The Nuggets' performance in Game 3 was eye-catching, and they finished the game shooting a whopping 48.1% from the field and 38.2% from three-point range, which was a very explosive shooting percentage. But almost everyone thinks this is just an example, and if the Nuggets can maintain this kind www.biquge.info of firepower throughout the season, they will definitely not only finish sixth in the West, but at least have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Trail Blazers players were frustrated, and it was hard to accept to be beaten like this. But they are not discouraged, no team can always maintain such a perverted shooting rate, and maybe they will be beaten back to square one in the next game. It's true that the Nuggets didn't shoot very well during the regular season, shooting 42.1% from the field and 34.3% from three-point range, which is their true level.

McMillan also didn't believe it, so in the fourth game he stubbornly sent almost the exact same starter, just using Ayres to replace Camby and Aldridge as a partner inside, to improve the mobility and defensive intensity of the interior players, no matter how young and strong Ayers is, although the height difference is a little bit, but in the degree of desperateness is a big cut over Camby. The other four positions remain the same, but McMillan has made up his mind to let Miller play a little less and give the youngsters more time.

Sure enough, the Nuggets missed four shots at the beginning of Game 4 and were beaten by the Trail Blazers to a perfect 10-0 start. McMillan on the sidelines breathed a sigh of relief, he said he didn't believe it, but he was still afraid that the Nuggets would continue to explode, but these four hits gave him great confidence, and it was clear that the Nuggets' last game was just an exception, and they couldn't maintain such a strong firepower in every game.

It's not that a pure shooting team can't reach great heights, but only if they have mature tactics and a historic sharpshooter, and unfortunately the Nuggets don't have both. Their tactics are simply a "run", the five players on the court are constantly interspersed with runs to disrupt the opponent's defense, so as to create shooting opportunities for teammates, of course, their runs are still very organized, but this does not mean that they have a very mature strategy.

In addition, they do not have a historical level shooter. Even if they hadn't traded Anthony to the Knicks, "Melon" would have become an all-time scorer at best, an offensive kaleidoscope who is proficient in almost every scoring style, but alas, he's not a shooter and doesn't fit much into Karl's style of play. As for the likes of Gallinari, Chandler and Lawson, who can only be regarded as second-rate or even third-rate stars in the league, how can they talk about all-time goalscorers?

The real offensive end of the shooting championship has not yet appeared, that is a few years later, the rapid rise of the Golden State Warriors, they rely on Curry and Thompson, two super shooters, to become the league's top offensive team, and won the O'Brien Cup coveted by many players. This is already an afterthought, compared to Curry and Thompson later, the Nuggets can be said to be unavailable, and they can't go far by feeling alone.

Seeing that the three-point shot began to be inaccurate, the Nuggets players quickly switched offense and began to attack the basket. But the Trail Blazers' interior line is not so easy to deal with, Aldridge is tall and has long arms, and Ayers is even more like he wants the ball, which is a great deterrent to the Nuggets' ball carriers. Coupled with Ye Feng and Matthews eyeing the Trail Blazers, an assaulter like Lawson simply can't attack the Trail Blazers' basket without distraction.

For the Nuggets, when they lose both the breakthrough and the three-point shot, they basically don't have to expect to win. And what makes them even more helpless is that the Trail Blazers' players have obviously adapted to the plateau climate, although there is still a gap compared to them, but they can already prevent the Nuggets' offense. Such a change makes the Nuggets at a loss, the offense can't be beaten, the defense can't be stopped, and there is really nothing more tragic to do.

The Trail Blazers showed no mercy at all, and after adapting to the intensity of the game, they showed a higher level of shooting, especially Ye Feng and Matthews took turns firing on the outside, and a series of three-pointers made the Nuggets players look confused. Even if they were willing to defend, it wouldn't be possible, given the height gap was a bit big, and the Trail Blazers were often able to pull the ball out of the box by breaking through and then distributing the ball beyond the three-point line. The Trail Blazers' outside shooters also lived up to the trust of their teammates, hitting consecutive three-pointers to quickly pull the score away, completely without the scene of the last game.

Although they made a lot of shots on the outside, the offensive rhythm of the Trailblazers under the control of Ye Feng was not fast, and it was still the same as in the last game, but the Nuggets did not dare to underestimate their defense. While the slow tempo is good for a physically fit team to play a pressing defense, no matter how fast they run, they can't get the ball fast, and the Trail Blazers are positional battles, but their passes are very sharp, and they can penetrate the Nuggets' defense in two or three clicks and score the ball.

The entire first half of the game was completely one-sided, and although the score gap did not seem to be large, the Trail Blazers had firmly controlled the situation on the court, and with Ye Feng's level, the Nuggets would not play their own rhythm. Basically, as long as you pile up heavy players on the inside, you can limit the speed of the Nuggets, which is also one of the most effective ways to deal with run-and-gun teams. As long as you can drag your opponent into the mud, you can use a lot of experience to defeat them.

Although the Nuggets' shooting improved in the second half, they did not return to the madness of the previous game, and they dug themselves a huge hole in the first half, and basically went far without exploding shots. That's the sadness of shooting teams, because they don't have any other means to score, and as long as they or their opponents make their way of scoring useless, or even a little less efficient, the game becomes very tough for them.

In the end, the Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets 108-99, and if it wasn't for the substitutions on both sides at the end of the fourth quarter, the margin would not have returned to single digits. Looking at the lonely backs of the Nuggets players, Ye Feng shook his head, although he learned from Hornacek, he has a lot of skills that can allow him to score the ball in addition to shooting, he can't imagine the helplessness of being locked by the opponent as a pure shooter, just like the Nuggets in this game.