The rest is just noise

After the 80-win bubble burst, the media quickly found new fun.

Ironically, this fun is provided by bookmakers.

Some bookmakers have opened the market, predicting the fourth team to defeat the Lakers this season.

The most promising among them is the Knicks.

They were the third opponent the Lakers faced after the All-Star break, just three days after the Lakers lost to the Pacers.

According to the schedule, the Lakers will play the New Jersey Nets away from home and then move to New York to challenge the Knicks.

The Knicks' last performance in Los Angeles raised high expectations for them.

At the Lakers' home court, they stubbornly dragged the game into overtime. If Benj hadn't changed his destiny and scored a three-pointer, the Lakers might have lost four games now.

The Knicks didn't win, but people saw the possibility of winning.

This is different from the Pacers who took advantage of the Lakers' poor condition to perform outstandingly and win.

Because when the Lakers adjust their state, even if they play ten more games with the Pacers, they may not be able to win a game. And a team like the Knicks that has beaten the Lakers head-on, no matter how many times they play, in the eyes of the fans, they

Everyone has a chance to win.

However, the Lakers' situation is far more complicated than outsiders imagine.

After losing to the Pacers, Louis held an internal team meeting specifically for this game, severely criticized the performance of Bodiloga and Duncan, and at the same time used the two high school students as targets to shoot wildly.

Even Benj received the comment "This is not the performance that the first player in the league should have".

"If you really take the external hype seriously, we will be in big trouble in the playoffs!"

Louis severely rectified the team's atmosphere and issued an ultimatum to Rodman before the meeting ended: "Dennis, starting from today, if you dare to miss training and cause trouble off the court again, I will terminate your contract!"

The team reorganized their thinking and then embarked on a road trip.

In New Jersey, the Nets, who were eager to defend their home court, were ruthlessly scored by 150 points.

Wilson and Bodiloga both scored triple-doubles, while Duncan and Garnett each had 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The angry Lakers turned into a formidable team.

In the post-match interview, Wilson said indifferently: "Our work is not finished yet, and the arduous away trip has just begun."

The next day, New York welcomed the Lakers, who were full of anger.

Fans who expected the Knicks to barely resist the Lakers were disappointed.

The Knicks' strategy was the same as last time. They started with intensity and confrontation, trying to make the Lakers lose themselves in physical combat.

Last time, they did it because the young Lakers weren't ready, but tonight was different.

The Lakers were not only well prepared, but also more active and fiercer than the Knicks in confrontation.

Duncan did not fall behind against Ewing, and Garnett had everything he wanted from the Knicks' power forwards.

This was something that was unimaginable when Kemp was here.

Without Kemp, the aging Ewing is also unable to defend the penalty area for New York.

Ben Wallace is the Lakers' best player.

As Duncan's substitute, he scored 7 blocks in 20 minutes, helping the team set off a wave of rapid counterattacks. The situation of the game was also determined at that time.

The defense failed, the offense was weak, and the Knicks were forced to deal with the most terrifying offense in history.

Especially when Louis used Bodilloga, Kobe, Wilson, Garnett, and Duncan to play beautiful basketball, the scene was simply asymmetrical.

"Before tonight, no New Yorker believed they would lose so miserably."

"Has this Lakers team really lost three games?"

The person who said these two sentences was the newly promoted Knicks home commentator Brad Rohaus - yes, the Vanilla Gorilla has retired, and there is no longer a legend of seven-foot Bird in the world.

After retiring, Rohaus stayed with the Knicks as an announcer and was Frazier's partner.

However, the progress of this game was unexpected. No one expected that the Knicks would be beaten like this. They are the top team in the Eastern Conference!

Midway through the third quarter, Knicks head coach Rudy Tomjanovich replaced the future hope of the Big Apple - Tracy McGrady.

Although McGrady entered the league as the third overall pick, he still needs development in all aspects and does not meet the current needs of the Knicks.

Facing an opponent like the Lakers, the Knicks replaced him in the middle of the third quarter, which only meant that they had given up on the game.

This is normal.

Because, the score difference at that time was 100 to 63.

Just halfway through the third quarter, the Lakers scored 100 points. If they continued to play, the score would reach 150 points. However, the Knicks had no offensive status tonight and lost more than the "New York version of the Clippers" Nets.

Misfortune is entirely possible.

Rudy gave up, but Louis didn't kill them all.

For the sake of their friendship, just... replace them with Nash, Dumars, Kobe, and Barkley, and Big Ben can handle it casually.

The result is not difficult to predict. The intensity of the Lakers' bench was terrifying. After three quarters, the Knicks were outscored by 122 points.

122 to 70

The fourth quarter is completely unnecessary for fans.

The tragedy is that they have to keep fighting.

Louis didn't want to embarrass his old friend too much, so he replaced Barkley, who was brave enough to play hard in garbage time, to rest, and replaced him with Buck Williams, who was not originally scheduled to play.

Old Buck signed an extension with the Lakers for another year last summer because he felt that good things come in pairs and taking advantage of the team's momentum to get another ring would not be in vain for his nearly 20 years of hard work in the professional basketball world.

Although Old Buck is no longer of much help to the Lakers as a player, his role as a veteran is significant.

As long as he wants to play, there will always be teams willing to get him.

There are only a few teams that compete for the championship every year, but there are a lot of teams that use high-ranking draft picks to raise young people.

They need mentors like Old Buck to let young players know what to do and what not to do.

Old Buck was willing to play for another year, and Louis agreed with both hands.

Moreover, in addition to winning championships, Old Buck also wanted to pursue a career in coaching after retiring. This brought together the right place, the right people, and the right time.

With the Lakers, he can choose to have it all.

Therefore, so far this season, Old Buck is not so much a player as an intern assistant who plays part-time.

Because Old Buck had no preparation, he sprained his foot after running back and forth on the court for a few times. When the team doctor asked someone to carry him off on a stretcher, several young players looked sad.

"Uncle Buck, please take care of yourself!"

"Don't make any noise, I will come back!"

In this scene, if you don't look at the score, you would think it would be hurtful for the Lakers to lose.

Louis couldn't help scratching his neck after reading it. If he had known that Old Buck's condition was so bad, he should have signed up for Wang Mukong.

Isn't it because people are so good at drinking water fountains that they can go out and play for a while at a time like this?

Afterwards, Louis simply asked Rodman to play the rest of the game.

It seems that due to the accidental injury of Old Buck, the Lakers did not have the same devastating offensive firepower in the garbage time.

The Knicks recovered some points as a result, and McGrady also had several wonderful matchups with Kobe.

142 to 99

This game, known as the most likely loss for the Lakers in the next month, ended with a 43-point defeat by the Knicks.

However, not many people could foresee that this game was not the peak of the Lakers' state, but the beginning of a bloody storm.

The Nets and Knicks are just the first two victims.