Nine Hundred and Fourteen: I Really Didn’t Want to Win the Best Award of the Month.

James Harden was sitting in the locker room, looking lonely.

For those who don’t know, I must have thought that the Rockets lost again today.

But in fact, the Rockets played very well today. James Harden also put in an efficient performance, embarrassing Pope.

Ariza, who had just walked out of the shower room, saw that Harden seemed to be in something wrong, so he went up to ask with concern.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy that you're going to win the Best of the Month award soon?" Ariza patted Harden on the shoulder. He was as confident as Harden.

"It would be great if I could really get it. What I'm afraid of is that I can't get it." Harden still frowned.

"How is it possible? As far as I know, in the past half month, you have basically occupied the front page of the major sports media. If Link has any exaggerated performance, the media will definitely be the first to report on him. ." Ariza thought Harden was a little too nervous.

Ever since Randolph broke out and defeated Aldridge, the Memphis Grizzlies have been in a tepid state.

We occasionally see news about grizzly bears on the news, but only in a few words.

Link no longer broke any incredible records, nor did he wait for three pairs at every turn.

On the contrary, Harden is often reported for his outstanding performance.

At least judging from his influence in this half-month, Harden has a better chance of winning the best player of the month.

Moreover, Ariza is well aware that the Player of the Month award is hard-earned. When he was playing next to Kobe, Kobe didn't always win the best of the month award.

Especially in the West, it is even more difficult to win the title of Best Monthly Award, let alone three consecutive Best Monthly Awards.

After listening to Ariza's words, Harden's mood did not improve.

He just shook the phone and handed it to Ariza.

Ariza didn't know what Harden meant, so he only took the phone and looked at it.

It turned out that on the phone, there was a fresh article from ESPN.

The title of this article already points out everything below, "Link VS Harden, prediction of the best player in the Western Conference in January."

Ariza read the title,

I was immediately interested, so I read on.

"James Harden's performance in January was very good. In the words of Pacers coach Frank Vogel, Harden played an MVP-level performance."

Ariza smiled slightly when he saw the beginning of this paragraph. Isn't this a good evaluation?

Next, there is a long summary of Harden's January. The average data per game, wins, how many games with 30+ points, how many near triple-doubles, etc. were all compiled.

If you only read the beginning of this article, you would definitely think that Harden's best of the month is guaranteed.

But halfway through the article, a sudden turn occurred.

"Harden's performance in January was indeed great, and he even had a 40+ scoring game, but..."

Seeing this "but", Ariza knew something was wrong, and he also somewhat guessed why Harden was frustrated now.

"...However, Link's performance in January is not worse than Harden. First, look at the team's record. The Rockets' record in January is 11 wins and 6 losses. The Memphis Grizzlies' record in January is, It’s 14 wins and 1 loss! So far, the Grizzlies have won 13 consecutive games. And this is already the second 13-game winning streak for the Grizzlies this season.”

"Looking at the personal data performance next, Link did not have another miracle of consecutive triple-doubles in January, did not score 40+ points in a game, and did not average a triple-double. But the data of assists and 7.3 rebounds per game are still More complete and better than Harden."

Seeing this, Ariza was a little surprised.

Grizzlies win 13th straight? Only lost one game in January?

Why didn't you have any impression before?

Logically speaking, this kind of news should be widely reported by the media.

Moreover, Link's performance in January was actually better than Harden, but there was no disturbance in the media.

On the contrary, it was Harden who became the favorite of the media.

Only then did Ariza realize that he had been too optimistic before.

With his record and personal data inferior to Link's, Harden's best of the month seems to be on the line again.

Perhaps to the media, Link's near-triple-double score of 20+ points is already commonplace, and it is not worth reporting at all.

13 consecutive wins? That's the norm too. The Warriors have won 16 consecutive games this season, so it's no surprise that the Grizzlies have won 13 consecutive games.

For the media, when the Grizzlies lose or Link suddenly performs poorly, that is something worth talking about.

On the surface, Link seems to have been suppressed by Harden for the past half month. But that's not because Harden's performance is really better than Link's, but because Link's regular performance is better than Harden's highlight month...

Thinking about it this way, it is not difficult for Ariza to understand Harden's mood at this time.

Your best state is nothing more than someone else's normal operation. This huge gap can easily lead to self-doubt.

After Ariza read the article, he couldn't laugh anymore. He patted Harden on the shoulder again, but this time it meant something completely different.

"It doesn't matter... maybe they are tired of aesthetics? Maybe people need a new best candidate of the month."

"Yeah, maybe..." Harden sighed, wanting to win the Best of the Month for the first time in his career, why is it so difficult.

※※※

On February 2, 2015, the NBA regular season continued.

After the battle in January, the Grizzlies further consolidated their No. 1 spot in the Western Conference.

At this time, neither the Warriors' 38 wins and 8 losses nor the Hawks' 40 wins and 8 losses can be compared with the Grizzlies' 41 wins and 6 losses.

Randolph's return has indeed allowed the Grizzlies to regain their former dominance.

Of course, Link's consistent and stable performance is the key to the Grizzlies' ability to stand out.

Today, the Grizzlies will continue their path forward in Phoenix.

Half an hour before the start of the game, the NBA officially announced the final results of the best players in the East and West in December.

The best player in the Eastern Conference in December was awarded to all five starting five players of the Hawks for the first time.

In the past, the NBA has had situations where two people in a division were selected at the same time.

For example, James and Wade were selected as the best players in the Eastern Conference in December during the 2010-11 season.

But to award such an honor directly to an entire starting lineup is unprecedented.

The Hawks' performance in January was indeed very good. Like the Grizzlies, they lost one game in the entire month of January.

If the Grizzlies hadn't disrupted the situation, the Hawks would have had a winning month.

As the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference, it is understandable that the best player of the month is selected from the Hawks.

But the troublesome thing is that when the Eagles players are taken individually, it seems that no one really deserves the title of best of the month.

So, the league simply awarded this honor to the entire starting five of the Hawks. All five of them were the best in the Eastern Conference in January!

And the best player in the Western Conference in January was undoubtedly given to the guy who lost the only game the Hawks lost...

At the American Airlines Center, home of the Suns, the reporter found Link warming up on the sidelines and told him that he had become the Western Conference Player of the Month in January.

Moreover, Link is also the first player in NBA history to win three consecutive Best of the Month awards in the Western Conference.

Link was very surprised when he heard the news. He was no less surprised than Ariza when he was watching the news yesterday.

Because in his opinion, he didn't have any explosive performance in January, it was just a routine performance.

And before, didn't the media all say that Harden has the best chance of winning this month's award?

Why is it my turn again! ?

"Link, you must be very excited to be the Western Conference Player of the Month for three consecutive months, right? In a previous interview, you said you didn't care about the Player of the Month, but privately you must still be competing with Harden, right?" The reporter put the microphone close to to Link's mouth.

Link curled his lips, what an injustice!

"Um...you may not believe it when I tell you. I really didn't want to win the Best of the Month! I just didn't expect that with my ordinary performance, I would surpass Harden."

As soon as Link said this, the reporter's eyes widened in disbelief.

This is too disrespectful to Harden!

Link spread his hands helplessly, "So I told you, you may not believe it..."

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