As November ended, the Lakers played 22 games and actually achieved a record of 19 wins and 3 losses, still ranking first in the league, which surprised everyone.
Of course, if you carefully observe the Lakers' schedule and opponents, you will find that the Lakers' schedule at the beginning of the season is relatively easy. So far, they have not met the five-star Warriors, nor have they met the powerful Bucks in the East. Although they are at home.
They defeated the Bengals once, but they were still the Bengals without Leonard.
Even they only met the Rockets once and lost the game.
Entering December, the Lakers' schedule is still not very difficult. Among the 15 games in December, the only strong opponents are the San Antonio Spurs at the beginning of the month, the Houston Rockets to face in the middle half, and the Christmas Day game on December 25.
The Golden State Warriors, as well as the city derby they will face at the end of the month, and the Los Angeles Clippers game.
Excluding these teams that can be ranked in the top ten or so in the league, the rest are the bottom teams in the league such as the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Hornets.
These teams are definitely not a threat to the current lineup and strength of the Lakers. As long as the Lakers perform normally, they will have another winning streak.
But this month, for Wang Feng, the first small challenge is coming.
In his impression, December is the first month for Harden to break out. This month, Harden will average 37 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. In the following 14 games in January, Harden will average 37 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.
43.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.6 assists!
It is precisely because of these two months of strong outburst that Harden's scoring average has soared from 30+ points at the beginning of the season to 36.1 points. During the period of the outbreak in January, Harden's scoring average was once as high as
38 points, then the scoring average dropped back in February and March, and finally settled at 36.1 points.
This is a parallel time and space. Wang Feng is not sure whether Harden’s scoring average will drop after February to April, or in other words, he wants to get the honor of the scoring champion with a player whose scoring average is close to his own.
Will Harden reduce his average number of shots per game?
This kind of thing is very likely to happen. After all, in another time and space, George, who ranked second in the scoring list, averaged only 28 points per game. There was a huge gap with Harden, who scored 36 points. No one could threaten Harden's scoring.
King, so he will reduce the number of shots in the second half of the schedule to save energy and concentrate on preparing for the playoffs.
Wang Feng doesn’t know if Harden thinks so, but if so, once Harden really increases his scoring average to 38 or even 40, and he himself does not reduce his shots in the second half, he always maintains this level.
With average points per game, it would be difficult for Wang Feng to surpass Harden in terms of points per game.
Therefore, Wang Feng decided to increase the number of his shots in December, especially the number of shots outside the three-point line.
On December 2, the Lakers played against the Phoenix Suns at home.
Wang Feng played 31 minutes and made 12 of 26 shots, including 9 of 20 three-pointers and 6 of 7 free throws. He scored 39 points and 11 rebounds.
On December 5, the Lakers faced the San Antonio Spurs at home.
Wang Feng played 41 minutes, making 16 of 28 shots, 11 of 17 three-pointers, 5 free throws, and scored 46 points.
Then on the 7th, the Lakers came to the away game to play the Spurs again. Although the Lakers lost the game 129:133, Wang Feng's performance was even more explosive than the previous game.
Since the Spurs were almost killed by Wang Feng's three-pointers in the last game, the Spurs guarded Wang Feng's outside shooting in this game and did not give any chance. In the end, Wang Feng only took 7 outside shots and hit 4 goals.
But if you can defend against three-pointers, you can't defend against breakthroughs.
Wang Feng, who held the ball in large numbers and broke through the frame, almost tore the Spurs' defense to pieces.
Wang Feng made 13 of 21 shots from the three-point line. At the same time, Wang Feng, who kept attacking the basket, finally got possessed by JDZ once and caused a lot of fouls. He made 10 of 14 free throws and scored 48 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
It's a pity that Wang Feng's superb performance was not matched by the Spurs' many flourishes.
DeRozan also performed well in this game, scoring 36 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.
A total of 8 players from the Spurs team scored in double figures, and one player scored 8 points and 7 rebounds.
This also led to the fact that although Wang Feng scored 48 points and Butler also scored 21 points, the Lakers still lost the game.
The day after their helpless loss to the Spurs, the Lakers immediately took a swipe at the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies are now completely in trouble. Last season's regular season ended with less than 20 wins. Although Conley returned from injury in the new season, the team's lineup and strength have long been unable to keep up with the powerful Western Conference.
Ranked only around 12th to 13th in the Western Conference, it is slightly stronger than the Suns at the bottom.
There was nothing to say about the Lakers' matchup against the Grizzlies. They were taken away easily. Wang Feng played 32 minutes. He didn't play much in the fourth quarter because after three quarters, the point difference between the two sides had reached more than 30 points.
In the 32 minutes he played, Wang Feng made 10 of 18 shots, 5 of 8 three-pointers, 6 of 7 free throws, and scored 31 points and 8 rebounds.
On December 10, the Lakers faced the Miami Heat at home. They were another team on the edge of the playoffs, and they were in the relatively less competitive Eastern Conference. Naturally, they were no match for the Lakers.
The game ended easily at 118:105. Wang Feng scored 36 points on 14 of 22 shots.
The only thing worth mentioning is that this season is also the last season for the Heat's legendary superstar Dwyane Wade.
Wade followed Kobe's example and launched a national retirement tour. Although the scene was much worse than that of Kobe, the Heat could still give the final respect to this star who had played for the team for many years and contributed to the peak of his career.
After every game, Wade would choose to exchange jerseys with an opponent player as a souvenir.
In mid-November, when the Heat and Lakers met for the first time, Wade chose to exchange jerseys with his former Bulls teammate Jimmy Butler, and jokingly said to Wang Feng: "Wang, we will meet again next time, wait for that one
I’ll exchange jerseys with you later.”
The second and last regular season matchup between the two teams was this one. After the game, Wade smiled and exchanged jerseys with Wang Feng and took a photo to commemorate the match.
Wade is also a player that Wang Feng likes very much. He is low-key and humble. He can also make a lot of sacrifices for the team. Three championship rings are the best interpretation of his career. The only regret is that Wade has not won one in his entire career.
Having won a regular season MVP, even if he only wins one MVP, his historical status will be greatly improved.