Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 839 Roof of the World
On November 11, the Warriors suffered another defeat, this time against the Pacers.

In fact, the Pacers started this season even worse than the Warriors. The start to now is only 5 wins and 5 losses, and the winning percentage is just over half.

However, no matter how bad the state is, playing the Warriors tonight will be extremely vigorous.

Compared with a few years ago, today's Pacers lineup has undergone major changes. In the old lineup, apart from the team's core Reggie Miller, only the team's center Rick Schmitz is still on the team.

The former Warriors veteran Schramf has now been traded to the Sonics and has become Payton's right-hand man.

And Chuck Person, who was once called the Pacers' twin star with Miller, was also abandoned by the Pacers and went to the Spurs after his potential was exhausted and his strength declined.

Of course, this does not mean that the current Pacers are weak. There are still a group of good players such as Derek McKay, Dale Davis, Mark Jackson, Ricky Pierce and so on.

Whether it is the starting lineup or the depth of the bench, it is currently ranked among the top in the entire league.

So, facing the Warriors tonight, they used their defense to hold on to the Warriors. At the same time, the team created good shooting space for Miller, and Miller also seized these opportunities and took one of them. One in.

On the other hand, for the Warriors, although Rodman returned from injury, he still played as a substitute because of his status. The team's starting lineup continued the previous lineup.

When defending Miller, Richmond consumed a lot of physical energy, which made his offensive state decline. Therefore, the Warriors still rely more on Li Weisi on the offensive end.

Unable to play tactics and relying too much on Li Weisi in offense, but even so, the two teams still played to the last moment.

With 2.3 seconds left before the end of the game, the two teams tied at 100, but at the critical moment, Miller once again showed his killer essence. He received a pass from Jackson on the right 45-degree three-point line and hit a crucial lore, thus Totally killed the game.

In the end, the Pacers defeated the Warriors 103:100 away from San Francisco.

Two days later, the Warriors ushered in a challenge from the Trail Blazers at home.

Today's Trail Blazers are no longer the era of the "five black treasures". Drexler, Terry Porter, and Kevin Duckworth have left one after another. Now only Clifford is left on the team. Robinson, a former veteran player.

However, the Trail Blazers this season still attracted the attention of sports media all over the world for only one reason, that is, the former "roof of the world" Arvedas Sabonis has finally landed in the NBA.

This world-renowned center in the 80s has always been considered the most regrettable legacy of the NBA. Not only are European fans looking forward to his landing in the NBA, but even Americans want to see him. As powerful as rumored.

Unfortunately, due to political reasons, Sabonis’s road to the NBA was not smooth. He knew that he was finally qualified to go abroad in 89, but he did not expect that because of years of unscientific and heavy training, he suffered a lot of injuries to his knees and Achilles tendons. Illness, ultimately failed to make the trip, went to Spain.

In this way, he was selected in 86, and ten years have passed since he officially entered the NBA. The once green boy has long since turned into a greasy middle-aged man with a big head and a thick neck. Although time has taken away his Knees and health, but left him with a body of basketball skills and experience that allowed him to gain a firm foothold in the NBA.

After coming to the NBA, the 31-year-old rookie with 50-year-old knees is indeed not as good as the four major centers, but since the start of the game, he still averaged 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

Such data, placed on a substitute player, is absolutely luxurious.

That's right, despite Sabonis's great reputation, the Blazers management still put him on the bench. Of course, this is not because he doesn't trust Sabonis, but to protect him.

In order to prevent the slightest damage to Sabonis's fragile knee, they only dared to let Sabonis play in the less intense moments of the substitute confrontation.

Facing the Warriors tonight, the same is true.

Sabonis came on the court with 5 minutes and 23 seconds left in the first quarter. This time point is earlier than the average substitute player, but everyone knows that the starting center Chris Dudley is just a fake starter, and Sabonis is the pioneer. The real answer at the center position.

As soon as Sabonis came up, he received the basketball passed to him by Rod Strickland at a 45-degree waist on the right. The basketball was in Sabonis' hands, like an orange, and was held by Sabonis with one hand and waved up and down. .

Divac was terrified at this time. He knew Sabonis's technical characteristics very well. After all, the two were already very familiar with each other when they were in Europe. Even Divac took the initiative to greet Sabonis before the game.

Therefore, Divac, who is also a European, knows very well that in addition to singles, jump shots and other offensive methods, Sabonis also has traditional European handwork, which can quietly send the ball to every corner of the court.

In addition, Divac, who is 216cm tall, is not short among centers, but facing the 221cm Sabonis, Divac still looks a little smaller.

Soon Sabonis launched his first attack. After colliding with Divac twice in a row, Sabonis swayed and turned around. Sabonis deceived Divac's defense and was ready to get up for a layup. .

At this time, Horry came over in time to help defend and formed a pincer attack on Sabonis, but Sabonis pulled the ball back with one hand and threw the ball over Horry's head to Clifford Robinson.

Robinson, who is now the core of the Trail Blazers, of course will not miss this good opportunity. He got the ball without making adjustments, and flew directly to dunk with both hands.

In just one round, the Warriors felt the strength of Sabonis.

Perhaps, his speed is very slow. On the NBA stage, he uses the speed of a tractor to race with F1, but his experience, his skills, and his judgment of the situation on the court have definitely reached the star level.

However, Sabonis is old after all at this time, and he alone is not enough to make up the gap between the Trail Blazers and the Warriors.

因此，尽管萨博尼斯替补出场25分钟，8投8中得到23分4助攻，但球队还是以118:103输掉了比赛。

The Warriors scored 3 points with 20 players and 6 points with 10 players. It was completely a victory for the team.

In this way, with the victory over the Trail Blazers, the Warriors ended all the games in the first month of the new season. Although the process was very tortuous and experienced many ups and downs, after one month, they still achieved a record of 10 wins and 5 losses. Ranked fifth in the West.

(End of this chapter)