One Thousand One Hundred and Sixteen: Kawai, Who Has a Strong Desire to Win

In the NBA's official strength rankings, the San Antonio Spurs have quietly ranked second.

They surpassed the Golden State Warriors, who had a better record, and were second only to the Memphis Grizzlies, who had a 15-game winning streak.

Many people were surprised by this result. After all, the Spurs really didn't have much topic this year.

The whole world is waiting to see the war of words between Link and Durant, and the fierce battle between the Warriors and the Grizzlies.

In today's era where even James' attention is affected, the Spurs' popularity has plummeted.

Therefore, the Spurs' appearance in the second position in the strength rankings is somewhat beyond people's expectations.

However, in fact, the Spurs have been playing well this season, but no one cares too much about it.

In the opening game of this season, the Spurs defeated the defending champion Warriors with a huge advantage of 29 points, which is enough to show that their strength is not weak.

Although the Spurs were quiet for a while after that and never played such a hearty victory again, this is understandable.

The Spurs' lineup changes this season are far greater than people think.

In addition to Duncan's retirement last summer, Diaw and West also left one after another. Gasol, David Lee, Dedmon and Bertans who are manning the interior this season are all new players.

In this case, it is normal for the Spurs to enter the state a little slower. After all, everyone needs to adjust.

Although the Spurs have been winning, they have rarely played dominant games. Most of them have narrow wins with a single-digit advantage by relying on extremely high key ball shooting percentages.

But the situation began to change in December. After the new Spurs ran in, from December to now, the Spurs' offensive efficiency ranked third in the league, second only to the Warriors and Grizzlies.

The defensive efficiency simply surpassed the Grizzlies and led the league!

Quietly, the Spurs have completed their awakening.

It is not surprising that such an outstanding team can reach the second position in the strength rankings.

The night before the game started, when the whole world suddenly realized that this was a blockbuster showdown, Link was no longer surprised or excited.

Because he has already prepared for this game!

And even if you put these aside,

Just the fact that he was facing off against Leonard was enough to attract Link's attention.

Indeed, there was not so much war of words before the start of this game, and there were not so many conflicts between the two sides.

But Link knows that Leonard's desire to defeat the Grizzlies and his own obsession are no worse than Durant's.

Just because the guy doesn't like to talk, it doesn't mean he doesn't want to win.

On the TV, many people believed that the Grizzlies' 15-game winning streak was in the hands of the Spurs. Others believe that the Grizzlies can resolve the crisis as they have done countless times before.

In any case, the game will definitely be very difficult against the team with the highest defensive efficiency in the league.

Thinking of Leonard's expressionless face, Link couldn't help but cover his head.

Tomorrow's game will probably be another grueling tug-of-war.

※※※

On the afternoon of February 6, when the Spurs players stepped onto the court to warm up, the Grizzlies fans at the scene didn't even react.

If the Rockets, Thunder, Warriors, or Cavaliers were warming up at this time, the boos in the FedEx Arena would definitely break through the dome of the stadium.

But facing the Spurs, most fans didn't react much.

In everyone's subconscious, it seems that the Spurs are still not in the championship ranks. Even though the Spurs have climbed to second place in the strength rankings, there are still few voices discussing the Spurs' championship prospects.

Hubie Brown also noticed this problem, so he listed a lot of data for fans to remind everyone of the Spurs' power.

"Take the Spurs' offense as an example. It's no accident that their offensive efficiency ranks third in the league. Both Dedmon and Aldridge can provide space for the Spurs. Danny Green's three-point shooting percentage is higher than There was a big improvement last season.”

"When both insiders can shoot and the number one wing becomes accurate again, the biggest benefit is naturally the Spurs' ball-handler, Leonard."

"Leonard's offensive efficiency this season has reached the level of the league's first-tier superstars, and his pick-and-roll singles have become very superb. Even his three-pointers, which he has been criticized for, have improved this season. He averages shots per game. With as many as 5.2 three-pointers, Leonard was able to shoot 38% of his three-pointers, which is a very remarkable improvement!"

"What's more, the fact that the Spurs were eliminated by the Grizzlies in the tiebreaker last season in the playoffs will greatly increase their desire to win today. No one wants revenge, not to mention the loss in the tiebreaker. So. , cheer up, there’s going to be a tough battle at FedEx Arena today.”

Hubie Brown's analysis somewhat made the fans in front of the TV pay attention to the Spurs as an opponent. Under their ordinary shell, buried is extremely powerful power.

After the warm-up, the referee signaled the starters of both teams to get ready to play.

Before Link came out, he gathered everyone together and reminded his teammates of the importance of this game.

At this time, Link also eliminated the last possibility of the grizzly bear underestimating the enemy.

After Link stood at his position, he found Leonard staring at him.

Leonard remained expressionless, but Link could feel the strong desire to win radiating from that guy.

After all, eyes sometimes contain more emotions than expressions.

"Link." At this moment, Leonard spoke without warning.

"Are you taking the initiative to call me? It's really rare." Link smiled, but soon felt embarrassed.

Nonsense, how can you not be embarrassed if you smile at a guy with an expressionless face? ?

"We almost won last season and I won't let the chance to win again this season go."

After Leonard finished speaking, he looked away from Link and stared at the basketball.

Link gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

Leonard, a taciturn person, actually took the initiative to say this to himself before the game... It's obvious how much he wants to win!

The impact of losing in the tiebreaker last season on Leonard was greater than people imagined.

Yes, after so many years, only the Spurs last season could force the Grizzlies to the tiebreaker.

Leonard must be very unwilling to defeat the league king with just one step. From last summer until February of this year, Leonard was probably suffocating.

The referee walked into the center circle with the ball, and the battle was about to begin.

The Spurs' starting five are indeed not as bright as the Warriors with four All-Stars.

The 35-year-old Tony Parker is no longer the "French sports car" that won the FMVP trophy 10 years ago.

Although Danny Green has a similar role to Klay, his status is much lower.

Starting center Dwayne Dedmon is an unattractive blue-collar insider.

Aldridge's data has also plummeted this season, averaging only 17.3 points per game. His scoring data is only better than his rookie year.

It is indeed difficult for such a team to make people believe that they are strong.

The Spurs' paper lineup looks worse than the Grizzlies, which have always been considered a single-core team.

For the Grizzlies, Conley and Gasol are both All-Stars, and Wade was once one of the top five or even top three players in the league!

But Link knows very well that the game of basketball is not about data analysis. Just looking at the surface has no reference value.

During the scrimmage, Dedmon, who was more athletic, got the ball first for the Spurs.

The Spurs played very patiently in their first attack. They found Aldridge first and asked him to play in the low post.

But it is a pity that Jokic, the Grizzlies' No. 4 position today, is an out-and-out center. Aldridge played a post-up in front of him, but he still suffered a bit.

Under the interference of Jokic, Aldridge hit the iron on his first shot.

Aldridge's back-turn jumper shooting percentage this season has dropped from 45.8% last season to 41.9%. Facing a defender like Jokic who can't stagger but can always cover you, Aldridge has an even bigger headache.

There is no doubt that if Aldridge can show the dominance of the Trail Blazers, the Spurs' record may be very terrifying.

But there is no way. Aldridge, who joined the industry in 2006, is 32 years old after all. What's more, in the Spurs, he is no longer the first offensive point, and it is reasonable for the offensive feeling to have declined.

Gasol grabbed the rebound and immediately launched a counterattack with a long pass!

Although the Grizzlies play a retro twin-tower lineup, the Grizzlies will never deliberately slow down when the pace should be fast.

Defensive counterattack, this is the way the Grizzlies are best at scoring!

Link received Gasol's long pass from the backcourt tacitly. He looked behind him and found that Leonard was very close to him.

Sure enough, Leonard's defensive awareness is very good. Most players would be caught off guard when faced with the Grizzlies' sudden counterattack.

But Leonard didn't, he rushed back as soon as possible.

Link ran wildly, hoping to use his speed to throw Leonard away.

And he has already planned to use a lever movement in the air to avoid Leonard's pursuit.

Soon enough, Link had already reached the basket and jumped up for a layup without hesitation.

But just when Link's feet had just left the ground, Leonard made a precise move!

"Snapped!"

The basketball was released and hit Link and flew out of bounds. The Spurs had the ball!

"He actually stopped Link's counterattack! Oh my God, this is the first time in my mind that Link has missed a counterattack this season! Kawhi Leonard, he is indeed the best defender on the team. The best player!"

Hubie Brown's eyes widened. He had seen Link cut off other people's balls many times, but this was the first time that he was cut off by others!

Link gritted his teeth and shook his head, he was careless!

Leonard's defense is simply not on the same level as others.

Spurs No. 2 did not celebrate wildly, nor did he talk trash.

He just silently picked up the basketball and handed it to Dedmon who came to serve.

His composure was chilling.

Dogs that don't bark often bite the hardest.

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