Li Ao felt the 'benefits' of playing in a traditionally bad team. As long as he played better, he would 'break the team's historical record' and 'is about to break the team's historical record'.
In fact, I am happy, but it has become a hot topic among the media and fans, which is a bit embarrassing.
They are only 5 games away from surpassing the best record in team history, but the current situation is that even if they surpass the best record in team history, they will not be able to enter the playoffs.
Looking at the task of 'Sprinting and Beyond', he felt that the reward for goal 2 was too low.
That's luck. If we were in the Eastern Conference and were already locked into the playoffs, we might be able to compete with the Heat for third place.
On the second day, the Clippers faced back-to-back challenges from the Rockets at home.
Olajuwon came to Los Angeles with the team in a suit and seemed prepared to be injured until the end of the season, putting pressure on the Rockets.
But what he didn't expect was that the local fans in Houston didn't care about whether he could renew his contract. Even the media was mocking him. The boss was Alexander, but he still thought so much. Wouldn't it be better to retire with 13 million US dollars.
But he's already standing there, and now he's accepting $13 million? It’s shameless!
Sitting on the bench, he looked at Steve Ballmer across the technical table, and he was very sad.
He saw in the news that after Li Ao won the All-Star MVP, the Clippers decided to pay the salary of a personal nutritionist and a personal physical therapist for Little Spider.
Little Spider's physical therapist has been on call 24 hours a day, and all travel expenses for business trips are reimbursed. The annual salary is not cheap.
And he won the MVP+FMVP+DPOY in a single season. When he sprained the ball the next year, he still dug into the first aid kit to find an ice pack to apply on it.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the game started.
The Clippers thought it would be another easy victory. In the first three games they played against the Rockets, they won by an average of nearly 20 points per game.
But tonight the opponent gave them a powerful start.
The Rockets scored 31 points in the first quarter, leading the Clippers by 7 points with 24 points!
Francis made 2 of 4 shots in the first quarter, but continued to cause damage in the paint. He made all 7 free throws in a single quarter and scored 11 points, plus 4 assists after attracting a double attack.
Francis's style of play is that if he plays well, the team will be good; if he plays poorly, the team will be in vain.
He successfully led the whole team tonight!
In the second quarter, Tomjanovich strengthened his defense, and Francis continued to surge offensively, supporting the offense on his own. The Rockets scored 22-18, leading the Clippers by 11 points 53-42 at halftime!
After returning from the intermission, Li Ao stepped forward.
When faced with a problem, he still resorts to his best style of play - running, catching and shooting!
The Clippers launched an offense based on Li Ao's running, catching and shooting + support. He performed very well, making 4 of 7 shots in the third quarter, plus 1 of 2 free throws, scoring 9 points and 2 assists.
His style of play, with 2 assists, was no worse than Francis's 4 assists in each of the first two quarters!
The Clippers' offensive cooperation became smoother. The team had 9 assists in a single quarter and scored 28 points!
Francis' performance began to decline. Although he scored 8 points in the third quarter, his shooting percentage dropped rapidly. He relied on free throws to support himself and his passing was not good. He only had 1 assist and 3 turnovers. The interference of the ball was excellent, limiting the Rockets to only 21 points in a single quarter.
After three quarters, the Clippers narrowed the point difference to 4 points!
In the final quarter, the Clippers' defensive performance went further. This time it was their turn to defend the Rockets and only score 18 points in a single quarter.
At the critical moment, the Rockets made three consecutive shots. Francis made two sudden attempts and was blocked twice, once by Li Ao and once by O'Neal Jr.
Francis is very fierce when he is fierce, and he is also really iron when he is tough. He made 5 of 7 in the first half and 3 of 11 in the second half. In addition, he made 16 of 18 free throws in the game. He scored 32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 block.
Li Ao relied on running, catching and shooting at critical moments. He took three shots against the defense and scored two goals.
Li Ao had 8 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 blocks in the final quarter, leading the Clippers to a score of 27-18!
With 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks, Li Ao led the Clippers to reverse the Rockets 97-92 and win in a thrilling manner!
…
The record improved to 42 wins and 28 losses!
Li Ao feels a little less stressed now. Finally, the 16th back-to-back this season has been played, and there are no back-to-backs in their remaining 12 games!
However, it’s just that the pressure has become less.
In the final stage of the season, he once again felt what is called the "sorrow of fish belly".
They have played exactly 35 home games and 35 away games, with 6 home games and 6 away games left. In the next 12 games, there will be no away or home games at once, and they will play 12 consecutive home and away games.
This is a big test for their team's physical reserves.
But the schedule is such that they can only work hard one game at a time.
One day later, on March 26, the Clippers came to the Rose Garden Arena in Portland and started an offensive and defensive battle with the Trail Blazers.
The Clippers worked hard, with 6 players scoring in double figures.
Although Li Ao only scored 14 points, he still had 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks. Odom scored 14 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists, Big Q scored 19 points, Matt Halprin 13 points, and O'Neal Jr. 12 points and 9 rebounds, Maggette 12 points.
But the overall strength of the Trail Blazers is strong and their performance is even better. 6 people from the Clippers scored in double figures and 7 from the Trail Blazers!
104 to 98, the Trail Blazers handed the Clippers their 29th loss of the season, and the two teams tied in the regular season.
On the 28th, the Clippers returned to their home court. Facing the visiting Pistons, the Clippers led throughout the game and slowly widened the point difference. In the end, they steadily defeated the Pistons 104-89 and won.
Li Ao played 30 minutes tonight and made 13 of 22 shots, including 1 of 2 three-pointers. The Pistons did not guard him as tightly as last time. He had good shooting opportunities, but there were also fewer free throws, and he only got 2 free throws, all made.
With 29 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks, he put on a mid-range shooting show in front of the home fans.
However, the best performer of the Clippers tonight was Odom. A month later, he once again scored a triple-double, with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, his 6th triple-double this season! Surpassed Kidd and took the first place in triple-doubles this season!
In the post-game news, the media analyzed Odom's 6 triple-doubles this season and found one thing in common - Spider-Man has more chances to make mid-range shots and can make them accurately.
Li Ao scores high, but Odom does not necessarily have many assists.
But when the opponent's ability to prevent movement, catch and shoot is not good, and the defense is not switched well, Odom will always have more assists than usual.
This is a manifestation of tacit understanding.
On the 30th, the last game of March, the Clippers came to Seattle Key Arena to challenge the SuperSonics away from home.
The competitors for the playoff spot met head-on. The Clippers and SuperSonics both played very hard. The scene of the game can be described in one word - rough.
This time, Payton personally came to guard against Li Ao.
Li Ao felt Durant's misery and was almost unable to take action!
Fortunately, he can use his height advantage to hit Payton with his back. He cannot show his strength advantage when facing the frame, but he can use his back.
Moreover, his back hitting disrupted the opponent's defensive preparations.
Although there were previous news touting Li Ao's ability to open up the high post in just a few months, the Sonics did not prepare to defend against this.
They think according to normal logic. As a rookie, if he occasionally makes two shots from behind, he may be called a 'development' post-up.
But they didn't expect that Li Ao would really hit him from behind!
The main thing is that they didn't expect that Gentry would actually build tactics around the abilities that a rookie had just developed.
Li Ao played 37 minutes. Although his statistics were only 15 points and 4 assists, he started the offense with a back attack and gave Odom and Greg Anthony more passing opportunities. Odom scored 17 points and 7 assists in 40 minutes. , veteran Greg Anthony scored 6 points and 4 assists in 23 minutes.
The three of them joined hands to lead the team, and with 6 seconds left on the clock, they tied with the SuperSonics at 94!
In the last 6 seconds, the Sonics attacked.
Matt Halprin chases Lewis, Li Ao chases Brent Barry, Maggette sticks to the new dunk king Desmond Mason and does not give the opponent a chance to cut in, and O'Neal Jr. defends Ewing.
O'Neal Jr. did a good job in interior defense tonight, and the lessons Ewing taught him were not in vain. He defended Ewing and made 1 of 6 shots in 26 minutes tonight, only scoring 4 points and 6 rebounds.
The Sonics sent the ball out and gave it to Payton.
Payton made 9 of 20 shots tonight, including 1 of 4 three-pointers, plus 9 of 10 free throws, scoring 28 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Li Ao, Matt Halprin, and Maggette have all tried it, but they all failed to defend well.
The best guard against Payton tonight was Big Q, which allowed Payton to hit a few more irons, but also gave Payton several free throws.
With the expectations of his teammates, Big Q bravely moved towards Payton.
The rest of the Clippers followed their defenders. Payton caught the ball one-on-one, turned around with a sudden step, backed up with Big Q, turned around again, took a step sideways, took off, and shot a mid-range shot at the buzzer...missed!
The long whistle sounded, and the referee confirmed the score to the technical table and then gestured to enter overtime!
Everyone on the Clippers team gathered around Big Q to move his bald head. Li Ao, who was watching from the sidelines, felt that his little brother's head was getting brighter.
Payton is worthy of being a superstar. By the end of the season, his personal performance was much better than before and during the middle of the season.
It is indeed an unexpected surprise that Big Q can restrict Payton so much.
Big Q's defense doesn't care about anything else. He fights with all his strength and interferes with shots. He has faster footwork than Matt Halprin and better defensive foundation than Maggette. He doesn't have to worry about the number of fouls and shrinking assists like Spider-Man. Prevent... just do it.
Li Ao recalled the few rounds he defended against Payton and felt that he had learned some game experience.
When playing against an opponent with strong assist and defense capabilities, you can make good use of the opponent's mentality of wanting to take care of both assist and defense.
Although it is difficult to make good use of this in his current style of play, offensive players with the ball are more proactive when attacking, and his off-ball style is more passive.
But it is always correct to summarize the experience of previous generations.
Soon, overtime began.
At this time, that sentence seems particularly reasonable - youth is the greatest asset.
Vin Baker, who performed well in the regular time and scored 14 points and 7 rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting, pulled in the overtime. Ewing, whose defense was okay in the regular time, also pulled in the overtime. The Sonics wanted to attack inside but didn't. To defend but not to defend.
Li Ao took a gamble. Tonight, he defended Brent Barry and made 2 of 8 shots. In the last attack of regular time, he did not dare to let go of this top shooter who shot 47% of his three-pointers this season, but added During the game, he tried it, moving inside to defend the interior.
O'Neal Jr. confidently handed the basket to Li Ao, actively preventing Payton's breakthrough.
Big Q focuses on fighting against rushes, not shots but not sudden attacks.
Li Ao made the right bet!
Brent Barry hit the iron, Ewing caught the ball and took the cake, Li Ao shrank in time to cover the block, both situations occurred, and the Sonics' offense collapsed in overtime!
In 5 minutes, the Sonics only scored 3 points.
As for the Clippers, Maggette scored 7 points alone.
Coupled with Big Q's catch and three-pointer, the Clippers won 10-3 in overtime!
Li Ao scored 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 6 blocks, Odom scored 17 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, O'Neal Jr. scored 15 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block, Big Q 13 points, Maggette 15 points...
The Clippers narrowly defeated the SuperSonics 104-97, improving their record to 44-29!
We are only one win away from the best record in team history!
Defeating the SuperSonics head-on, the Clippers directly erased that one-game disadvantage!
Both teams currently have 44 wins and 29 losses. The two teams met 4 times in the regular season, with 2 wins and 2 losses, and a tie, tied for eighth in the Western Conference!
…
Returning to the hotel in the evening, Li Ao reviewed the games of the past month.
Another competition month has come to an end. This month, he clearly felt that compared to the previous three competition months, their strength has improved a lot!
Now they are playing against the top five teams in the league. They can't beat them, but they can resist for a while. If the opponent has a star absent or something, they have the ability to defeat the opponent.
Like when they met the Trail Blazers for the second time, the opponent had a poor start, but they were able to seize the opportunity to win.
In the early and middle stages of the season, it would be difficult for them to do this.
When facing strong teams in the second tier, such as the Mavericks, they have the ability to win by relying on tactical changes, although it is a surprise move.
And when facing an ordinary playoff-level team in the Western Conference like the Sonics, they are capable of winning head-on!
At the beginning of the season, they met the Sonics and were beaten twice.
Tonight, even though Payton performed so well, they still won the game in overtime. Li Ao felt the progress of him and his team most intuitively!
After thinking about the future for a while, Li Ao took his mind back and opened the system.
After the Sonics game, he received two assignments.
"Best Rookie:
Goal 1: The host needs to win all Rookie of the Month awards this season.
Reward: 12,000 achievement points.
Goal 2: The host needs to win the Rookie of the Season award.
Reward: 20,000 achievement points. "
This task is not a big problem and he is very confident.
But the other task is even more difficult!
"genius:
Goal 1: The host needs to win the regular season block title this season.
Goal 2: The host needs to average 25 points per game in his rookie season and become the first scoring rookie in the modern basketball era.
Reward: Hat Chaser (Level 5). "
The first level of scoring for modern basketball rookies is actually the only one. Since the merger of the NBA and ABA in 1976, there has been only one player who averaged 25+ per game in his rookie season - Michael Jordan!
(End of chapter)
