Chapter 127: New lineup
After Christmas, the league's trade market suddenly comes alive, and this lively atmosphere will continue until the end of the All-Star break, when the doors of the trade market will close and the trade between teams will end.
Generally speaking, the full season of the NBA is divided into five parts, one part is the preseason, and each team is training; Then there is the time between the start of the regular season and Christmas, during which time the team plays not to win or lose, but to run in the lineup, to find the strengths and weaknesses of the team and the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent.
The second is the period from Christmas to All-Star, after previous observations, each team has an understanding of themselves and their opponents, and during this time, each team began to trade frequently to strengthen their shortcomings and strive for a breakthrough this season.
After that, from the All-Star Game to the end of the regular season, that time is when the strong teams start to exert their strength, and it is also the time to test the true level of a team. In order to compete for the playoffs, the teams in that period of the game were absolutely bayonet-struck and fought until the playoffs.
The playoffs are the finale, with sixteen teams battling for supreme glory until the championship is decided.
Just when the trade of the SuperSonics, Pistons and Warriors had just left the eyes of fans, on December 29, a piece of news was revealed again, and it was quickly officially recognized by the NBA, that is, the three teams re-reached an agreement and the deal was completed.
In the new trade information, the Warriors sent Byron Davis and Austin Crohill, the Pistons sent star Chauncey Billups and Tyshawn Prince, the Pistons' five leading brothers, while the SuperSonics sent Jeff Green and Szczebiak, Delonte West, and a portion of cash and a second-round pick from the 2008 draft.
The end result was that the Warriors received Chauncey Billups and the SuperSonics' second-round pick, Dronte West, the Pistons accepted Byron Davis, Jeff Green, and Szczebiak, and the SuperSonics received Crohill and Prince and some cash.
Fans are confused about this dramatic deal, they don't understand why the general managers of the three teams have already made clarification remarks, why this deal has been reached again only one day later? And what made the Warriors willing to accept West?
Anyway, the deal was over, Davis and Crohill packed up their things and left the team that day, one rushed to Detroit to report to the Bad Boys, and the other went to Seattle, of course, he didn't stay there for long, because the news of SuperSonics' move to Oklahoma City was already a foregone conclusion.
Although he experienced one transaction, Chamberlain was still sad when the second transaction happened around him, his conflict with Davis was essential, the latter was unwilling to give up the core of the team, and was hostile to him in every way, and he himself did not have a servile mentality, so it was natural to have a conflict.
However, in this way, Chamberlain's reputation in the NBA is not very good, and rumors about him are constantly appearing in major forums: he just entered the league to get rid of Biedrins in order to sit in the starting center position, and after sitting in the starting lineup, he coveted the core of the team, and now he has driven away Davis.
Chamberlain didn't explain the issues, Sudmons' trip to Iraq kept him in a low mood, and the Warriors had a busy schedule, and the day after the trade was made, they traveled to Toronto to play the Raptors in faraway Canada.
The Raptors have been up and down in recent seasons between a belly and a super-belly, and since losing Carter and Maddy, the team has become a bullying team. For four or five seasons in a row, the Raptors have been a strong contender for the top pick, and in 2006 they won the first pick, and then selected Baniani, the so-called Nowitzki II generation, who can't even catch up with the 10-year-old Nowitzki.
If it weren't for the Wizards' Zhuyu who blindly chose Kwame Brown as the top pick, the Raptors would definitely become a laughing stock, and Banyani would have become the famous No. 1 parallel pick in the 21st century.
The Raptors' record this season is still extremely bad, they suffered a strong nine-game losing streak at the start of the season, and they were responsible for taking the honor of the league's bottom record, and in the latest battle for the top pick, the team once again grabbed the advantage, but recently their record showed signs of recovery, and won a wave of two consecutive wins that were not easy to make, and then met the Warriors.
There is no doubt that the Warriors won by a landslide, and despite the lack of a primary point guard, do they still need a primary point guard against a team like the Raptors?
In addition to the overwhelming victory, the Warriors also had a team-wide multi-point situation, the team's five starters all scored in double figures, Chamberlain scored 21 points and 17 rebounds in 32 minutes, Stephen Jackson scored 17 points, Petrus had 15 points and 14 rebounds, Luiz, who was once again the first opportunity, contributed 16 points and 12 assists, and Ellis finally got the chance to fire up, scoring a game-high 30 points on 10-of-22 shooting.
The Raptors' standout player was TJ Ford, who was really fast, and Luis had no advantage against him, finishing with 29 points, eight assists and six rebounds. This is also because Chamberlain let him eat four blocks in the whole court, otherwise this guy will be even more arrogant. Bagnani scored 12 points and performed well, and the reason for this result was that Chamberlain let him go, and the unlucky man was Bosh.
Throughout the game, the best interior player of the 03 Golden Generation only scored 10 points under Chamberlain's strict defense, but he also scored a double-double and a lot of rebounds, also ten.
Bosh's flexibility made Chamberlain quite difficult, he looked at the opponent so thin at first, and was worried that the game was too rough and hurt people, but as soon as the game started, Bosh used two consecutive basket turns and hooks to cut four points in front of Chamberlain.
Seeing this, Chamberlain was furious, and he was quite arrogant, so he let go of Banyani, who was fighting against him, and used it specifically to keep an eye on Bosh. This is when Banjani got his chance, knowing how strong Chamberlain's dominance was in the restricted area, he shot the outside and resolutely did not go inside.
Banyani is seven feet two, and if he floats on the perimeter, the Warriors really don't have anyone who can guard him, so he and TJ Ford played well in the first quarter, helping the team bite the score 29-32-29, especially Ford, who played well in the first quarter of the game, scoring his own season-high 13 points in a single quarter.
The Warriors showed their ability to start the second quarter, hitting all eight of their first eight shots to take a 48-38 lead with 5:42 left in the first half. At this time, the Raptors called a timeout, and after the timeout, they were hit by the Warriors with a wave of 8-0 scoring climax, and the Raptors head coach was anxious.
At the end of the first half, the Raptors showed their decline, losing to the Warriors by a full 18 points at 51-69, and then Chamberlain sat on the bench. It wasn't until then that Bosh got a chance, and the Raptors played well in the third quarter, slowly recovering the score and trailing by only 10 points at 70:80, and if they could seize the opportunity in the fourth quarter, it may not be impossible to turn the defeat into a victory.
As a result, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Warriors, who were trained like dogs by Nelson Sr., played a wave of 11-3 scoring climax, and the Raptors were defeated.
In the end, the Warriors played a triumphant song on the Raptors' home court, ending the hopes of the Torontonians that had come up with a two-game winning streak that put them back on the front line of the championship race, where they were reunited with the Bulls and the SuperSonics.
After playing in Toronto, the Warriors had their second road trip, this time flying to the sister city of Los Angeles in the same state, against not Kobe's Lakers, but the Clippers, who are known as the shipbreakers in California.
The game was a good game for both sides, not as one-sided as fans predicted before the game, and no one expected the Clippers to be able to hold out under the Warriors' high pressure until the bottom, because a week ago, the core of this team, Clippers captain Brand, was injured and has been sidelined due to injury and has not returned.
One team lacks a starting point guard, and the other lacks a starting power forward, which is quite equal.
The Clippers had six players in double figures, with Carman scoring 21 points and 12 boards, Rockets veteran Mobley scoring 20 points and Thomas scoring 15 points; The best performer on the Warriors' side was Jackson, who played hotly in this game for some reason, scoring a total of 35 points and 8 rebounds, in addition to 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Chamberlain's performance was average, with only 16 points and 10 rebounds, and he finally got a double-double, continuing his rookie double-double legend. But it had to do with his playing time, he only played 22 minutes, and then Nelson Sr. put him on the bench, which is why Carman got the Clippers' top score.
After the game began, Ellis opened the scoring for the Warriors with a jumper, but the Clippers Rose immediately returned the color with a jumper, and the two sides fell into a stalemate, and the Warriors had a slight advantage, and the Warriors led 17-12 at 7:13 in the quarter. At this point, the Warriors' offense came to a standstill, and the Clippers quickly hit a 10-4 attack wave for the Warriors to take a 22-20 lead. However, the Warriors quickly relied on the firepower provided by Chamberlain on the inside to stabilize their position and launch ****, so that the quarter ended and the Warriors maintained a 35-27 lead.
After the start of the second quarter of the game, both sides changed to bench players, at this time Jackson suddenly exploded, he first steal Margety's breakthrough fast break layup, and then Chamberlain blocked Carman's jump shot pass to Luis, Jackson followed up to the frontcourt, shot from beyond the three-point line, and hit again! This is not all, later taking advantage of an offensive foul by the Clippers, he himself took the ball to break through the **** inside line and made a violent dunk above Kaman's head.
The Warriors once extended the margin to 15 points, but then, near the end of the second quarter, Nelson Sr. suddenly replaced Chamberlain, and the Warriors were a little uncomfortable with the rhythm of Chamberlain's absence, and they were a little scrambling for a while. In the ensuing game, the Clippers blossomed with more points under Kaman, who ended the quarter with an 8-2 spurt to reduce the deficit to single digits.
The Warriors continued the slump after Chamberlain's departure not long ago, scoring only four points in the first four minutes of the quarter, while the Clippers Thomas hit two three-pointers and slowly equalized the score. At the critical moment, Jackson stepped up, he froze Margety, who was opposite him, and made consecutive breakthroughs on the offensive end, and the Warriors stabilized their position. After that, the scores of the two sides alternated upwards, and the quarter ended with the Warriors leading 94-90.
After the start of the fourth quarter, both sides were red-eyed, the Clippers have lost five in a row, they don't want to lose, and now they see the hope of winning this game, so the fourth quarter is very resolute, especially Carman, taking advantage of Chamberlain's absence, he dominated the restricted area and defeated Evans, who was opposite him.
Fortunately, the Warriors also had Ellis, a scoring giant, and Jackson, who broke out in the game, with the former scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter and the latter scoring eight points, so that the game ended in a narrow 112-108 victory.