On January 14, the Trail Blazers welcomed the Clippers.
Wang Zelin asked the nanny to cook a few dishes. After the Clippers arrived in Portland at noon, he picked up JJ Hixon and took him home for dinner.
Not long ago, the Clippers, based on the reinforcement of their inside firepower and the depth of their bench, suddenly took a fancy to Hickson, who was playing for the Wizards. After some transactions, Hickson came to Angel City and began to Playing for the Clippers, let him and Jamal Crawford serve as an inside and outside core to lead the second unit.
During his rookie year when he first entered the league, Hickson was recognized by Wang Zelin. Even after he left the team, the personal relationship between the two parties was still good. After receiving the invitation, Hickson quickly agreed.
The two sat at the table and chatted while eating.
Wang Zelin asked: "JJ, how do you feel about being traded to the Clippers?"
Hickson smiled: "It's much better than in the Wizards. Although the playing time in the Clippers has become less, at least the playoffs are much more stable. Wang, we just won three consecutive victories, and soon we will I’m going to catch up with you.”
Wang Zelin's face twitched and he chuckled: "Tch, if you still want to catch up with us, I think you should catch up with the Warriors and Mosaic first."
"Hahaha!" Hixon glanced at Wang Zelin and couldn't help but sigh, "Sure enough, you are still so confident!"
The two chatted for a while, and after eating, they lay on the sofa and talked about the team again.
Suddenly, Hixon turned around and asked seriously:
"King, do you think I still have a chance?"
"?"
These words seemed familiar and made Wang Zelin's heart tremble.
"What's the chance?"
He looked at the other person confused.
"I mean, will there be a chance to come back to Portland and play with you guys in the future? I really want to..."
Halfway through his words, Hixon stopped again.
But Wang Zelin understood what the other party meant. After being educated in the Trail Blazers, Hickson found his own home in Portland, especially in terms of efficiency, which set a career high.
Although Hickson was later put on the shelf for trade due to the team's need to strengthen, he had no complaints.
Even after witnessing the Trail Blazers win the championship last season, he felt deeply in his heart. He only felt congratulations and regrets.
I congratulate my former parent team for winning the championship, but regret that I did not become a part of the parent team.
"There will be a chance."
Wang Zelin patted Hickson on the shoulder and replied directly.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I have to go back for afternoon training. Let's see you in the evening."
"Well, see you tonight! Looking forward to playing against you."
"Stop making trouble, I'm afraid you will kill me."
"Get out!"
After a while of pleasantries, Hixon was finally sent away.
After looking at the empty sofa and thinking for a while, Wang Zelin also drove out and headed to the training hall.
At 19:00 in the evening, the Trail Blazers faced the Clippers at home.
Before the game, the starting lineup was announced.
Clippers: Paul, JJ Redick, Matt Barnes, short-handed Finn, DeAndre Jordan.
Trail Blazers: Lillard, Connett Lee, Batum, Garnett, Wang Zelin.
During pre-match training, Jokic was found to have thigh discomfort. Fortunately, after the team doctor checked, it was nothing serious.
However, for the sake of the players' health and to prevent Jokic from being too tired, Terry Stotts advocated letting Jokic rest for two games.
Therefore, after careful consideration tonight, he chose to include veteran Garnett in the starting lineup.
Although Garnett's strength is no longer at its peak, his defensive efficiency on the court is still above the league's passing line. And don't forget, as a trash talker, Garnett's trash talk level is definitely at a historical level.
Let him play the starting power forward to face Griffin, maybe there will be unexpected surprises.
In the ESPN live broadcast, Grant Hill took the Clippers' roster and said: "Judging from the lineups of both sides, the Clippers are stronger than the Trail Blazers at this stage, and the Trail Blazers are missing the white insider from Serbia tonight. Judging from the past 10 games, he has replaced Aldridge in the starting lineup and his performance is remarkable."
Reggie Miller said: "Yes, the Clippers bench still has very good players such as JJ Hickson, Jamal Crawford, Glen Davis, and Spencer Hoy since **. In terms of role players, just based on paper strength, the Clippers do have the upper hand."
"So who do you think has a greater chance of winning tonight?"
At this time, Grant Hill asked, and at the same time he was muttering in his heart. As soon as Reggie Miller said that the Clippers had a higher winning rate, he would immediately follow up and say that he was more optimistic about the Trail Blazers.
"I choose the Trail Blazers!"
"Oh, I'm optimistic about that..."
Well, Grant Hill realized at this time that Miller was more optimistic about the Trail Blazers.
After reacting, he turned his head and saw Miller looking at him with a smile.
Well, it looks like I was fooled.
Miller's previous foreshadowing was to elicit his own question, and then struck preemptively.
Then, he hurriedly said: "Well, it seems that I can only choose the Clippers!"
"hey-hey!"
Miller chuckled, noncommittal.
Just kidding, with that Chinese boy's recent scoring performance, he couldn't find any reason not to choose the Trail Blazers.
At this time, after both teams started playing, the camera showed No. 36 of the Trail Blazers.
Jump ball in the center circle.
Jordan was provocative as soon as he came up: "Asian, many people are saying how great your scoring is, but I don't believe it. Just wait and see, I will make you look good tonight!"
"..."
Wang Zelin had seen all the doubts and didn't answer, but his eyes revealed a message, as if to say, "Are you the tease invited by the monkey?"
Xiao Jordan, who had not waited for a reply for a long time, realized at this time that the other party completely ignored him.
In anger, the two began jumping balls.
"Snapped!"
Xiao Qiaodan desperately discovered that even though he had suppressed the energy to feed himself, he still couldn't jump to the other side.
In the end, Wang Zelin won the jump ball and the Blazers attacked.
He wanted to start a fast break, but Jordan had obviously worked hard, saw his intention, and blocked it with his arm, allowing Griffin to retreat in time.
Then the Trail Blazers, spread out their formation.
Connett Lee and Batum are at a 45-degree angle on both wings. The former is ready to cut to the basket at any time, while the latter is running towards the bottom corner.
On the right wing, Wang Zelin is in the low post and Lillard is active outside the three-point line.
Garrett and Griffin were wrestling in the short corner on the left, neither letting the other.
At this time, Lillard and Paul faced off at the top of the key.
Once close, Paul's small movements from time to time made Lillard very uncomfortable, and he was unable to find a breakthrough opportunity.
Seeing that the time was getting shorter and shorter, just when Lillard was about to hit a one-on-one shot, a familiar voice came from the inside.
Suddenly his face lit up and he dropped the ball.
In the low post on the left wing, Wang Zelin suddenly used his strength to push away Jordan, strode towards the basket, and kept reaching out to signal for the ball.
At this time, Griffin also quickly covered the basket, but it was too late. As soon as he covered it, Wang Zelin had already jumped high, took the ball into his hands, and then...
boom--!
A shocking dunk, a skill that shocked everyone.
Thanks to Griffin, his body was still strong. He was sent flying by the dunk, but he stabilized his body and did not fall.
However, as the referee blew his whistle, his entire face turned dark instantly.
Damn, I was beaten 2+1 by No. 36 at the beginning!
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