Chapter 423: A Successful War of Atrition
Although it was a very disadvantaged to enter the second half, Jeff. Van Gundy was not worried. www.biquge.info The reason why the Trail Blazers were able to lead in the first half of the game was because of Anjie's excellent play and the abnormal play of Durant and Westbrook.
His tactics worked, and the rest of the Trail Blazers' offensive efficiency continued to drop dramatically. No matter how powerful An Jie is, it is impossible for him to replicate Kobe's 81-point myth. Jeff. Van Gundy wants to see how long his former proud disciple can last in this game.
I have to admit that of all the teams that have reached the division finals, the Trail Blazers' lineup is the most shabby. In the Eastern Conference Finals, there is a dream matchup between the old and new Big Three between the Heat and the Celtics. In the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder's Durant, Westbrook, Bledsoe, Morris, Batum and Ibaka are all outstanding players with distinctive characteristics. What about the pioneers?
Rickard has only a former All-Star-caliber point guard, a rising but immature three-point shooter, and an "Elvis" who has lost his glory after a major injury. On the bench, there are only two guards who are like All-Stars and nothing if they don't perform well. Marcus. Camby and Cotter. Thomas? It's remarkable that these two guys, who are older than Ricard, can do not hold the team back.
Anjie and Aldridge are nowhere near as bluffing as the names of the other three teams. But it was with this lineup that the Trail Blazers unbelievably broke into the Western Conference Finals. Ricard's tactical subtlety is one thing, but the Trail Blazers' over-reliance on Angel is also an indisputable fact.
Now Jeff. What Van Gundy did was to play against the Trail Blazers' lineup, which was not luxurious. Some people may say that the Pistons Five Tigers won the championship in this way, but the current three outside lines of the Trail Blazers cannot reach the level of the Pistons Five Tigers that year.
can't prevent An Jie, but Van Gundy is confident that he can prevent others. Let Anjie play five, this is the ultimate goal of Van Gundy's tactic.
"They seem to be trying to cut me off from the team." It's not like Anjie can't see Jeff. Van Gundy's plan, thinking about how aggrieved the "little emperor" was in the knight period, An Jie could guess how bad his situation would be next.
"Listen, let's continue to practice a tight man-to-man defense, don't help the defense, just change the block. On the offensive end, if you really don't have a chance, give the ball to Ann! Ann, let them taste your awesomeness! "There's nothing Ricard can do about the strength of the squad. All he can do is smash the poor offensive efficiency of Durant and Westbrook.
Starting defensively, this is Jeff. Van Gundy's creed is also Ricard's.
As a result, the excitement of the game in the third quarter was greatly reduced compared to the first half and even the first two duels between the two sides.
Westbrook half-turn jumper, no, still no. Defender Zero's shooting percentage has fallen below 40 percent today, Jeff. Van Gundy can only hope for Durant now. ”
Anjie grabbed the defensive rebound as always, and he was eager to take advantage of the opportunity to play a transition offense. But looking up, Felton, a defender who couldn't rush up, could only wait for Anjie's pass in the backfield, and Matthews couldn't get any space at all under Sephorosa's entanglement. Gerrard. Wallace advanced quickly, but Durant kept up with him, always on the lookout for Jack's long passes. There was no way, An Jie had to give the ball to Filton again, looking at the Thunder's tight defense, An Jie took a breath and ran forward.
As soon as Anjie turned his back, Morris took the initiative to find him. Da Manniu savagely dragged An Jie's jersey with both hands, and his left leg was slightly cushioned, and he pressed his knee against An Jie's tailbone to make him difficult to exert force.
An Jie saw that he would not be able to find a chance for a while, so he chose to avoid Morris's entanglement and mentioned the high position to block Felton.
However, Westbrook didn't let Anjie succeed, he once again perfectly bypassed Anjie's "wall", and Felton didn't get the slightest chance at all.
In desperation, Filton handed the ball to Matthews, who was outside the three-point line. Matthews received the ball and was about to shoot, only to find that Sephorosa had already arrived. Seeing this, Matthews immediately gave up his plans to make a move, and this third-year undrafted draft was not strong enough to dare to squander the opportunity on the stage of the Western Conference Finals.
The Trail Blazers' fluid passing was completely over with Matthews, who hesitated for a moment before opting to get the ball into Aldridge's hands.
Aldridge received the ball and flicked a shot and burst inside. After fooling Ibaka, Aldridge made a pull-up jump shot from inside the free throw line, but Morris rushed to the scene and seriously interfered with Aldridge's shot.
Before Durant and Ibaka were in place, Anjie suddenly jumped into the three-second zone and took the rebound high. After grabbing the offensive rebound and landing on the ground, An Jie immediately quickly jumped off and dunked, Durant subconsciously stretched out his hand, and the referee blew the whistle without hesitation. At the same time, An Jie raised his arms and smashed the ball into the basket vigorously, and got a chance to hit three points!
"Great game, enjoy, Kenny, I bet it's definitely another great game for Ann!" When O'Neill saw the scene of An Jie wreaking havoc on the inside, he couldn't help but think of himself back then.
"Be more aggressive!" After the dunk was successful, An Jie did not make any celebrations, but reminded his teammates loudly and harshly. Although for the Trail Blazers, Anjie is just a "newcomer" who has been with the team for less than a year. But when he roars loudly on the field, no one stands up to question him. Even Aldridge only apologized to Anjie.
added a free throw, and An Jie once again successfully hit a three-point shot. But this guy couldn't be happier in his heart, he knew very well that basketball was a team sport, but Jeff. Van Gundy's defense, however, turned the Trail Blazers' basketball into an act of individual heroism.
Anjie doesn't want to be a hero, he would rather cooperate with his teammates to win than cut 100 points and the team loses.
Jeff. Van Gundy could see Anjie's anxiety, no matter how incredible this guy was, he was still human. An Jie knew very well that it was impossible to defeat the Thunder team on his own. It stands to reason that this should be an opportunity for the Thunder to launch a fierce counterattack. However, Durant's offense missed again.
"Ann! He boldly pounced forward to block Durant's shot! Gerrard. Wallace picked up the basketball and launched a counterattack, his advance was fast, and "Elvis" should have used all his strength! Ibaka is close behind, can he play fast? ”
Kenny. As soon as Smith's voice fell, Gerald. Wallace made a strong layup. Before he could fly any higher, he was stopped by Morris's stronger body.
To change to do before, Gerald. Wallace couldn't make a slam dunk. But after Bynum broke his ribs and broke his lungs, he had long lost that ability to fight.
Under Morris's tough squeeze, Wallace is not to mention a violent dunk, even if he wants to make a good move, it is very difficult. Helplessly, this strong-willed but powerless small forward could only use extremely twisted movements to go to the basket, and the result was that the basketball jumped on the basket a few times, but finally slipped out!
"Damn it!" An Jie had just run outside the three-point line and had to turn around and run back. Westbrook desperately shuttled through the crowd, but Anjie, who had set off earlier, still bit the tail of the lightning.
Westbrook leaps up in front of an unguarded basket and prepares to dunk. The talent had just flown out not far away, but the basketball in Westbrook's hand was fanned from behind!
"Ann's second cap in a row! OMG! Oh, God! Two consecutive blocks, and the blocks were Durant and Westbrook respectively. I don't think a simple word of dominance can be used to describe Ann's performance! "This time it's not Kenny who is yelling at the commentary desk. Smith, but O'Neill, who has always been "reserved"! Rarely did he give such crazy admiration to a player, because he had done more crazy things himself. But An Jie's two consecutive violent blocks still completely conquered O'Neal's heart.
The basketball that was fanned by An Jie hit the rebound hard, and the basketball rebounded vigorously. Matthews leaped high and struggled to protect the rebound as Sephorosa pulled it. He then pushed forward quickly, but was cut away by Sephorosa in the moment of three steps.
"Oops! In such a wonderful two rounds, the Trail Blazers failed to grasp the scoring opportunity. If the Trail Blazers' outside players had been more impactful, the game would have been different! ”
The bearded man stomped his feet in the audience, and this scene was exactly the same as the scene when the Whirlwind team lost to UCLA! In addition to Anjie, there is no second player in the entire Trail Blazers who can pose a huge threat to the Thunder. Aldridge can score, but the guy's shooting percentage today wasn't ideal.
An Jie fights like this, and how many minutes can he last? Big players have to endure greater physical exertion than others, and Anjie is not a center like Howard who is known for his athleticism. Who can stand such a frequent switchback and run to attack and defend at the same time!
After a few more minutes, the situation remained unchanged. No one on the Trail Blazers team has been able to step up to share the pressure for Angel, and Westbrook and Durant are still playing with iron.
At the end of the third quarter, thanks to the excellent play of Bledsoe and Batum on the Thunder bench, they chased the difference by only 7 points. However, the performance of Durant and Westbrook has not improved in the slightest.
thought that Van Gundy, who would end the game as he wished in the fourth quarter, could only watch as Anjie's guy widened the score gap again!
Durant finally found his groove in the fourth quarter, but it seems a little too late to make a move now. But something is better than nothing, at least for now, Jeff. Van Gundy saw a glimmer of hope for victory. As long as An Jie breaks off, the Thunder team will immediately control the situation!
But Jeff. Van Gundy waited for eight minutes, and Anjie was not replaced!
Seeing Bledsoe rushing towards him unconvinced, the tired An Jie had no choice but to open his arms and wait for him. Now he doesn't talk about sealing, even opening his arms An Jie feels very difficult.
In this momentary distraction, Bledsoe's kid had already rushed in front of An Jie. An Jie jumped in a hurry, although the advantage of arm span was still there, but the bounce height was greatly reduced due to extreme exhaustion.
With one foul, Bledsoe got two free throws. Anjie has collapsed, Jeff. Van Gundy knows that Anjie has collapsed!
After the Trail Blazers' offense, Anjie forced a layup with a soft drop to make a foul on Morris.
After An Jie stood on the free throw line, the entire Rose Garden court resounded with the shouts of "MVP"! Fans of the Trail Blazers can naturally see An Jie's overdraft state, and they are all cheering for An Jie in this way!
"The last time a crowd stood up and shouted MVP for Ann was when he was with the Thunder. This guy, no matter where he is, is the savior in the hearts of the fans! O'Neill knows that although this is just an ordinary shout from the fans, it is also a great honor for a player.
There were no mistakes, An Jie made two free throws, and the score remained at 7 points. But An Jie can't guarantee that he can survive until the last moment!
Four minutes, three minutes, two minutes! Jeff. Van Gundy looked at his watch, time was running out, but Riccard still didn't replace Anjie!
"Do you want to overdraft him? Bastard! "Jeff. Van Gundy cursed in his heart, firstly because he was worried that An Jie would be overwhelmed and injured like Yao Ming, and secondly, he was worried that the Thunder would fall in front of the upcoming victory.
In the following games, Anjie's defense could only play a deterrent role. Anyone who dares to rush to Anjie, even if they can't score directly, they can successfully make a foul.
The score was getting closer, and apart from a couple of goals from Aldridge, the rest of the Trail Blazers still didn't do much.
An Jie felt that he couldn't lift back at all now, and he couldn't take a step. But the game is not over yet, he has to keep fighting!
When the Thunder couldn't easily chase down the margin to just three points, there were only 26 seconds left in the game.
This is the ball possession of the Thunder, who are in control of the final offense that will decide the outcome of the game.
If they manage to drag the game into overtime, then the Thunder will definitely win! Now that Anjie is in shape, it is impossible to play in overtime.
Van Gundy looked at Anjie, who was struggling at a slow pace, and used up the last timeout in his hand. His tactics have been successful, and An Jie has long been out of order. Destiny is completely in the hands of the Thunder team themselves!