Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 235 235. Hands Kissed by God, This Night, God Comes to Memphis! (5K words)
The Grizzlies, who have been getting better and better throughout January, played very well.

Until the victory over the Warriors on January 1, the Grizzlies' record has reached 11 wins and 29 losses.

And after entering January, the Grizzlies have not lost a single game, including three games where they beat their opponents by more than 15 points, and four games that beat their opponents by more than [-] points.

Only in the game that just ended with the Golden State Warriors did the Grizzlies win by single digits for the first time in January.

In this game, Baron Davis and "Martial Saint" Jackson joined forces. Relying on the hot touch like magma, the two scored 75 points together, which can be called a giant performance.

However, the overall performance of the Grizzlies is far stronger than that of the Warriors. The poor version of the Big Three of Martin, Wallace, and Pau Gasol is extremely stable. Surprised to win the game.

It is worth mentioning that Kevin Martin, who scored 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, ushered in a career milestone.

Counting this game, Martin has scored 25+ in six consecutive games, not only setting a new career high, but also breaking the record held by Paul Gasol, becoming the No. 1 in Grizzlies history.

After joining the Grizzlies, Martin's performance can be described as "stable as an old dog".

Up to now, Martin's shooting percentage is 47.6%, the three-point shooting percentage is as high as 42.7%, and the free throw percentage exceeds Nash, topping the list with 91.3%.

The reason why Martin's offensive performance is so stable is also due to Martin's rich offensive methods.

When the shooting feel is not good, Martin can use breakthroughs to attack the basket. At the same time, his excellent foul-making ability also allows Martin to frequently stand on the free throw line and kill the game through free throws.

In addition, Martin was also elected as the best player in the Western Conference in December announced by the league not long ago.

整个12月份马丁场均能够轰下25.8分3.2篮板2.1助攻以及1.3次抢断，场均8.7次罚球更是力压科比、詹姆斯以及艾弗森等人高居全联盟第一。

Fans often ridiculed Martin's foul style of play. After all, no one likes to watch an intermittent game.

Especially when players frequently stand on the free throw line, it will only make the fans feel drowsy and disgusted with this style of play.

But it has to be admitted that Kevin Martin has become one of the best scorers in the active league.

At present, Martin's scoring average has surpassed Anthony and "Small Overlord" Stoudemire and others to rise to fourth in the league.

The three players in front of Martin in the row are Iverson who averaged 26.6 points per game, Kobe Bryant with 28.3 points, and James with 30.2 points per game.

As the only player averaging more than 30 points per game this season, James has officially ushered in the peak of his career.

In addition to scoring, James' field goal percentage, rebounds, assists and blocks have all set career highs.

目前场均能送出30分8篮板7助攻2抢断以及1.7次封盖的詹姆斯已经成为联盟最受欢迎的球员。

In the just-concluded first round of the All-Star voting, James led Kobe by about [-] votes, temporarily becoming the king of votes after the first round of voting.

The media predicts that there are only four players in the league who are expected to exceed 200 million votes this year, namely James, Kobe, Howard and Yao Ming.

At present, the top three are superstars who are very popular in the United States. Even if the bargaining chips offered by other teams are too tempting, the Cavaliers, Lakers and Magic will definitely not trade them.

Although Chinese player Yao Ming's popularity in the United States is relatively average, there are a very large number of Chinese fans behind him.

Even though the league temporarily changed the All-Star voting rules for Yi Jianlian, changing the original method of voting from fans to only 50% of fans voting, and the remaining 50% being decided by media and experts voting, Yao Ming can still sit out without any suspense. Steady Western starter.

After all, Yao Ming averaged 24.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.1 blocks per game this season. He deserves his title as the No. [-] center in the Western Conference.

Even if the voting channels of Chinese fans can only account for 50%, Yao Ming's starting position is still unshakable, but it will become a little difficult to win the All-Star vote.

It is a pity that Yi Jianlian, who has just entered the league, was originally sent to the first round of the All-Star list by the terrifying number of votes from Chinese fans. As a result, the league changed the voting rules for Yi Jianlian to prevent Yi Jianlian from being voted into the All-Star by the fans. things happen.

In today's era, the All-Star is after all a very high gold honor.

If Yi Jianlian enters the All-Star through the power of the whole country, the gold content of the All-Star will be greatly reduced.

In fact, Yi Jianlian's performance this season is not bad. With the Bucks as a backup forward, Yi Jianlian averaged 9 points, 5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.

It's just that the shooting percentage of 42.1% needs to be improved, especially in terms of physical confrontation, which Yi Jianlian needs to improve as soon as possible.

After all, Ah Lian is 108 meters tall, but weighs only [-] kilograms. It is really a disadvantage in today's tough guys.

As for the first round of voting for the All-Stars, the Grizzlies have three players who are expected to be selected for the Western Conference All-Stars.

Among them, Paul Gasol has the opportunity to compete with the three legendary power forwards Tim Duncan, Nowitzki and Garnett for the starting position in the Western Conference.

And Gerald Wallace and Kevin Martin are basically locked in the All-Star bench. As long as the follow-up voting does not fluctuate too much, the Grizzlies are expected to be selected for the All-Star this year, setting a record in team history.

…………

On January 1, local time in the United States, the league ushered in a battle of focus.

In this campaign, the Memphis Grizzlies, ranked first in the league, will sit at home to meet the challenge of the Boston Celtics.

With their excellent overall performance in January, the Grizzlies overtook the Celtics in terms of team record, and are now at the top of the league for the first time with a gap of one win.

This game has been long-awaited by fans before the start of the game. As the two best teams in the active league, the Grizzlies and Celtics stand at the top of the league in terms of popularity and strength.

Even in ESPN's championship prediction list, the Celtics still have a slight advantage over the Grizzlies, ranking first in the league.

But the Grizzlies have used practical actions to prove to the outside world that it is still too early to discuss who is the strongest team this season.

Even though the Celtics have a dazzling combination of the Big Four and a group of outstanding role players, basketball has never been as simple as a competition of strength on paper.

The running-in of the Grizzlies has gradually improved, especially in January, the Grizzlies have become more mature on both offense and defense, even the Celtics dare not underestimate this Grizzlies.

And with the end of the first round of All-Star voting, there is a high probability that the Grizzlies will have three players selected for the All-Star lineup this year. From the perspective of paper strength, the Grizzlies are not much worse than the Celtics.

Even in terms of lineup depth and tactical play, the Grizzlies are still above the Celtics.

Before the game, Rivers and Luke stood on the sidelines and exchanged polite greetings. Rivers' face was still full of smiles, but compared with the previous two seasons, Rivers' attitude has obviously changed. .

The Celtics led by Rivers before were a bottom-ranked team, but Luke, as the Timberwolves coach, had already stood at the top of the league, with the title of champion coach hanging on his head.

At that time, whenever the Celtics led by Rivers played against Luke, Rivers kept his posture very low, and the respect he exuded in the face of Luke was even more visible to the naked eye.

But now, with the Celtics recruiting in the offseason and becoming the biggest favorite in the league in the new season, even the Grizzlies led by Luke have been suppressed. Rivers' attitude towards Luke has also undergone some subtle changes. .

At the very least, Rivers no longer lowered his figure. It seemed that he had put himself on an equal footing with Luke, and his demeanor and demeanor could be said to be erratic.

Feeling the changes in Rivers, Luke just smiled lightly, and didn't get too entangled in this matter. After all, not everyone is satisfied with the status quo, and not everyone is willing to be a younger brother for a lifetime.

If it weren't for Rivers' face-saving project, Luke really wanted to tell Lao Li, "Don't be too rampant, it's useless."

In this game, the two teams still used their regular starters. For the Grizzlies: Lowry, Martin, Gerald Wallace, Paul Gasol, and Gasol Jr.

The Celtics in the away game are: "Alien" Cassel, Ray Allen, Pierce, Leon Powe, and "Shark" O'Neal.

When the starting lineup was released, some fans on the Internet began to ridicule that two of the Celtics' starting lineup were Luke's defeats, and two were not even qualified to be Luke's defeats.

The other Kassel was Luke's former disciple back then, and he was not even eligible to be renewed by Luke after the contract expired.

Is such an impromptu lineup worthy of being compared with the Grizzlies led by Luke?
Before the game started, the online fans were already arguing in full swing, and the hostility between them was even stronger than that of the Celtics and Grizzlies.

As soon as the game came up, Kevin Martin, who was sitting at home, took the lead. Facing Jun Zilei, who was selected to the All-Star seven times in his career, Martin first shot a cold arrow from outside the three-point line, and played a three-pointer in front of the sharpshooter.

Then Martin used Pau Gasol's pick-and-roll to actively lean his body towards Ray Allen, and continued to create physical confrontation with Ray Allen.

Martin suddenly raised his hand one step from the free throw line and caught Ray Allen by surprise. While causing Ray Allen to make a defensive foul, the two-pointer went into the net in response. Pushing the front wave, the front wave died on the beach.

Martin's desire to attack in this game is very strong. In Martin's eyes, the basket is as wide as the sea. Jun Zilei's continuous offensive success is so painful that he even seriously doubts whether his own era is really in the past.

While being blinded by the Grizzlies' offensive climax, Pierce gradually regained his senses and finally started to exert his strength.

First he made a defensive mid-range jumper against Gerald Wallace, then he used a fast-break counterattack to assist Powe to blow up the basket with both hands, and finally completed an outside pick-and-roll cooperation with Ray Allen, throwing his hands outside the three-point line , Helping the Celtics quickly approach the score.

Entering the second quarter, the main players of both sides came off to rest one after another. In the substitute stage, Mike Miller and Kapono continued to output firepower outside the three-point line.

The offensive firepower of the two at the three-point line not only made the scalps of the Celtics players numb, but even Ray Allen, who was sitting off the court watching the game, turned black.

As the strongest active shooter recognized by fans, Ray Allen's accomplishments in three-pointers are definitely unmatched by other players in this era.

But in this game, Ray Allen, who was 3 for 0 from the three-point line, not only failed to score, but the Grizzlies continued to sprinkle salt on Ray Allen's wounds.

First, the starter Kevin Martin turned into a master of outside shooting in front of Ray Allen. Gentleman Ray, who hit consecutive three-pointers, seriously doubted who is the strongest active shooter.

Then it was hard to make it to the end of the game. Kapono and Mike Miller on the Grizzlies bench began to perform from beyond the three-point line. Seeing the confident looks of the three, Ray Allen felt for the first time that he It's so close to being eliminated by the times.

Although the outside shooter on the Grizzlies side helped the Grizzlies take the initiative in the second quarter, Eddie House of the Celtics stood up when the team was in crisis.

Eddie House, who is only 1.8 meters tall, caught the Grizzlies by surprise with two consecutive three-pointers from outside the three-point line.

Then House used the defensive counterattack to make a false pass and assist James Posey, who was ambushing in the bottom corner, to make a shot.

With three consecutive three-point goals on the offensive end, the Celtics not only stopped the game in one fell swoop, but also approached the point difference to four points.

In the third quarter, the "big shark" O'Neal, who had been silent for the whole game, began to explode.

Facing Marc Gasol, whose defensive skills are as solid as a textbook, O'Neal overwhelmed the river in the third quarter and made consecutive strong hits in the penalty area, as if to prove to the outside world in this way that although the Sharks are old, they can still rule the penalty area.

But today this night is destined to belong to the man named Kevin Martin. Martin's hands today seem to be kissed by God.

Even if Ray Allen didn't lose the slightest bit of position on the defensive end, the defense has been sealed to Martin's face, but Martin can still send the ball to the basket in various positions.

As Martin scored 7 points in a row, the Grizzlies once again widened the point difference to double digits, while Rivers, who was standing on the sidelines, roared and called a timeout, obviously feeling a headache for Kevin Martin's performance.

Back from the timeout, the Celtics began to double-team Martin and no longer gave Martin an easy shot.

However, although Martin's coping ability is average, the perimeter defense composed of Cassel and Ray Allen does not pose much defensive threat to Martin.

Before the two double-team up, Martin can always pass the ball to teammates who are in open opportunities to help teammates open the situation.

With Martin's unstoppable personal performance in this game, at the end of the three quarters, the Grizzlies extended their lead to 14 points.

In the last quarter, the Celtics, who were imminently losing, could only pin their hopes on Paul Pierce.

As the team's strongest offensive striker this season, Pierce, like Carmelo Anthony, is also dubbed an offensive kaleidoscope by fans.

Faced with Gerald Wallace, who is expected to run for the best defensive player this season, Pierce played very hard on the offensive end, and consecutive missed shots kept the Celtics at a disadvantage.

But while Rivers was restless, veteran Cassell used his signature jumper to help the Celtics continue to fire.

In the first three quarters, the presence of "Alien" Kassel was not very high, which caused many people to forget the existence of Kassel.

But in the fourth quarter when the team was in danger, Cassel stepped forward to help the team maintain suspense.

Kyle Lowry is a very strong point guard, far exceeding the weight of ordinary point guards, allowing Lowry to have a strength advantage when facing most players, and can even switch to the third position.

However, Cassell has never been a point guard who plays with strength, but a guy who knows how to use his height and wingspan to bully others.

Cassell's performance prevented the Grizzlies from taking the game away in one wave, and could only watch the game fall into anxiety.

But this night God not only kissed Kevin Martin's hands, but also magnified the basket in Martin's eyes several times.

I saw that Martin first scored with a fallback jumper under the double-team, and then used Pau Gasol's pick-and-roll to catch a pass from teammate Lowry and scored from outside the three-point line. At the same time, he also caused a foul by Ray Allen. A very rare 3+1 goal.

If only this is not enough to describe Martin's surprise tonight, in the last few minutes Martin turned into a basketball god and began to take over the game. His sudden inside and outside shots almost broke the Celtics' defense by himself.

Martin's outstanding personal performance even stood on the sidelines of Rivers sat decadently on the sidelines. Judging from his expression, Rivers was obviously desperate for this game.

At the end of the game, the Grizzlies beat the Celtics by 17 points at home. While winning the focus of the game, they also kept their No. [-] position in the league.

At the same time, Martin, who was kissed by God, played the best battle of his career. His 47 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals not only defeated the Celtics, but also conquered all the Memphis fans on the scene.

The 47 points in a single game not only set a new high in Martin's career, but also broke Kobe's previous personal performance of 45 points, temporarily setting a new high in a single game this season.

Martin's crazy performance made the Grizzlies fans at the scene excited. The fans were not only excited to witness a pinnacle battle, but also excited that the Grizzlies finally had a top scorer in the league.

If it is said that when Luke decided to trade McGrady for Kevin Martin, there were still fans who did not understand Luke's thoughts.

Thinking that Luke was just for his own coaching authority, he dismantled the ultimate lineup that he managed to assemble in the offseason, and traded the big-name McGrady for a thin young guy.

So now no one is questioning Kevin Martin's strength, no one is questioning Luke's vision of operation.

For the Grizzlies, Martin is not a symbol of the city, but tonight, Martin is the God of Memphis!

　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket, thank you, third child!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)