Chapter 1112 Young people always have to pay some tuition fees
On the night of the 1st, the Trail Blazers challenged the Jazz away from home.
Entering April, the major teams in the league have begun to prepare for the playoffs. Teams like the Lakers and Hawks, which have many veterans, have begun to arrange for the team's core players to rest in order to gain more
Rest time and strive to perform better in the playoffs.
The Trail Blazers also planned to rest veterans such as Vince Carter and Courtney Lee.
Carter, who was born on January 26, 1997, is already 40 years old this year and is considered one of the oldest veterans in active service. Connet Lee, who was born in 1985, is almost 32 this year and is considered half a veteran.
of ranks.
As the two pieces of the Trail Blazers' championship puzzle on the bench, the team must ensure that they have enough physical reserves to prepare for the playoffs.
After all, role players are different from stars. Generally speaking, there is often a gap in physical talent between the two, so the peak period of the former is often not as long-lasting as the latter.
Not everyone is like LeBron James, who can still maintain a very high competitive level after more than ten years since his debut. The old man's physical fitness and self-discipline are among the strongest in history.
19:00, Energy Solutions Arena.
Both sides appear.
The Trail Blazers currently have 67 wins and 9 losses, ranking first in the Northwest Division, first in the Western Conference, and first in the league!
Although the Jazz's record is not bad and they barely made it to the playoffs in the Western Conference, there is still a big gap compared with the Trail Blazers who are also in the Northwest Division.
The Jazz currently have a record of 45 wins and 31 losses, ranking eighth in the Western Conference. They have the opposite record to the sixth-place Lakers, seventh-place Thunder, and ninth-place Clippers. There is less than a normal small difference between these four teams.
gap.
According to the current trend, the Trail Blazers and Warriors have basically secured the first and second place in the regular season record. Who doesn't know that these two teams are notoriously strong, and the Jazz don't want to lose in the first round.
I met them, so I was chasing after them at the end of the regular season, hoping to surpass the Thunder and Lakers in front. Otherwise, even if they enter the playoffs this year, there is a high probability that they will be eliminated in the first round.
This season, the entire Western Conference is in chaos. At the beginning of the season, the two super teams of the Trail Blazers and Warriors are on top of the entire Western Conference, followed closely by the Spurs and Mosaics, followed by the Grizzlies, Lakers, Thunder and Jazz.
After the All-Star break, the Clippers suddenly had a group of three giants emerge. If they hadn't been formed a little later, I'm afraid their current record would definitely rank among the top six in the Western Conference.
Even so, the Big Three of the Clippers still showed great aggression. They rushed quickly in the second half of the season and finally caught up from the twelfth in the Western Conference in the middle of the season to the ninth in the Western Conference. The Jazz were already in danger.
The Jazz are a relatively young team with high spirits. They don't want their efforts for most of the season to be in vain. They only have a few tickets for the playoffs and they won't give them away.
Therefore, even though he knew that tonight's opponent was the strongest Trail Blazers in the league, Jazz star Gordon Hayward still led a group of teammates to fight with the most excited and passionate attitude.
Perhaps it was because the visiting team was not used to the local environment, or perhaps it was because the young Jazz players were in really hot shape. At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were 17:24, trailing the Jazz by 7 points.
This result is somewhat surprising, because before the game no one thought that the Jazz could beat the Trail Blazers. Logically speaking, this game should be one-sided.
But it fits the NBA’s classic slogan—the place where miracles are born!
After the first quarter, Hayward scored 12 points on 5 of 9 shots. Rupert, under the intimidation of Wang Zelin, was also very good, scoring 10 points on 4 of 4 and grabbing 6 rebounds.
Thanks to the outstanding performance of the internal dual-core, the Jazz were able to lead the Trail Blazers.
Entering the second quarter, the Jazz had another surprise player. The young guard Dante Essam, who was selected by the Jazz with the fifth overall pick in the first round in 2014, suddenly went berserk on the court. He came on the court in the second half of the quarter.
He made 3 of 4 shots, including 1 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 7 points individually. He fought with the Trail Blazers' bench on his own, and the game was back-and-forth.
Then Hayward and Gobert came back on the court, and the two scored 11 points together, helping the Jazz withstand the Blazers' counterattack.
At the end of the first half, the score between the two sides was 48:52, with the Trail Blazers still trailing the Trail Blazers by 5 points.
The 48 points at halftime set a new low for the Trail Blazers in the first half of the season.
It can be seen from this that the title of the home stadium of the Salt Lake City Devils is really not justified.
With the Utah Jazz re-emerging and becoming a strong team in the Western Conference playoffs, led by a group of young people led by Hayward and Gobert, Salt Lake City fans seem to be reminded of the glory they achieved in the past.
, the enthusiasm of the fans allowed the Devils to reappear in the NBA at home.
After the first half, the team actually led the defending champion Trail Blazers by 5 points. The Salt Lake City fans were so excited that they couldn't help but celebrate wildly.
At the end of the intermission, as soon as he stepped onto the arena floor, Wang Zelin was keenly aware that the fanatical atmosphere inside the entire Energy Solutions Arena had skyrocketed again, making him feel a little bit of pressure.
This is true for Wang Zelin, let alone the team members behind him?
Looking back, as expected, the faces of his teammates were all solemn.
"Haha, everyone, please relax. Now give me the ball and I will take you home."
At this moment, a relaxed laugh sounded in front of the Trail Blazers bench.
Everyone heard the sound and turned around. It was Wang Zelin who made the sound.
Seeing that Wang Zelin had spoken, Coach Terry quickly summoned the players to his side and drank two large bowls of chicken soup.
The team is about to win 70 games. At this critical moment, any team that dares to stand in front of them will be their mortal enemy and will be driven away by their iron hoofs.
Even though this is the home court of the Devils and the territory of the Utah Jazz, they will never give up the victory to others.
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At this time, the referee's whistle came from the field, symbolizing the official start of the second half of the game.
"Brothers, follow me into battle and kill the enemy! This battle will be won!"
Wang Zelin roared in front of the bench.
"Kill the enemy! Win!"
The surrounding players also shouted out, and the somewhat dull atmosphere within the Blazers team instantly disappeared, and turned into endless fanaticism.
The two sides changed sides and fought again, and this time the Trail Blazers directly displayed a suffocating defense.
The intensity of the game suddenly increased, and the young people of the Jazz seemed to be confused and suddenly became confused.
Since the 2011-12 seasons, the Jazz have failed to make the playoffs for four consecutive seasons. During this period, the Jazz have gone through a series of necessary journeys such as changing coaches, cultivating rookies, establishing new cores, etc., and finally finally made it to the playoffs.
This season, the team's rebuilding task was barely completed.
The Jazz once had Mr. Sloan, a coach with a record of 1,000 wins, who was one of the few in history. Under the leadership of two generations of Utah duo, he was one of the best in the playoffs in the Western Conference all year round. But things are different now.
Gone are the days.
This Jazz team is essentially a brand new team right now. Even with a clear eye, you can see that this team is full of energy, but after all, they are a young team that has not experienced the intensity of playoff games. Competitions
With little experience and immature playing temperament, the Trail Blazers just changed their strategy slightly, and their originally good game rhythm suddenly disappeared.
The situation on the court changed so fast that people were caught off guard. In less than 5 minutes, the Jazz completed the transition from leading by 5 points to falling behind by 10 points.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder was completely stunned. He did not expect that the situation on the court would change so quickly. In less than a moment, the two sides actually changed their positions on offense and defense.
He was stunned for a while. When he came to his senses again, he looked intently at the court and suddenly found that the score difference between the two sides had been further widened to 14 points. He was so frightened that he quickly got up and asked for a timeout.
Damn it, is the defending champion really that good?
They were clearly fighting well up front, so why did they fall behind all of a sudden?
Hayward and Gobot led their teammates back to the bench and glanced in the direction of the scoreboard, their eyes filled with confusion.
Not just the two of them, but the whole team of characters are also caught in the confusion and doubts.
On the other hand, the Trail Blazers, relying on their sophisticated defense and wave after wave of fast breaks, quickly turned from lagging to leading. Thinking of the confused faces of the young people on the opposite side during the timeout, Wang Zelin and Wang Zelin
The teammates were all happy.
After all, the pattern is broken!
After the timeout, Hayward tried to help the team break the scoring drought through singles, trying to control the rhythm of the game again in the hands of the Jazz.
But Wang Zelin is not stupid. He finally turned the situation around, so how can he watch the Jazz gain momentum again now?
Besides, the Jazz's offensive intention is so obvious. After returning from the timeout, the ball is basically firmly controlled by Hayward. If we don't target it now, when will we wait?
Wang Zelin can point out that Hayward's mid-range jumper and attack to the basket all turned into his two blocks in this game.
Then the Trail Blazers took advantage of the opportunity when Hayward was blocked by Wang Zelin and launched a ferocious attack again, losing the game in one game.
At 115:91, the Trail Blazers, who had a slow start, finally defeated the Jazz by 24 points. This was the Trail Blazers' first victory since April, and it was also a quite anxious game.
If it were a team with rich experience in competitions, it would not be that easy for them to take the lead in one quarter.
Of course, even if the Jazz lost the game, it was not without gain. Young people always have to pay some tuition fees for their growth.
Anyway, you have to hand it in early, hand it in late, and hand it over to the Trail Blazers. Presumably, after competing with the best team in active service, the strength of this group of young Jazz people will soon usher in new improvements.
The more he thought about it, the more Wang Zelin felt that his behavior tonight was definitely a just act.
In order to accelerate the growth of young people, he has put a lot of effort into it!
No matter what, the Trail Blazers are the winners in the end.
At this point, the Portland Trail Blazers got their start in April and expanded their regular season record to 68 wins and 9 losses!
What is the concept of 68 wins?
In the history of the NBA, there are only 9 teams that can exceed 65 wins in the regular season, including the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and
The Portland Trail Blazers, who have dominated the league as absolute kings in the past few seasons, and the Golden State Warriors, who have suddenly emerged in the past two years.
It is extremely difficult to win 65 games in 82 games during the entire regular season. The Trail Blazers haven't finished the regular season yet, and they still have 5 games left.
Although they have lost their impact and set a record of 75 regular season wins for the first time in history, they still theoretically have the chance to equal the 73 wins that the Golden State Warriors just set last season for second place in history.
No matter how bad things go, they only managed to win 70 games, which is a great record that has never happened in NBA history... no, to be precise, it should be a miracle.
Because before this, no team has ever been able to break through 70 wins in the regular season for two consecutive seasons. That is something even the Chicago Bulls led by the god of basketball Michael Jordan has not been able to achieve.
After the Chicago Bulls achieved 72 wins in the 1995-96 season and created the first record in history at that time, although they still had the first record in the league in the following 96-97 season, they still inevitably showed a downward trend. The regular season record dropped to
69 wins and 13 losses. From then on, they lost hope of creating this great record.
Now, what Jordan and the Bulls failed to accomplish back then is likely to be created by Wang Zelin and the Trail Blazers. Once it is really accomplished, no matter how much praise is given to Wang Zelin and the Trail Blazers, it will not be exaggerated.
…
On April 3, the Trail Blazers sat at home and ushered in their last match against the Timberwolves.
On the one hand, he wants to hit the record, and on the other hand, he wants to dive for the No. 1 pick. Lang is affectionate and I am interested. The competition between the two sides is going on. It is called a tacit understanding.
In less than halftime, the Trail Blazers extended their lead to 32 points.
In the second half, the team changed sides and fought again. In order to increase the average number of rebounds per game to 20, Wang Zelin partnered with Curry Jr., Connett Lee, Old Carter, and Yi Jianlian in the third quarter. The pure shooting lineup once again played.
As of now, Wang Zelin's regular season statistics are 40.3 points, 19.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 4.2 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. If he wants to achieve 40-20 in the remaining four or five games, there is still some room for manipulation.
So, with the "magic assist" from his teammates, Wang Zelin started a crazy board abuse mode, which frightened the Huskies' inside group.
In just one quarter, Wang Zelin grabbed 13 rebounds. Counting 12 in the first half, the number of rebounds tonight has reached a terrifying 25.
If it weren't for the fact that the score on the court had exceeded 45 points, plus there was Garnett sitting on the sidelines tonight for the wolf pups, thinking of the former teammate friendship, and in order to take care of the old wolf king's feelings, Wang Zelin quit the abuse.
board mode.
142:115, the Trail Blazers finally showed some mercy and allowed both teams to come on as substitutes in the final quarter to score points at will. Before the end, the wolves opened up and narrowed the point difference between the two teams to 27 points, which was barely bearable on the books.
.
Seeing this, the old Wolf King's expression on the sidelines became much better, and then he took the initiative to contact Wang Zelin and a group of former teammates to go out for a late-night snack after the game.
Wang Zelin and his teammates actually took advantage of the old wolf king's warm invitation, and everyone was so excited that they didn't leave until 2:30 in the middle of the night.