The strength of the Eastern Conference itself is not strong. This year, there are many names. The two teams that can compete with the Magic are the Pistons and the Heat. As for the Cavaliers, although they are currently ranked above the Magic, they definitely do not have an advantage in terms of strength.
As for the really difficult teams in the Western Conference, the top three teams in Texas are the top three, but the Magic have already beaten them in the first wave of away games.
So after the game against the Pistons, the Magic's schedule entered a relatively easy stage, and they encountered weak teams. This was undoubtedly a good opportunity to grab points. And the Magic players did not waste this opportunity, playing against the Pistons.
After the game ended, another 4-game winning streak followed.
First, they beat the Nets by 21 points 122-101 at home on January 7.
Martin, the sixth man, once again set off a scoring spree. He came off the bench and made 14 of 22 shots, including 5 of 8 three-pointers. He also got 9 free throw opportunities and made 8 of them.
Scored 41 points. This is also the Magic's third-highest single score this season, second only to Hardaway and Roy.
However, an embarrassing fact is that during the period when Martin was scoring crazy points, the Magic's point difference was narrowing. This is not the first time. This season, Martin has turned on the scoring mode as a substitute many times this season and frequently fired from the outside.
Although his shooting percentage is not low, the team's scoring just feels very difficult, and they are beaten back by others.
Hubby Brown and Nelson, who were idle at home, carefully analyzed the Magic's game, and then unanimously came to the conclusion that Martin is not suitable to play as the sixth man. He does not have the ability to lead a team duly. The one who can best utilize his strength
The method is to let him play at the same time as Roy or Nash.
Edison is a junior, so he is used to taking advice from others. So although Martin is still a substitute, Edison has made a change in position, letting him play small forward and try to cooperate with Roy or Nash. When Martin was promoted,
At the same time, Wallace was demoted to shooting guard and Roy served as a substitute.
Not to mention, this effect is really good in the game. Wallace has defense and hard work, and can be the defensive gate on the bench.
But every time Edison saw Wallace, who had made a name for himself at power forward and inside in his last life, and now he was chasing others all over the world on the outside, he always found it particularly funny. Maybe this is life, one choice is right and it does not mean that the other is right.
The choice is a mistake, maybe it will be a success.
After beating the Nets, the Magic faced back-to-back games against their own cash machine, the Bobcats.
The Bobcats are just as worried as the Magic right now, and the reason is simple: their owner doesn't want to do anything anymore and is preparing to sell the team.
When a team is about to change owners, their behavior is always strange. Although the Bobcats are already a team in a state of reconstruction, they have begun to deteriorate further. The specific method is to replace last season's team.
Gooden, the main big man, was sent to Cleveland in exchange for two players whose names only Cavaliers fans know.
As the saying goes, "We are all down at the end of the world at the same time, so why not have fun when we meet".
132-88, although everyone thought the Magic could win, the nearly 50-point victory still made the world stunned. According to Barkley, "The Bobcats lost by 44 points at their home court. I think this team
They can be disbanded on the spot, there is no reason for them to appear in the alliance again."
Howard gets a lot of energy when he hits Bobcats, and he's very excited to eat nai.
31. This is not Howard's score, not his number of free throws, nor his number of shots, but his post-game rebound statistics.
It is very easy to score 30 points. We cannot say that someone can score 30 points in every game, but there are about 170 days in a regular season, and the number of times that a score of 30 or more occurs is once a day. Kobe’s average score is 30
+, so he only needs to contribute 30 times alone, and James, Carter, Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Arenas, Anthony, Nowitzki and others are not soft persimmons. They can definitely score 30+ points 20 times in a season.
not kidding.
But if you get 30 rebounds, it really makes people lose their glasses. How do you say that, 10+ rebounds depends on your strength, 15+ depends on dribbling, 20+ depends on whether your teammates love you, and 25+ depends on the opponent.
Whether you can act or not, 30+ really depends on fate.
Before this game, the players who had 30+ rebounds in a single game were mainly in the 1990s. Among them, one person’s name must be mentioned, and that is Dennis Rodman. This former league player for many times
The rebounding king, he grabbed at least 30 rebounds in a single game only 5 times in his career. The most recent one occurred on February 21, 1995. At that time, he represented the Spurs on the court to challenge the Rockets. He grabbed a total of 30 rebounds in the game, 11 of which were for the former
Field rebounds. What’s interesting is that although Rodman became very popular during his time with the Bulls, none of his five 30+ rebounds appeared on that team.
The most recent rebound of 30+ occurred on November 2, 1996. Since that day, until today, in more than 9 years, no one has had 30 rebounds. Howard is the first person and the first among active players.
The person who achieved this result. The last person to achieve this was none other than Sir Barkley, who mocked the Bobcats after the official game. On November 2, 1996, Barkley got 33 rebounds in the game against the Suns, and
Earned 20 points.
It's not difficult to understand why Barkley was so mean to the Bobcats. After all, his record was ended because of the Bobcats' incompetent performance. In front of Howard, who was possessed by Brother, their defense was useless. Although Okafor looked strong,
He is strong, but he has been suffering from back injuries recently and cannot fully exert his strength, so he does not pose a threat to Howard. Although May has height and weight, he is recognized as a defensive hero in the NCAA, but now he is in the NBA after all.
, his defensive intensity is obviously not enough, and he is also a white man, who is naturally disadvantaged in bouncing the ball, and there is Brand in front of him to deal with. So when Howard forces three or four defensive players to take off in the paint, if he picks up the ball,
When he grabbed the rebound like melon and then sent the ball into the basket, the Bobcats fans and players could only shout, "Great Sage, quickly collect your magical powers."
In the first half alone, Howard grabbed 14 rebounds in one breath, including an incredible 8 offensive rebounds. On the other hand, the Magic only grabbed 1 offensive rebound in the whole game, and the team only had 3 more rebounds than Howard alone.
indivual.
Later, in an interview after the game, Josh Smith told an interesting incident during the game.
"When he was resting in the third quarter, he made a 30 sign to me. I didn't understand it very well at the time, so I guessed you wanted to score 30 points? At that time, he had already scored 16 points, and according to our
Depending on the team's tactics, he could get 30 points, but it would take a lot of effort. But he shook his head and whispered to me, "I'm talking about rebounds." I couldn't close my mouth at the time.
I said to him, 'Are you crazy? How is this possible with 30 rebounds?' But he said he thought it was okay, he had a hunch, and he said he seemed to be able to know where the ball was going to go in advance today. You all know the final result, he
It’s incredible that he really did it. But according to my observation, the basketball should know where he is going to grab it.”
It can be said that Howard's performance played a decisive role in the Magic's victory over the Bobcats in this game. However, what he actually did was not perfect. Many times after grabbing offensive rebounds, he did not distribute them to the outside in time, or
Dunk directly into the basket. As a result, when he takes off again, the Bobcats often directly foul, and Howard's free throw today also proves the law of conservation of character.
When God lets you rebound like a bug, it's impossible for God to let you have a good free throw shooting percentage.
Howard went to the free throw line 19 times in this game, which is also the Magic's record this season, but he only made 4 free throws, with a shooting percentage of only 21%. Of course, this is also a league record, but it is not glorious.
In the end, Howard only scored 29 points. If he could score one more free throw, he would be the only player to have completed 30+30 since detailed statistics were available in the 1985-86 season. But it is a pity that 29 points is 29
points, it never becomes 30 points.
However, Howard himself didn't care about this at all. After the game, Warcraft said that winning the game was more important than anything else.
After beating the Bobcats, the Magic took three days off to challenge the Seattle SuperSonics.
Because many players on the team have completed contract extensions last summer, although the personnel have not changed significantly, this season's SuperSonics are no longer the Western Conference powerhouse last season. They are now ranked 10th in the Western Conference, and they are completely invisible.
Until they plan to hit the playoffs.
Because their inside line was so bad that Lewis was often asked to play power forward.
So since Howard's explosion in the last game, Josh Smith also had a small explosion in this game.
Josh Smith, who only played 14 minutes, was like a dragon, killing the SuperSonics basket like a dragon, scoring 22 points and 9 rebounds. If this data were converted into every 48 minutes or 36 minutes, it would definitely be a prehistoric beast.
Yes, you can definitely compete with Dashuai Zhang.
I have to say here that Brand is too stable. No matter how strong the opponent is, his determination to 20+10 cannot be shaken. 20 points and 10 rebounds seem to shine into his heart like a bright light and connect with his bone marrow.
Fused together in one place, it became a unique attribute.
In the end, the Magic won the game 110-97, almost without any danger.
In this game of the SuperSonics, Ray Allen played very well and had the upper hand in the matchup with Roy. He hit 8 three-pointers in one game. But Lewis was not good enough. He was too passive in the paint and fought against the Magic.
He had no touch at all and only scored 10 points.
After playing the SuperSonics, the Magic defeated the Kings with the same score, further closing the gap between themselves and the previous teams on the record list.
However, the focus of everyone's attention at this time is not on the team's record. What the media is concerned about is the closing trades that each team is preparing to make. There is an undercurrent in the league in January.
