Chapter 835: No Time to Adjust

Latest website: Two days ago, the Memphis Grizzlies were one of the few teams in the league with full personnel.

But now, the Grizzlies' injury list has instantly increased to two people.

Randolph suffered a severe knee sprain while playing against the Suns on the 5th, and his return date has yet to be determined.

During team training on the 6th, Iguodala tore his calf muscle and his return date has not yet been determined.

The Grizzlies' consecutive away games have caused them to fall into an injury cycle. Moreover, Randolph and Iguodala's injuries are relatively serious.

Speaking of which, the Grizzlies' schedule in recent games is really weird. Starting from playing the Pacers on October 31, the Grizzlies won't have a home game until November 11!

In the meantime, the Grizzlies will have to experience 6 consecutive visitors! Playing away games, or consecutive away games, undoubtedly consumes a lot of physical energy on the players.

They had just played 4 games in this 6-game away game, and two people fell down. Joger did not dare to send the main force to fight anymore.

So much so that when the Grizzlies faced the Thunder without Durant and Westbrook on November 7, the Grizzlies did not dare to attack with all their strength.

"This was originally going to be a fierce battle, but because both teams have suffered serious injuries, the excitement of today's game will definitely be greatly reduced. Speaking of which, the defending champion Grizzlies have also been in trouble recently. There were actually reports of injuries for two days in a row. Fortunately, Link is safe and sound, otherwise the Grizzlies' title defense journey would have been really difficult."

Before the game started, the commentators talked most about injuries. This is not just the Grizzlies, but every team is facing the dilemma of injuries to one degree or another.

Due to the absence of Durant and Westbrook, this may be the most "gentle" game Link has played with the Thunder since joining the Grizzlies.

Although Serge Ibaka and Reggie Jackson, who has just come back, want to support the team, their strength cannot be compared with the Gemini.

In the end, the remnant Grizzlies defeated the also remnant Thunder by 10 points on the road. And 10 points is the smallest point difference the Grizzlies have experienced so far this season.

Link scored 28 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds. The statistics were still gorgeous, but he only played 33 minutes in the game.

Jorge really didn't dare to let Link play more, so he reduced Link's playing time.

Although the Grizzlies won the victory without any danger,

Won 6 consecutive wins to start the season. But this game still allowed people to see the many problems left by the Grizzlies after experiencing injuries.

First of all, Ibaka's 26 points infinitely expanded the impact of Randolph's absence.

The Grizzlies could only start with Harris, so Ibaka seized the opportunity to hit the basket with outstanding effect.

After Harris started, the Grizzlies had no substitute fourth position available. Ezeli must fill two positions by one person, playing back and forth between the fifth and fourth positions. But this is a temporary solution rather than a permanent solution, and the effect is extremely poor. At one point, Link even had to go inside to fight Ibaka hand-to-hand.

The absence of Iguodala has also greatly reduced the Grizzlies' bench firepower.

Now on the bench, only Tony Allen can replace Link. If the Grizzlies use all the substitutes, it will be Dellavedova + Carter + Tony Allen + Ezeli. Among these people, only Carter has the ability to attack independently!

The entire Grizzlies bench offense was on Carter! Once Carter feels bad, the Grizzlies offense will stall.

Today's game was like this. At the end of the third quarter, Joger came on four substitutes in order to protect the starting players. As a result, because only old Carter could score, the Grizzlies went through an embarrassing period of two minutes without scoring.

Taking advantage of those 2 minutes, the Thunder, led by Reggie Jackson, narrowed the score and even almost took the lead. Otherwise, the final score difference would not be only 10 points.

Although the Grizzlies still won the game in the end, the impact of injuries was also obvious.

On the one hand, Joger does not want to overwork the main players. On the other hand, in order to ensure combat effectiveness, he must increase the playing time of the main players.

These contradictory ideas made Qiaogel very struggling.

Against the Thunder, which lacks its star, the Grizzlies can barely get by. But if facing a truly strong enemy, can the Grizzlies continue to win?

The most terrible thing is that there is still no time for the Grizzlies to sign new players or adjust the lineup. Because a powerful opponent happened to appear in front of the Grizzly Bear. Moreover, they met back to back!

24 hours later, the defending champion Grizzlies will fly to the space city of Houston to face the Rockets, who are currently 6 wins and 0 losses!

So far, the Houstonians have not encountered any injury problems, and they have won a record of victory as a result.

As one of the Grizzlies' mortal enemies, they will certainly not let go of this best opportunity to defeat the defending champion. Moreover, the Houstonians will never let their 6-game winning streak be interrupted easily.

The battle after 24 hours is destined to be quite difficult for the Grizzlies, who are currently short of major generals.

※※※

Houstonians have been looking forward to the team's re-emergence for a long time, especially in the past two years, after Harden and Howard joined, they all have high expectations for the team.

But for two consecutive years, the team disappointed them.

In the 12-13 season, Harden and Jeremy Lin landed in Houston. People expected this backcourt combination to bring Houston back to the championship ranks.

However, Harden's performance has been hit or miss since his breakout at the beginning of the season. Jeremy Lin never performed like he did in New York.

In the end, Houston disappointingly almost failed to make the playoffs and only finished eighth in the Western Conference. And they were blown out by the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

In the 13-14 season, on the basis of Harden and Jeremy Lin, Houston acquired Howard. This time, they thought the team was really going to take off.

As a result, Howard's performance was unsatisfactory, and he no longer had the dominance he had during the Magic era, and Harden was still good and bad every game. As for Jeremy Lin, his superstar aura has completely faded.

Although their final result of fifth place in the Western Conference was much better than that in the 12-13 season. But they still missed out in the first round in the playoffs and returned disappointed for the second consecutive year.

But this year, things have changed. Everyone believed that the days of disappointment were coming to an end.

While keeping the core lineup unchanged, Houston added old general Ariza, and "Warcraft" Howard and Harden also seemed to be hungry for victory.

They started with a 6-game winning streak, breaking the Rockets' best start record in 18 years!

In the history of the Rockets, there have been a total of 3 starts with more than 5 consecutive victories, and in every season with such a start, the Rockets have reached the finals!

Therefore, it is understandable that Houstonians have great expectations for their team.

If the Rockets can topple the Grizzlies in the next game...well, then the finals seems to be no longer a dream!

It's not just Houston fans who think so, but also Houston players.

The day before the game, Dwight Howard smiled very easily when being interviewed by reporters.

"The Grizzlies, who are not protected by good luck, will be torn apart. We are unstoppable now, and I believe we can continue to win. This league has been changing, and now, it is time to change the administration."

Howard, who once only played "happy basketball" but now also craves honor, seems to be impatient to compete with the defending champion.

He was gearing up, ready to take the opportunity to pull the grizzly bear off the altar.