The way of the center

Chapter 321
Ending the abnormal relationship with Giardina, instead of disturbing An Jie, made him feel relaxed.Although An Jie didn't do anything, he always decided in his heart that he felt guilty for both Catherine and Giardina.But now, that sentiment no longer exists.

Back-to-back against the Magic, Anjie can finally put his mind into the game now.The Magic's previous record was 6 wins and 3 losses, which is as good as the Trail Blazers' 7 wins and 2 losses.Therefore, this game is also a positive dialogue between the eastern and western powerhouses, and naturally the ratings of the major TV stations have become impressive again.

Winning back-to-back wins at home and one win away from back-to-back is what Ricard has asked of the Trail Blazers for a week of horror.

The core of the Magic is "Warcraft" Howard, but Rickard has Anjie under him.Before the game started, Ricard was confident that he could contain the core of the Magic.Under such circumstances, victory should come easily.

After the game started, half of Ricard's conjecture was correct, because Anjie really put Howard in a very embarrassing defense.

"Dwight Howard's performance this season is very average, but this game is particularly bad."

"Isn't it? Howard is most afraid of confronting Anjie. Think about what he did when he played against Yao Ming in the past, and what he will do when he fights with Anjie today." O'Neal said to the present The two people who played against each other are very familiar with each other, so what he said also represented absolute authority.

As soon as O'Neill finished speaking, Howard made a hook under Anjie's interference.Facing Anjie, who knows how to defend and prevents himself from rushing up and is a tall insider, Howard played the most aggrieved.

Under An Jie's entanglement, his athletic ability can't be brought into play, and his own skills are not good enough for inside singles.Although Howard was laughing and joking with An Jie before the start of the game, after the start of the game, An Jie would not be soft on him, a heartthrob.

However, there is another half of the situation, which Ricard missed.That is, victory is not as easy as Ricard thought, and the resistance of other Magic players surprised Ricard.

"Ryan Anderson got out of the three-point line, and LaMarcus Aldridge was caught in the pick-and-roll. Shot! Hit! If Aldridge is one of the most accurate big men in the middle of the field, then Ryan Anderson is One of the big men with the most accurate three-pointers! Two shots and two shots, Ryan Anderson has already scored 6 points!"

"Xidu Turkoglu made another shot! Hit again! Although it was a long-range two-pointer, it also highlighted Turkoglu's excellent touch today! In front of the Magic, the basket of the Rose Garden is like the sea. Generally wide!"

Yes, the other half that Ricard didn't expect is that the rest of the Magic team feels too good today.

Ainger's interior defense is very good, but the Magic just can solve the problem with shooting from the outside.It's not that the rest of the Blazers gave them too many open opportunities, because even if it wasn't a chance, the Magic players could score the ball.

The performance of the Trail Blazers itself is not bad, especially the second team, Courtney Lee and Jamal Crawford are both in excellent condition.Crawford's shooting rate is not low, and Lee's three-pointer is still terrible.But even so, the Magic miraculously bit the score.

In the second quarter, Anjie continued to put pressure on Howard.Poor Howard is now in a mess on the offensive end, and he has been beaten without face on the defensive end.His strong body will not bring too many obstacles to Anjie, because Anjie himself has become stronger, and secondly, Anjie's rich offensive methods also allow him to score while avoiding a stalemate with Howard.

Anjie used the hook for a while, and used his feet for a while, and the next attack might be a tough way to foul Howard.Although Howard was the best defensive player in the past two years, facing An Jie, he found that he didn't have many options.

Under the leadership of Anjie, the Blazers' offense played smoothly.Even Aldridge hit a three-pointer from the outside.But the Magic are not afraid of being unable to defend at all, because they can always use shots to tie the score in the next round.

In the second half of the game, Howard saw that he could not score directly, so he used foul play.Fortunately, the Trail Blazers came off the bench with Kurt Thomas and Marcus Camby to share a lot of the foul-count pressure for Ainger and Aldridge.

Howard got his wish and got to the free throw line, but his free throw percentage was astonishing. 12 of 3, this hit rate is not as accurate as other people's three-pointers.

Yes, the three-pointers of the Magic players are too accurate.The accuracy has reached an unreasonable level. If there is only one player accuracy, the Magic will not escape the fate of losing.It's a pity that the Magic are all accurate today except Howard!
It seems that the Blazers have always been dominant, but until the last moment of the game, neither side has yet to decide the winner.

In the last 30 seconds, the two sides tied at 104.At this time, it was the Trail Blazers who held the offensive ball.The Rose Garden is full of excitement, and each of the five players on the field has the ability to end the game.

But just to be on the safe side, Ricard arranged for Anjie to execute the last shot.Except for Felton, the other three kept interspersed with running positions outside the three-point line, pulling the magic team's nerves.

In the end, Anjie got a one-on-one opportunity with Howard in the paint.Facing Howard's tough defense, Anjie advanced two steps in.But these two steps are already the limit of what An Jie can do.

Howard was also not relaxed. He was afraid that An Jie would sit back again, so he put all his weight on the supporting legs behind him.

Unexpectedly, An Jie suddenly turned back and shot a jumper. Howard was caught off guard, and his reaction was a few tenths of a second slower.Using just a few tenths of a second, An Jie calmly shot before Howard completed the block.

Howard nervously shrunk to the basket, ready to grab the rebound.But in the end, the basketball bounced a few times on the rim before finally falling into the net.

"Oh! Ann! Great goal! There are only 5 seconds left for the Magic, and the Trail Blazers are now leading by two points! If the Magic misses the last goal, what Anjie just completed will be a wonderful goal Lore!" O'Neal still remembers that in Anjie's rookie season, Anjie made the shot that determined whether the Thunder could enter the playoffs, it was such a turnaround jumper after a post-up.

At that time, the green Anjie failed to throw the ball over O'Neal's head, which caused the Thunder to be shut out of the playoffs.But now, he, who is more mature and calm, has completed the decisive shot.

In the last five seconds, Turkoglu fired from outside the three-point line. Aldridge straightened his long arms, but he still didn't touch Turkoglu's extremely arc shot.It's a pity that although the Magic's three-point shooting rate today is as high as 59%, but the most important three-pointer, Turkoglu failed to hit it.

When the basketball hit the frame, the fans in the entire Rose Garden stood up and raised their arms, cheering wildly.The magic team's good luck, failed to last until the end of the game, was used up.

What a perfect ending to defeat the best defensive player and the Magic in a lore way.An Jie didn't cheer wildly like he used to. Now he won't be excited for a few hours for a lore victory in a game.

Anjie is not excited, but it does not mean that the fans are not excited.The first place in the top ten goals, this position once again belongs to An Jie, this scene has also been watched hundreds of times by fans.

Howard only scored 12 points on 5 of 13 shots, and Anjie scored 28 points and sent a lore.Another battle with Warcraft, Anjie also won a complete victory again.

After a night of rest, before the upsurge of Anjie's lore magic had not dissipated, Ricard led the Blazers away to San Antonio.

The last time they beat the Spurs, it was because the Spurs, who had always been calm, inexplicably lost their sense that day.But this time, the Spurs clearly didn't make the same mistake.

Maybe it's because Aldridge didn't get a chance to do a morning jog around the Rose Garden this time around, so their luck didn't carry over to San Antonio.

The Spurs played their own style, using extremely efficient and patient team battles to fight the Blazers.

The Blazers also have the Spurs' teamwork, but they are not efficient.

Except for Ainger, Aldridge and Courtney Lee, the rest of the Trail Blazers finally experienced how troublesome it is to suffer from poor hands.

As the saying goes, one punch is hard to beat with four hands, just relying on An Jie and the three of them, they still can't fight against the dozen or so outstanding players of the Spurs.In the end, at the ATT Center, the Blazers finally stopped their unstoppable pace and lost to the Spurs by five points in the away game.

94 to 99, the Trail Blazers' consecutive road trip has been very unsmooth from the beginning. Losing to the Spurs is not unacceptable.But for the Blazers who are used to winning and winning, this failure still seems so heartbreaking.

Anjie scored a double-double as always, with 27 points and 12 rebounds.It's a pity that basketball is never a one-person sport.Even if An Jie was able to kill in the last game, it was based on the joint efforts of everyone.

After losing the ball in the fierce confrontation, the Trail Blazers players still couldn't rest.They have to fly overnight to Houston, ready to participate in tomorrow's back-to-back game with the Rockets.

It is also back-to-back battles, but the Blazers who are traveling on the road are more exhausted than the Rockets.This is the first time that Ricard has realized that physical fitness has such a huge impact on players.The performance of the Trail Blazers players was completely different from before.

There is another problem, that is, Rickard is very worried about Anjie's meniscus.

Although An Jie has no problems at all, just to be on the safe side, Rickard still shortened An Jie's playing time a little.In the long regular season, winning steadily is the long-term solution.

The state of both sides has become very poor due to the intensive schedule. This game is extremely ugly. Neither the Rockets nor the Blazers can play a smooth and beautiful offense.An Jie was in a stable state, but the inactivity of others undoubtedly made it more difficult for An Jie to play both offensively and defensively.

Pulling out a general from a dwarf is perfect for this game.Forced selection of a winner between two poorly performing teams is the main theme of this game.

In the end, the Rockets narrowly beat the invading Trail Blazers by virtue of Kevin Martin's slightly recovered touch. 105 to 107, the Rockets became the general among the dwarfs, and the Blazers also ushered in their first losing streak this season.

Anjie scored 30 points in this campaign, but unfortunately, when Aldridge, a stable guy, can only shoot 40% of his shots, it is difficult for the Blazers to win.

Although he lost the ball, Ricard let out a sigh of relief.At least, the Trail Blazers survived the damn intensive schedule this week without any risk.

2 wins and 2 losses, this result is not unacceptable.

After crossing the mud, although there are some scratches, the pioneers will continue to move forward at top speed!
The devil's week is finally over, but the shrinking season has only just begun.

(End of this chapter)