Chapter 788: One Season, One Season
On the basketball court, the Trail Blazers are now leading the visiting Detroit Pistons by 13 points. Drummond, the Pistons' center Drummond, who is known as "Zhuang Shen" by fans, was also completely suppressed by Anjie today.
But even so, the atmosphere in the Moda Center has nothing to do with pleasure. The fans sighed one by one and pulled their faces together.
Because a minute ago, Damien, who had just signed a contract of 100 million yuan. Lillard, retired due to injury.
Anjie on the bench has long been unmotivated, and the preseason was originally used by Ricard to run in the lineup, so those new players will play longer.
Who would have thought that in such an inconsequential game, Lillard would actually get injured.
It's not uncommon in the NBA to have a star injured in a preseason game that affects the team's record. Angel doesn't want this inconsequential game to delay the Trail Blazers' plans for a whole season.
The current Anjie doesn't care about the situation on the court at all, he just hopes that Lillard's injury is not too serious.
At the end of the game, the new players still won the final victory by three points. But at this point, the outcome of the game no longer mattered, and Anjie and Ricard did not even attend the post-match press conference before rushing to the hospital.
Luckily, Lillard's foot injury was fine. After more than ten days of rest, he can return to the court alive.
However, in the opening game of the Trail Blazers this season, Lillard will definitely be absent. There are really not many candidates for the No. 1 position on the Trail Blazers right now, and they are not strong enough. Pat. Connaughton and Tim. Fraser, two little-known post-90s players, is still unclear whether they can even gain a foothold in the NBA, let alone play as a starter in the NBA. Therefore, Lillard's absence still has a great impact on the Trail Blazers.
The next few preseason games went on as planned, but the Trail Blazers didn't continue to win as they did in previous seasons.
While the pre-season results don't say anything, everyone can see that the new players are still a long way from fully integrating into the team and system.
Just in the nervous mood of the fans, October 27, 2015 finally arrived. Today is the day of the opening game of the new NBA season. The opponent of the Portland Trail Blazers is the New Orleans Pelicans, who were hyped before the start of the season.
Pelicans star "Thick Eyebrows" Anthony. Davis is considered one of the MVP candidates this season, so the confrontation between him and Anjie, the "old master" of the West, is particularly eye-catching.
Because of this, Adam. Xiao Huacai decided to put this set of matchups in the three matches of the opening match.
The regular season officially began, and when fans saw the Trail Blazers' starting list today, they couldn't help but be a little worried. Because the lineup that Ricard put out today is likely to be the weakest starting lineup of the Trail Blazers in the past five years.
Lillard was injured and the Trail Blazers' starting point guard had to be replaced by a young Allen Brown. On top of Crabbe, C.J. McCollum in the No. 2 position is just a rookie guard that many people have never heard of. Iguodala is getting older, and you can't expect him to share the scoring load for Anjie. As for the cameo starting power forward Meyers. Leonard is just a young guy who has just passed his rookie period.
Anjie took such a lineup and stood on Anthony. Davis and his Pelicans in front of him.
Although on paper, the strength of the Trail Blazers is indeed a lot less than last season. But An Jie's terrifying dominance will not be weakened in the slightest.
As soon as the first goal of the opening game, Anjie suddenly passed the ball after attracting the bag on the inside, and assisted the team's newcomer C.J. McCollum to hit a three-point shot. McCollum was cheered on by the fans throughout the Moda Centre, which made him very happy and brought him closer to the team.
Subsequently, it was An Jie who was caught in the bag, and An Jie passed the ball. Meyers, who has thoroughly developed the three-point shot. Leonard got a shot in the bottom corner, and Anjie didn't let go of the gap and delivered the ball safely.
Leonard doesn't want to mess up his starting battle, not to mention that Anjie, the big brother, passed the ball to him, he must also cherish it!
And just like that, the knife fell, Meyers. Leonard scored the second goal of the game. The fans were cheering at the moment, and the new Trail Blazers team didn't look too bad.
These two three-pointers made Pelicans coach Alvin Brown. Gentry gave up the bag. And after the bag disappeared, An Jie was even more lawless on the inside.
Last season's injury-plagued interior defender Kendrick. Perkins is no longer the character who can defend An Jie alone.
Maybe three or four years ago, Anjie would still be struggling because of Perkins' defense. But now, Perkins is just another defeated man in Anjie's eyes.
Anjie showed his magic on the inside, even throwing and sudden, connecting the buckle, and Anthony. Davis and Perkins fought helplessly.
In the end, An Jie also led the crippled Trailblazers and successfully won the game with a score of 94-112, making a good start to the new season.
Anjie scored 37 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in this game, while C.J. McCollum, who scored 21 points, became a surprise for the entire Portland City. When Anjie lacked helpers, it was McCollum who bravely stood up and gave the other party a fierce response.
After the win in the opener, Portland's fans seemed to have regained their old confidence. After all, Anjie, the greatest player in the world, is still playing here.
In the days that followed, the Trail Blazers continued to win. Anjie may have been born with good leadership, and under his leadership, the newly formed lineup was quickly softened.
It's not very good on paper, but as long as it's a lineup that can win, it's a good lineup!
Time flies, and when the new NBA season has been played for a week, Damion Brown. Lillard is also officially back.
People think that the Trail Blazers, who are now winning three games, will be as invincible as last year after having Lillard.
However, on the first day of Lillard's return, the Trail Blazers lost.
In the first game, Lillard's performance was not satisfactory, Lillard only made 3 of 15 shots in the whole game, and only cut down 10 points and 4 assists. And what's even more sad is that in the last moments of this game, C.J. McCollum, the biggest dark horse of the Trail Blazers this season, had to withdraw from the game because of a sprained ankle.
Lillard's injury had just healed, but McCollum immediately lined up and walked into the injury list.
The Jazz relied on Hayward's excellent play to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers and become the first team to defeat the legend this season.
As the season progresses, the Trail Blazers are exposing more and more problems.
Although under the leadership of An Jie, this lineup will always play some highlights from time to time. But the regression in hard power has put the Trail Blazers in trouble from time to time.
Whenever Angel and Lillard are off the court, the Trail Blazers' offense tends to be Ricard's biggest headache.
When luck is good, Iguodala and Gerald. Henderson was also able to carry the banner and put on a good performance. However, most of the time, the Trail Blazers, who are missing Lillard and Anjie, can only watch the other side close or widen the score.
When the first month of the season was all over, the Trail Blazers had a 12-5 record. While this is still a good result, it always feels a little unsatisfactory for a team like the Trail Blazers.
You know, the Trail Blazers only lost a total of 8 games last season. And in just the first month of the season, they lost five of them.
A few days later, C.J. McCollum, who surprised Trail Blazers fans, finally returned, but Ed Davis was injured again in practice.
"It's weird because it's like a cycle of this season, people are always getting injured one after another, one person is healing and another person is down." When Lillard was interviewed by reporters, he said helplessly.
Ed. Davis isn't a key scorer for the Trail Blazers, but he's one of only two power forwards the Trail Blazers have had this season.
When he's injured, the rotation pressure on the Trail Blazers' interior will become enormous. And Aminu, who was originally born to play as a big forward, is now playing more in the No. 3 position, which makes Riccard have a headache in the No. 4 position.
Anjie and Lillard continued their excellent performances, but the Trail Blazers' record will never reach the heights of the previous two seasons.
In the following games, the Trail Blazers won and lost, and the injuries in the team were still in a continuous cycle.
At the end of December, the day of the Christmas war. Iguodala and Conteni are missing. Lee's Portland Trail Blazers face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a full lineup.
Last season, the Thunder had an incomplete roster and were shut out of the playoffs. A year later, the Trail Blazers and Thunder switched places.
Although the Trail Blazers, who are currently ranked third in the West, are not so bad that they will be shut out of the playoffs, their already declining strength has been greatly reduced due to injuries. Now, Anjie can finally understand Westbrook's mood last year.
In this game, Westbrook, Durant and Morris, the three former good brothers of Anjie, were not soft. Westbrook and Durant combined for 55 points, and Morris also had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
On the Trail Blazers' side, Anjie's 33 points and Lillard's 18 points are the only two double-double figures. C.J. McCollum, who had high expectations, played erratically in this game, scoring only 7 points. As for the rest of the Trail Blazers, they can't hold up the scene in this kind of big game.
105-100, the Trail Blazers lost the Christmas game this season. This is also the first time in Anjie's career that he has lost on Christmas.
'We didn't have any problems, it's normal to lose, all we have to do is adjust ourselves as soon as possible.' At the post-match press conference, An Jie's answer was tepid. But Wu Hua can obviously see that An Jie this season is much more tired than last season......
On January 16, 2016, the Trail Blazers successfully avenged the Jazz with a score of 99-85 in Salt Lake City. Anjie recorded a big triple-double of 48 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, which should have been a day to be happy about.
But just like in the preseason, Portland fans couldn't laugh after the game. Because in this game, Damien. Lillard was injured again during a breakaway in the first quarter! If it weren't for the absence of Lillard, Anjie wouldn't have scored so many points alone.
Coincidentally, Iguodala had just confirmed that he would return the day after tomorrow, and Lillard fell. This cycle of repeated injuries continues to expand, and fans are worried about whether this circle will find An Jie one day.
February 6th, the traditional Chinese New Year. Anjie, as always, sent red envelopes to every teammate. It's just that this year, a lot of people are missing from the locker room.
With Aldridge's arrival, the Spurs are now firmly in second place in the West. The No. 1 ranked champion was the Golden State Warriors, the Trail Blazers' defeat last year.
The Trail Blazers are currently third in the West with a 40-11 record, but the gap between them and the Spurs is getting wider.
The only thing to be thankful for is that the injury circle has not found An Jie from beginning to end. On April 13, when the Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets, when the Trail Blazers' last regular season game of the season ended, Anjie still did not fall. He was a full-time player for the third season in a row, playing all 82 games. This is almost an incredible thing for An Jie, who has suffered a serious knee injury.
Fortunately, Anjie has played all the games this season, otherwise the Trail Blazers, whose lineup has been incomplete, may not even be able to maintain the third position in the West.
On the same day, Anjie's once favorite star, Kobe Bryant. Bryant put on his retirement show at the Staples Center. Although An Jie and Kobe Bryant met more as opponents, I don't know why, when I saw Kobe Bryant cut 60 and leave the court forever, An Jie's eyes would become red.
After Kobe's last game, Anjie immediately talked to Kobe on the phone. On the other end of the phone, Kobe Bryant's voice was very relaxed. A 20-year career has turned Kobe Bryant into what he is now, but from now on, he can be relieved.....
"Come on, An, I think only you can rule this alliance. You know, I think there's another regret in my career, which is not being able to work with you as a super center! Kobe's words flattered An Jie.
"Don't me, I'm not going to the Lakers this summer. Hey man, ...... later I often come out to play. ”
"Don't worry, I'm 40 years old, and I can still embarrass you!"
"Hahahaha, then you have to call me!"
Say goodbye to Kobe Bryant and say goodbye to the regular season. But An Jie and the Trail Blazers still can't stop.
Now, after the regular season, Lillard and C.J. McCollum are both healthy. Iguodala alone couldn't catch the last train to the playoffs.
But for the Trail Blazers, this is already a blessing in disguise. At the very least, they have scored in the top three of the season.
In the end, the Trail Blazers finished in third place in the West with a 60-22 record this season. Anjie is averaging 29.8 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game this season. It can be said that he has maintained a high standard as always.
But many people predict that Anjie's streak of consecutive MVP awards will be cut off. Because Stephen, who led the Warriors to 73 wins. Curry has already booked the MVP trophy this season.
Judging from the data, Anjie may not be inferior to Curry. But the Warriors' 73-win record for the Bulls is much better than the Trail Blazers' 60-win record this year.
The team's record is also one of the important considerations in the MVP award selection.
In the blink of an eye, another season is coming to an end. An Jie couldn't believe that he and this group of "new" guys who joined the team had been fighting side by side for a whole season. The days of creating a dynasty are still vivid, but now, he has once again stepped on the stage of the playoffs to fight again.
The further back in my career, the faster time flies.
When it comes to the playoffs, the game will be even more difficult for the current Trail Blazers team. The era that belongs to Anjie is about to be replaced.......