Chapter 257: [Third Battle of Salt Lake City]
Other series are also underway.
The Suns pulled their teeth out and won a victory in Los Angeles. The two sides played 1-1.
Amare? Stodamire wanted to be able to make a comeback in the playoffs, but the doctors wouldn't allow it because it would be too risky for his eye, which had undergone surgery.
It turns out that Stadamire is not the most important link in the solar system. Running and bombing is the magic weapon for the Suns to win. Nash is still one of the top few guard stars in the NBA, completely knocking out Fisher. Facing Nash, who is known as the "defensive black hole", Fisher also seems to have few options, his main scoring means is outside shooting, and Nash does a good job of defending dry pulls. The impact of Barbossa, the sixth man of the Suns, also caused a lot of trouble for the Lakers. The No. 1 defense has become a deadly weakness for the Lakers.
The Spurs trailed the Mavericks 2-0 and lost both home games, which was a bit of a surprise. But if you look at the lineup, you will find that the Mavericks are indeed stronger than the Spurs today.
The Nuggets and Trail Blazers were tied 1-1, and in the second game, Roy scored 38 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The Nuggets lost home-court advantage.
The Eastern Magic and Cavaliers both led 2-0.
Heat 1-1 Hawks. The Hawks only allowed the Heat to score 64 points in the first game and won by a large margin. In the second game, the Heat rebounded strongly and won 108-93, and both teams played inconsistently.
The Celtics went 1-1 to the Bulls, and Rose had 36 points and 11 assists in their playoff debut, but they won because of Garnett's absence and Ray Allen's malaise, scoring four points on just 1-of-12 shooting.
In the second game, Rose, who had been blown up by the Chicago media, only scored 10 points and 7 assists, and Rondo, who was opposite him, had 19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists and 5 steals. Ray Allen also scored 30 points and hit a last-minute three-pointer to help the Celtics steal a victory.
Celtic's weaknesses are also evident, with their bench offense being terrible. They signed Marbury, who was cut by the Knicks, but the lone wolf sat on the bench for too long and couldn't help much. Leon? Bowie is also not playing as well as last season, and this season they are destined to go through the playoffs.
Most people's view now is that the championship is likely to be produced between the Lakers and the Warriors, and winning the Western Conference championship will definitely win the cup.
After lunch, Zhou Xuan flew to Salt Lake City with the team. Nie Yuyan stayed in Auckland and only watched the game at home to support him.
On the plane, Azubuk chatted with Zhou Xuan endlessly.
In an interview, he said that his favorite person in the team is Zhou Xuan. The reason is not only team basketball, but also the tacit cooperation, but also the shoes he wears on his feet.
Now Azubuk endorses Chinese sneakers Peak.
This is perhaps the greatest achievement of the NBA's globalization, with Zhou Xuan wearing American-branded sneakers while his teammates receive sponsorship from Chinese companies simply because they wear the same jerseys as Zhou Xuan. Some time ago, Azubuk did play well, and he would be very desperate on the court.
"What do you think would happen if I went to play in China in the future? Will there be millions of fans supporting me, like you are now? Azubuk asked.
"You're too unproductive, aren't you? is in the prime of life, and actually wants to play our CBA. Zhou Xuan joked.
"When will anyone be looking for me?" Morrow asked next to them.
"Shoot more three-pointers, it's faster."
Playing next to Zhou Xuan is indeed happy, and American businessmen generally do not look for substitutes like Azubuke and Morrow. It is precisely because the warriors have Zhou Xuan that their exposure has increased. Chinese fans know them well, and they can't get along in the United States, and they can also go to China to play CBA in the future, which is a way back.
Like Yao Ming's former teammate, violently dunk Koke? Schneider joined Zhejiang Wanma. And on Chinese TV shows, Azubuk's sneaker ad is airing, and he is more famous in China than in the United States, which makes him feel cool.
At this time, the Jazz coaching staff is trying to figure out how to solve the problem, and the key to solving the problem is not only how to adjust the defense, but also how to strengthen the offense.
Because the Warriors have too many attack points, even if the starters are off the court, they can ensure firepower, and the fast break is extremely sharp. Therefore, the Jazz should try to ensure the success rate of the offense, on the contrary, if they repeatedly miss, they will give the Warriors more opportunities for fast breaking, which is tantamount to digging their own grave.
In the end, Sloan could only repeatedly emphasize the need to speed up the return and increase the number of pick-and-rolls and air cuts.
When the Warriors arrived in Salt Lake City in the afternoon, it was not yet dark. Although it is late April, Salt Lake City, located at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, is still very cool, and pedestrians wear thick coats, and if you don't have experience in this area, you can easily get a cold here.
Today, Salt Lake City is the third-largest city in the western interior of the United States, behind Denver and Phoenix. The Union Pacific Railroad and the Bingham Copper Mine brought prosperity to the area, and Salt Lake City was an important hub for the nation's highway system.
The 2002 Winter Olympics made this low-key city more known to the world. But it's always a clean and quiet city, and walking down the streets of Salt Lake City, the cool dry breeze blows in your face, as if you are not in a city with a population of more than a million in the metropolitan area, but only a town with a population of thousands. On Sundays, Mormons worship religiously at their community churches, and the NBA respects local customs and hardly schedules Salt Lake City games on Sundays.
Without entering the arena, it is hard to imagine that such a quiet city would be the home of the famous devil.
The original title sponsor of the arena has always been Delta Airlines, and until 2006 it was called Delta Center, during which it was temporarily renamed Salt Lake City Ice Sports Center for the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was a matter of the past two years to change the name of the Energy Solution Stadium, because Delta Airlines was losing money year after year and was unwilling to name the stadium again, so the Energy Solution Company took advantage of the situation and won the naming rights.
In the past two years, the people of Salt Lake City have come up with various nicknames for the Energy Solution Arena, from calling it the "Junkyard Dump" to the "Laser Palace" for the sake of vigour, and the snarky ones coming up with names like "Atomic Bomb Bunker" or "Energy Pollution Arena...... In short, it is alluding to the sponsor's industry background.
In some ways like the controversy, disacceptance, and even ruthless ostracization and denigration of the Mormons in the United States, the Utah Jazz have never been a popular team among fans. On the contrary, when they stood up to challenge God's authority for two years in a row, the crowd sneered at them and even glared at them. And Malone's swinging elbows, Stockton's dirty little moves, coupled with the noisy airport-like home stadium of Salt Lake City, and their stereotypical style of play, have always earned this team more curses than love. But like the diligent and strong Mormons, Jazz has always maintained their style, stoic, and tireless, and has been a strong team for 20 years.
As soon as he appeared in the evening, Zhou Xuan heard a screeching noise. Every fan in the stadium let out the sharpest roar from the top of their voices, drilling straight into the bottom of people's hearts, like an impact drill constantly moving in your ears. The steep grandstand brings all the noise to the center of the pitch, and it's a really oppressive environment.
Jazz made a change today, DeLong? Williams, Brewer, Korver, Kirilenko, Boozer. The speed of this lineup has increased, and Kirilenko is indeed more suitable for blocking and pick-and-roll than Millsap, and can also play when defending against fast breaks.
The Warriors also changed their lineup, with Margeti starting and Ellis coming off the bench. In the opening period, Nelson Sr. was ready to stabilize and strengthen the defense.
"I'm not going to lose again today." Delong looked at Zhou Xuan on the field and said provocatively.
"What do you say? I can't hear you? Zhou Xuan replied with his mouth open, but his voice was not loud.
When the nearby audience saw Zhou Xuan open his mouth, they thought he was shouting and provoking, and immediately started chattering. Delong repeated what he had just said, Zhou Xuan really couldn't hear it this time, and laughed.
DeLong had no choice but to stand in his own half of the court in a puff, ready for the game.
The big screen of the stadium was shown to the audience, and there were actually a few Chinese fans wearing Zhou Xuan's No. 12 jersey cheering him on the long side, holding "Zhou Xuan assists the king!" written in Chinese characters. "Big brand.
The photographer gave a lot of close-ups of the fat man holding the sign, and he was screaming wildly at the energy center, and no Jazz fan stood up to him. Here, he's almost like Mel from Braveheart? Gibson.
Zhou Xuan also saw this person and beckoned in that direction.
The game got on, Boozer jumped the ball to beat Randolph, and the Jazz took the lead.
The top of the arc was still handed over to Jackson, and Zhou Xuan went to defend Korver. In the last game, he relied on covering Deron to shoot a lot of three-pointers, so Nelson Sr. still sent a tall Jackson to defend.
Kirilenko ran to the right side of the perimeter in the low post, Marion defended it, and it didn't work if he didn't go out, Kirilenko could also shoot, his style was very similar to Marion, but the three points were not very accurate, and the ball in the frame was stronger.
Boozer pulled to the top of the arc to block Jackson, and Randolph had to pull it out, otherwise Delon would have made a jumper, and his jump shot was not bad.
Sloane, after consulting with the assistant coach, came up with this misalignment, pulling Randolph out. Jackson was experienced and got sideways, leaving Delon on on the right side. Randolph will be a little better on the right side of the defensive end because he is a left-handed player and on the left side of the offensive end.
Delon broke through Randolph and Jackson followed Boozer to the baseline. Deron moved sideways to pass the ball in, and Boozer received the ball with his back to Jackson and turned on the right side to score the basketball. 0 to 2.
Jackson has a set of defensive frame offense, but it is more difficult to fight Boozer, and the back of the anti-bone boy can also be ranked number one in the league, and for this reason, many people think that his offense is stronger than Bosh.
The Warriors attacked, Marion also pulled to the outside, and they played like this every game.
DeLong defended at the top of the arc, Zhou Xuan waited until Randolph was about to catch up and broke through to the right, DeLong was different from Jackson, he was shorter, and it was more troublesome to bypass the screener, Zhou Xuan broke through from the right side, the speed was faster, and Boozer's first step was slow to block and dismantle.
Zhou Xuan didn't have any feints, he completely relied on speed to break through, and as soon as he entered the three-point line, he pulled the ball and jumped up and opened up the distance with Boozer, and made a quick stop jump shot near the bottom line.
In the first two games, Randolph grabbed eight frontcourt rebounds, an average of four per game. Boozer's slow change of defense was obviously afraid of Randolph, at this time, in order to protect the rebound, he did not pounce particularly outside, and he was never a good blocker, so Zhou Xuan shot the ball very resolutely, Boozer took a small step forward and jumped without covering, and the ball hollowed into the net. 2 to 2.