After 22 consecutive wins, the Trail Blazers, who successfully broke the Warriors' 21-game winning streak at the start of the season, have no intention of stopping!
On the same day, they challenged the Pelicans away from home, and the Trail Blazers won. Today, Josh Smith did not play, and the Pelicans' internal strength plummeted, and the team became powerless to fight back.
vs. the Thunder at home on Sunday.
This back-to-back is undoubtedly very difficult for the Blazers.
Before this game, the Thunder had a record of 16 wins and 8 losses and were currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference, behind the Trail Blazers, Warriors and Spurs.
Considering that the Thunder's current lineup is complete and they have a powerful combination to win, they are still one of the strong contenders for the championship this season.
Not long ago, they just experienced a six-game winning streak, including three strong teams from the West: the Spurs, the Lakers, and the Eastern Conference Rams. It can be said that they are coming fiercely.
Therefore, this back-to-back game is also considered by the outside world to be the game that the Blazers are most likely to lose.
And this is also the source of confidence for most people who think that the Trail Blazers can't beat last season's 24-game winning streak.
In this game, Durant and Westbrook's performance was as outstanding as ever, and they successfully fought the Trail Blazers to the end.
But the Thunder could not escape the fate of defeat in the end.
Facing the Trail Blazers' iron-clad defense, the Thunder's offense tonight was very difficult. In order to maintain offensive efficiency, Durant played almost the entire game tonight.
This also caused Durant to have a physical crisis at the last moment of the final quarter, which was a major problem that accompanied him almost throughout his career.
In the critical last three rounds, Durant's two shots were both black shots, completely ruining the Thunder's hard-fought victory.
Although the Thunder only lost to the Trail Blazers by 4 points in the end, there is not much difference in essence between losing by 4 points and losing by 40 points.
Because they still lost!
At this point, the Trail Blazers have a terrible record of 24 wins and 0 losses, successfully tying the 24-game winning streak record set last season, and are close to creating new history. They can surpass it in one check!
In the next game, the Trail Blazers will face the losing Magic. If nothing else goes wrong, a 25-game winning streak is already a certainty.
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Two days later.
Rose Garden Arena in Portland.
The Trail Blazers face the challenge of the Orlando Magic at home.
This team, which is still in the process of rebuilding, seems to have found their new core, with Oladipo on the outside and Vucevic on the inside, and it looks pretty good.
However, in fact, the Magic still have a long way to go. The head coach they recruited this summer, Skiles, failed to effectively bond the entire team and create a good chemical reaction system.
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Although the Magic have just achieved a negative record, their ups and downs have been extremely volatile.
When the team is in good form, they can upset strong teams, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, the king of the Eastern Conference. But if the team is in poor form, they can even lose to the Philadelphia 75ers, who are ranked last in the Eastern Conference.
The most terrible thing is that the day before the game, the Magic's outside core Oladipo injured his wrist and had to rest for a week, making this game even more suspenseful.
This time, no accidents happened!
Rose Garden Arena.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on player No. 36 on the field.
"Whoa! Whoa!"
Wang Zelin made two steady free throws at the free throw line, scoring his 40th point of the game, plus 18 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 blocks.
30 points!
The scoreboard showed that the Trail Blazers had led the Magic by a full 30 points. But at this time, the Magic had less than five minutes left!
It can be said that magic has almost been sentenced to death!
After Wang Zelinga made a free throw, Scott Skiles put his head in his hands, stood up with a look of despair, and stopped the game.
The gap in strength between them was too huge, and at this moment he had no plans to make a final struggle.
At the same time, the Trail Blazers came on the bench, and Beverley, Yi Jianlian and others quickly stood up to cheer for Wang Zelin.
In the stands, nearly 20,000 Trail Blazers fans stood up and gave the most deafening cheers of the night for their king.
Beep~~~
After returning from the timeout, everyone knew that the game was over after they saw that the Magic team had replaced a group of small characters whose names they could not name.
The next moment, the crowd cheered one after another, there was no highest, only higher!
"MVP!"
"MVP!"
"MVP"
Amid waves of cheers, Wang Zelin remained on the bench until the final whistle sounded.
On the one hand, the opponent no longer wants to resist. According to tradition, the Blazers have to withdraw their main force.
On the other hand, it is completely unnecessary. The Blazers and Magic don't have much hatred or grudge.
The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Orlando Magic by 22 points at home, and there was no doubt about winning the entire game.
Wang Zelin and his teammates also successfully refreshed their record of 24 consecutive wins at the beginning of last season!
On the court, the Blazers players were hugging each other.
This is just an ordinary regular season, but it is not just an ordinary regular season.
Breaking the record they set with their own hands is undoubtedly the most powerful incentive for them!
Thinking back to last season when they just set a record of 24 consecutive wins, the outside world exclaimed that it was a miracle.
But now, they have broken the miracle with their own hands and created new history.
Next, should we look towards some higher goals?
For example, last season just created the best negative regular season record in team history!
For another example, I will complete the final summit climb in June next summer and write a new dynasty myth!
You must know that success is often not something that can be achieved easily and instantly. It is good to set a general direction, but long-term efforts will make people feel tired and it is easy to deviate from the direction.
Therefore, the importance of small goals has value.
Of course, the small goal here is not the "100 million" small goal that later defeated his father.
The smallness here refers to the smallness that "accumulates small things and flows into rivers and oceans", and the smallness that "turns small victories into big victories".
A person who travels a hundred miles is only half a century old. No matter how big the goal is, no matter how good the direction is, it is futile to give up halfway. Only by treating each step as a small goal to complete can you go a long way and finally reach the other side of success.
Therefore, the Trail Blazers players, who had started with 25 consecutive victories, were just like playing a game. They had just cleared a new copy and achieved a small stage victory.
With this kind of motivation, the entire team can sweep away the fatigue accumulated from the long battle, regain momentum, and move towards the great cause of three consecutive championships.