Chapter 413 18 Consecutive Victories

"Hey, Joe Johnson's mouth is full of oil just because of his quick scoring!" Zhang Lili laughed.

"Marbury's assists are the same. Only the Hammers suffer, and there is nothing on the offensive end." Yu Jia laughed.

"This is defense. So many stars lose their defense as soon as they play, because the contribution of the defensive end is often not reflected, and they can't get the limelight. The Hammer can rely on defense to get ahead, because he has achieved the ultimate defense. Otherwise, he will be like Da Ben, a proper blue-collar superstar." Zhang Lili sighed.

The Blazers attack.

Randolph and Raheem are both smart, and the offensive end takes the ball farther and farther away from the paint.

"Hey, it's still LeBron James, a good comrade." Li Ba sighed.

No way, the chances of steals and blocks are reduced, so let's grab rebounds.

"mine!"

"mine!"

...

Li Ba grabbed 9 rebounds in a single quarter, including 5 offensive rebounds, completely controlling the paint area.

Theo Ratliff, who has average rebounding ability, only grabbed one.

Randolph's rebounding ability is better, but he is afraid of being blocked, and he does not enter the paint on the offensive end, and his protection for backcourt rebounds is close to zero.

52:79, the Suns led by 27 points.

"The Suns led by 15 points in the third quarter, thanks to the Hammer's 9 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals. This defense is too strong!" Yu Jia said excitedly.

"In the 3 blocks, there are 2 catches, plus 2 steals, and then 9 rebounds, which is 13 possessions. The Hammers play such an efficiency on the defensive end, and the Blazers will have ghosts if they don't lose."

Zhang Lili laughed.

Li Ba and Marbury were off the court, and they clocked in three quarters.

In 24 minutes of the game, Li Ba made 5 of 5 shots, 2 second offenses in the third quarter, and 2 of 3 free throws. He scored 12 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.

Compared with his average data per game, the data is not very good, but the Blazers are too weak, and they were directly blown by his defense in the third quarter.

Li Ba's playing time decreased, so much so that Chandler and Li Ba's playing time increased, and each played half a quarter at the center position.

As big as the scoring ability is stronger, Chandler's defense is stronger, and each has its own strengths.

But all in all, with Chandler on the court, the team's efficiency is higher, and even the protection of the paint area is still not good. Under the impact of Ratliff and Randolph, there is no place to stand.

Without Li Ba on the court, Randolph broke out in the fourth quarter, ran across the paint, made 4 of 7 shots, 2 of 3 free throws, and scored 10 points. Chandler couldn't completely limit him when he was on the court. Randolph once.

At the end of the game, 80:100, the Suns won by 20 points and achieved 17 victories.

The 17-game winning streak is also the league's fifth-longest winning streak.

There have been 3 teams that have won 17 consecutive victories, namely the Washington Capitol in the 4647 season, the Celtics in the 5960 season, and the Spurs in the 9596 season. The Suns are the fourth team.

The next day, the Suns returned to Phoenix, and they will host the Warriors at home the next day.

The Suns have won 17 consecutive victories, and every next game has attracted much attention and has a high exposure rate.

Although the Suns started with defense, there are many eye-catching features, such as the brutal blocks that overwhelm the sky, the super heavy dunks that make opponents turn their backs, the incredible steals, the gorgeous alley-oop performance, and the fast horse rush. The general fast break, now with the league's first record of 17 consecutive victories, the popularity is high, and it is definitely the top three in the league. The ones who can compete with it are the Lakers, Cavaliers, and Knicks.

On top of 17 consecutive victories, there are 18, 19, 20 consecutive victories, and the longest 33 consecutive victories. On top of 17 consecutive victories, the Suns can surpass a winning streak record for every game won.

The ultra-high exposure rate has brought great attention to the generals of the sun, but it has also brought great pressure.

Sitting in the locker room before the game against the Warriors on the night of the 7th, Li Ba clearly felt the pressure from his teammates.

He felt even more helpless when he saw that the only super giant in the team, the veteran glove Payton, was a little nervous.

"How are you feeling, Gary?" he asked.

"I feel that joining the sun is a right choice." Payton said excitedly.

This is his sincere words. With an astonishing 17 consecutive victories, the strength of the Suns this season has completely surpassed last season's level, allowing him to see the championship ring beckoning to him, which is what he dreamed of.

But at the same time, apart from being excited, he was also very nervous, for fear that the sun would suddenly stretch his hips due to too much pressure.

"hehe!"

Li Ba smiled helplessly, stood up, and after everyone's eyes focused on him, he said indifferently: "Brothers, do you feel a lot of pressure?"

"How about we lose a game to relieve the pressure? Stephen, you and I will take turns this time?" He didn't wait for the answers from his teammates, and said to himself.

His words made everyone's mouths open, including Frank and the coaching staff.

"Damn it, no!" Marbury shouted first.

"..."

Payton opened his mouth wide and looked at Li Ba with incredulous eyes. He felt that this was a lunatic. During the critical period of the winning streak, how could he deliberately lose?

"That's right, boss, I want to sign a big contract, I can't lose." Joe Johnson yelled.

"Haha..." Li Ba laughed loudly, and said again: "Okay, I'm just joking."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Marbury said: "We don't think about the 33-game winning streak, but as long as we beat the Warriors, Lakers, and Bobcats, we can tie the second consecutive winning record in history, win the Magic again, and take With 21 consecutive victories, we can become the only team with the second longest winning streak, an honor we cannot give up."

"Anyway, I don't care, so what if it exceeds 33 consecutive victories? If we are not strong enough, and barely achieve a super winning streak, it will only overdraw our potential. This is not advisable, and it will not help us in the playoffs. Now the management and the coaching staff have not issued an order to continue the winning streak, have they?" Li Ba continued.

This made sense, and everyone nodded.

At this time, Frank Colangelo, the general manager outside, was invited in by Frank. He also heard the conversation inside, and said at this time: "Iron Hammer is right. In terms of the winning streak, the team has no goals. Everyone does what they can." for."

Payton said: "I support the Hammers. If we can win, we should win. We should play according to the normal rotation. In fact, we are doing well now. The rest time of the main players is guaranteed and there is a normal rotation."

"Yes." Marbury said.

Li Ba went on to say: "So you don't need to carry burdens. If we are really strong enough, even with a normal rotation lineup, we will win the games we should win. There is no need to overdraw our potential, and the winning streak will naturally come our way. .”

After such a psychological adjustment, the psychological pressure of the Suns players was significantly relaxed, and the atmosphere in the locker room was obviously relaxed.

Seeing Li Ba's strong control over the locker room and his strong influence on his teammates, Payton has even greater expectations for this season.

Being in the Suns locker room and being in the Lakers locker room are two completely different feelings.

Here, it is fusion.

With the Lakers, it's falling apart.

It was night, and the rejuvenated Suns beat the underdog Warriors 86:111, winning by 25 points and winning their 18th consecutive victory.

The 18-game winning streak is also the 4th winning streak in history.

Those who have completed this winning streak include the Knicks in the 6970 season, the Celtics in the 8182 season, and the Bulls in the 9596 season.

After the game and the press conference, the Suns flew to Los Angeles overnight. Tomorrow they will have a back-to-back game, the second game of the season against the Lakers.