Time flies, and the New York Knicks are on a winning streak after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves. First, they defeated the Chicago Bulls, also a team in the Eastern Conference, and then defeated a weak team like the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the next three games, the Knicks were invincible and did not encounter a decent opponent at all.
All those teams that couldn't even reach the playoffs were completely defeated after facing them.
This wave of victory for the team also marked the start of a perfect seven-game winning streak.
The Knicks were the bottom team last season. Not to mention seven consecutive wins in the beginning, a seven-game winning streak throughout the season is considered awesome! What's more, they only won about twenty games in total! How is it possible to win seven consecutive games with such a record?
Therefore, after winning seven games in a row, New York fans have high morale and are looking forward to the team defeating their next opponent.
This opponent is none other than the Los Angeles Lakers led by LeBron James.
LeBron officially left Cleveland to join the Lakers this season. In order to reassure the Lakers management, he signed a four-year long-term contract. The Lakers also respect top stars like LeBron and directly gave him a four-year, $153 million contract.
From then on, there was a little hope for the Lakers' rise, and LeBron and the Lakers were regarded by many teams in the league as one of the teams with the best chance of winning the championship.
Slightly different from the Knicks' perfect start, the Lakers started the season with 6 wins and 1 loss. As a team that has just experienced personnel changes, this record is already considered very good.
Los Angeles.
Staples Center Arena.
There was a game going on in the arena at this time, and the team coming to challenge the Lakers at home was the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns have been at the bottom in various situations in the past three or four seasons. The team is completely in a state of ruin. Although they have signed new players such as Devin Booker, the Suns are still among the bottom teams.
Under normal circumstances, it would be very easy for the Lakers to beat a weak team like the Suns.
LeBron also took this into consideration and greatly reduced his playing time in today's game. Previously, he had to play about 35 minutes in each game. In this game, he did not even start. Instead, he sat in the team bench and watched his teammates.
The Lakers' lineup at this time is mostly composed of young people. Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and others are all rookies. Needless to say, their talents are not top-notch. , but it is also worth looking forward to.
At least for LeBron, who wants to build a championship-winning lineup, such a young lineup is pretty good.
However, perhaps because they are too young, this group of young people made constant mistakes on the court during the first half today.
At first it was just a dribbling or passing error, but later on he couldn't even make a free throw. Originally, the Lakers' financial strength was much stronger than that of the Suns, but when the second half came at the end of the first half, the Lakers failed to play their advantage at all, and instead allowed the Suns to take the lead.
The opponent's core player Devin Booker had his best performance at the start of the season, playing the entire first half and scoring a game-high 27 points.
The points difference between the two sides also gradually widened to double digits.
LeBron, who was sitting off the court and originally planned to take a rest, was quite helpless. He didn't expect the young people's performance to be so bad!
So when head coach Luke Walton passed by him, LeBron also shouted to him, "Coach Luke, replace me in one minute!"
Walton was originally so cold-faced because of the game, but when he heard someone directing him from behind, he couldn't help but become angry.
He is the only one who trains the players on weekdays, but no player dares to speak like this in front of him. But when he turned around and saw that the person speaking was LeBron, the displeasure on Walton's face was immediately replaced by a smile.
Coach Zhan spoke personally, and a new coach like Walton wouldn’t dare to refuse!
"good!"
"LeBron, let's warm up first!"
LeBron nodded at Walton.
Seeing LeBron's good attitude, Walton also walked up to chat with him, "Have you heard? The Knicks won their seventh consecutive victory of the season! Our opponent will be them in the next game. It seems that this game may not be the best." so easy......."
LeBron responded while flexing his wrists and ankles, "The Knicks are very strong! Objectively speaking, their starting lineup is a huge threat to any playoff team in the league... We want It will not be easy to defeat them..."
"By the way! Coach Luke, how's the management going about trading Anthony?"
What LeBron is saying is exactly what the Lakers front office has been doing lately.
Since he came to the Lakers, the Lakers have decided to continue recruiting superstars to Los Angeles. After all, judging from the current lineup, entering the playoffs is not a big problem, but it is not easy to defeat the Warriors and win the championship.
It will definitely not work without signings.
Among the many candidates, Anthony Davis, nicknamed "Big Eyebrow Brother", is the Lakers' favorite choice and LeBron's most desired choice.
You know, the opponent is only 25 years old, and his current talent is very top among the strikers in the entire league. If such a striker can be traded, the Lakers will be competitive for at least the next four years.
"The management is still negotiating! But it seems that the Pelicans are not willing to let go... Also, because of the Davis trade issue, the team has been panicked recently, and these young people are afraid that they will become They are the victims of the team, so they are trying their best to express themselves..."
After Wharton finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh.
The Lakers' trade turmoil really makes young people worry about it.
The reason why young people did not perform well enough in today's game is not only due to their own condition, but also because the young players are trying every means to compete with each other.
If a team wants to win the game, it first needs trust, which means there must be some people who need to sacrifice data to achieve their teammates. But now young players are afraid of being traded, so they all want to score crazy points and put personal data before the interests of the team. How can there be no problems in this case?
"I understand...Leave the game to me!"
"I will find opportunities to enlighten those young players..."
LeBron had finished warming up at this time, and Coach Walton quickly waved to the referee on the side. After the ball was dead on the court, the referee's whistle sounded and LeBron was replaced on the court.
As soon as he came on the court, the Lakers' originally disadvantaged situation began to reverse, and they quickly regained the opponent's lead.
