On December 9, 1997, after a small group of New York media redefined the "180 Club", the Knicks were finally milked by poisoned milk

In the away game against the Heat, Larry Johnson left the court with an injury after only 6 minutes of play, and in the following games, Mourning and PJ Brown began to wreak havoc under the basket.

One scored, one swept the defense, blossomed inside and outside, and finally 82:88, the Knicks fought for four quarters and still lost the game.

After the win, Pat Riley was in a good mood and pulled his little assistant to greet him for a long time, and Jeff Van Gundy was a little aggrieved and lost to the person he didn't want to lose.

The winning streak was set at 19 games, and the fans and media in New York were very happy with it.

With 19 wins and 1 loss, the Knicks lead the league!

In second place in the East is the 14-5 Heat, followed by the 12-7 Bulls.

The Knicks, who quickly got into the groove after the start of the game, finally managed to open up the victory gap, and they were able to breathe a sigh of relief before the Christmas game.

Flying back to the cold Big Apple from warm Miami overnight, everyone was a little unmotivated in the training session the next morning.

In December, the weather in New York becomes unpleasant, with only five or six degrees during the day and close to freezing at night.

Compared to Miami, living in New York has to wear warm clothes at this time.

Perhaps because he was wearing too many clothes and was in a particularly bad mood with a back injury.

He had to miss a few games every season, and old injuries flared up from time to time, as if to remind him that he was out of breath.

"Hell weather, we should have spent one more day in Miami!"

Changing into his training clothes, Larry Johnson, who was being massaged by a physiotherapist, complained loudly.

Oakley, who has lived in New York for many years, has long been accustomed to the weather in the Big Apple, and jokes bitterly:

"We should be satisfied, at least New York is much better than Chicago!"

Larry Johnson, who was still talking about Miami, sighed helplessly.

Losing is also a way to decompress, and the New York media in a state of self-congratulatory state is stressful, and if this season finally pulls over, the offseason awaits them a stormy mockery.

The Starks Finals crotch pull performance, the famous scene of the Gorilla missing an empty basket in the game against the Pacers is still mentioned repeatedly even after a few years.

Li You likes the weather in New York very much, and what makes him distressed is that the birthday of the little follower is coming, and several chicks want to join in the fun before Christmas:

"Titanic" premiered on December 19.

The expectations of this movie have been completely filled, and the repeated over-budgeting situations are also reminding fans that this is a big production!

Although romance movies are cliché, they have a wide audience, at least young people will definitely pay for tickets to watch them once.

replied to the text message, Li You felt that he had to watch the movie repeatedly.

Jeff Van Gundy had a sad face in the morning video class, he had been prepared for the "Auntie" injury, but coupled with the absence of Youyin's injury, the bald young marshal was a little unbearable.

'We need more help and more around when necessary.

"Don't let the big man of the opposing team easily squeeze into the paint area, once you lose your position, you can only watch the opponent rush to grab the rebound."

Assistant coach Thibodeau pointed to the cut-out round, Mourning carried Oakley into the paint and missed, and PJ Brown grabbed back-to-back rebounds and poked the ball into the basket.

If Larry Johnson is around, "Big Mom" can also defend Mourning, so that Oakley and Buck Williams will work together to protect the rebound, and there is a high probability that these problems will not occur.

However, due to injury, Larry Johnson will continue to miss the remaining two games of the week, and new signing Chris Dudley has been promoted to the starting center position.

Veteran Buck Williams is still too short.

Seeing everyone nodding, Jeff Van Gundy also added a simple sentence at this time:

"Everybody has to be aggressive in protecting the rebound, it's a difficult time for the team and we can't afford to waste the lead!"

Ben Wallace listened attentively, so he took a pen and wrote down a notebook.

He's finally in the rotation, and whether he gets more minutes will depend on the next two games.

Alan Houston played iron in the last game, but the coaching staff did not make adjustments, and the current offensive end can only rely on the outside, and he has to continue to shoot if he is iron!

At the end of the video lesson, Li You also reminded Alan Houston in a low voice:

"This season, the three-point line has recovered, and there will definitely be some impact in the early stage, continue to shoot, and before the All-Star break, you can completely find your form."

"I've found some feelings! Thanks, Bro! ”

Without the gorilla, Alan Houston's shooting power has also increased, as long as Li You keeps passing, how to throw the ball on the court, he has the final say.

Seeing the two communicating in a low voice, Jeff Van Gundy felt a little helpless in his heart.

As a traditional coach, he doesn't like to see teams shoot too many three-pointers.

As a result, now Li You, Alan Houston, and Starks have to shoot 18+ in one game, plus Chris Childs, 20 shots, has become a basic operation.

It's just that thinking that the Heat will also shoot a lot of three-pointers in games, Jeff Van Gundy acquiesced to these shots:

"Even though it's a jumper, you can't go wrong with Pat Riley"

On the night of December 11, the Knicks hosted the Timberwolves at home.

Since the start of the new season, the Timberwolves have also been slow to heat up, and currently have an 8-11 record.

Although Kevin Garnett is not the boss of the team, in terms of popularity, he is the only one in the team!

After Sean Kemp joins the Cavaliers, Garnett is likely to get the starting spot as an All-Star this year.

This also made Garnett a little inflated, and he didn't look at the old Knicks before the game, but just said hello to Li You.

In the last All-Star Game, Garnett got more playing time than Lee You, but his performance on 1-of-7 was a little embarrassing.

"Hey, Bro, you're definitely going to get an All-Star start this year, Hardaway is injured again, and no one can limit the youngsters this time!"

After the fist bump, Garnett shouted loudly from the sidelines, showing a "I'm an All-Star starter" look

The top 50 superstars in '97 are full of legends, and Lee Woo and Garnett are just transparent, and no one cares even if they set the record for the youngest All-Star player in NBA history.

At that time, the hot news was on Mai Buckle and Mingsu.

The atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was hot, which also exacerbated Garnett's self-congratulatory state, Li You looked at each other funny, and finally responded simply:

"It's not important to start, it's important that I want to score more points!"

Lee Yoo gestured to a phone call, signaling that Garnett could contact him if he came to New York early.

Last year, both of them were small and transparent, so they could only chat awkwardly, but this year, most of the old guys are missing, and they can be regarded as having survived.

Marbury, who was warming up at halftime, felt sour in his heart, and the forgetful New York fans had left behind the former "sons of New York".

The All-Star team didn't have anything to do with him, and as the Lakers' record got better and better, Kobe Bryant's popularity also rose, and he suffered a big loss at Marbury in Minnesota.

The Timberwolves' starting lineup has plenty of height, and on the MSG commentary bench, commentator Mike Brin briefly introduced:

"Stephen Marbury and Chris Kyle in the backcourt, Tom Gogliotta and Kevin Garnett up front, and Stanley Roberts in center."

"The Timberwolves' starting lineup is very tall!"

Two big men over 2.10m, Gugliotta can also be called a strong striker, and was also selected for the All-Star bench last year.

The game strategy developed by the head coach of the Timberwolves Philip Sanders is also very simple, starting from the inside!

On the Knicks' side, Chris Mills and Chris Dudley, who got the chance to start tonight, were also very positive after opening the game.

The scores of the two sides alternated and rose, and the Timberwolves, who kept attacking the basket, played an efficient offense.

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter, when the Knicks went on offense and Oakley covered Lee in the elbow area on the right side of the free throw line.

Li You, who held the ball in his left hand, lowered his center of gravity, broke through on the left side, and first briefly escaped Marbury's pursuit and came to the free throw line.

Facing Garnett, who raised his right hand and quickly helped defend him, Li You quickly went in and out, his body shook, and immediately let Garnett move backwards.

Taking advantage of Marbury's chase and defense, the two people who stopped at the free throw line did not wait for the two to attack, and Li You threw the ball behind his back.

“Wow！”

The beautiful pass made the New York fans cheer along with the beautiful pass, and Oakley, who had already moved to the right blocking area, received the ball and went straight to the basket.

It's just that the old guy underestimated Garnett's ability to help defend a little, and just now he was still near the free throw line, and in the blink of an eye, he shrank to the basket again, and Oakley received a big hat.

“Ye！！”

Fan the ball out of the baseline, and the excited Garnett jumped up and down, beating his chest and roaring at Oakley!

The old fellow was already in a bad mood, so he went back and pushed it, pointed at Garnett and warned loudly:

"Shut your foul mouth!"

Garnett was pushed to the Knicks bench and noticed Larry Johnson standing up and Ben Wallace getting up and looking straight at him.

In addition, everyone in the atmosphere group was about to surround him, Garnett subconsciously moved back, and when his teammate Roberts stepped forward, he began to rush forward again.

It's just that such a move annoyed everyone on the Knicks team at once, and before Roberts could react, the two sides twisted together.

Two fists are hard to beat four hands, Garnett saw that the situation was not right, and continued to dodge and move, and moved from the bench to the center line

The linesman stumbled, and when he turned his head, he heard Garnett still shouting:

“Come on！ I'm right here! ”

It's just that such a provocation annoyed the referee, and the technical desk directly compared a "T" gesture, and then blew Garnett, Oakley, and Larry Johnson out.

"Shhhhh

The New York fans at the scene were very dissatisfied with such a blow and booed.

Jeff Van Gundy is angry and theorizing on the surface, but secretly rejoicing in his heart.

Oakley was not in touch tonight and was in average form, while Garnett of the Timberwolves was full of presence on both offensive and defensive ends.

One for one, the Knicks don't lose!

The following games also illustrated the importance of Garnett, with the lack of a barrier to help defend on the inside, and the Knicks' Chris Mills was active.

Ben Wallace also got the opportunity to play at this time, and he couldn't count on this on the offensive end, but he was full of energy after he came on the court, and it also made the Timberwolves' transition offense less than half.

In the end, Marbury's one-point rain didn't help the Timberwolves win.

At 98:107, relying on the excellent performance of the second half of the game, the Knicks successfully defeated the opponent.

Coach Sanders shook his head helplessly, the advantage game became like this, and the inflated Garnett was still too young.

provoked on the field, politely admitted off the field, Garnett took the initiative to reconcile after the game, Li You looked at the "Xiao Jia" who came to the locker room to wear softness, and looked strange for a while:

"Shouldn't it be a shame to swear to do the old thing?"

Winning and grinning, Jeff Van Gundy's good mood lasted only one night, and the next morning, the team doctor told the bald young marshal that Chris Dudley was injured.

The injury was not serious, it twisted its ankle and had to rest for a week.

Jeff Van Gundy was worried for a moment when he thought of Oakley and Larry Johnson, who were suspended for one game

The Knicks have six games left before Christmas, four of which have been back-to-back.

In the two games in which Ben Wallace got more playing time, the Knicks' small lineup won the 76ers and Pistons.

On the night of the 17th, in back-to-back games against the Pacers, the twin towers of 2.24 meters Rick Smits and Dale Davis made a big blow and completely blew up the Knicks' interior line.

Veterans Buck Williams and Ben Wallace each had five fouls, one six, and dropped rebounds making it difficult for the Knicks to play the transition offense.

At 80:87, the Knicks simply lost the game.

On the night of the 19th, the Knicks challenged the Cavaliers away.

In this game, the late 96-year pick was selected, and Ilgoskas, who just landed in the NBA this year, performed well.

7-of-14 from the field, with a double-double of 16 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 4 turnovers.

Sean Kemp was not in good shape, scoring 10 points on free throws on 2-of-9 shooting without a strong defense.

Larry Johnson returned from injury and solved some rebounding problems, and the Knicks won 104-77.

Flew to Milwaukee overnight and challenged the Bucks back-to-back on the second day, but Alan Houston was in a state of shape and was shot by Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen!

At 90:98, the Knicks lost another game cleanly.

On December 21, after returning to New York, the team also entered holiday mode, and before Christmas, there was a game against the Mavericks, and the schedule was very relaxed.

At the end of the video session in the morning, the coaching staff directly announced the holiday, and the continuous away back-to-back games consumed a lot of everyone's energy.

With 23 wins and 3 losses, the Knicks still lead the league!

"Lee, you can come to my side for Christmas!"

Starks knew that Li You was not active this Christmas, so he took the initiative to send out an invitation.

Li You shook his phone, signaled that he still had a place to go, and said with a smile:

"Merry Christmas, John! Don't forget to ask Little John to pick up the gift from me! ”

The Knicks congratulated each other in the training hall and were ready to go home for the Christmas holidays.

No one cares about the game against the Mavericks, everyone cares more about the Christmas game with the Bulls.

With the blessing of the early season game, the slowest talent [Ray Allen's excellent explosiveness] has also turned silver.

Li You did not go home as soon as possible, but stayed in the training ground to move his body again.

Ben Wallace silently practiced his free throws at the free-throw line, and his playing time increased to 12 minutes for more than a week.

The stats haven't increased much, and the free throws have been a bit stretched, but it's always a good thing to play more.

"Ben, try a different look! Your outfit doesn't suit you at all! Try the retro exploding head! ”

Li You, who was moving his body, looked at Ben Wallace, who was still a small flat head, and gave advice with a smile.

Touching his hair, Ben Wallace was a little weak, his height did have moisture, which is why Jeff Van Gundy didn't want to see him before:

"Thanks! Bro, I really need to change my look, I need to make myself look fiercer! ”

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Divide the development ~ at 22 o'clock in the evening and there is a chapter with more words ~

(End of chapter)