On May 22, amid overwhelming media momentum, the G2 game between the Trail Blazers and the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals officially kicked off.
G1's victory pushed up the Trail Blazers' victory in this series. The predicted winning rate given by Bleachers was as high as 78%, FOX was as high as 72%, and ESPN also had 69%.
Tonight, Wang Zelin and the others are still playing at home in the Rose Garden.
As for TNT, it excluded the ace commentary pairing of Barkley and Kerney Smith.
At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Barkley accepted an interview with the media. He said: "I am optimistic that the Trail Blazers will enter the finals because the Spurs still can't find a way to deal with Wang. At the same time, I also agree with Wang's words. Times are changing all the time. Young people Talent is the protagonist of the new era!”
In fact, not just Barkley, most people are very optimistic about the Trail Blazers advancing to the finals.
There is no other reason. It was the first game of G1 and the Spurs lost miserably. What's even more frightening is that while Wang Zelin showed unparalleled dominance, he also dominated the field on the defensive end, which is very unexplainable.
No one thinks that the Spurs can wait two more days to find an answer to the gap between the two sides.
Of course, given that the outside world generally has a negative attitude towards the Spurs recently, when Spurs legend Admiral Robinson was interviewed by the media, he inevitably had to cheer for his home team:
"There has never been a popular argument in the NBA world. I believe that in terms of resilience, no one can compare to the Spurs with Tim as the core. Our lineup this year is the same as last year's, and even better. Step up, so I think the Spurs live up to the expectations of San Antonio fans every year!"
7pm sharp.
The starting lineup is announced before the game.
Visiting Spurs: Tony Parker, Danny Green, Leonard, Duncan, Splitter.
Home team Trail Blazers: Lillard, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, Wang Zelin.
The starting lineup of both sides was generally the same as the previous match.
As the game approached, when the camera was shown to the front row of the audience, many current and retired stars in the league were present, including David Robinson, O'Neal, Iverson, Kobe, Anthony, etc., plus a large number of Hollywood's handsome men and women came to the scene, making the entire Rose Garden Arena even more starry.
Of course, the female omen Sun and Moon who came from heaven to watch the battle was also indispensable.
"Brother Yao, long time no see."
During the warm-up period, Wang Zelin took the initiative to come to the first row of the spectator seats. Instead of the Hollywood female stars strutting along the way, he walked directly towards Chairman Yao.
"You kid, you are amazing!"
Looking at the young man in front of him who is almost the same height as himself, it is obvious that the childishness on the latter's face has not completely faded, but he has already reached a height that he has never reached in his entire NBA career.
All-Star MVP, Double First Team Center, Best Defensive Player, Regular Season Most Valuable Player (MVP)... There are only a few top awards with the highest gold content in the NBA every season. It is easy to imagine how difficult the competition is.
Throughout his career, Yao Ming's most promising individual award was just a second-team center, and his team's upper limit always stopped at the second round of the Western Conference.
Now, when he thinks about the achievements made in front of Wang Zelin, both individually and as a team, they have completely surpassed himself back then.
Maybe it won't be long before they all reach the finals.
Overall champion!
"That is, regardless of who we are! From the moment I entered the NBA, I swore that there are so many outstanding players from European and American countries who have reached the top of the basketball world. I have five thousand years of Chinese civilization, and there is no reason. Will be worse than others!
Just wait and see, I’m sure of this year’s championship! "
Hearing Wang Zelin's words, not only Yao Ming, but also the Chinese media who were recording all this behind the two men were in awe.
Since the end of World War II in the last century, people all over the world have been frightened by the terrifying power displayed by nuclear weapons. As a result, from World War II to the present, human society has ushered in the longest period of peace and prosperity... at least in most parts of the world. .
However, even in the peaceful and prosperous times, the game between countries and the competition of comprehensive national strength between countries have never stopped.
Secretly, big countries must spend a lot of military expenditures every year to update and iterate their weapons.
On the surface, soft power such as politics, economy, culture, and sports has gradually become a symbol of comprehensive national strength and international status.
There is no doubt that in this era, whether it is qualified to host the Olympic Games has successfully become a symbol of the strength of a country in peacetime.
Take China as an example. After successfully hosting the 2008 Olympics for the first time in history, it not only brought a huge economic cake to China, but more importantly, through this Olympic Games, the people of the world once again understood the people who had gone through all the wastes of World War II. After the rejuvenation, the Chinese nation was reborn from the ashes.
Read for the rise of China!
These were the deafening words uttered by the young Premier Zhou during the turbulent times of the old China a hundred years ago. Later, he fought for this concept throughout his life.
It is precisely because of the hard work of the predecessors that the peaceful years of future generations have come about.
Ask yourself, Wang Zelin will never reach the spiritual realm of great proletarian fighters such as Premier Zhou Enlai in his whole life. However, since he is in a peaceful and prosperous age and has been reborn by chance, he is naturally willing to contribute to the greatness of the Chinese nation within his own capabilities. Come and contribute your part to the revival.
In his last life, due to his own lack of ability, he could only mock himself as many of his peers on the Internet said: as long as you support yourself, it is your greatest contribution to the country.
In this life, he is fortunate to be able to develop in the basketball world, and he will naturally assume his due responsibilities.
For example, set a small goal first: conquer the NBA! Conquer the most famous basketball palace on earth!
Back on the field.
After Wang Zelin said this, Yao Ming gave him a thumbs up.
Soon, it was official game time and both sides started.
Looking at the Spurs starting team opposite, the king strutted towards Duncan with his chin raised high.
This scene made other Spurs players suddenly nervous.
What else is he going to do?
Suddenly, there was a burst of boos outside the court. Everyone turned to look and saw a group of people wearing Spurs jerseys. It looked like there were at least two or three thousand people.
Although the San Antonio Spurs are located in a small ball market, the Spurs are by no means a small team. It can even be said that the Spurs are the best team in the NBA so far in the new century. Even the Los Angeles Lakers, which won three consecutive championships at the beginning of the century, are really not as good as the Spurs to a certain extent.
Although it is located in a small city, there is no one who can maintain championship competitiveness for ten years.
"Tim, are you ready to lose again?"
As soon as he came up, Wang Zelin's arrogant attitude disgusted the Spurs players.
But Duncan was Duncan. He frowned and replied coldly: "If you have anything to say, let's talk about it during the game."
"good!"
Seeing this, Wang Zelin stopped insisting and returned to the Trail Blazers bench with a sneer.
"Boss, how are you going to defeat the opponent tonight?"
Seeing Wang Zelin return, Beverly stepped forward and asked hurriedly.
"Patrick, please remove the words 'what are you going to do'?"
Wang Zelin pretended to be dissatisfied.
"Haha, beat the opponent tonight!"
Batum laughed loudly.
"We are the best team this year!"
Later, Wang Zelin also smiled and said.
In the middle circle, facing Split, Wang Zelin won the jump ball and the Blazers attacked.
The Spurs retreated quickly, but the fast break was fruitless, and the Trail Blazers launched a positional battle.
The second game is different from the first game. Except when the opportunity is particularly good, the Blazers do not intend to start a fast break whirlwind like they said in the first game.
In the morning team meeting, Terry Stotts set the tone for tonight's game - stability.
In the 4-win system of 7 games in the playoffs, home court advantage is so critical for a team. Since the next two games will be played away from home, he wants to win the second home court smoothly.
Going to the Spurs home court with 2:0 and going with 1:1 are two completely different experiences for all the Trail Blazers players.
Therefore, the tactical arrangement for the second game was to focus on defense in the first half, with Wang Zelin controlling rebounds and inside defense, and then exerting more effort in the second half.
After the first quarter, both the fans of the two teams and the celebrities from all walks of life who arrived at the scene tonight were all drowsy.
On the scoreboard, the score between the two sides was pitifully low. At 15:16, the Trail Blazers were one point ahead of the Spurs.
The two teams played completely different from the sluggish scoring performance in the first quarter of the previous game. The last game was purely due to poor touch and had to play crazy. But if you just look at the scene, the battle is still very exciting.
At least you can hear a sound!
As for today?
The two teams are purely playing at a slow pace, with hard bridges and hard horses, grinding defense and enduring positional battles.
So much so that after the first quarter, no team could break through 20 points.
Trailblazers here.
Wang Zelin found a target right from the moment he came up. He focused on catching Duncan. He deliberately looked for Duncan on offense. Needless to say, on the defensive end, he just put his body to the test, and no one wanted to feel comfortable.
Relying on its strong strength and top-level defensive ability, King of Glory always defended Duncan outside the paint area, and there was no way to enter the penalty area.
This greatly weakened Duncan's offensive scoring ability, and he could only rely on high-post pivot organization and mid-range post-up singles to deal with Wang Zelin.
The result was that Duncan made 1 of 3 shots and 1 of 2 free throws in the first quarter. He only scored 3 points and 1 rebound, and then had no other data.
And Wang Zelin, who adopted the trick of "injuring the enemy by one thousand and damaging himself by eight hundred", was not much better.
He made 1 of 2 shots in a single quarter, 2 of 2 free throws, scored 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block, and also did not provide an assist.
According to statistics, this should be the first time since Wang Zelin entered so many games in the playoffs this year that he failed to provide an assist after the end of the first 12 minutes of a single game.
It can be seen how extreme the defensive battle between the two teams was tonight!
In the VIP room.
Bald Hua, the president of the league, had a gloomy look on his face. He thought that Wang Zelin's outburst in the last game could directly increase the ratings of tonight's game.
Who would have thought that unlike the first quarter of the last game, when the Spurs and Trail Blazers shot more and scored less; tonight, the Spurs and Trail Blazers shot less and scored less...
This is too much!
You know, the real money in the NBA now comes from broadcast fees. With the way you are playing, it will be good if you can score over 70 points tonight.
Bald Hua was even considering whether to make a personal call to the head coaches of both teams and switch them to fast break in the second quarter.
Thinking about it, let it go. We have just finished a quarter, and someone might break out next.
Just bear with it a little longer!
Although the home fans were also drowsy, they quickly came to their senses when they thought that the team was still 1 point ahead of their opponents.
"King, come on! Beat the Spurs!"
"Just beat him like this and torture the opponent to death!"
Sure enough, the fans are still very cute. As long as the result is good, no matter how the team plays during the game, they will not accept it.
As the old man said: It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white, the one that can catch mice is a good cat.
Back in the second quarter, the Spurs took the lead in making bold personnel adjustments. None of the five main starting players played again, and they put on a second set of Diaw + Ginobili + Belinelli + Baynes + Clay Joseph Rotate the lineup.
In contrast, the Trail Blazers chose a steady hand.
The lineup sent is the "iron man duo" Wang Zelin + Lillard, and the main + rotation combination of Connett Lee + Will Barton + Garnett.
At the commentary table on the court stage.
After Xu Jicheng saw the lineup of the coach, he was surprised: "Oh! Spurs coach Sima Wei's choice is really unexpected. On a stage like the Western Conference Finals, he actually dares to play a five-up, five-down strategy with me."
Yang Yiyi next to him said: "I just don't know. Is this a bold move by an expert? Or is it a stupid move?"
Xu Jicheng said: "Let us wait and see."
TNT commentary booth
"Kenny, what do you think of Traeger's arrangement?" Buckley asked.
"This must be a forced change of formation!"
Kenny Smith mused.
