Chapter 173: The pressure is on LeBron
The fierce battle is over, and the data on both sides are as follows.
On the Heat's side, the highest scorer was Shaq O'Neal, who scored 16 points in the half, and he scored a total of 27 points in the whole game!
Including the scoring that sealed the win at a crucial moment in the fourth quarter, this is also the second consecutive game he has helped the team win at a critical moment in the fourth quarter.
"That's the guarantee!"
Even if he has a little trouble with Shaq O'Neal, Barkley, who often quarrels, has to admit that giving the ball to Shaq at the last moment is the guarantee of victory.
In an interview, Shaq continued to describe the Lakers' No. 8: "If someone thinks that giving the ball to Shaq at a critical moment is not the right choice, then he must realize that this is a wrong idea!" There's a good chance he won't win the game. ”
So far in the new season, the Lakers have a 1-4 record.
Kobe Bryant, who is a single sling, has clearly not yet found a way to lead the reorganized Lakers to victory.
This side has become a "winning hero", and that side has been experiencing "negative negative negative negative", not to mention how happy Shaq O'Neal is.
In addition to his 27 points, he had eight rebounds, as well as three assists and one block.
On the Heat's side, the next closest scorer was Woody.
At the end of the game, he broke out in the second half, and his final statistics were 24 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. The shooting percentage has also increased to 55%!
The performance is very comprehensive and eye-catching.
Wade's biggest highlight tonight was in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, when he scored continuously in the bench rotation period, and with the speed of proving his name as "The Flash", he tore apart the Spurs' defense again and again, but the highlights were only a few minutes, except for those few minutes of performance, Wade only shot 4 of 15 in the whole game, and the shooting percentage was almost below 30%, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, and 4 turnovers.
However, the performance at the beginning of the fourth quarter made Stan Van Gundy not hesitate to praise himself, and fully affirmed Wade's performance in this game: "He is getting better and better, just like this game, there may be a lot of problems at the beginning, but he can adjust slowly, this is the shining point in him, and this shining point will also allow him to complete the final transformation!" ”
If this game is lost, maybe Stan Van Gundy will pull Wade for a "little meeting".
But now that it's won, it's not necessary.
Even Woody and Shaq O'Neal are so impressive, he has to say a word about Wade.
Otherwise, no one would have praised it.
Wade was still very happy to be affirmed by the head coach, and on the way back, he reviewed his game with great interest.
Stan Van Gundy says his brilliance is that he knows how to adjust, and now he's showing that brilliance. He believed that he would do the same as Stan Van Gundy had said, and that he would eventually complete the metamorphosis.
Become a veritable "Miami 3C"!
On the Spurs' side, Tim Duncan ended up scoring 27 points with Shaq O'Neal. He also had 11 rebounds along with four assists, three blocks and one steal. Shoot up to 60%!
His stats in this game were not lagging behind.
If you compare the whole game to Woody, you still have a win.
Don't forget, he's also tasked with helping Shaq O'Neal.
If he were to switch places with Woody, he would definitely let Woody know what "cruelty" was.
Of course, the two are in different periods, Woody is entering his prime, and Tim Duncan is in his prime.
It is also normal for the "No. 1 striker in history" to play such a dominant force.
The media talked more about Woody's stunning "double jump on the spot" slam dunk on top of Tim Duncan's head. This action is really too harsh. Even though Tim Duncan used his "big fundamentals" to play "2 plus 1" in the next round, the media still asked Tim Duncan to talk more about Woody.
Tim Duncan's face was a little more solemn about the question that had already been asked by the media reporters before the game: "There is no doubt that a great player is being born, he will be one of the best players in this league, and I am looking forward to playing him next time!" ”
Compared with the previous "the future is his", this remark is a little more recognized.
However, this is also normal, no matter who comes to Tim Duncan's head with such a dunk, I am afraid that he will be impressed.
Of course, Tim Duncan was impressed not only by his dunks, but also by the guy's interaction with himself.
During the third and even fourth quarters, Tim Duncan really felt like he was playing against Shaq O'Neal.
It was a stressful round that made him excited, and as he said at the end, he was looking forward to his next fight with Woody.
He's not that much of a guy looking forward to fighting someone else.
But Woody did.
The Spurs came in second place in scoring with Manu Ginobili who made five 3-pointers in the game for a total of 25 points, along with four rebounds and five assists.
Popovich's biggest takeaway this season is undoubtedly Manu Ginobili.
It's been a long time since Tim Duncan had a reliable second-in-command by his side.
Ever since David Robinson aged, Tim Duncan has been holding this team forward. I almost went to the Magic team that year, but the Spurs didn't have enough depth in the lineup.
But this season's Manu, with his current performance, is enough to become the new "second leader" of the Spurs!
Tim Duncan was also very satisfied with his little brother, and at the end of the interview, he passed by Manu Gino Belgium, who was being interviewed, and he deliberately reached out to Rua Rua to the latter's long-haired head.
Manu Ginobili was suddenly touched on the head, instinctively looked back, saw that it was Tim Duncan, and smiled helplessly, and said to the reporter: "See, this is our Tim Duncan, steady captain!" ”
Tim Duncan chuckled, and Rua was even happier.
The long hair that falls inadvertently is a testimony to the friendship between the two people.
Early the next morning, the news that the Heat won the Spurs directly dominated the list.
The news was reported in the headlines of the major media outlets.
Among them, the photo of Woody separating Tim Duncan occupies large and small pages.
The action is truly impressive, and you can feel it even from the photos.
The rivalry between Woody and Tim Duncan has also been bound by major media and has the flavor of old enemies.
In addition, after winning the Spurs, the Heat have won six consecutive games so far this season. At the same time, it also became the only team in the league that has not lost.
Such a hot state surprised many media.
Even before the start of the new season, the comprehensive strength of the Heat team has always been the "top three in the league" in the mouths of many media, but ......
I knew they were fierce in the new season, but I didn't expect them to be so fierce!
You know, the Heat's schedule for the new season is not good.
The start was the Timberwolves, who were No. 1 in the West last season.
One of the last two games is the Pacers, who had the best record in the league last season. Then there is the Spurs, who have not lost in the new season before this game.
It is said that in the first 6 games of this season, even if the new season is favored by everyone and ranks in the top two teams in the league, it is normal to lose one or two games. But the Heat team was stunned in such a situation, and played a wave of six consecutive wins.
What else is there to say?
The Miami media directly blew their home team to another level.
Especially after winning this game against Tim Duncan and the Spurs, with the heat of "the best power forward showdown in NBA history", Woody has become the NO.1 among the new generation of power forwards in the league!
The pressure is on LeBron James.
Because Woody can already be compared to Tim Duncan on the same level.
And what about him?
After winning against the Suns, the Cavaliers are one win and one loss, and after playing the first six games, they are 2-4 and ranked 11th in the East.
The combat effectiveness of the east is in everyone's eyes.
Moreover, the Cavaliers are the top team in the ESPN league in the new season's power rankings, and they are the teams that can reach the top of the Eastern Conference playoff rankings. Now this ranking is really not enough to see.
Even if LeBron James has averaged 27 plus 7 plus 7 per game so far in the new season, it looks very scary.
But it's like putting diamonds in your underwear. It looks gorgeous, but not many people are willing to pay for it.
Even if LeBron James is the "chosen one", it doesn't work.
The LeBron James team is actually quite helpless in the face of this weather vane.
The main Woody is too ruthless.
Generally, rookies entering the second season of their careers are comparing data, and few compare team results.
But Woody is a person, even if the data is good, the team's record is also good.
They can only refute some of the claims from the perspective of "give LeBron a Shaq O'Neal, and he can lead the team to good results".
It's just that the strength of these statements is not very strong.
Many media have seen that the Heat can win, and Shaq O'Neal is important, but Woody's play is even more crucial.
There is one thing, or fact, that Shaq O'Neal entered the league in 92, but it was not until 00 that he led the team to play a "triple championship". During this period, he changed a lot of outside core partners, including "talented" wizards like Hardaway, but they did not win the championship.
In addition to Jordan in the 90s, an outside core partner with both offense and defense is also an undeniable existence.
This was the key takeaway from Shaq O'Neal's victory!
Whether LeBron James' style of play is compatible with Shaq O'Neal, which is actually a question mark.
Because Shaq will inevitably occupy a lot of space on the inside, which is equivalent to narrowing the space for LeBron James to break through the basket. And when the breakthrough is limited, LeBron James's offensive ability can still play a few layers, which is actually a question mark.
Anyway, looking at it this season, LeBron James's projection ability has not improved significantly.
These counter-arguments are from Sports Illustrated.
The sports magazine, which has the largest traffic in the United States, helped Woody endorse and analyze some "hypothetical" situations, and the angle that LeBron James's team managed to find did not make much of a storm in the end.
This time LeBron James is even more unhappy, and the idea of changing teams is even stronger.
Meanwhile, there was big news in Toronto where Vince Carter publicly called for the team to trade him.
The reason is nothing more than that there is no hope of winning the championship in Toronto.
Such shouts made Raptors fans extremely disappointed. Doron Multimedia also began to "settle accounts after the fall", saying that "if it weren't for Vince Carter's obstruction at the time, Woody would have been playing in the league in the Raptors' No. 95 jersey." ”
The news made many Toronto fans successfully hate Vince Carter.
The Toronto Raptors' home court also saw a lot of booing Carter.
Woody never imagined that the NBA's four-time "All-Star Ticket King" would be booed by his home team fans because of him.
This shows Woody's current momentum.
To put it modestly:
Red purple!
After a day of trimming, the Heat ushered in their first "back-to-back" of the new season.
The opponents are the newly formed Charlotte Bobcats and the Philadelphia 76ers!
Charlotte originally had a team called the Hornets, but they relocated to New Orleans. David Stern has rebuilt a team here because of Charlotte's basketball atmosphere.
This matter started two years ago, but it wasn't until last year that it was officially dealt with.
The Bobcats were formed, and this was the first season of the new army.
However, although it was the first season, the live audience was basically full.
It's not easy for a new team.
Charlotte's basketball atmosphere is so strong that they can't get away from the state in which they are located:
North Carolina!
There are two big names in the NCAA here: North Carolina and Duke.
It is also the existence of these two universities that gives Charlotte such a strong basketball atmosphere.
Of course, it is also the existence of these two teams, and the influence of the Bobcats can only be ranked third in the state of North Carolina. The same goes for the original Hornets. Perhaps that's why the Hornets chose to relocate.
Stan Van Gundy opted to rest Shaq O'Neill in the round for this match.
He did this naturally to have a physical "big shark" in the next game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Clearly, Stan Van Gundy isn't content to start the season with just six straight wins, and if he can, he's hoping that streak can last a little longer.
There's nothing wrong with his plan, and even without Shaq O'Neal, Woody plus Wade is enough to deal with the Bobcats.
The Bobcats' roster this season is dominated by players from other teams who are not protected by this.
Each team has a fixed number of spots, and the Bobcats can't choose which players to choose from, so they can only choose between them. It looks like there is still a lot of choice, but in fact, they can only choose from those substitute rotation and "water cooler players".
Although most of the people who can enter are powerful, they just lack the opportunity to bless with the system.
But there is a limit to how much strength there is.
107-95, the Heat easily won the first "back-to-back" victory, opening a seven-game winning streak.
(End of chapter)