NBA: The Basketball Miracle

On January 26, 1997, at Madison Square Garden, the New York fans were shouting and cursing.

After a difficult win against the Pacers and back-to-back heavy losses to the Hornets, the Knicks faced the Heat again in the last game of the week.

Perhaps because he only received 310,000 votes in the All-Star Game, Tim Hardaway especially wants to show himself tonight!

Not only did he not rest, he also put all his effort into both offense and defense. Tim Hardaway's intention was very obvious - to beat Clay Lee.

As the game progressed, both sides made more and more moves. In addition, the Knicks were always leading the Heat by 6 points. Tim Hardaway became more and more anxious, but his shots kept missing.

The Heat used two second-round picks in this game, and both of them worked extremely hard during the game, which made the referee use body language no matter how he blew the call.

With 21 seconds left in the game, the Heat players realized that the game was over and they all breathed a sigh of relief, gasping for breath and stopped defending.

Only Tim Hardaway was still competing with Lee. He was desperately trying to grab the ball on the left wing outside the three-point line, but Lee lowered his center of gravity and stuck out his butt, not giving the opponent any chance.

The final buzzer sounded, 89:95, the Knicks returned to their home court and successfully defeated their opponents, ending the last game of the week.

"Five games in seven days, three wins and two losses. Although we lost to the Bulls and Hornets, after winning tonight's game, our record is 33 wins and 10 losses."

"Surpassing the Pistons and ranking second in the Eastern Conference, I think New York fans must be very satisfied with this result!"

In the MSG commentary booth, commentator Marv Albert took the opportunity to praise the Knicks' performance.

The competition in the upper half of the Eastern Conference is very fierce. Being able to temporarily surpass the Pistons has achieved the expected goal!

"The intensive schedule also caused some minor problems in Lee's condition. It was only at this time that I felt that he was really only 19 years old!"

"Have a good rest before the All-Star Game. Hopefully the young man can return to his previous efficient performance."

Commentator John Andaris sent his blessings to Clay Lee. Both commentators were in a smiling state of winning at this time and praised all the Knicks players.

After the game, Tim Hardaway felt that he had lost face in front of the rookie, so he just said hello and turned away:

4 of 17, 2 of 8 from beyond the three-point line, 1 of 2 free throws, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers.

Even though he got a double-double, Tim Hardaway was not satisfied with his performance tonight. It was really too bad!

Lee, who was on the opposite side, did not get any advantage either, making 4 of 11 shots, 0 of 3 from beyond the three-point line, and 4 of 6 free throws, scoring 12 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 2 turnovers.

The number of consecutive three-pointers finally stopped at 26 games.

After returning to the locker room, Lee sat in his seat and didn't want to talk. Five games in seven days, plus a bunch of jealous people desperately defending, even an iron man couldn't stand it!

"This is a valuable victory and I'm so proud of you!"

"But everyone has to hold on a little longer. There are only two games left this month. If you feel unwell, please remember to report it in time."

Jeff Van Gundy saw that everyone in the locker room was too tired to talk, so he gave some simple encouragement and then announced a day off, canceling tomorrow's training session.

Lee returned to his apartment in Manhattan, washed up quickly and fell asleep. He had finally gotten through this week's competition.

On the 27th, Lee, who was having breakfast, watched the ESPN program on TV seriously analyzing the reasons for his declining statistics, and happily ate the sandwich in his hand.

"With Lee's recent performances, it's hard for rookie players entering the league to maintain high efficiency all the time."

"Most teams have started to adapt to his skillset and we saw this week that he was struggling."

"Of course, Lee can still make some wonderful passes that the fans cheer for, but in the second half of the game, he couldn't continue his previous efficient performance."

Kristen Ritter, who came to pay back the money early in the morning, saw Lee eating happily and felt sulky. She came here on an empty stomach:

"They're saying bad things about you? Aren't you angry?"

Seeing that Lee had no intention of inviting her to breakfast, the girl dressed herself up to look a little more mature and started to find topics to chat.

"Angry? No, no, no, it's always a good thing to be on TV. It's recognition from the media!"

"I thought you had already had breakfast, feel free to eat!"

Lee saw the black-haired girl looking at the food on the table eagerly, and immediately made a casual gesture.

Kristen Ritter's face turned slightly red, but she still couldn't resist the temptation and started to eat the tempting bacon in front of her.

She seemed to feel that his eating manners were a little indecent. Seeing some photos of Lee and Melinda in the room, she pretended to be casual and asked in a low voice:

"Is that your girlfriend? You like blonde girls?"

Lee looked at the other person's washboard figure with a smile, which was only slightly bulged under the black slim sweater.

The big, lively eyes make the other person look particularly innocent, but the fact that she can muster up the courage to attend the silver party shows that she is definitely not a simple girl.

"I'm not interested in underage girls. You don't have to dress too maturely. There's nothing to show at the airport."

Kristen Ritter, who was still eating a sandwich, didn't react at first, until she saw Lee's gaze and looked down, then she understood what "airport" meant.

Feeling annoyed, Kristen Ritter pursed her lips. Thinking of her empty wallet, she could only say angrily,

"I can only pay back part of it after a while. I'm just a part-time model now and I don't make much money."

Lee supported his chin and looked at the other person, without exposing the girl's little thoughts. The last volume was 2,000 US dollars. If he spent it frugally, he would not have to participate in special activities anymore.

As if she felt that her thoughts had been seen through, Kristen Ritter could only show off the food in front of her and secretly complained:

"An airport? Cows can't be models!"

In the third week of January, Lee had his worst performance since entering the league:

In 5 games, 3 starts, he averaged 32.6 minutes per game, averaging 14.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.4 turnovers per game;

He averaged 10.4 shots per game with a shooting percentage of 44.5%, 5.0 shots per game from beyond the three-point line with a three-point shooting percentage of 28.8%, and 4.4 free throws per game with a free throw shooting percentage of 89.3%.

On the morning of the 28th, Jeff Van Gundy saw the data given by the coaching staff and couldn't help but frown.

"It should be just a matter of physical fitness. Five games in seven days, three away games, flying back and forth, it will definitely have an impact."

"A true shooting percentage of 60% is still higher than the league average. With such a dense schedule, there is still such a performance. To be honest, I am just surprised!"

Assistant coach Don Chaney had an expression that said we had earned something, and he always stood up for Lee in the team.

Jeff Van Gundy just felt that the three-point shooting percentage dropped a bit, but considering that the Heat's game lowered the data, he finally relaxed his brows:

"How's Pat's physical condition? I don't want to see players get injured before the All-Star Game."

Assistant coach Thibodeau didn't think it was a big problem. After playing for half a season, Ewing averaged only 38 minutes per game. He responded in a relaxed tone:

"Losing weight should have relieved the pressure on the knee. I think Pat is in better shape this year!"

Jeff Van Gundy breathed a sigh of relief. After getting through these two games at the end of the month, the Knicks can rest!

On the evening of the 28th, the Knicks will face the Celtics at home.

In order to get Tim Duncan, the Celtics are no longer pretending, and are clearly going to play badly to get the No. 1 pick!

The game was not stressful, the Knicks would definitely win, and New York fans who bought tickets to watch the game all wanted to see Clay Lee perform.

The last game against the Heat was like eating a shitty chocolate. New York fans who like to watch fun hoped to change their taste through this game that was destined to be won.

But what no one expected was that in the second half, during a scramble for a backcourt rebound, Ewing fell to the ground in pain.

Jeff Van Gundy, who was sitting on the bench, stood up immediately. Seeing Ewing's painful expression, he was stunned for a moment:

"Knee injury?"

...

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