The way of the center

Chapter 398 Violent Counterattack
Portland, Rose Garden Arena.The hot cheerleaders are performing in the middle of the court. These little girls have been practicing this dance for a week for a few minutes.But there is a very unfair but true fact that among the nearly [-] spectators at the scene, perhaps less than [-]% of them watched their performance seriously.

No way, this is not because this group of energetic young girls is not attractive enough, but because the game itself is too attractive.

Now even during the break, some of the fans are staring at the big screen, and some are taking a breather now, sitting a little forward, and they all pay attention to the situation on the bench of the two teams.In short, compared to this game, the performances of the cheerleading girls are too unattractive.

"Don't fall into their defensive trap. Next, we will increase the number of mid-range shots and shots from outside the three-point line! Your conduction and off-ball pick-and-roll will not achieve the same effect as the previous two games today. Yes. Your opponent has changed, and we have to change our strategy too! Increase the number of shots, and let me take advantage of the gap left by the opponent’s zone defense!” Popovich’s yelling made the fans in the back row of the Spurs bench panic They could hear it clearly, and they didn't know where the old man had such a loud voice. They only knew that the Spurs, which had taken the lead, were actually very nervous!
If it weren't for Anjie and Aldridge's two main players being taken down by Ricard early, the Spurs would have no chance to overtake the score.Besides, who would have thought that damn Stephen Jackson would suddenly explode.I believe that after Ricard's arrangement, Steve Jackson will not continue his excellent performance in the second quarter.

"You performed very well in the first quarter, Ann, LaMarcus, how are you resting?" Contrary to the Spurs, as the trailblazers, Ricard and the players looked much more relaxed.

Sometimes the score doesn't reflect the real situation on the field.For example, now, although the Trail Blazers are two points behind, their momentum is actually much higher than that of the leading Spurs.

"We're almost exhausted, right? LaMarcus." Angie turned his head to look at his good partner, and said that Angie and Aldridge are the most offensive inside combination in the league.Unexpectedly, the two men defended desperately, but they were not easy to provoke.

"That's good, listen, even though we're behind for now, I still don't advocate that you go all out to fight back. Keep up the defense, Popovich that old fox in the second quarter should let his players increase the number of shots. So my request is that you change your defensive strategy back to man-to-man, get closer to your own matchups, try to defend as close as possible, and don't give them too much space. As long as the Spurs can If the group of guys fail to score several goals in a row, then our chance will come!" Ricard suddenly clenched his fists as he spoke, as if he had grabbed something.

"Man-to-man? Boss, are you sure we want to go back to man-to-man?" In the first quarter, the Trail Blazers used zone defense to force the Spurs into such a mess. Anjie was a little worried, in case Ricard Guess Popovich's intentions wrong?
"No matter how powerful Popovich is, the head on his neck is also a human head. Man to man, close defense!" As soon as Ricard finished speaking, the referee began to urge the players on both sides to get on the field.

The T.NT trio immediately put on their headsets again. How could such a wonderful game be complete without their wonderful commentary?

The Spurs took the lead in the second quarter. Since Tony Parker played for a long time in the first quarter, Popovich decided to let the Frenchman rest for a while.

Now replacing Tony Parker is an undrafted player like Wesley Matthews, small guard Gary Neal.

As a combo guard, although Gary Neal seems to be ignorant of everything, he can actually do everything.Whether it is organizing or shooting after catching the ball, whether it is breaking through or distributing the ball, Neal can complete the tasks assigned to him by Popovich very well.

This time, although he was playing in the No. [-] position, he came here to score.The gaps outside the three-point line and mid-range behind the Trail Blazers' zone defense are where Neal is going to focus on raids!
As soon as he dribbled the ball and hadn't taken two steps before halftime, Neal passed the ball out.With mediocre organizational skills, he can't command the complex system of the Spurs like Parker. His purpose of passing the ball is to allow himself to move more calmly!
Following Popovich's instructions, the Spurs have reduced their off-ball pick-and-rolls and passes.Therefore, Neil received very little support during the run.

Leonard holding the ball saw that Neal had been unable to get a better chance, so he chose plan B and gave the ball to Matt Bonner who stood outside the three-point line and replaced Duncan.

When Bonner held the ball, Anjie had to follow him out of the basket.But this time, the Blazers' defense seems to have changed back to zone defense.The person who defended Bonner closely became Jamal Crawford, while Angie entangled Ginobili who cut inside.

Anjie's raised hands completely blocked Ginobili's receiving route, and Matt Bonner couldn't shoot or pass under Crawford's interference.He can only raise his hands in Crawford's close defense, and use his feet to protect the basketball as much as possible.

But how could the slow-moving Bonner escape Crawford's quick hands?Seeing the timing, Crawford took a step back, and then sprinted!This time, Bonner, who didn't react in time, watched Crawford take the basketball from his hand.

The Spurs players who were still running for the offense hurriedly turned around and returned to the defense, but only Leonard, who was outside the three-point line, seemed hopeful to stop Crawford's fast break.

Crawford drives the ball quickly, without any Trail Blazers or Spurs in front of him, but just to be on the safe side, the guy holds back a glance.

Behind him, Kawhi Leonard, the "long-handed monster" of the Spurs, was chasing after him.Crawford still remembers the scene of Courtney Lee's game-winning shot being blocked by Leonard. He doesn't want to be another victim of this monster.

So when Crawford stepped into the three-second zone with one foot, he suddenly made a pass, allowing Gerald Wallace, who came in from the side, to get the ball.

At the same time, Kawhi Leonard also stopped his footsteps. He quickly turned around and was ready to block Gerald Wallace's attack at any time!

Wallace slapped the basketball hard, then hugged the ball, looking like he was about to make a three-step layup!Just before he and Leonard made contact, Gerald Wallace gave the ball lightly.

Leonard wanted to reach for the basketball reflexively, but a pair of big yellow hands rushed to firmly control the basketball before him.

At this time, Leonard is on the right side of the basket because of Gerald Wallace.And right in front of the basket, the door is open!

When An Jie received the ball, he also passed Leonard.Leonard wanted to reach out to block it, but finally gave up on the plan.He didn't want the Trail Blazers guy to get a chance to hit a three-pointer.This is the Rose Garden, not the ATT Center.It is impossible for the referee to be under tremendous pressure to favor the Spurs in the away game.

So, An Jie lifted the ball over his head with one hand and jumped with one leg.After gliding in the air for a short distance, An Jie slammed the basketball into the hoop!

"Oh!" Catherine yelled after everyone around her, raising her arms.She stood up from her seat a long time ago, just to wait for this moment to appear.The basketball court is indeed much more interesting than the catwalk.

"Ann's tomahawk-style dunk! It's still as powerful as ever! The Spurs' advantage was wiped out in an instant. As soon as they came up, they made mistakes that shouldn't have happened." Kenny Smith has long known that the second The next day's game will be very exciting, but he didn't expect that the exciting scenes would appear so early.

After being intercepted by Crawford, Bonner was naturally very unconvinced, so in the next attack of the Spurs, he ignored Crawford, who was much shorter than himself, and went out directly from the three-point line after receiving the ball hand.

If it was the first quarter, the Blazers' defense with a large gap outside the three-point line might really be caught by Bonner.It's just that now, Crawford, who implements Ricard's defense strategy, doesn't make Bonner's shot very comfortable.On the contrary, Bonner's weird shot was seriously interfered by Crawford!

The shot was missed, and Anjie easily protected the defensive rebound on Dior's head.Afterwards, Jamal Crawford headed towards the Spurs half court, and Anjie also launched a long pass from the backcourt just as Popovich had expected before!

It's just that now, the Spurs, which has a majority of substitute players, simply don't have the ability to intercept long passes.Facing the Spurs' starting five, An Jie might even signal the team to keep the pace.But now, it is the opportunity for the Trail Blazers to play fast!
Crawford was suffocated by Ricard's slow-paced offense. This time, he finally had a chance to run and sprint to the basket.

Anjie's basketball was passed just right, and Crawford just raised his arm and took the basketball off.When he has the ball, his speed has also been raised to the highest level.

"Coming!" It was a rare opportunity to perform, and Crawford would not let it go easily.He exerted all his strength on his left leg, and his whole body flew into the air!Then Crawford raised the ball behind his head with both hands and dunked hard into the basket.Leonard is still the one who returned the fastest to the Spurs' defense, but this time, even he couldn't prevent the Trail Blazers from scoring.No way, from grabbing the rebound to completing the goal, the Blazers only used one pass.Anjie's precise long pass even amazed many football players.This kind of fast break is not what Leonard can defend now.

Two goals, two fast breaks, two dunks.Regardless of the small number of points, but with two wonderful offenses, the momentum of the Trail Blazers has reached its peak!In the next 3 minutes, the Spurs' almost second-team configuration was defeated by the Trail Blazers.Although there was an offensive foul by Jamal Crawford and a blocked shot by Anjie in the middle, it still did not affect the overall trend of the Trail Blazers.

The offensive climax came one after another, and the Spurs were already in disarray.Afterwards, Popovich replaced all three GDPs who had had enough rest.It was also until this time that the Trail Blazers' offensive pace was slightly delayed.

But in the face of the pioneers who have gone crazy, all GDP can do is to delay it.Faced with the Blazers' sudden change of close defense, GDP's offense was bumpy, and it was impossible to form an effective counterattack.

When Anjie was off the court, the Trail Blazers once led by 15 points.At the end of the second quarter, although the Spurs recovered some points, they still fell behind 54 to 43!

The excellent defense allowed the Trail Blazers to build an equally excellent offense on this basis.Fortunately, the half-time break came "in time", otherwise, God knows what the red-eyed Blazers will do.

The Spurs now have a little time to breathe, but the second half of the game may make them feel even more difficult!

An Jie and his pioneers are not crazy enough!
(End of this chapter)