In this round, the Warriors strengthened their defense on alley-oops, but the Trail Blazers' air-cutting tactics failed to work.
Seeing that there was not much shot time left, Jokic turned and walked directly to the basket. Standing inside was Warriors substitute inside man Festus Ezeli.
Speaking of which, Ezeli was in the same class as Wang Zelin and Lillard. He was selected by the Warriors with the 30th overall pick in the first round.
However, after two seasons, Wang Zelin has become the league's number one center. Lillard was also selected as an All-Star last season and is regarded as a quasi first-line point guard in the league.
Only Ezeli made his debut and is still an unknown member of the Warriors bench.
Compared to the two classmates, he is the only one who is still spinning in circles.
"If you can't compare to Wang Zelin, I won't believe it. I can't even deal with one of his younger brothers."
Azeri roared inwardly.
At the same time, he was staring at Jokic with all his attention. Ezeli, who has been in the NBA for two years, is already familiar with the playing style of European players and goes from backcourt to the basket in advance.
Jokic is very big, but his shortcoming is his slow speed. Ezeli caught the moment he shot and jumped to block the shot.
But he soon discovered that he had been shaken.
Jokic is slow but has a very strong sense of rhythm. He waited until Ezeli took off before turning around, swaying the defender cleanly and then putting up a basket to score!
"nice shot!"
"What's that fat guy's name? I like him!"
"It seems to be called...Nikola Jokic!"
The fans cheered again.
Wang Zelin laughed and said: "Coach, what am I talking about? Nicholas did not disappoint you."
"you are right."
At this time, Coach Terry's brows had completely relaxed.
There is no doubt that Jokic convinced everyone with his performance, including head coach Terry Stotts, who has always been relatively harsh on the performance of players on the court.
…
soon.
The second quarter is over and halftime is over.
Jokic scored 4 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds in a single quarter, which can be regarded as a new high for his regular season scoring and assists in a single quarter in the NBA.
Whether he was facing Marisse Speights, Festu, Ezeli, or double-teamed Iguodala, Jokic showed a very high basketball IQ because he could always find the best solution.
Proper handling of the ball.
After returning to the bench, it can be seen from the slight smile of the head coach and the claws of boss Wang Zelin that have been placed on Jokic's head and never let go. The rookie Jokic has gradually gained the trust of his teammates.
The only fly in the ointment is his performance on the defensive end, which will be difficult to improve until he loses weight.
But, again: he is still a rookie!
For most rookies, you can't ask for more.
Not everyone is like Wang Zelin and Lillard, who showed strong fighting ability as soon as they entered the league.
What's more, Jokic started out as a second-round pick.
Currently, the score on the field is 56:49, and the Trail Blazers lead by 7 points entering the second half.
In the second half, change sides and fight again.
Both sides returned to the lineups of the first quarter.
Warriors attack.
Curry held the ball and advanced past the midline.
He found that the defender in front of him had changed. It was no longer Lillard, but the No. 3.
Opposite Curry, Beverley took the initiative to come up to him and interfered with dribbling, while spouting trash talk with a cold face:
"Listen, kid, your so-called leading shooter in active service is a joke to me. That's right. Only cowards would choose to shoot so many three-pointers from outside. I don't think you should have a team name.
We call them the Warriors, let’s call them the Cowards instead.”
Letting Beverley face Curry was exactly the personnel adjustment made by Coach Terry at halftime.
Judging from the first half, Curry has already hit 4 three-pointers, obviously feeling hot. At the end of the first quarter, coach Terry realized that the entire tactical operation of the Warriors revolves around Curry.
Therefore, the team needs to restrict Curry in the second half. Only by restricting Curry's performance, the Warriors will no longer operate as smoothly as in the first half.
When facing Curry, if Lillard is a humble gentleman on defense, then Beverley is a vicious dog who does everything he can on the defensive end.
And this is precisely the foundation of Beverley's establishment in the NBA.
To sum up, it cannot be found that if you want to better restrict Curry, Beverley is the best choice.
Hence, the current combination of Beverley Matthews, Batum, Aldridge and Wang Zelin on the court.
Among this combination, Aldridge, who has the relatively worst defensive ability, is also above the league average. What's more, next to him is last season's Defensive Player of the Year winner Wang Zelin, making the Blazers' basket a thunderous mess.
District, as long as someone dares to invade, Wang Zelin will send an unforgivable blood cap at the first moment.
Among the outside trio, Matthews, who is at the peak of his career, is the league's top outside defender. His outside defense ability may be slightly weaker than that of the Grizzlies' Tony Allen, but it is not necessarily inferior to the Spurs' Dan Dan.
Negrin.
The same is true for Batum, who is also in his prime. His outside defense ability can be regarded as top-notch among wing players.
As for Beverley, needless to say, he has the best defense level.
As soon as the third quarter started, the sense of pressure the Trail Blazers delivered on the defensive end was not at the same level as in the first half.
"Is this a playoff game?"
In the commentary box, Weber's eyes widened.
Yes, Wang Zelin has already treated this game as a playoff game, even on the level of the Western Conference Finals.
Because he knows better than anyone else that in the past time and space, the Warriors in front of him reached the top in the 2013-2014 season.
After the start of the third quarter, as Curry missed two three-pointers from the outside, Wang Zelin protected the defensive rebounds and launched counterattacks one after another.
60:49, the score difference between the two sides suddenly exceeded double digits.
The Trail Blazers took a double-digit lead, everyone was on guard, but Kerr was going crazy.
After hurriedly calling a timeout, he repeatedly took possession of the ball. He needed to conduct more and be patient, because there were people on the opposite side and it was impossible to maintain such a strong defense all the time. Sooner or later there would be a chance.
However, in the next quarter of the game, Cole became the first to be impatient.
Because he found that facing the defending champions who were getting serious, the Warriors were still a bit too young at this stage.
Not only Curry and the others, but Kerr himself is still just a rookie coach. Although it later proved that Kerr's talent in coaching far exceeded that of his playing days, and even reached the level of a legendary coach, but anyone can
When I first met the ultimate boss, it was inevitable that I would be unable to withstand it.
In this quarter, the Warriors completely lost control of the game.
28:15, the score on the field also said everything.
The Trail Blazers still maintained an average scoring performance in a single quarter, but the Warriors' offense suddenly became like squeezing out toothpaste. All players on the field found it extremely difficult to score.
In the third quarter, the Splash Brothers didn't have the bravery of 4-for-4 at the start. In this quarter, Curry made 1-for-7 and Klay 0-for-4. The two shot a total of 1-for-11.
78:64.
When the Trail Blazers entered the fourth quarter with a 14-point lead, and they still had the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter...
As Wang Zelin scored 2 1 under the basket, the game lost its suspense.
In the end, the Trail Blazers defeated the Warriors 106:89 at home and won their first three consecutive victories!