Three Hundred and Thirty-One: The Expressionless Young Man

The day after the Grizzlies-Nuggets game, the news that Afflalo received 11 stitches in the head became the bloodiest news of the day.

O'Neill even joked, "Afflalo may not need so many stitches to go to boxing."

This news undoubtedly highlights the intensity of the series between the Grizzlies and the Nuggets from the side, which is more ruthless than boxing. Basketball has always been a confrontational sport, and neither the Grizzlies nor the Nuggets are "gentlemen's teams."

Nuggets fans have accused Link, saying that Link was a flagrant foul, and he deliberately moved to the right, allowing Efflalo to hit his shoulder. And when Afflalo flipped down, there was no protective action.

But all fans except Denver believed that Link just wanted to avoid the block and blamed Afflalo for not being able to control his body. And at that time, Link must be able to focus on shooting, and there is no need to give up offensive opportunities to protect opponents.

The debate continued from the end of the game to the next day. Although Link was scolded by some fans, he was not angry.

He would rather be scolded, than he didn't want to be the one who got hurt yesterday. The scene when Afflalo stretched his feet in front of him, just thinking about it made Link feel terrified.

In the face of opponents who want to cripple him, Link will not be soft.

If he is lying on the hospital bed now, any praise is meaningless. Link would rather be scolded standing up than praised lying down.

But amidst the many wars of words, people unexpectedly discovered that the rude old man George Karl did not speak up.

There is usually this kind of war of words, and George Karl must be the favorite. Don't talk about criticizing his opponents, when the media complained about his subordinate Anthony, the old Carl had to follow him twice.

However, this gruff old man, who didn't even spare his own players, didn't say anything to Link today, which surprised the reporters.

It seems that since the end of last night's game, old Karl has become less irritable. He even said something like "I admit that I underestimated him", which is seriously inconsistent with the image of George Karl in the media's impression.

After all, the media did not stand in George Karl's position and experience the despair he experienced.

When you try to play rough defense against a player, only to find out he's tougher than you. When you try to do dirty tricks on a player, only to find out he's tougher than you. Just when you thought everything was over, unexpectedly he came to provoke and humiliate you...

Not everyone is "fortunate" to meet such an opponent.

Back then, even Kobe, who was quite the king, did not let George Karl sink so much. But this year, George Karl didn't want to comfort himself.

He knew that if he jumped out and bit people again, he would only be treated as a clown...

So far, the first game of the first round of the series has all been played. Most of the higher-ranked teams have won the game, but the battle is not over. Only the person who wins 4 games first is the real winner.

No matter how brutal the series is, it has to go on.

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In Game 2 of the series, the Grizzlies only beat the Nuggets by 6 points. It seems that the gap is not big, but the actual game is completely different from the score.

George Karl wanted to use a fast-paced offense to break through the Grizzlies' defense, but the first game proved to be ineffective. But there is no way, the Nuggets can only play this way. It is just in the Grizzlies' appetite to sharpen the position one by one.

As a result, the Nuggets bit the bullet and continued to play fast offense, and then Gasol had the data of 4 risks in a single game.

At the last moment, if the Grizzlies had not replaced all the main players, the Nuggets would not be able to narrow the point difference to single digits. , the point difference is not big, but the gap between the two sides is very obvious.

In the third game, Afflalo returned wearing a mask after completing the concussion test. The Nuggets also returned to the Denver Plateau, back to their home court, the Pepsi Center. All Denver fans hope that the Nuggets can make it back.

But the result was quite different from what Denver fans expected.

The returning Afflalo didn't play a big role. The former defensive champion was very gentle when defending Link today, always timid.

Perhaps Afflalo was really scared. He knew very well that the Chinese No. 0 would be fine if he didn't make a move, and if he made a move, he would be playing big. Afflalo shuddered when he thought of the stitches he had just had on his head.

And Afflalo is determined to leave this summer. He really can't stand playing under George Karl anymore, and he doesn't want to bleed for the Nuggets anymore. Once he is not serious and desperate, the defensive champion's skill will be reduced by half.

As a result, Link scored 28 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. The Grizzlies made another victory at the Pepsi Center and easily won the match point!

"I didn't expect the Denver Nuggets to be so vulnerable."

"Before the start of the playoffs, I thought the Nuggets could win at least one game, and at least two games. Now I have to admit, I was wrong."

"Link's progress is obvious to all. In all three games, he dominated the offensive end and also dominated Afflalo. Last season, the Grizzlies' big killer in the playoffs was Zach Randolph. And this season, the sharpest weapon for the Grizzlies is Link!"

At the end of World War Three, the media overwhelmingly favored the Grizzlies. George Karl's cruel words before the game have now become a joke.

No one, not even Nuggets fans themselves, will excuse a loser. Now, people are questioning the Nuggets management and George Karl's coaching ability.

Every time, the Nuggets played extremely gorgeously in the regular season. As a result, when it came to the playoffs, it was always fruitless.

The Nuggets fans have had enough of this ending. Forget about losing to the mighty Lakers in the past few years, but this year they will lose to the Grizzlies, a "not popular" team. The Nuggets fans can't accept it.

But the fact is that in the next game, the Grizzlies will most likely sweep the Nuggets directly to advance. The efforts of the Nuggets all season will be annihilated after four games.

Just the day before the fourth game between the Nuggets and the Grizzlies, the Spurs and the Mavericks took the lead in their fourth game of the series.

The Mavericks have really declined this season. They have fallen behind the Spurs 0 to 3 at this time, and they have struggled throughout the series.

Except for the first game of the series, when the Mavericks caused some trouble for the Spurs, the Spurs almost crushed the Mavericks all the way.

In NBA history, no team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit. In addition, the Mavericks must also face another embarrassing record-they are likely to become the second defending champion in NBA history who was swept out in the first round of the playoffs.

Popovich was serious today, and he didn't allow any mistakes in this game. The Spurs must do the most with the least cost. If the Mavericks can be swept 4-0, Popovich will also be able to fight for a little more rest time for the players.

After the game started, the Spurs players still played very well. Especially the Spurs bench, the bench players combined to score 57 points, this is definitely the depth of the bench that other teams do not have.

In the end, in last season's championship place in Dallas, the San Antonio Spurs cleanly defeated the defending champion Mavericks 87 to 81. This also indicates that the Mavericks' championship journey will come to an end after only one year.

Thinking about how the Mavericks dominated the league last year, and how they are falling down now, one can't help but feel embarrassed.

An evergreen tree like the Spurs is really the only one in the league.

Although the Spurs broke through the first round of the playoffs, Popovich was not too excited. After all, this is something in his plan, and it is the most basic result that the Spurs want to achieve. Just breaking through the first round of the playoffs couldn't make the old man happy.

After returning to the locker room, Popovich called Leonard and Stephen Jackson to his side and told them that Link's game video had been sent to their mailboxes.

"In the next game, I don't want to be beaten as badly as George Karl. Bullying the elderly is a bad behavior, so you have to protect me well."

Having just eliminated the defending champions, Popovich has already set his sights on the Grizzlies who knocked them out of the playoffs last season.

This year, Popovich is confident. Because Link's opponent is no longer as easy to deal with as Richard Jefferson last season.

After listening to Popovich, a young man with an expressionless face nodded slightly.

He likes to confront the strong, and now, the strong is here.

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