Chapter 757 New goal: Break the opening winning streak
As if to comply with public opinion, many well-known media such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Bleacher Report updated the latest MVP prediction rankings overnight.
When they woke up early the next day, all basketball fans immediately locked in the top spot after seeing the list update.
As expected, the same name appeared at the top of the rankings of all major media - Wang Zelin!
Overnight, the discussion about Wang Zelin became heated again.
People have only one question - can Wang Zelin really achieve three consecutive regular season MVP awards?
But even after defeating the Warriors in the first match, most so-called experts still have a low opinion of Wang Zelin's defense of the title.
"The Trail Blazers are not as strong as everyone imagined. Again, the gap between the real top players is very small.
Wang Zelin may have been able to defeat the Warriors at the last moment of the regular season with his super personal ability last night, but the playoffs are not that simple!"
"Wang Zelin is a great player, but do you know the concept of three consecutive MVPs in three years? Don't use Russell and Chamberlain in ancient times as examples, it is meaningless at all.
Under the modern basketball system after the merger, why only Larry Bird can win three consecutive MVP awards is precisely because of the non-replicability of miracles!"
"I know that Wang Zelin indeed contributed a hearty victory to everyone! It can even be said to be the ultimate display of personal heroism that is rare in the 21st century!
But if he is awarded the title of three-consecutive MVP based on just one regular performance, I think it is still too early.
Right now, the first thing the Trail Blazers have to prove is to break their 24-game winning streak last season, and then they can start talking about three consecutive games!"
In the eyes of some people, even if it was a big victory last night, it was essentially just a regular season game and it still couldn't explain much.
Some media even said that if it weren't for that little bit of luck at the end, the Warriors would have had the last laugh.
…
In an estate in Portland.
After a tiring night, Wang Zelin slept until 10 o'clock in the morning on the 8th.
After getting up, he ate breakfast and scrolled through his mobile phone. He did not make any refutation of various comments on the Internet.
Because he knows that if he wants to achieve three consecutive MVP awards, he still needs to come up with more things to dissuade the fans, the media, and even the entire league!
No one wants to be dominated by one person or one team, including the top leaders of the league. They are happy to see the birth of a new look for the league, but they do not want to see the entire league lose its suspense because of this.
Therefore, Wang Zelin must convince everyone to create a Larry Bird-style miracle!
Knowing that the road ahead was still difficult, Wang Zelin quickly woke up from yesterday's glory, although it was indeed very tempting.
However, now there is a more tempting thing in front of Wang Zelin.
Speaking of which, this was all thanks to the advice of a certain expert, otherwise he would have almost forgotten the 24-game winning streak the Trail Blazers set last season?
He just saw someone online saying that the Trail Blazers couldn't break last season's record.
Well, let’s just wait and see!
Breaking the record you set with your own hands should be more enjoyable than defeating the Warriors...
After finishing his meal, Wang Zelin started a new day of training.
…
…
On March 9, the Trail Blazers defeated the Bucks at home. Wang Zelin recorded a near-triple-double with 7 rebounds and 7 assists in this game.
What's even more frightening is that this is only the data that Wang Zelin handed over in three quarters.
Unparalleled dominance, I hope everyone will be surprised by Wang Zelin's terrifying strength.
After this game, the Trail Blazers' winning streak reached 21 games and they continued to be undefeated.
This was not over yet. After just one night, Wang Zelin and his teammates rushed to New York to play back-to-back away games with the Knicks.
In this game, perhaps due to the back-to-back impact, Lillard and others did not perform well and felt extremely cold.
At that time, after three quarters, the Trail Blazers trailed the Knicks by 22 points.
Before this game, the Knicks had a record of 9 wins and 14 losses, not among the top eight in the Eastern Conference. They had suffered a 4-game losing streak before.
If you continue with this momentum, you will most likely have no chance of making the Eastern Conference playoffs this season.
Under adversity, the leader Carmelo Anthony went crazy tonight. In the first half, he made 8 of 12 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws. He scored a game-high 20 points extremely efficiently.
Plus 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.
In the third quarter, Anthony's performance was still remarkable, making 5 of 8 shots and 1 of 2 free throws, scoring 11 points.
I have to say, the melon tonight was so sweet!
This kind of performance finally reminds people of the time when Carmelo Anthony was the peerless pride of the 2003 Platinum Generation. Even in the early stages of his career, Anthony's fierce fighting ability was even stronger than that of James.
Before the final quarter started, everyone thought that the Trail Blazers' opening record this season would be set at 21 wins like the Warriors. Little did they know that Anthony's performance finally awakened a terrible beast.
Awakening, it’s hunting time!
At the critical moment of the final quarter, it was that familiar man who stood up again - Trail Blazers No. 36 Wang Zelin!
At the beginning, Wang Zelin scored two 2-1s in a row, directly knocking off the Knicks center Robin Lopez.
Without Lopez, the Knicks' internal strength has plummeted, and it is obviously not enough to rely solely on Porzingis, the No. 4 pick they selected this year.
Although this guy later averaged a peak performance of 22.6 per game and was as strong as an All-Star inside man, he is still a rookie at this stage.
In the first three quarters, he only scored 9 points and 5 rebounds, which was an average performance.
Now that big brother Lopez is out of the game, Porzingis faces Wang Zelin alone. The difficulty of the offense suddenly increases, and the offensive end is completely misfired.
Don't forget, the Trail Blazers are the defending champion team after all. Even if the offense cannot be opened due to traveling on the road, as long as the defense is active, their energy will not drop too much.
Under the leadership of Wang Zelin, the Trail Blazers suddenly increased their defensive intensity in the last quarter, making it difficult for the Knicks, who were already struggling in the weak Eastern Conference, to adapt.
It can be said that except for Anthony who can match the intensity of the Trail Blazers' game, other Knicks players suddenly became incapable of playing.
In the end, Anthony, who was alone, made 3 of 9 shots in the final quarter and surrendered 8 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block, but he could not escape the tragic ending of being reversed.
Because the Knicks were defended by the Trail Blazers in the last quarter and only scored 13 points, Anthony alone accounted for more than half of it.
On the Trail Blazers side, Wang Zelin scored 22 points in the final quarter and sent 3 blocks, which can be said to have completely locked down the Knicks' offense.
The Trail Blazers narrowly defeated the Knicks by 5 points in the end and won their 22nd consecutive victory, successfully breaking the Warriors' 21st consecutive victory!
At the same time, they are also continuing to move towards the 24-game winning streak they set last season.