NBA opening draw to twilight Shaquille O'Neal

Chapter 462
"Not bad, Blake, you've made progress. You're actually the first to score."

In the frontcourt, after the pick-and-roll, the player defending Wang Zelin became Griffin, Wang Zelin couldn't help but joked.

Hmph, trying to piss me off again?I am not fooled.

Griffin ignored Wang Zelin, but leaned over and continued to exert pressure.

After receiving the ball, Wang Zelin began to sit and hit. The peak of his unsolvable power caused Griffin behind him to retreat one after another.

Close to the penalty area, Jr. decisively came to double-team, and Wang Zelin passed on even more decisively.In the end, Aldridge dunked under the basket.

On the field, the Trail Blazers retreated quickly. However, when the Trail Blazers adopted the strategy of protecting the basket first and preventing the Clippers from counterattacking fast breaks, Paul suddenly made a long pass and gave the ball to Redick...

And the latter, after receiving the ball outside the three-point line on the right wing, shot off decisively.

In the end, Batum, who retreated to the right elbow, reacted and rushed out.

This Redick...how did he end up in this position?

And Paul... the message was too decisive!
JJ Redick, as the outside turret of the Clippers this season, only played 34 games in the regular season due to injuries. He averaged 15 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

In the field of three-pointers, whether it is production or efficiency, he is the best among active players, perhaps only slightly inferior to the Warriors' backcourt duo.

Redick threw the Blazers by surprise, and the basketball bounced off the rim before falling into the net.

5: 11!

The rhythm of the Clippers is about to rise.

On the next attack, Aldridge asked for the ball to single Griffin.Not long ago, Griffin scored a goal under his own eyes, which obviously made Aldridge a little annoyed.

Don't forget, I am also a member of the club that averaged 20+ points per game this season!

Against Aldridge, Griffin didn't want the former to catch the ball in the low post, so after Aldridge got the ball in the high post, he dribbled and pulled it out, showing the style of "high fort".

"Shh!"

The basketball crashed into the frame, 12:5!

On the court, except for Wang Zelin, who was in charge of rushing to grab offensive rebounds, retreating a little slower, the other four Blazers players all retreated in place as soon as they scored.

In the next time, Beverly bit Paul frantically on the outside, making the latter no longer have a chance to score.

At the basket, Wang Zelin stared at Jr. Jordan, so that he didn't even have a chance to cut the penalty area.

In desperation, the Clippers' offense mainly relied on Griffin's strong inside play and Redick's occasional outside shots to barely maintain firepower.

In contrast, the Trail Blazers have more offensive points. Among the five players on the field, except for Beverly who lacks the ability to handle the ball independently, positions 5, 2, 3, and 4 can maintain good singles efficiency when facing players in the same position as the Clippers.

After one quarter, at 32:22, the Blazers led by 10 points.

Compared with G1, the situation on the court was obviously reversed.

而王泽林除了开局几分钟之外，后面的时间进攻欲望一般，3投3中，拿到了6分6篮板1助攻1盖帽的数据……其中包揽了3个前场篮板。

Although Wang Zelin focused on assisting the defense and organizing his teammates, his protection of the rebounds at the basket is still there, and the Clippers have never been able to solve this problem.

Having a stable rebound control means that there are enough shots, coupled with the violent offensive momentum played at the beginning, giving the Blazers an absolute advantage in the score.

"Unsurprisingly, the Clippers relied too much on Chris Paul in the first two games. So much so that the Trail Blazers did not hesitate to win the original starter Damian Lillard in this game and replaced Patrick Beverley to target Chris Paul. And from the current point of view, Patrick Beverley's defensive work against Chris Paul is impeccable."

Steve Cordeau.

"Now the Clippers have two solutions. One is to see the personnel adjustment of the Clippers coach Doc Rivers, and the other is to see if Chris Paul can come out on his own."

Barkley analyzed.

"Hey," Steve Cole smiled inexplicably, seeing Buckley looking back at himself, he said:
"According to our previous understanding of Doc Rivers, if the Clippers want to get out of the predicament, they should still have to rely on Chris Paul himself."

On the Clippers bench, Doc Rivers' face turned black on the spot.Of course he could hear that Steve Kerr and Barkley were making fun of his poor on-the-spot adaptability.

In the live broadcast of the Court TV, Yang Jian analyzed: "When Lillard was replaced at the beginning, I knew that Coach Terry Stotts was making a risky move. I didn't expect it. This one works so well. If Beverly can do a whole game tonight and limit Chris Paul, then I believe that when the trading market reopens in the summer, there will definitely be many teams interested in him."

In the second quarter, the two teams came off the bench.

In fact, the Trail Blazers cannot be said to have a full bench lineup, because they lead the team with Lillard.

Although Lillard already knew about the redeployment of the coaching staff's personnel arrangements before the game, he also made psychological preparations in advance for his pseudo-starter status tonight.

But when it was time for the real game, after this proud man had been benched for almost a quarter, his heart was already full of anger.

It's not against his own team, let alone Beverly, who performed well in the first quarter, but hates himself, and then hates why he can't be like Wang Zelin, who can achieve both offense and defense.

So, full of anger, Lillard, who re-entered the game, started to kill with the lineup of Connett Lee + Will Patton + Yi Jianlian + Adams.

As soon as he came up, he first hit a pick-and-roll from the outside and then made a three-pointer, and then completed a steal against the Clippers backup point guard Darren Collison on the defensive end, rushing to the frontcourt and successfully dunking.

Just after the start of the second quarter, there was a wave of individual offensive performances, which helped the team lead the Clippers by 15 points in the blink of an eye.

Almost instantly, Doc Rivers couldn't sit still and wanted Paul to play early.But thinking that the second half will be even more difficult, I can only choose to continue to endure and take a look at the situation on the field.

It is also this tolerance that at the end of the half, 61:45, only two goals away, the difference between the two sides can be expanded to 20 points.

Fortunately, with more than 3 minutes left in the second quarter, Paul, who could no longer sit still, asked the coach to go into battle again.

If not, the current point difference between the two teams is very likely to really exceed the 20 mark.

In the home locker room, Terry Stotts is arranging tactics.

"In the second half, the Clippers will definitely launch a crazy counterattack. We now have two options. One is to continue the style of play in the first quarter, replace Chris Paul with Patrick, and the team will play a biting defense, and then wait until the fourth quarter to exert force and win this game!"

He glanced at the silent Beverly, and found that the latter's expression had not changed, then turned to look at Lillard, and said:

"Secondly, put on the full main lineup and attack them hard in the third quarter. In this way, we are certainly sure to take the Clippers away in a wave in the third quarter and end the game; similarly, it is also possible that the Clippers will make a wave and quickly equalize the nearly 20-point difference."

The Terry Stotts in front of him is much better than the one in the original time and space. After all, the Trail Blazers' long victory not only promoted the overall improvement of the players' strength, but also accelerated Terry Stotts' promotion path from the famous coach.

But there is a saying that is good, "The country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change!"

To put it bluntly, Tristos is a good old man with a friendly internal relationship with the players. He is not a "willful" tyrant coach.

In many cases, he is very happy to discuss the development of the team with his disciples.

For example, now, he can almost be said to have distributed part of his head coaching functions to the players in the locker room.

In the eyes of the outside world, the head coach should be the most authoritative in a team and cannot be challenged... But here, in the Blazers' locker room, there is a completely different scene.

It can be said that the happy locker room atmosphere of the Trail Blazers today is really inseparable from the credit of Terry Stotts, or a concession.

Terry Stotts briefly explained his thoughts to the disciples, and for a while, the locker room fell into silence.

Everyone is thinking about the pros and cons of both options.

It stands to reason that the first choice can allow the Blazers to win tonight's game more stably, but when they think of Lillard's explosive offense with 11 points in the second quarter, they are somewhat inclined to the second choice.

After a long time, no one spoke. Terry looked towards the innermost position and smiled:
"Wang, why don't you tell me how the team should play next."

After the head coach mentioned this, the same idea suddenly appeared in everyone's mind, yes, why not look at Wang's tendency first?
Uh, why did you throw the blame on me?
As soon as he looked up, Wang Zelin was taken aback when he saw the expectant look in everyone's eyes, and there was great doubt in his small eyes.

However, he understands the truth of "if you stop and stop, you will suffer chaos"!If they don't first decide how to play in the second half, in such a high-intensity playoffs, a 16-point lead may not guarantee that they will win tonight's game.

So, should you choose to be conservative or radical?

After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly recalled a classic line from the TV series "Conquer" in his mind:
"Are you still called a young man if you are not angry?"

Immediately, there was a decision in my heart.

He said: "I don't want to fret anymore in the second half, I declare that I will win the game after the third quarter!"

"Great!"

"That's the way to play!"

"Damn the opposite side!"

The next moment, the locker room was filled with responders.

The third quarter begins.

The lineups of both teams have been adjusted and returned to the starting lineup at the beginning of the game.

"Hey, what's going on, how did the Trail Blazers choose to give up Beverly, who performed well on defense in the first quarter?"

Yang Jian was a little puzzled.

Ma Jian on the side smiled: "Isn't that obvious? The Trail Blazers are going to fight against the opponent and want to take the opponent away!"

Yang Jian muttered to himself: "It's a good idea, but it's a bit crazy!"

"Crazy is right! If you are not crazy, can you still be called a young man?"

The Clippers bench, seeing the personnel adjustment of the Trail Blazers, Doc Rivers frowned first, and then frowned again.

Although I don't want to admit it, I have to admit that Barkley and Kerr were right in the first half. If the Clippers want to make a comeback, they really have to count on Paul's performance.

But for some reason, the hidden worry in Doc Rivers' heart is getting bigger and bigger.

In the middle of the third quarter, the two sides played back and forth. You just scored a goal, and I responded with a goal in the next round. The scene was very lively, and the fans also enjoyed it.

But the Clippers were still unable to narrow the point difference further. At 6 minutes and 48 seconds, Paul made a false mid-range pass and assisted Jordan to dunk under the basket. The latter finally scored the first goal of the game.

At 76:65, the Clippers were still 11 points behind.

Next, as long as they defend one round and complete a counterattack, they can reduce the point difference to less than 10 points.

If it is realized, it will usher in a big improvement for the morale of the Clippers.

can they do it

Trail Blazers attack.

Just after halftime, Terry Stotts called a timeout.

"Damien, LaMarcus, Wang, no matter which one of you three has a chance, you must score this goal. We must not let the Clippers close the point difference to within 10 points. Do you understand?"

He said to the three with a serious expression.

Lillard and Aldridge nodded, Wang Zelin casually wiped the sweat off his head, raised his head and smiled confidently: "Give me the ball later!"

Up to now, the two sides are not only a competition between team tactics and players' physical fitness, but also a competition between the wills of the two teams.

Under the leadership of Paul, the Clippers want to touch the coveted floor of the Western Conference Finals.

Under the leadership of Wang Zelin, the Blazers want to go further this year and set foot on the highest stage of the NBA league—the championship stage!
Both sides don't want to lose, but helplessly, there is only one winner in sports competition.Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Wang Zelin to hand over the victory.

If you want to do it, just do the best one!

"Okay, then it's up to you."

After finishing speaking, Terry Stotts urged: "You guys respond outside and give the space to the king."

Lillard and Aldridge nodded again without rebuttal.

The timeout ends and the Blazers attack.

Wang Zelin was about to reach the position below the right elbow, and Lillard made a ground pass and handed the ball to him.

The defender behind him is Jordan Jr., and Griffin entered the short corner and wanted to double-team, but found that Aldridge was pulling out, so he had to follow.

At this moment, everyone is waiting for the offensive and defensive duel between Wang Zelin and Jordan Jr.The latter held his breath even more, not daring to relax for a second.

Suddenly, Wang Zelin exerted force on his back and pushed in hard.Seeing this, Jordan almost subconsciously thought that Wang Zelin was going to sit in the penalty area, and took a step back.

But at the next moment, Wang Zelin suddenly turned around and pulled it out, making little Qiaodan's eyes tear open, because he made a mistake in judgment at such a critical moment.

After opening the distance, Wang Zelin pulled up facing the basket and shot...

"Shh!"

He turned around and made a mid-range hit, adding two more points for the Blazers and opening up the gap again.

oh~~

Staples Center, the audience lamented.

Such a round, like the epitome of tonight's game, has almost become a nightmare for the Clippers players and even the fans.

……

……

At the end, at 118:101, the Trail Blazers lived up to expectations and won the third game of the series, completing the feat of allowing one to chase two.

(End of this chapter)