basketball player

Chapter 346 Chapter 344: The relationship between rotation and victory

"Hey! Don't lie down on my sofa, don't you have your own nest?!" Henson woke up in the morning, when he saw the Erha named Kona tearing the sofa comfortably with his dirty claws, Henson really wanted to kick this guy out.

But Henson didn't, and of course it wasn't because he was caring.But if he did that, he would probably be kicked out by An Jiali again.

So Henson had no choice but to push the big dog to the ground, but Kona didn't seem to resent Henson, and licked Henson's hands very enthusiastically so that his hands were full of saliva.

"Ah, what a ghost!"

Today is already February 2rd.An Jiali left Indianapolis early yesterday morning and flew to New York.When the two meet next time, it should already be during the playoffs.

On the 23rd, the Pacers will also usher in the second game day after the All-Star Game.Before that, two major events happened to the Pacers.

The first thing is the buzzer trade about DJ Augustin.The second matter did not cause much discussion in the league.Because people are very used to seeing Sean Livingston, a player, drifting here and there.

With a one-year minimum salary, the defending champion Pacers signed Livingston, who had been idle at home for two months, after losing DJ Augustin.Livingston will play for the Pacers until the end of the season. Some reporters joked: "At least Livingston doesn't have to worry about finding a job."

So far, the Pacers' mid-season personnel changes are all over.Replacing Augustin with Livingston did not damage the team's existing personnel structure, tacit understanding and state, but also made the Pacers' bench deeper.

Of course, Henson said that Livingston will not make his debut too soon.First, Livingston still has some old injuries that need to be recovered.Second, Livingston has been away from the game for two months, and he needs to get back to his form in training.

Livingston agrees.As for Livingston's prospects in the Pacers, Henson is very optimistic.

His injuries and his abilities will no longer be a problem with the unique badge bonus of the Pacers!
Henson was able to go out after dealing with the silly-looking dog and explaining to him not to mess with the furniture.

The rare few days of tenderness are over, and the season is still going on, so I must not lose the chain.

"Kona, you must not lose the chain."

※※※

"David West made a hook shot! Haha, he is eating and drinking on Greg Monroe's head! 11 of 8 shots and 18 points. David West played very efficiently today. Monroe's defense can't pose a threat to him at all."

"Strictly speaking, Miller. It's the entire Pistons defense that can't pose a threat to the defending champion."

At ten o'clock in the evening on the 23rd, there were not many fans in the Bankers Life Arena.Normally, fans leave early only when the game goes into garbage time.

And the Detroit Pistons, who have never been in contact with the top eight in the East this season, naturally cannot take advantage of the Pacers.The current situation is that the Pacers lead the Pistons by 25 points, and there are only 2 minutes left before the end of the game
"This victory was too easy for the Pacers. Coach Henson's ass never even left the bench. With 51 wins, the Pacers are less than 51 minutes away from winning their 2st game of the season." Jeff Van Gundy shook his head. Once upon a time, the confrontation between the Pistons and the Pacers was also a beautiful landscape in the league.

And now?Every time the Pistons face the Pacers, there is only slaughter waiting for them.

"51 wins? I think we can already celebrate the Pacers' five-game winning streak and 52 wins in advance. Because of tomorrow's back-to-back games, the Pacers' opponent is still the Detroit Pistons, but the battlefield is changed to Detroit." Reggie Miller spread his hands. Every season, the league arranges such a set of games, which is to let the two teams play two consecutive home and away games.

And this kind of similar game, the Pacers have never lost.The scene of Henson leading the team to double-kill the Knicks last season is still vivid.What kind of obstacle is a mere Detroit Pistons?

So on February 2, in Detroit, the city of automobiles, as Reggie Miller said, the Pacers' performance in this back-to-back game is still strong.

One game 114 to 82, one game 90 to 72, the Pacers easily completed a double play against the Detroit Pistons.So far, the Pacers have officially won their 52nd game, and they have won three consecutive victories after the All-Star Game.

The victory over the Detroit Pistons itself is not worth discussing, after all, the strength of the Pistons lies there.But the Pacers' victory over the Pistons has triggered another high-profile topic-whether the Indiana Pacers can break the myth of 72 wins created by the Chicago Bulls!
"By the end of February, the Pacers had won 2 games! The Chicago Bulls had the same record as the Pacers now! I think they have a good chance to hit this record!"

"No, it's impossible. Coach Henson is very smart. He won't overload the players for such a illusory record. I bet that after the game is played in March, Coach Henson will start to take a lot of rest. Their goal is the championship."

"What, someone actually said that 72 wins in a single season is an illusory record? You'd better stop watching basketball and go home."

Experts from all walks of life analyzed fiercely, and even started to fight each other, but Henson himself did not express any opinion on the matter of 72 wins.

Said he didn't care about the 72-win record?That's impossible, after all, who doesn't want to break the greatest win record in history.But Henson really didn't want to consume a lot of energy from the players during the regular season.If you lose the championship for 72 wins, it will not be worth the loss.

So whether to pursue this record, Henson is also very entangled.But the only thing he can do now is to play the current game well.

In the remaining two games in February, the Pacers played against the Warriors and the Clippers respectively, and both also won.

Although the Warriors caused trouble for the Pacers as always, Stephen Curry even shot 10 of 7 three-pointers!But the Pacers relied on their tenacious defense and David West's 28 points to defeat the Warriors by 9 points!As for the Los Angeles Clippers, Griffin's leadership ability still needs to be improved.

Against the Clippers, West scored 24 points on Griffin.Although Griffin is physically strong, his bounce is amazing.But that pitiful short arm and inaccurate judgment on defensive timing made his defense extremely poor.

David West, the veteran player has been in a hot state recently, as if he suddenly became his younger self.And because of West's fiery state, Henson also increased his playing time every game.

The unstoppable state of the Pacers and West continued until March. After defeating the Raptors and the Bulls without Rose respectively, the Pacers have won 9 consecutive victories and their record has become 56 wins and 4 losses!
"72 wins are imminent!" Many Indianapolis media even promoted it like this.

However, just when everyone thought that the Pacers would win another round of 10 consecutive victories, trouble came again.

On March 3, the Indiana Pacers played against the Boston Celtics at home.

The Celtics haven't been doing well this season since losing Ray Allen and Pierce and Garnett are a year older.

Currently, the Celtics have a poor record of 32 wins and 27 losses, temporarily ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks.

In other words, let alone the Celtics are the championship now, they even have to worry about whether their playoff spot is solid.

So in every game, the Celtics fought very hard.It would be a shame for this giant team not to be able to enter the playoffs!

Today, facing a necessary victory and an old opponent like the Pacers, the Celtics played very rough and had frequent physical contact.It is no exaggeration to say that the intensity of the competition has reached the playoff level!

Especially Kevin Garnett, the always passionate power forward did not show mercy to David West.West's fiery state in recent games has greatly inspired Garnett's fighting spirit.

As a result, the two No. [-]s staged frequent hand-to-hand battles, fighting back and forth!But today, Henson made a mistake.

At the last moment of the game, the scores of the two sides were still anxious.Henson continued to let David West play, and at this time, the 33-year-old West had played 39 minutes!He was extremely tired and had to face Garnett's crazy impact.

Finally on a layup, an accident happened.

West's layup was roughly overturned by Garnett, and West sprained his knee because of his unstable foothold, and was carried off the court by his teammates.

Looking at West, who was sweating profusely and clutching his knees in pain, Henson suddenly felt very sorry.Let West play 39 minutes, what are you doing! ?
The continuous victories have stunned the head of the champion coach.

However, the bad news is not over yet. In the last minute of the game, Ray Allen fired from the right corner.

Rajon Rondo, who had been at odds with Ray Allen, took a breath and blocked him violently!The ball was not blocked, but Ray Allen was knocked off the field by Rajon Rondo!Ray Allen lost all his center of gravity and sprained his ankle after landing, regrettably.

"Two people were injured in one game! God, this is undoubtedly a huge blow to Coach Henson!"

"I've said it all, Coach Henson should take a big break! I know that the Pacers players have maintained a high attendance rate this season, but no team can completely avoid injuries! Losing the regular season is better than losing the playoffs!"

West and Ray Allen retired from the field due to injuries, which undoubtedly dealt a severe blow to the morale of the players.In the end, the Celtics narrowly beat the Pacers by 2 points in the away game by virtue of their rough physical collision and amazing willpower!
With 56 wins and 5 losses, the Pacers had their fifth loss of the game.But this is not the worst, the worst is that Henson lost two main players at once!

"I made a fatal mistake. Against a bloodthirsty team like the Celtics, I shouldn't...Damn it!" After the game, Henson covered his head with his hands.

Stevens patted Henson on the shoulder reassuringly, but said nothing.

"West played 39 minutes and Ray Allen played 28 minutes. Both of them were targeted by the Celtics today. If I hadn't been too greedy, if I hadn't been so obsessed with winning."

The lesson of a game made Henson see the necessity of taking a rest at the end of the regular season.Although he has all kinds of badges to avoid injuries, he still cannot fundamentally eliminate injuries.On this point, Henson was too optimistic.

But in the face of the 72-win record that is close at hand, Henson is not reconciled.An opportunity to let this group of players go down in history, is this going to be given up?

"What should we do in the future? Shall we take a rest from now on? There can be no more injuries, Henson." Stevens is very clear that the health of players is the biggest capital for the team to win.

Henson was silent for a few seconds, and the unwillingness and anger just now disappeared, replaced by the calmness he had always had.

"You're right, Brad, no one can be injured anymore. We're going to win 72 games while we're resting!"

Stevens opened his mouth wide. Does this guy know what he's talking about?

(End of this chapter)