With the exception of the Nuggets and Trail Blazers, the rest of the teams in the second round were all decided.

The most pity is the Lakers, who have been at home twice, but in the face of the strong Spurs Twin Towers, O'Neal is also helpless, and Kobe Bryant is far from reaching his peak, and finally can't escape the fate of being swept by the Spurs.

As for the Eastern teams, whether it is the Pacers or the 'dark horse' Knicks, they also performed very well, and each completed a sweep.

In other words, while the rest of the teams begin to rest, the Nuggets and Trail Blazers will have a bitter game.

By noon, the Nuggets flew to Portland again to get ready for Game 5 tomorrow night.

After the aggregate score of 2:2, the fifth game became extremely crucial, and whoever can win will be able to occupy an extremely advantageous position, which is commonly known as the battle of Tianwang Mountain.

After arriving in Portland, the Nuggets stayed at a five-star hotel not far from the Moda Center.

However, unlike in the past, this time they also rented an indoor basketball court from the University of Portland to give the players a better resting environment.

The main reason for this is to politely refuse interviews with reporters and not give them the opportunity to disturb the players.

This time, the media did not look at the downside of the situation, and mostly looked at the problem from an ambiguous point of view, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the two teams.

In a way, the Nuggets have a little bit of restraint from liking the Trail Blazers, who play primarily on the inside.

It can't be helped, Sabonis is too slow due to his weight and injuries.

Over the years, the Trail Blazers have a tradition of accumulating high-quality interior players, even if high-quality interior lines are piled up, most of them still choose interior players in the annual draft.

When it comes to the Trail Blazers' interior line, people often think of the Trail Blazers' team doctors, who are also the most famous team doctors in the NBA, but unfortunately they are all derogatory.

Whenever the words "injury" or injury are mentioned, people's first reaction is the veterinarian of the pioneers.

Over the years, as long as the quality centers who have joined the Trail Blazers, such as Bill Wharton, Sabonis, etc., there will always be serious injury problems.

If it weren't for the Pioneer Veterinarian, the Pioneer would probably have established a dynasty of his own.

Among them, due to a lot of unscientific training in the early years, Sabonis had a large number of knee and Achilles tendon injuries in the second half of his career, which also made him unable to play a dominant performance in the NBA.

On this night, some media reported a good news for the Nuggets.

The news is related to Sabonis, a reporter saw Sabonis go to the hospital in Portland, his right leg was limping, and he was suspected of being affected by the injury.

"It's a possibility that the opponent is suspicious, so whether Avidas is affected by the injury or not, we have to keep our spirits up and remember not to let our guard down!"

On the college indoor basketball court, D'Antoni held a tactical board and shouted a reminder to avoid the players' negligence.

"Yes, Coach!"

Actually, D'Antoni thought too much. Even if Sabonis really relapses with an old injury, the players don't dare to be careless, even if Sabonis and Wallace are missing, the Trail Blazers lineup is still luxurious.

Before the start of Game 5, the Nuggets began to cheer up, and in order to maintain their physical fitness, their training intensity was not large, and most of them were mainly running-in.

Whether it's the players who are training hard, D'Antoni who is discussing tactics with the assistant coach, or the trainers, physiotherapists and other staff, they are all trying to prepare for the next game.

At 7 p.m. the next day, Moda Center!

The Trail Blazers are at home against the Nuggets again. Perhaps because of the battle of Tianwang Mountain, the team owner Paul Allen took time out of his way to come to the scene to cheer for the team.

"Looks like Sabonis is really hurt!" During the warm-up, Chi Liang specially observed and did not find Sabonis.

This is undoubtedly good news for the Nuggets.

Although Sabonis is slow and easy to be beaten into a fast break by the Nuggets, he has shown strong dominance on the offensive end, and is undoubtedly a big killer against the Nuggets who do not have a strong center in charge.

Ahead of the start of the game, both sides fielded their starting lineups. Compared to the last game, the Nuggets' lineup has changed.

Nuggets starters: Clark, Fortson, Williams, Ji Liang and Billups.

D'Antoni was helpless, originally for the sake of the player's health, he didn't want Ji Liang to play.

In D'Antoni's view, even stopping in the second round would far exceed the team's prospects for this season, and there is no need to risk the core players.

D'Antoni was still more sympathetic to the players when he was a rookie, especially Chi Liang was highly valued by him, thinking that Chi Liang was his 'Jordan'!

But the team management did not agree, as long as they entered the Western Conference Finals, whether it was broadcast fees or stadium revenue, they could get more benefits, and for the sake of the team's interests, they forced Ji Liang to play.

In this case, D'Antoni was forced to agree, but he and the team management inevitably had cracks.

In order to avoid the injury from getting worse, D'Antoni used Ji Liang as a quarterback, reducing his touch and organization, mostly catching and shooting.

Ji Liang can shoot with both left and right hands, even if he only shoots with his left hand, he can still maintain an excellent shooting rate.

As for the replacement line-up, it is still led by Van Exel, with Stich and Alexander.

Trail Blazers starters: Jermaine O'Neal, Grant, Walter Williams, Ryder and Stoudmire.

Even without Sabonis and Wallace, the Trail Blazers' lineup is still strong and still very competitive.

Beep~

Under the referee's organization, Clark and O'Neal Jr. came to the center circle and began to jump the ball.

After the two sides were ready, the referee threw the basketball vertically into the air, and when the basketball began to fall, the two jumped one after the other.

With the bouncing advantage, O'Neill Jr. took the ball to Stoudeyer first.

The Nuggets were prepared and returned to their own half as soon as possible, without giving the Trail Blazers a chance to raid.

After holding the ball past half-time, Stadamire temporarily shook off Billups with Grant's pick-and-roll, and he was quick enough to burst into the box in an instant.

Fortson hurriedly switched defenses, his pace was not slow, he barely kept up with Stoudamire, and as soon as the opponent had the idea of shooting, he would immediately interfere.

After rushing into the box, Stodameyer lifted the basketball, and Fortson hurriedly jumped up to get a chase block.

Unfortunately, it was a feint by Stadamire, who scored the ball at the time of Fortson's jump and passed it back to the misplaced Grant.

Without hesitation, Grant jumped and shot, just like Yan She Billups.