There are a lot of metaphysical things in the NBA, one of which is called the injury wave.
The injury wave, as the name suggests, means injuries occur one after another among players, as if injuries are contagious.
The new season has been played for a month now, and many teams have experienced players suddenly suffering injuries and missing out.
The most serious situation is undoubtedly the Oklahoma City Thunder.
During the preseason, the Thunder reported that Durant had fractured the bone in his right ankle and was expected to miss the first two months of the game.
As a result, in the Thunder's next game against the Clippers just after their opening game with the Trail Blazers, Westbrook accidentally injured his right hand and retired.
According to the Thunder's injury report after the game, Westbrook suffered a fractured right hand and rested for more than half a month. He waited until the last game at the end of November before returning.
On November 28, in the Thunder's away game against the New York Knicks, Westbrook scored a near-triple-double with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. It can be said that he played very well in his comeback.
However, this cannot change the fact that the Thunder only achieved a record of 5 wins and 13 losses in the first 18 games, ranking 11th in the Western Conference.
Other teams, such as the Pacers, Bulls, and Knicks in the Eastern Conference, the Suns, Pelicans, and Hornets in the Western Conference, all of these teams have recently won players one after another.
The Trail Blazers should be considered the last team to be hit by injuries, but everything has its limitations. After the game in November, they will inevitably suffer in the first game in December.
Aldridge unfortunately became the first.
At this stage, everyone, including the Trail Blazers, is afraid of injuries.
However, according to Murphy's Law: Sometimes the more you are afraid of something, the more likely it will happen.
On December 4, after the Trail Blazers easily defeated the Pacers without Paul George at home 98:82, they then ushered in the longest wave of five consecutive away games in the new season.
There is an old saying: If you go out to fool around, you will always have to pay it back.
The league has given the Trail Blazers a comfortable and easy start to the season, and now it's time to give it back.
The opponents in the next five consecutive away games are very mediocre except for the Bulls, who are worthy of a fight.
…
…
At 8 pm on November 7, the Trail Blazers' away game against the Knicks begins.
The Knicks' record this season is extremely bad. In the new season, they have dived all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Carmelo Anthony, the core of the team, may not be able to hold on anymore. He has been fighting with a left knee injury and has not been able to hold on for the past 21 years.
During the game, Anthony played about 10 games one after another, and his attendance rate was barely over 50%.
According to sources, Anthony's left knee will require surgery to recover.
Perhaps he was worried about the Knicks' poor record, or perhaps he still had extravagant hopes for the playoffs. In the Knicks' last game against the Charlotte Hornets, who were also the bottom team in the Eastern Conference, Anthony endured the injury.
Despite the pain of illness, he scored 32 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists on 1 of 22 shots from the field, but the result was still unsatisfactory.
102:103, the Knicks finally lost to the Hornets by one point in the away game.
After this battle, the Knicks' record officially reached 4 wins and 16 losses, almost snatching the Charlotte Hornets' 13th place in the Eastern Conference.
Yes, Hornets head coach Steve Clifford will probably be scolded by their management after the game.
Wouldn’t it smell good if you put it in a good position?
Do you have to play with heartbeat?
What kind of killer game?
Of course, at least judging from the reaction of Hornets owner Jordan at the scene yesterday, Mr. Joe was very excited after seeing Kemba Walker hit the key two-pointer to kill the opponent at the last moment.
I just don’t know if he is excited about the team’s fifth victory of the new season, or whether he is excited about Kemba Walker’s performance this season.
Judging from the current progress of the game, Kemba Walker has played 18 games for the Hornets, averaging 19 points, 5 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. If he continues, he is very hopeful to be selected as an All-Star substitute.
If Kemba Walker can really be selected as an All-Star this year, I estimate that Mr. Joe will be many times happier than he is now.
No way, the impression of Mr. Joe's "unique" draft vision has become deeply ingrained among the fan base.
How he wished someone could come out and help him feel proud.
well, let's get back to business.
Anthony, who carried like crazy throughout the game but could not lead his team to victory, was in a bad mood when interviewed after the game.
Especially when I think about the fact that their next opponent is the Trail Blazers, who are currently facing a defeat...
The only good thing is that Aldridge is injured.
However, Anthony and his teammates know that you have problems from top to bottom this season, otherwise you wouldn't have played so badly.
Even if the Trail Blazers lose one Aldridge, the Knicks will most likely not be able to do it.
Wang Zelin looked at Anthony's player rating before the game. Affected by injuries, it has fallen below the superstar level and is now only 87.
Only then did he remember that even after undergoing knee surgery this season, Melo Pick, who once scored as much as he could on the offensive end, would never come back.
Melon gradually turned into bitter melon!
Anthony is currently averaging 23 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal per game, and is barely seventh in the scoring list.
The lineup sent by the Nuggets tonight is Jose Calderon, Iman Shumpert, Quincy Ashe, Carmelo Anthony, and Amare Stoudemire.
The lineup fielded by the Trail Blazers, except that the power forward position has been changed to Adams, the other four positions remain unchanged from before.
Facing the inside combination of Anthony and Stoudemire, the Trail Blazers continued to speed up the pace from the beginning of the game, maximize their advantages, and avoid losing ground with the Knicks as much as possible.
Nowadays, both Anthony and Stoudemire have lived up to their courage. They are injured more and more slowly.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The key is that the defensive contribution of these two guys on the court is approximately equal to 0, and they are a real defensive force for thousands of people.
Although on the offensive end, the Knicks managed to hold on to the score with Anthony's excellent start, but after the first quarter, they relied on Wang Zelin and Lillard to play the entire quarter, Vince Carter, Anthony Morrow, Yi Jianlian, Yorkey
The odd four players took turns one after another. The Trail Blazers and Nuggets played 33:27 and took a 6-point lead.
Watching Wang Zelinlin frantically spare no effort to score 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in a single quarter. The 11 points and two assists accounted for nearly half of the Blazers' offense in the first quarter. Both blocks were sent to the two teams without hesitation.
Not only Anthony, but also the home fans on the field were stunned by Wang Zelin's life-threatening play.
Recently, due to the fear of injuries, a large number of players have tacitly reduced their playing time. A small number of extreme teams have even faced weak opponents. However, the threat of league fines has directly caused the main players to enter the rotation.
.
The Spurs said: No cue!
Obviously everyone has to hold back, so why can Wang Zelin be so crazy when playing away games? Is it really not affected by his physical strength?
Or maybe he’s really stubborn!
Anthony said he couldn't understand.
But when he saw No. 36 running all over the court on both offense and defense, he could only smile bitterly:
"This young man..."
In the second quarter, Wang Zelin and Beverley, Connett Lee, Will Patton, and Yi Jianlian came on stage.
The Knicks, who were short of manpower on the opposite side, could only respond passively. First, they excluded Tim Hardaway II, Jr. Smith, Anthony, Dalembert, and Jason Smith from the lineup.
This lineup has two players who are over 2.10 meters tall. With the height inside, Anthony has also returned to his most familiar third position. Logically speaking, he should be released.
However, the reality is that when Anthony has poor touch on the outside and has to switch to low-post offense, then he needs to free up space inside.
As a result, the Knicks' idea of sending two big men to strengthen interior defense is completely futile.
Once Anthony turns on his personal singles mode and loses touch with the team system, other Knicks players on the court can only become spectators. The longer they watch, their feelings will gradually become colder.
At halftime, 57:45, the Trail Blazers had led their opponents by 12 points.
However, they seemed to be happy too early.
The game changed sides again in the second half. Matthews fell down during a collision with Anthony when switching defenses. When he came down for a check, he strained his ligament. He is likely to miss five weeks of the game, and his rest time will even exceed Aldridge's.
.
Not long after December entered, the team injured two generals, which made the Blazers players a little nervous on the court.
I heard it in the news before. xxx was injured a few days ago, and xxx had a fracture yesterday. Now, are these damn injuries coming to them?
Injuries are something that can only be avoided as much as possible.
But once it does come, you can only grit your teeth and accept it.
When Matthews was injured and left the field, Coach Terry's first reaction was to take off Wang Zelin and Lillard, who had played the entire first half.
The team's starting five have now lost two members. Next, Wang Zelin, Lillard, and Batum, no matter who is injured, the strength of the Trail Blazers will be severely affected.
If the next injured person is Wang Zelin, then the consequences can be imagined. The overall strength of the Trail Blazers team will be reduced by one level.
Coach Terry found Lillard and Wang Zelin and discussed it, but he still couldn't defeat them.
"Coach, now as long as we work harder and work harder, the point difference can exceed 20. If we really need to take a break, we might as well just beat the opponent in the third quarter, so as not to drag out the game.
It’s too long and we can get enough rest time in the fourth quarter.”
"Yes, coach."
Coach Terry did not accept Wang Zhelin and Lillard's suggestions very much. To be honest, he would rather lose this game than see anyone on the team get injured again.
But this is the NBA after all, not the NCAA, and players are the core of a team.
What's more, after getting along for several years, he knew very well Wang Zelin and Lillard's strong desire to compete and win. No matter how much he objected at this time, neither of them would agree.
In the end, he gritted his teeth and sent out a lineup of Lillard, Moreau, Batum, Jokic, and Wang Zelin.
Since he wanted to give it a go and take away this calamity in one wave, he made a decisive choice. He eliminated the Blazers' lineup with the strongest offensive ability inside.
Over there with the Knicks.
Anthony suddenly felt regretful. If he had known that today's young people are so fierce, he should have accepted the team doctor's suggestion for knee surgery earlier.
Anyway, with the current record, the team is basically not going to make the playoffs. Why do I have to pretend to be 13 for the sake of face and force myself to play with injuries...
Thinking of this, Anthony himself didn't even notice that his desire to compete slowly dropped.
In the second half of the third quarter of the game, Wang Zelin completely turned on the death-defying mode, scoring 10 points and 3 rebounds in 7 minutes in a single quarter, and also sent 2 blocks.
Thanks to his outstanding performance, the Nuggets were quickly opened up by the Trail Blazers with a huge point difference, 75:54, and the point difference had exceeded 20 points.
The New York Knicks are not a strong team to begin with, so how can we talk about a strong team culture and game toughness.
In the past four seasons, one was that they were stopped in the first round of the playoffs for three consecutive years. In the past 2013~2014 season, they didn’t even have a ticket to the playoffs. This year’s record dropped all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. In fact, it was more like a
The performance of a broken jar.
…
Wang Zelin scored 34 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 assists and 1 steal in the first three quarters, helping the Trail Blazers establish a 28-point advantage as soon as they entered the final quarter, and also brought unparalleled huge pressure to the Knicks.
What's even worse is that the first offense in the final quarter came from the Trail Blazers.
Lillard advanced with the ball in the backcourt, and when he reached the frontcourt, he called Wang Zelin for a pick-and-roll.
After the pick-and-roll, Wang Zelin did not organize in the high position this time, but quickly cut down and penetrated the Knicks' abdomen.
At the same time, Lillard at the top of the arc did not take a three-pointer after receiving the screen. He immediately smashed his hands and passed the ball to Wang Zelin with one hit.
"Snapped!"
Wang Zelin looked back to catch the ball, cut into the middle and sprinted at full speed, stepped into the paint area with one step, and jumped into the air with another step.
At this moment, the huge body was gliding in the air, extremely stretched.
boom!!!
The next moment, the Knicks' basket was blown over.
Explosive bombings, extremely violent conflicts, and displays of strength and ferocity instantly made people feel adrenaline bursting and their scalps numb, and even made the entire Madison Square Garden boil.
"mvp!"
"mvp!"
"mvp!"
Needless to say, the fans at Madison Square Garden are really cool. Whenever the home team plays poorly, they really dare to boo, and when the away team plays hard, they really cheer for it.
At this moment, all the Nuggets players on the court felt a little bit embarrassed. It was obviously their home court, but it ended up playing like an away game.
After this goal, the score on the field became 92:62, and the score difference between the two sides reached 30 points.
The Knicks coach immediately called a timeout. Not long after, when the game started again, the entire Knicks lineup had become substitutes.