The Way of the Center

Chapter 847 : Grinding Purgatory

The result of this game surprised everyone. People have thought that the Cavaliers would lose, but never thought that the Cavaliers would lose so badly.

The Cavaliers made 40 three-pointers throughout the game, but only made 14 of them. Most of them came from Korver, who was replaced in the second half.

Maybe Tyronn Lue has forgotten that his perimeter player is not Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the two quasi-perverted guys. In order to win the game with a three-pointer, Tyronn Lu needs some luck in addition to strength.

But it is clear that today, God is not on the side of Cleveland.

With victory, An Jie dragged his tired body back to the dressing room. Although the Trail Blazers achieved a big victory today, An Jie, who was the main offense, did not play easily.

On both ends of the offense and defense, Anjie needs to work harder than others to ensure that the team stays ahead.

After this guy returned to the locker room, the reporters arranged the camera in front of Anjie’s locker for the first time.

In the past, the team’s locker room was definitely a forbidden area for reporters. But in recent years, in order to better publicize itself, the NBA has also allowed journalists to enter the locker room for some limited shooting in an orderly manner.

Although there were cameras with lights on in front of him, An Jie did not appear uncomfortable. After all, life under the spotlight, Anjie has long been accustomed to.

The tall 00 didn’t celebrate the victory, nor did he pay attention to the reporters in front of him. He just took out his cell phone, dialed a video call, and then raised the cell phone.

“Hey, your performance is amazing. Tell Dad that I love you, Xiao Ke.” Catherine’s voice came out on the phone.

“Dad, you are awesome! I love you!” After that, An Xiang yelled immaturely.

“Hey, how are you doing?” An Jie showed a warm smile, this kind of expression, but the reporters couldn’t see it on the basketball court.

“Today my mother took me to the zoo! Then, we went to my father’s restaurant to eat steak!” An Xiang’s expression was very excited, obviously he still remembers his happy life today.

“Really!? Saw an elephant in the zoo?”

“Saw!”

……

The reporters couldn’t bear to interrupt the chat between An Jie and his family. The group simply removed the camera and aimed at Iguodala, the No. 2 player of the Trail Blazers.

Yes, An Jie is no longer the frivolous young man. His life is more than just basketball.

At the press conference after the game, An Jie seemed to be in a particularly good mood. Wu Hua believes that in addition to the victory in the game, the well-being of his family is also one of the reasons that makes An Jie so happy.

The first game in Cleveland ended in this relaxed and cheerful atmosphere.

The Blazers won, and Anjie also cut dazzling statistics. And Catherine and An Xiang also spent a pleasant day belonging to them.

An Jie slept very early today, and Morris had just returned to his room when he found that An Jie had fallen asleep in the bed.

Morris smiled and put down the two gamepads and a ps4 game console he had snatched from Nurkic. Originally, he wanted to have a one-on-one bullfight with An Jie in the game, but now… let this tough guy, who has worked hard all night, take a good rest.

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The biggest difference between the playoffs and the regular season is that if you want to stand out in the end, you need more than just one game victory, but four full games.

The NBA rule of seven games and four wins makes the playoffs a battlefield for extremely hone players’ will. Some people may suddenly burst out and lead the team to a victory, but in four games, apart from factors such as burst and luck, you have no perseverance and strength, and you can’t hold on to the end.

LeBron James, who has reached the finals for eight consecutive years, knows the truth, so after losing a game in the Quicken Loans Center Arena, James was not discouraged.

He knows that in the playoffs, winning or losing is a common occurrence. The Cavaliers the year before last, when they were 3-1 behind, the Warriors won the city’s first professional sports trophy in Cleveland?

The current situation is far from being as difficult as it was back then. The Cavaliers are only temporarily behind, and the next game will be played on the Cavaliers’ home court.

No matter how strong the Trail Blazers are, he is also a single-core team with too few stars due to injuries. An Jie collapsed, and the Trail Blazers would collapse all at once.

Faced with such a team, the Cavaliers need not panic at all. Perhaps this is James’ courage, a courage to stay behind in the playoffs and remain calm.

In this frenetic summer when the NBA Finals started, time always flies quickly for the players of the two teams who survived.

An Jie felt as if he had just got off the court yesterday. Today, the third match of the finals started again.

Although the last game just lost, but Cleveland fans are still enthusiastic.

Tyronn Lu did not make any adjustments, and continued to use a large and four small lineups to fight the Blazers. The difference is that today, the Cavaliers no longer play An Jie offense, but appropriately put a lot of offensive pressure on An Jie.

James and Love’s double-team double-teaming forced Anjie to pass the ball several times. J.r. Smith and Korver, the two bench guards’ three-pointers, caused the Trail Blazers’ second team to be battered.

And the three guards of Wade, Rose and Thomas Jr. are not confining themselves to the three-point line. They appropriately increased the number of their breakthroughs, and most of the time they went to Morris’s side.

Although still not eating less, but the three guys’ breakthroughs have also added more scoring means for the Cavaliers. At the same time, Morris, who was a little impatient, was sent off again because of a full foul after continuing in the Western Conference semifinals.

James finally showed his leadership qualities today. He has twice successfully layup against An Jie’s defense. Even James, it is very difficult to complete this kind of goal. After all, few people in this league dared to play like this in front of An Jie.

Due to James’ actions, the morale of the Cavaliers has also been greatly improved. In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers became more and more brave. Even Wade, who was dragging a pair of battered knees, frequently pierced inside.

The Trail Blazers relied on An Jie to bite the score, but until the end of the game, they failed to complete the lead.

108 to 111, the Cavaliers relied on a weak three-point advantage and achieved a huge victory.

Although the last game was defeated by the Blazers, the Cavaliers retained a home court anyway.

The total score of the series has become a 2-2 tie. Whenever reporters think that one side is about to dominate the series, the trend of the series will be changed in the next game. And this uncertainty is also one of the charms of the finals.

The two teams that can reach the end are definitely the best teams in the entire league. Although Anjie once completed a sweep on the stage of the finals, the team that was swept is precisely the Cavaliers. But that is always a small probability event. Throughout the decades of history of the NBA, this kind of event has occurred nine times.

Generally speaking, the finals are by no means easy for both parties. Therefore, the Cavaliers once again equalized the score, which is also expected by many people.

Finally, after spending six days in Cleveland and playing two games, Angel returned to Portland as he wished.

The fifth matchup in the finals continued at Moda Center, which has Catherine and Anxiang.

Today, the Cavaliers played well in the first half and once achieved a 12-point lead.

However, in the second half, for unknown reasons, the Cavaliers’ inaccuracy from outside the three-point line was guilty again.

During this time, Anjie didn’t waste it. He seized the time to raging crazily under the basket, spurring his teammates, and making the 12-point difference disappear in one game.

In the fourth quarter, both sides returning to the same starting line were very tired. The Cavaliers had to change back to their regular play and let James hit the basket a lot to ease the pressure on scoring.

And Anjie seemed to be overwhelmed under the repeated impact of James and the All-Star outsiders.

His injured knee was aching due to exhaustion, and An Jie, who couldn’t take steps, allowed the opponent to succeed at the basket in the last few minutes of the game.

Fortunately, Morris stood up at the moment. He took the initiative to share Anjie’s defensive pressure, so that the Cavaliers’ offensive momentum came to an abrupt halt.

An Jie, who got a respite, was also resurrected on the offensive end. In the last 36 seconds of the game, An Jie used a jump dunk and a three-point foul at the basket, allowing the Cavaliers to lose Portland by three points.

After the game, James was unwilling to beat the floor of the Moda Center. After all, he was so close to victory.

Both sides continue to chase me, and no one can beat anyone in succession. Although the Trail Blazers got the match point, almost no one thought that the Trail Blazers, who beat the Cavaliers today, could make it through. The next game will move to Cleveland. The Trail Blazers want to end the playoffs early, I am afraid it is impossible.

Today’s game, the Blazers won the hard way, also let a lot of experts predict that the Blazers with an incomplete lineup are likely to completely collapse.

After all, in this era, it is difficult to win a championship with a single-core team alone. An Jie only scored 26 points and 10 rebounds today and his field goal percentage dropped significantly compared to before. If Iguodala had not scored 21 points today, maybe the final winner would be the James Legion.

Can he continue to be tired after all? Everyone has to put a big question mark on this.

The time has come to mid-June, and the summer temperature has ushered in **. And the entire finals has officially entered the white-hot stage.

The game at this time is always the hardest. Having played more than 100 games in one season, the players’ bodies have already reached their limits.

An Jie, who covered his knees with an ice bag in the locker room, leaned on the cabinet and closed his eyes.

An Jie didn’t think about anything now, he just wanted to take a good breath. No time has it been easy to win a championship. Even in the year when the Cavaliers were swept to win the championship, the Blazers were not easy to play.

In any case, insist, persist, persist…

An Jie’s phone slipped from his hand into the ice bucket. This exhausted big man seemed to have fallen asleep…