Chapter 733: A Different Spring Festival
"Derek Favors was in great shape today! His turnaround jumper has already made Aldridge suffer! Let's see if Favors can step up in such a scorching moment!" Jeff Van Gundy's nervous voice matches the atmosphere of the Energy Solutions arena.
Before the game, no one could have imagined that the Jazz would force the defending champions like this at home. The excellent play of Favors and Hayward beat the tired Trail Blazers in an unexpected way.
Aldridge, in particular, has just participated in the All-Star Game, and his fitness has not yet fully recovered. And in this case, he also happened to run into Favors, who was in excellent form.
Now, with just two minutes left in the game, the Jazz are one point behind the Trail Blazers. As long as Favors seizes this offensive opportunity and scores the ball, the Jazz will take the lead of the game for the first time!
Seeing that Favors began to raise his hand to ask for the ball, Riccard immediately shouted off the field. An Jie and Aldridge completed the switch in an instant, and now An Jie is personally going to guard the Jazz's interior top card!
"Damn!" Favors cursed in his mind as he received a pass from Exum.
Although he was in excellent form today, he still made Favors feel very uneasy about Shang Anjie.
Favors is a big forward, height, reach, strength, he does not have any advantage. If you want to break through An Jie's defense, I'm afraid it won't be so easy.
"Come on, boy, let me see how good you are!" Anjie's cold, hideous voice interrupted Favors' thoughts.
To those of courage, An Jie's words are provocative. But for people like Favors, who are afraid of An Jie, An Jie's words are simply a threat!
Favors was starting to get nervous, and he wanted to pass the ball to Haywood, but now the Trail Blazers had locked all the passing paths. Obviously, they are trying to force Favors to single Anjie!
Favors was the Jazz's top scorer today, forcing the opponent's top scorer to go to a single, which also shows how confident Ricard is in Anjie's ability.
There is no way, Favors can't continue to waste time, he can only bite the bullet.
He started to hold the ball with his back, intending to push back.
Favors was very strong, but he also clearly felt that the feedback coming from behind him was completely different from before.
The second blow! Favors's force was a little lighter. Anjie smiled, it seems that Favors is very smart, he knows how to change the rhythm, instead of relying on brute force to solve the problem.
But this kind of cleverness is not enough to make Favors pass!
When Favors made a third blow, he found that he had hit nothing. And next to his ball carrier, a pair of long arms have been stretched out. Anjie didn't continue to fight hard with Favors, but planned to steal!
After Favors reacted, he immediately wanted to protect the basketball, but unfortunately An Jie's arm was too long, and he stabbed the basketball before Favors!
Seeing that the basketball was out of control, Iguodala immediately rushed over and took control of the ball before everyone else.
After that, it's the transition offense that the Trail Blazers excel at. Lillard, who lost the All-Star selection and held back for a weekend, ran all the way and finally ended the offense with an exaggerated dunk that went straight up and down.
The completion of this offense not only allowed the Trail Blazers to widen the gap to four points, but also greatly boosted the morale of the Trail Blazers players.
In the next few minutes, Favors did not score again under the mark of Anjie. The Jazz's offense instantly fell into a quagmire, and Haywood alone couldn't shake the Trail Blazers' lead.
The originally anxious game became no suspense because of a simple change of defense. Jeff Van Gundy can't help but sigh that this year's best defensive player must be Anjie's again.
"Beep~~~" Under An Jie's terrifying defense, the buzzing sound after the game sounded like a natural sound to Favors.
96-87, the Trail Blazers managed to have the last laugh at the Energy Solutions Arena and won their first second half of the season after the All-Star break. And today, Anjie's 28 points and 13 rebounds also made him officially surpass Kevin Love and become the player with the most consecutive double-doubles in a single season in NBA history!
If it weren't for the fact that Anjie was fighting away today, the scene might have boiled long ago. While it was just an ordinary regular season victory, it was a historic moment for Anjie.
54 consecutive double-doubles, God knows, how many years will it take for Anjie to set this record to be broken by future generations. Moreover, 54 games, maybe not the end yet. When An Jie's consecutive two pairs will stop, no one knows......
※※※
“...... Thank you, I think I have to go back to the locker room now, my teammates and coaches are still waiting for me!"
finally got rid of it, and An Jie also wanted to find an excuse to leave quickly. If you continue to consume this group of guys like this, An Jie is afraid that she will not be able to return home tonight.
Under the obstruction of the stadium staff, the reporters finally "let go" An Jie at the door of the locker room.
Push open the door and walk into the locker room. An Jie's expression, which was originally smiling, suddenly froze, and the picture in the dressing room was really unusual.
In the past, tired players would throw their jerseys and boots all over the floor after a match. Today, however, the away dressing room at the Energy Solutions Arena is as neatly organised as it was before the game.
The floors were spotless, and the lockers were neatly closed. An Jie looked at his teammates and coaches again, and it was even more strange.
The group of guys was quiet, no one spoke, and no one went to the shower. They just sat in front of their cabinets and stared at An Jie, some of them with expectant smiles on their faces.
"I mean, what the hell are you guys up to? I can tell you, it's winter, and I can't stand this kind of thing. An Jie looked around a little nervously, he was afraid that a bucket of Gatorade drinks would suddenly be poured down from his head behind his back.
It was then that Ricard stood up. He reached for the inner bag of his suit, as if he was digging for something.
When Rickard walked up to Angel, his hand finally reached out from inside his suit.
"Happy Chinese New Year, boy!" Rickard handed something in both hands, it was a ...... A red envelope.
"Huh?" An Jie was confused, but he still instinctively accepted the red envelope.
After that, the team's assistant coach Divac also came out and also gave An Jie a red envelope.
"Happy Chinese New Year and congratulations on breaking the NBA record. ”
After that, it's Lillard.
"Happy New Year! I still have the red envelope you gave me last year, and this year, I'll give it to you, hehe. By the way, for two pairs in a row, you'll have to keep increasing that number. ”
Iguodala, Aldridge, Matthews, Meyers Leonard...... Everyone sitting in the locker room came up one by one to give An Jie a red envelope with a strong Chinese style.
During the Spring Festival last year, An Jie gave red envelopes to everyone in the team. Although it was only a small gesture, it made every Trail Blazers player particularly moved.
This year, Anjie broke the NBA record on the day of the Chinese New Year's Eve. Then, it was the turn of this group of teammates to send red envelopes to An Jie.
An Jie was holding a large pile of thick red envelopes, and the joy in his heart was even stronger than when he broke the record. He just stood there in a daze, reminiscing about the wonderful dressing room moment.
He never thought that this group of foreigners from different countries and regions would deliberately remember the days of the Chinese New Year because of themselves. Moreover, they also prepared such a down-to-earth gift for themselves.
"What's the matter, stinky boy, I have a ten-dollar 'big bill' in my red envelope, and I'm much more generous than you were last year. Seeing that Anjie didn't speak for a long time, Rickard took the initiative to stand up and break the silence.
"Damn...... You guys, you guys are really good at doing things......" I don't know why, An Jie suddenly felt very warm. The people in this locker room no longer seem to be teammates, but family members.
After that, with the need to rush back to Portland, everything was back to normal in the locker room. Only An Jie smirked at the pile of red envelopes in his hand.
By the time Anjie and the others arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport, the winter wind was already blowing.
An Jie looked up at the sky, it was naturally dark, and there was nothing. At this time, parents must be at home, with Catherine, beard and peace, come over a happy Chinese New Year.
A gust of night wind blew, and even An Jie couldn't help but shiver. An Jie tightened his collar, although the temperature continued to drop in winter, his heart was extremely warm.
In a foreign country and people in a foreign country have lived a different Chinese New Year's Eve, this feeling is really unexpectedly warm......
"Happy Spring Festival....." Looking at the group of tall guys walking in front of him, An Jie whispered to himself.
"Ann, don't be sluggish, let's go!" the shouts of his teammates made An Jie smile and speed up his pace......