Author: Feng Yuanhua

At the end of the first quarter, the SuperSonics firmly held the lead.

27:19

The score difference of 8 points is neither big nor small.

According to the Blazers' offensive rhythm, it takes four offensive rounds, which takes about two minutes at least.

Moreover, this also requires ensuring that the ball is scored every time and that the SuperSonics are defended every time.

This is obviously impossible.

When the substitute came on, Shawn Kemp was very excited whether it was because he was back in Seattle.

Facing Perves Ellison who came on as a substitute, it was really a casual game, giving and receiving.

Coupled with Bonchi Wells, there is really some momentum to chase points.

But you, Michael Reed, are in good form today. First you hit a three-pointer, and then you assisted your teammates to score.

Coupled with Quentin Richardson and Brent Barry, at least in a short period of time, they played back and forth with the Trail Blazers' bench.

During this period of time, the SuperSonics did not fail to find ways to continue to widen the point difference, and it was best to establish a victory in one fell swoop.

It's just that, after all, the strength of the Trail Blazers lies here.

Whenever this happens, someone will always step forward to help the team, but they don't let the SuperSonics continue to widen the point difference.

The score difference of about 8 points seems to have become a balance point. Everyone wants to break it, but they can't.

The Trail Blazers want to narrow the point difference to 5 points, or even even it out, while the SuperSonics want to widen the point difference to double digits.

But nothing can be done.

The two sides went back and forth, and the score continued from the first quarter to the end of the first half, and remained stalemate until the fourth quarter.

There were less than 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, 4 minutes and 46 seconds to be exact, and the score between the two sides was 87:80.

After Steve Smith caused a foul and made two free throws, the point difference between the two sides remained at 7 points.

Even if it's just a free throw, the Blazers have already shown great excitement.

It can be seen that they want to even out the difference in one fell swoop.

When the SuperSonics attacked, Wang Hao wanted to catch the ball. However, this time, Pippen came directly to the ball without any morals.

Instead of following Wang Hao, he chose to take a step ahead and adopted a strategy of not letting Wang Hao catch the ball.

You know, this is a very shameless thing.

It's like an inside player, when can he use forward defense and when he feels that he can't guard the opponent.

Pippen's adoption of such a defensive strategy is equivalent to admitting that he really can't guard Wang Hao.

Well, the game is not over yet, Wang Hao has already scored 27 points, and the data has already explained the problem.

However, this sudden change of tactics really caught Supersonic off guard.

Wang Hao failed to catch the ball and the tactics could not be executed.

Fortunately, Gary Payton was holding the ball. He made a quick decision and chose to do it himself, asking for the pick-and-roll inside.

Ewing just came on the court and when he was full of energy, he quickly moved up to the high post and set up a pick-and-roll for Gary Payton.

Although Stoudemire is not tall enough, he is very fast and does not give Gary Payton a chance to break through.

On the contrary, it was Ewing, a very experienced subordinate, who seemed to have gotten a chance.

Gary Payton didn't waste any time and quickly passed the ball over.

It's a pity that today's Ewing is not the same Ewing who was able to perform all kinds of violent dunks inside and outside.

If it were Ewing 5 years ago, he would be able to start after receiving the ball, then rush into the paint and complete a dunk.

But now, he had to dribble, and it was this dribble that gave Dale Davis the opportunity to get in position.

Dale Davis was able to enter the All-Star last year. Although there was a factor of luck, he still has strength, especially defensively.

The defenders are already in place, and Ewing still wants to improve his shooting. Unfortunately, he is no longer the same player he was then.

"Bang!"

There was an unusually clear sound as the basketball bounced out of the frame and was rebounded by the Roaring God.

That is to say, we must attack now, otherwise, Rasheed Wallace will have to pick up the board angrily and roar.

The Sonics' defense is not bad either, and they retreated in a timely manner.

Well, the Trail Blazers had no idea of ​​a fast break and were slowly crossing half court.

Stoudemire wasted no time this time and handed the ball to Steve Smith.

He has scored 16 points in today's game, which, like Rasheed Wallace, is the highest score on the team.

Although there is Lewis' defensive problem, it also shows that Steve Smith is in good condition.

The two players in the best condition cooperated, and the effect was really good.

Steve Smith forced a breakthrough and immediately passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace after attracting double-teams.

Rashid caught the ball in the mid-range, faked a move to shake off the defender, then broke through again and forced a layup.

"Roar!"

Although he scored a goal, he didn't dunk it. It can even be said that the goal was ugly.

But the Roaring Heavenly Lord didn't care about this, he simply roared to the sky and successfully picked off two pairs.

10 roars in 18 minutes.

He was not very good at first, but if he still played like this, Wang Hao could even see that the referee had puffed up his cheeks.

Fortunately, NBA referees, who are somewhat professional, endured it and did not call the call.

If it were a certain flower grower who was the referee, the whistle would have sounded long ago if he had anything to say.

After all, if you can say "I know I'm wrong, but I won't change it", there's nothing you can't do.

"Gary, control the rhythm, don't be anxious, we are still ahead, the advantage is mine."

On the sidelines, Paul Westphal had already stood up and told Gary Payton not to be anxious and just play fast.

He keeps saying not to worry, but in fact, as the head coach, he has already experienced psychological fluctuations.

Seeing that the score difference is only 5 points, everyone will have a reaction.

However, although Paul Westphal was anxious, what he cared about was not the outcome of a game.

It's a judgment about the Trail Blazers before the game.

If the judgment is wrong, it means that everything they have done before is wasted.

More importantly, there is no way to control the Trail Blazers.

The outcome of a regular season game doesn't matter, let alone Paul Westphal, even Mike Dunleavy doesn't care.

Mike Dunleavy is the head coach of the Trail Blazers and the NBA Coach of the Year in the 1998-1999 season.

Speaking of the best coach, I have to mention that last season, Paul Westphal was actually qualified to win the best coach.

However, the league still gave it to Rivers.

The reason is that he led the civilian Lakers team to achieve very outstanding results and deserves this award.

But the question is, what kind of excellent results is 41 wins and 41 losses? They didn't even make it to the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Moreover, this year Rivers instantly slapped the NBA in the face because his team did not improve at all.

Wang Hao remembers clearly that this season, the Magic still only had a record of 43 wins and 39 losses.

You know, with an All-Star level Tracy McGrady, you can win two more games!

Although the Magic still entered the playoffs, the question is, can such results be convincing?

This is definitely the best coach in the most watery season in NBA history.

Closer to home, there are only 4 minutes left in the game, and the 5-point difference will be wiped out at any time.

Similarly, it took so much effort to catch up with the score. If they were pulled away again, the Blazers would probably collapse.

The game has reached its most intense moment, and it all depends on who has better resilience and who can persevere.

Gary Payton pushed the ball into the frontcourt unhurriedly and waited until all his teammates were in position before deciding to play tactics.

It was still the pick-and-roll tactic he and Wang Hao used. After practicing it several times in actual combat, he also discovered the abnormality of this tactic.

In the past pick-and-roll tactics, most inside and outside pick-and-rolls were used. After all, the inside players were more solid and the pick-and-roll quality was higher.

At the same time, it can also bring out the opponent's interior defenders, allowing the interior to have more space.

Although Wang Hao's pick-and-roll for Gary Payton cannot open up the inside space, it is more flexible.

Gary Payton and Wang Hao are both players who can play inside and outside, can shoot suddenly, and have more options when handling the ball.
To be continued...