Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 283 283. First defeat of the season!Injury to two people, the upcoming Christmas battle!
The conflict between Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams has become the biggest hot topic in the league recently.

Even Jazz coach Sloan announced that he would be on an indefinite truce under the pretext of injury. At present, the Jazz will be temporarily taken over by assistant coach Simmons.

As the culprit of the Jazz's internal conflicts, the Grizzlies continued to maintain their aggressiveness on the court in December.

It wasn't until the away game against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 12 that the Grizzlies, who had already won 10 consecutive games, ushered in their first loss of the season.

The Grizzlies' loss has undoubtedly become the focus of the league's most attention.

The 22-game winning streak not only broke the 05-game winning streak set by the Timberwolves in the 06-16 season, but also improved this record by a full six games.

And the 22-game winning streak is also the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, second only to the 71-game winning streak achieved by the Lakers in the 72-33 season.

Even the well-known ESPN commentator Coney Flake said with a look of amazement, "I don't think any team can break the record of the Grizzlies' opening streak in the future."

"Since the start of the new season, the Grizzlies have won 22 consecutive games, and the team has experienced player changes during the offseason and needs to be adjusted. The performance of the Grizzlies is really amazing."

"I don't think any team can beat the record of the Grizzlies for at least 20 years."

Compared with the Los Angeles Lakers' 71-game winning streak in the 72-33 season, the 22-game winning streak set by the Grizzlies this season is undoubtedly more difficult.

After all, the Lakers in that season had many superstars such as Chamberlain, West, and Baylor at the same time. The Lakers simply crushed and won the championship that season.

Although the Grizzlies' lineup this season is also very luxurious, it is far from reaching the point of crushing the league.

And the difficulty of winning consecutive games in the early stage of the season is also much greater than that in the middle of the season.

Starting the game with 22 consecutive victories, fans don't know whether there will be a team breaking this record set by the Grizzlies in the future, but at least in a short period of time, absolutely no team can threaten the Grizzlies.

In the loss to the Lakers, Grizzlies player Louis Williams left midway due to an ankle injury, but Lu Wei's midway departure was not the root cause of the Grizzlies' loss.

The Grizzlies' shooting from the perimeter was very bad throughout the game. Out of the team's 56 three-pointers, they only hit 7 of them.

With a 12.5% ​​three-point shooting percentage, even Luke couldn’t stand it off the court. If it weren’t for Kapono on the bench who remained stable, the Grizzlies would probably have a game with a three-point shooting percentage of less than 10% the match of.

As a team that relies on offense to win the game, three-point shooting is definitely an important means for the Grizzlies to widen the gap.

But when the basket seems to have an extra layer of cover in the eyes of the Grizzlies players, no matter how hard they can throw it, it will not be surprising that the Grizzlies lose to the last king in the league.

In addition, Lakers star Kobe Bryant's personal performance in this game was also as exciting as taking drugs.

Facing the frontal defense of "The Beast" Artest, although Kobe played very hard on the offensive end, his hot touch was like a GPS installed by God, as if he could easily throw the ball into the basket from any position on the court .

Even though Luke, who was looking bad in the second half, once flanked Kobe, he couldn't stop Kobe, who became more and more confident, from continuing to cut melons and vegetables.

By the end of the three quarters, Kobe had scored a full 42 points on Artest. This was the first time a player had scored 40+ points on Artest this season.

Back in the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies, who were already extremely poor in touch, have been widened to double digits by the Lakers, but Kobe, who scored 42 points, did not dare to take it lightly.

It wasn't until the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game that Kobe, who scored 51 points, heaved a long sigh of relief, as if he had accomplished something extraordinary.

This summer, Luke called to recruit Kobe himself, hoping that Kobe could come to the Grizzlies to join forces with him, but Kobe, who had a strong self-esteem, politely refused.

Since "Shark" O'Neal left the team, Kobe has never proved his ability to lead the team, which made Kobe very unwilling and unwilling to leave the Lakers in despair.

Because Kobe knows that once he agrees to Luke's recruitment during the offseason, the labels on him in the future will definitely be hugging his thighs, relying on O'Neal to win the championship, being the second child in ten thousand years, and other taunts that Kobe cannot accept.

Kobe couldn't accept that even if he won the championship in the future, he could only be ridiculed by fans for such a thing to happen.

Especially before the city of Los Angeles proves himself, Kobe doesn't want to leave like a bereaved dog.

Even if leaving the Lakers and agreeing to Luke's recruitment will make his career better, Kobe still wants to insist on being what he wants.

Even if he stays with the Lakers in the new season, he is not optimistic about defeating the Grizzlies to win the championship, but defeating the Grizzlies head-on has always been the goal Kobe set for himself.

As the Lakers successfully won the first match between the two sides in this game, Kobe's face was filled with smiles, as if he was as excited as when he won the championship with his own hands.

As the head coach, Casey also had a smile on his face. After hugging Luke on the sidelines, Casey couldn't help lowering his head and expressing emotion: "I thought it was impossible to beat you head-on in a short time, but I didn't expect that the end of the Grizzlies' winning streak will end. It's going to be my Lakers."

"This is really something that I didn't even think of myself. I guess that guy Alvin Gentry will be so envious that he can't even sleep well tonight."

Both Gentry and Casey were Luke's assistant coaches last season, and during the offseason, one joined the Phoenix Suns and the other joined the Los Angeles Lakers, serving as the team's head coach respectively.

The biggest goal of the two is to lead the team to defeat Luke head-on in the new season.

At the beginning of the season, the Suns led by Gentry lost to the Memphis Grizzlies. This made Gentry always a little depressed, and he still couldn't see the gap between himself and Luke.

Now that Dwayne Casey is the first to lead the Lakers to achieve this goal, Gentry will definitely become more depressed when he learns about this, and he will start tossing and turning even when he sleeps.

"The team's offensive touch is really bad. You won't have such good luck next time." Shaking his head helplessly, Luke patted his former disciple on the shoulder.

Seeing that Casey was able to take care of himself after leaving him, Luke was also happy for Casey.

The Lakers currently rank second in the Western Conference under the leadership of Casey. Although there is not a small gap with the Grizzlies in the Western Conference in terms of team record, Casey has successfully secured the position of Lakers head coach in the new season.

As a member of Luke's faction, Casey's excellent coaching ability also brought some benefits to Luke.

Luke naturally hopes that the assistant coaches who go out from his side can be independent in the league and become famous coaches in the future, so that Luke can experience the feeling of being disciples everywhere in the league.

I believe that by that time, Luke will already be in a high position in the management, or simply buy a team by himself, which will become a good story in people's mouths.

…………

Louis Williams accidentally sprained his ankle during the game against the Lakers. According to the post-match examination of the Grizzlies team doctor, Lu Wei's ankle did not appear to be structurally damaged.

However, the ankle is still swollen visible to the naked eye, and it still takes at least half a month for recuperation.

In this regard, Luke is not in a hurry to let Louis Williams come back. Before Lu Wei's ankle really heals, he can sit off the court and recover from his injury with peace of mind.

The Grizzlies currently rank first in the league with a record of 22 wins and 1 loss, and they have opened up two full wins with the second-ranked Celtics behind them.

After losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics lost to the Spurs and the Eagles not long ago. Although the current record of 20 wins and 3 losses continues to rank first in the Eastern Conference, the trouble caused by age still makes the Celtics Expose some problems in terms of physical strength.

Especially in those games that require the Celtics to fight back to back, the offensive efficiency of the old guys in the Celtics has plummeted, making people worry about whether these old guys can persist until the end of the season in a healthy manner.

For a while, Luke used Smush Parker to fill in the void left by Louis Williams' injury.

Although Smash Parker's offensive efficiency is much lower than that of Louis Williams, Smash Parker is also a very aggressive point guard.

As the third point guard signed by Luke in the offseason, Smush Parker still made up for the offensive firepower after Lu Wei's absence.

And the absence of Louis Williams also made Michael Reid play more happily on the bench, from the original two shots in the backcourt to now alone.

Reed successfully ushered in a wave of explosions in mid-December, and his personal data in the past five games was even better than Kevin Martin, which can be called the offensive killer hidden by the Grizzlies on the bench.

As of December 12, the Grizzlies had a record of 22 wins and 27 losses. While still ranking first in the league, they also received their second loss of the season.

The Grizzlies lost to the Denver Nuggets in this game. While being thrown into nine three-pointers by "Nerve Knife" JR Smith, the Grizzlies also ushered in something worse than losing.

The inside core Paul Gasol contused his wrist in the process of fighting for rebounds with Kenyon Martin. The severe pain forced Paul Gasol to leave midway and will be absent for a period of time.

This is not the first time that Pau Gasol has injured his wrist. As early as a few years ago, Pau Gasol's wrist injury recurred frequently. For this kind of injury, what the team doctor can do is to prevent the wrist joint from developing into a habit. fall off.

But more often, Pau Gasol can only be allowed to recuperate quietly to avoid prolonged wrist strain.

Compared with Louis Williams' injury, Pau Gasol's absence still has some impact on the Grizzlies.

As the first choice for the Grizzlies' interior offense, Pau Gasol, who averaged 18.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 blocks per game this season, is crucial.

The comprehensive personal abilities make it impossible for Novak and Yi Jianlian on the bench to replace Pau Gasol.

Fortunately, the Grizzlies also have Marc Gasol, who has the same excellent coping ability inside, so that the overall offensive tactics will not be one-size-fits-all due to injuries.

But soon the Grizzlies will compete with the Celtics, who have the Big Five, in the Christmas game. The absence of Pau Gasol will undoubtedly make the Grizzlies more stressed.

Even Luke had to hastily convene the coaching staff to re-arrange for the upcoming Christmas game.

The Christmas game is the first time the Grizzlies and Celtics have played against each other this season. As the biggest stumbling block on the way to each other's championship, both the Grizzlies and the Celtics attach great importance to winning or losing this game.

Right now because of injuries, the Grizzlies have successively injured two players, Louis Williams and Pau Gasol. This is obviously an irreparable loss.

Even if "Alien" Cassel is also unable to play in the Christmas game because of a knee injury, it is also an extremely bad thing for the Celtics, but the loss suffered by the Grizzlies is still higher than that of the Celtics .

Luke also had to reconsider which player to use as the starting power forward in the Christmas game to replace Pau Gasol, who was unable to play due to a wrist injury.

The Celtics' starting power forward is Kevin Garnett. Although Garnett has long since passed his peak due to injuries, he is also one of the best defensive strikers in the league after all.

Originally relying on Pau Gasol's personal ability, even if he couldn't beat Kevin Garnett one-on-one, at least he could vaguely gain the upper hand and help the Grizzlies relieve the pressure from Kevin Garnett's defensive end.

But now the absence of Pau Gasol makes all this a bit troublesome. Looking at players like Novak, Yi Jianlian and Artest, Luke is considering whether Artest can go to the fourth position possibility.

But when Luke thought of Paul Pierce, the Celtics' first scoring point, Luke gave up the idea of ​​letting Artest go to the fourth position.

After all, the important task of defending Paul Pierce still has to be handed over to Artest. Although Paul Pierce is not a super giant in the league, the Celtics' dependence on Pierce is still obvious.

Only if Artest can successfully limit Paul Pierce's offensive efficiency, the Grizzlies will have a higher chance of winning the game.

Due to age, the Celtics are a team that relies more on scoring in positional battles, and the Grizzlies have a lot of experience in defending three-point shooters like Ray Allen and center players like "Shark" O'Neal.

Kevin Garnett's scoring ability has long been inferior to before, and it is difficult to kill the game by himself. As long as the Grizzlies can limit the performance of Paul Pierce and "Lone Wolf" Marbury, the game will naturally have the upper hand.

Tapping his finger on the table lightly, Luke raised his head and asked D'Antoni beside him, "Mike, what do you think about the Christmas game?"

Stretching out his hand to stroke his gradually thinning hair, D'Antoni shook his head at Luke first, and then he opened his mouth and sighed, "Hey, among the players currently available to the team, it doesn't matter whether it's Stephen Novak or Yi Jianlian. , it is difficult for both of them to compete head-on with Kevin."

"Steve's defensive ability is too poor, and it is very likely that Kevin will catch him on the offensive end. However, Yi's offensive ability is not stable. Facing Kevin's defense, there is a high probability that he will become a transparent person."

"Needless to say Theo Ratliff, facing a player like Kevin, he is not suitable to play at all."

"Frankly speaking, no matter who we use, there will be flaws." After a pause, D'Antoni still gave his own advice, "Of course, if it were me, I would use Steve Novak and take advantage of his excellent skills. Three-point skills, causing trouble for the Celtics on the offensive end."

"Although the defensive end will definitely be smashed by Kevin, it is better than putting all the pressure on the backcourt."

Listening to D'Antoni's suggestion, Luke, who had already thought about it, couldn't help frowning, "It's really a troublesome thing."

　I have something to do tonight, go out for dinner, just this chapter, come back tomorrow and continue to explode.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)