Chapter 1148 Major Events Before the All-Star Game
Time returns to the last 6 seconds of the game between the Hornets and the Lakers. The Lakers are still behind by two points. These two points were Chris Paul's two free throws 30 seconds ago. In these dozens of seconds, the Hornets' defense was surprisingly good, and the referee was also very generous. , several balls that could or could not be whistled were not whistled, allowing the Hornets to escape disaster many times.
But this is understandable. Things like home whistles have always existed, but there is less and less time left for the Lakers.
In the last six seconds, Zen Master left the opportunity to Kobe. Unfortunately, Kobe's three-pointer bounced out of the frame and failed.
"Kobe failed to score a three-pointer, and the Hornets won! The Lakers' 14-game winning streak ended." Yu Jia said with a hint of regret after the game.
No one expected that the Lakers would suffer a defeat in the first game of their Grammy tour. They lost to the Hornets at a 2-point disadvantage, ending the two-season winning record against the Hornets and ending their own 14-game winning streak. This is also The Lakers lost their third game this season, and their current record has reached 42 wins and 3 losses.
After the game, Paul was so excited that he fell on his back near the center circle. He had been waiting for this day for too long. He finally defeated Ji Feng in the NBA!
After the game, Paul enthusiastically stated in the media that this was the day he broke through the shackles, while Hornets fans are looking forward to the Hornets' victory over the Lakers to continue the glory of last season.
After the game, the media naturally praised the Hornets a lot. After all, the Hornets are the only playoff team to defeat the Lakers so far this season.
It may sound unbelievable, but this is the horror of the Lakers this season. Before this game, no team in the playoffs could defeat the Lakers, and the Hornets were the first.
So you can imagine how excited the media across the United States was when the Lakers lost.
The New Orleans Sports News said unabashedly: "The Hornets' victory gives confidence to all playoff teams in the league and teams eager to touch the O'Brien Cup."
The local TV commentator in New Orleans even called Paul's final free throw an incredible way to kill the ball. He even called Paul's performance inspiring and said that he is the most powerful No. 1 position in this era.
However, Paul only scored 18 points and 13 assists in this game, with no steals. Except for the last two free throws, his performance at other times was average, at least not as awesome as they praised. After all, the data does not lie. Knowing that he was facing off against Farmar, a third-year player, he did not perform at a suppressive level. The latter replaced Fisher in the starting lineup and scored 13 points and 6 assists.
Compared with Ji Feng, Ji Feng scored 32 points, 14 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. His personal performance was impeccable, while Kobe also had 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
The biggest contributor to the Hornets' victory was of course the inside line. Chandler finally counterattacked tonight. He had the best performance of his career, making 12 of 14 shots from the field, 7 of 12 free throws, and scored 31 points. points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks, while his opponent Radmanovic only scored 10 points, not to mention his performance.
With Gasol's 22 points and West's 24 points evenly matched, it was Chandler's advantage in this position that allowed the Hornets to survive.
The Lakers' performance was actually pretty good, but they just lacked a little bit of luck, so the whole team didn't have any big mood swings after the loss. As Ji Feng said after the game, this was just a regular season game. And they have only lost three games so far, and there is no team in history that has performed better than them during the same period.
Unfortunately, they failed to win the last game of the month, but the Lakers immediately adjusted their state. On February 1st, they went back-to-back to Season Peak's old club, the Memphis Grizzlies, where they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies neatly 115-98. Beat the Grizzlies and maintain their record of no losing streak.
Bynum still did not return in this game, and Kobe also chose to rest for one game. Originally, before the game, the media said that the Lakers might suffer a losing streak if they dared to be so confident after losing.
However, during the game, it was discovered that the Lakers were absolutely confident in their own strength. Although Kobe and Bynum were missing two scoring points inside and outside, the Lakers were still strong.
Jackson put Ariza into the starting lineup and asked Ji Feng to play the No. 2 position. This is the third position Ji Feng has played this season. He also successfully achieved a full swing at the 1, 2, and 3 positions.
Ji Feng plays the second position just to give full play to his personal offensive ability. After all, Kobe takes a rest, and all the outside firepower is concentrated on Ji Feng.
Ji Feng also repaid Zen Master's trust. Ji Feng was very active from the beginning of this game. He hit 5 consecutive mid-range shots at the beginning. His perfect performance convinced many fans at the scene and began to cheer for Ji Feng. Come on Feng, this is where Ji Feng’s dream started, and there are still many fans of Ji Feng.
42 points, 8 assists and 14 rebounds in three quarters!
Ji Feng hit another fantastic figure!
This game once again dispelled people's doubts about Ji Feng after losing the last game. Even the Memphis home commentator was conquered by Ji Feng. He bluntly said that if Ji Feng stayed, the current Grizzlies would be in a different situation.
After the game, Ji Feng and Gasol also had dinner with Conley and Gasol, whom they are familiar with. They will rest for one night in Memphis before setting off.
Two days later, the Lakers appeared in the Motor City in the East. That night was a contest between the Lakers and the Pistons.
If this game were placed two years ago, it would definitely be a focus battle. At that time, the Lakers and Pistons were old enemies, and it was also a duel between the strongest spears and shields. The confrontation between the Pistons' five tigers and the Lakers' five tigers was full of suspense, including two exciting games for the fans last season.
However, just one season later, when the two teams met again, it was a completely different situation. The Lakers were still the Lakers, but the Pistons were no longer the Pistons.
Nowadays, Billups, the Pistons' boss, has left the team, leaving only Rasheed Wallace and other three people struggling to support him. The iron-blooded team of the year is hard to find, but Allen Iverson, who newly joined the team, is hard to find. Get used to the style here.
The Pistons have proven to people this season what it means to fall at the speed of light. It only took a few months to go from being a contender for the Eastern Conference championship to being a fringe team competing for playoff spots.
Today's Pistons are only ranked 9th in the Eastern Conference and are at risk of not even making the playoffs.
The Pistons are currently facing internal and external troubles. In addition to the dissatisfaction of the veterans with the current situation of the team, there are also various trade rumors. It is said that the Pistons intend to put all veterans on the shelf. Last month, Iverson and the management were also exposed. The contradiction between them is that the AI was not even included in the squad for this game.
It's a strange thing that an All-Star starter can't make the team roster.
The Lakers also played very easily in this game. Kobe and Bynum returned. The entire Lakers team faced the Pistons' remnant team. They established a 12-point advantage in the first quarter. The point difference expanded to 23 points at halftime. The game lost suspense early.
108-88, the Lakers won two consecutive games.
And just when the Lakers were preparing to continue their journey, a big incident broke out in the league!