One Thousand Two Hundred and Seventeen: Are You Serious?

The NBA preseason has officially begun. Although it is only a preseason game, it is enough to feast the eyes of fans who have been waiting all summer.

After all, the personnel changes in each team this summer are huge. Fans can't wait to see how this new team will perform.

The Grizzlies' opponents in the five preseason games were not strong, namely the Hornets, Thunder and Spurs.

As for the other two teams, one is a Japanese league team and the other is a European league team, they are not even a threat.

Although Link has stated that he will only play a maximum of 15 minutes per game, and may even not play at all.

However, the first game against a Japanese league team still attracted a lot of fans.

This is the status of the Memphis Grizzlies in the world now, just like Jordan's Bulls were also popular around the world.

In this game, the Grizzlies won easily.

Link only played for five minutes. If he hadn't been asked to show his face, Link wouldn't have wanted to play at all.

Of course, this game also made people look forward to the showdown between Link and Japanese rookie Rui Hachimura in the new season.

After so many years, the NBA has not staged an Asian Derby for a long, long time. This time, it's finally here.

However, during the interview, Link did not say anything nice.

"Play against me? He won't be willing, believe me. If he is willing, then he won't be willing the second time."

Link is not the kind of person who would save face for a rookie and say "you have a lot of hope".

He doesn't even think about the rookie showdown now. Compared with the four consecutive championships, any rookie showdown is simply too unreasonable.

No matter whether he is Rui Hachimura or No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, as long as he dares to block the way, Link will win them all.

In the second game in Spain, the Grizzlies also easily defeated Barcelona.

In this game, Jokic scored a massive triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.

This guy probably still remembers the shameful black history of being returned by Barcelona because he was too fat.

Originally, the focus of this game was Link and Gasol, who was fighting locally.

As a result, one of the two did not play, and the other only played 13 minutes.

Jokic came out halfway to add drama to himself, and he suddenly became the protagonist.

With a two-game winning streak, the Grizzlies returned to Memphis to face the Spurs, the first NBA team in the preseason.

The Spurs have not made any major lineup changes this season, and DeRozan and Aldridge are still the core.

Last season, the Spurs barely made the playoffs. But this season, as DeRozan and Aldridge are one year older, and other teams have strengthened, people believe that the Spurs' 22-year streak of reaching the playoffs may be over. .

But after today's game started, DeRozan was in excellent form.

He seemed to want to tell everyone: "The Spurs are not done yet."

As soon as the game started, DeRozan helped the team open the scoring through a mid-range shot. After he and Forbes hit three-pointers one after another, the Spurs also launched an 8-2 offensive.

Since then, the Spurs' outside shooting has continued to be hot. DeRozan, a guy who has never been good at long-range shooting, suddenly made a good shot today.

At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs took a 30-20 advantage.

At this time, everyone thought that Link would definitely increase his playing time.

No matter how weak the Spurs are, they will always be at the Western Conference playoff level. If Link didn't take action, it would be difficult for the Grizzlies to guarantee victory.

As a result, after the start of the second quarter, Link was still sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai. But the game situation took a 180° turn.

Rose, JaMychal Green and Dillon Brooks hit consecutive three-pointers, instantly narrowing the point difference to only 1 point.

After that, Dwight Howard unexpectedly completed a make-up dunk, helping the Grizzlies score 11 consecutive points to overtake the lead.

After this wave of offensive, the Grizzlies' morale was greatly boosted, and they continued to suppress the Spurs, and finally won the game 104-96.

Link played 8 minutes and scored 2 points and 2 rebounds, which was basically non-existent.

So this game is the first real NBA game that other Grizzlies players won by their own strength!

Rose had 22 points and 5 assists, showing his MVP qualities, as if he had really returned to the No. 1 era.

Dillon Brooks had 19 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds. He really lived up to Link's expectations.

JaMychal Green scored 17 points, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. This forward No. 00 perfectly completed the tactics arranged by the coach.

Except for the three of them, "Master Huo's" data of 8 points and 8 rebounds may not be eye-catching. But his putback dunk and his hard-working attitude on the court also made the fans' eyes shine.

You know, Howard was not like this when he was with the Hawks, Hornets and Wizards. People were surprised that Howard would actually make such a big change.

Although there has been a saying before: "Every player who goes to the Grizzlies will be reborn."

But Howard's change is too exaggerated. "Warcraft" played a total of 1,139 games from the first NBA game of his rookie season to last season, including the playoffs.

Among them, he started 1138 times!

Even in his rookie season, Howard started all 82 games.

Even if you are the top pick, this is extremely high treatment.

To put it bluntly, Howard has been playing "prince ball" from the first day he entered the league. What is the substitute? Can it be eaten?

This is also the reason why Howard still regards himself as a big name in the past few years, because he has never played any other role other than a big name.

He will only play according to the rules of the big names.

But this year, Howard not only played as a substitute, he was very happy being a blue-collar player.

Even when he is on the bench, he will celebrate passionately when his teammates score. In short, Howard works hard all the time to deliver energy to the team in a blue-collar way.

Everyone was shocked. Howard's soul might have been secretly changed!

In any case, the Grizzlies still won this game without Link making a move.

After the game, Link went out of his way to leave a message on Sam Smith's social media: "Why are you mute? We defeated the Spurs, who are famous for their unity, which shows that we are indeed a very good team. Now, what else do you have to say? Idiot!"

Sam Smith's mouth twitched with anger. He really didn't expect that the grizzly bear could burst out with such powerful combat power.

All he can do now is wait, waiting for the Grizzlies to lose. As long as the Grizzlies lose, he has a chance to counterattack!

But it is a pity that until all preseason games were completed, Sam Smith did not wait for the day when the Grizzlies lost.

In the next two preseason games, the Grizzlies defeated the Hornets and Thunder respectively.

Facing the Hornets, who were leaderless after losing Kemba Walker, Link scored 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 15 minutes of playing!

During one of the dunks, Link, who was gliding in the air, glanced at Hornets owner Jordan who was sitting on the bench.

This meaningful look was considered to be Link's formal challenge to Jordan!

After the game, Jordan also said frankly: "Don't underestimate Link, that guy is definitely the number one dangerous person."

Sam Smith feels so bitter, why didn’t you say it earlier...

In the last game against the Thunder, led by Paul, Gasol made 4 of 5 three-pointers and scored 22 points and 10 rebounds, proving that he still has enough strength to assist Link and is by no means the high-paid incompetent that people say.

In this way, the Grizzlies won 5 games in the preseason!

Moreover, as promised, Link's most appearances were only 15 minutes.

These 5 games can basically be said to have been won by the rest of the Grizzlies on their own!

After the preseason, the Grizzlies' combat effectiveness exceeded most people's expectations.

Many people thought that the Grizzlies' lineup was not very competitive, but after a major overhaul, the Grizzlies were still strong.

In the latest strength rankings, the Grizzlies, who performed well, were ranked fourth behind the luxurious Clippers, Bucks and 76ers.

Before that, the Grizzlies were only ranked sixth!

But even so, Chris Wallace is still not satisfied.

"The Grizzlies are not number one? This ranking is fucking bullshit!"

Chris Wallace has now left ESPN, so he can also complain about ESPN articles without hesitation.

In the player strength rankings for the new season, Link still ranks first, ahead of Leonard, James, Durant, Curry and Antetokounmpo.

Even though he barely played in the preseason.

The Grizzlies have indeed proven that they still have the strength to win four consecutive championships, but this is still a difficult road.

However, one of Link's comments after the preseason game aroused fans' imagination.

"The warm-up is over, now it's time to get serious."

You're still warming up and you're ranked fourth in the strength rankings. Are you serious?

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