862: Lying down in the capital
Early in the morning of November 24, many names were added to the official list of NBA's injuries.
Wizards' Martel Webster will be absent for four weeks due to a back injury.
Pistons guard Yodi Meeks will be absent for 6-8 weeks due to a waist injury!
The Lakers have even more bad news. Ryan Kelly has torn his right hamstring and will miss 8-10 weeks. Xavier Henry has ruptured the Achilles tendon and will be directly reimbursed for the season...
These shocking injuries undoubtedly cast a shadow on the exciting game. This year, the league's terrifying injury storm seems to have no intention of stopping.
And the biggest card in this injury is Link, who scored three-double data in the last game.
A calf muscle strain, missing for 2 weeks, is all Link’s information on the injury list.
"Dave, I don't need to rest for so long..." Link was speechless as he looked at the overwhelming reports about himself on the Internet.
Compared with other players on the injury list who are seriously injured, Link feels that he is not qualified to be on this list at all.
"Didn't you listen to Moon? It's good for your recovery." Although it's been a night, Jogel doesn't seem to regret his decision.
"But that's two weeks, how many games will it take."
"I've seen it, but it's only 6 games. Don't worry, even if you're not here, we won't lose all 6 games. I know that muscle strain is a trivial matter. But if you have injuries, it's always risky, so be careful. Just rest with peace of mind, just treat it as the championship."
As soon as Jogel brought out the reason for the championship, Link compromised.
"Okay, but I can't play for two weeks...I've never been absent for so long..." Link wrapped his arms around his chest. He has never been so idle in the season since he started his career.
"Indeed, if you are bored, you can watch the ball every night. With you on the sidelines, others will be more motivated." Jogel smiled. Even if Link did nothing and stood on the sidelines, he could improve the combat effectiveness of the Grizzlies.
In this way, Link started his "health preservation" time.
Although you can't play games, you still have to participate in training.
Link did not neglect training just because he was on the injury list. He knew that whether he could kill all directions after he returned depends on his daily accumulation.
As long as you maintain your condition well, you can plug and play even after missing two weeks of competition.
On November 26, the Grizzlies ushered in their first game of the season without Link.
Today, the Grizzlies came to Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers. Although it was away, Link still went to Staples Center with the team.
Link was wearing a dark blue casual suit and didn't even participate in the warm-up before the game.
But even so, he still became the most popular target among journalists.
During the sideline interview before the game, the reporter on the scene still found Link.
This is the superstar effect.
Before the game, Kobe and Link joked that they would defeat his team in front of him. But in the actual game, the Lakers, who were also full of wounded soldiers, did not gain any advantage.
After Link was gone, Jimmy Butler took the banner of attack. He scored 6 points in a row at the beginning, expressing his determination to carry the team.
The last time the Grizzlies played against the Lakers, Jordan Hill and Boozer played smoothly. After all, the inside of the Grizzlies in the last game was completely a "fish pond" for them.
But today, Whiteside did not let the two guys continue to "fry fish".
Neither Jordan Hill nor the "Bases cornerstone" Thackeray on the bench, they have no capital to compete with Whiteside.
So the data of "Dabaibian" continued to rise today, scoring 20 points and 15 rebounds in one breath!
He has also become the first player in the history of the Grizzlies to appear on the bench and score 20+15 data.
In the first game of joining the Grizzlies, Whiteside only scored in double-digit points. In the second game, Whiteside won the double-double. In the third game, Whiteside began to attack the team history record!
The performance of this amazing big man shocked the entire league.
With Whiteside's 20+15 and Jimmy Butler's 24 points, the Grizzlies finally won 8 points without Link.
Although Kobe scored 22 points, his 33% shooting percentage was a bit terrible.
The Grizzlies demonstrated their heritage as defending champions and were able to win the game even though three starters were absent.
After the game, Kobe, who was sweating profusely, shook his head, "I don't know why, the Grizzlies can always change their destiny with a 10-day short contract. Perhaps, we should pay more attention to the players in the Development League."
The Grizzlies escaped from Los Angeles. After watching the whole audience, Link found that he felt even more uncomfortable!
Sitting on the sidelines, I felt itchy when I was sitting on the sidelines. For several moments, Link really wanted to take off his suit and rush up.
Health basketball is not as easy to play as you imagined.
But soon, something happened that made Link even more itchy.
On November 28, the Grizzlies will play against the Trail Blazers away.
The Trail Blazers currently have a record of 12 wins and 3 losses, second only to the Grizzlies' 13 wins and 2 losses, ranking second in the league.
Moreover, the Trail Blazers have won 9 consecutive victories recently, making it the team with the most winning streaks in the league so far this season.
There is no doubt that even if such a strong enemy is in a complete lineup of Grizzlies, it may be difficult to match, let alone the Grizzlies in the residual formation.
The Trail Blazers indeed showed strong strength. Before the end of the second quarter, they had already achieved a 16-point lead when they played at home.
Aldridge's attack exposed the Grizzlies' disadvantage in the fourth position. Even though Joggle later casted the double tower formation between Whiteside and Gasol, he still failed to resist Aldridge's stable mid-range shot like a machine.
In addition, Wesley Matthews, known as the "strongest undraft in active service outside Link", also scored 7 three-pointers that broke his career record today, one more three-pointer than the Grizzlies' team!
Although the Grizzlies caught up in the second half, Butler also scored an outstanding performance of 8 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
But the pit I dug before was too big, and the Grizzlies finally lost 109 to 112.
The Trail Blazers scored 5 players in double digits, and 2 players scored 20, winning 10 consecutive victories!
Link was extremely worried about this game. He always thought that if he were there, the situation might not be so passive.
Link couldn't stand it after just two of his six games.
However, as the team leader, Link naturally cannot show his anxiety. If his teammate loses his temper, there will definitely be problems in the locker room.
Originally, after Link was injured, the outside world believed that the Grizzlies would lose continuously and their record of losing without losing streak will be broken. Therefore, other Grizzlies players will naturally bear huge pressure.
If you really lose continuously and are incompetent, you can only rely on the stars and have no combat power and other labels, you will be detained on them.
Of course they don’t want to do this, who doesn’t want to prove that they are really capable?
If Link shows his anxiety now, he will only add fuel to the fire.
So when the Grizzlies players returned to Memphis, Link specially booked a theater to invite his teammates to watch a movie in order to relax and not to bear so much pressure.
This is the first time Link has done this. Even if he doesn't play, he has to think about the team's morale and the locker room atmosphere, which makes Link feel like he is a high school class teacher...
Many players posted photos of the whole team watching movies on social media, which aroused heated discussions among fans.
The Grizzlies' team atmosphere makes fans extremely envious.
This good team atmosphere also made the Grizzlies immediately get out of the predicament.
On November 30, the last day of November, in the last game, the Grizzlies killed the invading Sacramento Kings at home without any blood.
Cousins scored 17 points and 15 rebounds, but he really couldn't help the team's three-point shooting percentage of only 9.1%...
The Kings made only 1 of 11 shots outside the three-point line today, not because they felt bad, but because they had almost never had the opportunity to take open positions throughout the game, and all three-point shots were against defensive shots.
All the Grizzlies have done their best to defend the outside line. The more they matched the movies they watched in the cinema last night, the more tacit they had on the court today.
Whether it is switching defenses or revising defenses, the Grizzlies players have done a good job. The defending champion's outside defense made the King feel what suffocation is.
Jimmy Butler scored 22 points, Gasol scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, the Grizzlies beat the Kings 12 points and refused to lose in a row again!
After the game, Link walked proudly to Cousins, who was still showing off his power a few days ago, and "Now, our total score is 1-1."
After the November schedule, the Grizzlies' record became 14 wins and 3 losses, and they are still the first in the league. Although Link has missed three games, the Grizzlies show no sign of collapse.
However, the Grizzlies can maintain their upward momentum is not the most unexpected thing that fans find. The most unexpected thing is about to happen.
The next day, NBA officially announced the first selection of the best player of the month this season.
Link, who has been missing for a week, still became the Western Conference Player of the Month in November.
Link himself was surprised. He could get honor even while lying down!
Normally, the best of the month is not awarded to injured players. After all, this is somewhat unfair to those players who are still working hard.
Chapter completed!