As the regular season begins in March, the Knicks finally face a truly formidable opponent as they head to the road to challenge the Dallas Mavericks.
This season, the Mavericks have declined significantly, mainly due to the decline in bench strength, but even with the decline, the Mavericks' overall strength is still outstanding. If you switch to the Eastern Conference, perhaps only the Celtics and Cavaliers can compare with it.
Even in magic, it will be a little lower due to lack of experience.
Facing such an opponent, Lin Yu tried his best to score 34 points, but took as many as 23 shots and only hit 10 goals. In addition, he grabbed 7 rebounds after the handicap tactics began to bear fruit.
, and gradually increased 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Judging from the data, Lin Yu tried his best, Zach Randolph scored 19 points and 11 rebounds, and his performance was not bad at all, but the Knicks still lost the game by 8 points.
The five-game winning streak came to an abrupt end, which seemed to prove what many people said was true. Even though the Knicks' record improved significantly after the trade, they still had no chance of entering the playoffs.
"Although there are rumors within the Knicks that Lin Yu once boasted in a meeting with James Dolan that he would lead the team to the playoffs in the second half of the season, but this defeat against the Mavericks told everyone that Lin Yu was just in the sky.
A night story."
"It can be seen from this defeat that the Knicks have many problems. For example, the team lacks offensive firepower. They only have Lin Yu and Zach Randolph as players with independent offensive capabilities. Another example is that the team
The bench has almost no depth, and this was particularly obvious in this game. The Mavericks' bench had already declined a lot, but it still gained a huge advantage against the Knicks' bench, which to a certain extent determined the direction of the game.
Victory or defeat..."
All in all, the two major problems of the Knicks are already obvious. The entire team has no second ball-holding point except Lin Yu, and no third singles scoring point except Lin Yu and Randolph. The depth of the bench is poor, and even
There are no qualified point guards and power forward backups.
These fatal flaws almost sentenced the Knicks to death.
Lin Yu refused to accept his fate, but he would not declare this to the outside world. He would only make a fortune. The loss to the Mavericks was expected by him, and after this defeat, the Knicks immediately faced
After four consecutive home games, the opponents are not strong.
The first game against the Bobcats was regarded as the second game in recent times. Likewise, the flank defensive combination worked hard and the game was easily won, and the Knicks returned to the track of victory.
In the second game against the Timberwolves, Lin Yu reunited with his old teammate Ricky Davis, but he showed no mercy and led the team to a 20-point lead in the third quarter, winning easily again and winning two games in a row.
Reunited with Ricky Davis, Lin Yu also learned that Ricky Davis' contract with the Timberwolves will expire after this season. Because of the obvious decline in the past two seasons, the Timberwolves are no longer prepared to renew his contract.
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After knowing this, Lin Yu started to think about it.
The Knicks need to significantly strengthen their bench depth next season. If they can sign Ricky Davis with a minimum salary, it would be a good choice.
After all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even if the decline is greater, Ricky Davis' ball-holding ability and singles ability should still be there.
Secretly keeping Ricky Davis in mind, Lin Yu sent the Timberwolves away.
The opponent in Game 3 was slightly stronger, as the Knicks encountered the Detroit Pistons.
This game was quite difficult. The score was tight and the competition was fierce. It could be said to be a fight between rookies, or it could be said to be a fight between gods. In short, it was a newly established rivalry between Lin Yu and Chauncey Billups.
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Even though I fought hard to the end, I still lost the game.
This game was an unexpected defeat for Lin Yu. The Pistons were only close to the first-tier teams and at the forefront of the second-tier teams. Lin Yu originally wanted to fight for this victory.
But as a result, the second loss after the All-Star Game came just like this.
As if to prove those media reporters and ball commentators right, the Knicks' losses reached 39 games.
"With a 50% winning rate, there is only room for 2 losses."
In Game 4, the Knicks faced the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers are not weak, but they are a team that relies heavily on Brandon Roy. The composition of the team is very similar to the Knicks.
There is an All-Star shooting guard (Lin Yu and Roy), a power forward close to the All-Star (Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge), and a group of blue-collar workers with their own characteristics, but overall,
The Blazers' blue collar and bench are stronger.
But in the final analysis, the Knicks and Trail Blazers are both teams that depend on their stars. Lin Yu suppressed Roy and won the game.
Four home games, three wins and one loss. The loss to the Pistons was slightly lower than Lin Yu's expectations. Overall, everything went smoothly.
Some media have begun to discuss that if the All-Star Game is used as a timeline, the Knicks' record performance after the All-Star Game will definitely be at the level of the league's top teams.
Comparing the performance of the Knicks in the first half of the season, the army of players in North America and even around the world has begun to emerge and is gradually growing.
Even Michael Jordan could do nothing more than bring a team that was originally in the abyss to this point.
After four home games, the Knicks started a back-to-back schedule of away games and then returning to home. They were going to the south coast, not far away, to play the Heat first, and then returned to New York to face the Spurs.
In the game against the Heat, Wade was very generous. The Heat were already in trouble and were not too concerned about the outcome of the game, so Wade simply did not play.
Facing a Heat team composed entirely of fringe players in the league, Lin Yu led the team to victory without breaking a sweat.
After playing this game, Lin Yu still had some emotions: Pat Riley and Popovich are probably the two most shameless people in the league, blatantly showing off their performance without any cover-up.
It's a pity that Pat Riley's mess didn't produce results and he only selected the talented Michael Beasley. Popovich's mess resulted in Duncan who has been the same for twenty years.
At the end of the game, Lin Yu refused Wade's dinner invitation because Hollins' arrangement was to leave Miami that night.
On the plane back to New York, Lin Yu was thinking about the next game, against the Spurs, another strong opponent.
In Lin Yu's original plan, the Knicks could lose against the Spurs, but now, the situation is different. Lin Yu decided to start with the Spurs and try to win and make up for the loss to the Pistons.
return.
At the same time, Lin Yu received news that in the Spurs' game, Tony Parker was absent due to a hip injury, and Manu Ginobili had just recovered from injury. The Knicks had a good chance of winning.