The Way of the Center

Chapter 462: Clearing the Territory

Garnett is 2.11 meters tall and has unusually long arms. This made the wolf king who was able to play five positions back then a very peculiar existence.

But now, due to the lack of inside players in the Celtics, this standard striker has to go to the fifth position.

In an era when great centers are as rare as prehistoric dinosaurs, Garnett's role at the 5 is mostly understandable. But when he faced Angie, people could clearly feel how embarrassing it is for a forward to be in the fifth position.

In the jump ball stage, Damian Lillard got his wish and took the first attack from Angie. Many years ago, the story of Garnett being able to touch the top of the backboard was very popular among the folks. Not to mention whether this story is true, but Garnett's jumping ability at that time was indeed excellent.

But now, Garnett, who is almost 37 years old, is not very active. Fisher, who entered the league a year later than Garnett, has already retreated to the second line. Garnett has to face Anjie head-on with such a large weight and height, which is really not easy.

In the first offense of the Trail Blazers, Lillard raised the tempo very quickly. The reporters were surprised to point their cameras at the Trail Blazers' bench, but Ricard and Divac sat firmly on the Diaoyutai, very calm.

"What's the matter? Lillard has obtained such a big right?" Anyone familiar with the Blazers knows that Ricard's team is a slow-paced team that focuses on positional offense. But Lillard planned to attack at the beginning, which logically violated the Trail Blazers' tactical style.

Lillard can rush, but is it possible to let Anjie and Aldridge rush with a rookie guard?

In fact, Lillard speeded up at the beginning of the game, which was exactly arranged by Ricard. Unlike the young Trail Blazers, the Celtics are too old. And they are not as stable as the aging Spurs. Once the tempo is accelerated, the Celtics may mess up on their own.

Due to Rondo's injury, Lillard easily broke through the experienced but slightly sluggish "Jet" Terry. Compared with Fisher, Terry is already considered among people in this age group. soon. But facing Lillard, the veteran can only watch the matchup pass him by.

Going inside, Garnett immediately planned to help defend. It's just that under Anjie's obstruction, Garnett, who couldn't run, missed the best time to defend. At this time, the Celtics only had power forward Brandon Bass complete the defense, ready to prevent Lillard's layup. But Busna's height of only 2.03 meters will not allow him to pose too much threat to Lillard at all.

Lillard leaned on Bass for a layup without fear. Bass wanted to block the shot, but found that the No. 0 guard's impact and take-off height made him unable to touch the basketball at all.

Under the physical contact with Bass, Lillard just went up to the ball! In the first attack of the opening game, Ricard used a "blitzkrieg" to give the Celtics a blow.

"I don't know if this was deliberately arranged by Coach Ricard, but I have to say that Lillard's breakthrough really worked. Facing the Celtics who have entered the aging period, speed up the pace, maybe it will be better. Drag them to death quickly." Mike Breen certainly knows that the Blazers are a slow-paced team, but sometimes changing the team style appropriately may have unexpected gains.

"Damn it!" Garnett slapped his legs unwillingly. If he had been four or five years younger in that shot just now, Lillard would have only suffered!

"Hurry up and serve KG, the game has just started, we have plenty of time." Pierce yelled at Garnett as he ran up the court. He really didn't understand why Garnett would be so energetic every time he met Angie. .

The Celtics' offense does not have that menacing momentum, but only through the cooperation of a pass and movement, it can be seen how excellent the team's tactical training is.

The cheers of the fans in the TD North Shore Garden Arena are like a metronome, and the Celtics are stepping on this beat and running tactics.

The five people on the field perform their own duties, and those who should run should run, and those who should cover should be screened, and they will never be sloppy or delayed. The power of the traditional giants was fully demonstrated by the Celtics. This team still has a championship heritage in it.

In the end, through patient guidance, small forward Jeff Green, who had a close relationship with Anjie at the beginning, got a chance to shoot outside the three-point line.

Iguodala's defense is not without hard work, but he encountered two exquisite pick-and-rolls in a row, and he was powerless to everything that happened in front of him.

Although Jeff Green is just an ordinary starter now, you must know that he and Durant were collectively called "Twin Stars" when he was in the Thunder. Although he lacked stamina and failed to become a big star, Jeff Green is still very capable.

The standard shooting posture and Iguodala's post-mortem defense are useless in front of Jeff Green's height. Green hit a three-pointer to open the Celtics. The current Celtics do not have a super scorer, but they have proved that they still have a way to face strong enemies!

In the subsequent attack, Lillard still accelerated the pace. This style is also Lillard's favorite way of playing.

He who is restricted to death on weekdays can finally run freely without restraint today. He plunged into the paint again, and when the three Celtics shrank to the basket to stop Lillard, the orange basketball flew out of the crowd! Breaking through the ball, Lillard's forte!

As soon as An Jie stepped into the three-point line with one foot, he received the ball. Due to Lillard's attraction, there is no one in front of Anjie now. But Anjie didn't intend to make an emergency stop for a jump shot. He is not a guard, and he knows that he cannot rely too much on outside offense.

So Anjie didn't use this space to shoot, but used this space to plan to take three steps!

Since Anjie was chasing behind Lillard and pushing forward, Anjie rushed the ball very fast. After catching the ball and taking three steps, An Jie's speed did not slow down at all.

Jeff Green was stunned for a moment, then raised his hands to interfere with An Jie! But at this time, An Jie has already leaped high! The fast speed makes him more inertial, which means that Anjie is more difficult to stop!

Green raised his arms and stood under the basket like a low wall, while Anjie, directly across the low wall, used his strength and wingspan advantages to dunk the basketball in abruptly!

Garnett witnessed the whole process of Anjie completing the dunk, young, so good...

After the goal, Anjie didn't provoke Jeff Green. After all, he did dunking Jeff Green when Anjie was still in the Thunder and Green was in the Kings. No. 00, who had just completed a wonderful dunk, just lightly high-fived No. 0 next to him to thank him for the beautiful pass.

Although An Jie was very calm, Mike Breen, who was in charge of explaining the game, couldn't calm down. The dunk after the big center quickly stepped down, in today's era of rampant forwards and guards, the scene just now is really a bit different. Mike Breen didn't want to put those repeated words of praise on the stage, but his heartfelt exclamation was the greatest affirmation of this wonderful goal.

So far, Garnett has not even had a head-to-head confrontation with Anjie. But Anjie's performance in these two rounds has made Garnett clear the gap between them.

But for the sake of victory, even if he meets God, the "Wolf King" will not back down!

After that, An Jie found that the guy next to him began to feel restless. In order to stop Anjie's running, Garnett often made unlawful pulls to slow down Anjie's speed. It was also taking advantage of this opportunity that Paul Pierce broke through Matthews with a fake throw.

Pierce's explosiveness and speed are no longer as good as they were then, but his control over the rhythm of the game is getting better and better. This breakthrough Pierce did not completely shake off Matthews at all. However, with his excellent sense of rhythm, Pierce just avoided the interference of Matthews and Aldridge, and steadily advanced the ball.

Each of his three steps is so solid and deceptive at the same time that you can't figure out his next move at all. In this era when most people play with their bodies, Pierce taught Matthews a good lesson in an unconventional way.

"This is Paul Pierce. Maybe he is no longer a super scorer, but he is still one of the best players in this league!" How long is Pierce's "shelf life"? When his body has begun to degenerate, he can still average 19 points per game in other ways, which is one of the reasons why the Celtics still have the belief to win.

Maybe it's because Pierce's goal touched Garnett's heart a lot. This guy actually used a turnaround jumper to score two points on Angie's head in the next round of offense.

An Jie couldn't help admiring Garnett's touch. This guy with a rough appearance and a savage personality is not bad at all when he does technical work.

It's just that the strength gap between the two lineups is there, and the Celtics have not been tortured to death by the Blazers. But what they can do is just bite the score.

But the fast pace of Lillard and Ricard quickly overwhelmed the veterans of the Celtics. Faced with this situation, Coach Doug Rivers had to replace Garnett, Pierce and Terry in advance.

The effect of the substitution this time is very obvious, because on the offensive end, the Celtics lost a bit of calm, but a bit more edgy.

The "Brazilian Lightning" Barbosa, who was transferred from the Pacers, is not Terry. Honestly organizing offense is not the Brazilian's strong point.

Facing Fischer, who was slow-footed after replacing Lillard, Barbosa didn't call the pick-and-roll, and easily passed "Old Fish" by his personal ability after two consecutive changes in front of his body.

After passing the old fish, the Blazers' defensive formation did not shrink. They are afraid that the contraction will give the Celtics other shooting space. At the same time, they also believe that Anjie will handle it under the basket!

Anjie's former teammate Chris Wilcox tried his best as he said before the game, but still failed to stop Anjie from defending the basket. Seeing Anjie complete the defense so quickly, Barbosa was a little unwilling.

Do you have to give up the score you got? Barbosa knew that with his height, it was impossible for him to confront An Jie head-on. But a sudden throw may be a good choice...

"Slow down!" Barbosa thought that everything he did was flawless, but An Jie observed that Barbosa's footsteps were gradually slowing down. Most guards will habitually slow down their breakthrough pace before throwing to adjust their rhythm. An Jie can only take a gamble to see if the Brazilian will actually make a throw!

As soon as Barbosa stepped into the free throw line, he got up and threw the ball, but to his surprise, An Jie seemed to have chosen the right time, and appeared in front of him just right!

Barbosa had no other choice but to bite the bullet and make a move. But before the basketball even started to fall, it was ruthlessly "dismissed" by An Jie.

"Another shot-blocking performance! Oh my God, even blocking shots can become Ann's signature move!"

Open your hands and land smoothly. An Jie just jumped so high that even Barbosa, who was blocked, thought it was unbelievable.

He swallowed, and turned his gaze to An Jie. I saw that An Jie was laughing at himself at the moment, which didn't mean friendship, but made people feel creepy.

"This is the territory of the big guys. You can't fly here. Listen, get out of my territory and just shoot outside the three-point line!" When An Jie said this, the smile was still hanging on his face superior.

Barbosa felt creepy, but Garnett on the bench was happy.

Garnett could see that Anjie had already "warmed up" and started to get serious. And playing a serious game is the greatest respect for a veteran.

"Come on, let's let others see what a real man is!" Garnett bared his fangs, and the veteran found that his blood boiled...

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