Chapter 95: The Unlucky Gorilla
On November 9, 1997, the New York Knicks, with everyone working together, easily defeated the Kings and ended the first week of the new season with a perfect record.
A streak of 6 consecutive wins at the start immediately excited New York fans!
The winning streak does not explain the problem.
The most important thing is that the main lineup's playing time rarely exceeds 30 minutes.
Chris Childs, Starks and Chris Mills can ensure the firepower of the bench lineup.
In the starting lineup, under the leadership of Clay Lee, 5 players scored in double digits in several games.
With 6 wins and 0 losses, the Knicks immediately topped the league.
After returning to New York, the Knicks continued their outstanding performance and started a winning streak!
The Player of the Week in Week 1 was awarded to Dikembe Mutombo of the Hawks, and the New York media criticized him again.
In the three games of Week 2, the Knicks won consecutive victories over the Nuggets, Raptors and Kings.
Although these three teams are not very strong, and the Nuggets have not won a single game since the start of the season, their ability to consistently beat weak teams is also a characteristic of a strong team.
Especially in the game against the Raptors, the Knicks only allowed their opponents to score 70 points.
They were able to attack and defend, showing absolute dominance!
Compared to the Knicks' 9-0 record, the Bulls are now 5-4 after defeating the Cavaliers on the 15th.
This made the New York media very excited.
In comparison, the Knicks were stronger!
The four games in the third week did not cause too much trouble for the Knicks.
In three consecutive away games, the Knicks defeated the Rockets, Hawks, and Wizards;
On the 23rd, the Knicks returned to Madison Square Garden and beat the Grizzlies by a huge margin!
80:104, three quarters of the game, New York fans who bought tickets to watch the game screamed with joy.
A perfect start, 13 wins and 0 losses, breaking the Knicks' record for consecutive wins at the start of the season!
In this week's game against the Rockets, Ewing performed poorly, allowing Olajuwon to shoot 10 of 14 shots and score 24 points, while Ewing only scored 12 points.
Fortunately, Barkley was injured again and Drexler was in poor form, and in the end the Knicks narrowly defeated their opponents.
A few days ago, the New York media would belittle the gorilla, but after such an outstanding performance, the fence sitters changed their tone and almost praised Ewing as the "No. 1 center"!
Ewing, who was sometimes soft and sometimes hard, made 7 of 11 shots tonight and scored 19 points efficiently, but after the game, MSG still interviewed Lee first.
Legendary star Walt Frazier was in a particularly good mood, with a constant smile on his face.
After winning by a large margin, he also began to help Lee with loans:
"Lee, you will get the most All-Star votes this year. Look at the New York fans here. They all support you!"
"Wow! I want to thank you all in advance. To be honest, I can't wait!"
Lee also happily followed suit and boasted. Back at home, he had to brag.
New York fans loved these exaggerated speeches.
Mike Breen, who was standing nearby, felt the joyful atmosphere and smiled continuously:
"Lee, 13 consecutive wins have set a new team record. Can you briefly talk about the secret of the Knicks' winning?"
Lee was naturally prepared for such a question and tried to appear excited:
"We have the best coach in the league. After a game, the coaching staff will give their opinions and make everyone aware of the team's problems."
"Maybe in some individual games, we may have some ups and downs, but we can always win the game with stable defense."
"Coach Van Gundy brought us together, and we played for each other. That's the secret to the Knicks' winnings. It's so exciting!"
Walt Frazier and Mike Breen nodded repeatedly.
This was the Knicks team that everyone expected.
Mike Breen even said with emotion:
"He deserves the title of the best coach in the league. Coach Van Gundy should get more respect!"
At the press conference after the game, the bald young coach seemed a little guilty.
He really didn't expect the team to win 13 games in a row.
However, Jeff Van Gundy has completely gotten rid of his follower status.
He sat on the stage with a confident smile on his face, showing the style of a famous coach.
"Jeff, congratulations on leading the team to a historic start!"
"Next week, the Knicks only have two games left. Will the team continue its winning streak?"
"We have a chance to tie the record set by the Rockets!"
The New York Times reporter was also a little excited. In recent years, the only team that has had consecutive winning streaks was the Rockets.
In the 1993-1994 season, they won the championship.
Even though the team won the championship by defeating the New York Knicks, the media in the audience didn't care about the details.
Everyone wanted to get the metaphysical bonus!
Jeff Van Gundy made a tactical retreat and answered confidently:
"Of course, we have four days of rest, the team is in good shape, and we will end the November games with a perfect record!"
Many media in the audience applauded and cheered. The bald young coach no longer felt guilty and was very proud in his heart:
"What is the best coach in the league?"
In the prosperous metropolis of New York, there is no patience for the weak, but as long as you are strong enough, the media and fans here will praise you to the sky!
In the last week of November, major print media not only helped the Knicks to win the championship, but also gave the titles of "No. 1 point guard" and "No. 1 center" to Lee and Ewing.
If Alan Houston hadn't performed so well, the title of "No. 1 shooting guard" would have changed hands!
Pat Riley was also exposed at this time, and various articles mocked this championship coach in a veiled manner:
"No one can leave New York and still succeed!"
"After leaving the Mecca of Basketball, Pat Riley has been completely surpassed by Jeff Van Gundy!"
The regular season had just begun, and New York fans and media went crazy.
After a few days of rest, the Knicks did not disappoint the fans, and won a small away game against the Pistons on the 28th, bringing their winning streak to 14 games!
On the 29th, they returned to Madison Square Garden for a back-to-back game, and tickets were in short supply.
New York fans all want to come to the scene to witness the Knicks tie the regular season start winning streak record.
The Suns didn't want to be a background board, but veteran Kevin Johnson was injured recently.
Although Kidd held up the team, the game that night was dragged down.
At the end of the half, the score was fixed at 27:55, and the fans at the scene began to celebrate the victory of the game in advance!
The Gorilla didn't have a good touch in the past two games.
According to the previous rotation, he should have been rotated out in the second half of the third quarter, but in order to find his form, Ewing insisted on playing for a while longer.
As a result, in the first round after the timeout, Charlie Ward, who had just come on as a substitute, broke through and passed the ball to the big brother in the air.
The gorilla jumped in the air to catch the ball and wanted to complete an alley-oop dunk, but an accident happened.
After losing by a large margin, Danny Manning chose to commit a direct foul.
After the two confronted each other in the air, Ewing lost his balance and fell directly to the floor.
"oh!!"
All the fans in the stadium exclaimed in surprise.
When Jeff Van Gundy saw Ewing holding his right wrist in pain, his head buzzed:
"Shit! How could this happen!"
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