The game between the Clippers and the Trail Blazers at home attracted a lot of attention from the media and fans. Even many players were sitting on the bench, preparing popcorn, and waiting for the game to start.
Not only because the current dark horse of the Trail Blazers is unstoppable, but more importantly, this game is related to the bet between O'Neal and Barkley.
According to the bet, if the Trail Blazers win this game, then Barkley will fulfill his bet to sing and teach pole dancing on TNT TV for an all-American live broadcast.
If the Clippers win this game, Barkley's death will be postponed.
Even after last year's runner-up Thunder and the previous year's championship Mavericks both lost to the Trail Blazers, many people already thought that this bet on Barkley was likely to go bad.
Of course, some fans think the Trail Blazers' win was a bit of a fluke.
The game against the Thunder was based on Aldridge's buzzer-beater, and the game against the Mavericks was purely because Nowitzki couldn't play. There was a lot of controversy in both games.
It seems that no matter where and when, there is no shortage of people to argue.
But no matter what, the pre-game atmosphere between the Clippers and Trail Blazers has been heightened to a high level.
Whether it's the Clippers' desire to end their two-game losing streak, the Trail Blazers' desire to tie the second-longest eight-game winning streak in team history, or the new-old alley-oop city showdown just launched, this game can be said to be exciting to watch. Point full.
At the same time, this is another live broadcast across the United States!
Why do you say again?
Because just since Wang Zelin joined the Portland Trail Blazers, he suddenly became the darling of live television.
In the new season, TNT, ESPN, ABC, and NBATV will broadcast 25 Trail Blazers games nationwide, making them one of the only five teams to broadcast more than 20 games nationwide.
The ranking is as follows:
The Celtics had 23 games, Portland had 25 games, the Heat had 28 games, the Lakers had 30 games and the Knicks had 32 games.
Sometimes I have to admit that it is good to be in a big city, and its exposure is unmatched by other cities.
However, as far as the Trail Blazers are concerned, the 25 all-meter live broadcasts have broken the team's historical record and exceeded their imagination. For the first time in their lives, Portland fans discovered that their home team is so rich.
…
"Hello, viewers, welcome to the live broadcast of the Trail Blazers' away game against the Clippers. We are currently commentating for you in Staples Arena."
"I believe many fans are looking forward to today's game, and so am I."
In the studio, the two commentators today are Kenny Smith and O'Neal.
The original plan of TNT TV station was to continue to arrange Barkley and O'Neal to partner, but the former was ill today and decided to take two days off.
Well... I understand everything.
"Today's game can be said to be a contest between two lob cities. Shaquille, who do you think of these two teams can vindicate himself?"
Hearing Kenneth Smith's question, O'Neal smiled and said, "Of course it's the Trail Blazers!"
Kenny Smith asked with interest: "Why?"
"Because My King is the best!"
O'Neal gave his reasons without hesitation.
"My King" is what O'Neal has called Wang Zelin in public many times recently, which shows his inner love for Wang Zelin, a potential junior.
Perhaps O'Neal himself doesn't know why. The more he looks at Wang Zelin, the more he recalls his past self.
Maybe it can be said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
No, it should be said that the heroes cherish each other.
"..."
Facing O'Neal in this state, Kenny Smith didn't bother to talk to him anymore, because he knew that trying to reason with O'Neal at this time was the same as trying to reason with a woman, and it didn't make sense at all.
Just be happy!
…
The Clippers’ starting five:
Chris Paul: overall score 96
Blake Griffin: overall rating 87
DeAndre Jordan: Overall rating 76
Matt Barnes: Overall rating 73
Caron Butler: overall rating 75
and Jamal Crawford, who has a comprehensive rating of 79 on the bench.
After looking at his opponent's overall ability rating, Wang Zelin looked at his side again.
Aldridge who just broke through to 90, Lillard at 82, Batum at 78, Matthews at 76, and Hickson at 75 on the bench.
From this point of view, except for the differences between the bosses of the two teams, the other players of the Blazers may not necessarily lose to the Clippers.
Coupled with my own words, the Blazers' starting four should be stronger than their opponents.
This game has a head start.
Thinking of this, Wang Zelin started to get excited.
Because this season the Clippers are fourth in the Western Conference, with a record of 56 wins and 26 losses. They are an opponent very close to the Trail Blazers in strength, and they are also a good polishing stone.
Everyone knows that Wang Zelin's explosion and Aldridge's stable output are indispensable for beating the Thunder.
Of course, there is also a little bit of Westbrook's factor.
No matter what, there is an irreparable strength gap between the Trail Blazers and Thunder to a certain extent.
Now after comparing the strength with the Clippers, Wang Zelin finally believes that his team's strength can definitely rank among the top six or even the top four in the Western Conference.
At least as far as the Northwest Division where the Trail Blazers are located, the only threats to them are the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
…
At 6:30, the Trail Blazers' away game against the Clippers began, broadcast live on ESPN across the United States.
In the jump ball session, Wang Zelin lost to Jordan... He had already been mentally prepared for this.
After receiving the ball, Paul quickly passed halftime and began directing traffic.
After some gestures, Paul called a Griffin pick-and-roll and got the chance to hit Aldridge in a misplaced single.
When it comes to playing small versus big, Paul is probably the strongest player currently at the No. 1 position.
After several unpredictable dribbling changes, Aldridge was stunned.
Faced with such a big open space, Paul directly took his best mid-range shot.
"Plop!"
The basketball hits the net.
"Our captain easily scored a two-pointer from the beginning. Such a mid-range shot was too easy for him."
As Paul opened the scoring, Lillard received Wang Zelin's serve and quickly dribbled the ball past half court.
There is no doubt about Paul's defense. He is most likely the best defensive player among the 1.83 meter players in NBA history.
His fast movement, active defense changes, and extremely strong core strength on the back line, coupled with some very disgusting methods, made Lillard very uncomfortable when facing Paul's defense.
"Rookie, I remember you were the sixth overall pick this year. Why can't your team's status be as good as that of No. 36? Are you bad?"
While doing a good job of defense, Paul was not idle, directly stating that Lillard was not as good as Wang Zelin, intending to provoke a conflict between the two.
"You're right. I really can't compare to the king. He is our leader."
Lillard is not one of those 19-year-olds who entered the league as a freshman. He has been training in college for four years and has never seen anyone before. He recognized Wang Zelin's leadership status without changing his face.
The referee on the side also quickly ran to the side and was observing the movements of the two people.
The key object of observation is of course Chris Paul, the veteran. Looking at Lillard, who showed no desire for anything, Paul felt like he had encountered a seamless egg, and no matter how much he buzzed, he couldn't make a hole.
Are all seniors so mature? It's really difficult to deal with them.
Lillard ignored Paul's trash talk and made gestures according to the tactics.
There are 14 seconds left in the attack time.
Lillard held the ball at a 45-degree angle to the right three-point line and dribbled slowly and calmly. Suddenly, Wang Zelin stepped forward to do a pick-and-roll. Lillard suddenly moved and quickly changed direction to break through to the right.
Wang Zelin's sudden screen forced Paul to brake suddenly and failed to keep up with Lillard.
Lillard's breakthrough was very fast and explosive. After getting rid of Paul's defense, in front of him was DeAndre Jordan.
Soon he passed the ball back to Wang Zelin who was in a high position. After receiving the ball, Wang Zelin ignored the 1.83 meter Paul next to him and raised his hand to launch.
"Don't even think about it!"
Griffin, who was at the peak of his physical fitness, relied on his 80-point speed to quickly defend and jump high.
Griffin's wingspan alone can't cause much interference to Wang Zelin, but well... he has a better choice.
Aldridge in the low post on the left has been left open. After Wang Zelin gave a look, he threw the ball directly into the sky.
He can tell which one has a higher hit rate between unguarded shots and guarded shots.
Not everyone has the strong shooting ability of the Black Mamba.
Aldridge understood and quickly ran towards the basket, firmly caught Wang Zelin's pass, and dunked hard with both hands, completing his fifth dunk this season.
Alley loop!
The Trail Blazers responded with an alley-oop that their opponents were most proud of right from the start.
?And one!
What's even more terrible is that Jordan, who actively jumped to block Aldridge, was completely eaten alive by the former in the air, and he was struck in the face.
The Clippers can be said to have lost both their wives and their troops.
"Cool! LaMarcus! I didn't expect you to be able to dunk like this!"
After the dunk, Batum looked at Aldridge as if he were a god.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Seeing the surprised looks from his teammates and Clippers players, Aldridge scratched his head shyly.
In fact, he was preparing for a layup just now, but he suddenly remembered his team's new title of "Lob City", and the idea of dunking one came up in his mind.
What Aldridge didn't expect was that Jordan actually appeared on his dunk route, but he had to shoot.
Recalling Wang Zelin's thrilling dunks in the previous games, Aldridge felt that as a big brother, he must not back down, so he gritted his teeth and dunked.
Finally, there was the alley-oop dunk with excellent visual effects.
Standing on the free throw line and facing everyone's complicated gazes, Aldridge felt inexplicably: This feeling seems to be a little bit wonderful.
It’s really just a little bit~~~just!
…
In Portland, local fans are also paying close attention to the game between the home team and the Clippers.
"Wow, it turns out LaMarcus can run so fast and jump so high."
"Look at that dunk just now. Those who didn't know better thought it was the white monster on the opposite side!"
"God, LaMarcus can dunk so well!"
When Aldridge succeeded in the alley-oop, many fans who were surfing expressed their exclamations on the forum.
"Just kidding, you have to know that LaMarcus was selected with the second overall pick in the first round. His physical talent is also top-notch."
Netizen X started to popularize science.
"What, LaMarcus actually came out second in the draft. This is so surprising."
Netizen Y was surprised, and there were many fans like Netizen Y.
This shows how low-key Aldridge used to be in the league.
Although his personal performance is not inferior to any player in the same position in the league, many people lack an in-depth understanding of Aldridge because of his personality and the fact that he is in a city that does not have much exposure.
On this night, during the game between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers, Aldridge once again appeared in the eyes of fans after his 2006 draft due to a domineering alley-oop dunk.
LaMarcus Aldridge is unexpectedly popular.
