Chapter 425: The Scales of Imbalance

Last night's wonderful game left fans around the world who are following the Trail Blazers and Thunder unsatisfied. Of course, this also exhausted An Jie and his buddies the next day.www.biquge.info

When it comes to attrition, the consumption of the Trail Blazers players is naturally much greater than that of the Thunder players. Jeff Van Gundy has more options than the starting five. In Ricard's hands, apart from the starting five, only Crawford, Conteney Lee, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas can participate in the rotation. Others, either with injuries or without the strength to meet the requirements of the Western Conference Finals.

Of the four on the bench, only Crawford and Lee can really share the scoring pressure on the starters. Camby and Thomas didn't play for long, and more often than not, Anjie and Aldridge had to play a little harder than the others.

That's why the two cores of the Trail Blazers were in such terrible shape when they practiced today. Especially An Jie, this guy's fighting spirit is still high, but his body can no longer support him to continue such a high-intensity attrition.

After playing a whole season, Anjie's missed games were all concentrated in the early part of the season. At that time, Anjie had just recovered from a serious injury, so Ricard took a rotational rest for him. But as Anjie's form gets better and better, and the season deepens, Anjie will serve as a starter in every game after that, and he has to work hard for more than 38 minutes in each game. In this way, a game that has not been absent has been played until the current Western Conference Finals.

No matter how iron man is, he will feel tired at this time. What's more, Jeff Van Gundy's targeted tactics and Morris's unyielding defense will greatly deplete Anjie's physical strength. That's why it's so difficult to win the championship, Anjie and Aldridge are strong enough, but the team has been forced into a corner because of a small lineup problem!

So in today's practice, George Ricard set up more tactics for the rest of the Trail Blazers for the first time. He must find a way to relieve the pressure on Anjie, and others must also shoulder greater responsibility. The squad problem is now unsolvable, and Riccard must use his limited resources to maximize the team's combat effectiveness!

Olajuwon and Divac also called and taught AnJie a lot of experience in the face of difficulties. After all, Anjie's two masters were both people who had experienced strong winds and waves back then, and they had all experienced more difficult moments than this. But there is one thing, that is, Olajuwon's Rockets and Divac's Lakers or Kings are much stronger than the current Trail Blazers. Therefore, the experience of these two people, put into An Jie's current situation, may not be all applicable.

Anjie still has less training time than relaxing massage time, but no matter how good the massage is, it can only have a soothing effect. The only way to truly get rid of fatigue is to get enough time to rest. But one of the most stingy things in the NBA is time.

The rest of the day always felt that the rest of the day passed very quickly, training during the day, going to a shower with Aldridge at night, and talking to Catherine and her family on the phone after returning home, after that, the day was over. So much so that he didn't have a good breath, and the second battle of the Rose Garden started again.

Due to the victory of the Trail Blazers in the last game, the Rose Arena is still full today.

This huge noise weighed heavily on An Jie's body. He doesn't want to disappoint this group of guys who support him, and he knows that this home court means a lot to the Trail Blazers. If the Trail Blazers take a 3-1 lead, they're essentially one foot in the Finals.

But now, An Jie feels that the NBA jersey sponsored by Adidas looks very heavy on him.

At the beginning of the game, An Jie was forced to leave the game early because of two premature fouls. He couldn't move his feet, and his bullet speed dropped considerably. Being fouled by Westbrook, who was lightning fast, was a sure thing.

Without Anjie, the Trail Blazers' defense immediately opened the door. Westbrook's breakaway silenced the Rose Garden for a while, and Durant's two consecutive hits from beyond the three-point line forced Rickard to call a timeout.

Now, Camby, who has little offensive ability, has completely liberated Morris. In the face of the combined defense of the two guys, Ibaka and Morris, even Aldridge played very hard.

In the first quarter alone, the Thunder took a 10-point lead. The Trail Blazers rarely seemed to take the lead in the first quarter, but this time, things were much worse than before.

However, as soon as the second quarter began, An Jie led the second team of the Trail Blazers to play a wave of 12-0 offensive climax, and he successfully staged the return of the king and helped the team overtake the score.

The exclamations of countless commentators became the main theme of the first half of the second quarter of the game, and it was not the first time that An Jie had staged a performance that made people feel stunned. But every time he did, people couldn't believe what they saw.

But that all changed when the Thunder's defensive starting five came on.

Still like in the previous game, Jeff Van Gundy boldly used Morris to defend Anjie alone, but instead strengthened the defense against the other four of the Trail Blazers. The difference is that the tired Anjie's offensive efficiency today is far less than in the last game, and Westbrook and Durant's performance is also much better than the previous game.

This is the end of Anjie's return of the king, and the second half of the second quarter has become the time for the Thunder to chase points. By the end of the first half, AnJie's lead for the Trail Blazers had turned into a four-point lead. And during this time, An Jie's physical strength was also greater than people imagined.

In the second half, Jeff Van Gundy grabbed with both hands. On the offensive end, he used Westbrook and Bledsoe to attack Anjie, and on the defensive end, he continued to strengthen the defense of the other four of the Trail Blazers.

Rickard called a timeout more than once to lay out the tactics for others, but when facing the Thunder's defense, one of the best in the league, the Trail Blazers were indeed a little stretched except for Angel and Aldridge. Even if they know how to play this tactic, they may not be able to execute it successfully.

The third quarter of the game was a complete slaughter for the Trail Blazers. It was perhaps the worst loss the Trail Blazers had in the playoffs this season.

Anjie's foul count has accumulated to five, and Aldridge's shooting percentage has fallen below half percent. Matthews' three-point shots have been increasing, but his goal tally is still 1. Felton was broken through by Westbrook and Bledsoe again and again, and there was nothing he could do......

In the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers fans still didn't give up. They are still waiting for An Jie's return, and they are still waiting for An Jie to stage a myth again. 17 of 17 shots, super triple-double, a victory that turned the tide...... Hasn't An Jie done all of this in the Rose Garden? Today, who dares to guarantee that An Jie won't do it again?

There is hope in the hearts of the fans, even if it is as small as the basketball on this court.

Anjie has really shown amazing perseverance on the court, and this guy definitely has what it takes to become one of the greatest players in the history of the Trail Blazers. Even when Roy and Oden were still around, the Trail Blazers weren't so bloody.

But hard work and victory are not synonymous, and the Pacers have worked hard this season, but they still can't escape the fate of being eliminated by the more powerful Heat triumvirate in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The NBA is a league that speaks with strength, and the strength of the Trail Blazers' roster is not advantageous from the first round of the playoffs!

An Jie couldn't even breathe well in the end, but in order to stop Bledsoe, he resolutely chose to jump and block.

However, today the fans did not see An Jie's wonderful pegboard hat again, but were the first to hear the referee's terrifying whistle.

"Trail Blazers No. 00 shooting foul!" the referee shouted towards the technical table, and the entire Rose Garden court collapsed in an instant!

Because this is Anjie's sixth foul in this game! After this foul, Anjie will not be allowed to set foot on the court again!

"Fuck you! Did you see that!?'s fucking good ball!" Rickard yelled on the sidelines, making him look undignified in front of Van Gundy. However, until the victory is negative, demeanor is worthless.

The referee didn't reason with Ricard, he didn't even look at Ricard. The guy just silently gestured and gave Riccard a technical foul.

"Watch what you say and do, coach. Next time, I'll probably send you straight out of the pitch!" David Stern's zero-tolerance system gives the referee a lot of power, and even if Ricard is a villain, the referee will not be afraid of him.

This farce finally ended with An Jie's departure, although there are still 4 minutes and 45 seconds before the end of the game, but those who can accept the reality a little know that as soon as An Jie leaves, the game of the Trail Blazers is basically over......

104-98, Aldridge stubbornly replaced An Jie and faced the powerful Thunder to the end. But the struggle of this silent big man did not change the already predestined ending.

Just like in Oklahoma, the Thunder also won one game in Portland. In the East, the Heat and Celtics have just been tied, followed by the Trail Blazers and Thunder in the West. The duel between the two finals of the East and West is destined to end in a very cruel and bloody way.

An Jie leaned on the bench tiredly, this feeling is really fucking annoying......

The series was tied at 2-2, but the Thunder, under Jeff Van Gundy's arrangement, were already better.

Back in Oklahoma two days later, the Trail Blazers still haven't found a way to deal with Van Gundy's tactics. If the Trail Blazers could have one or two more scorers, Anjie wouldn't be looked at like this. But it's a pity that what they are missing now is just such a role.

Although Aldridge has a good scoring ability, the Trail Blazers can basically only be considered a single-core team. Aldridge may be even better next season, but at least this year, the crazy playoff scoring record in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is the best he can get his hands on.

Although An Jie did not leave the court early in this game, he only scored 29 points with a 52% shooting rate.

Westbrook was once again the X-factor of the game, and many times he tried to foul the ball went unheeded by the referee, and the Thunder missed a lot of chances as a result.

But Bledsoe's excellence has made up for Westbrook's vacancy, and this guy has shown a very high quality today in terms of breakthrough and peripheral projection!

Aldridge, like Anjie, scored 29 points, but the entire Trail Blazers team didn't have a second guy to score in double digits.

At 106-113, the Thunder won their first straight game in the Western Conference Finals, and the score also changed from a delicate 2-2 to 2-3. It's just that this time, it's no longer Anjie and the pioneers who break the situation.

The next game will be the last home game of the Trail Blazers series.

The battle of Tianwang Mountain, that will be the last chance for redemption for the Trail Blazers......

Win and continue, lose and go home. Easy choice, difficult process.