NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 490: A decent loss? (Daily chapter)

On Friday, March 2007, 3, Kurt Thomas returned to Madison Square Garden for the second time this season.

Although there was not enough time to pay tribute to this veteran during the awards ceremony last year, New York fans did not forget to give him warm applause after the tribute video was played that night.

The Hornets have many players with championship experience, including Varejao who has secured his starting spot, and Kurt and Rasual Butler on the bench.

Butler, a member of the atmosphere group at that time, has grown into the sixth man of the Hornets. Most of the players from the Knicks can make a name for themselves regardless of their draft position.

Peja's injury has caused the Hornets to have a less-than-ideal record of 28 wins and 36 losses. Currently, head coach Scott still has to lead the players to continue working hard for a playoff spot.

David West is currently the main scorer of the Hornets. As the tactical core, his pick-and-roll effect with Chris Paul is very good.

Unfortunately, New York fans were too enthusiastic that night and David West missed every shot after the opening.

Receiving the ball in the left and right elbow areas, David West tried to use his speed to force his way past Gasol, but ended up making a mistake and getting blocked.

The slow-starting Knicks gradually widened the gap with Tyson Chandler's consecutive offensive rebounds.

With 6 minutes and 13 seconds left in the first quarter, Desmond Mason missed his second free throw. Watching the rebound being grabbed by Chandler, Scott on the sidelines turned around helplessly and spread his hands to the bench.

5:15, the Hornets still failed to seize the opportunity.

"Let's go Knicks!."

The cheers resounded throughout the arena again. Walter Frazier was discussing the technical characteristics of Paul and Rondo in the MSG commentary booth:
"Just from the rookie season, Chris Paul is more mature. You can see a lot of Lee's shadow in him. Some of his technical moves are almost exactly the same."

"Rondo also performed well, but his shooting magnified his flaws. Every opponent will study us. As a rookie, he has performed very well so far."

Chris Paul also knows that everyone has been comparing him to Rondo recently, but he doesn't care about this opponent because the two have too different technical characteristics.

At this time, watching Li You accelerate with the ball in his right hand, and seeing Chandler behind him already on the three-point line, he immediately turned around and loudly reminded his teammates:
“Move!”

While reminding his teammates of the delay, Paul tried to stick close to the defense to squeeze through, but just as he got in front of him, Li You passed the ball to Chandler.

The moment the ball was passed, Li You immediately lowered his center of gravity and suddenly swayed his body to the left front. Paul tried to catch the ball and slid along, but was left behind in the next second by the accelerated counter-run.

After training for more than half a season, Chandler barely adapted to the Knicks' fancy hand-to-hand passes. He passed the ball calmly after receiving it. Although the force was a bit greater, Li You still easily chased the ball.

Trailing by half a body length, Paul tried his best to defend. At the same time, after being reminded, Valanciunas slid desperately towards the basket.

Li You accelerated with the ball in his right hand and lowered his shoulders without any changes in rhythm, flying close to the ground and going straight to the basket.

While moving, the ball passed to the basket right in front of it, Li You knocked away Varejao, and his body tilted and drifted to the right rear at the lower right side of the basket. Paul, who came up to defend, tried to block the shot but only hit his left arm.

"squeak!"

The referee blew the whistle, and Li You, who was hovering in the air, threw the ball towards the backboard. The basketball hit the backboard and went into the basket, and cheers rang out again.

Seeing both Varejao and Paul fall to the floor, Mike Breen in the commentary booth praised happily:
"Lee tore the Hornets' defense apart! With such impact and finishing ability, no big man in the league can protect the basket during Lee's breakthrough."

There was also jubilation on the Knicks bench. Rajon Rondo forced a smile as he didn't like the commentators comparing him to Paul.

This kind of chaotic scene was not the first time to occur after the opening. The small defenders would usually be hit hard when they met Li You.

Paul, who was sitting on the floor, frowned and looked unhappy when he was pulled up by his teammates. His defense was collapsing.

"Try harder, I don't want to play only 24 minutes!"

After Li You made the free throw, he did not retreat. He squeezed behind Paul at the baseline and teased the newbie. The latter accelerated when he received the ball. He knew that he had to speed up the pace of the game.

Varejao took the initiative to raise his screen position. Outside the three-point line at the top of the arc, Paul, holding the ball in his left hand, suddenly stopped while moving and changed direction under his crotch while taking advantage of his teammates standing still.

After switching to his right hand, Paul took advantage of Li You squeezing through the screen and stopped the ball again, then quickly pulled the ball and turned around.

Moving quietly, Valanciunas, who has championship experience, successfully used his big body to delay Li You's pursuit.

"Oh!"

The fancy moves made the New York fans at the scene exclaim. This is the difference between Rondo and Paul, and there is also a difference in the viewing experience of their games.

Facing Chandler's defense, Paul stopped sharply on the three-point line and accelerated again. He held the ball in his left hand, lowered his shoulders and accelerated, stopped sharply in the left elbow area, dribbled behind his back and made a quick jump shot!
"state!"

The basketball hit the rim and bounced out. Gasol squeezed West behind him and easily protected the rebound. Before Paul could regret it, Li You had already received the ball at the free throw line.

Head coach Scott shouted at the players to retreat on the sidelines. Li You passed the ball from behind to his right hand and then accelerated and rushed towards Paul.

West and Varejao had just returned to the basket when Li You broke through at the top of the arc while carrying the defensive tank. The moment he rushed to the paint area, he took three slow steps, changed direction, and passed the ball behind his back.

Paul had no choice but to turn around and jump, barely making a blocking move, and Li You switched to his left hand and easily completed a long-distance shot!

"Whoa!" The basketball hit the net hollowly.

At 5:20, head coach Scott requested a timeout again, and Madison Square Garden was boiling again.

The Knicks' atmosphere team rushed into the venue and high-fived Li You to celebrate. Paul had no choice but to put his hands on his hips, feeling a little regretful for refusing the coach's suggestion to double-team him.

"What limits Lee's scoring is more about playing time. I think he can only play 28 minutes tonight."

"Coach D'Antoni will not let Lee appear in the fourth quarter. There will not be another 60-win team in the Eastern Conference this year. This is absolute dominance!"

Mike Breen felt that the game was no longer suspenseful, and began to make his usual boasts. Although some commentators questioned the value of the record, New York fans didn't care about that, as long as they won.
"I think Tyson is getting better and better, and the quality of his coverage has improved significantly compared to the beginning of the season."

"I have a lot of respect for the Bulls, but they failed to realize Tyson's potential."

At the end of the season, it's time to select awards. Walter Frazier has been praised every day since March, and the New York media has already loaned him the DPOY in advance.

He has almost no active offense and relies on dunks to average a double-double. Chandler's block data is not good. Currently, Marcus Camby is more popular.

The Nuggets' defensive efficiency is not very good despite Marcus Camby's excellent blocking, and this is Chandler's opportunity now.

The Hornets replaced the invisible Devin Brown with Bobby Jackson to form a double guard. The substitution broke the scoring drought, but the score difference continued to widen.

At the end of the first quarter, Paul scored another field goal and made a three-point jumper after a high pick-and-roll. With Desmond Mason's free throws, the Hornets barely maintained a decent score.

15:36, the first quarter ended and the game entered garbage time.

Playing the entire first quarter, Li You made 7 of 6 shots, 2 of 1 from beyond the three-point line, and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 16 points efficiently and barely beating the Hornets.

During the rotation phase, the Hornets recovered thanks to Rasual Butler's three-pointers and Paul's offense. David West no longer missed shots and dared to fight in garbage time.

In the third quarter, as the Knicks made another effort, too many mistakes allowed the Hornets to score another 16 points in a single quarter. Li You was ultimately unable to play all three quarters and left the court early to rest.

89:120, at the end of the game, Chris Paul breathed a sigh of relief, the score difference was less than 50
两支球队月末还会交手，赛后接受采访的保罗勉强露出笑脸，15中5，三分线外3中1，罚球8中7，18分4篮板6助攻2失误。

Paul was certainly not satisfied with his own statistics, but fortunately the MSG reporter at the scene didn't care about that and asked the MVP question again:
"Pau, do you think Lee should get the MVP award again?"

"Li led the team to a record of 62 wins and 3 losses. We all know how difficult it is. He deserves this award!"

Chris Paul spoke up for Li You again, and seemed to think the evidence was not sufficient, so he added:
"Lee leads the league in scoring and steals, and he's on another level this year on both ends of the floor. Nobody can come close to him. Dirk is good, but I think there's a big gap between the two."

Every team playing away from home will be asked these questions. The reporter from MSG was very satisfied with Paul's answer. Facing his own camera, he emphasized again:
"Maybe the Germans will steal Lee's trophy, but it doesn't matter, in the players' hearts Lee is the real MVP!"

"."

After the game, Li You brought his staff to the visiting team's locker room to deliver food. When Kurt Thomas saw the familiar pizza, he laughed in front of the new players:

"Come and try it, this pizza from the Tarrytown Training Center has double the cheese and ham!"

David West, who lost the game, stared at Li You's naked upper body and was shocked. He subconsciously rubbed his stomach. He was sure that he had no obvious abdominal muscles.
"I know you like to eat these after the game. You should try them when you officially return to New Orleans, Bro. We are all very happy to see you stay healthy."

Li You stepped forward and bumped fists with Kurt and the others. Paul on the side began to sigh again. Now they are still playing at the Ford Center and will not be able to officially return home until next season.

Rasual Butler, who got the pizza, smiled happily and took the opportunity to make a few comments:

"Sometimes I miss the days in New York. The fans in Oklahoma City are very enthusiastic, but it's too boring there, and there are not many games broadcast live nationwide."

Varejao has thoroughly experienced the regional differences. He was on TV when he was the atmosphere guy in New York, but few people discussed him when he was the starter in the Hornets:

"We've all seen the news. Maybe we should let the players vote for the award. Lee, we all support you!"

"Come on, Bro, the player vote will probably be worse, nobody likes New York."

Seeing Li You laughing and joking, all the Hornets team members laughed along for a moment. This is the fact, there are more sour people than rational players.

On Sunday, March 3, the Raptors will once again challenge the Knicks on the road.

Andrea Bargnani had another nightmare game. Amid cheers of "Pasta", the No. 7 pick made 0 of 4 shots and scored points from free throws.

Even though Chris Bosh dared to fight in garbage time, the Raptors still suffered a crushing defeat, and head coach Sam Mitchell even refused to shake hands after the game.

70:128，朗多铁树开花，铁了大半个赛季，终于来了一场16分6篮板8助攻3抢断3失误的出色表现。

The rookie who was ridiculed almost cried after the game. Bargnani didn't know why New York fans had such malice towards him, and he couldn't understand the thoughts of the funny people.

With 36 wins and 31 losses, the Raptors lost, but they have great hope of returning to the playoffs.

Artest looked down on this team. Last time the Raptors played away, the fans of the Raptors shouted MVP for Chris Bosh. After a huge win tonight, the former DPOY mocked the opponent again:

"If the leader of the team leads the team to a 58-point loss, he shouldn't be cheered for the MVP. Raptors fans expect too little from them."

"If we meet in the playoffs this year, they will realize that Lee is the real MVP."

"Chris Bosh is no different from that spaghetti. Being selected as an All-Star is a favor from the league."

Sam Mitchell took the initiative to attend the press conference. The black coach was furious and took the opportunity to ask questions to speak up for his players:
"This kind of insulting name should not appear in the holy land of basketball. Andrea has always been eager to show himself here, but he cannot get respect."

"Yes, we lost by 58 points, but the boys gave it their all."

"Andrea is still a fan of Lee. Every time he comes to New York, he has great expectations. When fans hurt him, Lee doesn't say anything."

"That's why a lot of people in the league don't like New York. Arrogance, arrogance, lack of respect. When a team plays to humiliate their opponents, they will fail sooner or later."

There are more and more teams in the league losing by large margins. This undignified way of failure has indeed aroused public anger, and the increase in Li You's free throw data is the best feedback.

However, Sam Mitchell was the first to complain publicly in front of the media, and the New York media outlets were also very angry. Fortunately, Li You's answer did not disappoint everyone:

"The Knicks only respect opponents who have beaten us. Tickets are not cheap, and New York fans have the right to express their wishes."

"."

On Tuesday, March 3, a day later, the Trail Blazers became the victim again. Brandon Roy, who became famous in the previous battle, was possessed by the blacksmith during the targeted defense.

82:124, the Trail Blazers only scored 38 points in the first half and lost by a large margin.

The inside combination of Eddy Curry and Aldridge was shot into a sieve at the beginning of the game. After the game, Curry, who was possessed by jealousy, couldn't help but complain again:
"I don't understand why the fans here are laughing at me when I almost came to New York."

"Now I understand the feelings of the Raptors players. Lee shouldn't have played the entire third quarter. The game would have lost its suspense long ago."

The boiling atmosphere in the stadium made head coach Nate McMillan look gloomy. He didn't expect the Knicks would target the newbies. He shot 18 of 5 shots and Brandon Roy was defended by Li You and others.

26 wins and 42 losses, the Trail Blazers are ready to go fishing. When McMillan saw D'Antoni's smiling face in front of the technical desk, he couldn't hold back for a moment:
"I thought you wouldn't guard a first-year rookie so tightly."

The mustache guy naturally wouldn't say that he had been idle recently. When he heard the other party's sarcastic complaints, he just laughed and teased:

"Listen to these cheers. They are also for the Trail Blazers. The New York fans at the scene are very satisfied with this game."

"I think this is the best respect. Lee even asked for Roy's video specifically for this game."

"."

(End of this chapter)