The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 441 The Long-lost Excitement

With only 2 minutes left in the game, the Spurs took advantage of the Hawks' mistakes and scored 5 points in a row. Their lead was extended to 15 points, and the game was sealed.

At this stage, the strength of several first-tier teams in the league is really uncertain, and they are also avoiding exposing everything.

But the Spurs' performance was really violent at this time.

This season's Zhang Xiaotian has truly stepped into an existence that can affect the league structure.

Among the players who often enter the MVP prediction list, only the Spurs and the Warriors have two, and the Spurs rank higher most of the time.

Many fans are already eagerly looking forward to the playoffs, and then will be the real peak matchup.

In the West, the form of the playoffs is relatively clear. The Spurs, Warriors and Rockets should lock the top three in the West. The Jazz and Clippers are competing for a top four spot. The Thunder and Grizzlies are also relatively stable in the playoffs, but the rankings It will not be very high, and the competition for the last spot is fierce.

In theory, several teams have the chance to compete for the top eight in the Western Conference. Of course, the worst Lakers and the Suns have no chance.

The situation in the East is more complicated. The Celtics, Cavaliers, Wizards, and Raptors have similar records. They will definitely enter the playoffs, but the ranking is hard to say.

The Eagles, Bucks, Pacers, Bulls, Heat, and Pistons have similar records. They have to compete for the other four positions in the playoffs and compete for rankings.

Of course, the Spurs still have the possibility of breaking the record, and the media basically didn't pay much attention to teams with low presence.

On March 3, the Spurs played against the Trail Blazers at home.

The Blazers had a very poor record some time ago and almost fell out of the ranks of the playoffs, but after they traded for Jusuf Nurkic, their record has a tendency to improve.

Nurkic's performance in the Nuggets was average, but after coming to the Trail Blazers, he seemed to be enlightened, and he quickly had a chemical reaction with the team, and both offense and defense began to explode, which is also surprising.

Lillard has been suffocating this season. He has the highest scoring average per game but has not received an invitation to the All-Star. He is very excited when he meets a strong team like the Spurs.

He exploded at the beginning, and Mills' defense felt no different from that of paper.

The Spurs' No. [-] position is a hidden danger. It would be troublesome to think about meeting Curry. However, there are several teams in the league with ruthless roles in the No. [-] position, and they must make a strong counterattack.

After Leonard and Aldridge felt a little slow, Zhang Xiaotian stepped up his personal attack.

He plays the second position in the starting lineup of double insiders, and the Blazers really can't guard against him.

The game quickly turned into a scoring battle between Zhang Xiaotian and Lillard. Zhang Xiaotian scored 20 points in the first half, and the Spurs also led the Blazers by 1 point, which was exactly the same as the difference in points between the two.

Although the Spurs lead, Popovich is definitely not satisfied with the defense.

During the intermission, the Spurs were quite old men nagging for a long time.

Mills' defense, how to put it, is just as nerve-wracking as his offense.

Only one minute after the start of the third quarter, Popovich couldn't help it and made a substitution directly.

But it wasn't Mills who was replaced, but Danny Green. This dude was tough. This is one of the reasons why Zhang Xiaotian played more and more singles. The old man obviously gave up the defense of the first position and turned to hope. Pinned on the offense.

However, Ginobili is still very iron when he comes up, but he is slightly better at moving the ball.

Aldridge was still sleepwalking, and Zhang Xiaotian started working again.

It's just that he didn't fight to win Lillard in this quarter. This guy scored 16 points in the third quarter, and the Blazers also took the lead because of his madness.

Fortunately, the Spurs were not far behind, and Zhang Xiaotian's offense was still very good.

Entering the final quarter, Zhang Xiaotian went up and hit a three-pointer.

The old man still wanted to win this game, and Leonard was replaced after 1 minute.

Then there was the exquisite cooperation between Zhang Xiaotian and Leonard, the latter also hit a three-pointer, and the Spurs took the lead.

The Blazers did not replace Lillard at this time, and the coaches of both sides felt that they had changed their temper.

But after Nurkic came up, he suddenly broke out. He blasted the inside of the Spurs and helped the Blazers to open up space. In just over two minutes, the Blazers hit a small climax and scored 15 points to overtake the Spurs by 7 points. , At this time Lillard has not played yet.

The Blazers are not stupid. After their attack was interrupted, Lillard immediately replaced it.

After Lillard came up, he broke through and caused damage. The Spurs quickly adjusted, and the lineup became one big and four small again, allowing Danny Green to switch to Lillard.

Nurkic is still making trouble inside, and Aldridge can't rebound at all.

But the Spurs still didn't open the outside line, Zhang Xiaotian almost gave up passing the ball at this time.

Of course, the defensive player in front of him has also become Aminu, and Nurkic is still helping to defend inside.

At this time, Leonard didn't feel very good, but he used defense to support Zhang Xiaotian, and he directly blocked Nurkic's shot.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't waste the opportunity created by his teammates, he directly picked up the ball and quickly counterattacked and hit a three-pointer.

Then Leonard steals Nurkic again, and Zhang Xiaotian uses the same method to score another three-pointer.

The score gap between the two sides was shortened at once. The key point is that because of the two assist defenses, the Blazers no longer dared to let Nurkic attack inside again.

However, the Blazers' attack did not stop. After CJ McCrum failed to match up with Zhang Xiaotian, he also showed his impressive attack power and hit consecutive shots.

The time has entered the last few minutes, and Popovich also called a timeout to make adjustments.

The Spurs finally gave up the No. [-] position, because switching defenses would also be a loophole. Out of faith, the No. [-] position became Ginobili.

In fact, it's not entirely metaphysics. Ginobili's pace is slow now, but his judgment is very accurate, and he will not work harder like Mills.

In fact, as long as the Blazers are forced to shoot twice in the backcourt, Zhang Xiaotian and Leonard will help defend in time.

The Spurs lineup is actually not strong offensively, but with Zhang Xiaotian's strength, these are not problems, as long as the defense is normal, everything is easy to say.

At 2 minutes and 38 seconds, the Spurs made a mistake, and the Blazers seized the opportunity to attack Nurkic again, and the score gap became 5 points again.

Time is running out and 5 points is a dangerous gap.

Zhang Xiaotian wasn't tired, but the Blazers defended him very tightly.

He gritted his teeth, because the Blazers broke out on the scoring end and the team became embarrassed. If the Blazers can't even stop the breakout, how can they play against the Warriors in the playoffs.

"Cheer up, we can win."

Zhang Xiaotian clapped his hands vigorously. Unlike when he first entered the league, his actions were immediately responded by his teammates, and the home audience in the stands were also looking forward to it.

Zhang Xiaotian smiled slightly, and suddenly accelerated to kill inside. Nurkic rushed over to help defend, but Zhang Xiaotian's speed did not slow down at all, he just went up!

(End of this chapter)