One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifteen. The Pioneers Are No Longer Rich

At 6:40 pm on March 27, the game between the Trail Blazers and the Grizzlies was about to begin.

The players of both teams had already entered the court. Aldridge saw Whiteside on the other side listening to Sun Ce saying that he should pay attention to passing the ball quickly after grabbing the defensive rebound. Aldridge certainly couldn't hear what the other side was saying, but he didn't care.

What he cared about was that the other side always had a good center!

I don't know where this guy came from. He scored 10 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks against Love, and 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks against Kanter. If he was lucky in the first game, then he had a stable performance in the second game.

Aldridge was so jealous!

Next to him, the center was Okafor, who averaged 8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game... and for him, this was the best center he had ever partnered with in his career.

There were Oden and Camby before, but neither of them had a stable season in the Trail Blazers. During the time when the two were there, his center partner was actually Pulzibila, who averaged 3.6 points and 6 rebounds per game in his career... In fact, he said a hundred times that he didn't want to play center, but he has been playing center since his rookie season.

It was not until this year that Aldridge had more time to play power forward after Okafor averaged 8+10+2 per game, and thus played the best performance of his career so far, leading the team to third place in the West with Lillard.

Back to the power forward position, he averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game this season, and it was easier to score. The average rebounds per game did not decrease because of playing power forward, but became higher because of teammates blocking positions! This season, he is expected to be selected into the best team!

But look at the substitutes... After Okafor, who averaged 29 minutes per game, went to rest, he averaged 37 minutes per game, and still had to play center for ten minutes.

On the other side, the Grizzlies sent Gasol away, Valanciunas was out, Gobert was still young, Yi Jianlian and Larry Sanders had to reduce their playing time because they had just recovered from injuries and were preparing for the playoffs... but they immediately signed a big center with a rebounding efficiency comparable to that of DeAndre Jordan and Drummond.

Aldridge was drooling at the sight of that perfect center figure similar to Olajuwon!

"How about suggesting that the team bring him back? Yi, Valanciunas, Sanders, Gobert and this guy, the Grizzlies have five centers. They will definitely trade at least two after this season. This guy and Gobert, our team can always get one back at a price, right?"

Aldridge was a little excited when he thought that there might be a tall and mighty center like Gobert or Whiteside next to him.

On the other side, Whiteside, who was listening to Sun Ce saying that he should pay attention to his teammates after getting the rebound, suddenly felt a chill. He turned around and saw that the power forward on the opposite side was looking at him with a gay look. If he knew idioms, he could see that it was called salivating.

…

The Trail Blazers are really unloved. No one voted for them as the All-Star starter, and the substitute coaches were unwilling to vote for them. In terms of the national live broadcasts, the Jazz got as many as 8 national live broadcasts after the All-Star Weekend, and the Trail Blazers added two games. The original scheduled and final broadcasts for the entire season totaled 11 games…

Tonight's game against the Grizzlies did not get a national live broadcast. The ratings of the Trail Blazers' games have been despaired by major TV stations.

The main reason is that the Portland Prison was too famous back then. Roy and Lillard, two generations of mature stars, have completely changed this team, but many old fans still have a fixed impression of them and are unwilling to watch their games.

Moreover, it is said that cities like the Timberwolves and Denver are unlucky and no stars are willing to go, but the Trail Blazers are the ones that really no one wants to go to!

Even when Sabonis led a group of talented teammates to the Western Conference Finals and played a tiebreaker with the Lakers, no star came to cooperate with them, and no one was good enough to flatter them.

There was no movement in the Trail Blazers' free market, which made it even less attractive.

But the Trail Blazers are really strong now!

Coach Hollins did not have any intention of holding back against his old club, and went all out!

The starting lineup was Sun Ce, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Amir Johnson, and Larry Sanders. The purpose was simple, to fight hard on defense!

Amir Johnson fought with Okafor under the basket, and Larry Sanders defended Aldridge from mid-range.

The idea was good, but the Trail Blazers' starting lineup and sixth man accounted for more than 80% of the team's points. It was no joke. Just like the last time they played, the Grizzlies were beaten 31 to 21 by the Trail Blazers in the first quarter!

Coach Hollins originally planned to see the situation, first send out a defensive lineup to attack, then continue to consume with a defensive lineup, and finally replace the core combination of Sun Ce, Richard Jefferson, and Yi Jianlian, and bring two pitchers to break the opponent.

However, the Grizzlies were too careless in the past three matches with the Trail Blazers, with a 2-1 record, especially since they only defeated the Trail Blazers once at home in the middle of this month. They forgot that the Trail Blazers are famous for being home court dragons!

The Grizzlies lost to the Trail Blazers once in the first three matches, and that loss was in this arena!

Instead, it was the Grizzlies who were defeated by the Trail Blazers! They were 10 points behind in the first quarter!

The Trail Blazers are really strong! French Pippen Batum averaged 7.5 rebounds per game, Aldridge averaged 11 rebounds per game, and Okafor averaged 9.8 rebounds per game. Under the leadership of these three brothers, the Trail Blazers averaged 46.5 rebounds per game so far this season, ranking third in the league, not much behind the Grizzlies' 47.2 rebounds per game and the Bulls' 46.8 rebounds per game!

Whiteside appeared in the second half of the first quarter but failed to grab an offensive rebound from these three brothers.

Moreover, the Trail Blazers played very well on both offense and defense under the connection of Batum, who averaged 13 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Aldridge, Lillard, and Matthews can pass the ball.

The Trail Blazers not only rank in the top three in rebounds per game this season, but also rank sixth in the league with 24.1 assists per game, second only to the Grizzlies' 25.5 assists, the Spurs' 25.2 assists, the Lakers' 24.9 assists, the Hawks' 24.9 assists, and the Timberwolves' 24.5 assists!

The Grizzlies were very hurt in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Sun Ce began to fight to the death because he did not use the physical potion in the last game! There was really no chance in the last game. Paul George's absence had a huge impact on them.

But tonight, all the players are in place, and they must fight!

Next, they have to play the Warriors. If they lose another game, the lead over the Warriors will only be 1 win!

Sun Ce began to play desperately without any effort, and the overall performance of the Grizzlies improved a little, but the Trail Blazers have long been accustomed to three of the five starters dragging with two pits, and dragging all the time.

Sun Ce, who only scored 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in the first quarter, scored 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in the second quarter, helping the Grizzlies to catch up to 52 to 59.

In the third quarter, Mo Williams, Matthews, Aldridge and Batum played together, with white center Meyers Leonard, and Lillard, Okafor and Dorell Wright rotated.

With Sun Ce's 18 points in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers still scored 29 to 31. After three quarters, the Trail Blazers still maintained a 5-point lead of 88 to 83.

In the last quarter, the strongest lineup of Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge and Okafor played the whole last quarter!

In the last quarter, Sun Ce scored 14 points, helping the team to score 25 points in a single quarter, and limiting the Trail Blazers to only 23 points.

But the Grizzlies, who were 5 points behind before the start of the fourth quarter, failed to complete the comeback.

111 to 108, the Trail Blazers narrowly beat the Grizzlies at home, improving their record to 51 wins and 19 losses, further widening the gap between them and the Grizzlies, and giving the Grizzlies two consecutive losses, so that the Grizzlies were tied by the Warriors!

In this game, Lillard made 9 of 23 shots, including 3 of 8 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 27 points and 6 assists; Aldridge made 15 of 24 shots and scored 41 points, Batum scored 11 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks, Matthews scored 13 points, Okafor scored 2 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, and Mo Williams scored 10 points...

This starting five + the sixth man scored a total of 104 points... It is said that the Trail Blazers won the game purely by six people, and Sun Ce felt it this time.

Facing the performance of the strongest six-man team, Sun's 54 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks were difficult to resist.

Moreover, the saddest thing is that he made 20 of 40 shots, including 5 of 13 three-pointers, plus 8 of 10 free throws, a hit rate of 50%, but still missed 20 shots...

...

...

Sun Ce was convinced of his defeat to a team with 6 main players who scored 104 points. The opponent's starting lineup + sixth man was really too strong!

But Sun Ce was also a little puzzled. Where did the former local tyrant Trail Blazers go? If they had a few more high-quality role players in their starting lineup, they could have won the championship!

But in this game, the Trail Blazers only had 8 players on the court, of which Meyers Leonard only played for 10 minutes, Dorell Wright was no longer as brave as he used to be, and only Mo Williams played a supporting role. At other times, they relied on the starting lineup to hold on. Matthews, Batum, and Aldridge played the whole game.

Sun Ce admitted that they were strong, but this was the regular season. In the first round of the playoffs, he felt that this lineup would definitely not last!

After the game, Sun Ce returned to the hotel and curiously looked at the Blazers' salary situation. He found that after the end of this season, the Blazers can reduce their salary space to 50 million!

"Are they trying to dig a superstar? Who are the superstars whose contracts expire in the summer? Duncan? Oh, there are Lowry and Parsons. Pierce, Deng, and Bosh are also free agents. Gasol's contract has also expired..."

Sun Ce felt that the Blazers had an idea and wanted to form a giant combination. In addition to the core four of Lillard, Batum, Aldridge, and Matthews, they also wanted to take advantage of Lillard and Matthews' low salary to get an All-Star player back.

But... Sun Ce thought about it. If he was in a team with no future and wanted to change teams, would he go to the Blazers?

The answer is no.

From the point of view, he has no good or bad feelings towards the Blazers. He doesn't want to go there. Other stars are probably the same, so Sun Ce really doesn't understand why the Blazers suddenly became "stingy" with role players.

…

The morning after the game against the Trail Blazers, Sun Ce followed the team to Oakland.

It was time to play against the Warriors again. Tomorrow, which was the 29th, was the fourth and final time the Grizzlies would play against the Warriors this season.

The Grizzlies won their first three games, but those three games were all before the All-Star weekend. At that time, the Warriors were in two stages. One was that David Lee was slow to integrate into the team's style of play, and the other was that During the period of pain after the Warriors lost their strongest player inside, in those three games, except for the third time Curry was beaten by Klay Thompson with 12 three-pointers in a single game, and the Grizzlies narrowly defeated them, the other two games It's pretty easy to win a fight.

However, after the All-Star Weekend, the Warriors are completely different!

The Warriors' current record is 47 wins and 24 losses, and their Grizzlies' record of 48 wins and 23 losses is only 1 game ahead of the Warriors.

After the All-Star break, the Warriors have 14 wins and 3 losses in 17 games so far! This record ranks first among all teams after the All-Star Weekend!

Although the Warriors suffered a two-game losing streak after 11 wins and 1 loss, the Warriors set sail again in the past three games and won a wave of three games in a row.

The Grizzlies have arrived in Oakland, but the Warriors have not yet returned to Oakland. Last night, they defeated the Celtics in the last of three consecutive games to win three consecutive games.

So this time Sun Ce didn't invite Curry and Harden out to hang out, but stayed in the hotel to study his opponents.

There is an important event in tomorrow night's game - the second stage event of the strongest three-point combination in the humility learning section, the upgrade event of the splash!

There are three goals in the incident. The first one is the competition for the highest number of three-pointers made in a single game.

The highest number of three-pointers made in a single game this season is held by Klay Thompson, with 12 three-pointers in a single game. In the remaining 10 games, if Curry or Harden can beat this, Sun Ce can also no way.

He has only made 12 three-pointers in a single game, and he has only done so many times. There is a high probability that he will not have a chance this year.

The second goal is that the Splash Brothers average more three-pointers per game than the Waves.

This currently maintains the advantage. He is averaging 3.94 three-pointers per game. After the game with the Trail Blazers, his total three-pointers this season reached 280, second only to Curry's 298 three-pointers. Hits, averaging 4.2 three-pointers per game.

Sun Ce is lagging behind a bit, but Klay Thompson averages 3 three-pointers per game, leading Harden's 2.55 three-pointers per game, which is greater than Curry's lead over Sun Ce!

The third goal is that in the next two games, the total number of three-pointers made by the Splash Brothers in a single game was higher than that of the Waves.

This was achieved in the last game with Klay Thompson's 12 three-pointers, and the only thing missing is tomorrow night's game.

…

This wave of away games has been a two-game losing streak, which has put huge pressure on the Grizzlies players. The next four opponents are the Warriors, Thunder, Nuggets, and Timberwolves... But no matter how great the pressure is, they can withstand it. Pressure comes one game at a time.

After a night's rest in Oakland, on March 29, the Grizzlies' third game in six consecutive away games arrived.

For this opponent that they are likely to encounter in the first round, the Grizzlies coaching staff has been preparing to play against the Warriors all the way to fifth place in the Western Conference, and is even ready to lose the home court advantage.

This is an objective reason. The coaching staff cannot blindly expect good situations to happen, but must start preparing from the worst situation.

Not only is the Grizzlies coaching staff preparing in this way, but the major media and fans also regard this game as the last regular season meeting between these two teams with the best perimeter combination in the league and as a preview for the playoffs.

The Grizzlies and Warriors played against each other, and the fans felt that the ceremony was full of excitement!

Sun Ce and Curry were drafted by the Warriors in the same year. One was retained and gradually became the core of the team. His three-point shooting skills were disappointing. The other was sent away and already ranked first in the league on the other team. The voice of man.

Some people expect Curry to end Sun Ce's dominance among his contemporaries, some expect Curry to change the league... and some expect Sun Ce to continue to dominate.

The performance of these two people made fans couldn't help but exclaim: Did the Warriors management not perform cataract surgery at that time? So blind?

Let’s not talk about the excellent cooperation between Sun Ce and Klay Thompson. As for Sun Ce and Curry’s tacit performance during the All-Star Weekend when they had a disagreement and scored three-pointers in a row, if these two brothers had been on the same team... some fans also felt that, The two of them are on the same team, and they may not be as effective as Sun Ce and Klay Thompson in the early stage. Compared with Klay Thompson, who is already relatively mature and entered the NBA two years later than Sun Ce, Curry and Sun Ce both need to take a lot of shots in the early stage. Quan, in the same team, it is not necessarily possible for two people to be cultivated.

Curry's pure 3D performance is 100% less effective than Klay Thompson's, and defense alone cannot solve this problem.

And now Thabeet is also very useful, one of the best rim protectors in the league.

…

After a day of preparation, at 7:40 pm, players from both teams entered the stadium.

Curry can be said to be very proud now. In the past 17 games after the All-Star break, they are finally on the right track!

Compared to the Grizzlies, who had 11 wins and 8 losses in the past 19 games, their Warriors performed much better.

However, they still have something they are very afraid of - Sun Ce!

In the past four weeks, Sun Ce has won the Western Conference Player of the Week for 3 weeks. This season, the number of Player of the Week has increased from 5 times to 8 times in just one month!

In the 19 games after the All-Stars Weekend, Sun Ce scored 40+10 times, including 50+2 times, and 12 triple-doubles, including 40+ triple-doubles in 3 times... At the beginning, there were teams that wanted Sun Ce's crazy March show in the middle, but now, no one wants to do such a thing.

It's impossible to stop it!

Some strong teams, on the contrary, tried to stop Sun Ce's personal performance when the Grizzlies were full of injuries and these strong teams had advantages, but they were used by Sun Ce and defeated by the Grizzlies, and at the same time they failed to stop Sun Ce from continuing to soar.

As for competing with Sun Ce in data and overall strength, Curry has never had this idea since the first game of his rookie season, and he has not had this idea since he became an opponent. He just wants to win, and now with Harden, Iguodala, and Thabeet, he believes that he only needs to play to his strengths to help the team!