"The king won the ball for the Trail Blazers. Dear viewers in front of the TV, the third game between the Trail Blazers and the Nuggets has officially begun!"
At this moment, Zhang Lili seemed more excited than the fans. Whether the Trail Blazers can secure their ticket to the second round is particularly important.
If the Trail Blazers still win this game, the total score will be 3:0...
There are three teams that have come back from behind 0:3 in the NBA playoffs the most times: the Knicks in 1951, the Nuggets in 1994, and the Trail Blazers in 2003. After moving back 3 games
, all three teams were eliminated in the end without exception and failed to achieve a comeback.
Really not once!
Winning tonight's game means that the Trail Blazers will advance to the second round.
As soon as the game started, Lillard felt tremendous pressure. The Ty Lawson in front of him no longer had the playful smile in the previous game. His expression was extremely solemn, and he no longer talked trash.
"I think everyone knows what it means to lose this game, so I need you to give 100% of your energy!"
George Karl's hysterical words before the game have been swirling in Ty Lawson's mind, so as soon as the game started, he discarded all unfavorable factors off the court and focused on executing the coach's arrangements.
After continuously changing directions and failing to break through, Lillard felt Ty Lawson's desire to win tonight. Fortunately, his psychological quality is strong enough. Since there is no way to break through, he will play a pick-and-roll.
Using Aldridge's pick-and-roll, he successfully broke into the three-point line and met Iguodala, who had switched defenses. At this time, Lillard saw Wang Zelin get rid of the orc Fareed and cut in from the middle. Lillard immediately passed the ball
In the past, a stable group.
When Wang Zelin received the ball, he had already entered the paint with one foot. He patted the ball and took a step forward, then jumped to join the ball. Costa Koufos, who was guarding Aldridge next to him, immediately pounced on him. Wang Zelin was caught in the difficulty of being bandaged by two people.
"The Terminator has been triggered..."
"The Dunk Tianzun has been triggered..."
Following the system reminder, Wang Zelin jumped up on the spot, grabbed the ball with one arm, avoided Kostakoufos' defense, and calmly poured the ball into the basket.
In fact, this goal was full of controversial hand movements, but the referee's whistle never sounded. After the goal, Wang Zelin did not forget to glance in the direction of the referee, who quickly turned his head.
Damn, the home whistle is a bit harsh!
Be careful tonight.
Offense and defense transition, the Nuggets attack.
Falling into a positional battle, the Nuggets have a variety of offensive methods, and the players' combined movements are also very tempting.
Ty Lawson passed the ball to Iguodala, and Iguodala leaned against Matthews with his body. Batum quickly stepped in and rushed toward Iguodala.
At this time, Fareed turned around and stuck Aldridge behind, looking up into the sky. Iguodala made a fake shot and passed the ball to Fareed, who was in the arc inside the free throw line. The latter easily wiped the board and made a layup.
2:2.
Lillard received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt close to the three-point line. Seeing Wang Zelin take the initiative to help with the pick-and-roll, he retracted his original plan to hand it over to Batum for a misplaced single, and used the pick-and-roll to force Ty Lawson and Kosta Koufos to switch defenses.
Classic small versus big moment!
From the moment he entered the league, Lillard was determined to challenge Paul for the throne of the point guard god. He has practiced his basic skills very solidly, and it is natural that he will not be able to do such delicate tasks as small things and big things.
After a quick change of direction, Lillard kicked the ground hard and passed by Kostakoufos.
Upon seeing this, Nuggets small forward Ivan Fournier immediately dropped Matthews and passed Lillard to pounce.
After being passed, Kostakoufos did not go to contain Lillard with Ivan Fournier, but turned to the direction of Matthews to avoid leaving the Trail Blazers open.
"The Nuggets' defense changes were very decisive and very fast. Facing such a watertight defense, how would Lillard choose?" Seeing that the Nuggets made the right defensive choice in a very short period of time, Zhang
Reasonable also praised it.
But what he feels even more emotional about is the Trail Blazers.
Facing such a powerful team, they still showed an absolutely strong attitude and led by a big score of 2:0.
Lillard certainly didn't expect to be able to see through the Nuggets' defense so easily. Although the Nuggets are not a team that relies purely on defense to win, it doesn't mean their defense is bad, at least not by Lillard.
You can do it with just one picture.
Lillard himself knows this very well.
Seeing that the space left for him was getting smaller and smaller, Lillard turned and passed the ball to the left side of the basket.
"Wise choice! Although Lillard's breakthrough failed to achieve substantial results, it still completely disrupted the Nuggets' defense, and it is very likely that there will be open shooting opportunities from the outside."
At this time, people discovered that Batum really got an open shot opportunity. He had a three-point accuracy. After receiving the ball at this position, he quickly raised the ball over his head without hesitation.
Fareed saw this and rushed towards Batum. The latter's shooting speed was not at the level of a sharpshooter, so it was not necessarily impossible to stop the ball.
Fareed, who has the title of half-orc, has terrifying athletic ability. Batum knows it well. Fareed is a defensive gate for the Nuggets. Even though it is an open position, under Fareed's efforts
It's really not certain whether we can get in due to interference.
Batum calmed down and continued to lift the ball, then stood on tiptoes and released the ball.
At this time, Fareed had already jumped up, but unfortunately he still couldn't catch up.
"Duang!"
The fans who were staying at the Pepsi Center were awakened by the sound of hammering, and the next second they fell into a carnival ~ "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"Rebound!"
Taking advantage of Fareed's running and jumping ability, in order to avoid blocking Batum's final shot, he adjusted slightly backwards.
He is not very good at fadeaway shots, let alone from beyond the three-point line, so his shots are a bit hasty.
Wang Zelin quickly cut in from the left and flew to grab the board...
"Shh~~~"
Wang Zelin's move was naturally met with overwhelming boos from Nuggets fans.
However, in Wang Zelin's ears, the boos were even ten thousand times more beautiful than Scarlett's screams.
"Snapped!"
After receiving the offensive rebound, the Nuggets fans booed louder and louder.
At this time, unlike in the future, the attack time after grabbing an offensive rebound was shortened from 24 seconds to 14 seconds, further reducing the living space of traditional big men.
Therefore, after Wang Zelin grabbed the offensive rebound, he tried to attack under the basket. He found that the Nuggets were frantically double-teaming him, so he quickly gave the ball out and passed it to Lillard to reorganize the offense.
When the 20-second attack time ran out, Aldridge turned over and made a jump shot. This time, Wang Zelin failed to grab the rebound and quickly ran to the backcourt.
"Eh?"
George Karl was surprised to find that the Blazers' offensive rhythm tonight was too slow. In the previous two games, they often completed an offense in about 14 or 5 seconds, but now they are uncharacteristically waiting to wait until the last game to take action.
In fact, this is exactly the strategy that Terry Stotts has arranged for this game. In one word - stretch
The longer you stretch, the greater your chances of winning!
Anyway, they are not like the Nuggets. There is no need to rush and play slowly. If they continue to delay, it will definitely be the latter who can't stand it first.
As long as people are in a hurry, flaws will naturally appear.
As a thousand-year-old fox, George Karl quickly thought of this relationship and his face became extremely ugly.
But what can he do?
This is a conspiracy!
Seven and a half minutes into the first quarter, the Trail Blazers called timeout first, not because they were behind.
Due to a change in strategy and in order to disgust the opponent, the Trail Blazers only scored 13 points in more than half a quarter.
The opponent was even worse, only scoring 9 points.
It's like a competition to see who can strike iron better.
Let the audience think they are seeing the tough basketball of the early 2000s.
Wang Zelin made 2 of 3 shots in the half, plus two free throws to score 6 points and 4 rebounds. It was a slow battle, but the one who took the biggest advantage was the inside.
Coach Terry Stotts saw Wang Zelin's hard work on both offense and defense today and found that the latter was too physically exhausted, so he chose to take him off the field and bring in Mike Roberts, the strongest defensive player in the second team.
As for the fifth position, of course Aldridge takes the position.
In the playoffs, if it were really possible, all the head coaches would like their main players to have the terrifying physical strength of James and Kobe, so that they can squeeze out every drop.
Wang Zelin had no objection to the coach's choice.
Although he said verbally that he was used to the influence of the Denver Plateau, physically, that was not true.
Wang Zelin temporarily broke away from the game and did not play again until the end of the first quarter.
During this period, the Nuggets players exerted their strength one after another and launched a violent charge amidst the roar of the coach, but the tenacious Portlanders still withstood the opponent's offensive.
After the first quarter, at 17:15, the Trail Blazers still maintained a slight two-point advantage.
The two teams entered a timeout, and Nuggets coach George Karl couldn't sit still at all and kept pacing back and forth in front of the fans.
There was always an element of impatience on the bench.
Back in the second quarter, Super Iron Man Lillard led Will Barton, fellow Iron Man Batum, Mike Roberts and Wang Zelin to play together.
Mike Roberts' ability to make the nine-man rotation in the playoffs relies on his strong defensive contributions.
As for Will Barton, in addition to his increasingly stable open three-pointers from the outside, more importantly, he is a rookie in the same class as Wang Zelin and Lillard. The coaching staff believes that he still has potential to be tapped, so why not give him a chance.
It is simply unrealistic not to expect him to be as good as Wang Zelin and Lillard in the future; as long as he can become a fixed member of the Blazers' rotation in the next few years, that will be enough.
After all, it's a rookie bonus. If Will Barton can really play well, it will be enough for the Trail Blazers for another three years.
Except for Lillard, the other four members of this lineup are all strong men over two meters tall. The average height per person is more than 203. They focus on positional combat and defensive counterattacks.
After all, under the subtle influence of Wang Zelin, Will Barton embarked on the path of a mountain player in the future. Among the five players on the court, Lillard was the worst defensive player.
For the Nuggets, Iguodala and Orc Faried in the main lineup continue to play, and the other three are Andre Miller, Kerry Brewer and JaVale McGee.
Lillard breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Andre Miller, the assist king in 2001, who was half a head shorter than himself and nearing the end of his career.
As long as it’s not that wild bull like Ty Lawson!
The official timeout ends, the game continues, and the Nuggets serve from the backcourt.
Andre Maitreya received the serve and quickly advanced outside the three-point line. Lillard spread his hands to create a step of space.
Andre Miller is not only dedicated to playing on the court, but his off-court life is also extremely regular, with almost no scandals.
Until now, he still maintains the historical record of consecutive appearances among active players.
For such a veteran, Lillard has high respect in his heart, so he knows the characteristics of the other person very well.
The advantages are low-post offense, flexible feet, and excellent organizational skills. After all, he is the man who won the assists title in the regular season.
The disadvantages are slow pace and lack of stable outside shooting range; the defensive end mainly relies on experience.
Andre Miller was holding the ball while observing the movement of his teammates. When he realized that there was no chance, he made a gesture and called for a cover to break through.
But unfortunately, his pull-up jump shot was interfered with by Lillard in time and failed to hit.
Turning around, the Blazers' offense also failed. Both sides defended very fiercely, and the fierce physical confrontation has been carried out from the beginning to this day.
Fans once again saw the difference between the playoffs and the regular season!
"The defenses of both teams are refusing to give in to each other. It seems that tonight will be a low-scoring defensive battle!" Up to now, the game has lost its hair, and Zhang Lili has confirmed his judgment.
His analysis is correct, defense in the playoffs is very important.
Every championship-level team, even the Golden State Warriors, which will focus on offense in the future, has a very strong defense in the league.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! People can't just remember the Warriors' terrible three-pointers and superb offense. The Warriors' defense is not weak at all.
The game continued, but the fans on the sidelines and the viewers in front of the TV felt like their days were like a year.
It's really ugly.
No one expected that the two teams known for their offense during the regular season would adopt a defensive game strategy tonight.
Especially the Trail Blazers, their playing style has completely changed 180 degrees, they are even more grizzly than the Grizzlies!
At 2 minutes and 09 seconds of the second quarter, the two teams finally broke the long-lasting scoring drought.
Lillard missed the mid-range shot due to interference from Iguodala, but Wang Zelin got the offensive rebound again, otherwise he succeeded.
Not easy!
"Fake!" George Karl cursed again. If this continues, how can he chase points? He might as well surrender.
At this moment, Andre Miller had just assisted Fared for an alley-oop layup, but was passed by Lillard before he could return to half court!
Passing Andre Miller, Lillard drove straight in, and Iguodala returned to the basket to help defend.
But Lillard showed no fear and didn't even slow down. He rushed straight towards Iguodala like an out-of-control locomotive.
"Are all this year's rookies so stubborn?"
Seeing Lillard getting closer and closer, Iguodala swallowed and stretched out his hands to interfere.
But the next second.
"Bang!"
Lillard and Iguodala collided solidly, and both fell out of the baseline.
The strong Iguodala didn't think anything of it. When he looked up, hanging on the basket was the Trail Blazers' No. 36.
"Tit for tat! It's the same alley-oop, but the Trail Blazers' way is more wild and uninhibited!"
Let’s enjoy the King’s frame-exploding performance again!”
Zhang Lili seized the opportunity and kept preaching.
After playing the game for so long, there are finally one or two exciting shots.
So much so that some neutral Nuggets fans quietly stood up and applauded Wang Zelin.