132 A Beautiful Figure Appeared in Front of Me

"Tony! We can't double-team him, so you have to continue to defend him."

Doc Rivers yelled onto the court from the sidelines.

He had already analyzed the Trail Blazers' previous important game videos before the game and knew that this team's rotation relied on Zhang Jun's breakthrough to open up the rhythm, but in fact the purpose was not Zhang Jun. Instead, there were three shooters lurking on the outside.

If you choose to double-team Zhang Jun, then the outside shooters will all fire. If you don't double-team Zhang Jun, you will have to endure personal singles from him.

Doc Rivers would rather choose the latter.

"I don't believe you can score every goal. Even if you can score, how long will your physical strength be able to carry it for you?"

Tony Allen nodded.

He knew that this was a very important task assigned to him by coach Doc Rivers, to defend the Trail Blazers' core scorer Zhang Jun alone.

This is not the first time that Tony Allen has defended a player like Zhang Jun. Iverson and Wade have both defended him individually.

But even so, Tony Allen still wants to say that Zhang Jun is a completely different player from the latter two.

It's not a difference in personal skills, but a difference in basketball IQ.

"This kid seems to have understood my defensive habits and he has completely adapted to it."

Zhang Jun shot 7 of 11 from the field in the first half of the game. Even a strong personal defensive leader like Tony Allen would have difficulty restricting him in one-on-one defense.

The Trail Blazers played a 16:10 offensive high groove. The offensive efficiency of this half of the game was almost as good as the entire first quarter.

However, in the matchup with Tony Allen, Zhang Jun's physical exertion was also huge. After the last breakthrough layup, Nate McMillan decisively replaced him and regained the main lineup.

"Get some rest, the Celtics won't hand this game off so easily."

Zhang Jun nodded.

Luo Yin and Aldridge came on to replace Zhang Jun, but at the same time, Garnett and Pierce of the Celtics also came on.

Coupled with Rajon Rondo, who came on early, the Celtics almost had the entire starting lineup.

Luo Yin and Aldridge's offense was blocked again, and Garnett's assist defense and single defense in the interior put a lot of pressure on the two.

Fortunately, Jarrett Jack stood up at the critical moment and helped the Trail Blazers stabilize the situation with two three-pointers. However, the Trail Blazers were still outscored by 12 by the Celtics in just 3 minutes: 6 attack wave.

Zhang Jun, who resisted the Celtics' defense for half a quarter, had to be urgently activated by Nate McMillan and took the court again.

The Trail Blazers also had the entire starting lineup, and Zhang Jun was solely responsible for the offensive ball.

The ball-handling offense faced Garnett's high throw and Aldridge's pick-and-roll pass helped the opponent complete the iconic mid-range jumper.

At the same time, Zhang Luo's connection was staged again. Luo Yin made a long pass in the half court to help Zhang Jun's fast break dunk. Zhang Jun's wonderful pass from the position helped Luo Yin, who was running without the ball, to score a dunk.

At the end of the half.

The Trail Blazers and Celtics tied at 50:50.

The tenacity shown by the Trail Blazers in the game also exceeded everyone's expectations.

Barkley couldn't help but said: "Before the start of this game, everyone thought that the picture of this game must be a one-sided situation, but now it seems that this is a team that is fully qualified to challenge the Boston Celtics." team."

Kenny Smith nodded in agreement and said: "The Celtics guarded everyone on the Trail Blazers, but they just couldn't guard Zhang Jun. This was definitely something they didn't expect before the game."

"Zhang Jun had 24 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the half. These are almost the statistics of an All-Star player in the entire game."

"He's a really talented player."

Celtics dugout.

Doc Rivers put his hands on his hips and let out a long sigh.

He was thinking about how to play the second half of the game.

"This kid's personal offensive ability is so strong. Tony Allen can't limit him alone. Zhang Jun also has the ability to defeat an entire opponent by himself. The current score is the best proof."

"If he is allowed to continue playing like this, he might really help the Trail Blazers win the game, but if he double-teams Zhang Jun, it will play into the hands of the Trail Blazers coaching staff."

These are two cups of poison. Doc Rivers knows very well that only those championship-level teams have the ability to give their opponents two cups of poison. It depends on how the opponent chooses.

"And now the Trail Blazers have this ability, which also means..."

Doc Rivers admitted that he underestimated this young army, but he was not worried about it. In his opinion, what really needs to be worried about is the powerful players in the Western Conference.

"I really want to see how bloody this year's Western Conference playoffs will be."

Doc Rivers chose one of those cups of poison.

He planned to exhaust Zhang Jun to death and let him adjust the entire Celtics defense alone, and would never double-team him easily.

After all, in his opinion, no matter how powerful Zhang Jun is, he is just a rookie. No matter how powerful he is, can he be stronger than the Celtics' Big Three?

However, once such a decision occurs, it means that Paul Pierce will devote a lot of energy to Zhang Jun on the defensive end. He may not have more physical strength to complete the offensive end of the task.

So Doc Rivers made adjustments at the same time, allowing Rajon Rondo to hold the ball more, and Ray Allen and Garnett to participate in more offensive tasks.

The third quarter of the game.

Zhang Jun started his personal performance.

He first singled out Paul Pierce to complete the attack with a breakthrough and mid-range attack, and then made two consecutive fouls on the opponent.

Pierce held his head and yelled at the referee speechlessly.

"How the hell did you call the game!"

The referee didn't tolerate him and gave him a technical foul as a warning.

After Pierce defended, Doc Rivers replaced Tony Allen to defend. The process was slightly better, but the results were almost the same.

Zhang Jun committed three fouls on Tony Allen in a single quarter and continuously stood on the free throw line to score for the team.

After finishing the free throw, Zhang Jun took a deep breath and glanced at the scoreboard.

"74:76?!"

"We're actually two points behind!"

In this quarter, Zhang Jun is almost alone in attacking. The Trail Blazers' offensive tactics have many players' personal offense as the starting point.

Now Luo Yin's personal offense is completely blocked. With Zhang Jun alone executing the team's offensive tactics, the efficiency will inevitably drop significantly.

The fourth quarter of the game.

Nate McMillan didn't dare let Zhang Jun rest for a long time.

At the beginning of this quarter, Nate McMillan only let Zhang Jun rest for a minute, and the Celtics immediately launched a wave of 5:0 offensive spurts.

Nate McMillan had no choice but to replace Zhang Jun in advance again, who had only rested for one minute.

"The team relies on him so much, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Monty Williams couldn't help but sigh when he saw the worried Nate McMillan.

"Whether it's good or bad, the team just needs him, and there's nothing we can do."

"If you don't play with him, you will definitely lose. If you play with him, you will have a chance to win. No matter what the coach is, he will make the same choice."

Nate McMillan nodded in agreement and asked: "What is Zhang Jun's average playing time this season?"

Monty Williams immediately opened the book in his hand, searched carefully and said: "Before leading the bench, he averaged 32 minutes per game."

"After we decided to let him lead the bench, Zhang Jun's average playing time per game has increased to 34 minutes."

Monty Williams had already guessed what Nate McMillan was going to do, so he reminded him.

"Among all the players who have appeared this season, Zhang Jun's average games per game ranks 34th."

"Among all rookies this year, his average playing time per game ranks second, second only to Kevin Durant of the Sonics, who averages 35 minutes per game."

Nate McMillan immediately shook his head in denial and said, "No! Too little!"

"From now on, his average playing time will be increased to 36 minutes or more!"

"It can only be more than this time, not less."

Monty Williams shook his lips and couldn't help but said: "The average playing time per game is really a lot. Staying on the court for too long will increase the risk of injury and easily disrupt the player's rhythm and physical distribution. , It is not impossible to even reduce the offensive efficiency.”

Nate McMillan smiled softly and said: "From the several draft reports I received, Zhang Jun has never been injured in the NCAA, nor has he missed a game."

"From the time he landed in the NBA to now, I have not received an injury report from the team doctor about him, which shows that his body is very durable."

Monty Williams thought about it and it seemed that was the case.

Because tonight's game is a Christmas battle, there are also many film and television stars and celebrities in the audience.

Scarlett Johansson looked at Zhang Jun on the court with her charming eyes. She had just ended her relationship with actor and producer Josh Hartnett, and it was a time when she felt irritable.

She rarely goes home for Christmas since her debut, and the discomfort of reorganizing her family makes her dislike going back there.

Strictly speaking, although Scarlett's family is not an entertainment family, her mother is a producer and her grandfather is also a director and screenwriter, so she can be considered to be quite related to the entertainment industry.

But her parents divorced when she was very young, and Scarlett lived with her grandmother most of the time, so she didn't like her parents, and she was also a very rebellious girl in the eyes of others.

Scarlett, who was in a irritable mood, remembered Zhang Jun, whom she met while filming commercials. Because she had promised him to come to watch his game, she came here by accident.

"He's very strong when he plays basketball."

Scarlett couldn't help but smile.

At this time, Scarlett's cell phone suddenly rang. It was a message on Facebook. A user named Durant Xiao sent her a message.

"Hey Scarlett, did you have a happy Christmas? I'm Kevin Durant of the SuperSonics, the second pick in this year's draft. I'm already following you. Can you follow me? If possible, I will too. I can spend the first day after Christmas with you and wait for your news, okay (*￣3)(ε￣*).”

Scarlett Johansson glanced at the message on her phone with a frown, and then searched the Internet for photos of Kevin Durant.

"Um........"

Scarlett Johansson quickly deleted Durant's message and blocked him, then continued to pay attention to Zhang Jun's performance on the court.

The camera was focused on Scarlett Johansson, who smiled and waved.

On the court.

Zhang Jun encountered a higher-intensity defense. When Garnett was assisting in defense, he used a black elbow to send Zhang Jun away.

The key is that the referee hasn't seen it yet and thinks that Zhang Jun lost his balance during the breakthrough and missed the layup. After all, Zhang Jun's breakthrough speed is already very fast, so it is not unusual for the referee to not see clearly.

"There's a lot of fouls they can't see."

Garnett, who used his black elbow to defend the ball, looked at Zhang Jun proudly.

"You big yellow rat, I told you not to rush into the restricted area I guard. I will overthrow you the next time you dare to come in."

"If the referee sees it, it's a foul. If he doesn't see it, it's a good defense. Do you understand?"

Zhang Jun shook his shoulders. If it was the first time he entered the NBA, he would naturally feel uncomfortable being defended by his opponent like this. But now, Zhang Jun has long been accustomed to the physical abuse of him by various teams and defenders in the league. The referees are blind to him. It doesn’t matter anymore.

After all, this is part of the game.

"You'd better pray that I don't get the chance, or I'll pay double the price for you to know the consequences of irritating me."

Garnett shook his head indifferently and said: "How can a rookie pretend to be a tough guy? At least you won't have such a chance tonight."

Zhang Jun took a look at the score and time on the court, and it was indeed what Garnett said.

The Trail Blazers played the worst quarter of the entire game, only playing 16:22.

They were guarded miserably by the Celtics.

Coupled with the fact that there is not much time left on the court, the Blazers really have only a small hope of making a comeback.

But with the Celtics' strong defense, such hopes can basically be ignored.

Zhang Jun carried a bag of explosives and charged for the team at the last moment, but still failed to make a comeback. Ray Allen's two three-pointers saved the Celtics.

95:99.

Celtics win.

"This was a pleasing game. I don't need to describe the twists and turns of the game. The Celtics won the final victory."

"But Zhang Jun, he beat everyone on the Celtics!"

Kenny Smith couldn’t help but praise after the game.

Barkley also nodded in agreement and said: "On 16 of 32 shots and 10 of 13 free throws, Zhang Jun faced the league's strongest defensive team and scored his highest score of 42 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the NBA season! "

"Remember, this is a statistic scored by a rookie this year. This is also the third-highest score scored by any player this year so far."

"The first two are Kobe Bryant of the Lakers with 45 points, and LeBron James of the Cavaliers with 48 points."

Kenny Smith couldn't help but said: "But the last two are giants in the league!"

After the game, Zhang Jun was in a very irritable mood. He was even more irritated by losing the game at his home court, and on a stage like the Christmas Day game broadcast live across the United States.

His 40+ data is completely lackluster at this moment.

"You are a hero! Zhang Jun!"

"You are a son of Portland, not a son of Los Angeles!"

"You will lead us to achieve miracles, we have always believed in this."

Near the players' tunnel, Zhang Jun was enthusiastically surrounded by the fans. It wasn't until he saw this scene that he smiled.

Zhang Jun took off his elbow pads and jersey and threw it high to the fans, and then gave his signature sneakers to the nearest young fan.

Nike is smart enough. The new shoes had already been approved last month, but they delayed their release until tonight’s Christmas Day game. Even Zhang Jun himself wore his first pair of signature sneakers for the first time today. Get on the field.

Not to mention it’s really comfortable.

Indeed, as Xia He said, it is completely designed in the direction of his comfort while playing.

Coupled with the fact that he scored 40+ points tonight, Nike's executives may have fainted in the toilet.

Rookie release, Christmas game, 40+ points, what better advertising slogan could there be?

Zhang Jun, who was leaving the stadium, felt the message in his mind at the same time. Before he could check it, a beautiful figure appeared in front of him.