Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 763
Mullin did not make the fans wait too long. Just one day later, Mullin, who returned to the home court, used a perfect performance at the Oracle Arena to announce that the "God's left hand" was back.

On April 4, the Warriors returned home to meet the challenge of the Nuggets.

Unlike the Nuggets, who were at the bottom of the league back then, although the current Nuggets can't be called the western powers, they can be regarded as a young team with full potential.

The team is centered on Dikembe Mutombo and Mohammad Abdul Rauf as the core, coupled with Rodney Rogers, Reggie Williams, Dale Ellis Waiting for a good player, he successfully squeezed into the top eight in the Western Conference last year and returned to the playoffs.

Not only that, but in the first round of the playoffs, they played 5 games with the No. [-] Sonics in the Western Conference as the No. [-] in the West, and finally successfully defeated the Super Sonics, giving birth to the first black-eight miracle in NBA history. .

It can be said that when the results of the game came out, the entire basketball world was in an uproar. People couldn't imagine that the "Black Eight" was actually born.

However, this potential Nuggets are still not good enough when facing the Warriors. They can use a strong defense to defeat the Sonics, but they cannot use the same defense to prevent Mullin who has gone crazy.

After running in two games, Mullin's touch tonight ushered in a big explosion. Facing Reggie Williams' defense in the first quarter, Mullin made 8 of 6 shots and scored 17 points in a single quarter, leading the Warriors to 33 points. :23 ahead of the Nuggets.

During the game, after Li Weisi found out that Mullin was out of form tonight, he played for him again and again. Even if he had a better chance, he still gave the ball to Mullin.

It's not that Li Weisi doesn't pay attention to the outcome of the game, but he knows very well that the speed of Mullin's recovery is extremely important to the Warriors, far better than the outcome of a regular season. What's more, with him, The Warriors don't necessarily lose.

It is precisely because of such full support that the recovery of Mullin's state has been created.

In the second quarter, Mullin's state dropped a bit, but even so, he scored 25 points in the half, and it seemed that the whole game was about to go for 50 points.

In the second half, Mullin continued to work hard, running without the ball, scoring consecutively through outside long-range shots and inside cuts. The Nuggets' defensive line was disrupted by Mullin alone.

In this case, the Warriors played another 36:27 in the third quarter, with a score of 93:74, leading the Nuggets by 19 points and entering the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, although veteran Dale Ellis led the Nuggets to play well off the bench, the score was never recovered.

Poor Ellis, the former boss of the Sonics, has gone from bad to worse since leaving the Sonics. In just five years, he has changed five teams, and every time he changed teams, it also represented a decline in his data.

By the time he came to the Nuggets this season, he had completely degenerated into a backup shooter, and his scoring average dropped to around 11 points per game.

But tonight, it was rare for him to get more playing time than usual, and just in time to catch up with his good form, he scored 19 points and became the highest scorer in the Nuggets.

It's a pity that this performance is not enough to restore the decline, and even the Warriors' substitutes can't beat it.

Under the cooperation of Cassell and Sprewell, the Warriors' substitutes withstood the Nuggets' counterattack, and successfully pressed the starters of both sides on the bench, without giving them a chance to play again.

In the end, the Warriors beat the Nuggets 119:101, avoiding their own losing streak.

At the same time, Mullin also became the biggest hero of this game. He played 28 minutes in three quarters, made 17 of 9 shots, scored 35 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. With a clean victory, he gave himself a late comeback celebration .

With this game as a base, Mullin finally let go of his hands and feet, completely unloaded the burden, and walked out of the injury.

On January 4, the Warriors challenged the Timberwolves away.

In this game, Mullin's performance was not as explosive as the previous game, but he still played 27 minutes with very high efficiency, scoring a team-high 11 points on 8 of 22 shots.

In addition, Li Weisi and Sprewell also scored more than 20+. With 3 scoring 20 and 7 scoring in double figures, the Warriors defeated the Timberwolves 123:109, allowing the Timberwolves to continue in the dark swamp. sink.

After defeating the Timberwolves, on April 4, the Warriors returned to their home court and faced the challenge of the Supersonics.

Compared with the Nuggets, a team that is still in potential and has not yet been realized, the Supersonics have undoubtedly completed the step of realizing their potential.

Since Payton joined the Sonics, the Sonics' record has been very good, and they can make the playoffs almost every year, but they have not impressed the fans.

However, last season, the Sonics achieved an unprecedented 63 wins and 19 losses in the regular season, beating the Warriors to the top of the Western Conference.

What surprised the entire league even more was that they would lose to the eighth Nuggets in the West.

Prior to this, in the nearly half century history of the NBA, there has never been a situation where the No. [-] loses to the No. [-]. The closest thing is Jordan’s victory over the Cavaliers’ Black Seven through "The Shot". That is the limit. After all, there are generally teams of Jordan's level, and it is impossible to rank eighth in the regular season.

However, the facts tell them that their structure is still small, and the reality is always more exaggerated than they imagined. It turns out that the number one in the league can really lose to the eighth!

Although they have become the laughing stock of all basketball fans, the Sonics are still strong. Their record has declined this season, but they are still ranked fourth in the Western Conference, which belongs to the upper half of the Western Conference.

Tonight, they caused the Warriors quite a problem.

I don't know whether it is the improvement of the defensive system or the improvement of the physical fitness of the role players in the entire league. In the 90s, a group of strong defensive teams emerged in the entire league, such as: New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, etc. The entire league has entered the "slow down" era.

Among them, the Sonics are also a defensive name that cannot be bypassed, because their team has the league's number one defensive point guard, Gary Payton.

Of course, in addition to Payton, Sean Kemp of the Supersonics has also grown into an outstanding star. The infinite switch defense system created by the coach has made the Supersonic's defense a nightmare for outside offensive players.

Not to mention ordinary stars, even Jordan and Li Weisi have suffered from this system, and Li Weisi, at this moment, is suffering, and it is a big loss.

(End of this chapter)