Chapter 99 I have been waiting for a long time, and finally today!
Everyone on the Suns team looked a little serious.
"The team has lost two games in a row, and now everyone is waiting to see our joke. I don't need to tell you what to do."
"Wang, your opponent Alhovd, although his statistics are not eye-catching, everyone who has played against him has given him high praise. He is a ruthless character, so you should pay more attention."
Regarding Horford mentioned by coach Terry, Wang Zelin had already been mentally prepared and nodded: "I know his strength, and I will go all out to win this game."
Seeing that Wang Zelin was ready, Coach Terry was relieved.
"Also, everyone should always pay attention to Josh Smith's assist defense. His assist defense ability is the best in the league." Coach Terry continued.
Time passed by minute by minute, and finally it was time for the game to start.
Hawks starting lineup: Jeff Teague, Stephenson, Korver, Josh Smith, Al Horford.
The person who jumped ball with Wang Zelin was Hawks star Josh Smith.
Josh Smith is known as "Big James" by the outside world, and his physical talent is evident.
In the system space, although Josh Smith has never been selected as an All-Star, his overall rating still reached 86, which is only available to All-Star players.
"Boy, I heard that you are very popular recently!"
Josh Smith is famous for being pushy, and he is full of envy, jealousy, and hatred for Wang Zelin, who is currently very popular in the league.
"Ah, what did you say?"
Wang Zelin put his hand to his ear, deliberately pretending not to hear.
It has to be said that although RMB's home court can only accommodate more than 18,000 people, the atmosphere is still good. After all, this is a strong team at the playoff level.
“Is this newbie’s English bad?”
Really when Josh Smith was thinking wildly, the referee's laughter suddenly came to mind and the ball was thrown high into the air.
Josh Smith, who was slow to react, lost the jump ball and what he thought was the moment where he could showcase his talent.
After arriving in the frontcourt, Josh Smith looked at Wang Zelin with a smirk on his face. Now, no matter how stupid he was, he understood that the other side was playing a trick on him.
"Fake Squid!"
During a movement, Josh Smith took the initiative to switch defenses with Al Horford.
The latter seems to have become accustomed to Josh Smith's neurotic behavior and went directly to Aldridge.
"Rookie, do you know that you have already angered me."
After resisting Wang Zelin, Josh Smith was filled with hatred.
"Oh, what next!"
Wang Zelin replied expressionlessly. This attitude made Josh Smith even more angry.
On the first goal, Lillard did not rush to attack and passed the basketball to Batum near the right three-point line.
Batum is the Trail Blazers' perimeter player whose singles ability is second only to Lillard. As soon as he received the ball, Korver quickly followed up.
The Eagles adopt a man-to-man defense, three outside and two inside.
Although Korver worked very hard on defense, the second-round pick's physical fitness was very mediocre. He was easily broken through by Batum in 1-on-1 defense and made a direct move to the basketball.
Even after Korver lost his position, he was not discouraged and quickly followed up.
Suddenly, Batum decelerated to an emergency stop in the short corner on the left wing, catching Korver off guard behind him and sending him flying.
"Whoosh!"
Very easy mid-range shot.
"Well done bro!"
Batum helped the team get a good start and high-fived Lillard on the way back to defense.
Offensive and defensive exchanges.
Eagles point guard Jeff Teague took the ball and stabilized the rhythm, preparing for a positional battle.
Al Horford came out and made a high-quality pick-and-roll, and Lillard was pushed to the other side.
Jeff Teague took the opportunity to break through. The 19th pick in the first round of the 2009 class is a scoring point guard who is good at breaking through with speed, shooting and passing in general.
After reaching the basket, he did not choose to fight hard when faced with Wang Zelin's cover. Instead, he cleverly made a time difference, dodged the defense and hit a throw.
2:2.
Although he is a master of breakthroughs, he always maintains a calm mind. This is the advantage of Jeff Teague, and it is also what coach Larry Drew likes most about the former.
Looking back, Lillard caught Wang Zelin's pick-and-roll and hit a long two-pointer from mid-range.
4:2.
Compared with his offensive ability at the No. 1 position, even the rookie version of Lillard has only a few players who can surpass him among active players.
"I actually stepped on the line!"
Lillard looked at the three-point line at his feet and felt a little regretful.
The game continues and the Eagles attack.
This time, after Josh Smith received the ball from the high post on the left, he chose to face Aldridge in singles.
After many offensive options failed, he forced a shot and was interfered by Aldridge. He missed two points and Wang Zelin picked up the rebound.
Larry Drew on the sidelines shook his head helplessly when he saw this scene.
After all, after all, Josh Smith still maintained his poor shot selection after coming on the court.
Fortunately, the Eagles retreated quickly and did not give the Trail Blazers a chance to break fast.
Although most of the main players of both teams are young people, it stands to reason that the offensive rhythm should be very fast.
However, the advantage points of both teams are on the inside, so in this game, Coach Terry asked the team to focus on positional warfare.
Regardless of how ugly the game was, winning in the end is what matters.
After arriving in the frontcourt, Wang Zelin took the initiative to ask for singles in the low post.
"Come on, newbie, give me a try."
Faced with Josh Smith's provocation, Wang Zelin smiled and started to hit him from behind.
One bump, another bump, Josh Smith had to push back again and again.
There were not many obstacles on the way. Wang Zelin easily carried the defender to the three-second zone, turned around and dunked successfully.
"Let No. 15 guard me, you can't do that!"
Seeing the shock and unwillingness in Josh Smith's eyes, Wang Zelin said indifferently.
The 10cm height difference and excessive strength difference between the two are enough to make Josh Smith's proud defense fall into thin air.
"Rookie, this is my home court, don't be proud of yourself." Josh Smith immediately countered.
In the next round, Josh Smith ignored the opposition of his teammates and insisted on misplaced singles against Wang Zelin.
"Let you see how powerful I am."
However, no matter how much Josh Smith shouted, Wang Zelin did not respond, which made the former feel even more that Wang Zelin must look down on him.
Josh Smith also used the method of being beaten to attack, but the embarrassing thing was that no matter how hard he tried, Wang Zelin behind him was as motionless as a mountain.
After the idea of dunking inside failed, Josh Smith had an idea and said if he didn't let me dunk, then I would shoot.
The moment there was another physical contact with Wang Zelin, he turned around and retreated.
In the NBA, there is a type of player who is dubbed the all-around player.
However, most of this type of players are all-around and all-incompetent, and only a few players are all-around types.
And Josh Smith happens to be such an all-round warrior, proficient in all kinds of martial arts, whether it is offense or defense.
Look, how beautiful that turning action is!
Look, how tricky the shooting angle is!
Look...why is it covered?
As early as Josh Smith's powerful inside attempt failed, Wang Zelin was ready to prevent the former from shooting.
In the previous physical termination, Wang Zelin keenly discovered the changes in Josh Smith's strength, and made a judgment in his heart.
This guy wants to shoot!
Sure enough, the moment Josh Smith completed his turn, Wang Zelin followed closely and jumped up high, slapping the basketball that the former had just shot away, straight into the crowd of fans on the sidelines.
I just don’t know which lucky fan will be taken care of by this basketball.
"I told you earlier, you can't do it!"
Wang Zelin's shaking head completely angered Josh Smith, and this all-around fighter who was already easy to get offended started a mysterious singles fight.
In the first quarter, the offensive rhythm of both teams was very slow, and scoring needs to be improved bit by bit.
It's just that the Eagles' offense was very chaotic due to Josh Smith's chaos.
The Trail Blazers methodically continued to widen the point difference.
By the 8th minute, the Trail Blazers were 15-8, already leading by 7 points.
Eagles coach Larry Drew had no choice but to call a timeout and gave Josh Smith another ideological education on the bench.
The sentence "A dead pig is not afraid of boiling water" is the most appropriate way to describe Josh Smith.
In the eyes of the Eagles, a management team that likes forward players, Josh Smith's treatment can be described as that of a son.
In addition, the NBA is different from the NCAA. Players are the most important here. As for the head coach, if it doesn't work, just change it.
Therefore, although Josh Smith has repeatedly promised to do whatever he wants to the coach off the court, as long as he is on the court, this guy can play however he likes.
After the first half, the Trail Blazers led the Hawks by 12 points with a score of 47:35.
The offensive pace of this game made the home fans drowsy, and the team was trailing by a big score.
A very small number of extreme fans are already shouting "Nima, refund your money!"
The Trail Blazers had a look of joy on their faces.
Before the game, Coach Terry repeatedly emphasized to the players that the Eagles are a strong team in the league and should not be underestimated.
As a result, the Blazers easily took the lead due to the confusing behavior of their star player.
Another big baby who hasn’t grown up yet!
After going through previous competitions, Wang Zelin and others have already given Josh Smith a very accurate label in their minds.
I really don’t know what the Hawks management is thinking. They are hoarding forward players year after year. Is it possible that they hope to one day get the next LeBron James?
In the first half of the third quarter, the substitute lineups of both sides came on, and Pachulia, who was focused on by Wang Zelin, performed very well in the paint.
First, he succeeded in a dunk inside, and then he sent a big block on the defensive end. It was considered a kicker, and it also made the home fans shine.
Finally have a decent offense and defense.
Not to be outdone, Hickson, the core substitute of the Trail Blazers, continuously succeeded in attacking inside, helping the team maintain the point difference.
In the second half of the third quarter, Coach Terry made a big move and removed the bench lineup and replaced the starting five players.
Take them away in one wave!
This is the task coach Terry gave to Wang Zelin and others.
Wang Zelin, who had been recuperating for half a quarter, dunked two on Horford's head as soon as he came up, and caused a foul on Horford.
69:53.
The score difference is getting bigger and bigger like a snowball, and it has reached 16 points.
It's not like the Hawks haven't tried to chase points at a fast pace, but the Trail Blazers can only let them get what they want, and they still have a slow and grinding positional battle.
In the 6th minute of the fourth quarter, Lillard, who had rested for half the quarter, hit a cold-blooded three-pointer, helping the two teams widen the point difference to 21 points.
85:64.
At this time, Eagles coach Larry Drew didn't want to fight to the death, so he directly replaced the main lineup and raised the white flag high.
The unspoken rule of the NBA is that when one side declares surrender and withdraws its main players, the other side must quickly heal and respond.
After two rounds, Josh Smith committed a shooting foul while defending Aldridge, and Coach Terry used the dead ball to take down Wang Zelin and others.
The Trail Blazers finally defeated the Hawks at home 95-81, ending their two-game losing streak and giving the Hawks their fifth defeat of the season.
After the game, what was displayed on the headlines of major news was not the Trail Blazers' victory over the Hawks, but the bet between O'Neal and Barkley.
"The great Sir Charles once again ushered in a crucial moment in his life, so please look forward to it!"
On the other side of the ocean, many fans even sang a song by Liu Tianwang, "I have been waiting for a long time, and finally today."