One Thousand One Hundred and Fifteen: A Powerful Existence that Has Been Ignored

The Denver Nuggets lost in the end, with a 33-point margin. This was their worst loss of the season.

Kawhi Leonard was the biggest contributor to the Spurs' victory today, with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

A very typical "Link-style" data.

What is "Link-style" data? That is, they can fill in numbers in every data column except errors!

In addition to the dazzling statistics, Leonard's defense also made the Nuggets experience what it means to be desperate.

Today, the Nuggets have a total of three people playing against Leonard. They are Chandler, Mudiay and Will Barton.

The hit rates of these three people today were 36.4%, 20% and 33.3% respectively. It was a large-scale rollover scene.

Their shooting percentage can only remind everyone of one word - appalling.

Leonard once again used his extremely destructive power to destroy the Nuggets' entire perimeter!

This "war machine" has been killing for most of the season.

As soon as the game ended, a bunch of reporters immediately gathered in front of Leonard.

But Leonard has never been a talkative person, and when faced with reporters' questions, his answers were quite satisfactory.

But only on one question, reporters discovered that Leonard's face, which seemed to be paralyzed, had a subtle expression change.

"In the next game, the Spurs will play against the Grizzlies for the first time this season. Do you have anything to say about this? How do you think you and Link will play?"

As soon as this question came out, Leonard frowned slightly. Sure enough, only Link in the entire league could make this expression appear on the face of the paralyzed man.

Link, this name is very harsh to Leonard.

Although he doesn't have a rivalry with Link like Durant. It's not like James, who is always compared to Link.

But in fact, both sides have been secretly competing with each other.

From the last glorious period of GDP to now, Leonard has always been the player that the Spurs and Link have faced off against the most.

certainly,

The relationship between Link and Leonard doesn't stop there.

People only remember that the Warriors eliminated the Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals last season, but they forget that the Grizzlies defeated the Spurs in the tiebreaker to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

People only remember that Link is this year's All-Star vote leader, but forget that if it weren't for Link, Leonard might have become this year's All-Star starter!

Although Leonard never complained in front of the media and never had any altercation with Link.

But this doesn't mean that he doesn't want to win in his heart, and it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to become an All-Star starter!

Leonard still remembers the heartache after losing in the tiebreaker last season.

In Duncan's final season, the entire Spurs team originally wanted to make something famous. As a result, everything was ruined by Game 7.

In the tiebreaker of last season's Western Conference semifinals, if Link hadn't scored five points in a row at the critical moment, the Spurs would not have been eliminated.

And those 5 points were all scored on top of Leonard's head.

Since then, Leonard has been waiting for a chance at redemption.

Duncan can't come back, and it's impossible to restart last season's tiebreaker.

But at least now, he has a chance to avenge his shame!

"Kavai?" Seeing that Leonard didn't bite for a long time, the reporter called him again.

"Well... I have nothing to say at the moment. I can't say what the match between me and Link will be like. The performance on the field can tell everything."

Leonard turned around and left without providing any hot topics for reporters.

Perhaps this is why Leonard is often overlooked.

But in fact, the trouble this guy caused to Link may not be less than Durant...

Although Leonard himself didn't say much, at the press conference after the game, the coaches of both sides said a lot on behalf of the "facial paralysis man".

Popovich said the same thing again, "How do you evaluate Kawhi's performance? That guy was so selfish today. He scored nearly 30 points by himself. There is no doubt that I will criticize him."

When a Spurs player scores a high score in a game, Popovich always says this.

However, this is actually just a different kind of showing off.

On the other side, Nuggets coach Mike Malone also had high praise for Leonard.

"How should I put it? He destroyed almost all the players I sent against him. His defensive ability is amazing, and his offense is much more mature than before. Now Kawhi is already a mature player. A superstar."

Mike Malone was not stingy with his compliments. After all, he lost so much today, and no matter how much he explained, it would be in vain.

It would be better to praise your opponent and relieve some of the embarrassment.

"So, who do you think is stronger, Link or Kawai? Who do you think will win in the game the day after tomorrow?" The reporters did not let Mike Malone go, but threw this hot question on his head.

In the past, Mike Malone would have said without hesitation: "Of course Link will win."

But today, after experiencing the fear of being dominated by Leonard, Mike Malone no longer thinks so.

"I don't know, I can't predict. The only thing I can tell you is that it will definitely be the fight of the century."

The duel between Leonard and Link... this kind of monster is simply unpredictable by ordinary people.

※※※

Link looked at the schedule, looked at the red circle on February 6th, and clenched his fists.

The San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard, they are definitely the most underrated team and star this season.

After defeating the Nuggets, the Spurs' record has become 39 wins and 11 losses, ranking third in the Western Conference.

This result may not be as good as the Grizzlies' exaggerated 48 wins and 4 losses after their 15-game winning streak, or even worse than the Warriors' current 43 wins and 8 losses.

But this does not mean that the Spurs have a bad record. It can only mean that the Grizzlies and Warriors have very good records.

With 39 wins and 11 losses, no team in the league can reach such heights.

If you have to count it out, the Spurs are only 3 games away from the Warriors.

But despite the small gap, the Warriors and Grizzlies have been the most discussed this season, often leaving the Spurs aside.

However, Link will not ignore the Spurs. He has not forgotten the tough matchup with the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals last season.

Although the Grizzlies were full of injuries last season, they were forced to the tiebreaker by the Spurs, which was indeed very embarrassing.

As for Leonard, a superstar who combines offense and defense, Link will not ignore his existence.

Until last season, Leonard was still living under the umbrella of GDP. So this season, Leonard is really on his own.

Averaged 25.5 points per game, 38% three-point shooting, and 1.8 steals.

It is no exaggeration to say that he is one of the best three positions in the league!

With his statistics and performance, he would be considered an All-Star starter in the Eastern Conference. In the West, if it weren't for Link and Durant, Leonard would never be just a substitute.

After Duncan left, Leonard ushered in a real explosion and growth. It can be said that if the Spurs did not have Aldridge, their ranking might drop a bit.

But if the Spurs lose Leonard, they may not even make it to the playoffs.

Dealing with Leonard is not much easier than dealing with Durant.

The Spurs are also aiming for the championship this year, but people think this is a matter of course.

Everyone is used to the strength of the Spurs, and they are used to them occupying a playoff spot for decades.

As a result, people don't really realize how strong the Spurs are this season.

Thinking of this, Link shook his head and stopped staring at the red circle on the schedule.

Indeed, the hype for this game was not that intense, and there was no pre-game shouting match.

But the difficulty of this game will not be reduced because of this.

A taciturn challenger, already on his way to Memphis.

And what Link needs to do is to destroy them again!

But obviously, this game may be as difficult as last season's tiebreaker.

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