NBA opening draw to twilight Shaquille O'Neal

Chapter 442 The closing game of the regular season
For the Blazers, everyone arrived in Los Angeles on the morning of the 16th. Wang Zelin took a look at the rankings in the Western Conference and analyzed the situation of the bottom four in the Western Conference.

Just yesterday, on the 15th, the Dallas Mavericks ended all their regular season schedules. The record was finally fixed at 49 wins and 33 losses, with a winning percentage of 59.8%. They are still ranked eighth in the Western Conference.

As for the ninth-ranked Lakers, after losing to the Thunder, except for the closing ceremony against the Trail Blazers in the next three games, the opponents in the other two games were very average.

The Lakers should have won these two games, and it also made the competition between the Lakers and the Mavericks about the No.8 in the Western Conference intense to the extreme.

According to the league's ranking rules for two NBA teams with the same winning percentage, the Mavericks ranked No. 8 due to the high score difference and the dangerously leading Lakers.

The only way for the Lakers to make the playoffs right now is to beat the Blazers tonight.

But is it possible?
Yes, but it's hard!
Seeing that his team's win or loss will affect the ownership of the last playoff ticket in the West, Wang Zelin was still a little excited in his mind.

In fact, whether it wins or loses, it does not affect the Trail Blazers to the top of the league. After all, they have won 67 wins, and it is completely guaranteed that no one can overtake them.

But if they win this game, it seems that the stakes are not big, because they can't let them enter the field of 70 wins.

Strictly speaking, this game is the last chance for the Blazers to choose their opponent in the first round of the regular season.

In fact, for Wang Zelin and the others, no matter whether the first-round opponent is the Lakers or the Mavericks, they actually feel that it has little impact.Because in the previous regular season contests between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers and Mavericks, the Trail Blazers all won.

But in the eyes of coach Terry Stotts and general manager Neil Orsi, since they can decide their opponents in the first round in the future, why not choose the one with a better chance of winning?

After the game against the Cavaliers on the 14th, the coaching staff and management of the Blazers had a heated discussion, and finally on the night of the 15th, the result was reached.

……

In the afternoon, Wang Zelin joined the team, went to the Staples Arena, and entered the rhythm of the game.

Before the game, the two sides announced the starting lineup.

Lakers: Marshall, Kobe, Nick Young, Pau Gasol, Robert Thackeray.

Blazers: Lillard, Connett Lee, Will Barton, Yi Jianlian, Wang Zelin.

On the 16th, as the closing game of the NBA's regular season this season, a total of 12 games were arranged, and there was no lack of strong battles among them.

So what?
The game between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers has received a lot of attention, and it can even be said to be the first in the league!

Especially in China, the number of people watching this game is several times higher than that of other games at the same time.

On the one hand, there is the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant, who has the most popularity and fan base in the league; on the other hand, after Yao Ming played for the Mosaic team, another NBA team with Chinese players as the core - the Portland Trail Blazers.

What's more, there is Yi Jianlian in the Trail Blazers team, the only two members of Chinese descent in the league, both playing for the Trail Blazers, so it's no wonder that the attention is not high.

However, when the starting lists of the two sides came out, especially the starting list of the Trail Blazers, it immediately caused an uproar.

On the commentary seat of the court platform, the duo who came to commentate on the spot tonight are Zhang Lili and Yu Jia, which can also be called a pair of ceilings in domestic basketball commentary.

Yu Jia said: "Mr. Zhang, in the closing game tonight, the Trail Blazers chose to rest Will Matthews, Nicholas Batum, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Only Lillard at position 1 and the king at position 5 have not changed. What do you think is their intention for such an adjustment?"

Zhang Lili coughed twice, sat upright and said: "First of all, judging from the previous confrontation between the two teams and the actual situation, although I don't want to admit it, I have to admit that it is really difficult for the Lakers to beat the Blazers..."

"But I don't think this is the fundamental reason why Coach Terry Stotts underestimated the Lakers, otherwise he wouldn't have put out such a lineup."

"Oh, what do you say?"

Yu Jia put on a puzzled look very cooperatively.

"To put it bluntly, Tristos is picking an opponent for the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs." First expressing his point of view, Zhang Lili continued:

"We all know that the outcome of tonight's game is related to the final ownership of the eighth place in the Western Conference. If the Lakers lose, they will completely miss the eighth place. But once the Lakers win, they will be able to overtake in the last game and get the last playoff ticket in the Western Conference."

Yu Jia silently added: "That is to say, the King and the others think that it is more certain to beat the Lakers in the first round than the Mavericks!"

"At present, it looks like this."

……

On TNT TV, Barkley and O'Neill are in charge of explaining tonight's full-meter live broadcast.

Barkley said: "The three main players were rested as soon as they came up? Shaquille, it seems that the Lakers are going to play in the playoffs."

"From this point of view, Wang and the others decided to choose between the Mavericks and the Lakers and choose the latter as their opponent in the first round of the futures game." O'Neal said.

"But compared to this, I want to see what Kobe's face will look like at this time? I know the pride in that guy's heart better than anyone else. To him, what the Blazers did tonight is definitely a kind of charity...But, he still has to accept the king's charity!"

"Hahahaha! This is so much fun!"

"..."

Barkley on the side felt a little speechless. He really wanted to ask, buddy, is this the settlement between you and Kobe that the media said?

Good guy, in terms of eating melons and watching the excitement, O'Neal is probably bigger than many fans.

But sometimes, when O'Neal talked about it, Barkley himself was curious about Kobe's inner thoughts.

the other side.

The camera is given to the arena.

Originally, Kobe wanted to get the last victory and let the Lakers advance to the playoffs.Yesterday, he has been paying attention to the outcome of the Mavericks' last away game against the Heat.

Knowing that Nowitzki's performance was mediocre and the Mavericks lost the last game, he was so excited.

If the Mosaic team lost the closing game of the regular season yesterday, he saw the dawn of the Lakers' advancement.

So now, when he saw the Trail Blazers' starting roster, the dawn suddenly became extremely bright and dazzling.

Although he never went to college, Kobe has never stopped learning about knowledge. Whether it is EQ or IQ, he is even higher than many players in the NBA who have gone to college for one or two years.

Therefore, Kobe quickly understood the intention of the Trail Blazers' move in the closing game.

Pick the Lakers as your opponent in the first round! ?
Let's talk about anger, there is still more or less, and Wang Zelin can feel this himself.

Before the two sides played, he saw Kobe staring at him with the eyes of the Mamba. While expressing anger, he could also feel the eyes full of fighting spirit, resentment, unhappiness...etc. Various complex and negative emotions from the other side.

"No, I'm here to give you warmth today, and that's the result?"

"It seems that there is still a need for education!"

……

Of course, having said that, Wang Zelin still had a polite exchange with him before the game.By 18:58, both sides' starters were on the stage.

After the game started, Wang Zelin and his teammates were still "working hard" to implement the team's pre-match arrangements.

The jump ball in the middle circle, facing Robert Thackeray, a second-round pick in the same draft as himself, easily aroused the ball for the Blazers.

Playing against the Lakers, the Blazers used to restrict Kobe Bryant's strategy; the Lakers' strategy was the same, crazily targeting the insider Wang Zelin.

But at the start of today's game, the fans in the stands clearly found that the strategies and tactical operations of both sides were obviously mixed with a lot of laziness.

Not only is the defensive performance very perfunctory, but even the offense is the same.Especially the Blazers, which made many fans' blood pressure soar.

How can any team be so courageous as to dare to let people defend Kobe one-on-one?
Even though Kobe is already in his thirties, even if this guy is clearly at the end of his prime, his offensive ability is still at the league's first level.

Especially once you get high, the Black Mamba is still bloodthirsty!

……

Halfway through the first quarter, the two sides played at 19:22, missing three starting Blazers, not only did not fall behind, but led the Lakers by 3 points.

This was something that coach Terry Stotts, Wang Zelin and others never expected before the game. The eyes of everyone looking at the Lakers players were full of doubts:

what's up?Little brother, I haven't seen you for a few days, are you so lazy now?
Well, in fact, they underestimated the strength of the Trail Blazers' bench players, and some overestimated the strength of the current Lakers lineup.

There is one thing to say, the current Lakers don't have a bit of the style of the championship teams of previous years. Except for Kobe and Pau Gasol, the members of the former championship lineup were basically traded and retired.

Nash, who was still in his early 40s, was a little more reliable, but the problem is that Nash has long since recuperated from his injuries. Let alone now, even in the first round of the playoffs, it may not be guaranteed whether he will return to the game.

Of course, in addition to Kobe and Pau Gasol, the Lakers also have some players who have made fans feel a little bit comforted by their performance this year.

For example, the sixth-man swingman Nick Young who averaged about 15+ points per game this season; another example is the guard Jodi Meeks who can stably contribute about 10+2 points per game and so on.

It can be said that the performance of these guys, except for Nick Young who is barely enough, the rest of them can only be said to be quite satisfactory at best.

If you want to rely on these guys to complete the revival of the Zijin Army, you can only give the Lakers management a word:

Take a good shower and sleep, there is everything in the dream!

Soon, it's time for a break.

The score on the court was 33:28, and the point difference increased instead of decreasing. Wang Zelin and others returned to the bench with a 5-point advantage.

"Mr. Stotts, I always feel that if this goes on, the Lakers will lose!"

Assistant coach David Van der Poel looked at Wang Zelin and the others with a strange expression, then at the Lakers players on the opposite side, and finally turned to look at his head coach.

"..."

what can I do?
I did my best too!

Facing David Vanderpoel's gaze, Terry Stotts didn't know what to say, it's useless to give you a chance!

It can only be blamed that Terry Stotts is still not as high as Sima Weiqi, and his heart has not yet reached the superb state of "holding on to the green hills and not letting go... let the east, west, north and south wind"...

To put it bluntly, he is not as thick-skinned as others.

For example, Sima Weiqi, once he said that he would take a rotation, he really dared to take down the team's core GDP and others despite the displeasure of the league and the outside world's discussion.

After hesitating for a while, Terry Stotts came and sat down beside Wang Zelin:
"Wang, in the second half, you should still... you know."

Uh, I know a hammer!

Didn't you see that I put so much water in the interior defense in the first quarter, what do you want from me?

……

Lakers bench.

After the Lakers returned to their respective positions, both coaches and players fell into silence tacitly.

The opposite side was obviously delivering, and the meat was delivered to their mouths, but they found that they might not be able to eat it...

Also speechless!

At the critical moment, everyone didn't think any more, and Qi Qi looked at No. 24 in the middle of the bench.

Kobe Bryant!

If the Lakers want to win, they still have to rely on Kobe.

After experiencing the failed public criticism of F4 last year, Kobe's mentality seems to have changed this year. At least in terms of treating his teammates, he is not as cold and irritable as he was 10 years ago.

Perhaps, this is also related to his gradual acceptance of his declining state year by year.

"Give me the ball in a moment!"

With the sound of a cold voice, the mood of the Lakers players was instantly lifted.

Kobe has spoken!
As many fans have said, you can always look forward to this man.

The same is true for the Lakers players. They want to invite Kobe, who will definitely lead them to this victory and lead them back to the playoffs.

Then, among the many excited players around, there was one person whose expression did not change because of Kobe.

This person is Pau Gasol.

As one of the only two heroes who remained on the team during the two consecutive championships of the Lakers, the close and friendly relationship between Pau Gasol and Kobe has long been known.

Just as Kobe understood Pau Gasol, the latter also understood Kobe.

After Kobe spoke just now, many teammates were more or less excited, as if they had seen the dawn of victory.

But why didn't Pau Gasol's expression change much?Because he sees a deeper essence beyond the surface...

Black Mamba ~ Tired!

Yes, Paul Gasol could hear a bit of loneliness and sadness in Kobe's lofty ambitions that seemed like a declaration of victory just now.

He knew that this was not an illusion.

At the same time, this gentle Spaniard can't help but start to worry: Even if the Lakers can influence the game tonight, in the first round of the playoffs, when they face the Blazers again, what are their chances of winning?
After much deliberation, Pau Gasol can only helplessly put aside the complex emotions in his heart for the time being. No matter what the future holds, he will do his best tonight to win the closing game with Kobe.

Grasping the moment is the most important thing.

(End of this chapter)