1030: There is really no opponent
The opening match of the first day of the 16-17 season allowed fans to experience the greatest charm of this season - uncertainty.
Because none of the three games on the opening day were the same as fans expected.
After the defending champion Golden State Warriors accepted their championship ring at home, they were immediately beaten by the Spurs without Duncan and were completely wiped out.
In this game, Aldridge and Leonard scored 26 points and one scored 25 points. One hit 50% and the other scored 47.6%.
Efficient, simple, and able to win, the "Double German combination" seems to have really carried the Spurs' flag from Duncan.
In contrast, the Warriors' team's 21.2% three-point shooting percentage is surprising. Although Durant and Curry scored 27 points and 26 points respectively, the Warriors' team's efficiency is too low.
Today, the Warriors give people the feeling that they are very relaxed, and they are a little underestimated by the enemy. It seems that they think they can kill the Spurs by just fighting casually.
However, when they were beaten by the Spurs and wanted to get serious, they could no longer burst out of that energy.
In the end, the Spurs defended the champion 129-100 away game.
Facts have proved that even the Warriors with a perverted lineup cannot be taken lightly.
Once they relax a little, they will be driven off the altar!
In another game, the process of the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Toronto Raptors also surprised the fans.
Although the Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers won the game with great hope, the process of winning the game was extremely bumpy.
People thought that James could easily win the Raptors with Irving and Love.
However, Demar DeRozan suppressed James, Irving and other superstar players today, and scored 32 points in the game!
And among these 32 points, no point comes from outside the three-point line.
DeRozan is a number two position who doesn't like or are good at shooting three-pointers. His scoring method of middle distance is very retro.
But the facts have proved that as long as you have strong enough, even in retro methods, you can cause trouble for your opponents.
With DeRozan's outstanding performance, the Cavaliers were forced to the last 2.4 seconds, and with Irving's three-pointer to escape from danger.
Before the game began, everyone agreed that the Cavaliers' position as the leader in the Eastern Conference will not be shaken.
But in fact, the wind and rain have begun to fall.
But what the fans expect most was the game between the Grizzlies and the Knicks.
As the first game to start the opening game, the ratings of this game are the highest.
Phil Jackson's remarks, the verbal battle between Link and the New York media, and the fans' curiosity about the Knicks' new lineup have all made the game very popular
As a result, this game was also the most unexpected.
Before the game started, many New York fans thought the Grizzlies would lose. Most neutral fans thought that both sides might play 50 or 50.
As a result, the Grizzlies won the blood of the Madison Square Garden.
Link didn't perform much, so the Grizzlies won. Wade, who was always believed to have no oil in the fuel tank, scored 35 points in his first game after joining the Grizzlies!
All the fans watched the game with their mouths open. The gap between the Grizzlies and the Knicks is really unreasonable!
In the three games, no one of them developed in the direction expected by the fans.
The 16-17 season has been very exciting from the beginning. These three games remind fans not to think that everything has been finalized.
After the game between the Grizzlies and the Knicks, Phil Jackson became the object of being despised by everyone.
Even many Knicks fans began to attack the "Zen Master".
"If the Grizzlies are really as unbearable as you said, then what is the Knicks?"
"Don't do anything useless, Phil. Before you came, we were still a playoff team. But now, we are playing for the lottery!"
"It's a big disappointment that Phil's magical aura cannot be reappeared in New York."
Sure enough, even if you are a "Zen Master", you will not have any good results when you are against Wade.
The picky New York media unanimously pointed the gun at the Knicks and criticized them in various ways.
Link sometimes thinks that the Knicks players are really miserable, and most local media support local teams.
But in New York, you never expect the New York media to be gentle to the Knicks.
If this is what New York is called the exposure of big cities, Link would rather not.
In any case, the game between the Grizzlies and the Knicks has regained respect for the champion players in the entire league.
As it turns out, a duo with a total of five rings is indeed not easy to mess with.
After this game, no reporter dared to criticize the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies also fulfilled Link's words with a series of victories, "This is just the beginning."
On October 29, the Grizzlies ushered in the home opening game at the Federal Express Arena, with their opponents being the third-last in the West last season, but this season is considered the most likely to become a dark horse.
The Timberwolves signed Tom Thibodeau this season, and it is generally believed that 2014 No. 1 pick Wiggins, 2014 No. 13 rookie Lavender and 2015 No. 1 pick Downs, can realize their talents this season.
Speaking of which, the Timberwolves' lineup is really talented. Among the five starting tigers, four are high-ranking rookies. From the "Spanish Golden Boy" back then to the current Towns, this is enough to make most teams drool.
But so many years have passed, the Timberwolves have not been able to transform their talents into achievements.
Therefore, people are looking forward to the arrival of Thibodeau to change the status quo.
But unfortunately, the Timberwolves encountered the Grizzlies in the first game of the season.
In this game, Link suppressed Wiggins in all aspects and did not allow the No. 1 pick, who was originally known as "the next James", to achieve any results.
Towns played well, but his scoring style on the court was surprising.
On the court, Towns showed his superb skills.
Three-pointers, a low-level jump shot, a cross-frame breakthrough... Link has to admit that the comprehensiveness of these new era big men is incomparable to the old insiders.
But as a man who is 2.13 meters tall, Towns is completely unmoving at the low post!
Several times, he beat Harrell, who was over two meters tall, and he couldn't beat him!
However, Harrell, an engineer who scored by scoring the score, beat Towns twice in a row and crushed the basket and easily scored...
Seeing this, Jokic on the bench smiled, "Coach, why don't you try it if I go up?"
After that, there were a series of sad stories. The No. 1 pick in 2015 was beaten at a low post by the second round pick in 2014.
Towns and Wiggins, the two most talented ones, were suppressed, and the Timberwolves' scoring task could only be moved to Raven.
LaVine is indeed an excellent dunk player, but at this stage, he is not an excellent scorer.
110 to 98, the Grizzlies beat their opponent again. If Jogel had not replaced all the main players in the last two minutes, the score difference might have been even greater.
Link scored 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in an understatement, but still didn't seem to be exerting much force.
But even so, he made Wiggins autistic.
Wiggins scored 6 points in this game. It’s not that he doesn’t work hard, it’s that he really can’t beat Link.
In an interview after the game, the Timberwolves kept shaking their heads, "Link is very strong, and there are probably few players in the league who can have the advantage in him. I feel desperate to play against him."
The Grizzlies won two consecutive victories, and their momentum still has no intention of stopping.
On October 30, the Grizzlies faced the Wizards back-to-back at home. Although Wall, the No. 1 pick in the same class as Link, scored 22 points and 13 assists, he still couldn't stop the Grizzlies from winning 101.
Three consecutive victories!
As time goes by November, the Grizzlies and the Timberwolves meet for the second time this season.
But this time, the battlefield became Minnesota.
At home, the Timberwolves lost even worse. The Grizzlies became more aggressively 116-80, which made the Timberwolves shame at home.
The Timberwolves lost three consecutive games at the start, two of which were lost to the Grizzlies. It seems that Thibodeau has not yet figured out how to transform talent into record.
At this point, the Grizzlies won a perfect start with four consecutive victories.
What's even more terrifying is that after four games, people found that none of Link seemed to have tried his best in one game.
He is like James who has "health preservation" in the regular season over the years.
The difference is that even if Link maintains health, he can win the game. Moreover, he did not deliberately maintain health, but he really didn't meet an opponent who needed him to do his best.
At this moment, an exciting team appeared in front of the Grizzlies.
Espn declared, "This is the first test for the Grizzlies and Link this season!"
The eastern upstart Milwaukee Bucks are about to meet the Grizzlies.
Chapter completed!