The Way of the Center

Chapter 806 : The war is coming

“The league has officially issued a ticket! Anjie has been suspended for ten games, Morris has been suspended for five games, and coach Ricard has been suspended for three games! It will be executed today!”

“Damien Lillard has a structural injury to his ankle and may not be able to make the playoffs!”

“Damien: Ibaka’s actions are very dangerous and should have been severely punished.”

“Serge Ibaka: I didn’t mean it.”

The appearance of the biggest farce in the NBA this season has given various media outlets countless angles and topics to hype. The contradiction between Anjie and Ibaka, the iron-fisted attitude of the league, Lillard’s injury… all these things have become a place of interest to fans and the public.

Some people say that the league’s punishment of An Jie is a bit too severe. After all, it was Ibaka who caused trouble first.

But it was also said that the punishment imposed on An Jie by the Alliance was too light. The fact that An Jie took the initiative to directly attack the opponent’s head with his fists was too bad. If Morris doesn’t pull it, maybe something bigger will happen.

No matter what the outside world says, this is indeed a tough time for the Trail Blazers.

When this Trail Blazers loses Angel, Morris, Lillard and Ricard at the same time, what is left?

A lonely Paul George and Iguodala, who is no longer young, are all that the Trail Blazers have now.

Nurkic may have been very good, but he has not been able to fill the vacancy left by Anjie. Meyers Leonard has become more mature, but his defense is not comparable to Morris.

The Trail Blazers instantly went from being the No. 1 super team in the league to an ordinary and simple team.

Although the 31-game winning streak started miraculously, the Trail Blazers had no worries about their regular season record this year. But it was a pity that I didn’t see the miracle continue. I have to say.

Christmas, December 25, 2017, was also the first day after Anjie and the others were suspended. Anjie and Morris still appeared on the bench for the Trail Blazers at Moda Center. But these two guys can only appear there in suits. As for Ricard, this guy can only go to the auditorium to watch the game.

An Jie, who has played full-time for four consecutive seasons, has not experienced the feeling of wearing a suit on the bench for a long time.

I don’t know if it was God’s deliberate arrangement, but today when An Jie and other major players are suspended, the Trail Blazers have encountered their perhaps biggest opponent this season-the Golden State Warriors.

Before the game, Durant expressed regret for the suspension of Anjie, Morris and Lillard’s injury. He also bluntly accused his former teammate Ibaka, thinking that the action was too clumsy.

But Anjie also knew that it was a pity that it was impossible for Durant this guy to give up victory. After the game starts later, this terrifying No. 35 is destined to not be merciful.

On the Warriors side, although Klay Thompson’s injury made their lineup incomplete. But compared to the badly injured Trailblazers, the Warriors’ lineup is still strong enough.

In this game, Paul George seems to have found the feeling of playing for the Pacers again, but this time, his opponents have changed from James, who dominated the East, to Stephen Curry and Kevin Du, who dominated the West. Rand.

George’s performance made An Jie feel ecstatic, and this good fellow did not disappoint anyone. Today, George even played a 50-50 performance with Durant, making the fans in the Moda Center cheer wildly again and again.

However, the strength of the Warriors is not something George can shake. In the third quarter, Curry made a terrifying performance of 5 of 6 three-pointers in a single quarter. It was precisely under Curry’s three-point rain that the Trail Blazers failed to bite the game and eventually lost.

Originally, the finale of this Christmas battle was highly anticipated by fans, but due to the suspension and injuries, it became anticlimactic.

After the game, Anjie felt very excited. It’s not that this guy feels excited after losing, but after seeing the terrifying strength of the Warriors, he can’t wait to play against the Warriors in the playoffs.

This Christmas, An Jie rarely got a rest, although this way of rest was not what he wanted.

At the beginning, An Jie was able to face the punishment of the Alliance indifferently. After all, with the team’s performance so good, occasionally taking a few breaks is also a very pleasant experience.

However, when Morris and Ricard have all lifted their bans, and only An Jie has to sit on the bench to watch the game, this guy can’t stand it.

Seeing his teammates fighting on the court, he can only stand by and watch. An Jiening would not like this opportunity to rest.

Perhaps An Jie is a militant in his bones, and he always complains that a season is too hard when playing games. But when you really get a break, you can’t get it off again.

So these days, the lights in the Moda Center training hall are always turned off late. In addition to having “family activities” with Catherine, Anjie, who has excess energy, can only put his excess energy on the training ground.

The penalty of ten game bans made Anjie disappear from the basketball court for more than half a month. Now it’s not just An Jie, even the fans can’t stand the days without An Jie.

Although Nurkic did a great job in the absence of Anjie, he played very well. But in Portland, I am afraid that even if Jordan returns, it will not be able to replace Anjie.

During the suspension, although the Blazers’ results are no longer terrifying, they are definitely not bad. In these ten games, the Trail Blazers won six of them. Paul George averaged a terrifying 31.5 points per game in these ten games.

An Jie did not misunderstand the wrong person, and entrusting the team to this kid is definitely a correct choice.

Day by day, when the Trail Blazers have a game at home, Anjie will go to the scene. When the Trail Blazers played away, Anjie simply stayed at home with his family.

This kind of day lasted on January 13 before it finally came to an end.

Finally, on January 13th. In the Portland Trail Blazers’ away game against the Magic, Anjie made his appearance again, but he did not appear in a suit!

That huge number 00 is the name that gives people strength behind it. The iconic inch head and headband, the center-forward series sneakers that swept the world… everything that is exciting and familiar is back again!

Although this game is played at the home court of the Magic, although the Magic is not worth mentioning to the Trail Blazers. But because of Anjie’s comeback, this game became the highest-rated game of the day, none of them.

Faced with weak magic in the battle of comeback, Anjie was not polite. After holding back for more than half a month, not only did he not lose the state as others feared, but instead used his own excitement to score 45 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists in the Amway Center Super triple-double.

The suspense of this game disappeared at the end of halftime, but Anjie didn’t mean to stop in the slightest.

After all, after holding back for so long, An Jie couldn’t comfort him if he didn’t break out.

This big victory let the entire league know that the dangerous Trail Blazers are back again!

After Anjie returned, the Trail Blazers immediately achieved another wave of 15 consecutive victories. It wasn’t until they encountered the Rockets fighting back to back that the winning streak finally stopped.

But at this time, the Trailblazers, which have won 52 wins, no longer have to worry about the regular season.

Let alone the weak teams, even if there are some teams that can be selected for the playoffs, they may not be able to win 52 wins in one season. However, when the Trail Blazers did all this, there were 22 games left in the regular season.

Others are still fighting for rankings and playoff spots, but the Trail Blazers have begun to sit back and relax early. Even if Lillard is reimbursed for the season, people don’t seem to notice how much the Trailblazers have become weaker.

Until April 12th the Trail Blazers defeated the Pelicans 103-100 and ended the last regular season of the season, people did not find any clues.

72 wins and 10 losses. Although the Trail Blazers failed to make history again, their 72 wins have improved a lot compared to the previous two years.

72 wins, the record that was hailed as impossible to break, was easily touched by the Trail Blazers time and time again. This result is definitely worthy of the fans’ expectations.

Unfortunately, as the playoffs are approaching, the Blazers’ starting lineup is missing an important fulcrum.

Lillard’s injury in the middle of the season has been gradually forgotten by most people. After all, the Trail Blazers are doing so well now that people can’t see the impact of Lillard’s absence on the team.

But Ricard is very clear that after entering the playoffs, the trouble caused by Lillard’s absence will be infinitely magnified. Shabaz Napier may be able to control the overall situation for the team during the regular season, but in the playoffs, whether this kid can perform well, it has to be said otherwise.

Ricard rubbed his temples. Although the regular season is over, he has racked his brains to prepare for the playoffs these days.

The Blazers failed in the playoffs in the past two years, and you can also “attribute” to the team’s lack of strength.

But this year, with a team that has achieved 72 wins, if Ricard fails again, it is estimated that he himself will not be able to accept such a result.

The Trail Blazers waited for two full years before finally waiting for the chance to hit the championship. The lack of Lillard does make the game difficult, but the Blazers must also overcome it!

After taking a sip of coffee, Ricard buried his head in the game video again. Divac was right. Now, he really looks more and more like Van Gundy’s bald workaholic…