Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 289 289. Luke's absence, the sprint stage at the end of the season, hitting the best record in history!
During the period at the end of January, Luke began to increase the dosage of the team's rotation, trying to give the players more time to relieve the tense nerves.

Fortunately, the Grizzlies lineup is deep and strong, even if two players take turns in each game, there will be no serious decline in strength.

With the victory over the Rockets in the last game in January, the Grizzlies' record has reached 44 wins and 3 losses. While firmly ranking first in the league, it also broke the record of the Timberwolves in the same period.

05—06赛季，打出74胜的那支森林狼在一月份结束后的战绩为41胜5负，这在当时已经是一件令人极其震撼的事情。

And that season, the Timberwolves also successfully broke the 72 wins and 10 losses maintained by the Bulls led by the "God of Basketball" Michael Jordan, becoming the new holder of the team's historical record.

As a result, less than three years after the Timberwolves broke the best record in history, the Grizzlies this season once again hope to rewrite the best record in history.

And the team's head coach was still Luke who coached the Timberwolves at the time. In people's eyes, this is really a crazy and dreamy thing.

Entering February, when the fans thought that the Grizzlies would maintain a complete victory before the All-Star Weekend, there was a piece of news in the Grizzlies that worried the fans.

In the first game in February, the Grizzlies challenged the Orlando Magic away. Due to the fact that the two sides played against each other in the finals last year, and both teams were considered strong in the league, this game naturally attracted a large number of fans to watch.

However, after the game started, the fans discovered that the head coach of the Grizzlies standing on the sidelines directing the team was not Luke, but the chief assistant coach D'Antoni.

The change of the coaching staff has caused fans to discuss this matter on the Internet, especially the Grizzlies fans are more concerned about why Luke did not coach this game.

There are even some gloating fans on the Internet who laughed and said that Luke must have broken up with the Grizzlies management. The Grizzlies lineup can win the championship even with a tethered dog this season, so the management did not get used to Luke at all, and directly swept him out. .

There are many jokes similar to this kind of gloating on the Internet. After all, the strength of the Grizzlies makes it impossible for other teams to survive.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Grizzlies have become the public enemy of the NBA. Except for a few teams that are friendly with Luke, more than 20 other teams have hostility towards the Grizzlies.

Among them, fans of the Spurs, Pistons, Celtics, and Heat gritted their teeth against Luke, wishing that Luke would ascend to heaven in the next second.

However, before the game ended, the Grizzlies officially issued an announcement, saying that the team's head coach Luke had a high fever before the game. He did not attend the game due to physical discomfort, but let assistant coach D'Antoni lead the team.

The Grizzlies' current lineup is running very smoothly. Even if Luke is not there, as long as the players do not take a large-scale rotation or suffer from injuries, D'Antoni can fully challenge the team.

But even so, fans are still concerned about Luke's physical condition.

Although with Luke's current worth, catching the flu is only a small problem, and he only needs to lie down and recuperate for a few days to recover.

But the Grizzlies are currently hitting the best record in history, and the second half of the season is not a small test for the Grizzlies. At this stage, Luke is not on the team, which really makes fans feel at ease.

Unknowingly, Luke, who often sits on the sidelines without saying a word, has become the backbone in the eyes of fans. As long as Luke sits on the sidelines, there seems to be nothing that cannot be resolved.

And now the Grizzlies lineup is so strong that it is unrivaled. Even if there are two main players resting at the same time in each game, the Grizzlies can still beat more than half of the teams in the league.

But when the fans can't see the figure sitting on the sidelines, they will always feel uneasy in their hearts, as if they lack a sense of security.

Luke is currently suffering from the flu. Judging from the announcement issued by the Grizzlies, Luke's fever will not be too low. Regarding this, fans can only pray for Luke's early recovery and strive for an early return to the team to stabilize the morale of the army.

…………

"Lu, how do you feel?" Chris Wallace asked worriedly, looking at Luke lying pale on the hospital bed.

It has been two years since I came to the Grizzlies. In Wallace's impression, Luke has always looked cold and ruthless. This is the first time Chris Wallace has seen Luke look so weak.

Couldn't help but touch Luke's hot forehead with his hand, Wallace only felt that an egg could be cooked on it, "Hiss~ Your forehead is too hot, what did the team doctor say? It can't just be like this Just lie down!"

"I'll go and inform them again. They can't even cure the flu. What a bunch of idiots! What's the use of raising them in the team!" Wallace got up angrily and planned to go to the team's infirmary to scold him for two hours. sentence.

Before Wallace walked away, Luke coughed weakly from behind, "Ahem, the team doctor just left. I feel much better now. I'll just lie down and rest."

Luke's words made Chris Wallace unbelievable, "Such a hot forehead is much better. It's hard to imagine how hot you were just now."

Seeing that Luke wanted to get up and sit up, Chris Wallace hurried forward to help Luke up, put the pillow behind Luke, and helped Luke get a glass of warm water.

"You can contact Casey later and tell him to prepare in advance to coach the All-Stars. I'm tired and need to rest." Picking up the water glass and taking a sip, Luke's eyes showed tiredness.

"You should really take a good rest in your current state. I will help you deal with the All-Star matter. I believe Dwyane will be very pleasantly surprised to hear the news, and even called himself to thank him."

"After all, Dwyane has never served as an All-Star coach. For him, this is definitely the most memorable experience in his coaching career." Picking up a banana and handing it to Luke, seeing Luke waving his hand to refuse, Chris Wallace ate on his own.

This season, under the leadership of Luke, the Grizzlies once again reached the top of the Western Conference. In the upcoming All-Star Weekend, Luke will also coach the game as the Western All-Star head coach.

However, Luke has always had no desire to coach the All-Stars. Instead of wasting time on such performance games, Luke hopes to plan the team's end-of-season sprint.

At present, there is only more than a week left before the All-Star Weekend. Luke hopes to use this time to rest and rest. While recuperating his body, he can judge the pattern of the playoffs by the way.

Give up the opportunity to coach the All-Stars to Dwayne Casey, who led the Lakers to second place in the Western Conference.

As a former student next to Luke, Casey has a very good relationship with the Grizzlies players, especially Kevin Martin and the Gasol brothers have cooperated with Casey for a season.

After handing over the players to Casey, Luke was still very relieved. At least in terms of playing time and offensive treatment, Casey would never be as partial as that dog "Zen Master" Jackson.

If it weren't for the players' high interest in participating in the All-Star Weekend, Luke would have wanted his players to find an excuse to refuse to participate in the All-Star Weekend, use the hard-won time to take a good rest, and adjust their state to cope with the challenges at the end of the season.

After a whole season of hard work and dedication, nothing is more important than the final championship!
…………

For the next period of time, Luke was forced to miss the game due to the flu, and the Grizzlies will be temporarily taken over by the chief assistant coach D'Antoni.

The Grizzlies have only four games left before the All-Star break, which puts less pressure on D'Antoni.

For the Grizzlies, who intend to hit the best record in history in the new season, the results of each game are eye-catching.

In these four games, D'Antoni led the team to win the first three games, but lost to the Indiana Pacers in the last game. Danny Granger scored 46 points to create a career high.

The Pacers' loss made D'Antoni a little annoyed. D'Antoni didn't think this was a game that should be lost, and the look of self-blame after the game made people look distressed.

Regarding the loss of the Grizzlies, Luke, who was recuperating at home, immediately sent encouragement to Mike D'Antoni and the Grizzlies generals, "No team is truly invincible. Very bumpy."

…………

On February 2, the NBA All-Star Weekend was officially held in Phoenix.

Retiring from the position of the All-Star head coach made Luke more relaxed. Coupled with the fact that he was unwell not long ago, Luke finally got a hard-won rest during the All-Star period.

Luke didn't have much interest in the All-Star Weekend. He didn't know that the rookie challenge was still won by the second grade until the first day was successfully completed.

Among them, Kevin Durant was simply a dimensionality reduction blow in the Rookie Challenge, scoring 47 points in the game, making the media bluntly say that Durant should not be here at all.

The two Grizzlies players who participated in the Rookie Challenge also performed well. The second-year rookies Marc Gasol and Durant had a clear division of labor. They surrendered 17 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 block. The grade rookie team easily won the game.

As for Roy Hibbert's side, although he lost the game, as a member of Luke's faction, Hibbert attracted the attention of most people on the scene.

In the end, Hibbert also handed over a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds under the watchful eyes of the media, without embarrassing head coach Luke on the All-Star occasion.

As for the next day's game, since there were no Grizzlies players to participate in the game, Luke didn't even pay attention to the results. He just got the news from assistant coach Lambir. Potatoes" Nate Robinson was elected.

As for the three-point contest, there was an upset. Heat player Daquan Cook defeated Lewis, Ray Allen and other favorites to win the championship with 16 points in the finals. Worst three-point contest ever.

After all, Kapono's performance in the three-point contest last year was called a god, and the overall strength of the opponent was quite a battle of the gods. In contrast, this year's three-point contest really made the fans feel drowsy.

On the last day, the All-Star Game officially started. The Grizzlies have a total of five players selected to the All-Star lineup this season. Looking at the entire history, only the Timberwolves back then can compete.

Due to physical reasons, Luke did not go to the scene, but other members of the Grizzlies coaching staff came to help.

In addition, All-Star head coach Casey can be regarded as half a Grizzlies coach. This year's All-Stars will almost become a gathering of the Grizzlies family.

Throughout the game, the Eastern All-Stars had an advantage at the beginning, but they were firmly suppressed by the Western All-Stars for the rest of the game.

Although Dwayne Casey is the head coach of the Lakers, he did not focus on Kobe's offensive resources in this game, but instead created a lot of playing time for the Grizzlies.

Even in the second quarter, Casey once placed a lineup of five Grizzlies players on the court, which caused a commotion among the fans.

In this game, the Grizzlies star Chris Paul felt hot. In the offensive and defensive confrontation with low defensive intensity, Paul's precise mid-range shot was almost a hundred shots. He scored 26 points in the half game and also sent 5 assists.

Seeing that Chris Paul felt hot, the Grizzlies began to give the ball to Paul intentionally or unintentionally on the court, trying to let Paul play an excellent personal data and win the first All-Star MVP of his career.

As the head coach, Casey also cooperated very well, keeping Paul on the court for a longer time when Paul felt hot.

As Paul's personal data is getting better and better, leading the other teammates around him by a level, the western side began to lean more offensive resources on Chris Paul, which is a kind of fulfillment.

At the end of the game, the Western All-Stars beat the Eastern Conference by 26 points. The Grizzlies star Chris Paul took advantage of the trend to accept the AMVP with 41 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists, and won the first trophy in his career that was related to the MVP.

After the game, Paul hugged his All-Star teammates one by one, thanked his teammates for their accomplishments on the field, and was also grateful to Dwayne Casey.

Even if the All-Star MVP is not a gold-rich award, for Paul, all trophies related to MVP are dreams.

.........

After the All-Star weekend, each team will usher in the sprint stage at the end of the season.

So far, the Grizzlies have a record of 48 wins and 4 losses. With only the last 30 games left in the season, the Grizzlies can break the Timberwolves' record of 74 wins and 8 losses as long as they lose no more than four games. .

It seems impossible to win at least 30 games in 27 games, but for the Grizzlies this season, nothing is impossible!
(End of this chapter)