On February 8th, US time, the Knicks faced the Spurs at home.
In recent seasons, the Spurs have declined significantly for many reasons. For example, Bruce Bowen has faded out of the core lineup and is even close to retirement, leaving them without a defender who can mark the league's top perimeter stars on the wing.
For another example, Ginobili and Duncan in GDP have declined compared to their peak. Only Parker is gradually reaching the peak, but the overall strength of GDP is declining.
Ginobili, in particular, even missed most of the games this season due to injury.
There are also lagging behind in tactics, lack of qualified starting center and interior substitutes...
But it has to be said that Popovich's coaching ability is remarkable. Although the team as a whole is declining, the Spurs are still stable in terms of record.
So far this season, the Spurs are still ranked among the top four in the Western Conference and are considered one of the few strong teams in the Western Conference.
However, in this game, Ginobili was absent due to injury and has not yet returned. Duncan also announced a rest before this game due to back-to-back games in the previous game.
The Knicks only had to face the impact of Tony Parker, so this game was not difficult. The Knicks, playing at home, won easily.
After this victory, the Knicks began to prepare for another consecutive away schedule.
This time it starts with the Trail Blazers, passes through the Warriors, and finally challenges the Clippers.
The intensity of the three games was not high. Both the Warriors and Clippers were lottery winners, and only the Trail Blazers were slightly stronger.
But when the Knicks face a team that also builds its team with shooting guards as its core, excluding Kobe Bryant's Lakers, they can usually win the game by relying on Lin Yu's single-point advantage.
This is true for the Hawks with Joe Johnson as their core and the Bucks with Michael Redd as their core.
So, overall, this wave of three consecutive visitors is pretty easy.
The Knicks also took off from New York to Portland with a relaxed attitude.
They traveled across the entire United States, and after arriving in Portland, they all checked into the hotel and began to rest.
At this time, Lin Yu also called Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills respectively to inquire about the progress of the transaction.
The answer I got is that whether it is a deal with the Kings or a deal with the Pistons, they are still in the wrangling stage.
The Suns, on the other hand, responded simply and neatly: "One price, Nazr Muhammad, Shannon Brown, plus a first-round pick."
As a result, the trade negotiations between the Knicks and Suns ended.
On February 10, the Knicks appeared in the Rose Garden to play against the Trail Blazers.
Before the game, Lin Yu met Roy again, but Roy said harshly: "I said, Lin, when I return to the Rose Garden, I will complete my revenge."
Lin Yu then remembered that the last time the two played against each other was probably in early December. At that time, the Knicks were in great shape. They defeated the Trail Blazers easily at home.
So, after the game, Roy made harsh words, saying that he would compete with Lin Yu again, but the venue for the next competition would be in the Rose Garden.
Lin Yu didn't feel much about Roy's harsh words.
In his opinion, Roy's harsh words were more like a junior challenging a senior.
But in fact, Lin Yu was born in 1982, the year Lafite released a bottle of red wine.
Roy was born in 1984, so he is only two years younger than Lin Yu.
The two can be considered competitors of the same era.
However, Lin Yu's performance this season has left behind this group of contemporary competitors.
In this game, Roy only made harsh words before the game.
When the game started, Roy immediately understood that sometimes, the gap in strength really existed.
Lin Yu did not let Wilson Chandler switch to guard Roy, but went into battle himself.
Lin Yu, who had not been seen for a long time, made a comeback with his one-on-one defense. In the first three minutes of the game, Roy, who was directly defended by Lin Yu, only made 1 of 4 shots.
But he himself had a three-pointer, a dunk on a counterattack, and an assist.
In just the opening game, Lin Yu used his personal abilities on both offense and defense to widen his lead over Roy and the score gap in this game.
Magic Johnson, who commented on this game, also expressed emotion: "In the continuous one-on-one at the beginning, Brandon Roy wanted to challenge Lin Yu, but he undoubtedly suffered a disastrous defeat."
Reggie Miller, who partners with Magic, also expressed his opinion: "The gap between Brandon and Lin is mainly on the defensive end. Lin's ability to gain a foothold in this league relies on his defense. Although this season,
We rarely see Lin Yu defend his opponent's arrows alone, but his ability to defend alone will not deteriorate, which was very powerfully demonstrated at the beginning of this game."
Roy was defeated at the beginning and the Knicks took the lead.
Inside, Zach Randolph is also using his offensive isolation to educate the young insiders of his former employer, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden, who is rarely injured, and Joel Poole on the bench.
Zbyra and Channing-Frye.
The game was easily won thanks to the efforts of Lin Yu and Randolph from both inside and outside.
The Knicks continued their winning streak, and the next day, they faced the Warriors back-to-back.
The offensive talent of this Warriors is very high, but the defensive talent is zero. They have a bunch of attackers, Stephen Jackson, Jamal Crawford, Monta Ellis, Corey Maggette, Klenner-
Azubuike…
With so many attackers, it's only natural that Lin Yu would list the Warriors' name on the sixth man signing list.
It's a pity that Nelson is still in charge of the current Warriors. They haven't realized from their crazy offense and crazy losses that their path is wrong.
They still stick to their original path, and every attacker on the roster seems to be indispensable.
Although Lin Yu wanted to defeat this warrior, after back-to-back, their physical fitness was no longer enough.
But they encountered this run-and-gun team that didn't defend but only attack. The high-tempo offense and defense quickly overwhelmed the Knicks.
In the end, the two teams played a high score, 132:121, and the Knicks lost in an away game, ending their winning streak.
In the last game of the series, the Knicks easily defeated the Clippers, who were aiming for the No. 1 pick.
Although they lost one game in this three-game series, in terms of overall record, they relied on their recent recovery to secure their first place in the league.
"With 43 wins and 10 losses, the New Yorkers continue to lead. They are already two games ahead of the Lakers who have 41 wins and 12 losses."
After leaving Los Angeles, most of the Knicks' players returned to New York.
Lin Yu, Zach Randolph, and Mario Chalmers turned around and went to Phoenix because after playing the Clippers, it was time for the All-Star Weekend, and the Phoenix All-Star Game was about to take place.
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Phoenix is located in the western United States. The city is surrounded by a desert. Its general geographical environment is similar to that of Las Vegas.
Lin Yu arrived with Zach Randolph and Chalmers, but immediately separated from Randolph when they arrived at the airport.
Although we are teammates on the same team and have a good relationship both on and off the court, we don't have much communication in private.
Zach Randolph is used to living alone, and of course he is not really alone. He is a bit like a typical black American, surrounded by a group of playmates from childhood to adulthood, and his daily life is just with these people.
Group of playmates together.
If there were gangsters among his playmates, he would naturally join the gangsters. Because of his increased worth, he became the so-called gangster boss.
Mario Chalmers, on the other hand, has always understood that Lin Yu is the boss of the Knicks, and that Lin Yu can make a lot of money with him, etc., so he has always been attracted to Lin Yu.
It was the same this time when he arrived in Phoenix. Although he didn't follow Lin Yu all the time, he followed Lin Yu as soon as he called him.
The reason why Lin Yu called Chalmers was because they arrived a little early, and Lin Yu was a little bored when he was alone.
After taking Chalmers to have a meal in downtown Phoenix, Lin Yu received a call from Anthony.
He didn't expect that Anthony had already arrived in Phoenix.
After informing each other of their respective locations, the two made an appointment to meet at a restaurant in the city.
"Mello, let me introduce you. This is Mario. You should know him."
Upon meeting, Lin Yu first introduced Chalmers behind him.
Anthony was similar to Randolph, and he was followed by Nico's friends from outside the circle, all of them tall and thick-set, and they looked very fierce.
They say Anthony is from Brooklyn Road, but I'm afraid that's not true.
The two shook hands, and Anthony said hello to Chalmers who was behind Lin Yu.
Lin Yu then asked: "We just finished our back-to-back away game with the Clippers and came directly from Los Angeles. Why did you come so early?"
Anthony rolled his eyes: "Lin, to be honest, have you not checked your phone recently?"
Lin Yu was puzzled, and Anthony continued: "We just finished playing the Suns, away game."
After saying this, Lin Yu immediately became enlightened.
"I also contacted LeBron and Dwayne. They will arrive tomorrow, so we will have a little fun today. When they arrive tomorrow, we will officially start."
The next day, Wade, James, Bosh and Paul all arrived. Wade also took Shawn Marion, the former Suns general, with the old local snake to a local security company in Phoenix.
in the nightclub and had fun all night long.
Then on the third day, the first day of the All-Star Weekend began.
The first day's game has nothing to do with Lin Yu. It mainly consists of two games, a Rookie Challenge, in which Mario Chalmers will compete, and a Masters Game, in which many celebrities, Hollywood stars, and retired stars will compete.
this game.
Lin Yu appeared on the sidelines of the rookie game, and he came to support Chalmers.
However, this game has little to do with Chalmers. The protagonist is second-year Durant. In this game, Durant made 17 of 25 shots and scored 46 points. While leading the team to victory, he directly challenged the rookie.
The MVP of the game was held in his arms.
Seeing Durant's superb performance, Lin Yu turned to look at James and Anthony sitting next to him, and suddenly said: "Mello, LeBron, this guy will definitely be your rival in the future."
James remained expressionless and did not respond.
But Anthony replied to Lin Yu: "Isn't he your fierce rival?"
Lin Yu shook his head: "I am a shooting guard and he is a forward. They are in different positions. There is no direct competition between him and me."
Anthony nodded and said again: "If they have to be in the same position, what do you think of OJ opposite KD?"
OJ is Mayo. Lin Yu shook his head: "O.J. Mayo? Let's talk about competition when he grows taller and learns how to pass the ball."
After the rookie game, Lin Yu, who had been very leisurely before, immediately started busy.
"It's too difficult for me to compete in three competitions in one day..."
Lin Yu is mainly busy in skills competitions and dunk contests. The difficulty of shooting star is enough for a player like him who relies on shooting to just sprinkle water and fool around.
The skills competition that Lin Yu is most worried about requires him to go through the process of the competition first, and then practice it a few times. Only when there are almost no problems can he finish it.
As for the dunk contest, he has a lot to think about.
"If you want to win the championship without any suspense, the creativity of the dunk is very important. If you exclude the creativity of the dunk, if you want to win the dunk, you need some crushing dunks."
Regarding creativity, Lin Yu thought of something.
Griffin's flying car, McGee's two-ball double dunk, three-ball three dunks at one time, and even one-ball double dunk that didn't succeed.
Lin Yu also thought that this time the All-Star Games were held in Phoenix, he could find a player from the host country, namely Nash, to cooperate.
Let Nash, who likes football and is good at football, use his heels to pass the ball to him, and then he will catch the ball and dunk.
But this idea is only an alternative, because Stoudemire has used a similar idea. The only difference is that in Stoudemire's case, Nash used a header.
There are also some extremely difficult dunks, such as several dunks by Zach LaVine, crotch dunks at the free throw line, windmill dunks at the free throw line, and Zach LaVine throwing the ball up and then rebounding and then catching it in the air.
The ball passes from the back to the right hand with the left hand, slides under the basket, and finally completes the difficult dunk action with the right hand.
Lin Yu's choice was very simple. The leaping car slam dunk was of average difficulty, but the creativity was good. With the blessing of Griffin's popularity at that time, he got full marks.
This dunk was not difficult for Lin Yu. He found a similar object and tried it. After confirming that he could do it, he listed this dunk as his first choice for the preliminaries.
Then, he tried several more McGee dunks.
It's not that difficult to do a double-ball dunk, so Lin Yu decided that the second dunk in the preliminaries would be a double-ball dunk.
Then comes the final. The first dunk can be ignored. If you hit three balls and three dunks at once, you will definitely get a perfect score.
For the last dunk, Lin Yu decided to learn from LaVine and perform a difficult slam dunk. Various free throw lines, or LaVine's reverse dunk with a change of hands, were all available options.
After trying them all, Lin Yu was roughly sure.
"Amanda, help me contact the NBA officials. I need a car that can enter the dunk contest tomorrow."
Although there were as many as four competitions on the second day of the All-Star Game, people's attention was still focused on the dunk contest because Lin Yu announced his participation in the dunk contest.
"Lin Yu will fight World of Warcraft, Little Potato, dunk contest, who is the real dunk king?"
