In Banks Life Arena, tens of thousands of spectators were already waiting for the game to start.
Mark walked into the locker room and suddenly felt that the momentum of the Grizzlies had changed a lot from before. It felt like they were two teams.
Especially Gasol, Conley, Lowry, and Li Tian. Mark also heard that the four of them trained separately yesterday and did not rest according to the team's arrangements.
Gasol directly acted as the leader of the locker room. He rarely said anything in the locker room. He is the only All-Star on the team, but he is not the leader of the team's locker room.
"Brothers, we can't lose anymore. I don't want to experience this feeling in my life. I don't want others to say that the Grizzlies are a weak team. Do you want others to say that you are weak?" Gasol said with Lee. The words God spoke to them encouraged everyone.
"Come on, grizzly bear; come on...come on...come on...".
The momentum of the team has been raised to another level. The current Grizzlies give people the feeling that they can tear apart anything in front of them, as long as it prevents them from winning.
After Li Tian's playing time with the Grizzlies stabilized, domestic live broadcasts of Grizzlies games returned to normal.
"Li Tian's playing time has gradually stabilized. There were messages about Li Tian's trade before. I hope Li Tian can be traded to other teams, so that he can get more playing time." Director Zhang stood up again. In a reasonable position.
"Director Zhang, you know that we Chinese people have the virtue of repaying a drop of water with a spring of spring. The Grizzlies gave Li Tian the opportunity to land in the NBA and have been playing for the Grizzlies. Isn't this the best destination?" Sun Zhengping Said.
"No, the NBA is a business league, not a place that values loyalty. Look at the entire NBA, how many stars are there who have stayed with the same team from beginning to end?
Look at this year, Garnett and Ray Allen both left their teams in order to chase the championship; and look at Ewing in the end, he was traded away, so it still depends on your strength, not everyone Everyone will stay with the Lakers like Kobe." Director Zhang's analysis was very sophisticated.
He knows the core of the NBA. Because of the existence of interests, players are sometimes like items. As long as you can get something you think is suitable, you can trade it, no matter what you have brought to the team.
"Director Zhang is right, why doesn't Mosaic trade Li Tian so that Tracy McGrady can get a strong substitute, and Yao Ming can play in the same team as Li Tian, so that they can get used to each other in advance so that they can compete next year." Fans expressed their opinions.
What he didn't know was that the Grizzlies had long wanted to use Li Tian to make a deal with the Mosaics, as long as they could get a first-round pick.
In the end, due to Mark's remarks and Stern's obstruction, the two parties failed to complete the transaction.
Li Tian sat on the bench, waiting to appear.
Conley went through the bench rotation process and was assigned to start consecutive games.
"Conley, come on." Li Tian did not forget to cheer Conley.
After two months, Conley finally became the team's starter and had stable playing time. I am very grateful to Li Tian for his encouragement during this period.
The Grizzlies' momentum in the opening game overwhelmed the Pacers, who were playing at home.
The Grizzlies started the game with the momentum of a decisive moment and were full of aggression.
On the first ball, Milicic and Gasol double-teamed and stole the ball from Murphy.
Conley made a fast break and assisted Gay under the basket. Gay dunked and opened the scoring for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies have maintained such a pressing defense. The Grizzlies players were physically exhausted and the game lasted 6 minutes.
Under the Grizzlies' high-intensity defense, the Pacers were constantly beaten by the Grizzlies. Their shooting rate was as low as 30%, while the Grizzlies' shooting rate dropped to 60%.
The Grizzlies lead the Pacers by 8 points 18-10.
Mark replaced Lowry and Li Tian, replacing Conley and Gay.
"Li Tian is on the stage, and I am starting to look forward to Li Tian's performance." It has been a long time since I saw Li Tian in the live broadcast, and he seemed a little excited.
When Li Tian came on the stage, the boos from the fans at Banks Life Arena were already very low. The Pacers were kept suppressed and the passion of the fans was suppressed.
"Li, let us take over the next game?" Lori looked at Li Tian playfully.
"Okay." Li Tian said lightly.
After Li Tian came on the court, he played an alley-oop with Lowry and scored a dunk.
The score was stretched to 10 points.
The Pacers were completely unable to form effective coordination and fell into an endless spell of singles.
Granger held the ball and beat Li Tian in singles. Li Tian's death coil was like a dog-skin plaster, sticking tightly to Granger, sometimes mixed with trash talk. Granger was a little uneasy being guarded, but the passing route They were all blocked by Grizzlies players.
So I was heartbroken and decided to take action forcefully.
He wanted to use force to force Li Tian away, but Li Tian always remained strong and was not pushed away by Granger.
At the moment when he took off and turned around to shoot, Li Tian caught Granger and did not allow Granger to fully complete his take-off.
Gasol came in from the wing to block Granger's shot.
"Li Tian's defense is so good. Granger has no chance against Li Tian in isolation." Director Zhang spoke highly of Li Tian's defense.
"Brother Tian's defense is great."
When Granger first entered the league, experts spoke highly of him. After a few years in the league, he has gradually matured and averaged around 20 points per game.
Lowry grabbed the basketball that Gasol blocked and launched a fast break.
The Grizzlies were led by Li Tian, and no one dared to directly throw three-pointers during the fast break.
Coming outside the three-point line, Lowry also hit a three-pointer.
The Pacers' offense stalled again, the players lost all fighting spirit, and were once again defended by the Grizzlies' iron wall.
Li Tian came on the court and raised the Grizzlies' defense to another level.
Lowry and Li Tian scored several consecutive fast breaks, and the morale of the Pacers players became lower and lower. Don't think that morale is a dispensable thing. It not only plays a great role in basketball games, but also in many wars. .
Many times, a surge of momentum is enough to bring about earth-shaking changes to the team.
In the end, the Pacers were called for a 24-second violation.
Li Tian made another attack under the basket.
The Pacers head coach saw that the score was almost reaching 15 points. If it continued, the Pacers would have no choice but to surrender.
The Pacers called a timeout, on the one hand to rearrange new tactics, and on the other hand to slow down the Grizzlies' momentum and disrupt the Grizzlies' rhythm.
"This was a one-sided game. The Grizzlies used his defense to contain the Pacers' offense and cut off the connection between the players! On the other hand, the Grizzlies played very smoothly and launched many fast breaks. It was simply It was a textbook game, and Li Tian's appearance raised the Grizzlies' defense to another level."
While Director Zhang was speaking, the timeout had ended. After calling a timeout, the Pacers' offense improved. Through the cooperation between teammates, Granger hit a goal.
The first quarter ended quickly, with the Grizzlies leading the Pacers by 35-24 by 11 points.
The entire first half of the game was played at the rhythm of the Grizzlies, which was nothing like the Grizzlies in the past.
"Today's performance of the Grizzlies allowed me to see the prototype of a strong team. If the Grizzlies can continue to maintain their performance, there is still hope of entering the playoffs even if the Grizzlies have a poor record since the start of the season." Director Zhang also hopes that Li Tian can meet Yao Ming on the stage of the playoffs, and the playoff derby will be even more exciting. And for Li Tian, the playoff game is another growth and transformation.