NBA: The Basketball Miracle

On January 1, 1997, the NBA announced the Player of the Month for December, and Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers won the award.

The Lakers had an 11-3 record in December, and O'Neal averaged 39.9 minutes per game, averaging 27.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.1 steals, 3.4 blocks, and 2.9 turnovers.

He averaged 21.0 shots per game, with a shooting percentage of 52%, and averaged 10.2 free throws per game, with a free throw percentage of 55.9%.

Except for his usual poor free throw shooting, Shark's stats were impeccable!

The Rookie of the Month for December was awarded to Clay Lee, and the Knicks had a record of 13 wins and 2 losses this month.

Lee averaged 26.4 minutes per game, averaging 15.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 turnovers.

He averaged 10.3 shots per game, with a shooting percentage of 48.4% and averaged 6.0 shots per game from beyond the three-point line, with a three-point shooting percentage of 39.5%.

He averaged 3.6 free throws per game, with a free throw shooting percentage of 74.3%.

This data not only leads the rookie players, but also ranks among the best among the No. 1 players in the league.

The New York media has started a new round of praising. They haven't seen the Rookie of the Month award for some years.

However, if Lee wants to get the trophy, he has to wait until he returns home on the 5th.

Just after his birthday at the end of the year, Lee flew to Washington with the team on the first day of the new year. On the evening of the 2nd, they will challenge the Washington Bullets away.

As soon as the newbie John Wallace got on the plane, he looked at Lee with envy. The unlucky guy had a calf strain and had to rest for half a month. He had only recently fully recovered:

"This is the Rookie of the Month award, which a player can only get a few times in his life. Lee, aren't you excited? This is really cool!"

The bullied Walter McCarty was envious to death.

Comparison is the root of all evil!

Winning these two awards, Player of the Week and Rookie of the Month, has already shown that Lee has almost established a foothold in the league. As long as he maintains his current level, a million-dollar contract in the future is not a dream.

"It's just a small award for a rookie player. Grant Hill was elected the All-Star vote leader in his rookie season. This one is really cool!"

The veterans felt unhappy when they heard Lee mention Grant Hill's name. The real successor of Jordan was taking the position by stepping on the old guys.

Newbie John Wallace didn't care about Grant Hill. He was too far away from him. He was still excited and shouted to Lee,

"Lee, can I touch your trophy when we get back? I want to take some more pictures!"

Lee's mouth twitched, and he quickly gathered his scattered thoughts:

"No problem, I can leave it there for half a month, take as many photos as you want!"

"."

On the evening of the 2nd, at the American Airlines Arena, the fans who bought tickets to watch the game that night were a little depressed, as the game was extremely dull.

The last time these two teams met, the Knicks won easily. Jeff Van Gundy's repeated reminders before the game didn't work at all, as everyone underestimated the enemy.

Oakley and Larry Johnson both shot 1 of 6 in the first half and almost broke the basket.

Although the Knicks' offense was sluggish, the Bullets were in even worse shape, scoring only 12 points in the second quarter.

Juwan Howard made 3 of 13 shots in the first half, and Chris Webber made 3 of 9 shots.

The two of them scored a total of 16 points, which had already tilted their own basket to

45:34. After halftime, the Knicks were still leading by 11 points.

Lee's performance was also mediocre, mainly because Rod Strickland, who played against him tonight, was like he had taken stimulants. He followed him closely on the defensive end and almost grew on him.

"Welcome to the NBA, Lee. Starting this month, you will always enjoy this kind of defensive treatment!"

"If you were still an unknown, no one would care about you, but now it's different. If you win an award, everyone wants to step on you. This is the NBA!"

Returning to the locker room at halftime, Starks smiled and introduced the current situation to Lee. The sour people were about to fight back.

This is the so-called "rookie wall," and only well-known rookie players will encounter this situation.

No team will study the 12th man who plays for less than 5 minutes. A typical example is the punching bag Walter McCarty, who didn't even have a chance to hit the wall.

Charles Oakley didn't care about Lee being defended. The old guy cared more about his face.

Ben Wallace, his younger brother, was sitting on the bench of the Bullets. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the newbie:

"Play a few more pick-and-rolls, Lee, just at the elbow, and pass the ball a few more times. I feel like I've got my touch back!"

As soon as Oakley finished speaking, the "mother" beside him also cast his eyes on Lee:

"No problem, we are still leading by double digits anyway, there is enough room for error!"

Lee nodded and agreed. Ewing didn't like to concede a goal because the boss was responsible for attacking the tough issues.

Others didn't have these concerns, and scoring points was everyone's favorite.

In the second half of the game, Charles Oakley still couldn't find his touch and his shooting was poor, but he finally managed to regain some face by relying on fierce frontcourt rebounds.

On the bench of the Washington Bullets, Ben Wallace showed an envious look. He didn't even look at Oakley and spent most of his time paying attention to Lee.

It was a rare transition attack. After receiving the ball, Lee quickly advanced along the right sideline. While moving, he suddenly dribbled the ball behind his back, lowered his center of gravity, and swayed his body to the left.

While his opponent Rod Strickland was sliding to the right, Lee changed direction drastically, switched to his right hand, and accelerated the breakthrough.

The old guy who has been in the league for many years has rich defensive experience.

He adjusted his body center of gravity, pulled secretly with his hands, continued to slide, trying to complete the close defense.

Lee was well prepared. He suddenly stopped after crossing the center line, then swayed his body to the right, misled the change of direction, and quickly dribbled the ball between his legs.

Rod Strickland failed to hold on this time and subconsciously slid to the left rear, making a wrong defensive prediction. When he wanted to chase after him, he stumbled and completely lost his defensive position.

Lee's rhythmic shaking made the fans at the scene exclaim, and he accelerated towards the paint area, and the Bullets' defense line subconsciously shrank.

After breaking through to the free throw line, Lee suddenly threw the ball behind him, and the basketball flew straight to the left wing.

Alan Houston caught the ball and threw it!

"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net!

Alan Houston was in the best form tonight. Including this shot, he has made 3 three-pointers.

"Shhh!!"

Jeff Van Gundy looked relaxed, ignoring the boos from the crowd, standing on the sidelines and clapping continuously. He didn't even need to call out tactics, but just followed along and shouted:

"That's it! Keep attacking like this!"

On the bench, assistant coaches Thibodeau and Don Chaney looked at each other and read the meaning in each other's eyes:

"Our head coach is used to the hosting tactics."

In the Knicks' daily training, the most practiced routine is transition offense. How to launch a counterattack efficiently and score easily is also a technical job.

Jeff Van Gundy, who was already bald, didn't know that the assistant coach was arranging him in his mind. He just thought that the hosting tactic was very useful. Seeing that the team defended the next round, he shouted with extraordinary devotion:

"Move! Move! Go! Go! Go!"

"."

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