One Thousand Six Hundred and Fourteen. The Brutal Finale
"The number of 40+ times in a single game for the host has reached 23 times this season, surpassing Michael Jordan's 22 triple-doubles in a single season in 1989-1990. Challenger Series Events: The reward for the epic scoring champion prologue has been increased to Michael Jordan's 1989-1990 Season star experience card.”
When the final whistle sounded, the Grizzlies defeated the Timberwolves 120-107. Although the Grizzlies only scored 10 points in the last 5 minutes and 49 seconds, and the Timberwolves scored 17 points, they still won the game steadily.
When it comes to talent, apart from the fact that the Grizzlies are bursting with talent at the center position, in terms of outside substitutes, the Timberwolves have better talent than the Grizzlies... Apart from the Kings, there are not many teams in the league that have as many high picks as the Timberwolves. Young players.
Sun Ce feels great winning tonight! And after the game, the system prompts! The previous optional star experience cards for McAdoo and Kobe became the star experience cards for Jordan's last year before winning his first championship.
Sun Ce looked at the details of the incident and felt that it would be difficult to continue to improve his ranking. Kobe Bryant, who was seventh, had 27 triple-doubles in a single season, and Sun Ce had to get 5 more to surpass him.
After defeating the Timberwolves, their Grizzlies record improved to 48 wins and 21 losses. There are still 13 games left to play. To get 40+ five times... it's difficult!
There is another good news, his number of triple-doubles this season has increased to 35! The number of 40+ triple-doubles in the regular season also increased to 17 times.
What is the concept of 17 40+ triple-doubles in the regular season?
Since detailed statistics are available, Larry Bird and Jordan have each scored 3 40+ triple-doubles;
Tracy McGrady, Carter, Michael Adams, Webb, and Evans each had a 40+ triple-double;
James and Westbrook each had 4 40+ triple-doubles.
In other words, Sun Ce is infinitely close to the total number of 40+ triple-doubles that all other players who have scored 40+ triple-doubles except him, only two short of it!
Before the All-Star Weekend, Sun Ce had 14 40+ triple-doubles, which was still far from 19 times. No one would have thought that Sun Ce would have a chance to surpass this season.
In the past few seasons, except for his rookie season, Sun Ce only had about 4 times in the next three seasons. His performance in the first half of this season was similar to last season. Who would have thought that in the past 30 days, Sun Ce had 3 40-point games? +Triple double!
If it were in the past, Sun Ce would have gotten such data, and the headlines would have been huge. In 30 days and 17 games, Sun Ce's March Madness lord show was still uninterrupted. He had either 40+ or a triple-double in 17 consecutive games, and it was 30. It was the third time in the past few days that he scored 40+ points and had a triple-double at the same time.
But tonight, the headlines were stolen!
…
Playing time: 25 minutes; Score: 10 points on 4 of 5 shots and 2 of 4 free throws; Rebounds: 10 offensive rebounds and 5 defensive rebounds totaling 15 boards; Blocks: 3 times; Assists: 1 time.
10 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 assist. These statistics... are not particularly good.
But this is the first game back in the NBA for a player who last played in the NBA on February 4, 2012!
10 offensive rebounds were grabbed from Love's head!
Not only was Sun Ce robbed of the limelight, Love, who scored 41 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal, also became the worst background!
No one cared about Love and Sun Ce scoring soaring points. The fans' attention was all on Whiteside grabbing 10 offensive rebounds from Love's head.
In fact, it must be said that few of Whiteside's offensive rebounds were grabbed directly on Love's head, and most of them were not. On the contrary, Love grabbed one more offensive rebound on Whiteside's head.
But who cares?
The data is there, Love has 6 offensive rebounds, Whiteside has 10!
Thanks to Sun Ce, two consecutive championships, and the strongest offense in the league this year, the Grizzlies have been the focus of fans this season. When the Grizzlies temporarily signed players back from the lower-level leagues in China, they played well. Such a performance,
Naturally, it sparked heated discussions.
Why does Linsanity make so many fans crazy?
People love to see counterattacks!
When Whiteside's professional basketball resume was dug out by the media, fans went even crazier.
In his freshman year, he won the best defensive player and best rookie in the United States, chose to participate in the draft, and then fell to the second round due to character issues.
After being selected, he was given up by the Kings because of character issues. Later, no team wanted him to play in Europe or the CBA. They were all afraid of his character, so he could only play in the NBL... More than two years later, he returned to the NBA. He beat Love in rebounding.
The ball that caught Love was on fire!
What Whiteside said in an interview after the game actually made Sun Ce popular even though his data didn't make the headlines.
Whiteside said in a post-game interview: "I finally came back to play here. I'm very grateful to my third brother for letting the team sign me. If he hadn't given me the opportunity, I might have to go around the world to find a job next year. I I went to the Timberwolves for a trial on the 4th. I performed very well but they didn’t sign me. I think they would regret it. I definitely belong in this league!”
The trial training was rejected by the Timberwolves... Not many people care about this. What the media cares about is this guy who emerged from the cracks in the rocks and was signed by Sun Ce at his request!
This is hot news!
As a result, Sun Ce's eyes became angry!
…
…
Whiteside is hot!
On the morning of March 24, Sun Ce packed his luggage, ate breakfast and read the news. Whiteside, who became popular in the basketball circle overnight, made him feel the madness of this traffic era.
It was a great victory last night, but the media was too exaggerated. The heat was not as high as the match between Lin and Sun, but they were phenomenal at that time. Both of them played MVP-level dominance during that period. Whiteside was not qualified.
But the media's hype was even more intense than it was then!
At that time, it was still at the intersection of the old media era and the new media era. The cost of hype was not as cheap as it is now. Now in the traffic era, it is enough to keep pushing in the rolling news of mobile browsers and official websites of major media.
And it is more shameless than the previous headlines. As long as it can attract attention, it's fine.
Those who don't know thought Whiteside beat Love.
As the saying goes, dogs can't be changed... When Sun Ce thought of this, he felt that it was not appropriate to describe his teammates in this way. He felt that the phrase "it's easy to change the country but hard to change one's nature" was more suitable.
Sun Ce was a little worried. When Whiteside felt that he had received enough attention from the team, would he become arrogant?
Last night, Whiteside tried hard to help him, Paul George, and Richard Jefferson to grab defensive rebounds. He did a good job, but after becoming arrogant, he just wanted to get good data for himself to get a big contract in the future...
Sun Ce didn't expect this worry to come so early!
He thought that Whiteside would scare Love, but he didn't expect Whiteside to explode so fiercely, so the worry followed.
"Let's see the situation first..."
Sun Ce is not in a hurry for the time being. The opponent just played a good game. The first thing is that Whiteside has confidence to make better contributions. The rest of the things will be discussed later.
In terms of personality, Whiteside has been transformed in the Great Celestial Empire. If his obsession with playing style cannot be shaped since he returned to the NBA, he will still become a pure basket defense player who can only defend the three-second zone as before. That is a matter for the future.
Again, a minimum-salary player, a defensive center, with B+-level strength, and he will be 25 in more than two months. He is almost at his peak, so it is worth it to use him!
…
After breakfast, before Sun Ce left for the airport, he wanted a loving hug from Lily Collins, Zugoose, or his mother, but coincidentally, Little Gohan woke up and cried. He was about to go out for 6 consecutive away games and could not go home for 11 days, and was forgotten in the corner...
With a sad mood, Sun Ce came to the airport to meet up with his teammates and start a six-game away trip.
There are 13 games left this season, only 4 home games, and more than two-thirds of the games are away games.
Although the past 7-game winning streak has temporarily stabilized their fifth place in the West, they cannot relax!
Most of the next 13 opponents are strong teams!
The Jazz, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Thunder, Timberwolves, Spurs, Heat, 76ers, Lakers, Mavericks, 14 opponents, 10 of which are playoff-level strong teams.
Although the Timberwolves have lost their playoff hopes, they are strong enough for the playoffs.
Among these opponents, the Jazz, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Thunder, Timberwolves, Spurs, and Lakers are all away games!
To get 55 wins, the Grizzlies need to win at least 7 of the remaining 13 games. This is not that difficult, but if they want to lock in not being surpassed by the Warriors, who have also played 69 games and have 45 wins and 24 losses, and the Thunder, who have 44 wins and 27 losses, they may need to win more games.
The next wave of brutal 6 consecutive away games in the West will largely determine the final ranking of the Grizzlies!
And this wave of 6 consecutive away games includes 5 playoff opponents!
At noon on the 24th, Sun Ce followed the team to Salt Lake City. It was finally no longer snowy and icy here. After the weather warmed up, there were more pedestrians on the road. When Sun Ce took the team bus to the hotel, he found that the people on the roadside... were so unrestrained! I often see a man surrounded by two or three women... not young men surrounded by young girls, nor middle-aged men or old men surrounded by a group of young girls. I often see men in their 40s hugging two, three or four women of the same age, but no one finds it strange on the road. There is even a man with two or three women of the same age and several children. It should be... a family?
Sun Ce then remembered that it seems that the government doesn't care about polygamy as long as you pay a fine ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars! This fine is not even as high as the fine for traffic violations, and there are congressmen here who have been promoting the legalization of polygamy.
It's really possible to encounter anything after living for a long time. Sun Ce complained about the corruption of capitalist countries and followed the team to the hotel.
Although Salt Lake City is the city with the lowest crime rate in the United States, Sun Ce and his teammates are used to not going out to hang out when they come here to play. God knows if the girl he picked up in the bar has a husband... or even multiple husbands. Why do congressmen apply for the legalization of polygamy? It's because this place is too open. Sometimes I really don't know how many times the women I met have been married, and even married several times without getting divorced.
If nothing happens, it's fine, but there have been tragic cases where NFL players came here to find a girlfriend who turned out to be an illegally married woman.
Even the stamp collecting brothers Klay Thompson and Paul George don't hang out in this city.
…
There is almost no time for targeted training in this away game. At this stage of the season, most of the adjustments have been made. New players need to be adjusted, but only new players need to be adjusted to join the whole team, not just the whole team to make do with him. Otherwise, the running-in of nearly 70 games before will be in vain, unless the player is a superstar.
In the next game, the coaching staff will formulate a big strategy and make targeted adjustments in the game. For the specific details, the players will play the game based on their previous experience of dealing with opponents. There are not many other tricks.
After a night of rest, on March 25, the Grizzlies started a brutal six-game away game in the West!
The first game was against the Jazz. The Grizzlies won the first two games this season and have a good understanding of the current Jazz.
However, tonight, the Grizzlies have two players taking turns to rest. Coach Hollins did not let Paul George and Tony Allen play. The latter is an old injury, and the former suffered from left shoulder pain. In the game against the Timberwolves, Paul George fell on his left shoulder, resulting in a slight strain of the shoulder muscle. It did not affect the game, but it should not be underestimated.
The Grizzlies can't afford injuries! Tony Allen played back-to-back games, so it's time to rest.
In this game tonight, the Grizzlies' starting lineup became Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Hardaway Jr., Richard Jefferson, and Yi Jianlian.
Without Paul George, the Grizzlies' offensive lineup was no less affected than Yi Jianlian's absence. Their original starting five was the strongest offensive five in the league this season, scoring 124 points per 100 rounds... Of course, they were on the court at most for a dozen or twenty minutes in a game.
This combination is closely linked and well coordinated, and the absence of anyone will affect the overall team.
The opponent they encountered was the Jazz, who averaged only 98 points per game this season. Although the Jazz, who currently has 42 wins and 27 losses, is temporarily ranked seventh in the West, they are only one win ahead of the Pelicans, who are ranked ninth in the West with 41 wins and 28 losses. They played very hard!
It was mainly strategy, which was executed very well. The Grizzlies lost the key second organizing point, so the Jazz blocked Sun Ce's scoring, let Sun Ce pass, and then cut off Sun Ce to receive the ball.
Klay Thompson and Hardaway Jr. were both the main players who threw the ball after receiving it. When they found that they could not pass back to Sun Ce, and Richard Jefferson and Yi Jianlian were not able to play against the opponent's inside line, the two could only keep throwing the ball after receiving it.
In the starting stage when Klay Thompson and Hardaway Jr. were on the court, the two kept throwing the ball. It was good at the beginning, but facing the desperate Jazz, who were short of soldiers and had just played a back-to-back game, the Grizzlies gradually became inaccurate. When Coach Hollins replaced Livingston to strengthen the organization of the offense, the opponent saw that Hardaway Jr. went down and lost a three-point shooter, so they began to shrink more.
Very strategic! And the desperate Jazz defense was very good, especially Jimmy Butler, who spared no effort in defending Sun Ce!
As the game went on, the Grizzlies started to shoot from outside. Sun Ce shot, passed the ball to his teammates, and Yi Jianlian also shot... There was a climax, but the Jazz was very determined to defend like this, and finally the Jazz also reaped the rewards.
With Sun Ce only getting 24 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 blocks in 8 of 21 shots, the Grizzlies lost to the Jazz 91-100, and their 7-game winning streak was ended.
There was no way. At the last moment of the fourth quarter, they were still 10 points behind. Coach Hollins could only announce his surrender after Sun Ce got the 10th rebound.
In this game tonight, the Grizzlies were able to hold on, thanks to Yi Jianlian and Whiteside on the court at the same time. The former pulled out to shoot a three-pointer, and the latter grabbed the offensive rebound and threw it to Sun Ce. With 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, Whiteside, who played for 17 minutes tonight, still had explosive data, and 5 offensive rebounds were very sharp.
But the Grizzlies only performed well in the highlights, and the overall offense and defense were not very good.
On the other side, Jimmy's brother got 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, and won the game. He was so excited that he was about to cry. This time, he was finally not bullied by his former teammates!
…
After losing to the Jazz, the Grizzlies played 70 games and their record became 48 wins and 22 losses. Seeing that the number of losses began to increase again after more than ten days, Sun Ce felt a huge pressure, but he could only hold on. Now, that energy cannot be lost! Especially him, Sun!
Sun Ce clearly felt that the reason why his teammates still maintained their confidence and did not have the psychological gap before and after the All-Star Weekend of the Pacers this season because the record was far worse than the past three years was that he was always full of fighting spirit and confidence.
Even now, he was forced to not even dare to break 40+ or triple-doubles.
"A-level leader's light", which allowed his confidence to infect his teammates, but in turn, it was also a huge responsibility and pressure for him.
After the game with the Jazz, the Grizzlies flew to Portland the next morning, on the 26th. After a day of rest, they will challenge the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers have become the fifth team in the league to win 50 games after the Spurs, Lakers, Bulls, and Pacers. They are currently ranked third in the West with 51 wins and 19 losses, and they still have the opportunity to hit 60 wins.
On the way from the airport to the hotel, Sun Ce saw a huge poster on the wall of a large shopping mall, with a huge poster of the Trail Blazers' super strong starting five - Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, Okafor, and Mo Williams.
The title of this huge poster is - Rose City is blooming again.
Sun Ce knows that these five starters + the sixth man are very powerful. The Blazers' starting five players alone, except for Okafor who missed 12 games and Aldridge who missed 10 games this season, the other three played in all games, and these five players averaged 84 points per game, while the Blazers' team averaged 105.4 points!
Among the substitutes' average of more than 21 points per game, 9.7 points were scored by Mo Williams, and the others scored less than 12 points in total...