Seven Hundred and Eighty. We All Want to Be No. 1!

After the Grizzlies arrived in Miami, they had lunch and immediately began to prepare for the game against the Heat in the afternoon. From the coaching staff to the players, and the fans who support them behind the scenes, no one wants to suffer a losing streak.

If there is no losing streak throughout the season, it is undoubtedly a great achievement. No one is willing to give up. If it is still in the early and middle stages of the season, this kind of thing is difficult to control, and they will not have such an obsession. Now there are only 14 games left, of course, they have to fight for it with all their strength.

The Grizzlies are working hard to prepare for the game, and something happened in the league.

The buyout of veterans of some teams broke out during this period.

Most of these veterans are in weak teams. They have certain strengths and don’t want to stay and waste the last part of their careers. They can’t play for a few more years. Staying in a bad team for one more month means one less chance to play in the playoffs. They want to leave; the team has not put him in the future plan and wants to reduce salary expenses through an agreement buyout to save money.

Bobcats veteran center Joel Przybilla reached an agreement with the team to completely give up the player option of 8.2 million US dollars in the last year of his 6-year 44 million US dollars contract, which is next season. After taking the remaining 1 million US dollars in buyout fees this season, he became a free agent and joined the Heat, who were in urgent need of a big center.

The Grizzlies, who were preparing for the game against the Heat, didn't care about this news. It was not an important matter. The Heat used a center with a garbage contract who averaged 1.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game with a salary of more than 7 million to suppress the bench and make it look like they had a center. The main reason was that Haslem suffered a serious injury before the All-Star Weekend and could not play in the regular season. He was expected to return in mid-April. The Heat had been looking for a center to support the bench.

What interested Sun Ce was another buyout.

On the Pistons side, Hamilton gave up the rest of this season's salary, and also gave up $3.5 million of the original $12.5 million salary for next season, and agreed that the Pistons would defer the remaining $9 million salary for next season for three years, starting from the 11-12 season to the 13-14 season, and get $3 million each year, reaching a buyout agreement.

It has long been rumored that both Hamilton and the Pistons want to buy out. The Pistons have been selling Hamilton before the trade deadline this season, but they can't sell him. No team is willing to pay for Hamilton's $12.5 million salary next season.

But the Pistons want to save money, and Hamilton wants to leave. The buyout agreement becomes the only way. The Pistons pay less salary and Hamilton gets less money. Both sides are very interested, and finally reached a buyout agreement at noon today.

But after the buyout, Hamilton did not join the Bulls as Sun Ce saw in the news and in his own impression, but quickly reached an agreement with the Suns!

At the same time, after the All-Star Weekend, a buyout agreement was reached with the Jazz. Turkish center Mehmet Okur, who had been recovering from an injury, announced that he would join the Suns with a 1+1 contract!

After the afternoon training, Sun Ce returned to the hotel to read the news about several buyouts today. He learned about these things during the break of the afternoon training. He was very interested in how there could be such a big change.

Although he knew that he had already set off countless changes since he came to this world, he wanted to understand the reasons for each change. If he could understand, he would understand. If he couldn't figure it out, he would not go into a dead end, but just wanted to understand.

After checking the news, Sun Ce learned that Hamilton had not played for the Pistons a week ago and had been discussing the buyout. When the buyout agreement was reached at noon today, Hamilton had already appeared in Phoenix and attended the party held by Nash for him and Okur in the afternoon.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, a video of Hamilton's interview was posted on the official website of the Arizona Daily,

and it received a lot of forwarding.

Hamilton's joining the Suns will inevitably affect the competition for a playoff spot in the West. The Suns are currently ninth in the West, two wins away from the eighth-placed Rockets. There are still more than a dozen games left, and everything is unknown.

Hamilton, 33 years old, has a significant decline in data compared to last season's average of 18.1 points and 4.4 assists per game. So far this season, he has only averaged 13 points and 2.6 assists per game, but to a large extent, the Pistons are unwilling to give him too many shots and playing time, and want to give the shots to their rookie center Monroe, and not put him in the future plan. He himself also wants to leave.

Hamilton's own strength is still there. It may not be as strong as last year's average of 18 points per game, but it is definitely not that much. His level of effort and self-discipline are all well-known, especially he is still the kind of running shooting guard that Nash likes.

Hamilton's joining has given the Suns another strong reinforcement on the road to the eighth place in the West.

At this stage, the fans and media are most concerned about the competition for playoff spots and rankings, not MVP, best rookie, etc., so Hamilton, a scorer who should still have the ability to average 15 points per game, joined the Suns, a running and gunning team, which attracted widespread attention.

Hamilton said in an interview: "I want to make the playoffs with Steve, Vince, Grant, and Mehmet. This is something that makes me very excited. I can work hard with a group of old friends to make the playoffs at the end of my career and create miracles. Without a doubt, it is the best ending to my career for me."

Sun Ce couldn't resist this reason. Hamilton's words touched the hearts of NBA players like them.

Playing basketball, aside from money, championships, and honors, happiness is more important.

Basketball is basketball, and men's happiness is sometimes simpler than imagined.

Hamilton is not short of money. Counting the 9 million US dollars paid by the Pistons for a three-year extension, he has earned more than 100 million US dollars in his career. He is only 33 years old and a pitcher. He should be able to play for two or three years. It doesn't matter whether he is a basic salary or a middle-class salary.

Hamilton also has a championship.

Sun Ce himself is thinking that if one day, he is in his 30s, his physical fitness declines and his ability declines, and he has a championship in his hands and has made enough money, he also wants to form an old army with Curry, Harden, Gasol, Jordan, Yi Jianlian and others to rush to the playoffs.

As a player, he can understand Hamilton's psychology very well.

As for Okur, Sun Ce learned from the news that Okur suffered a back injury after returning to the Jazz after the World Championships. He returned to play more than a dozen games in December and his three-point shooting was okay, but Sloan and Deron broke up and resigned. He no longer wanted to continue playing and went to recover from his injury. Later, Sloan was traded to the Bulls by the Jazz and Deron left... He simply took a break. Before the trade deadline, the Jazz failed to send away the remaining one year of his contract worth 10.5 million US dollars, so they reached an agreement with him to buy out his contract for next season for 8 million US dollars. Okur also gave up the remaining two months of this season's salary of more than 3 million and became a free agent.

Okur was ready to join the Suns a long time ago. After the buyout, he has been cooperating with the Suns in Phoenix and receiving back injury treatment from the Suns' team doctor. Now it is time to come back. Hamilton joined and he also accepted the Suns' 1+1 minimum salary contract.

Sun Ce looked at the Western Conference standings. The Suns played 68 games, 29 wins and 27 losses, ranking ninth in the West. The Rockets also played 68 games, 31 wins and 25 losses, and the gap was very small...

The Suns now have a group of veterans with rich playoff experience together. Not only are they in good health, but they are also more experienced in dealing with the strong teams that have entered the playoffs at the end of the season.

Sun Ce is really looking forward to which team will eventually win the last playoff spot in the West.

Because the Grizzlies want to compete for the first place in the West, they naturally have to pay close attention to which team is the eighth.

If he can play against Mr. Na in the playoffs, Sun Ce will definitely be very excited.

Sun Ce is very concerned about this matter, and his teammates and coaching staff are also very concerned about this matter. Playing against the Suns, who are mostly veterans, requires grinding and exhausting the opponent's physical strength... Relatively speaking, it is a better choice for them!

...

That night, in San Antonio, the Spurs ushered in a game with the Rockets.

Originally, the Spurs were supposed to rest again tonight.

So far, the Spurs have played 69 games, with 56 wins and 13 losses. Recently, they have been resting regardless of who their opponents are, and they still won 4 consecutive games. After losing to the Lakers, they only lost one game. The strength of the Spurs system is there.

But tonight, the Spurs, who should have rested, chose to go all out to face the Rockets.

This sudden change has greatly affected the Rockets' preparations. All teams thought that the Spurs would definitely insist on resting until the end of the season, because after the All-Star Weekend, the Spurs played 18 games and always insisted on resting. The three horses rested for 9 of these 18 games.

The same is true for Rockets head coach Adelman.

However, tonight the Spurs suddenly made adjustments, and the Rockets were stunned. After three quarters, the Spurs led the Rockets by 22 points, 91 to 69, and the game was put into garbage time in three quarters.

The characteristics of the Spurs over the past decade since Duncan were fully demonstrated. When they have a strength advantage, they can overwhelm their opponents.

But the Spurs' characteristic is also very interesting. When they are not as strong as their opponents, they basically cannot turn the tables; when their opponents are as strong as them, once their opponents explode, they have no idea how to deal with it.

In the garbage time of the fourth quarter, the Rockets gave up. Instead of fighting against an opponent they can't beat, Adelman chose to save his energy. Next, they will play the Mavericks back-to-back. The Rockets are in the middle of a civil war in the Southwest Division. Next, they will play the Hornets away on the 28th and 31st, and the Grizzlies away on the 2nd of next month.

On the bench of the Spurs, Popovich is talking to General Manager Buford.

"Greg, didn't you say you didn't care about the record and wanted to rest and wait for the playoffs? Why did you change suddenly?" Buford asked strangely.

"Their record after the All-Star Weekend is beyond my imagination." Popovich said in a deep voice.

"Them? You mean the Lakers and Mavericks?"

"Yes, and the Grizzlies."

Buford understood that these three teams lost too few games after the All-Star Weekend. The Lakers and Grizzlies only lost 4 games, and the Mavericks only lost 2 games. These three teams have a high probability of winning 60+ games.

This has little to do with the Spurs. The Spurs were initially seen as going to surpass the Bulls' 72 wins. If they don't rest, it shouldn't be a problem to hit 70 wins.

It is purely because the Grizzlies have such a good record. If the Mavericks want to catch up to the top four in the West, they must work harder. The Mavericks gave up the idea of ​​letting Nowitzki "integrate into the system" and directly took Yao Ming + Kidd as the core of the system. Nowitzki played a supporting role in regular time and solved problems with his personal ability at critical moments. The simple and rough handling of Nowitzki's integration problem allowed the Mavericks to achieve a record of 15 wins and 2 losses after the All-Star Weekend, which is better than the Grizzlies and the Lakers. The gap with the Lakers has narrowed to 1 win.

The Lakers are also a member of the push. They did not regard surpassing the Spurs as a goal at the beginning. The Spurs' record before the All-Star Weekend seemed to be impossible to catch up, but the Lakers wanted the home advantage in the second round, so the Zen Master reduced the playing time of Odom and Gasol while increasing Bynum's opportunities. Bynum is also very good. He seized the opportunity and won the best player of the week. His performance continued to be hot, and the title of the third center was firmly won.

Popovich didn't know whether he wanted to explain to Buford or was talking to himself: "I didn't expect them to catch up so quickly. The Lakers even played better than they did last season. I thought Carlisle couldn't handle the problem of Nowitzki's integration, but he actually solved it. The Grizzlies obviously had a plan to deal with us when they played against us last time. I didn't give them the opportunity to experiment, but these three opponents are not easy to deal with.

I don't want to meet the Lakers early. If we are surpassed by the Grizzlies, it will be difficult for us to play against the Lakers. And since they are so difficult to deal with, it may be a better choice for us to take the home advantage..."

Speaking, Popovich suddenly stopped talking.

He had another reason that he didn't say, and he didn't want anyone to know-he wanted to avenge the sweep by the Suns last season!

He didn't even sweep the Suns, but he was swept by the Suns. He wanted revenge! Just like in the original time and space, in the first round of the 2013 playoffs, he asked his players to go all out to avenge the Lakers who lost Kobe and swept the Lakers.

Letting the Rockets lose one more game is to create a better chance for the Suns to enter the playoffs.

…

…

There are always some things in the NBA that are hard to explain. Only those who operate those things know why they do that. Others can't figure out the reason.

The Spurs suddenly want to compete for the first place again. Other teams don't know about this. The Grizzlies have been preparing hard for a day. At 5:10 pm on March 25, Sun Ce and his teammates entered the court of the players at the American Airlines Center. The first game of the four-game road trip, the away game against the Heat, is about to begin.

Before the game started, Sun Ce received a system prompt.

"Because the host and his teammates, coaching staff, and fans of the team all have strong obsessions and do not want to encounter a losing streak, the A-level event: Seek a losing streak is triggered."

"Seek a losing streak (A): The host needs to help the team maintain a record of no losing streak in the 2010-2011 season.

Event reward: 1 A-level lottery card.

Failure penalty: Finish the playoffs with the same hairstyle as LeBron James. If it is not executed, the A-level penalty will be triggered, and this playoffs will be in a sluggish stage until the host changes his hairstyle."

Just after entering the stadium, the event suddenly came, catching Sun Ce off guard.

The timing of this event... is not easy, because they just lost to the Celtics, which should be the second strongest team in the East, and the current opponent is what Sun Ce feels is the strongest team in the East.

Currently, the Grizzlies are ranked second in the West with 54 wins and 14 losses, and the Heat are ranked third in the East with 47 wins and 20 losses.

The Heat have only lost 10 games since December. The Big Three are really amazing. They went from 11th in the East to third in the East.

Fortunately, Sun Ce and his teammates and the coaching staff had been fully prepared for this game. Sun Ce looked at the physical potion he could use and was very confident! Although the opponent had strengthened Pulzbila, they lost Haslem in the interior. Although they also lost Yi Jianlian tonight, they still had an absolute advantage in the interior!

…

The Grizzlies sent out the starting lineup of Sun Ce, Tony Allen, Paul George, Randolph, and Gasol.

Because Yi Jianlian had thigh muscle tension in the training this morning, the Grizzlies coaching staff took it very seriously and let him rest for one game.

This has little impact. The interior advantage is very large. Let Battier play as a substitute, which is just right when James plays as a power forward in the rotation stage.

Paul George got a rare chance to start, and Conley was also put on the bench to let Tony Allen, who is better at confrontation, come up.

The Heat sent out the starting lineup of Mike Bibby, Wade, James, Bosh, and Big Z.

After Haslem was injured, Pat Riley has not been able to complete the reinforcement of the center. Instead, he found an opportunity to strengthen the point guard and signed Bibby, who took the initiative to buy out the Hawks. Big Z returned to the starting center position. Of course, it was a pseudo starter, averaging only 15 minutes of playing time and 5 points and 4 rebounds.

After the game started, the Grizzlies quickly launched defensive suppression, turning the game rhythm into a defensive battle from the beginning of the game.

James and Wade wanted to speed up after defending the opponent, but it was not so simple to meet the trio of Sun Ce, Tony Allen and Paul George. The Heat's outside shooting was not good!

In the starting lineup stage, the Grizzlies only relied on the Heat's outside shooters to suppress defense and defend the inside to compete with the Heat. When it came to the rotation stage, Wade rested, James and Bosh formed an inside partner, and when they played with Chalmers, Mike Miller, and James Jones, the Grizzlies' advantage came out.

Sun Ce, Conley, Morrow, Battier, and Jordan went up and used high-speed rotation defense. Taking advantage of the opponent's poor three-point shooting, they actively retreated and blocked the defense crazily!