After three quarters, Mosaic trailed the Trail Blazers by 12 points at 65:77.
In the home locker room, Harden's face was very ugly. In the last game, he just won the applause of the house with his performance of 37 12 6. In this game, he originally wanted to win two consecutive victories in one go.
Unexpectedly, after only three quarters, the team was defeated.
In his expectation, even if he was going to lose, he would still lose to strong teams like the Grizzlies, Spurs, and Lakers.
Are the Trail Blazers that strong? They seemed to have failed to make the playoffs last season!
Harden was furious and full of doubts.
On the other hand, the Blazers were all happy.
"King, please let go of your hands and feet to attack the inside in a moment. Asik has already gone down to rest. This is a great opportunity to show yourself."
"I will lay out a few simple tactics now. After a while, everyone will completely launch the offensive. Expand the score to 20 points as soon as possible. Don't leave the opponent a chance!"
Perhaps there will always be people in later generations who criticize Coach Terry for his lack of on-the-spot adaptability, his rather rigid playing style, and his lack of defensive performance.
But since he can serve as an offensive assistant coach for a championship team, at least in terms of offensive end, he is not much worse than any famous coach in the league. He is also very good at arranging offensive arrangements for players.
…
At the beginning of the final quarter, both sides began to adopt an attack-for-attack style of play.
Mosaic had no choice but to resort to this method. As the leading team, the Trail Blazers would not be afraid of Mosaic's attack.
Since you want to play offense with us, let's see who can last longer!
Mosaic's current ball rights are basically handed over to Harden, and it is up to him to decide whether it is singles or organization.
Obviously, Harden still wants to end the battle with his own ability like his idol Kobe.
After a quick feint, he threw away the defender and drove to the basket. Facing Wang Zelin who was defending, he did not choose to go hard, but jumped to the left to stop~~~Duang!
Harden's physical fitness, which requires both offense and defense, has been slowly declining. He has not had much rest from the start to the present, and his physical fitness at this time can no longer maintain an efficient offense.
"hateful!"
With an unwilling roar, Harden jumped up quickly as soon as he landed, and his hands were about to touch the basketball.
Wang Zelin jumped out again, ruining Harden's second attack plan... The ninth rebound of this game is in place!
He passed the ball to Lillard in the air, and the latter passed the ball to Hickson with a long pass, and he passed the ball inside to the layup.
65:79.
Less than half a minute into the 4th quarter, Mosaic's inside line failed again.
"Give up, bearded man. From the beginning of this game, you are destined to lose!" Wang Zelin glanced at Harden, who was blowing his beard and staring, and said coldly.
But Harden acted as if he didn't hear it and quickly ran back to his own half to catch the ball.
As time went by, Mosaic's offense once again came to a standstill. No matter how harden refused to admit defeat, he could only watch the score gradually widen.
Looking at the yellow-skinned giant who got everything he wanted in the paint, Harden suddenly understood how he felt after the battle of the century between Answer and OK.
I need help!
I hate failure!
I long for a giant!
This was the intense desire that emerged in Harden's heart after the game.
77:112
The Trail Blazers beat Mosaic by 35 points at Toyota Center, which will become an indelible scar on Harden's career in Houston.
Unless one day, Harden can also give the Trail Blazers a heavy response in the Rose Garden Arena.
Wang Zelin scored 37 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks in this game. All three statistics are career highs. This is a top statistic that only super centers can obtain.
With 20 points in the final quarter, Wang Zelin broke many official records of the team and the NBA. He couldn't help but begin to look forward to another surge in fan base.
…
At the press conference that night, neither Aldridge nor Lillard was present. Only coach Terry and Wang Zelin came to resist the long shots and flash bombs.
Fortunately, during the CBA period, Wang Zelin was treated like an emperor and a superstar. During the Olympics, he had to face nearly a hundred reporters at every turn.
His complexion also changed from red at the beginning to purple, then to black, and finally became dull.
At the same time, the Trail Blazers' public relations lady is not just a freeloader. She has prepared various plans for the players early in the morning to deal with media difficulties.
This is just like high school mathematics. As long as you master the basic knowledge and some common routines, although it cannot guarantee that you will get above 120 or 130, a passing level of at least 90 points is more than enough.
"Wang, is there any reason why you performed so well on the court today? Can you tell us all in detail?"
"This is the place where my senior Yao Ming once played. As soon as I came to Toyota Center, I felt the red atmosphere he left behind here. These factors made me very excited to prove my strength in front of him, and the result was
Okay, I succeeded."
Wang Zelin can tell this kind of nonsense with his eyes closed, and it is a familiar part of paying tribute.
"Is it just pure excitement? What you showed at the beginning can not only be described as excitement."
This group of uncrowned kings are all famous for their spies. As long as there is the slightest mistake, they will instantly transform into wolves, tigers and leopards, and rush towards the smell of blood.
"Ahem, basketball is a passionate sport, and young people on the field are also impulsive and sometimes act too excited, which is not unacceptable."
Coach Terry on the side was worried about Wang Zelin's ability to talk, so he smiled and did Tai Chi.
"37 15! China's young player aims at the No. 1 rookie!" - Bleachers
"The bright moon is still in the sky, but a shooting star appears in the sky. He still has a long way to go before he can become the King at the center position!" - TNT
"Shocking, the biggest contributor to the Trail Blazers' winning streak is not the team boss!" - ESPN
…
On the morning of the second day, after reading the headlines from major media, Wang Zelin finally understood why so many people were disgusted by ESPN.
There really is no lower limit, just looking for something to do, even if there is no topic, you have to work hard to create one.
However, TNT's statement was more pertinent. Wang Zelin knew very well that he was still a little short of the number one center position.
…
In the next few days, thanks to the convenient schedule and weak opponents, the Trail Blazers defeated the Suns and Timberwolves.
In the 2012-13 regular season, the Trail Blazers started with a 5-game winning streak and quietly ranked first in the league.
Portland's sudden rise has caused an uproar throughout the league.
The most shocking thing is undoubtedly that in these five games, the Trail Blazers beat their opponents by an average of 11 points per game. They won too easily.
Everyone knows that in these five games, the Trail Blazers encountered opponents that were either in the process of rebuilding or had problems within the team.
For example, the Lakers F4, which was initially regarded as a galactic battleship, shocked everyone with its three consecutive kneels at the beginning, and has only won two out of five games so far.
Of the two wins, one was the Detroit Pistons, who were still in the process of rebuilding, which was a warm welcome; the other was the "nobody" Warriors, which was similar in nature to the previous one.
Maybe it's because of the change of head coach.
Among the remaining opponents, as long as they were slightly stronger, such as the Clippers and Jazz, the Lakers lost all.
The current Lakers have fallen from their high altar and no longer have the invincible momentum they had in the offseason.
If you exclude the relatively strong Lakers among the five teams that the Trail Blazers encountered, then almost all of the remaining teams are weak teams. None of them made it to the playoffs last season.
But they are an NBA-level team after all. They lost to the Trail Blazers by more than 10 points in every game. From this, it can be seen from the side that Portland's youth team does have something this season.