142 It’s Really Hard to Guard Against This Talent Monster

Last two minutes.

Both Nate McMillan and Rick Adelman on the sidelines were anxiously pacing back and forth near the midline.

Rick Adelman shouted toward the court: "Get rebounds, get back quickly, don't let the Trail Blazers play fast!"

Nate McMillan directed all the players: "Give the ball to Zhang Jun and pay attention to pressing the time."

McGrady holds the ball from the outside. He raises his head and feints to worship Buddha and then immediately thrusts his right hand. Zhang Jun quickly follows up without any sway. McGrady plays singles again with his back at a 45° angle on the right side. He shakes his right shoulder and feints to catch the ball behind his back and pull the ball to the left.

call!

Another roll back.

Uh-huh!

Basketball hits steadily.

McGrady, gasping for air, high-fived his teammates with firm eyes.

"This ball is difficult. Zhang Jun did not lose his position at all. Tracy McGrady just hit the ball against the defense."

"Flips, jumps, and shooting with raised hands are McGrady's key weapons at the last moment. The mid-range is always the most effective scoring method in the playoffs."

This goal by Tracy McGrady also helped the Rockets reduce the score to 5 points.

Zhang Jun held the ball at the top of the arc, and McGrady stepped forward to defend.

His defense is indeed not the best in the league, but when McGrady tries his best to defend, he can still see the skills that a player should have to become an All-Star player.

call!

Zhang Jun breaks through with the ball and goes for a backhand. Battier on the right lifts up to double-team. Zhang Jun turns his back at the free throw line and goes to his left. Yao Ming also lifts up to help defend. Zhang Jun, who has no chance to break into the inside, then makes a slight shot. Drifting mid-range shot.

Uh-huh!

"Same!"

"The response is on!"

"Zhang Jun! This rookie is really tough!"

"I'm going to guard your best offensive player on the Rockets, and I'm going to attack your best offensive player on the Rockets."

"When Zhang Jun was defending McGrady, the Trail Blazers didn't double-team him. When Zhang Jun was attacking McGrady, the Rockets used a three-man defense."

"The new scoring leader in the league, his offensive methods are really terrifying."

After scoring this goal, the Trail Blazers opened the score to 7 points.

The game time is only a little over 1 minute away.

Then the Trail Blazers began to press time and did not give the Rockets any chance to make a comeback at this time.

"120:115, congratulations to the Portland Trail Blazers for winning the first game of the playoffs."

"Big score 1:0!"

Trail Blazers coaching bench.

Nate McMillan pumped his fists in excitement, and Monty Williams jumped to his feet and cheered.

Zhang Jun walked off the court and high-fived and hugged his teammates.

"Good job buddy!"

"You have defeated McGrady's prestige!"

"Team Rocket will never dare to be arrogant with us again."

The fans at the scene couldn't stop shouting for MVP. In fact, when Zhang Jun scored consecutively against McGrady, the whole Moda Center arena rang out with MVP shouts. It's just that Zhang Jun himself was addicted to the court and the matchup with McGrady, so Didn't notice.

Post-game interview.

Countless reporters praised the Trail Blazers' first playoff game in several years, and Zhang Jun's performance was mentioned again and again.

"11 of 16 shots, 25 points and 10 rebounds, 12 of 25 shots, 29 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. This is the performance of the Rockets' Yao-Mai combination."

"14 of 22 shots, 5 of 7 free throws, 34 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. This is Zhang Jun's outstanding performance in tonight's game. In addition to Luo Yin's 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Al Delic's 18 points and 9 rebounds, and 6 players from the Trail Blazers scored in double figures."

"At the critical moment, you had Zhang Jun to calm down the situation. You also showed more success throughout the game and achieved a very good level of outside three-point shooting."

"This is a very strong Trail Blazers team, right, better than the Rockets."

To be honest, Nate McMillan was a little shocked when he saw the players' statistical performance for the first time. It was not that he was shocked by Zhang Jun's performance. Even if he was a rookie, even if he was playing in the playoffs for the first time, he was still shocked. Special McMillan still has full confidence in Zhang Jun.

After all, the opponent is this year's league scoring leader, Mr. 42 points, and he has already proven his ability.

What really surprised Nate McMillan was the performance of the other players on the Trail Blazers. In addition to the three young cores, Jarrett Jack, James Jones, and Channing Fletcher also helped the team continue their firepower from the outside.

It is precisely because of their containment from the outside that Zhang Jun frequently clashed with Tracy McGrady at the last moment.

"This is the key to winning for the Trail Blazers, and it is also the key to Zhang Jun's court."

"Everyone on the Trail Blazers is well prepared. The Rockets are not an opponent that can be underestimated. Yao Mai is still the hottest player in the league today."

"We'll be ready to win the next home game."

Nate McMillan doesn't think the Rockets are an ordinary playoff team, and he's certain that this series will be tough.

........

Portland fans are still basking in the joy of their first playoff win.

"For fans in other cities, the first playoff victory is just an ordinary victory, but for this team that has not made the playoffs in 6 years, it is a rain of relief after a long drought. "

Just as Steve Patterson thought, the tickets for the second home game of the Trail Blazers' playoffs have been sold out. It is said that the scalpers have raised the ticket price to 120% of the original price, but even so, countless fans are still scrambling to buy them.

Steve Patterson couldn't help but sigh and said, "I should have raised the price earlier. It's a mistake."

"But if the Trail Blazers continue to play like this, there will be plenty of opportunities to get more income from ticket prices in the future."

"Zhang Jun is really good. He is not inferior to McGrady at all."

"And Oden, the original top pick, is still recovering from his injury. If the Trail Blazers take him, even if they can make the playoffs this season, they won't go far."

"No wonder the Supersonics didn't take Oden. In comparison, Kevin Durant's performance is much better than his."

Steve Patterson is more and more satisfied with his decision to take Zhang Jun at that time. It is said that the playoffs are the stage for testing stars. Zhang Jun has such an outstanding performance in his first playoff trip. He is simply a perfect superstar embryo.

From this moment on, Zhang Jun was directly labeled as a non-saleable player in Steve Patterson's mind.

..........

April 21.

The second game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs continued.

The Rockets continued the offensive tactics of the previous game.

Yao Ming first bullied the Trail Blazers' weak restricted area in the interior. Compared with the previous game, Yao Ming played more resolutely in the interior in this game.

He observed the position of Zhang Jun, the best assist player of the Trail Blazers in advance, and other players of the Rockets also helped him to pay attention. As long as Zhang Jun did not assist in defense, Yao Ming could completely carry two people to complete the offense.

In the first quarter, Yao Ming made all four shots at the beginning, directly calling Nate McMillan's timeout.

After the game resumed, the Trail Blazers' defense against Yao Ming became a double-team of Aldridge and Joel Przybilla in the interior.

In the case that Zhang Jun was unable to go to the interior to limit Yao Ming, Aldridge had to take the initiative to undertake this task.

But this way, Luis Scola got more scoring opportunities. Luis Scola, who only had 8 points and 5 rebounds in the last game, had 3 of 5 shots in the first quarter tonight, and got 6 points and 2 rebounds.

His offensive firepower relieved the double-teaming pressure that Yao Ming encountered in the interior, and the Rockets led by 7 points in the first quarter with 30:23!

"Although the Trail Blazers won the last game, as everyone said, the Rockets are still the stronger team."

"Yao Ming and McGrady are still more experienced players. They know how to use the double-teaming they encountered to create opportunities for their teammates."

Kenny Smith said with certainty.

In his opinion, the Trail Blazers did play a very crazy performance in the last game, and the personal confrontation between Zhang Jun and McGrady also made the fans excited.

But basketball is ultimately a whole sport. Whether it is the coaching staff or the players, the Rockets are the team that should advance to the next round.

"Don't worry."

"This is just the first quarter. Have you forgotten that the Trail Blazers also fell behind in the first quarter in the last game?"

Barkley suddenly said.

Kenny Smith looked at Barkley with a frown. He wanted to say, "Old man, you didn't stand on the Trail Blazers' side before. What do you mean now?" Barkley laughed and said, "I have changed my mind now. If the Rockets still can't solve the Trail Blazers' one-star team in the second lineup, then the 7-point difference is definitely not a very big difference for the Trail Blazers, which has one of the most terrifying shooters in the league." "For other playoff teams, the 7-point difference is really a lot, but for this Trail Blazers and Zhang Jun, it's really not much!" "Of course there is another possibility, that is, the Trail Blazers' outside shooters collectively feel cold tonight, and the Rockets can take the opportunity to survive and win tonight's game." "Then the next battle The game will be moved to Houston. If the Rockets return to their home court with a 1:1 score, I believe this more experienced team can stand to the end. "

"Otherwise... I will stand on the side of the Trail Blazers again!"

Barkley's meaning is very clear. He began to gradually believe that the Trail Blazers have the possibility of defeating the Rockets. Although this possibility is not very large, if the Rockets still fail to solve the Trail Blazers' second-line shooters and fail to rewrite the score to 1:1, then they will be eliminated in the first round every time in the four finals in five years.

The second quarter of the game.

The Trail Blazers are still a one-star four-shooter lineup.

The Rockets' head coach Rick Adelman seems to be a little unconvinced. He still sent Yao Ming to play in this time period and resolutely hit the Trail Blazers' lineup shortcomings.

"Channing Fry and Travis Outlaw, the Trail Blazers dare to use such inside players to undoubtedly give points to Yao Ming. Do you really dare to despise the league's top center so much? !

"

Rick Adelman was full of confidence on the Rockets coaching bench.

He didn't believe that the Trail Blazers could really beat Yao Ming's substitute lineup with such a lineup. The reason why the Trail Blazers turned the disadvantage around and even surpassed the score at this critical juncture in the last game was because of Chuck Hayes.

Although Chuck Hayes is very good defensively, his offense is also very poor, otherwise he would not have been acquired by the Rockets with an annual salary of 3 million.

But it is obvious that Chuck Hayes had little restriction on Zhang Jun in the last game, so instead of letting the opponent continue to stay on the court without offense and defense, it is better to take it out and replace it with Steve, who has better offense. husband - Novak.

"Contrary to Chuck Hayes, Steve Novak's three-point accuracy is terrifying, but his defensive end is so bad that it makes you want to stamp your feet."

"I believe that with him on the court, the Trail Blazers will not dare to use such a terrible double-team on Yao Ming no matter what."

On the court, the game begins.

Zhang Jun held the ball. He didn't see the familiar Chuck Hayes, and his defender became a white player, Steve Novak.

"Brother Jun, be careful, this guy is a marksman!"

Channing Fletcher immediately shouted a reminder on the court.

Channing Fletcher, who is also a striker, knows very well which players are of the same type as him in the league, and Steve Novak is definitely the one who impressed him the most.

The two entered the NBA one after another, and both became power forward players for their respective teams with their tall and thin bodies. However, it is obvious that the league does not need such tall shooters who can only shoot without defense, so the two were selected in the draft. The subsequent experience was very unsatisfactory. Each of them only played a role on the bench, and sometimes they could not even win the game.

Coincidentally, both of them were moved to the small forward position by the team and played for a period of time, but the results were the same. Although their weight and defensive weaknesses were infinitely reduced after moving to the small forward position, the two slowly improved. The defensive pace has become a loophole in the small forward position.

In the end, it turned out that although both of them had accurate shooting, they could only play as substitutes with slightly lower defensive requirements.

Zhang Jun nodded to Qian Ningfu in understanding.

After he held the ball for half the game, Steve Blake, James Jones and others quickly opened up the offensive space.

Snapped!

Zhang Jun suddenly accelerated and went directly to the basket as easily as crossing the road in the early morning.

Yao Ming wanted to cover up the defense, but Zhang Jun jumped up early to attack the frame.

Yao Ming remembered the scene when he was dunked by Zhang Jun in the last game, and knew that as long as this guy took off early, it would be difficult for him to protect the frame and interfere.

With Zhang Jun's jumping and impact ability, except for Howard and Garnett, Yao Ming really can't think of anyone else who can stop Zhang Jun from flying in the sky.

So in order to avoid being called for a defensive foul and knowing that he couldn't stop Zhang Jun, Yao Ming just stood there and raised his hands to protect his effective defensive area.

boom!

Another dunk from behind!

Zhang Jun hung his hands on the basket, swung his body around the basket, and then fell down.

"If the Rockets really used Steve Novak to guard Zhang Jun throughout the second quarter, I bet Zhang Jun could tear the Rockets apart without the Trail Blazers' group of outside shooters. "

Off the field.

Rick Adelman couldn't sit still watching the scene on the court.

He had already had a hunch that Steve Novak couldn't guard Zhang Jun, and he didn't think the opponent could guard the new league's scoring champion, but Zhang Jun knocked him out of the air, and even he had already completed a dunk. Steve Novak just reacted.

This really surprised him.

Moreover, Yao Ming on the inside really can't help guard Zhang Jun, who is rushing up. He can help protect most outside lines in the league, but with Zhang Jun's height and wingspan, it is really difficult for Yao Ming to guard against such a person. The talent is strange.