cavaliers.

Mike Brown doesn't expect him to do anything, he just hopes that with his height, he can stop the Magic's small forward Turkoglou.

SG: Steals King Larry Hughes. Unless the injury is stopped, there will be no other person in this position.

PG: Daniel Gibson, Gibson has proven himself with his excellent play and performance this season, sitting firmly at the Cavaliers' starting point guard position.

From this point, it can be seen that Mike Brown still has some skills in arranging troops, but he is really not good at on-the-spot scheduling.

Mike Brown's tactical ability may not be bad, but for a manager, tactical ability is always a must-have but not the most important ability.

Does Phil Jackson have any tactical abilities? His triangle offense is a bit of a gobble, but any assistant coach from the league can give him a good explanation of the triangle offense, but you can't let these assistant coaches take Phil Jackson's place, and even if they do, they're just going to make a mess.

His true ability lies in controlling the stars, meshing several arrogant stars together, keeping them from conflict, working together for the same goal, and making them bring out the best in their abilities. Regulating players' emotions and adjusting tactics on the spot, Phil Jackson's ability is also the strongest in the entire NBA.

Fortunately, the coach of the opponent Magic, Big Van Gundy, like his younger brother Van Gundy Jr., is the kind of coach who is not good at on-the-spot scheduling.

Everyone is half a pound and eight taels, at most, Da Van Gundy's tactical ability is a little stronger.

Not surprisingly, the lineup that the Magic will field in this game must also be their strongest lineup.

The starting center is undoubtedly their star of the game, Monster Howard. The power forward position is 'Mr. Billion' Shalad Lewis. Small forward Tekoglou is also their strongest option, with Van Gundy at point guard choosing Keith Bogans and at point guard standing with Van Gundy's favorite: Nelson.

Judging from the lineup, it seems that every position of the Magic is not weaker than the Cavaliers or even stronger than the Cavaliers. Of course, the position of the center forward can be a bit of a problem.

In this game, the old duo of Barkley and Smith was still sent, and the two have often partnered to explain the Cavaliers' games since the beginning of this season. The ABC sent Olajuwon and Jabbar to make cameo appearances.

Both are retired representatives of the top center, and in this game, when James was unable to play due to injury, BC sent these two to partner to explain the game, which was obviously a bit ingenious.

Jumping ball, Zhang Kong rarely lost.

Howard looked very excited, and when he jumped the ball, he narrowly led the ball by half a finger to his side.

Nelson controlled the ball, and Howard immediately squeezed inside to fight with Zhang Kong. Nelson's pass followed. Resisting Zhang Kong behind him, Howard, who was holding the ball, slammed back, Zhang Kong didn't get used to it for a while, and he didn't expect Howard to play so crazy at the beginning, his heels didn't stand firm, and he actually took a step back.

Howard saw that he hit Zhang Kong, and without saying a word, he immediately turned around and cut inside, and Drew Gooden rushed over to make up for the defense, but was almost knocked out of the court by Howard's violent dunk in the style of splitting Huashan.

Watching Howard show off his muscles and strength to the audience, Zhang Kong crossed his waist and glanced at him coldly. It seems that this guy doesn't say anything on the surface, but in fact he still minds that the All-Star starter was taken away by his own knife.

"In that case, Lao Tzu will let you see clearly what the gap between a real super center and a super blue-collar like you is!" Zhang Kong's fighting spirit began to burn.

When it came to the frontcourt, Zhang Kong entered the inside line.

James will not be able to play in this game, which means that the Cavaliers' attack power will be weakened a lot because of this. Normally, the Cavaliers' current roster would be difficult to play against the Magic.

This situation required him to do something he would not normally want to do. Stuck Howard in the low post, feeling Howard constantly pushing hard behind him, Zhang Kong directly reached out to Gibson to ask for the ball.

After a little hesitation, Gibson still hoisted the basketball high.

The current Zhang Kong can be said to be the second man in the Cavaliers, and when James is not playing, he is almost the biggest name on the court, and Gibson will naturally give him the ball.