On the night of Feb. 12, the Portland Trail Blazers took on the Los Angeles Clippers on the road.

This is the last game before the All-Star break, and after this one, the NBA will enter All-Star Weekend.

With his superb individual performance, as well as his victory in the confrontation with James before the All-Star break, plus the help of Chinese fans, Li Liang is currently far ahead of the All-Star vote, ranking first.

Needless to say, Li Liang is going to be an All-Star starter this time.

Poor Blake Griffin, who was squeezed out of the All-Star starting spot by Li Liang last season, is going to be squeezed out again this season.

Last season, there were still many people who complained about Griffin, and felt that Li Liang entered the starting lineup with the blessing of being a Chinese player.

This season, Li Liang deserves to be an All-Star starter.

Now the two of them are on the same team, and it is clear who is the boss and who is the younger brother.

In addition to Li Liang, Paul also occupied the position of All-Star starting point guard, and his comeback before the All-Star Game was also just in time for the All-Star Game.

Although Paul missed a lot of games due to an unexpected injury, Paul has been very good this season.

The start of the season showed a high level of competition.

If it weren't for the accidental injury and the continued run-in with Li Liang, the Clippers' record would definitely be better than now.

But injuries themselves are part of the game and the long season and are inevitable.

Unless you have the system.

If you don't have a system and don't accept the help of the system god, then there's no way.

On the night of the game, Paul finally didn't have to sit on the sidelines in a suit.

He changed into the Clippers' No. 3 jersey and wore an elastic protective shirt to protect his injured shoulder.

Li Liang saw Paul's outfit and said, "Chris, why do you still wear autumn clothes when you play basketball?" ”

Paul didn't know what Qiu Yi was, but he knew that Li Liang probably couldn't say anything good from his mouth.

"It's time for your socks to change." Paul replied.

Li Liang's socks are now the No. 1 killer in the Clippers' locker room.

Every time Li Liang wore socks to take a bath, he washed his socks while taking a shower.

Otherwise, the smelly socks would make it impossible for the reporters in the locker room to open their mouths to ask questions.

But it is impossible for Li Liang to change his socks, and the more intense the game, the more smelly the socks are, indicating that the more "damage" is absorbed.

Li Liang's ankle is still very healthy, and he doesn't need to tie his foot much, but the Clippers team doctor was surprised.

There are also laces for sneakers.

Under Armour sent Li Liang a lot of different styles and colors for him to wear during the game to increase the exposure of Under Armour's sneakers.

Li Liang is sneakers can be changed, but shoelaces cannot be changed.

Some sneakers that don't match Li Liang's laces, Li Liang won't wear them.

The shoes produced by Under Armour are forced to use the same laces as Li Liang's shoes.

Li Liang saw Paul wearing these protective gear, but the effect was actually not as good as the original glass of water.

I don't know if he drank it in the end.

Besides, can this autumn coat of yours compare to my protective gear?

To be honest, Li Liang's image on the court is still quite influenced by those ugly protective gear.

Knee pads plus elbow pads, plus a helmet is skateboarding.

Your old knees and elbows don't hurt!

Look at a rookie like you, the outfit is more complicated than some veterans who have been in the league for 10 years.

But no matter what other people say, Li Liang is unmoved, ugly is ugly, and taking care of his body is the most important.

……

The game started at half past seven in the evening.

Paul is back in the starting line-up.

Collison has played well during Paul's absence, and it can even be said that he has increased his value to a certain extent.

He has completed the ball control task relatively well, and has a certain offensive ability with the ball, and can contribute to the team in scoring and assisting.

Although defense has no way to become a big gate because of height and size problems, it is by no means a colander to take what you want.

During yesterday's team training session, Paul returned to the starting line-up to participate in tactical drills, and the starters were a little unaccustomed to it.

Because the tactical initiation point has changed.

Paul wasn't there, and the starting point at the start of the game was always Griffin.

After Paul's return, Griffin's status has slipped a notch, can he still start with him?

And when Paul is away, the ball will pass through Li Liang's hand for organization.

Li Liang's off-ball running offense has become much less because there is no one to pass the ball and pull space for him.

There will definitely be changes when Paul comes back, you can't let Paul play without the ball.

Without the ball in Paul's hand, most of his efforts were basically wasted.

Also, in Paul's absence, every player was actively involved in the attack and was very proactive in creating chances.

And when Paul returns, will he be clothed again and stretch out his mouth for bread?

No one knows, everything will not be visible until the game starts and everyone starts running in again.

Paul is still very confident in himself, he believes in his understanding of the game, his ability to organise and assist.

In his absence, the team won some very beautiful games, but after all, the winning percentage was not as good as when he was there.

After the game started, the Clippers took the lead in gaining possession, and Paul got the ball, and as in previous games, organized the offense in the first half.

Li Liang came over to cooperate with Paul to block and cover.

At this time, a tacit scene appeared.

Li Liang came up to cover for Paul, and Griffin also came over to cover for Paul.

The choice between the two men was repeated, and Griffin immediately walked back.

Paul took advantage of the opportunity to try to give a high throw to the inside, and Griffin jumped up to catch the ball.

But Lopez and Ade both came over to grab their positions, and Griffin didn't get a good chance and passed the ball back on.

Then after Li Liang got the ball, he reorganized, and the offensive time was a little insufficient.

In the end, the outside forced three-point shot missed.

Paul had just returned, and everyone was a little uncomfortable.

In a game at this level in the NBA, there is a little stagnation and fluency in the offense, giving the opponent time to react, and the tactics will not work.

And if you don't start right, the follow-up will not be right.

Paul shook his head, and Li Liang was already yelling beside him, "Retreat!" ”

The Clippers stepped back and the Trail Blazers countered without playing.

Both teams are offense-oriented, and the Trail Blazers' projection is also very strong.

Lillard, who was in the same class as Li Liang, was surprisingly tough, and became one of the best rookies in the previous class without being favored.

Although he unsurprisingly lost to Li Liang in the selection of the best rookie, being able to surpass Davis is enough to show his energy.

They also have a backcourt rookie, CJ McCollum, who was selected with the 10th pick in this year's draft and is also a great projector.

In the summer, the Trail Blazers also brought in Robin Lopez at the center position.

In this way, the Trail Blazers formed a starting five-man duo of Lillard, Aldridge, Lopez, Matthews and Batum.

This combination of offense and defense is reasonable, there are no obvious shortcomings, coupled with the head coach's adjustment, the Trail Blazers once jumped to the second place in the West in terms of record.

It has only recently declined, but it is still at the level of the top four in the West.

It can be said that the Trail Blazers completed the rebuild through the draft as quickly as possible when Oden and Roy were both reimbursed due to injuries.

Of course, the rebuilt lineup is a little worse than it was back then in terms of talent, but at least it's not easy to get injured.

The Trail Blazers, who didn't have a quick breakback to fight back, stabilized and began to hit their Flow offense in earnest.

Repeated screens, runs, and give the team's shooters space to shoot.

Aldridge is better than Griffin in addition to the game, and another thing is his mid-range shooting ability.

After blocking and disclosing, Ade had a shot on the left side and made a mid-range jumper after receiving the ball.

The first point of the opening session.

The first goal of the opening game tends to give confidence to the players.

Ade's first attempt shot made the Trail Blazers players relax a little.

Prior to this game, the Trail Blazers had just gone through a two-game losing streak and were currently at a low ebb of form.

The two games that were lost were when I felt bad at the beginning of the first quarter, digging a hole, and then I couldn't catch up all the way and lost the game.

Today was different, the Trail Blazers started the game feeling good, but the Clippers felt average.

When Paul came back, everyone was really uncomfortable.

In the second attack, there was obviously a slight stagnation in the running, and Barnes in the bottom corner looked at Paul and then at Li Liang, and the running took away the defense a little late.

As a result, Griffin's solo shot on the wing failed, and in the end, Paul chose to break through the middle and try his hand with a pull-up jumper.

Didn't hit.

Paul's first shot didn't go in.

On the Trail Blazers' side, Lillard assisted Matthews on an outside three-point shot.

The opening game is 5:0.

Li Liang asked Paul, "Can you do it?" No, I'll organize. ”

Paul ignored him, he didn't believe in this evil, he didn't play for a month, and his teammates couldn't run tactics?

Then in the first quarter of the game, the Clippers began to disadvantage and catch up on the score.

The Trail Blazers played well, and Aldridge hit another mid-range jumper.

At the same time, Lillard also broke through the basket and scored a layup.

The Clippers' first point finally relied on Li Liang to grab the rebound in the front court and score two points with a rebound.

The Clippers faced a problem in the first quarter - after Paul came back, everyone couldn't play anymore!

This, of course, was expected by Rivers.

So halfway through the first quarter, Rivers replaced Paul and Griffin and let Li Liang take the others to play on the court.

Paul got off the court, good guys, the Clippers players suddenly felt like they had a backbone.

Anyway, it's around Li Liang.

Li Liang had a good hand tonight, hitting two three-pointers in a row from the outside after Paul went off the court.

Once relied on the double cover of his teammates, and once after the second rebound, Jordan Jr. passed the ball out, and Li Liang hit a three-point shot after receiving the ball.

The two three-pointers helped the Clippers stabilize the situation, and when the first quarter ended, the score was tied at 31-28, and the Clippers still trailed the Trail Blazers by three points.

On the bench, Li Liang was about to talk to Paul while drinking water.

Paul said before Li Liang could speak: "Don't say it, I can play!" “

Li Liang thought to himself, will you still rush to answer?

You say you're going to play, what do you look at your organization?

Paul restarted the second quarter, and Paul finally found his groove in the second quarter.

He chose to use the offense to find a feeling for himself.

First, he relied on the cover of Mullins on the inside line to hit a mid-range jumper.

Then he steals CJ McCollum in defense and counters to give Odom an assist to make a layup.

After Odom came to the Clippers, it can be said that he completely took care of it.

I never miss my daily training, and I never arrive late or leave early.

Occasionally, I will stay and practice.

The most noticeable change in him was the weight loss.

After going to the Lone Ranger that year, Odom suddenly weighed more than a dozen pounds.

Behind it, I was trapped in Khloe Kardashian's water tank, and I couldn't get out of it for a while.

The whole body is in a terrible state.

In order to return to the Clippers and survive on the team, Odom worked hard after being expelled from school and sweated in the training gym.

Now he can rush to the front in a quick counterattack and score a layup, which can be said to be quite difficult.

Once Paul's offense was turned on, his playmaking sensation slowly returned.

Rivers made the right choice.

Li Liang and Paul were both on the field at the same time, and the players would definitely not be comfortable for a while.

So he let Paul go down to rest first, and let Li Liang take the fight, so that the team would not lose too much.

Then let Paul lead the team on the court and slowly regain his feelings.

Finally, let the two of them appear together, and the situation will be much better.

By the middle of the second quarter, Li Liang was back on the court, and Paul had found his groove.

And Li Liang also began to cooperate with Paul to run off-ball, and hit two three-pointers from the outside again.

Since the medal came back, Li Liang feels that his outside three-point state is getting better and better.

Of course, it's also about the opponent.

The last few opponents have not been very good at three-point defense.

Tonight, Li Liang faced Batum, the Frenchman has long hands and feet, which will theoretically make Li Liang very uncomfortable.

But in fact, Li Liang is not afraid of this kind of player who relies on his arm span to interfere with his shooting.

If you want the opponent to choose this kind of interference-type defense, Li Liang will never be afraid.

He's very resistant to interference, and as long as you choose to reach out, he's a little slower than he is to shoot most of the time.

As long as you slow down and let Li Liang form an empty shot, his hit rate will be terrifying.

On the contrary, the kind of defense that does not choose to reach out to interfere, but is close to the body, so that Li Liang has no chance to vacate the position, Li Liang is uncomfortable.

However, the Trail Blazers' side quickly returned to color, with Wesley Matthews and Lillard both hitting three-pointers from the outside.

Their three-point shooting did feel pretty good tonight, and it was a bit out of the ordinary.

The only one who threw badly was Batum......

Batum was shot by Li Liang on the offensive end tonight, and Li Liang did not let him go on the defensive end, and his defense was very focused.

It's not because Batum is powerful, but Li Liang's defense has always done his best.

As a result, Batum also made a few shots on the outside, and after missing the shot, the Clippers got a backcourt rebound and counterattacked.

Paul instigated a counterattack and hit the Trail Blazers 10-0 midway through the third quarter to help the Clippers establish an advantage.

After that, the Clippers began to boil the frogs in warm water, and Paul began to control the field again.

As a result, he almost had an accident in the fourth quarter.

The Trail Blazers suddenly burst out with a wave of three-pointers.

McCollum hit two three-pointers from beyond the arc and drew a defensive foul on Barnes for a four-point call.

Lillard also faced Paul's defense on offense, hitting a difficult three-point shot from the outside.

The Trailblazers chased 10 points in a row, and the difference narrowed to only 2 points.

Then, the Trailblazers offered a tactic of "three people wrapping Li Liang", and Li Liang naturally passed the ball to Paul.

With no one at the top of the arc, Paul easily hit the mid-range.

Doesn't this treat Paul as a human being?

Do you think it's still the same as when you played the Heat?

But then, Aldridge hit another three-pointer to cut the deficit to just one point.

Rivers called a timeout to break the Trail Blazers' hand.

The Clippers' defense is already in place, but tonight the Trail Blazers' hand is really against the sky.

CJ McCollum made 3 of 4 three-pointers in this game, and it can be said that his hand is hot.

However, after the timeout came back, Li Liang and Paul cooperated with a block, and then Li Liang received the ball outside the three-point line.

The two players of the Trailblazers pounced, Li Liang ignored it directly, made a decisive shot outside the three-point line, and hit the fifth three-pointer of the game!

An extremely crucial three-pointer, with a four-point lead, helped the Clippers seize the initiative.

Subsequently, the Trail Blazers made a mistake with more than 1 minute left in the game, with plenty of time to play two positional offenses and defend well.

They were too superstitious about the invincible and terrible hand tonight, and in the offense after the timeout, Lillard opted for a direct pull-out after the outside misplaced defense.

The man who switched to Lillard was Barnes.

Lillard wanted to shoot and score again, and he wanted to make a foul on Barnes, preferably a four-pointer.

As a result, the experienced Barnes was not fooled and dodged with his hands raised in one last stroke.

Lillard missed a three-pointer and Jordan Jr. grabbed the rebound.

Subsequently, it was Paul and Li Liang's blocking.

This time, after Li Liang took away the defense, Paul cut directly into the three-second zone and hit a mid-range jumper!

It's still the original recipe, it's still the same taste.

After the goal, the corners of Paul's mouth turned up and he high-fived Li Liang.

The cooperation between the two is still very tacit.

Paul's shot was the final word, and the Trail Blazers still had a chance to turn the game around, if they could still shoot a three-pointer.

But the problem is that their three-point touch ran out in the first 46 minutes, and suddenly failed in the last two minutes.

Another timeout ended, and this time the Trail Blazers shifted the ball to the end and it turned out to be Batum's three-point shot.

As a result, under the interference of Li Liang, Batum's three-point shot missed.

Griffin got the rebound, and the Trail Blazers had to foul Griffin and send Griffin to the free throw line.

With Griffin hitting both free throws, the margin reached 8 points, and the game lost its suspense.

In the end, the first battle of Paul's comeback was not embarrassing.

The Clippers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers by six points at home 117-111 to send their opponent to a three-game losing streak.

The end of this game means that the first half of the NBA season is over, and the All-Star Weekend is about to begin.

The players and coaches can relax a little.

And for Li Liang, All-Star Weekend will be his busiest time.

He had so much to figure out.