Eight Hundred and Ninety-Eight: I Have a Bold Idea...

Before the start of the 2014-15 season, almost everyone's attention was attracted to Cleveland.

Last summer, the Cavaliers welcomed back their "Emperor" LeBron James, and got "Double-Double Machine" Kevin Love, plus the highly popular No. 1 pick in 2011, Kyrie Irving. In this way, a younger and more powerful Big Three was formed.

In the eyes of most people at the time, few teams in the league could compete with such a lineup, let alone in the Eastern Conference.

Even if the Memphis Grizzlies encounter this younger Big Three, they may not be guaranteed to defeat them 100%.

The Eastern Conference almost presents a dominating situation. Except for the Cavaliers, no one can spy on the first place in the Eastern Conference.

But when the season really started, it was not the Cleveland Cavaliers who surprised people, but the Atlanta Hawks, who almost no one remembered last season!

Under the leadership of coach Budenholzer, the Hawks have occupied the first position in the Eastern Conference since the beginning of the season, and their number of wins is much higher than that of the Cavaliers.

The five main starting players of the Hawks are Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Paul Millsap and Al Horford.

None of these five people can be called an absolute superstar, and they are incomparable to the Cavaliers with a brilliant lineup.

Among the Hawks, the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference, the highest scoring average per game is Millsap's 16.7 points. And so far this entire season, no player has scored 30+ points in any game.

No matter how you look at it, the Hawks are unlikely to be a successful team.

The Hawks do not have much personal heroism, but they have brought the spirit of team basketball to the extreme.

This has to mention their head coach Mike Budenholzer.

This coach, who was born in the Spurs system, successfully injected the Spurs' tactical concepts into the Eagles.

The Hawks play tactically rigorous team basketball, and every player maximizes their own advantages. As the leader and conductor of the team, Budenholzer has contributed a lot.

So much so that many fans call this Eagles team the "Second Spurs" and even jokingly call the Spurs the "Little Eagles."

Of course, they are best known by their nicknames,

Or the "Eastern Spurs".

In fact, the Atlanta Hawks have always had a good foundation.

Since the 2007-08 season, only two teams in the NBA have never missed any playoffs.

The Eternal Spurs are naturally among them, and the other team is the "Eastern Spurs" Eagles.

Last season, the Hawks entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Compared with the first-place Pacers, they had 18 fewer wins.

But in the playoffs last season, the Hawks and the Pacers played in the tiebreaker before losing, almost performing a black eight miracle.

It's just that this team with a simple style of play and no big-name stars has received too little attention, so few people remember their results. Few people remember that they almost performed a black eight miracle last season.

Therefore, it is surprising to see their sudden rise this season.

There is no doubt that the Atlanta Hawks are the top team in the league right now. Their record is not only outstanding in the Eastern Conference, but even in the Western Conference, it is second only to the Grizzlies and Warriors.

Facing such a top team with an uneven lineup, Joger naturally had a headache.

Fortunately, before facing the Hawks, the Grizzlies can also play the New York Knicks to warm up.

On January 5, the Grizzlies, who lost Gasol, faced the Knicks at home, who currently have a record of only 5 wins and 31 losses.

The New York Knicks have also been "tortured" by injuries this season, but what's worse than the Grizzlies is that they lost their star Carmelo Anthony.

With Anthony absent, the Knicks simply don't have much combat effectiveness. Coupled with management chaos, the Knicks' record has plummeted off a cliff.

In previous seasons, the Knicks were still strong contenders for the championship. Last season, the Knicks were the strongest team in the Eastern Conference.

But this year, they went straight to the No. 1 pick...

If the league were to choose a "team that regresses the fastest," the Knicks would definitely be the undoubted champion.

There is nothing to say about this game. The Knicks are naturally so abused that they cannot take care of themselves. People are joking that it would be difficult for this Knicks to compete in the NCAA.

In the end, the Grizzlies beat the Knicks directly with a score of 105-83 at home and exploded on the spot.

Link clocked out in the third quarter and scored 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Even without the main lineup in the middle of the third quarter, the Grizzlies still beat the Knicks by nearly 20 points.

This shows how stable the Knicks' last ranking is. After this game, the Knicks' losing streak has reached an outrageous 12 games!

After the game, even Mike Breen, who is based in New York to commentate on the game, couldn't help complaining, "The Grizzlies can beat the Knicks by nearly 20 points without the black and white bears, and the Knicks can't even compete in the NCAA." , that’s a bit too much. From what I’ve seen, the Knicks have at least reached the level of the G League.”

Mike Brin rarely has a venomous tongue, but this time, he really didn't say it.

This brutal game seems to have no highlights, but if you look carefully at the data sheets of both sides, you will still find something out of the ordinary.

In the Knicks' appalling data sheet, Quincy Acy, a second-round pick in 2012, scored a huge double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds! Scores and rebounds are both the highest in the team!

Acy has been a low-level blue-collar player since he entered the league. So far this season, he has only averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Even in the Knicks, a bad team at the bottom of the league, Acy couldn't get a chance to start.

It was such a walk-on player who led the league with a double-double...

The reason is actually very simple. The time Acy plays coincides with the time when the Grizzlies have no inside players available!

After Gasol was injured, the Grizzlies naturally pushed Whiteside into the starting lineup. Although Whiteside's overall strength is not as good as Gasol, the most basic frame protection and rebounding are definitely enough.

If you ask him to make things even better, he may not be able to do it, but Whiteside can definitely do his job well.

Therefore, the Knicks' two starting big men, Cole Aldridge and Jason Smith, were both tortured to the point where they couldn't take care of themselves.

The former only scored 7 points and 3 rebounds, while the latter scored 10 points and 5 rebounds, but only made 4 of 11 shots. As an insider who focuses on low-post offense, such data is obviously unqualified.

But after Whiteside went off the court, the Grizzlies had to use Tobias Harris to play center!

There is no doubt that the Grizzlies' ability to protect the rim has been greatly reduced as a result. Therefore, Quincy Acy, who came off the bench for the Knicks, happened to catch this soft persimmon and posted a double-double.

Although the Grizzlies defeated the Knicks easily, the huge hole left after Gasol's injury was also exposed.

A mere Quincy Acy can destroy the Grizzlies' bench inside like this. If they play against the Hawks in the next game, wouldn't they be even worse?

It would be okay if Harris meets Hawks backup center Payne Antic, but if he meets Millsap or Horford, the scene will definitely be quite bloody.

Fortunately for Jorge, today the Grizzlies faced the Knicks, who were so bad that they had no bottom line.

Otherwise, the Grizzlies might really be upset.

So the day after the game ended, that is, the day before the Grizzlies and Eagles battle.

Qiaogel called Link to the office early in the morning and made a very bold proposal.

"Next game, Link, I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'll put you in position five during the rotation!"

Just like when the Los Angeles Lakers lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1980, then Lakers coach Paul Westhead had to push "Magic" to the fifth position.

Joger also chose to use the team's superstars to fill the vacancy at the fifth position.

Although it is unbelievable, this is indeed the only way.

Link was not surprised when he heard Qiao Geer's proposal, because looking at it, no one was more suitable for this task than him.

Link was not nervous, but very excited.

Of course, it is impossible for a facade figure in the alliance to be afraid of challenges.

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