One Thousand Two Hundred and Thirty Three: Best Shooting Guard and Best Small Forward

Link scored 61 points at Staples, which has undoubtedly become the most high-profile thing since the beginning of the new season.

Staples, James, Link, 61 points...

When you knead these elements together, it’s hard not to get angry.

After the game, most fans were lamenting how powerful Link was.

"I can now understand why Link wants to retire. Does he have any fun in such a league?"

"Scored 61 points on LeBron... If Link doesn't retire, others won't be able to play."

"Old James is indeed old, so the question is, why doesn't Link age?"

"Anthony Davis scored 40 points and 20 rebounds and still lost the game. It's incredible!"

For a time, the voices about the Grizzlies being a "pseudo-powerful team" completely disappeared.

As long as you can win on the Staples stage, which is a much-anticipated stage, you will be recognized by the world.

In addition to fans, many stars also expressed their opinions on Link's 61 points.

"Don't compare me to him, his scoring ability is more powerful than mine that night."

Gilbert Arenas rarely showed a humble side during the live broadcast. He scored 60 points at Staples, but Arenas took the initiative to lower his position.

"Link is a scoring machine. If he appeared in the late 1990s or early 21st century, I think it would be difficult for the Lakers to establish a dynasty." O'Neal spread his hands in a program and gave Link the greatest praise.

"Score 61 points on James?" Jordan smiled softly at the camera, "It's really difficult."

This incident has become a hot topic in the basketball world. From ordinary fans to stars, everyone is discussing Link's 61 points.

You know, this season has just begun. God knows what kind of performance Link will perform in the remaining half a year or so.

Link's performance made him look nothing like someone who was about to retire.

Even in his final year, he still made the entire league live in his shadow.

The whole world is talking about Link;

But what the fans never expected was that the day after Link only scored 61 points, there was a player who did something almost as crazy as Link.

On October 30, the Washington Wizards faced the Houston Rockets at home.

Due to the obvious strength gap between the two sides, this was a game that did not attract much attention.

However, this game eventually became the focus of tonight's game.

This game was surprisingly intense, and the Wizards' offense was surprisingly smooth.

In the whole game, the Wizards made 57 of 91 shots, with a shooting percentage of 62.6%!

Japanese rookie Rui Hachimura performed well, scoring 23 points with a 60% shooting rate.

Bertans, a space-oriented fourth position from the Spurs, also had a great touch. He made 6 of 9 shots from the three-point line and scored 21 points.

Do you think this is the end? No, the Wizards’ highest scorer today was not Rui Hachimura or Bertans, but Bradley Beal!

Bill took 20 shots tonight and efficiently hit 14 of them. Half of the 14 goals were three-pointers!

This allowed Bill to score an astonishing 46 points.

But with the Wizards playing so well, the final winner of the game was the Houston Rockets!

The reason why the Rockets won is also very simple, because James Harden scored 59 points in the game, and he performed more superbly than the entire Wizards team.

59 points, only two points less than Link’s 61 points yesterday!

In the end, thanks to Harden's free throws, the Rockets won the game 159-158.

That's right, 159 to 158, both sides played a hearty offensive basketball, with an All-Star Game-level score!

People haven't recovered from Link's miracle of 61 points in a single game, and Harden immediately scored 59 points in a single game.

I have to say, this season is really a season where gods fight.

There are many strong teams and many strong people.

Harden's offensive performance shocked people, and Link and Harden, who scored 61 points on the front foot and 59 points on the back foot, were inevitably compared.

After Harden scored 59 points, ESPN also struck while the iron was hot and began to vigorously promote the game on November 4.

Because that day, the Grizzlies will face the Rockets at home!

What kind of sparks will be created when Link, who scored 61 points in a single game, and Harden, who scored 59 points in a single game, meet? Will there be an even more exaggerated scoring game between two super scorers?

This season, it’s been really exciting.

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Before Link's popularity of 61 points has subsided, Harden's popularity of 59 points has risen.

Who has the better scoring ability, Harden or Link, has become the most discussed topic.

At this time, an ESPN expert released a statistics, counting the best players in each position in the past 40 years from 1980 to 2019.

The two most interesting positions in this statistic are small forward and shooting guard.

Because in both positions, a certain player has achieved monopoly.

In the statistics of the best shooting guards over the years, Jordan was selected as the best shooting guard every year from 1985 to 1998, except for the year he retired, truly dominating an era.

After entering the 21st century, Iverson, Kobe and Wade have become the best second positions of this era.

Although Kobe has won the "Shooting Guard of the Year" the most times among the three people, he has only been elected for four consecutive years at most, which is not considered to have dominated an era.

From 2014 to 2019, the best shooting guard of the year has been monopolized by Harden.

He and Jordan are players who can truly monopolize the list.

As for the small forward position, Bird and Pippen dominated the 1980s and 1990s respectively.

In the first three years of the 21st century, the author believes that the best small forward is Tracy McGrady.

It was James for the next four years, but the Small Forward of the Year award in 2008 was snatched away by Pierce again. Subsequently, James was selected for three consecutive years.

Since there was Tracy McGrady before him and was interrupted by Pierce in the middle, James can't be said to have monopolized an era.

From 2012 to now, the best small forward every year has been Link, and it has never changed.

In other words, someone as strong as Durant has never been selected even once!

Link also became the third No. 3 player after Bird and Pippen to dominate an era.

Once this list was released, Harden and Link became even more popular!

One is the greatest shooting guard of this era, and the other is the greatest small forward of this era.

If these two people have a good fight, what's the point? Then the score in a single game must be 170?

I have to say that ESPN is really good at hype. The purpose of making this list at this juncture is to continue to increase the popularity of Link and Harden!

Of course, if you look carefully at this list, there are also many unreasonable places.

For example, in the 1990s, although Hill and Dominique Wilkins were also very strong, Pippen was the best small forward for 10 consecutive years.

For example, in 2009, Wade was selected as the best shooting guard of the year, which was actually quite controversial.

But fans don't care about that at all, they only care about Link and Harden.

Regardless, ESPN did succeed.

Now, fans all over the world have set their sights on November 4th.

Everyone wants to see the battle between Link and Harden.

Before that, both sides still have games to play.

Harden's performance continues to be hot, beating the Spurs and Heat, scoring 36 points in one game and 39 points in one game. This brings Harden's current scoring average to an insane 39.5 points per game!

Averaging nearly 40 points per game, Harden's scoring performance is definitely a historic one.

After scoring 61 points, Link became a lot more "gentle". In the game against the Suns on November 2, Link just scored 24 points and 7 assists in an understatement.

Although the Grizzlies finally won the ball, and finally won by a big score.

But the fans were obviously not satisfied with watching, and 24 points could not meet the outside world's expectations for Link.

At the post-match press conference, reporters did not ask too many questions related to the game.

Almost everyone has focused their attention on November 4th.

"Link, in the next game against Harden, who is currently averaging nearly 40 points per game, what kind of scoring performance do you think you will have? Will you score 60+ points again? Or higher?"

Faced with this problem, Link just shrugged: "I have never thought about scoring points with Harden. His scoring ability is too strong. To score points with him is to seek death."

Link's answer surprised the reporters at the scene.

Link actually gave up? This is not his style.