The two teams battled to a score of 27:23 in the first quarter, with the Kings temporarily trailing by 4 points at home.
"Mr. Xu, judging from the current situation, DeMarcus Cousins' strength is really beyond everyone's imagination. Although the king has the upper hand, it is limited after all."
Wang Meng said.
"Yes!" Xu Jicheng nodded, "I haven't seen such a quality inside matchup for a long time."
Trail Blazers bench.
Lillard asked: "Wang, I haven't seen you so excited for a long time. Is DeMarcus really that strong?"
After he finished speaking, his teammates all looked at Wang Zelin.
This season, even when facing Howard, everyone can feel Wang Zelin's confidence and calmness. But today, in the matchup with Cousins, they found that Wang Zelin was as excited as if he had been on stimulants.
"Haha!" Wang Zelin laughed, looked at the Kings bench, and said seriously: "DeMarcus is a good opponent!"
"Can he be better than Howard?"
Garnett on the side didn't believe it.
In the Eastern Conference, when he was with the Celtics, he frequently faced off against Howard, the peak of the Magic era, and the pressure the latter brought to him reminded him of the great Shaquille O'Neal.
Of course, Howard can't compare to O'Neal on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, the pressure the latter brought to him was the first time in his career.
"Hmm..." Wang Zelin pondered for a while, "How should I put it? The two of them are not the same type of players. At least it is impossible for Dwight to chop me on the head in just one quarter in a 1VS1 matchup. Next 10 minutes..."
He added: "I have never seen Dwight at his peak during the Magic period, but I can confirm that the feeling DeMarcus brings to me now is on the same level as Dwight."
In fact, he also felt that there was nothing wrong with what he said. Cousins already has All-Star strength, and in his second match with the Mosaic team not long ago, he found that Howard's strength rating has dropped to 89. He said that Cousins and Howard are now players of the same level, but he is just telling the truth. That’s all.
After receiving Wang Zelin's recognition, everyone realized for the first time how powerful Cousins is, and then they became even more confused:
Judging from the strength on paper, the Kings currently have three players in the starting lineup: Cousins, Rudy Gay, and Thomas who have scored more than 20 points. Their offensive firepower exceeds that of most teams in the league, although the substitutes are a bit poor. But as long as we work hard, there is still hope to hit the playoffs...
As a result, they are at the bottom of the Western Conference. Why is this?
Soon, they learned why.
"Bah bang bang!"
Coach Terry patted the tactical board. After seeing everyone paying attention, he coughed twice and said decisively: "Even if DeMarcus is as strong as Wang said, as long as we play well and perform at a normal level, the Kings can't possibly They are our opponents!”
"Coach, don't you need to worry about Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas?"
Yi Jianlian asked everyone's doubts.
"The reason is very simple." Coach Terry raised his index finger. "First, the Kings lack an outstanding leader. Whether it is Cousins, Gay or Thomas, none of the three of them obeys the other, except for individual singles on the court. , effective cooperation is rarely achieved;”
"Second, since the last time the Kings entered the playoffs in 2006, they have changed 7 head coaches in the next 8 years..."
As soon as these words came out, Wang Zelin and others immediately exclaimed.
What the hell?
There have been seven head coaches in eight years, how can the team keep up?
"Haha," Coach Terry smiled after seeing everyone's reaction, "It's just what you think. Every coach has his own coaching philosophy. Changing coaches so frequently is undoubtedly a challenge for the King. How can the Kings talk about a team system if they are brought back from scratch?"
"What about the third point!"
Beverly asked as she stood up.
Coach Terry gave him an approving look that said, "The boy is teachable!", which aroused Xiao Mo's envy.
"The third and final point is that the Kings' lineup is extremely fluid. Role players are replaced almost every season, which means poor stability. And the poor stability of a team's lineup not only reflects the high-level operations of the team Problems existing in this aspect will also greatly affect the combat effectiveness of the team's current lineup."
"Now, tell me loudly, do you have anything else to worry about?"
Coach Terry lifted the tactical board heavily and shouted loudly.
"No more, sir!"
The pioneer generals replied together.
"OK! Get ready to go out and kill those sons of bitches!"
After giving the order, the generals looked at the Kings players with eyes filled with bloodlust and aggression.
In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers rotated on the bench first, while the Kings rotated on half the main team and half on the bench.
Cousins played the first 7 minutes of the second quarter, but Garnett fell behind in his matchup, leaving people speechless.
After all, boxing is afraid of young people!
After half a quarter, Cousins scored 7 points and 4 rebounds, and also sent 1 block and 1 steal. He led the substitutes 39:31 and temporarily led by 8 points.
After that, Coach Terry replaced Wang Zelin and Lillard to lead the substitutes to chase points. At this time, Cousins had already taken a rest, which happened to be offset from Wang Zelin's playing time.
At 44:46, at halftime, the Trail Blazers trailed by two points on the road, and the Kings pulled one back at home.
In the live broadcast of the imperial court, Wang Meng had a strange look on his face: "Hey, do you think the opponent did it intentionally or deliberately? Cousins' playing time happened to be staggered with that of the king. Judging from the current data, he may be slightly ahead. King."
"Maybe this is the head coach's strategy. Don't tell me, the Kings are still ahead temporarily." Xu Jicheng said with a smile.
"Teacher Xu, it seems that you are not worried about the king losing at all." Wang Meng said.
"Where are you? Xiao Wang, I'm not talking about you. The pattern and vision need to be bigger. The Trail Blazers are only 2 points behind. In the second half, when coach Terry Stotts replaces all the main players, will the Kings be able to withstand it? Say something else!"
Wang Meng quickly replied with a smile: "Yes, yes, I really need to learn more from you."
Back at halftime, the game started, and both sides returned to their starting lineups in the first quarter.
The king attacks first.
Cousins received the ball in the low post and singled out Wang Zelin.
"Wang, I already have 17 points, you only have 15 points, hehe..."
When he thought that he had scored more points than Wang Zelin, he smiled triumphantly.
"Stop looking like you are a villain, we can't tell who will win and who will lose!"
Who can bear this? Wang Zelin came out to challenge, then reached out and tried to steal it.
"Hey," Cousins quickly hid, "I can't stop it, I can't make money..."
"..."
Are you a primary school student?
If so, please stop your childish behavior!
"DeMarcus, stop playing and pay attention to the time!"
On the sidelines, Mike Malone reminded with a black line.
Then, Cousins put away his smile and turned serious. He took a step forward with his left foot. Seeing that Wang Zelin's tattoo was not moving, he suddenly raised his hand and shot.
Are you so confident?
Wang Zelin was quite surprised.
According to relevant statistics, Cousins' shooting distance this season has basically remained within 7.9 feet, with the highest shooting percentage at the basket, reaching 67.5%.
Among the remaining close-range two-pointers, mid-range two-pointers and long-range two-pointers, the long-range two-pointer has the highest hit rate at 42.3%. On the contrary, he took the most short-range two-pointers among the three shots, with a shooting rate of only 38.9%, and he made more than 5 shots in each game.
What is this concept?
Take Aldridge, who is on the same team as Wang Zelin, for example. His previous career short-range two-point shooting rate was as low as 39.7% in one season. In the other six seasons, his shooting rate has never been below 44%. The points and long-distance points have also remained above 40% all year round.
The key is that Aldridge's mid-range shots are already good enough, but he still doesn't take as many shots as Cousins, basically more than 5 times. He only takes about 3 to 4 shots in a game.
Therefore, Cousins' choice is very irrational in Wang Zelin's view. To put it bluntly, he is "a good guy and fun-loving!"
Sure enough, after reacting, he quickly intervened. Faced with a sudden yellow palm, Cousins hurriedly adjusted his hand shape, but with this adjustment, his entire movement had a weird tearing feeling and seemed unsmooth. .
Seeing this, Wang Zelin knew that Cousins had hit the ball. After landing, he immediately turned around and rushed towards the basket.
"Rebound!"
Cousins also reacted quickly. He shouted to his teammates and hurriedly followed.
At this time, Aldridge blocked Jason Thompson, allowing Wang Zelin to easily pick off the rebound.
Just when Kings head coach Mike Malone wanted his players to quickly return to defense, Wang Zelin had already waved his hand and the ball was thrown away.
"Oops!"
Little Thomas waved his Scud and returned to defense in time.
But Lillard and Batum are not slow either, forming a 2-on-1 situation in the frontcourt.
In the end, Batum assisted Lillard and made an alley-oop one-arm dunk.
The two sides tied at 46:46.
