One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-Five. I Will Stand Shoulder to Shoulder with Boss Qiao Again.

At 9:45 am on December 15, 2014, on a chartered flight from Memphis to Washington, D.C., Sun Ce and Randolph chatted about the Christmas concert.

After the game with the Knicks, Sun Ce took the time to select three songs,

"Bikini-Body", "Skin", and "Me-Too".

Sun Ce recorded a demo and discussed with Randolph. The song that Randolph sang with some of his teammates was "Bikini-Body". The song that Sun Ce sang alone was "Skin", which was more suitable for Sun Ce.

Randolph knew from the lyrics that the song was written "for the Godfather of Fashion". The lyrics were so narcissistic. As for the high pitch, since Sun Ce could even point to the moon, Randolph thought it was normal. He helped Duncan change the pitch to a tune that they could sing and sent it to Duncan.

After chatting for a while, Randolph found a quiet place to catch up on his sleep. Next, the Grizzlies will start the last wave of schedule before the Christmas game.

It is definitely not a good schedule to describe it as a wave. Starting tomorrow, the 16th, the Grizzlies will play the only 5-day 4-game this season!

On the 16th, they will play the Wizards away, and on the 17th, they will play the Celtics back-to-back. After a day of rest, they will play the Suns away on the 19th, and the Thunder away on the 20th.

If this schedule is calculated from the game against the Wizards, the Grizzlies will start from the eastern and central regions of the United States, fly to Memphis in the southeast, then fly to Phoenix in the southwest, and finally fly to Oklahoma City in the northwest, which is basically equivalent to flying half a circle along the United States.

Originally, Sun Ce thought that the winning streak would be broken in this 5-day 4-game, but it was broken before the 5-day 4-game. Sun Ce thinks this is a good thing.

If it really is a 28-game winning streak, should we fight or not in this 5-day 4-game?

If that were the case, seeing the Heat's 30-game winning streak approaching, not to mention Sun Ce, the teammates would not be willing to give up just like that, and if they really get 30 consecutive wins... After all, the first two opponents are not that strong, so if they have won 30 consecutive wins, they will definitely fight for 33 consecutive wins.

Then this wave of sprints may make them suffer enough.

Although it is a pity that the winning streak is fixed at 27 games, this is already an almost unbreakable winning streak at the beginning, and it is not particularly reluctant.

In addition, to maintain such a long winning streak, everyone feels too tired, no matter how frivolous and floating they play in regular time,

At the critical moment, they will still fight, and the pressure will be great, and they don't want to lose.

This wave of winning streak really feels physically and mentally exhausted, but when the winning streak is broken, they are relieved.

In the next wave of 5 days and 4 games, there is no need to be so persistent. Take a rest when it is time to take a rest. If it is really in a winning streak, when it is close to 30 consecutive wins, some people will definitely not accept the rest arrangement. No one doesn't want to be the first.

Especially for many players, they can never be the first in terms of individual aspects, and it is impossible to get close to it. So the first in the team is naturally to strive for, such as the championship, the regular season championship, and this kind of team winning streak ranking.

However, although the winning streak is broken, the Grizzlies players can accept the rest with peace of mind, but rest is rest, and they must strive for victory in every game.

It has been 27 wins and 1 loss, how can there be no ideas?

…

In the past two seasons, when Sun Ce came to the capital of the United States, he would go to the White House for a stroll, but there is no such opportunity this season. This season, it is the turn of the Lakers led by Jan Kelen to go to the White House.

Although Sun Ce does not regard this matter as a big deal, he will still feel unhappy when it is not him.

The two 3Ds also feel the same. They are competitors with a strong desire to win. After enjoying the glory of being the champion, they naturally cannot bear to see other teams enjoy the same glory.

Unexpectedly, although there was no afternoon tea at the White House when they came to Washington this time, it gave some old players of the Grizzlies extra motivation.

After a night of rest on the 15th, Sun Ce and his teammates came to the Verizon Center on the 16th. After a day of preparation, at 4:40 pm, Sun Ce and his teammates entered the court together.

Looking at Wall, who averaged 17 points, 10 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, with an A+ level ability evaluation, although the offense is only A-level, but with S-level defense, he is a strong contender for the best defensive lineup this season. Wall, who has just signed a new contract and is paid 15.35 million US dollars, which is higher than the starting salary of Curry and Harden's new contracts last season, is indeed worthy of this contract.

Tristan Thompson, an excellent blue-collar power forward averaging 8.0 points per game this season, and Gortat, who averaged 1 rebound per game, is a very good white center who can defend and grab rebounds.

With Wall, Tristan Thompson and Gortat, the Wizards' defense is pretty good, but these three people play well, but they can't match the Wizards management's operations.

During the offseason, the Wizards signed and then traded for Gortat with a lucrative five-year, $60 million contract. There was nothing wrong with this move, and it did solve the problem of the Wizards not having a big center to protect the rim last season. Although Gortat is not a top rim-protecting center, he is better than Haslem.

But after giving Gortat an average annual contract of 12 million, the Wizards management found that Wall's big contract took effect! And this sign-and-trade deal was completed by their general manager before Wall and the official contract extension were submitted to the league. It was a reasonable operation. It just used up the salary space of the Wizards while Wall still retained the bird rights. Then Wall officially renewed his contract, and his salary was more than 8 million higher than the space occupied by retaining the bird rights. In addition to the other players who renewed their contracts on the cap, the Wizards' salary suddenly reached more than 86 million, and they had to pay luxury tax!

This made the Wizards boss unhappy, and asked their general manager to find a way to reduce the salary and was unwilling to pay taxes.

Then, Dion Waiters, the second highest scorer of the Wizards last season, who averaged 16.2 points per game, was traded to the Thunder almost for free, successfully reducing his salary.

Originally, this operation did not cause much response. The Wizards strengthened the center position and formed the twin towers of Tristan Thompson and Gortat, which is also a first-class twin tower combination in the league.

However, after entering the new season, the Wizards, the media, and the fans found that the help brought by Gortat's joining was far less than the loss caused by the loss of Dion Waiters!

Indeed, if you really want to compare who can get a bigger contract, Dion Waiters can't compare with Gortat, but for the Wizards, such a guard line partner with good physical fitness, strong athletic ability, strong impact, and who can keep up with Wall's speed is much better than a slow center.

It seems that the Wizards' lineup is better than last season after the reinforcement, but the Wizards have only 9 wins and 20 losses so far, ranking third from the bottom in the East!

Except for the Magic's 7 wins and 21 losses and the Hornets' 8 wins and 20 losses, the Clippers in the West have 6 wins and 22 losses and the Rockets have 8 wins and 20 losses. No team has a worse record than the Wizards.

The pre-match preparation time ended quickly, and the Grizzlies sent out the starting lineup of Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Randolph, and Larry Sanders.

Livingston, Carter, Aldridge, and Gobert will take turns to rest tonight.

On the Wizards side, Wall, Rasual Butler, Otto Porter, Tristan Thompson, and Gortat's starting lineup appeared.

On the Grizzlies side, after the start of the new season, the state of smooth play and smooth play that appeared after accumulating more than a dozen consecutive wins by taking advantage of the running-in progress was gone, and the offensive end was in trouble.

Fortunately, after the winning streak ended, Sun Ce and his teammates adjusted their mentality. After all, they were aiming for the championship, and they would not relax just because the winning streak was broken. Moreover, even if it was the regular season record, they had ideas and played very hard!

The offensive state of playing well is gone. It takes some time to adjust back to normal, and it takes a game to adjust. But when they defend well, they do very well. Now they don’t have the mentality of floating in the winning streak, and they defend very hard!

On the Wizards side, because of the loss of Dion Waiters, they can’t play the three-man counterattack of Wall + Waiters + TT that they played very well last season, but the defense is indeed strengthened.

After a long 48-minute defensive battle, relying on Sun Ce to play 37 minutes, 11 of 31 shots, 32 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 4 steals, the Grizzlies beat the Wizards 92 to 88!

In the last moment, Sun Ce’s steal forced the opponent to foul and made two free throws, and Paul George’s long pass to Sun Ce’s dunk 2+1 locked the victory!

The 27th time in his career regular season that he missed at least 20 shots in a single game... Sun Ce is getting closer and closer to the historical record of 49 times in a single game with 20 misses since Kobe’s detailed data statistics.

Since Kobe's average number of shots per game this season has dropped to a new low since his sophomore year, with only 15.5 shots per game, it is a bit difficult to continue to improve this record, and it is difficult to have one shot per year. Therefore, Sun Ce, who has played almost one-third of his sixth season and has already missed at least 20 shots in a single game 27 times, is considered to have no problem breaking this record.

Noah-I-Lord-Sun, this nickname that spread from China to the United States, has become popular again!

A professional basketball commentator has counted the current players. If Kobe and Sun Ce are left out, the number of times that all other active players, including those veterans, have missed at least 20 shots in a single game is the highest. Anthony has only 8 times, Pierce has 6 times, and other players have less than 5 times. Kobe and Sun Ce are far ahead.

If this record is extended to retired players, it is impossible to count Chamberlain and other players in the ancient era of basketball in detail. Some fans say Chamberlain has at least 20 misses in a single game 45 times, and some fans say Chamberlain may have broken 100 times of 20 misses in a single game...

The second place in the official number of at least 20 misses in a single game is Jordan's 28 times, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 22 times are far ahead of Sun Ce.

For another 20 misses in a single game, Sun Ce has no way to do it!

This record is the record he least wants to break.

But, unknowingly, he will be shoulder to shoulder with Boss Joe again!

However, in a defensive battle like tonight, he played according to the conventional style. He is the one with the least consumption among the players with good defense in the team. He is mainly responsible for the defense. The offense naturally depends on him. His 31 throws are also a regular performance. After all, Aldridge and Gobert, the twin towers, are resting.

Fortunately, he won. As for the media prediction that he would hit at least 20 misses in a single game in his career, which would exceed 100, a level that Chamberlain could not reach... He didn't listen!

...

Four games in five days made a good start. The next morning after playing against the Wizards, Sun Ce and his teammates flew back to Memphis and welcomed the challenge of the Celtics.

When a team falls, there will naturally be another team that stands up. The Celtics in the new season have taken the place of the Wizards last season and become a young and powerful team in the East that seems to have unlimited potential.

The Celtics used a first-round pick and a second-round pick to sign and trade Isaiah Thomas for 30 million for 4 years, and poached Ivan Turner from the Pacers for 7 million for two years, along with Avery Bradley, David Lee, Olynyk, veteran Brandon Bass, rookie Smart, Jae Crowder from the Suns in exchange for Jeff Green, Tyler Zeller from the Cavaliers, and a bunch of quality players selected or traded with the draft picks exchanged for Pierce, Garnett, and Rondo. Under the coaching of Brad Stevens, the Celtics have played 30 games this season with a record of 17 wins and 13 losses, ranking sixth in the Eastern Conference!

From being scolded by fans to not daring to go out when the team was in a bad state last season, to being called dad by Celtics fans now, Brad Stevens, the 38-year-old young coach, has completed a gorgeous counterattack.

At 6 pm, the second game of the first back-to-back of the Grizzlies' 4 games in 5 days started.

On the Grizzlies side, Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, and Paul George continued to play. They are the players who will not rest this season. Of course, if it is not necessary, they will get more rest time than before, just like during the winning streak, Sun Ce played only more than 20 minutes in several games, and the same is true for Paul George and Klay Thompson.

The starting combination of Aldridge and Gobert was sent to the inside tonight.

On the Celtics side, the starting lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Ivan Turner, David Lee, and Olynyk appeared.

After the game started, the Grizzlies started another defensive battle.

The Celtics' lineup is really cheap, with a total salary of only 61.19 million US dollars, just above the poverty line, less than the salary cap, and the strength is really good. The whole team gave the little assassin a pick-and-roll. Even if Sun Ce knew about this operation before, he was stunned.

It is really unstoppable!

Isaiah Thomas, with his height, actually shot 46% from the field, averaging 23 points and 6.6 assists per game!

The Celtics were all soldiers, which caused a lot of trouble for the Grizzlies. Fortunately, Klay Thompson broke out tonight after being silent for almost seven or eight games. He made 7 of 9 three-pointers, 10 of 13 shots in total, plus 3 of 4 free throws, and got 30 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. With Sun Ce's 18 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Aldridge's 17 points and 7 rebounds, and Paul George's 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, the Grizzlies defeated the Celtics 102-93 without any danger, and improved their record to 29 wins and 1 loss!

After this must-win game, the Grizzlies became the team with the highest winning rate among all teams in NBA history after playing 30 games in all seasons! It broke the best start in history of 27 wins and 3 losses held by the Bulls in the 1995-96 season, the Spurs in the 10-11 season, and the Celtics in the 1972-1973 season!

In fact, the Grizzlies had already broken this record after winning the Wizards, but the media still had a sense of ritual and had to wait until the integer of 30 games to calculate this record that was not counted.

Similar records include 41 games, before the All-Star Weekend, etc.

…

The next morning after the game with the Celtics, after sleeping at home for a night, Sun Ce had to leave Memphis immediately. He flew to Phoenix with his teammates where his dream began.

This time in Phoenix, Sun Ce went to Nash's house as usual to practice basketball together.

The team did not arrange training today, but he, Sun, could train.

During the training, I talked with Nash about the recent situation of both sides. Nash helped guide Antetokounmpo for Bill Duffy's face. At first, Nash was not very concerned, but after a year, Antetokounmpo's talent shocked him!

The Suns are doing well this season. Although they only have 13 wins and 17 losses, they are ranked 11th in the West after the Timberwolves with 15 wins and 15 losses, but compared with last season's competition for the No. 1 pick, they are much better.

Jordan's average of 12 points, 15 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game is crucial; the combat effectiveness of the rookie backcourt combination of Elfrid Payton and Jordan Clarkson is also very important. Payton averages 8.9 points and 6.7 assists per game, and Clarkson averages 12 points per game, which is one of the keys to the Suns' rising momentum; the forward rotation composed of the Morris brothers is also very powerful. The elder brother played first and averaged excellent rebounds per game. The younger brother has not played yet, but he also averages 10 points and 5 rebounds per game; Jeff Green averaged 12.5 points per game as the sixth man, which is also good.

But what really makes the Suns fans feel hopeful is Antetokounmpo!

Antetokounmpo, who scored assists last season, has made his first leap forward this season, with his averages rising to 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks!

Antetokounmpo's nickname is outdated, and fans have given him a new nickname - Little Lord!

What makes Nash feel that Antetokounmpo is most similar to Sun Ce is that this guy has grown taller after entering the NBA!

In fact, the playing style is not similar at all. Antetokounmpo mainly attacks the basket, not like Sun Ce, but the kind of person who uses physical fitness to force it. It is mainly because of his height that Antetokounmpo has the nickname of Little Lord.

…

After a night of rest, at 7:10 pm on December 19, the Grizzlies players entered the court of the American West Arena after warming up with fatigue after playing 4 games in 5 days and 3 games.

As soon as Sun Ce entered the court, he felt a hostile, resentful look as if he wanted to bite him to death.

I thought it was the eyes of the opposing players or some fans, but after a closer look, it was the opposing head coach Hornacek!

Sun Ce remembered that he had a good relationship with this old teammate of Stockton! What happened?