148 The Game Is Over

After the fourth game between the Trail Blazers and Rockets, social media across the United States has exploded.

TNT, ESPN, and the NBA, the three largest broadcast platforms in the United States, have successively launched special programs to report on this series. Barkley even bluntly stated that the Trail Blazers will end the entire series in the next game.

For the Trail Blazers, they spent five years without making the playoffs, and successfully reached the second round after entering the playoffs in their first year.

This is a team that has successfully rebuilt.

All commentators and media have a contemptuous attitude towards the evaluation of the Rockets. This team, which successfully formed Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady that year and was hailed as the next ok combination and is about to lead the Rockets to create a dynasty, has suffered a lot over the years. Troubled by injuries, he can only stop in the first round every year.

This year, they finally welcomed a healthy Yao Mai, but he was about to fall into the hands of a young army.

In their opinion this combination was very unsuccessful.

Barkley said very seriously: "The Rockets' management believes that with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, they can win the Western Conference. They are so confident that they only choose leftover players when building role players."

"They are a team that is unwilling to pay a high luxury tax and are blind to the team's shortcomings."

"In fact, even the OK team back then had Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and Devin George on the team."

"The Rockets only have the extremely old Uncle Mu and inexperienced rookies."

"In addition, the Western Conference they have been in in recent years has been a strong team. If the Nuggets did not make the playoffs this year, they would be among the top four in the Eastern Conference."

"In such an environment, except for Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Battier, no one on the Rockets has an annual salary of more than US$5 million. How can they win?"

........

Portland.

Steve Patterson, who was eager to increase his skills, directly increased the price of the tickets for the fifth game by 50%. He was originally worried that such a high ticket price would usher in fans' resentment, and no fans would even be willing to buy the game. Tickets to come and watch the game.

But the result was exactly the same as the previous two home games.

Tickets for games in Portland have been sold like crazy.

Steve Patterson was very satisfied with this picture, and then found Nate McMillan and told the other team that they must end the entire series in the fifth game.

Because the next home game has to wait until the tiebreaker, no team is willing to take such a risk, so Steve Patterson asked Nate to ask Nate when the team was able to earn one more home ticket. -McMillan can't push the series to Game 6. It would be a big joke if he lost the series.

He is also preparing to earn tickets for the next round of games.

Nate McMillan really wants to say that he can accurately say the outcome and direction of the game. Although the Trail Blazers now clearly have the advantage and lead with a big score of 3:1, no one can guarantee the Trail Blazers in the next game. The team will definitely win. After all, it is not impossible for the entire Rockets team to explode after eating dumplings.

But Nate McMillan could only agree, because Steve Patterson didn't want to hear explanations, he just wanted results.

"That puts too much pressure on the coaching staff and players."

Monty Williams couldn't help but complain.

Although he has long been accustomed to Steve Patterson's unreasonable and domineering power, such a request is indeed a bit difficult to accept.

"The first level of the official college kills people, forget it, let him go, but don't tell the players about this."

"I don't want to put too much pressure on them, they are still young, and I don't want to destabilize the team's morale because of this incident."

"We have to go all out in the next game. The Rockets are not a weak team. If we give them hope of a comeback, it will be very detrimental to us."

........

April 28th.

Portland.

The excitement among the fans is self-evident.

Instead of taking to the streets, which made it to the first game of the playoffs, they now look more like intellectual stimulants.

"I said, Zhang Jun will lead the Trail Blazers to create miracles."

"We will beat the Rockets and advance to the next round."

"The Portland Trail Blazers are about to begin the next chapter of our legacy."

Moda Center Arena.

Luo Yin shook his arm and Aldridge breathed out.

"Guys, we should finish the series at home."

"All the fans in Portland are watching, we can't lose."

Jarrett Jack squinted his eyes and nodded seriously and said: "I also hope to take a good rest after this series to prepare for the next round of playoffs, but I am not allowed to prolong the time."

Zhang Jun turned his head and said: "Then from this moment on, let's use full firepower."

Rockets dugout.

Seeing the mental state of the opposite Trail Blazers and the crazy shouts of the fans at the scene, Yao Ming couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

McGrady jumped hard on the court to cheer himself up.

As Kenny Smith said, the Rockets had not won the game at home against the Trail Blazers during the pregame commentary, and the referee's whistle sounded to start the game.

Joel Przbilla jumped up and got the ball during the fight with Yao Ming.

Zhang Jun grabbed the basketball and the Trail Blazers immediately launched the first wave of offense.

Luo Yin quickly rushed to the basket from the wing, and Jarrett Jack quickly came down from the other side and ran directly to the bottom corner.

"Get back to defense quickly!"

Yao Ming, who had just completed the jump ball, already had a premonition that something was wrong and shouted loudly, but the speed of the Trail Blazers players on the court was so fast that no one had time to react.

call!

Zhang Jun directly sent the basketball into the sky, and Luo Yin jumped high. The angle, height and passing timing of the basketball could only be described as perfect.

boom!

"Alley-oop dunk!"

"The Trail Blazers kicked off the game with an alley-oop dunk in the first round."

McGrady encouraged his teammates and shouted: "It doesn't matter. From the next round, we have to keep an eye on their fast break. These guys are faster than us."

The Rockets attack.

Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady played a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc. This tactic was also their trump card against the Trail Blazers in this series.

Whenever Yao Ming performs a pick-and-roll, McGrady can always get a very comfortable scoring attack. The most important thing is that such a pick-and-roll can help him get rid of Zhang Jun's defense.

Facing this player who is at the same level of physical talent as himself, who is as fast, as jumping, and as strong as himself, and who is also the league's scoring leader, McGrady really seems to see the Magic's special characteristics. Lacey McGrady.

Zhang Jun is also the one with the best defensive efficiency among all the Trail Blazers players.

McGrady's heart suddenly thumped when he thought of this, and he thought of Butch Carter, the former head coach of the Men's Dragons.

McGrady, who was still a rookie, received advice from the team's head coach. The other team believed that McGrady's physical talent could become a defensive leader on the court. He also hoped that the other team could start with defensive training and help Carter complete the weak-side defense against the forwards. Task.

At that time, McGrady, who was young and energetic, turned a deaf ear to Butch Carter's suggestion.

He couldn't understand why he had to help others complete defensive tasks when he was obviously a genius on the offensive end. He couldn't understand why Carter, who entered the NBA a year earlier than Carter, became the core of the team as soon as he entered the Men's Dragons. In the first season, he started almost all the games and was a substitute in only one game. However, he only played 17 starts in the first season.

More importantly, Butch Carter also hopes that McGrady will continue to play as a substitute in the second season and become an important role in the team's defensive end, allowing Carter to concentrate on attacking on the court.

McGrady, who had always been regarded as the future of the NBA and a legend in high school, suffered such a blow for the first time, and the Carter who made him envious and jealous was especially his cousin.

In the 1997 NBA Draft, McGrady was selected by the Toronto Rams with the ninth overall pick in the first round as a high school player.

Carter was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the fifth pick in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft, and was later traded to the Toronto Rams.

Toronto fans believe that Carter is the future King of the North, and McGrady is the substitute for the King of the North. They believe that McGrady cannot be compared with Carter, who played in the college league, in many aspects.

In this way, McGrady, who felt that he had been treated unfairly, had no interest in defense at all. He was very resistant and often stole the ball from his cousin Carter on the court, which often caused chaos in the team's offense.

Although McGrady also showed his strength and gradually became the second scorer of the Menglong team, the chaotic team offense did not help the Menglong team enter the playoffs.

McGrady was traded.

"He's really like another version of me who likes to defend, but he's in a higher position with the Trail Blazers than Carter was at the time."

"If I can get such attention from the team from the beginning, I should be like him and like Kobe."

Uh-huh!

McGrady's sleeping eyes drooped even more. He chewed gum and used the pick-and-roll to force himself directly on the court.

The ball went in!

McGrady raised his hand and extended a finger to indicate that this was his attitude in tonight's game.

He wants to prove to his younger self that he is better now.

But turning around, Luo Yin failed to find a chance to break through with the ball. The Rockets increased their defense intensity against him tonight. They had already figured out that the Blazers' offense in the first quarter was almost entirely on Luo Yin.

Luo Yin, who had no chance, decisively passed the ball outside.

"Zhang Jun!"

"I am here!"

Zhang Jun received the pass and passed McGrady in the middle.

boom!

Yao Ming was dunked by Zhang Junqi for the third time.

This kind of scene can no longer arouse the excitement of the Portland fans at the scene, because they have long been used to the scene of Zhang Jun dunking on the court, and they also know that Zhang Jun has the ability to dunk Yao Ming.

The Rockets players on the court couldn't help but glance at McGrady, a little unaccustomed to the sight of Zhang Jun passing by him in one step.

McGrady is not a defensive sloth, but he really can't guard Zhang Jun in this series, but Zhang Jun can have an impact on him on the defensive end.

"Is this really a rookie?"

At the CCTV commentary station, Yu Jia couldn't help but sigh.

The game has reached this point, and even he has realized very clearly that the Rockets are almost finished, and unless there is a miracle, it will be difficult to make a comeback.

Su Qun said seriously: "The NBA has never lacked players who are both rookies and peak players. The closest ones are LeBron James of the Cavaliers, and further back there is Allen Iverson."

"They all showed terrifying strength in their first year in the NBA, but it is relatively rare for someone like Zhang Jun to win the league's scoring title in his first year."

"The Trail Blazers have found a treasure. In time, Zhang Jun will definitely be a top three player in the NBA and even become the new face of the NBA in the future."

On the court.

Kenny Smith and Barkley were already shouting.

"Zhang Jun's breakthrough is here!"

"T-Mac also has a mid-range pull-up, and he returns the favor."

"Luo Yin suddenly separated, Zhang Jun rushed in from the weak side, connected, and the battle ax clicked."

"Traveling between Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, there are also pull-ups from beyond the three-point line!"

"Zhang Jun picked Tracy McGrady from the list and made a mid-range fadeaway jumper. It was so accurate!"

"The two are fighting!"

"Tracy McGrady beat Zhang Jun in a single, three-pointer... and he scored!"

"Oh my God, what kind of fight between gods is this?"

"Zhang Jun broke through Tracy McGrady and scored a 2+1."

In the first quarter of the game, Zhang Jun rarely started to participate in the offense. He was not just obsessed with defense. It was obvious that the Trail Blazers were determined to win tonight's game.

The battle between Tracy McGrady and Zhang Jun also appeared again.

McGrady, who couldn't guard Zhang Jun, began to participate more in the offense, while Yao Ming, who had a big advantage in the paint, didn't get many chances to take action.

At 10 minutes, Zhang Jun came off the court to rest, and Yao Ming, who had played for almost a whole quarter, also came off the court to rest.

Unlike the previous game, Yao Ming came on directly in the second quarter, and as a center, he only rested for two minutes.

Second quarter of the game.

The three-point rain for the Trail Blazers started again. Channing Fletcher and James Jones were terrifying in this series, and the Rockets were also frightened by these two shots.

McGrady was brought on after only two minutes of rest. In tonight's game, he and Yao Ming's playing time will definitely exceed 40 minutes.

But the Trail Blazers also have the determination to win tonight's game.

Luo Yin came on the stage early at 4 minutes of the second quarter, and Zhang Luo appeared again.

Then in the 5th minute, Aldridge was also replaced.

The Trail Blazers immediately launched a terrifying 10:0 offensive wave.

"The score has opened up to 10 points. Rockets, tonight's game is really in doubt."

The third quarter of the game.

Zhang Jun suddenly went berserk on the court. He broke into the paint and made two fouls on Yao Ming. Yao was very angry when he smashed the basketball on the court.

These two fouls were like the straw that broke the camel's back. Yao Ming, who had already committed four fouls, did not dare to make more defensive moves on the court, causing the Rockets' overall defense to be riddled with holes.

The Trail Blazers had another 11:2 offensive run, and the score was completely widened.

In the fourth quarter, with a 20-point lead, the Trail Blazers got more and more aggressive, and the Rockets players were completely stunned.

McGrady was still using his offense to help the team win the score, but then he immediately encountered Zhang Jun's retaliation.

Finally the game is over.

The Trail Blazers won the game 120:104.