119 A Wave of Flow

"This Howard, letting him get the ball inside is really a problem."

Monty Williams couldn't help complaining.

Nate McMillan sighed helplessly. Defending Howard is indeed a big trouble.

There are not many insiders in the league who are as good as him, such as Stoudemire of the Suns.

However, the dominance of the two on the court is completely different.

"Defending Howard is much more difficult than guarding Stoudemire. The key is that Howard also has the league's top interior defense."

On the court.

Trail Blazers offense.

Brandon Luo Yin singles Maurice Evans at a 45° angle.

The latter is a player who has established himself in the league with his defensive ability and athletic talent. Among the Magic's outside players, Hedo Turkoglu is slow and has slightly poor defensive awareness. Although Jamal Nelson is a short and strong point guard, He is good at shooting and confrontation with the ball, but his defense is limited by his height, so he suffers when defending in misplaced positions.

The entire Magic team's outside line is almost entirely supported by Maurice Evans. Not only does he have to defend the opponent's offensive arrow on his own, but he also has to help his teammates at all times.

call!

Luo Yin changed his direction and broke through inside with one step, and Maurice Evans kept up with the defense.

As usual, Luo Yin exerted a lot of physical confrontation during the breakthrough process, but this time he did not take advantage of the confrontation attack.

Maurice Evans is as physically strong as he is.

Howard helped defend near the free throw line. Luo Yin did not dare to break to the basket, but chose a mid-range shot to end the offense.

Duang!

Breaking the iron, Rashard Lewis grabbed a defensive rebound.

The Magic run the fast break very quickly.

Jameer Nelson pushed forward crazily with the ball, and Zhang Jun was already on guard and followed him.

boom!

Zhang Jun made a chasing shot, and Jameer Nelson was holding his head under the basket, looking confused.

Zhang Jun's speed of returning to defense surprised him a little, and this big block surprised him even more.

"This damn guy is also a talented monster."

The Trail Blazers are back on offense.

Zhang Jun looked at Luo Yin and said: "Brandon, we can't play like this. Howard is protecting the frame on the inside, and Maurice Evans on the outside is very strong. It's not a good choice for you to attack him."

Luo Yin also discovered this, and he said cautiously: "Then how do we fight."

Zhang Jun said: "Give me the ball and let me play."

Luo Yin: ".........."

Zhang Jun asked for the ball at the top of the arc. Jameer Nelson passed the ball over and couldn't help but remind him: "Man, you will be leading the second team later."

Zhang Jun said seriously: "In the first quarter, I was almost dominated by my opponent on both offense and defense. I didn't even think about the second quarter. I finished the first quarter first."

Zhang Jun faced Hedo Turkoglu with the ball. The latter was very nervous and kept pacing his legs. He almost took two steps away to defend Zhang Jun, and at the same time he did not forget to shout.

"Dwight, remember to help me defend him."

Howard was speechless. Is it necessary to be so exaggerated when guarding a rookie?

Although coach Stan Van Gundy made repeated orders before the game to guard against Zhang Jun, especially his breakthroughs, this kid has been in a hot state in recent games, but he is still a rookie player after all. No matter how strong he is, how strong can he be?

Zhang Jun smashed the ball and looked at Hedo Turkoglu. He was also speechless because the other party was so excited.

"Don't worry, brother, my breakthrough is not strong at all."

Whoosh!

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Jun suddenly accelerated. Before Hedo Turkoglu could react, he saw that Zhang Jun had broken through to the right side of his body.

Turkoglu kept the opponent two steps away, and in just a few seconds, he killed him in one step...

Hedo Turkoglu stayed close to Zhang Jun and wanted to exert physical confrontation, but before he had time to exert force, Zhang Jun had already taken the initiative to exert physical confrontation.

After the game with the Spurs, Zhang Jun had completely understood the skills of playing on the court. In the NBA, everyone is a ruthless person with extremely strong physical talent. They are not like the young guys in the NCAA who can fly out with an elbow. A few meters away.

When playing here, everyone knows some tricks on the court. Even if you don’t use them, even the referees acquiesce in such minor confrontations.

boom!

Zhang Jun pushed away Hedo Turkoglu, and Howard opened his eyes wide and even started to accumulate strength on the spot.

Zhang Jun can swear that as long as he takes off in the air, Howard will definitely push him down from the air.

Emergency stop! Or a slightly faded mid-range shot.

Uh-huh!

Hit!

"Not to mention, Zhang Jun's emergency stop mid-range fadeaway shot is really accurate."

"The Magic team really shouldn't just guard against Zhang Jun's breakthrough. His mid-range shot might really kill you."

Next round.

Hedo Turkoglu suddenly threw the ball into the sky at the top of the arc. Insider Howard, who was turning his back to get the ball, suddenly ran back and pushed away Joel Przybilla, and then leaped high.

boom!

Another two-handed blow to the frame and an alley-oop dunk.

After dunking, Howard hung on the rim arrogantly, and pointed at his good teammate Hedo Turkoglu when he landed.

This wave of cooperation was very beautiful.

"Although Howard is the core of the Magic's offense and defense, their most important player on the offensive end is Hedo Turkoglu."

Zhang Jun looked at his teammates and said: "Hido Turkoglu is very good at passing the ball. He can also pass the ball to Howard inside at his height."

"Joel, to defend Howard, you have to guard his lower line and pass the ball to him on the upper line. If he wants to play solo, we will rush back to help defend."

Joel Przybilla nodded. He really had a hard time defending Howard.

Switch offense.

Zhang Jun passed Turkoglu in one step again. Howard still failed to defend him this time. Zhang Jun hit another mid-range jumper.

Trail Blazers coaching bench.

Although the team scored a goal, Monty Williams was still a little worried and said: "We have to rely on Zhang Jun to lead the second quarter. If he is on full fire now, won't it disrupt the entire team's pre-match arrangement?"

Nate McMillan took a long breath and said: "I can't care about that much at this time. The Magic played well on both offense and defense. The key is that Luo Yin's singles performance against Maurice Evans was not good."

"Zhang Jun may also have this consideration."

"As for the second quarter, let's talk about it later!"

On the court.

Howard wanted the ball behind his back but was double-teamed by Aldridge and Joel Przybilla. He immediately passed the ball to Rashard Lewis in the bottom corner, who made a solid three-pointer.

What is placed in front of the Trail Blazers is like two cups of poison. Double-teaming Howard and their outside shooters will be full of firepower. If Howard is not double-teamed, he will have a great deterrent effect on the Trail Blazers' inside line.

Zhang Jun broke through again, and this time he also encountered a double-team. Howard came up to help defend. Zhang Jun stuffed the ball directly inside. Joel Przbilla caught the ball and hit a two-handed dunk.

"Cool!"

Not to mention how excited Joel Przybilla was, Zhang Jun was startled. The guy even rushed towards Zhang Jun with an excited face and gave him a high-five.

If Zhang Jun hadn't seen Joel Przybilla raise his hand in advance when he ran over, he would have run away.

"This cool statement makes people panic."

After 8 minutes of the first quarter, Nate McMillan requested a timeout and replaced Zhang Jun.

Although the Trail Blazers also played very well offensively on the court, they couldn't hold back the Magic team who played even better.

Before the first quarter ended, they had already shot 5 of 10 three-pointers, leading the Trail Blazers 27:20.

"Stop double-teaming Howard, let's let him play. The Magic's outside shooters feel too good tonight. We must restrict them from continuing to shoot three-pointers."

The Magic's one-star, four-shooter, one-fourth small lineup and play style do make the Trail Blazers a little uncomfortable, because their lineup is completely unable to compare with the Magic in terms of flexibility.

Therefore, when Aldridge helps defend Howard, it is difficult for the Trail Blazers to rotate their perimeter players. They are not a strong perimeter defense team and can rotate in a 3-to-4 defense.

Nate McMillan chose to let the team drink Howard's bottle of poison.

After Zhang Jun came off the court, Luo Yin and Aldridge carried the team's offense. Luo Yin, who had hardly exerted much force in the front, launched the attack with all his strength at this time. Aldridge's pick-and-roll provided Luo Yin with a lot of help.

boom! boom!

Howard's two super hot shots made Luo Yin and Aldridge uncomfortable. Fortunately, Jarrett Jack on the outside felt hot and hit two consecutive three-pointers tonight, which helped the Trail Blazers bite the score.

At 28:35, the Trail Blazers entered the second quarter with a 7-point disadvantage.

Howard also left the game at this time.

After resting for 4 minutes, Zhang Jun walked onto the court full of fighting spirit.

The Magic's substitute lineup at this time is: point guard Kenyon Dulin, shooting guard J.J. Redick, small forward Keith Bogans, power forward James Augustin and center Adonal Foyle.

Zhang Jun held the ball from the outside, and Keith Bogans was panicked. He had just seen Zhang Jun beat Turkoglu on the bench, and he also followed the same example and shouted behind him.

"Foyle, remember to help me defend him!"

Substitute center Adonal Foyle sworely patted his chest and shouted in response: "Don't worry, I'm here to make sure he doesn't break in."

Whoosh!

Zhang Jun suddenly accelerated, and Keith Bogans stepped back to keep up, but he didn't expect that Zhang Jun could brake to the limit at such a fast speed.

Crack.

Keith Bogans was stuck on the spot with his legs spread wide, and was immediately frozen. Zhang Jun suddenly accelerated a second time and continued to break through in the same direction.

call!

This time, Keith Bogans's feet were spread even wider and he couldn't even reach out to interfere with Zhang Jun. He could only watch as the opponent rushed to the basket.

Adonal Foyer chose to raise his defense, and Zhang Jun took off directly into the air.

Adonal Foyer was confident and also took off to intercept in the air. As a result, Zhang Jun's take-off height had directly passed him.

boom!

"One-handed battle ax snap!"

"No, it's a one-handed tomahawk riding buckle!"

"Zhang Junqi dunked Adonald Foyer!"

"Keith Bogans has been stunned. The Magic are going to face a problem. Without Howard, they have no way to deal with Zhang Jun."

In the Magic coaching bench, Stan Van Gundy smoothed his hair angrily and shouted toward the court: "Double-team him! Double-team him hard!"

Next, Zhang Jun encountered a two-man outside blockade by the Magic. Faced with such a defensive strategy, he took the initiative to pass the ball to his teammates.

James Jones hit two three-pointers and Steve Blake also hit a three-pointer.

The Trail Blazers used the Magic's offensive style to quickly recover the score.

Stan Van Gundy had to get Howard in advance, which stopped the team from continuing to lose points.

Nate McMillan also picked up Luo Yin, Aldridge and others in advance because he sensed a chance to win tonight.

Although the Magic are currently the best team in the Eastern Conference and their strength is extremely strong, the Trail Blazers are not completely incapable of fighting.

Monty Williams reminded: "During the time when he played with Zhang Jun, James Jones' offensive efficiency was very high. Although he has only averaged 9 points and 3 rebounds per game so far, his three-point shooting percentage is But it reached 45%.”

"This is by far the most accurate shooter on the Trail Blazers. At the same time, he is also the second-ranked player in the league in three-point shooting percentage among players who have taken more than 10 three-pointers."

Nate McMillan nodded. He also discovered Zhang Jun's amazing scoring efficiency when paired with a shooter. He couldn't help but look at the Magic team and Howard on the court.

Nate McMillan then thought of his last opponent, the Cavaliers and James.

"Perhaps Zhang Jun also needs more three-point shooters."

At the end of halftime, the Trail Blazers still trailed 57:60.

This gap is already very small, and all Trail Blazers players see hope of winning this game.

The third quarter of the game.

Howard took the lead, and he continuously grabbed offensive rebounds in the interior. Joel Przybilla and Aldridge took turns to be beaten to death by this monster.

"The inside rebounds were blown, the inside offense was blown, and the inside defense was blown. The Trail Blazers' game tonight is over."

Kenny Smith couldn't help but shook his head and said: "I think coach Nate McMillan will miss Zach Randolph very much at this time. At least the opponent can still play at this time."

Barkley smiled but had a different view and said: "Let's not talk about whether Zach Randolph can take on Howard, but without Randolph in these games, the Blazers' offense has been smoother. And there are more blooming scenes.”

"Aldridge has successfully fulfilled his talent."

Entering the fourth quarter of the game.

The score on the court was 80:89.

Luo Yin said: "Man, attack with all your strength!"

Zhang Jun said: "Howard restricts me a lot in the interior. I may be protected and assisted by him in the interior."

Aldridge said: "Then pass the ball to me, my mid-range can solve them."

The three of them nodded in agreement.

Game start.

What Zhang Jun didn't expect was that before he even started to break through, the Magic had already implemented a defensive strategy of double-teaming him on the outside and forcing the ball out.

"It seems that Stan Van Gundy was really afraid of my mid-range shot. He was afraid that Howard wouldn't be able to prevent it, so he used this move in advance."

"That's smart!"

Zhang Jun was double-teamed by Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. Of course, they did not dare to let Maurice Evans leave Luo Yin to defend him, but Jameer Nelson's double-teaming on Zhang Jun had no effect. so good.

Zhang Jun was able to break through the double-team between the two, but he couldn't pass the ball to Jarrett Jack on the weak side. The latter was very hot from outside the three-point line tonight, and the Magic used rotation defense.

But then Luo Yin and Aldridge are empty again.

Relying on this kind of tactical arrangement, the Trail Blazers played a very smooth offense on the court.

Zhang Jun originally thought that the team could win the Magic with such a smooth offense, but Howard continued to make trouble in the paint, and Aldridge and Joel Przybilla were both beaten again.

Switch offense.

Zhang Jun drove hard to the basket, and Howard tried to block the shot.

Zhang Jun was not used to it, so he rushed to the basket and threw his body into the air. Howard put his hands down and had a strong physical confrontation with Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun was knocked backwards in the air, so he threw the ball into the air, deliberately using an extremely high angle.

Howard wanted to block Zhang Jun throughout the game, just waiting for this moment.

call!

"Howard jumps really high!"

But the basketball still passed through Howard's fingertips.

winter! winter! winter!

The basketball bounced three times in a row and finally fell into the basket.

Howard squeezed the ball with both hands and looked helpless, and at the same time, the referee blew the whistle.

"Zhang Jun scored 2+1!"

"But the Trail Blazers are not out of danger yet. They have to think about how to solve Howard's problem!"

Zhang Jun, who also scored a free throw, stared at Howard and suddenly blinked. Of course Howard knew that his little intention to block Zhang Jun was discovered by the opponent. He thought this blink was Zhang Jun's provocation after scoring 2+1, but I'll regret it the next time.

Turkoglu once again played an alley-oop with Howard, but this time Howard was pulled out of the air by Zhang Jun, and the basketball was pulled away.

Of course the referee blew the whistle and Howard stepped to the free throw line.

Zhang Jun deliberately walked in front of him and said: "I have very few fouls tonight, and I still have four others to play with you."

Howard was stunned, and then looked at the timer on the sidelines in shock. There were only four fucking minutes left. Zhang Jun is going to play World of Warcraft with me? !

Thinking of this, Howard's burden suddenly increased, Duang! The first free throw hit the mark.

"Made!"

Howard couldn't help but curse.

Duang!

The second free throw was missed.

This is equivalent to giving the Trail Blazers a mistake.

Aldridge grabbed the rebound, and Zhang Jun went on a fast break. After catching the ball, he threw the ball into the sky. Luo Yin caught the ball and filled the frame vigorously.

Then Zhang Jun used three such fouls to pull down Howard. The opponent then went to the free throw line and made 2 of 6 free throws.

The Trail Blazers took the opportunity to counterattack and took away the game in a wave.