(The original text was published on January 3, and the author is Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The content of the article does not represent the translator’s point of view)
The runway of South Beach Flamingo Park is always 2-3 degrees warmer than the runway in other parts of Miami. On Friday afternoon in hot summer, half a person is usually invisible in this hot and uncomfortable place.
But in the eight weeks last summer, Mitchell was here, completing the rampage over and over again. Mitchell, trainer David Alexander and a pot of water, six 50-meter sprints, five 100-meter sprints, three 200-meter sprints, and finally two 400-meter sprints burning the lungs. After this training plan, the most torturing thing is that the runway temperature has been kept at about 38 degrees.
On Monday night, in the extra time match between the Cavaliers and the Bulls, Mitchell grabbed a ball right. Although the personal playing time had reached 48 minutes, he still ran faster than everyone on the court, rushed to rim and completed one of the 22 goals. When Mitchell made the final touches for this career battle, he looked stronger and more agile than anyone in the Knights and bulls.
Mitchell scored 71 points and 13 points were scored in the epic overtime. Since Kobe Bryant faced the unforgettable 81 points of Raptors in 2006, Mitchell has scored the highest score in nearly 17 years. In the match where Mitchell led the knight to beat the Bull 143-134 plus hours, it seemed that there were countless records, and one record seemed to be more important than other records.
According to ESPN’s Data Information research, Mitchell indirectly and directly created a score of 99 points for Knights, second only to Chamberlain’s performance of 100 points per game in 1962. Mitchell was the first player in history to score at least 70 points and 10 assists in a single game. In addition to 100 points for the individual, Chamberlain had 2 assists, it means that he indirectly and directly created a record of 104 points and no one broke it for the time being.
Mitchell not only reached Chamberlain’s height, but also broke James’s record in Knight, setting a new record for Knight’s greatest personal scoring show young pioneer team history. At the same time, Chamberlain did not deliberately throw a goal in the last three seconds of the regular time of the game, grabbed the rebound and completed the score. He played a three-point attack that was almost a miracle, approaching the time of the game. After the match, Mitchell was watered and celebrated by his teammates. He was wet all over and said, “it is very embarrassing to be compared with the record set by the predecessors like Chamberlain. Being able to associate with such a great player, I really have some poor words and inner satisfaction.”
The off-season training story is very common for NBA players with the highest level, but last summer’s training was not only for Mitchell to improve endurance. After the end of last season, Mitchell was angry at the disappointing performance of Sir for a whole year and the relationship with his teammates, angry that the team is planning to rebuild and thinks that giving up him will have a better future.
Meanwhile, Mitchell also saw a group of peers around him shining. Booker of the Sun, Morant of the grizzly bear, Tatum of the Celtics and Trey Yang of The Eagle all were selected as the best team, while Mitchell did not.
After jazz sent Gobel away in July 1 last year, Mitchell realized that his days in Utah were not much, so he canceled the training plan to join the team during the Las Vegas Summer League and turned to Miami.
Mitchell didn’t know where his next home was, and he might even stay in jazz for another year, but he knew that he wanted to return to the game with different energy in the new season. So in the two months of summer, Mitchell trained harder than ever before. Even during his vacation on the island, he found a five-star resort with its own basketball court.
This is an all-round purification of spirit, body and emotion.
With a heavy deal Landing, a few weeks later, Mitchell arrived in Cleveland in September. At that time, the Knight was not sure what the new season would be like, but even after paying the huge price of three unprotected first round and two first round signing swap rights, the Knight was still very happy to get Mitchell through this deal, it’s just that there are unknown worries behind all this.
Does Mitchell really want to stay in Cleveland? Can he accept to partner with another scoring guard like Garland? With jazz’s experience, can he put on the star shelf?
After coming to the Knight, Mitchell not only played a stunning performance, but also his attitude was team first from the beginning, and he always maintained this attitude. This is also one of the reasons why the Knight teammates gathered around Mitchell on this magical night and sincerely sent him blessings. Due to the absence of Garland and little mobry due to injuries, the knight was very eager for the great performance of Mitchell. The coach of the Knights in the second half and overtime did not let Mitchell rest. He said, “Mitchell never puts himself above the team. How can you not support such a player? Tonight we witnessed one of the greatest performances in basketball history.”
This summer, in the last day of training before Mitchell went to Cleveland, he finished the last 400-meter sprint. Trainer Alexander pressed the stopwatch-57 seconds. This is one of the best times in the Mitchell offseason. His daily physical and competition training has prepared for the new season.
This season, the average score of Mitchell hit a new high in his career, with two-point, three-point and free throw shooting rates all being personal best performances. At the same time, the playing time was at the top of the league. As Garland continued to deal with the injury problem, Rubio was trying to lead the Cavaliers forward during the recovery from the injury caused by the anterior ligament tear.
Finally, this season will not be decided in one month. This is the first time since 1998 that the Knight has hit the playoffs without James. At the same time, since 1993, never won a playoff series without James. Knight has experienced a period of instability in the past few weeks, while Mitchell was actually in a depressed state before devoting to epic scoring feast.
This season will end sooner or later, and Mitchell’s hard training throughout the summer will eventually be forgotten. But the night of 71 points will be remembered in the years to come. This is the glory of Mitchell forever. On this night, he proved himself to be one of the best players in the league, this will no longer be questioned. Mitchell said: “I have always believed that I can become one of the best players in the league, and I demand that I must do it.”
Original text: Brain Windhorst
Compile: Li Taibai
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