Chapter 231: Chopping melons and vegetables
Ye Feng didn't know what happened in the visiting team's locker room at halftime, anyway, after the start of the second half, he keenly noticed that the Spurs had changed the focus of defense. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. biquge。 infoIf originally the Spurs were "point" defense, now they are "line" defense, in other words, they no longer mark individual players, but focus on how to cut off the passing route, with their tactical execution, it is easy to do that.
This made Ye Feng a little uncomfortable, because when he wanted to pass the ball, he would find that every Trail Blazers player was surrounded by a looming Spurs player, which gave him a very bad feeling, and it seemed that once he passed the ball, it would be directly intercepted. Everyone else also frowned, because no matter how they ran and covered, the Spurs changed the defense infinitely from beginning to end, directly dissolving the gap they created invisibly. Popovich also sent the more athletic Mashinmi and Duncan to partner on the inside, and the 2.11-meter center has agility that doesn't match his size at all, and can defend the Trail Blazers' small man well.
But this is not a problem for Ye Feng, since he has locked the passing line, then he will score by himself, he doesn't mind giving the Spurs a little color and see. And in the first half, he had 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists, which is usually a stat that he can only play in the whole game. It can be seen from this that with the deliberate connivance of McMillan, Ye Feng's hand in this game is so hot, and he is also the scoring point that the Trailblazers rely on the most. Generally speaking, this kind of behavior of dominating the right to shoot will be opposed by other players openly and secretly, but firstly, Ye Feng's scoring efficiency is very high, and secondly, his popularity in the team is also quite good, so Ye Feng's unlimited firing right has been supported by all his teammates, and his performance has also repaid the trust of his teammates.
So the Spurs' defense did not cause any trouble to Ye Feng, but limited the play of other Trail Blazers players, Miller and Roy simply took on the task of controlling the ball over half the court, and tried all kinds of ways to send the ball to Ye Feng. Aldridge also gave up his offense, almost every round he would pull to the high post to cover Ye Feng, and he would follow after the block, but not to catch the ball and attack the frame, but to grab offensive rebounds. In other words, the Trail Blazers are using the strength of the whole team to complete Ye Feng, which is also McMillan's original idea.
The other four Spurs players still feel pretty good, but Jefferson is hard pressed because he can't prevent Ye Feng at all, and he can't score points, which makes him feel very anxious, not to mention that the Spurs are still on the trailing side, which makes him feel that this is his responsibility. So his defensive moves gradually became bigger and bigger, trying to prevent Ye Feng from scoring. This is what Popovich acquiesces to, and for him as long as the team can win, he can do anything, and it is acceptable to defend too much, and of course it is better to be able to complete the redemption.
Ye Feng is also alert, now he can't fall, the team looks good, but to a certain extent, it is based on his excellent personal performance, if even he suffers an injury, the Trail Blazers' playoff journey may come to an abrupt end at this point. Therefore, in the face of Jefferson's suicidal defense, Ye Feng is trying to avoid physical contact and let interior players come out as cover more frequently. But that doesn't mean he's scared of Jefferson and going around him, it's just to avoid getting hurt and the series hangs in the air.
Of course, as a veteran, Jefferson also came up with another skill of his own, which is trash talking. Basically, no matter whether Ye Feng holds the ball or not, as long as the two people are in the opposite position, he will babble and talk all kinds of trash talk, Ye Feng has to admire this guy's trash talk reserves, almost no two sentences are the same. But Jefferson missed a point, although Ye Feng is only a second-year rookie, his maturity is incomparable to many veterans, and the most important point is that he will not get angry easily and can stay calm anytime and anywhere. Therefore, Jefferson's trash talk did not cause any damage to him at all, and he didn't even provoke anger, Ye Feng purely regarded him as a mosquito buzzing in his ears, and he was ready to slap him in the face with a score.
In the third quarter, Ye Feng scored 11 points again, and other teammates also contributed. The most surprising thing for him was that when the head coaches of both sides changed to the bench lineup, the Spurs, who have always been known for their bench thickness, actually tied the game with the Trail Blazers, even if the point guard of their bench lineup was Parker, and they also showed strong scoring ability. However, Bayless's newborn calf was not afraid of tigers, and he actually competed against Parker on the court, and with Fernandez and Batum, the Trail Blazers once again showed a point-to-face offensive rhythm and helped the main players to consolidate the lead.
Popovich couldn't believe his eyes, he didn't expect the Trail Blazers to have such a strong fighting force, and what about the horrific injury wave? That's how your family's injury tide looks? In fact, this is Popovich's misunderstanding, for the recovery of the players, the Trail Blazers are a little hidden, did not easily let the media find out their hole cards, in fact, many players who have returned from injury have begun to complete training. In addition, the Trail Blazers are now in full swing, and the bench lineup has also felt the hot atmosphere after their debut, and the two can be combined to break wrists with the Spurs.
Before the Spurs could react, Ye Feng led his teammates to a wave of 12-2 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, helping the team instantly expand the difference to 18 points. Of course, the Spurs don't plan to give up, but whenever they want to chase points, the Trail Blazers players can always hit three-pointers from the outside, or break through to the inside to complete 2+1, and directly knock down their momentum. In desperation, Popovich switched to a full bench lineup with three minutes left before the end of the game, saying that he would admit defeat in this game, and McMillan also removed the team's starting lineup.
The only highlight of this game is that Ye Feng played a whole team against the Spurs alone, and he did it. In the end, Ye Feng scored a big triple-double of 43 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, helping the Trail Blazers defeat the Spurs 108-97 and win the Western Conference semifinals.