Chapter 383: Thunder and Pioneers Advance Together
"Nick Young is still resisting, no, this guy's good luck is gone. Pen ~ fun ~ Cabinet www.biquge.info Under the interference of Jamal Crawford, Nick Young's three-point shot missed. Marcus Camby grabbed the defensive rebound, and it was the veteran's ninth rebound of the day! The Clippers players didn't foul Camby, they gave up, and the Clippers gave up the game completely! Let's congratulate the Portland Trail Blazers on their playoff start!" 99-108, the Clippers were in their dying struggles, but they still couldn't walk away from the Rose Garden.
As soon as Mike Brin finished speaking, ESPN's photographer pulled the camera off the court and filmed the Clippers on the bench.
There, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Winnie De Nagro sat side by side, but the expressions on the faces of all four men were very depressed.
They all hate the feeling of watching the game not end but they can't do anything about it. This kind of experience of waiting for failure will not be comfortable for anyone.
Jamal Crawford ran out of time with the ball from beyond the three-point line, and the Clippers players on the court walked off the court with their heads hanging down. Of course, that didn't include Nick Young, who had a great performance in the game. Like Jamal Crawford, this guy who cares more about his own interests than the team's interests.
Perhaps, Nick Young and Crawford are less concerned about winning or losing because they haven't met the kind of team he is willing to put his heart and soul into. But for now, at least, Crawford is not too happy about the victory, and Nick Young is not much disappointed when he loses.
"Whew...... Finished Paul, let's go. De Nagro looked up at the big screen again, wishing it was just a nightmare, and that he would wake up as long as he kept looking at the light.
It's just a pity that the numbers on the big screen will not change again, a nightmare that De Nagro will never wake up to.
Chris Paul put a towel on his head, and he is now reluctant to appear in the cameras of reporters. He didn't want his friends and relatives to sell newspapers the next day, only to see the whole page so depressed.
In stark contrast to the Clippers were the Trail Blazers who emerged victorious. Even the "old man" like Marcus Camby hugged his teammates passionately. Achieving such a resounding victory in the playoffs is a treat for both the players and the fans...... Of course, that doesn't include the Los Angeles Clippers.
"29 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, pay attention to the playoffs, Ann is back!" After the game, O'Neal also reminded the audience with his exaggerated expression and tone how beautiful An Jie's data is.
"Let's look at the other stars in this game, Aldridge had 19 points and six rebounds, Wesley Matthews 12 points, Jamal Crawford 11 points, and on the Clippers side, Chris Paul had just 14 points and four turnovers. Yes, maybe for other defenders, 41 percent is a good shot, but Paul isn't that kind of guy. A 41 percent shooting percentage is obviously a failing shot for a core point guard like him! Jordan Jr. scored 5 points, but what else can I say? Griffin scored a team-high 17 points, but his 45 percent shooting rate made his performance hardly good. O'Neill babbled on and on about the game from a whole bunch of players.
"What do these stats say about Shaq?" Kenny Smith was confused, the players' stats had just been shown on the big screen, and O'Neill had no reason to repeat them.
"What does this mean? This shows that Ann is outstanding among this group!" O'Neill found that himself, who had a particularly nasty mouth, was also attracted to Ann Jie just like Barkley. In the face of other people, the two of them will tease and even get into a verbal altercation with the person they are talking about. But in the face of An Jie, it was difficult for these two big guys to say bad things.
"Oh my God, Shaq, you and Charles must be crazy. I think the walls of our studio have to be covered with posters. As long as there is a match with Ann, your mouth will be so sweet that my heart panics. Kenny Smith admits Anjie's strength, but considering his work environment, he still complains jokingly in the live broadcast room.
However, it can also be seen from this that An Jie's performance is indeed very good. If it weren't for that, the demanding O'Neal and Barkley would not have frequently praised Anjie.
"I knew that guy was going to keep up. "Former teammates such as Anjie in Oklahoma, Durant, Westbrook, Morris and Van Gundy also really got together to watch the whole game between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers. And Morris has long known that his former coach and teammates can't cope with the Clippers, who are ranked fifth in the West.
Maybe the outside world is right, the reason why the Trail Blazers will fall to fourth in the West in the last month is not because Rickard deliberately arranged it!
Others may not know, but Morris knows it. It's not like Rickard can't do this kind of thing.
"Don't worry, Ann will definitely make it through the first round. Durant wasn't too surprised by the Trail Blazers' victory, he knew Anjie's quality, so he also knew that the game would have turned out like this.
"What if...... Did they make it through the second round?"
If the Thunder and the Trail Blazers both pass the second round at the same time, then these two teams will have to fight each other!
"Don't think too far ahead, let's get the first round first!" Let's go, go back and rest, we have a game tomorrow?" Jeff Van Gundy urged the players to leave quickly, turning off the TV in his office.
Although the bald head who had rejuvenated his second year with the Thunder did not answer Westbrook's question, in his heart, why didn't he worry about this kind of thing happening?......
If you really meet the Trailblazers led by An Jie, it will definitely be a terrible opponent!
Van Gundy now hopes that Anjie can achieve good results, and that Anjie can be eliminated sooner...... He hopes that his former disciple can make a splash, but he hopes that his team can go more smoothly.
....................
The playoffs are different from the regular season and the March Madness of the NCAA, and a win in one game only means that you are temporarily ahead, not that you will have the last laugh. Historically, there have even been instances of coming back from two games behind, so the 1-0 aggregate score is not a reassuring advantage.
The Oklahoma City Thunder knew this, and they didn't let up on their first win. Durant and his teammates went on a blast to beat the Nuggets in Oklahoma for their second home court!
And it's not just the Oklahoma City Thunder who know this truth, although Anjie and Ricard are famous for playing March Madness, but in the series, this group of guys also has a good idea in their hearts.
"I'm telling you! Winning the last game is nothing! You all know that in this game, the Clippers will only fight back harder! Not to mention that the performance is worse than the last game, even if you perform exactly like the last game, it will be difficult for you to win again. Listen to me, I want you to play better than in the last game! The opponent gets stronger, and you can only beat it if you get stronger!" Rickard yelled solemnly, telling all the players to get up to the top of their spirits.
After the game started, the Clippers' resistance was completely different from the last game! If the Clippers, who had participated in the playoffs for many years in the previous game, had not adapted to it, then today, they completely showed a playoff-level performance!
In the first quarter of the game, Paul's assists and breakaways, Griffin's runs and dunks, and Randy Foye's accurate shots all allowed the Clippers to force the Trail Blazers to death.
Even DeAndre Jordan's enthusiasm is very different from the last game!
The Clippers did fight a lot harder, and they seem to understand the truth that they have to go home if they lose in the playoffs. But basketball is not the kind of sport that can win games by relying on ferocity.
In the second quarter of the game, the Trail Blazers, who put more energy into defense, immediately beat the immature Griffin and DeAndre Jordan back to their original shape!
Griffin can still score, but his scoring efficiency is definitely not what an interior player should be. DeAndre Jordan was still able to pull off jaw-dropping aerial relays once in a while, but he had only a handful of chances to score.
In the first game, the Trail Blazers' defense had already made the Clippers miserable.
Today, after Griffin and Paul and others stepped up their offense, the Clippers were surprised to find that the defensive intensity of the original Trail Blazers could still be improved!
After Griffin and Jordan Jr. were seen dead, Paul also changed his organizational approach. He allocates more opportunities to Randy Foye and Caron Butler, but of the two, Foye is the only one who has fulfilled his mission.
At halftime, the Clippers barely latched on. 47-51, although the Trail Blazers lead, but on the field, they were also forced to work very hard.
"Close defense, do you know what it means to be close to defense? Don't give an inch, I want you to stick to your opponent without giving an inch! Don't be afraid of their breakthroughs, Ann will solve this problem for you. All you have to do is make it difficult for your opponents to connect to the ball!" Rickard gave orders to his perimeter players to press close to the defense at half-time.
Quite simply, with both Griffin and Jordan Jr. being confined to the Clippers' No. 2 and No. 3 positions, Paul would be isolated again!
Paul's scoring ability is certainly strong, but what makes him more lethal is his solid playmaking and accurate passing. If Paul were to be isolated, his two greatest strengths would not be able to be exploited.
So in the third quarter, the Clippers players found that their previous offensive routine was useless in front of the Trail Blazers' defense.
Randy Foye and Caron Butler tried to break through with Matthews and Wallace on the side, but Angel's successful defence made them dismiss the idea.
Now, the only person on the Clippers team who can score is Paul again!
"Another turnover!" Chris Paul had a total of 4 turnovers in the last game, but today, this is his 5th turnover!" The pressing defense brought Paul in addition to being isolated, and it also greatly increased the difficulty of his passing.
Paul, who does not believe in evil, has proved how good the Trail Blazers' defense is with mistakes again and again.
In the third quarter of the game, the Trail Blazers relied on defense to pull the score away again. De Nagro fell into despair again, and George Ricard, the rookie coach, had so many bad ideas in his head!
In the fourth quarter, Paul still couldn't get out of the cycle of bad performance. The number of errors he made was increasing, and the gap was not closed.
Anjie also served as the organizational core of the Trail Blazers in the last quarter, helping the team to completely overturn Paul again with tight defense and diversified offense!
88-105, the Clippers were originally ambitious, but in Portland's Rose Garden, they lost all two away games!
2-0, the Clippers must carry this huge burden and return to Los Angeles to find a way to survive......