On March 28, 1999, many sports media were still reminiscing about the Knicks' "slashing shark" battle the day before yesterday.

Played 38 minutes, 7 of 16, 5 of 15 free throws, 19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block and 4 turnovers, O'Neal was "chopped" to no offensive rhythm, and finally left the court with 6 fouls.

Ewing was 6-of-13 from the field, 6-of-8 from the free-throw line, with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers, and the Gorilla had their best on-court performance of the month in March, despite their "mediocre" stats.

At 101:91, the Knicks got their second win in the West.

The game between the two teams in March was interesting:

The Lakers are full of energy, but the roster still needs to be run in after the trade.

The Knicks are often undermotivated, and as long as they go through five games a week, the old guys are allowed to lie flat

However, the real protagonist of this game is Li You, unlike the Jazz's blocking offense, the Knicks almost relied on Li You alone to toss the shark and break the defense.

On TNT's pregame show on Sunday, McHale broke down a few of the Knicks' offensive rounds in the studio:

"Shaq and his teammates lack tacit understanding, and there is always a lack of continuity in the pick-and-roll!"

"Ewing's first screen was fake when Lee was holding the ball on the left flank, and he just created a simple chance for Lee to get rid of Derrick Harper."

"When Ewing was really on the edge of the three-point line, Shaq was back inside the three-point line, which was definitely the wrong choice!"

"In the end, Lee easily hit a three-pointer, and mind you, it was a big open three-pointer."

Very simple high-post blocking tactics, the gorilla first feigned cover, replaced O'Neal, moved laterally, and then turned around again to stand on the three-point line.

tested O'Neal's defensive continuity, and as a result, throughout the game, the Sharks didn't really chase the delay with all their might, and were shot by Li You.

McHale has already drawn a lot on the tactical board, and the legend has reviewed several of the Knicks' tactical combinations in detail.

The show began to play the Knicks mocking O'Neal's free throws again, several people on the bench threw towels wildly, and Lee You and Oakley chattered.

As soon as he stood at the free-throw line, O'Neal had to fight a verbal battle first.

The Knicks are multi-party outputs, and the Lakers' Rodman is a fun person, who didn't help but had fun together.

Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson laughed happily.

"There is a problem with Shaq's defense, Lee is not Stockton."

"This season, most of the Eastern teams will choose to delay the defense, maybe Coach Rambis also arranged it before the game, but the players didn't execute it."

As soon as Kenny Smith finished speaking, McHale shook his head again, and then gave his opinion:

"Shaq has a problem, but the Lakers guard has a problem too, Derrick Harper and Fisher are slow to squeeze screens and the other is not tall enough."

"My suggestion is that Shaq needs a guard who can defend pick-and-rolls, and Kobe Bryant is the better option."

8-of-20, 5-of-8 free throws, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers, Kobe Bryant handed over a regular stat in this game.

Kobe Bryant, who is gradually making a name for himself, has also chosen to gain muscle this season and has now become the Lakers' outside scorer.

Rather than getting deeply involved in the tactical discussion, Ernnie Johnson shifted the subject and said:

"No matter who defends, Lee always finds a way to help the team get points."

"The Knicks' rotation also performed very well, with Sprewell scoring 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while the Lakers scored 15 points off the bench."

"The team is in good shape, do you think Lee will win the MVP this season?"

Kenny Smith immediately gave an affirmative answer, and said seriously:

"Although the Knicks have lost three games in March, Lee has maintained an extremely high standard."

"Whether it's the record or the stats, I will vote for him!"

McHale, who prefers the big man, did not hesitate to give Duncan a platform:

"The Spurs have been the better team this month, they have only lost two games so far, and Tim Duncan has shown tremendous influence on both ends of the floor."

"As long as the Spurs can keep that trend, I'll vote for Tim Duncan!"

MVP direct conversation, Li You played 40 minutes, 12 of 20, 6 of 11 from beyond the three-point line, 8 of 8 free throws, and 38 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers.

Such a performance almost wiped out O'Neal's MVP impression, after all, the free throw shooting rate in the early 30s is really spicy.

With the Knicks and Lakers only meeting once this season, O'Neal doesn't even have a chance to rematch.

The Sharks, who broke the defense, simply didn't let their teammates touch the Knicks.

Travis Knight, who returned to the Lakers again this season, could only text Lee Yoo to apologize in the past two days.

In the third game of the Western tour, the league finally let the Knicks enjoy a benefit in terms of schedule, still in Los Angeles, challenging the Clippers away.

Although the Clippers won the first pick in last year's draft, their record this season has not improved, and it is even worse than last year!

3-24, meeting the Clippers is the welfare bureau, and the other party can be called the belly of the fish

is still the Great Western Forum Arena, and a large number of media gathered around Li You before the game, and played the role of a microphone:

"Lee, Shaq said that the next time they meet, he will beat the Knicks with his own hands!"

Regardless of whether the news is true or not, Li You grinned when he heard it:

"Next fight? That will have to wait until next season, and I don't think the Lakers will be able to make it out of the West. ”

"As for O'Neal, maybe he should lose weight and practice more free throws by the way."

"He's not going to be able to put the ball in the basket with his eyes closed like I do, but it shouldn't be hard to keep his free throw percentage at 60, right?"

The Knicks' reporters laughed with the media on the sidelines, and so far, the Sharks have not shot more than 60% of their career free throws.

On the other side of the locker room, Oakley was still talking cool words:

"I don't want to see him call himself the league's best center' anymore, has he ever won a championship? ”

The Knicks atmosphere group also cheered loudly, saying that the gorilla is the league's No. 1 center!

“.”

Taunts make people powerless to fight back, and the championship is very important this year!

Considering O'Neal's record in the playoffs in the past, the Los Angeles media was quickly ridiculed.

The Lakers' record was surpassed by the Spurs and Jazz, and the star of the house was suppressed by the budding Duncan in the MVP rankings.

The media in Los Angeles have done their best.

In the game of the Welfare Bureau that night, Li You's state fluctuated a little, and his projection was a little stretched.

But Alan Houston, who was limited by Kobe Bryant in the last game, broke out again.

At 113:86, the Knicks defeated the Clippers to end a short trip to the West.

After back-to-back five-game back-to-back games in mid-March, the Knicks finally regained some vitality at the end of the month.

In the last game of March, the Knicks continued to fly on the road and eventually lost to the Pacers.

25-6, halfway through the game, New York was naturally ecstatic when he saw this record, and the media chanted again:

"Knicks Championship!"

Fans can follow along, but Jeff Van Gundy is a little worried.

Throughout the month of April, the Knicks had a total of 16 games, and although there were no five games a week, the opponents were the teams in the East.

How to mobilize the emotions of the players and how to make the players actively participate in the game has become a major problem in front of the balding young marshal.

On April 1, the NBA league announced the Player of the Month for March, and the Spurs' Tim Duncan successfully won the award.

The Spurs went 14-2 in March, and after a rough start, Popovich retained his position as head coach.

Averaged 39.0 minutes per game, averaging 23.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 2.9 blocks and 2.6 turnovers per game;

He averaged 17.9 shots per game and shot 52.1 percent from the field and 6.7 free throws per game and shot 72 percent from the free-throw line.

Tim Duncan's efficient double-double has won unanimous praise from many media!

The Spurs are 20-10 and in second place in the West, while the Jazz are in first place with 22 wins and 8 losses, and Karl Malone and Stockton are still efficient.

In the MVP rankings, Karl Malone rushed to second place, just ahead of Duncan.

In Game 1 of April, Ewing was 2-of-12 from the field and scored 13 points from the free-throw line.

Fortunately, the opposite Cavaliers attacked and pulled across, and Sprewell brought a bench lineup to help the team complete a comeback in the early part of the final quarter.

At 74:88, the Knicks played an ugly game.

Oakley scored four points on 2-of-8 shooting, and the old guy has been in a slump on the offensive end since the end of March.

After the game, the atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was still hot, and for New York fans, as long as they can win, the process is unsightly and acceptable.

At the moment, it is most important to keep the first place!

On the MSG commentary seat, Walter Fraser could only sigh in a low voice when he saw the technical statistics:

"Pat is about to turn 37 and a decline in athleticism is inevitable, and Charles is almost 36 years old, so we should be considerate of the two veterans."

Most of the New York media deliberately ignore the play of the starting interior line, after all, the two have played for the team for many years, and their physical condition has declined, so it is enough to be more considerate.

But a small group of media outlets, in order to attract attention, began to frequently call for Ewing and Oakley to give up their starting positions.

Kurt and Ben are a younger, more aggressive pair on the inside, and have been doing really well over the past two months.

Kurt has a good mid-range jumper and is also very good at defending the opposition's big man in the low post;

Ben Wallace was extremely efficient at finishing the basket and was very aggressive in rebounding in the frontcourt!

Halfway through the season, Ben Wallace is averaging 2.8 frontcourt rebounds per game.

Although there is moisture in his height, with the blessing of the explosive head and the meat of the tendons, Ben Wallace's defensive deterrence has also improved a lot compared to last season!

Considering that he only played 27.3 minutes, such a performance really deserves a starting encouragement.

Commentator Mike Brin also paid attention to the internal situation of the Knicks, but as the home commentator, he didn't say much:

'I think Van Gundy could have added some more minutes in his rotation.

"Some back-to-back games, the young players were more energetic, and of course, that's just my personal advice, because the Knicks led the league and we had a perfect season again."

“.”

The two veterans at the peak tail will naturally not give way, for the gorilla, they can't carry the ball, but the game time can't be less!

Relying on eating cakes, Ewing can still be 18+10 this season, even if the individual games are not energetic and are blown up by the opponent, the gorillas don't take it to heart.

Back in the locker room, Ewing, who had not played well, still maintained a smiling face, and the team's record was first in the league, which made him a little inflated:

"We have a good chance of defending our title this year, maybe it's not difficult to win three times in a row, no one is our opponent!"

Hearing Big Brother's words, the atmosphere group followed the farts again

After the win over the Lakers, the New York media once again blew Ewing as the "league's No. 1 center".

Lee Woo is accustomed to Ewing's performance after playing a good game and then wilting for 2 games, and in terms of defensive experience, the Gorillas are still much better than the two on the bench.

In mid-March, Li You began to play in a nanny-style style, gradually eating away at the ball, and also had to take care of Ewing and Oakley's statistics.

"Cott, keep it up like this, Ben, the frontcourt rebounding rush in these games is very good!"

Hearing Li You's encouragement, Ben Wallace grinned, "Little Ben" just got out of the way and squeezed out Chris Dudley.

Kurt also smiled and patted his chest, indicating that he had received it.

Sprewell looked at Ewing and Oakley on the other side still blowing X, Li You smiled and communicated with the bench, couldn't help pouting, and secretly complained in his heart:

"The leaders have changed hands."

The April game is an ordeal for all teams, with a dense schedule, repetitive opponents, and a decline in enthusiasm for the game.

On the 20th, there was a campus incident that shocked the whole United States!

The Knicks didn't play that day, and Lee Woo also went with his teammates to donate money to protest.

12 students and 1 teacher were killed and 24 injured, and when he returned to his home in Talitown Town at night, watching the news on TV, Li You could only sigh:

"The Price of Freedom"

By the end of April, the Knicks' schedule suddenly became tense again, almost five games a week.

Jeff Van Gundy boiled chicken soup every day, but he lost two back-to-back games and two games.

Throughout April, the Knicks ended up with a 12-4 record.

With 37 wins and 10 losses, the coaching staff and the New York media all breathed a sigh of relief, and the Knicks locked up the first place in the East ahead of schedule!

On the morning of April 30, Jeff Van Gundy finally showed a smile in an interview with the New York media:

"Holding on to the top spot, we've had a tough April and are ready to think about the playoffs!"

"No matter who we play in the first round, we're ready."

"Lee is in great form, Pat is fine, the team is fully healthy, and we will increase the rotation for the three games in May!"

"The team doesn't care about the results, our goal is to get home advantage!"

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There is one more chapter in the evening~

(End of chapter)