At 5:10 in the evening on February 11, Li Ao led his teammates into the stadium at the Auburn Hills Palace Arena.
After entering the venue, Li Ao didn't hear many boos, and there was a constant stream of calls for "Dumars out".
It's hard to be a good person, and this is clearly reflected in Joe Dumars.
Hill has long been interested in leaving, and it was certain that he would leave when his contract expired last summer.
Joe Dumars, the newly appointed general manager of the Pistons, chose to support his old teammate. He knew how tortured his teammate had been in Detroit over the years, and sent him to the Magic team where he wanted to go.
Then Detroit fans blamed Joe Dumars for Hill's departure.
Pistons fans were even more angry when they saw how powerful Duncan was with Carter's younger brother.
Because everyone believes that as long as Hill comes back, the Magic will be as invincible as the Bulls in the last decade.
From the perspective of Pistons fans, the Magic have nothing and can form the Big Three. They have Hill in hand, so why can't they?
As for what Hill himself thinks, which superstar in Detroit is willing to come... and other objective factors, they have all made subjective assumptions, and they don't care about objective factors.
Ever since, the most famous thing about the Palace of Auburn Hills this season is that every time the Pistons play a home game, the entire audience chants "Dumars out."
But Li Ao remembered that good people in Dumas will be rewarded in the end.
This general manager was very successful as a player. He was selected to the All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive teams multiple times, and won two championships, one of which was the Finals MVP.
Moreover, the player's character is good. Jordan hated the Bad Boys, but he was full of praise for Joe Dumars, calling him the best defensive player and the best opponent in his career.
The NBA Ethics Award was created for him.
When the good guys returned, Hill was sent to where he wanted to go, in exchange for Ben, the future inside pillar.
Relying on his reputation among players for many years, he later successfully persuaded Billups to join, and the outside core was also established.
Boss Joe, who didn't like Hamilton, gave priority to this player he respected when he was selling Hamilton and gave him some advice.
Dumars also has good draft vision. In the 2002 draft, Prince was too slender. Although he performed well in college, the media generally believed that he could not adapt to NBA competition. However, Dumars took a liking to this defensive genius at a glance.
At 5:30 in the evening, the Clippers' away game against the Pistons started.
The Pistons sent out a starting lineup of Chucky Atkins, Michael Curry, Jerry Stackhouse, Joe Smith, and Ben Wallace.
The Clippers sent out a starting lineup of Brevin Knight, Li Ao, Maggette, Odom, and O'Neal Jr.
Gentry dared to field such a lineup because the opponent's perimeter defense was last in the league.
There is a pair of inside combinations of Joe Smith and Ben Wallace who are both good at defense, but the Pistons lose an average of 98 points per game. Only the Warriors, Grizzlies, and Wizards are worse than them.
Atkins, Michael Curry, and Stackhouse have repeatedly refreshed people's perception of poor defense.
Brevin Knight turned the Pistons upside down, and Maggette's cutting into the frame also made Ben Wallace miserable.
Stackhouse didn't even chase after being passed. When Maggette cut into the attack frame, he was not only running at full speed, but he also didn't have to worry about chasing after him. Even Ben Wallace couldn't withstand it.
However, although Tanhualang defends against thousands of people, his offense is really fierce once he gets up to speed.
Stackhouse is second in the league this season with an average of 30 points per game, second only to Iverson, but his shooting percentage is a bit poor, currently 39.8%.
The Clippers steadily opened up the score in the first three quarters. They won by 5 points in the first quarter, 3 points in the second quarter, and 4 points in the third quarter. They led by 12 points entering the final quarter. However, Star only scored 9 points in the first three quarters. Khaus scored 15 points in the final quarter and led the team to a score of 30 to 18 in a single quarter.
106 to 106, the Pistons dragged the game into overtime!
In the last quarter, the Clippers' main shooting performance was poor. Fortunately, tonight their role players took shots and made more shots. In overtime, Gentry asked Li Ao to be responsible for containment and defense. Boykins, Big Q, Maggette Responsible for scoring, O'Neal Jr. protected the frame. This decision was made well. The Clippers scored 15 points in overtime, and their score in 5 minutes almost caught up with the score in the last 12 minutes.
That is to say, Tan Hualang was the three-point iron who faced the oncoming big Ben, otherwise he would have really caught up.
On the Pistons side, Stackhouse was brave in the final quarter and started to strike again in overtime. He only scored 3 points in 4 shots. The entire Pistons team's offense also languished, and everyone else only scored 3 points.
Li Ao played 41 minutes tonight and didn't take many shots. The opponent's outside defense was poor, but he did a good job in limiting his shots. Even Ben Wallace and Joe Smith would go out to cover him.
He had anticipated this before the game. All the Pistons' defense can do now is to target a certain player, and the most eye-catching one for their Clippers team is him.
He originally thought that if the point difference was widened, he would make a wave of shots and get excited, but the opponent broke out first in the final quarter.
He made 5 of 11 shots, including 0 of 2 three-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws. He scored 15 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He didn't score much, but he was able to contain and pass the ball. His defense was good. Very good, but in the end, the opponent Tanhua's explosion was too fierce, and the score soared from 9 points in three quarters to 27 points in a single game.
Fortunately, his teammates score more!
Maggette scored 20 points, Odom scored 15 points, O'Neal Jr., Big Q, and Boykins all scored 12 points. The Clippers blossomed more and defeated the Pistons 121-112, winning 8 consecutive victories!
The final whistle sounded, and the Clippers players, who were sweating coldly, gathered around and cheered to celebrate this near-miss victory.
8 consecutive wins!
They set a new record for the longest winning streak in team history!
Prior to this, the Clippers had two 7-game winning streaks in team history. One was when the team was first established in San Diego and they had a 7-game winning streak. The other time was after the All-Star Weekend in the 1991-92 season, when Larry- Brown took over the Clippers, and after only 22 wins and 25 losses in the first half, he led the team to a crazy performance of 23 wins and 12 losses, including a seven-game winning streak.
The Clippers went 45-37 that season, the best record in team history.
The most excited person is undoubtedly Gentry.
Of course, as a head coach, it is the happiest thing to refresh a team's team history record.
After 8 consecutive victories, their record improved to 30 wins and 22 losses, one win away from the 31 wins and 21 losses of the SuperSonics!
There are still 30 games left to play. As long as they can maintain their current competitive state and break the best record in team history set during the Larry Brown era, it will be solid!
As for him not liking iron-blooded defense...what if he doesn't dream about attacking? Winning is the most important thing!
If he can win, he can secure his position as head coach.
Otherwise, no matter how hard he works to build the team system and train new players, he will be picked off by others.
Although he resented Larry Brown's behavior and couldn't stand Larry Brown's tendency to curse players, he has always been grateful for the experience of studying and working with Larry Brown. He did not have those expertise, and he couldn't find a job as a head coach.
…
At 10:27 pm on February 11, 2001, the Lakers slaughtered the Grizzlies 115-91 at home and won their 37th victory of the season.
In the absence of O'Neal, Kobe scored 18 points in the first quarter, 18 points in the second quarter, and 20 points in the third quarter. He made 21 of 34 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers, plus 11 of 12 free throws, a record three quarters. The highest score in a single game during the regular season this season, and he clocked out.
The first half of the regular season this season has officially come to an end and we have entered the All-Star break.
The Kings currently rank first in the league with 38 wins and 14 losses.
The second-place Lakers in the Western Conference, 37 wins and 15 losses.
After the brawl with the Suns, the Trail Blazers ended the first half of the season with a miserable three-game losing streak due to suspension, with a record of 37 wins and 15 losses. However, they were at a disadvantage due to their direct confrontation with the Lakers, ranking third.
In the Eastern Conference, the Magic have a solid record of 36 wins and 16 losses, with a winning rate of nearly 70%, ranking first.
The 76ers are close behind with 34 wins and 18 losses.
After the first half of the game, there were many hotly discussed topics among fans.
Duncan transformed a team from a weakling to a championship contender, and he did it even when Grant Hill was reimbursed. His ability to lead the team is amazing.
The OK combination has often suffered injuries this season, and the Lakers' record has been ups and downs. However, when O'Neal and Kobe played together, the winning rate was an astonishing 83%. They won 25 of the 30 games they played together.
The five games lost also included being upset by the Clippers.
This season, the two of them have really made people feel what it means to be the 'No. 1 OK combination in the world'. When they see the two of them playing together, what people think of is - the Lakers are going to win.
The Kings took off after strengthening the shortcomings of the shooting guard, ranking first at the halfway point, and reappearing an adjective that had disappeared in the NBA for ten years - gorgeous.
The last team to be described as 'gorgeous' was the Lakers during the Showtime era.
Iverson's offensive performance this season was amazing and he was named the second scoring leader in modern basketball.
First, it is Michael Jordan, the god of basketball.
But the second half of the 76ers' season has been overshadowed, and their path to the playoffs is unpredictable.
And the hottest topic at the moment - the Clippers set sail!
In the last 12 games, the Clippers have 11 wins and 1 loss, and only lost a game against the Kings.
The Clippers have attracted attention since the beginning of this season. Their record has been greatly improved compared to the past few years, but it only attracted people's attention. They feel that the bad ship is no longer bad. They have a new owner and a lottery pick. By the way, the two big holes of poor management and unclear team building core have been filled.
Halfway through the regular season, they only had a record of 20 wins and 21 losses, and they were struggling on the road to pursuing a 50% winning rate.
At that time, there were still people who complained about the Clippers - if they were placed in the Eastern Conference, the Clippers would have entered the playoffs, and they should be regarded as a playoff team.
Of course, some people say that luck is also a part of strength. If you are in the Western Conference, you should judge whether it is a playoff team based on the ranking of the Western Conference.
No one expected that since then, the Clippers would go on a wild ride!
When the Clippers tied the Nuggets and entered the ranks of playoff contenders, they already attracted people's attention.
Then people saw that the Clippers kept winning, surpassing the Nuggets, tying the Rockets, surpassing the Rockets... Now after 52 games, the Clippers' record is 30 wins and 22 losses, approaching the Timberwolves and Super League Team Sonic!
The Western Conference playoff teams are divided into three tiers. The Kings, Lakers, and Trail Blazers are in one tier. The Jazz, Mavericks, and Suns are in one tier. The last tier is the Timberwolves and SuperSonics competing for seventh and eighth place in the Western Conference. Team, Clippers, Rockets, Nuggets.
But no matter which bracket they are in, they are all collectively called-the strong teams in the Western Conference.
Because even the third-tier team has the possibility of reaching 50 wins!
The Clippers have made amazing progress from being last in the league last season to being among the top teams in the Western Conference.
In addition, Li Ao averaged 23.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 3.7 blocks per game at half-time, and also scored 51 points in a single game...
The Clippers have become the most discussed team among fans right now!
On February 12th, a new week has arrived.
In the morning, the NBA officially announced that Li Ao and O'Neal Jr. jointly won the latest Player of the Week award!
Last week, Li Ao had 51 points in a single game, and O'Neal had a double-20 performance of 20 points and 21 rebounds. The Clippers got 4 wins and 0 losses. This award is given to both of them, and there is not much controversy.
The only controversy is that Kobe Bryant scored 56 points last night, the highest score in the league this season.
But although the Lakers also won all four games last week, Kobe only played two games. In one game, when O'Neal had a conflict with Brad Miller, he rushed onto the court from the bench and was ejected and suspended.
In another scene, he was forced to put on a suit by the Zen Master because of tight thigh muscles, and he was unable to appear.
Li Ao and O'Neal Jr. won the Player of the Week award, pushing the Clippers' popularity to a new peak!
…
“This award should go to Lamar and Jermaine, they supported the interior offense and defense.
Lamar has made great progress on the defensive end. He is everywhere, switching to point guards and centers, and he bravely blocks in front of his opponents.
If possible, I hope Lamar can replace me in the All-Star Game. He didn't get a single vote. He doesn't seem to be dissatisfied, but I can't accept it.
The Best of the Week can also be given to Matt. He is our leader. His joining has accelerated the construction of our defensive system. Didn't the president of Microsoft say that Matt is a model player in his mind and is not for sale.
I am not for sale in his mind, oh, forget it, I am just an ordinary rookie, I didn’t get the first score in a single game, and I didn’t get the first place in the blocks list..."
On the afternoon of February 12, Li Ao accepted an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated after returning to Los Angeles with the team.
When asked about winning the Player of the Week award for the second time this season, his initial answer surprised reporters - Spider-Man has changed his temper?
Reporters didn’t find it strange that Li Ao praised his teammates.
He has interviewed Li Ao a lot, and he has been paying attention to other news about Li Ao. He often sees Li Ao praising his teammates, but this is the first time he has seen Li Ao praise so seriously.
Until the end, Li Ao's painting style suddenly changed, and the reporter finally gave up the idea of calling the police and began to clench his fists.
It’s still him! That bad Spider-Man!
As a rookie, he is second this season with 51 points in a single game and is second in blocks, but not far behind the first place. Moreover, the first place has been reimbursed. There is a high probability of overtaking him. What else do you want?
(End of chapter)
