The tumultuous fate has beco a true reflection of the Warriors this season.
Before the team set off for Los Angeles...
"Agent 45" Gerald Wallace was left alone in Oakland.
This new recruit who joined the Golden State Gang with high aspirations, now had his mood described best by frustration and dejection.
Although most of his teammates, including Qin Yue, had successively visited this Bay Area new deputy who was about to undergo surgery on his left foot, Wallace still couldn’t accept...
The truth that he would be the first to fall during the defending champion’s difficult journey ahead.
"Once a person starts having bad luck, even drinking cold water can get stuck in their teeth."
Regarding the injury Wallace suffered during a non-contact state in the team’s training session, head coach Ma Long remarked sharply.
After being traded to the Warriors, the outstanding-performing Wallace was forced to undergo surgery due to an unfortunate training injury, missing at least the next four months of gas with the team.
There’s no doubt.
Wallace’s unexpected injury was like a bolt from the blue, striking directly at the defending champions who had just begun to get back on track.
Because Wallace was injured at this point, counting his recovery period after the injury...
It’s almost like writing off the season.
In 1998, Michael Jordan, leading the Bulls forward through despair, could at least await the main players returning before the playoffs began.
But now...
Qin Yue, the new GOAT, could only passively accept the reality of the team finishing the season with this incomplete lineup.
Maybe before the league’s designated date to use the injury exception, the Warriors could use their injury exception to sign a championship puzzle piece for Qin Yue.
But it doesn’t matter much.
After all, the ability of any championship puzzle piece is limited.
They are destined not to free up Qin Yue on the court as a nearly star-level player like Wallace does.
Before the All-Star Weekend, the Warriors and Lakers played two consecutive gas.
Carrying dissatisfaction with fate, at Staples Center, Qin Yue, descending like a celestial god, led the incomplete Warriors to conquer Los Angeles once again.
This earth-shattering "24VS30" ended with Qin Yue scoring 51 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, and 3 blocks, leading the team to victory on the road.
But a day later, at Oracle Arena, the fully-equipped Lakers battled back to take a win.
Kobe’s performance was average, making 7 of 15 shots in total, counting free throws and three-pointers, scoring a total of 21 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals.
However...
Warriors’ legend comntator Rick Barry said during the broadcast: "When the Lakers don’t need Kobe to have a great performance to defeat the Warriors, honestly, I think the Warriors’ chance of defending the title and achieving a three-peat this year is approaching zero."
Although on the court, Qin Yue consistently suppressed the still-developing Little Gasol through targeted play.
But after last year’s playoff sweep, Big Gasol’s tougher playing style has invisibly transford him into a truly significant inside player.
Also, through continuous adaptation and study, almost all opponents have discovered an approach to counter the Warriors, who willingly slow down the ga’s pace.
If the Warriors want to slow down, then we will actively speed up.
If the interior fortified by Qin Yue and Brown has a despairingly strong rim protection, then we’ll attack from the Warriors’ weak side by clearing half the court.
The second battle at Oracle Arena, showcasing six Lakers scoring in double figures, beca a perfect teaching display for future opponents on how to defeat these Warriors.
In the ga, apart from Kobe, Big Gasol, Odom, Battier, Ellis, and Lowry all scored in double figures.
"Consider this as letting you win for a mont, I still have three scores to settle with you," Kobe, who has always had a contentious relationship with Qin Yue, said after the ga.
Hearing this, Qin Yue retorted: "It should be letting you, because just the last ga I led the Warriors to a win in Staples, your scores to settle with have clearly reached four."
After a pause, Qin Yue added: "But seeing as you rarely win against , you say it’s three scores, so three scores it is. Who let you always play the loser role in front of ?"
"..."
...
Before the All-Star Weekend, the Warriors, suffering a three-ga losing streak, fell to fifth in the Western standings.
Following the Lakers...
The Celtics, led by Duncan, Pierce, and Carter, also defeated the defending champions at Oracle Arena.
In the ga, Al Horford, who had his psyche imprinted negatively by Qin Yue during their college days, perford well.
As Duncan’s best interior partner since David Robinson, this season, with guidances from Duncan and Perkins, Horford has rapidly improved.
Although there’s still a long way to fully realize his potential.
But compared to his college performance of 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block facing Qin Yue, at least following his brothers’ charge and defeating the defending champions this night for the Celtics, Horford no longer fears Qin Yue as he did back then.
Of course, the reason Horford could wrote "I—am—not—afraid" on his face is because Pierce and Carter jointly scored 58 points for the Celtics in the ga.
Plus whenever Horford was trepidatiously switched onto Qin Yue through a pick and roll, Duncan would gently pat his head, with that mischievous smile afterward.
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