Chapter 461 Part 1 of the Western Conference Finals!
The next day, news of the G4 battle between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers had spread throughout the league, but what people were most concerned about was Griffin's injury and...
Paul may miss the Western Conference Finals again!
Trailing by 17 points in the first quarter and 25 at halftime, after three quarters, they lost to the Trail Blazers by a full 41 points, just shy of a million points. Paul was almost on the verge of repeating the 58-point tragedy of the Hornets era.
Fortunately, the Trail Blazers chose to be a team player and rotated their lineups against the Clippers' main lineup in the final quarter.
At the end of the game, the Trail Blazers beat the Clippers by "only" 23 points, 107:84.
As for Paul, face was finally saved.
However, now he would rather go through the 58 tragedy again, just to get a healthy Griffin.
Unfortunately, reality is cruel.
Griffin, who has been diagnosed with a first-degree sprain of his right ankle by the team doctor, will need to rest for at least a week before returning to the game.
This means that he will not be able to participate in the next battle at Tianwang Mountain.
At this moment, Clippers fans feel sad when they think of what Paul suffered in the past playoffs.
What a sin!
Maybe when they thought about Trail Blazers No. 36, who scored 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 assists in halftime last night, they were confused for a moment.
It seems that even if Griffin is not injured, the Clippers may not be a match for the Chinese kid.
Is it possible that the "conspiracy theory" mentioned by the media before is true? The Portland Trail Blazers chose this first game to celebrate their promotion to the Western Conference Finals at home.
They can't help but think otherwise. In fact, in the next few games, the offense and defense displayed by the Trail Blazers can be said to be crushing as far as the Clippers are concerned.
…
…
The other end.
It was almost noon on the 13th at Portland Airport.
As soon as Wang Zelin and his teammates got off the plane, reporters who had been waiting for a long time swarmed up and blocked the passage.
"Hey, hey, guys, I can understand your mood, but please also understand the passengers behind you. Go outside first. I will give you a chance for an interview later."
Although the passengers behind him recognized the Trail Blazers and made no complaints, Wang Zelin still consciously asked the media to make way.
After all, everyone's time is precious, and wasting other people's time is undoubtedly a waste of money and life.
After waiting for more than an hour, at exactly one o'clock in the afternoon, the Trail Blazers got on the bus and returned to the team headquarters.
…
Wang Zelin and his teammates returned to Portland, leading the series 3:1.
Outside... the direction of public opinion has quietly changed.
It is true that there are three games left in this series. Looking back at history, it is not that no team has achieved a shocking comeback when falling behind 1:3.
Theoretically, the Clippers still have hope of advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
However, considering that the Clippers have lost a general, and more importantly, in the next three games, the Trail Blazers only need to win one to advance!
The situations of the two teams are completely different.
Before the start of the series, the outside world generally believed that the overall strength of the Trail Blazers was slightly stronger than that of the Clippers. Although there were more advantages, there was not a qualitative gap. If the Clippers had someone break out during the series, the Clippers would be
It is really possible for the fleet to defeat the Trail Blazers.
The plot developed in the same way later. In the first game of the series, it was Paul's outburst that allowed the Clippers to win first.
Although this was more or less due to the Blazers underestimating their opponents, after one game, people realized that the Clippers' strength should never be underestimated.
The Clippers can win, which is a bit unexpected, but also seems reasonable.
However, people did not expect that the Blazers players who had recovered from their injuries would play so bravely in the next few games.
As if to avenge their 17-point loss to the Clippers in the first game, the Trail Blazers spent their lives in the next few games, winning three consecutive games and returning to their home court.
Until now, no one doubts the strength of this Portland youth team, and not many people think that the Clippers can achieve a shocking comeback.
Besides, it seems that Clippers coach Doc Rivers is still the one who can easily lead the team to be reversed.
Thinking of this, Wang Zelin had a very happy day on the 13th.
…
Of course, some are happy and some are sad.
Speaking of which, there is another second-round matchup in the Western Conference between the Spurs and the Thunder. This matchup is far more thrilling than the matchup between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers.
After two games in the series, the Spurs 2:0 Thunder, taking the lead and winning two games easily.
And just when everyone thought that the Spurs would sweep the Thunder 4:0 in one go, the Thunder generals returned to the Oklahoma Energy Arena for a home game, but they were under tremendous pressure from a 0:2 deficit.
, pulled back two games in a row.
The series score returned to a 2:2 tie.
Things seemed to become interesting all of a sudden.
Although they are fighting the Clippers, the Trail Blazers are always paying attention to the game between the Spurs and the Thunder.
After watching 4 games, it is not difficult for Wang Zelin to find that the Spurs' old guys are really old.
Unlike the first two games when the Thunder were defeated by big scores of 112:105 and 112:77, in the next two games, the point difference between the two teams was about 10 points.
In the G3 game, they lost to the Thunder by 9 points at 92:106;
In the G4 game, they lost to the Thunder by 13 points at 92:105.
One thing to say, in the last two games, the two sides played extremely anxiously. The Spurs were in the lead more than once in the first half and even the first three quarters. However, in the critical fourth quarter, the Spurs would always be the first to be unable to hold on.
that.
Regardless of pressure, the fundamental reason is that this Spurs team is really too old.
This season, the average age of the entire Spurs team is 29.6 years old, which is almost the oldest average age of the team in the league. Tim Duncan, the oldest player on the team and the core of the team, is already 38 years old.
As early as a few years ago, the media and fans had made sarcastic remarks such as "the Spurs are old" and "Duncan is old". However, it is such an old Spurs. This year's regular season performance was second only to Portland.
The Trail Blazers have the second-best record in the league and have made it all the way through the playoffs, looking like they are heading back to the Finals.
To be honest, it is difficult to describe in words the shock this Spurs have brought to the outside world.
Some people don't want them to defeat the Thunder, but just want to see these old guys quickly make room for the young people to step onto the stage of history.
Similarly, some people hope that these old guys can achieve the feat of reaching the finals twice in two years, because these old guys have their youth entrusted to them.
This has caused the outside world to have extremely complicated views on the Spurs, but one thing is the same:
admire!
Sincere admiration!
With such complicated emotions, the fifth game of Tianwangshan between the Spurs and Clippers begins.
Similarly, at the Rose Garden Arena, the Trail Blazers, who returned home, also ushered in their fifth game against the Clippers - the Battle of Tianwang Mountain!
These two Tianwangshan battles are particularly important, because this year's two Western Conference Finals teams are very likely to be born tonight.
It can be regarded as the first part of the Western Conference Finals!