The brutality of the NBA

Chapter 313
Xue Ding came to the frontcourt penalty area with the ball, and Paul immediately stepped up. Facing Paul's defense, Xue Ding chose to play sideways and scored two points under the basket.

103 is better than 110
Paul took the ball to the frontcourt, continued to press the rhythm, and did not rush to attack.

Xue Ding started to defend closely, and at the same time, Chandler also leaned over to form a double attack on Paul. Facing the attack formed by the two, Paul chose to pass the ball to West.

The latter shot up from the three-point line, hit the iron with bang bang, and Blake took off the backcourt rebound.

The Hornets missed a shot, which is an opportunity for the Blazers.

When Blake grabbed the ball, Xue Ding had already started to cross the center line and reached out to Blake for the ball.

Blake took the ball and took a look, just in time to see Xue Ding raised one hand high, and then made a long pass to Xue Ding.

After Xue Ding got the ball, he started quickly. He would not miss this opportunity to counterattack. He went straight to the basket from near the center line and ended the attack with a dunk.

"Beep!"

At the same time, the referee blew the whistle, and the chasing Collison thugs fouled, and Xue Ding was given an additional penalty.

Xue Ding stood on the free throw line, took a deep breath, and made a free throw.

There are only 4 points left in the point difference, and 1 minute and 2 seconds left in the time.

Paul caught the ball and quickly advanced to the frontcourt. He wanted to hit the Blazers with an unsteady foothold, and the counterattack ball was wiped and scored.

Pritchard immediately called a timeout to make tactical adjustments.

Roy, who had been on the bench in the fourth quarter, was replaced. It seemed that he wanted to strengthen the offense at the last moment and see if he could turn defeat into victory.

But it was a substitution like Pritchard that caused the Blazers' final loss.

After Roy came on the court, Xue Ding took the initiative to hand over the ball to him, and ran up the frontcourt to open up space. Unexpectedly, Roy was intercepted by Paul shortly after he got the ball and turned into a counterattack.

After Roy's mistake, the point difference that was already close was stretched to 8 points. Even if Xue Ding hit two goals in a row at the last moment, he was powerless.

In the end, the Blazers lost the game 110 to 115.

In this game, Xue Ding took 17 shots and hit 11 of them. He scored 31 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists, but still failed to prevent the team from losing at home.

But after the game, it was found that the loss of the game had no effect on the Trail Blazers' ranking, because in the other two games played later, the Blazers' direct competitors, the Nuggets and the Rockets, lost to the Blazers at the same time. Spurs and Bulls.

With the end of this game day, with two regular season games remaining, the final ranking of the Blazers has been determined. Even if the Blazers lose all the last two games, they will be ranked first in the Western Conference. Seventh place into the playoffs.

And if they want to go further, they must count on the Spurs, who are ranked ahead of them, to lose in the last two rounds, so that they can enter the sixth position in the West.

But the Spurs' opponents in the next two rounds are the Timberwolves, who are at the bottom of the West, and the Pistons, who missed the playoffs in the East early. With the strength of the Spurs, there is basically no major problem in winning these two opponents.

So, in the locker room after the game, Pritchard made a decision in front of all the players.

"It's a pity that we failed to win the game in the Rose Garden tonight, but you don't have to be overly pessimistic. Now that our playoff spot has been obtained, the next thing we have to do is to prepare for the playoffs.

From now on, all the work of the team will serve the playoffs.

So, here I want to announce one thing to everyone. In the next two games, we will rest some of the main players and let our substitute players go to the court to prove themselves at this time. "

As soon as the news that Pritchard was resting the main players came out, Roy and the others immediately expressed that they could continue to play, and they were willing to fight for a better ranking.

Xue Ding also stood up and expressed his opinion to the head coach.

But Pritchard rejected the players' statements, saying: "The regular season is a long journey. We have played games for more than half a year from October last year to now, and almost every other day is a game. This kind of competition is too intense. Now that the playoffs are coming soon, the confrontation will be more intense and the intensity of the competition will be even greater. You are all too tired and need to rest for a while.

Therefore, the players who are resting for the next two games can take this opportunity to relax, take a break, and meet the playoffs in the best physical condition, my children. "

Aldridge's last season's reimbursement seems to have hit Pritchard a lot. From the beginning of this game against the Hornets, he has been paying attention to the situation on the court, for fear that his players will suffer another injury. , which is why he kept Roy on the bench in the fourth quarter.

After Pritchard finished speaking, none of the players objected to him.

Indeed, compared with the regular season, the level of confrontation in the playoffs must be improved by at least one level. It would be fine if the opponents they met were not the kind of powerful insiders.

But once they meet a team with a strong inside line like the Grizzlies or the Jazz in the playoffs, they will really die or lose their skin. Now their opponents have not been determined, and everything is possible.

While Pritchard was talking about this in the locker room, the general manager of the team also came to the locker room and agreed with Pritchard's decision to rest the main players in the next two games.

And there is another reason why Pritchard did this, and that is to examine who on the team's bench can really stand out in the playoffs.

Now that Adelaide is reimbursed, the team's manpower is already stretched. At this time, it is impossible to sign a free agent with a ten-day contract. They can only choose from the team's bench and the Development League.

There are only two games left for Pritchard, and he must make good use of these two games.

After announcing the rest, Xue Ding quickly took a shower in the locker room, packed his things and left, and did not participate in the team's post-match interview.

Now for Xue Ding, the most important thing is to take good care of Yaya.

Because the Trail Blazers game was scheduled for the morning game, after the game, it was just dark in Portland, and Xue Ding wanted to go back to Yaya earlier to take care of her.

When Xue Ding came home, Yaya was sitting alone in the living room watching TV, while the four old people had gone to bed early.

After Xue Ding opened the door, he found that Yaya was watching TV on the sofa in the living room. He should have heard the sound of him opening the door. As soon as he arrived in the living room, a pair of tender eyes were looking at him.

(End of this chapter)