Eighty-Seven: Heavy Opponent

The photo of Link and Randolph taking a group photo with the children at the orphanage was put on the front page of the official website by the Grizzlies.

There is no doubt that the Grizzlies' biggest concern right now is the team's image. So, they also tried their best to save.

However, a team's image cannot be maintained solely by off-field events. The best way to truly make fans fall in love with a team is to win!

But recently in terms of winning, the Grizzlies have done a very average job.

In the first two games after Mayo was suspended, it was found that Link was the Grizzlies' starting No. 2 in place of the one-time favorite. On the 16th and 18th, the Grizzlies faced the Mavericks and the Bulls respectively, and only achieved a record of 1 win and 1 loss.

In the face of the Dallas Mavericks, Link's performance was quite satisfactory. With Guy and Randolph taking most of the shots, Link scored 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. In the end, due to Nowitzki's injury midway, the Grizzlies also easily killed the Mavericks.

Link still remembers that this year's championship is the Dallas Mavericks. And arguably, the Mavericks are one of the most unpopular championships in history.

After all, this year, the Lakers have not completely declined, the Thunder are on the rise, and the Spurs are still strong. Moreover, the East has just formed the Miami Big Three. It stands to reason that, with only one Nowitzki's calf, there is no hope of winning the championship.

However, they just won by magic. Nowitzki also relied on this year's championship to get rid of the infamy of "soft egg" in one fell swoop, and greatly improved his historical status in the NBA.

But now playing with the Mavericks, Link really doesn't feel that this is a team with the strength to win the championship. Maybe it's because the Mavericks are not fighting enough now, and Nowitzki is also injured and retired.

89 to 70, a low-scoring game, the Grizzlies easily killed the Mavericks and welcomed the three-game winning streak.

With the Mavericks, the Memphis fans cheered. After all, the victory in this game proved that Mayo's absence had no effect on the team at all. Although Link's playing is not as entertaining as Mayo's, he is more efficient.

In some ways, Link is even better than Mayo.

However, the Memphis fans weren't happy for long when the Grizzlies lost. Moreover, the loss of this game also pushed Link to the forefront.

On January 18, after continuing the Dallas Mavericks, the Grizzlies ushered in the challenge of the Chicago Bulls at home.

At this time, the Bulls were in full swing, and Rose won the honor of the youngest regular season MVP this season. In the East, the Bulls are also considered to be the only team other than the Celtics that can compete with the Heat.

Today, the Bulls showed their formidable strength at FedEx Arena.

Derrick Rose used unreasonable shocks to create damage again and again, causing Pau Gasol to fall into foul trouble early on.

As a result, Lionel Hollins had to increase Thabeet's playing time. But when Thabee came up, it was basically a large colander.

He's okay to stand under the basket, but once he's caught, it's basically useless. That guy's lateral movement speed is too slow, and he doesn't have any ability to make up defenses at all. When he ran into Ross, who was as fast as lightning, Thabeet couldn't even catch the shadow of others.

In addition to this point of Ross, "British Jordan" Lor Deng made Guy very embarrassed today.

The Englishman used his excellent running skills and steady shooting to score on Gay's head frequently. In addition to the offense, Lor Deng has also caused huge trouble for Gay on the defensive end.

Originally, Lor Deng was a defensive fighter, and his height and wingspan were not at a disadvantage compared to Guy. Gay, who was too impatient, simply sacrificed a 1-for-10 today, only scored 9 points in the whole game, and ended it hastily. If it weren't for the 10 free throws he got today, he wouldn't even get 9 points.

Ross and Lor Deng put Randolph and Guy in trouble, respectively,

The last straw that broke the grizzly bear was the innocent-looking white shooter Korver.

Link is Korver's matchup. Korver is obviously a substitute, but in fact he is the real starter of the Bulls. Because, his playing time is much longer than the starting Keith Bogans.

This white shooter Link is very familiar. His three-point shooting rate during the Eagles period was sky-high, and he also followed James to win a lot of attention after he went to the Cavaliers. As long as fans who often watch football, will not be unfamiliar with him.

So today, Link desperately defended himself. He knows Korver's skill is to shoot threes, and as long as he stops this guy's threes, he stops the Bulls at the 2.

However, Korver's feel today is really too bad. Link has been sealed to Korver's face several times, but this guy can shoot the ball!

Sometimes, certain players do have this magic, that no matter how the other side interferes, he can score. And today, this kind of unfortunate thing happened to Link.

In the end, Korver shot 60% of his three-pointers! He took 10 shots from beyond the arc and hit 6! And Link can guarantee that Korver has scored 4 of the 6 goals, and he has actually blocked it very well.

But no way, who made Link catch up? Korver blasted 22 points off the bench, knocking Link, who only scored 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, into scum. The Bulls are not only good offense, but also very tight on defense under Thibodeau's training. Also, there is a lot of focus on team defense.

Link does not suffer in a one-on-one single against Korver, but once he breaks through, he will always encounter help defense. So today, Link did not play too dazzlingly.

With Randolph, Guy and Link all pinned down, the Bulls staged a bloodbath at FedEx Arena.

96 to 84, the Bulls defeated the Grizzlies by 12 points, ending the Grizzlies' three-game winning streak. And this game also caused Link to be questioned after the game.

"He actually allowed Korver to score 22 points, and he only got 13 points. There is no doubt that he is not suitable for starting the second position. Coach Hollins, should consider starting Tony Allen. !"

"If Tony Allen was guarding Korver, he wouldn't have scored that many points."

"Link has been amazing for more than a month, and it's time to calm down. I have to say that he is indeed a qualified NBA player, but it would be inappropriate for the Grizzlies to use him as a star ambassador."

The next day in the training hall, Tony Allen saw that Link was reading the news that criticized him, so he grabbed Link's cell phone.

"Come on, don't listen to the nonsense of these media. Now that we are on the cusp, the media like to follow suit."

Link looked at Tony Allen, indeed a little depressed.

It's fine if he's not strong enough, but yesterday's defense was so good that Korver scored a high score. Link was really unconvinced.

"Sometimes the game is so fucked up. Whenever I try my best to defend and Kobe can still score more than 30 points, I'm also very depressed. Usually at such times, there will be a lot of reports questioning me. But you Do you know what I will do?" Teacher Tony simply sat down beside Link.

Link shook his head, "What would you do?"

"I will keep all these scolding sentences in my mind, but I will not be influenced by them, but keep my anger in my heart, and then seal the mouths of all of them in the next game! In the next two games, our opponents were It's the Hornets and the Rockets. These two teams are our direct competitors on the way to the playoffs. And the Rockets, you have some unpleasantness with you." After speaking, Tony Allen smiled.

"So, keep your depression in your heart. In the next two games, let them see if you are qualified to start! By the way, you can also improve the team's ranking." He patted Link on the shoulder, Tony Allen got up and left. He said everything he needed to say, it was up to Link to digest it.

Link looked at the schedule on the wall of the training hall. Indeed, the last two games were very important to the Grizzlies and himself.

Playing the Hornets will directly determine whether the Grizzlies can climb to the eighth place in the West. Although it is only temporary, being able to enter the playoff threshold ahead of time will also reassure Link earlier.

As for the Rockets after the Hornets... Link clenched his fists. Seriously, he's not a generous person. Although in the game against the Vipers, Link scored a G League-record 52 points. But after all, that is against the Viper, not the Rockets themselves.

This time I met the deity and my old club. Whatever you say, you have to thank the Rockets for their "cultivation".