650: Unless you send three people to guard him
Rudy Guy tried his best to fight Link, but now Link is much more difficult than at the beginning of the game.
His breakthrough was very decisive and extremely efficient. Guy, who was originally taking the initiative, is now panting. Link holds the initiative on the offensive end, and Guy becomes the passive side.
When did this all start? The Raptors clearly have a great situation and are 8 points ahead of the Grizzlies in a single quarter.
Well, everything has changed since Mike Miller shot at the three-point line.
In order to prevent Miller from shooting three-pointers, DeRozan did not dare to double-team again. Once there was no double-team, Link would do whatever he wanted. In one-on-one, Guy could not take any advantage.
For example, now!
After Link broke through, he suddenly stopped urgently before he was about to step into the penalty area. Then, he made a very smooth move to turn around.
Guy was thrown away by Link's sudden emergency stop a few steps away. Don't underestimate this seemingly simple emergency stop. This requires extremely high quality of the players. Link's ability to get rid of defense is so powerful.
After Link's smooth stop, he turned around and shot the ball. Guy was thrown away and could do nothing.
He used to be the team's number one scoring point, and Link was just his substitute. But now, Guy must admit that the gap between him and Link is getting bigger and bigger.
If this ball happens in the first quarter, DeRozan can still help Guy interfere. But now, Guy is shaken away and the Raptors have no remedy at all.
Basketball passes through the net, and Guy can do nothing about it.
After the ball entered, Guy could only put his hands on his hips and shook his head helplessly.
28 points, this is the 28th point that Link scored in this game. Since Mike Miller solved the problem of Grizzlies' long shot shooting percentage outside the three-point line, since the Raptors' "Baozi" defense can no longer be used, Link has been out of control.
He used his comprehensive offensive skills to torture Rudy Guy. The scene of the Raptors miraculously knocking down the league overlord in 1996 was not re-staged in the Federal Express Arena. The Raptors were already 22 points behind, and there were only 3 minutes left before the end of the game.
Guy knew very well that their plan to win at the Federal Express Arena was stranded!
"Link's shooting widened the gap by 2 points, so the result of this game is basically final. The Raptors performed well today, and they played better than usual. But Link... Since the second quarter, Link has become completely uncontrollable, and the Raptors have no way to deal with him."
Hubby Brown finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. He thought the Grizzlies' unbeaten golden body would be explained to the Raptors. Fortunately, Link turned the tide, and the Grizzlies were still in danger today.
After this goal, Dwayne Casey suspended the game. Today, every time the Raptors paused means that the game has entered a new stage.
This time, it basically means that the game has entered the stage of garbage time.
Link, who scored 28 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, walked off the court. Except for his slightly struggle in the first quarter, his performance today is still impeccable. Rudy Guy is not Link's opponent in one-on-one.
The spotlight was all aimed at Link, and he once again got rid of danger like a hero.
However, Link knew better than anyone else that the biggest contribution to this game in today was not himself.
After walking off the court, Link gave Mike Miller a hug. People are right, he is indeed a nearly perfect teammate.
"What am I saying? Get ready to celebrate the victory, Mike."
"Haha, you really got them done. Good job Link, this is another beautiful battle."
Mike Miller scored 14 points today, 12 of which came from three-point shooting.
He made three-pointers many times outside the three-point line, leading the Grizzlies out of the vicious circle of three-pointers.
As always, Mike Miller is not the protagonist. His data is mediocre than Link. His bare feet shot three-pointers naturally cannot match Link's 360° turn and dunk.
But Link will not ignore his contribution to victory.
After returning from the timeout, the Raptors also replaced the full substitute lineup, and the game officially entered garbage time.
Rudy Guy said he wanted to take DeRozan and Lowry to experience the playoffs, but before that, he at least took his two little brothers to experience what it felt like to play against the team in the finals, allowing them to see in advance what the terrible thing about the championship team.
In the end, the score was frozen at 118 to 102, and the Toronto Raptors lost a crushing defeat at the Federal Express Arena.
Except for the first quarter, the Raptors were suppressed almost the entire game.
Guy scored 23 points with a shooting percentage of 44.4% today, and Lowry scored 21 points with a shooting percentage of 60%. DeRozan was not willing to be outdone, with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal, with a shooting percentage of 53%.
The three stars of the Raptors are in good shape today. If they were other opponents, the Raptors would definitely win a big victory.
Unfortunately, what they met was the Grizzlies who were now armed to the end of the bench.
Now the whole world knows that at the end of the Grizzlies' bench, the veteran who has always been ignored has also been killed by the game.
After the game, Rudy Guy left the court without looking back. As the saying goes, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. At the end of the first quarter, Guy really thought the Raptors could win. But the final result could only make Guy sigh repeatedly.
DeRozan was still shy, but he could see that his expression was much darker than before the game started.
After hugging Link, DeRozan walked towards the player channel disappointed. The huge gap in strength between the two sides hit DeRozan hard.
Before entering the player channel, an ESPN reporter found DeRozan and asked him about Link.
"Link struggled in the first quarter today, but he dominated the court in the last three quarters. Can you tell me what happened?"
DeRozan bit his lip, as if the light was a memory of what had just happened, and it was a torment for him.
"At the beginning we could use three people to double-team Link, but then when we had only double-teams, Link was out of control. What else can I say? If you want to defend Link, then send three people to guard him."
"Send three people to guard him?" The reporter patted his forehead, and there was a new joke again.
After the end of this game, the Grizzlies have won the second longest 8-game winning streak since the beginning of the new season, and are still unbeaten.
Previously, the Grizzlies' best start record in team history was 9 consecutive victories. This was created by Link last season.
In the next two games, the Grizzlies' two opponents are the Lakers who do not have Kobe and the Sacramento Kings who still cannot escape the fate of a bad guy. If nothing unexpected happens, the Grizzlies will win two more games, which is not a problem at all!
The 10-game winning streak in the new team history record seems to be a foregone conclusion!
But the day after the game, the media and fans discussed the most that the media and fans did not discuss, but the Grizzlies were about to set a record in the team history, but the 360° turn and dunk that Link gave in the second quarter.
This ball was chosen by the league as the top five goals of the day. On the Internet, the number of clicks in this video is also very high. After all, it is still very rare to turn and dunk in actual combat.
From some point on, Link gradually became associated with the title "Kujiang".
His performance of bombing the basket again and again impressed the fans. Although Link is not the kind of player who wins by physical fitness, his explosive athletic ability has attracted widespread attention.
Fans all joked, "Link may be pretending to be dead when he was rookie season."
Against the backdrop of Link's dunk being popular across the league, a call has risen recently.
"If Link can participate in the dunk contest, the scene will definitely be very exciting."
But a question follows. Is there a precedent for the three-point contest champion to participate in the dunk contest in NBA history?
Chapter completed!