The Strongest Bishop in the NBA

After gnawing down on the tough bone of the Trail Blazers, the Wizards encountered not very strong opponents in the next few games. Among them, the more difficult teams were the Clippers, Grizzlies, and Bulls.

When all the Wizards played and did not underestimate the enemy in any way, they all won the game steadily.

And when the time entered mid-January, the Wizards met the Cleveland Cavaliers again.

This time the Wizards are playing on the road, and after more than two months of running-in, the Cavaliers have already felt a little bit better. The current record is second only to the Wizards, ranking second in the Eastern Conference, and is also the top player in the league. second.

After all, the Big Four combination of James + Howard + Irving + Love is not for nothing. Even if only one person stands up in each game, it is enough for the Cavaliers to win most of the games.

However, the Wizards are clearly not included in that bulk.

In this game, the Cavaliers fans were still looking forward to the Cavaliers beating the Wizards, but the final result disappointed the Cavaliers fans.

In the first three quarters of this game, the two teams were still playing inextricably. Even the sharpest and most terrifying third-quarter substitute lineup of the Wizards was abruptly carried by the Cavaliers. At that time, the Cavaliers still couldn't hold on.

Facing Leonard, Green and other defensive champions at the same time, James wasted too much energy, his scoring efficiency plummeted, and he missed several shots and layups.

At this critical moment, Love and Howard do not have the ability to independently hold the ball and attack for the team.

The only Irving who still has offensive ability has been in a state of being strictly guarded by Thompson, and can only rely on his breakthrough ability to score for the team.

The Irving in the 13-14 season is not the Irving who made a murderous goal against Curry in the next 15-16 season. His personal ability and stability are slightly lacking.

Seizing this opportunity, the Wizards quickly played a wave of 6:0 to widen the point difference, and then kept the point difference firmly locked until the end of the game.

In the end, the score of the two teams was 114:110, with a difference of only 4 points. It was one of the rare games where the Wizards had a very close score this season.

But in any case, a loss is a loss. No matter what the process is, it is an indisputable fact that the Cavaliers with the Big Four have lost to the Wizards twice this season. Such a result is completely inconsistent with the original intention of the Cavaliers to form the Big Four.

After the game, several members of the Cavaliers were put on the stage of criticism, and the first to bear the brunt was Dwight Howard, the league's No. 1 center.

As an existence that could replace James alone back then, Howard is highly expected no matter where he is. People hope that he can show the terror dominance of a traditional center.

But since leaving the Magic, Howard has lost the terrifying dominance of both offense and defense at that time.

So far this season, Howard has averaged 18 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Although the data is not bad, it is only not bad. His average blocked shots have dropped to 1.8 times, and his deterrent power in the interior is not as good as before. .

Is a center with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 1.8 blocks really qualified to be called the number one center in the league?

In the two games against the Wizards, Howard struggled slightly against first-year rookie Rudy Gobert, averaging only 16 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in the two games.

Even a first-year rookie can't handle it, it's really unreasonable.

On the contrary, the strength and level that Gobert has shown in the two months since he started for the Wizards are extremely surprising. This big man from Europe has extremely strong defense and defense capabilities. The average of 7.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks is not gorgeous, but when he is on the court, the Wizards' defense is even much stronger than that of Whiteside last season.

Wang Xiao once again proved how vicious his vision is. Such a European insider who is not favored by most team scouts has become a very good defensive player in his hands.

...

Howard was carried out by the Cavaliers, but he was not the only one who was blamed.

In another time and space, there is an affectionate nickname—Kevin Love of Guofu, and he didn't escape.

Howard did not perform well in the interior, and Love was not much better. 14 points and 7 rebounds were the answers he gave in this game.

As a player with 26 points and 12.5 rebounds last season, Love's average data dropped to 16 points and 8 rebounds per game this season. He naturally became the one who was blamed every time the Cavaliers lost.

Anyone who knows a little bit about penalty kicks knows that Love is really innocent. As an All-Star, after coming to the Cavaliers, he directly became the top four. Only after James, Irving, and Howard have all touched the ball When he came into contact with basketball, what he usually does most on the court is to stand outside the three-point line and wait for the ball to catch and shoot.

After all, James and Irving are both breakthrough players, and they need enough space inside to make a breakthrough with the ball. As a traditional center, Howard can only play inside. What can Love do? He is also very desperate!

Therefore, induced by Love, it led to the third blame, Cavaliers head coach David Blatt.

The relatively single tactical system of the Cavaliers and the failure of the players to make the best use of their resources have made this famous European coach questionable in just two months. If the record of the Cavaliers is not good, I am afraid his The handsome position will be at stake.

In fact, the Wizards don't have many tactics, only some pick-and-roll cooperation and off-ball screen tactics.

The martial arts in the world are invincible but fast cannot be broken. The speed advantage of small ball tactics will make most of the tactics have no chance or too late to use, and more often it depends on the players' own judgment on the field.

On both ends of the offense and defense, the Wizards players are better than the Cavaliers, so they can win, it's that simple.

...

After defeating the Cavaliers, the Wizards unknowingly won another ten consecutive victories.

However, this time the Wizards' winning streak did not last too long, and it was immediately ended.

But even so, when the entire January ended, the Wizards' record came to a terrifying 41 wins and 4 losses!

Many people were shocked to find that the regular season schedule has passed halfway, and the Wizards only lost 4 games. According to this trend, at the end of this season, the Wizards are likely to break the Bulls' record of 72 wins!

Of course they don't know that before the official start of the season, the Wizards have already set breaking the Bulls' 72-win record as one of their goals for this season!