Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 199

After a night's rest, the next day, the Warriors ushered in a challenge from the Pacers at home.

During training during the day, the Warriors players discovered that Teague hadn't come, and the rookies were still relatively slow to react, but the veterans of the team had already guessed the reason.

After the training, Smith took the initiative to ask Nelson, which proved his conjecture.

"Hey, another old man has been traded away. It seems that there is no place for us old men in this team. We will be traded sooner or later." After the training, Smith returned to the locker room from Nelson and said to Mike Donald and Higgins said.

"Isn't this a normal thing? We are just an over-product of the team. We have neither the talent of Chris nor the strength of Moses. It will not be a matter of time before we are traded. What's more, you, Larry, are still sitting firmly in the team's starting lineup. What have you to worry about?" MacDonald replied.

"Yeah, compared to you, Ben and I are more in jeopardy. That Dennis's strength has improved horribly. Now Teague is traded just to let Rodman be the starter!" Higgins laughed.

"No matter what, we all have balls to play anyway. Even if we are traded, we won't lose our jobs!" Smith pouted, changed his clothes and prepared to leave.

The three came out of the locker room, and when they passed by the training hall, others were practicing more, Higgins said a little emotionally: "Hey, it's no wonder they are improving, everyone trains so hard, and the improvement in strength is also due. "

"Hmph, that's called overtraining. They relied on their good physical strength when they were young, and they trained tirelessly. After playing in the league for a few years and getting injured all over their bodies, they will know how big their mistakes are now. Don't forget, there will be another one tonight. The game!" Smith said dismissively.

However, Higgins does not agree with this seemingly reasonable, because not only a group of rookies are training there, but now even Mullin and Malone are joining them. Isn't Malone a veteran?He is older than several of them.Is he not strong?No, he is stronger than all of them.

But even Ma Long has started to practice more, so why don't they do more?

"Rhode, why are you in a daze? Go quickly! If you don't go, it will be late for dinner."

Just when Higgins was hesitating at the door, Smith called Higgins. In the end, Higgins sighed, stepped forward, left the door, and left the training hall with Smith.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the regular season officially begins.

The Pacers from afar arrived in Oakland as early as last night.

Before Reggie Miller entered the league, the Pacers team had no sense of presence in the NBA.

However, the Pacers were brilliant in their early years.

As a basketball center, Indiana has a very developed campus basketball, so it is also coveted by the major basketball leagues in the United States.

Finally, in 1967, eight businessmen contributed thousands of dollars each to create the Pacers, joined the ABA, and won the ABA championship three times in four years in the early 70s.

But after the ABA merged into the NBA in 1976, the Pacers fell into a predicament. The overlord of the ABA was like a rookie in the NBA campaign, struggling.

It has been ten years now, and the boss has changed twice, but their record is actually only one year with more wins than losses. It can be said that they have no sense of presence in the entire NBA.

But this year, that all seems to have changed.

First of all, this year the team has a new head coach, Jack Ramsey, who has coached the Trail Blazers for 10 years. After coming to the Pacers, he made a series of reforms to the Pacers. So far, they have achieved a record of 21 wins and 25 losses.

Don't underestimate this point. You must know that last season, the Pacers only won 26 wins throughout the season.

The whole team has no absolute core. Six of them scored in double figures, but none of them scored 20. It is a typical civilian team.

Among them, the highest scorer is this year's first-round rookie with the 4th overall pick, Chuck Person, who averaged 18.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.

It can be said that without Li Weisi, the best rookie of the year, Chuck Person would be the best candidate.

It's a pity that he met Li Weisi, which made the only honor in his life go away from him.

However, at the beginning of the game, the Pacers turned their backs and gave the Warriors a blow.

Maybe it's because they didn't have a good rest during the All-Star Weekend. At the beginning of the game, Li Weisi and Ma Long's performances were very average, and they didn't put much effort into it.

This led to the beginning of the game, and it was Mullin who really provoked the offensive banner on the Warriors' side.

Mu Lin, who returned from drinking, is getting better and better, maintaining a very good touch.

However, Mullin alone cannot lead the Warriors to victory. At this time, Mullin is still too young. It depends on Ma Long and Li Weisi to truly lead the team to victory.

The Pacers are still in the regular starting lineup tonight, with positions one through five: Vaughn Fleming, John Long, Chuck Person, Herb Williams and Steve Stepano Vitch.

In the first quarter, the Pacers led the Warriors by three points at 27:24.

All five starters scored, and Pacers shooting guard John Long scored 10 points alone.

Fortunately, on the Warriors' bench, Price and Hornacek played well in the backcourt and helped the team fill the hole dug by the starters, which made the score difference in the first quarter only three points.

In the second quarter, the score between the two teams was still inseparable, and the score was always tight.

The Pacers perform their own duties, and everyone plays their own role on the field. The Warriors are very passive in the face of the Pacers' offense. And the Warriors' defensive system.

Under the Pacers' multi-point blooming offense, the Pacers scored 29 points in a single quarter again. At halftime, the Pacers led the Warriors by 56 points 50:6.

However, the smooth sailing Pacers encountered a strong counterattack from the Warriors in the third quarter. In this quarter, Malone recovered and blasted the Pacers' inside line by himself. He scored 16 points in a single quarter and led the team to a wave. Xiao Gaochao overtook the score at 10:2.

In the third quarter, the Warriors scored 40 points in a single quarter. When the third quarter ended, the team had already led the Pacers by 88 points at 90:2.

In the fourth quarter, the two teams were still playing inseparably, and the point difference between the two sides was always in a state of anxiety. In the end, Li Weisi scored seven points in a row at a critical moment to help the Warriors seal the victory.

In the end, the score was fixed at 116:123, and the Warriors narrowly beat the Pacers at home.

Through this game, the Pacers proved their strength. The main reason for the loss was that they lacked a core that could make a final decision at the end of the game.

As for how long they have to wait for this core, I am afraid that even the Pacers themselves did not expect that this time is much shorter than they imagined.

(End of this chapter)