The Way of the Center

Chapter 476: Lost as a rookie, successful as a rookie

The fans in the Rose Garden Arena never expected that the Hornets, who had been beaten half to death in the first quarter, would suddenly exert their strength in the second quarter. The biggest change the Hornets made was simply to switch places between Rivers Jr. and Vasquez.

Perhaps this is the wonder of basketball, and sometimes just different combinations can lead to more different results. Although Rivers Jr. was very famous in high school, he was never a top point guard like Chris Paul. Losing to a first-year guard is unacceptable to Trail Blazers fans.

After Rivers' goal, the guy's confidence seemed to improve a lot. When Fischer dribbled the ball beyond the three-point line, he suddenly started, intending to take out the basketball in Fischer's hand!

Although Fisher is old and slow. But in terms of ball handling skills and experience, Rivers is still too tender. His forward steal not only did not make Fisher make a mistake, but instead made himself bear an unnecessary foul.

Taking advantage of this dead ball opportunity, Lillard, who was sitting in front of the technical table, jumped up.

"Teach him a lesson for me." Fisher hugged Lillard and whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry, Derek, I'll leave the rest to you. You should rest well."

After Lillard came on the court, his eyes never left Rivers. But the Rivers guy doesn't pay attention to Lillard at all now. He has just defeated a veteran point guard at the championship level. Now, what's so difficult about dealing with a rookie like himself? However, what Rivers didn't know was that although he was also a rookie, he was completely different from Lillard.

Anjie sent the ball from the sideline, and Rivers really wanted to pester Lillard so that he couldn't catch the ball. However, Lillard's speed made Rivers seem to be back in the first quarter. That sense of frustration surged into my heart again.

Receiving the ball easily, Lillard was not in a hurry to attack, but patted the ball with ease on the spot, waiting for his teammates to settle down.

See Anjie standing in the middle distance and holding Anthony. When Davis raised his hand for the ball,

Lillard didn't hesitate. He immediately accelerated and then turned back with skillful bad luck. Two consecutive different and rapid center of gravity changes made Rivers stagger and almost fell!

After passing Rivers Jr., everything was very easy. Lillard sent the basketball to Anjie's arms with a single hit, and Anjie's shoulders began to shake from side to side, testing Davis' defense.

Davis was unmoved. He knew that Anjie's task today was to organize the offense, not to score. Look at the active running positions of the rest of the Trail Blazers, Anjie must pass this time!

It was indeed passed, and not a few seconds after Anjie received the ball, he gave the ball to Lillard, who had gotten rid of the defense and ran to the mid-range position on the wing.

Rivers Jr. frantically rushed forward like a late sheep, hoping to turn Lillard's open opportunities into no longer opportunities. However, the moment Rivers jumped high, Lillard shot the basketball.

Rivers' expression in the air was very surprised, because Lillard neither jumped nor used the shooting action to complete the shot this time. Could it be possible...

"Boom!" The next second! Behind Rivers Jr. came the loud sound of the basket. He hurriedly looked back, and Anjie was just getting off the basket, while Anthony Davis, the No. 1 pick, could only pick up the ball from the floor in despair.

"The tacit cooperation between Ann and Lillard! Ann immediately cut inside after giving the ball to Lillard, which made the inexperienced Anthony Davis unaware. Lillard got an open opportunity and did not shoot. Instead, he returned the ball to Ann and let him score in the form of an alley-oop. After only three passes, the Blazers completed the offense with a clear mind. But between Rivers and Davis, there was almost no What connection." Kevin Harlan was full of praise for Anjie's alley-oop. There is a huge gap with An Jie!

Now it's not just Davis, even the confidence that Rivers Jr. has just built has cracks. Fisher and Ricard gave a thumbs up to Lillard who rushed back to the defense off the court, and Lillard blinked at them and continued to "torture" Rivers.

In the offensive round of the Hornets, Rivers found that he could no longer shuttle freely like he had just done to Fisher. Although Lillard's defense is not top-notch, Rivers Jr.'s own physical fitness is not excellent, which also makes it difficult for him to face Lillard.

Seeing that Austin Rivers stayed on the perimeter for a long time but failed to make a breakthrough, Anthony Davis was very anxious. Not being able to break through is not the worst thing. The worst thing is that Rivers Jr. has the old problem of sticking the ball when he can't break through the defense.

"Damn, did your father teach you to play like this!?" Monty Williams cursed unhappily in a low voice. He didn't think Doc Rivers would approve of his son's personal heroism.

Seeing that there were only ten seconds left in the attack time, Rivers had no choice but to force his way. However, the consequence of this is that the basketball originally controlled by Rivers was taken away by Lillard's quick hands.

Reluctantly, Rivers rushed to the out-of-control basketball and fell to the ground, but Lillard picked up the basketball before him, and Rivers only missed it.

After picking up the basketball, Lillard naturally launched a fast break. Anthony Davis's recovery speed surprised Anjie. The two started running at the same time, but Anjie could only watch Davis take the I'm going further and further away.

But no matter how fast Davis is, he can't be as fast as Lillard who is rushing up. Lillard easily completed a one-handed dunk. After Lillard dunked the ball, Anthony Davis just took off to seal it.

The Hornets, which managed to get up because of Rivers, were also overtaken because of Rivers. Monty Williams couldn't laugh or cry, he really didn't know whether to praise the son or criticize him. However, he still decided to take another look to see if Rivers could sink down and perform well after this mistake.

"Hey, I've got him. Next, it's your turn to get the No. 1 pick." Lillard yelled at Anjie after running back to his own half.

"Davis? Don't worry, I can eat him anytime!" An Jie waved his hand disapprovingly, the proud son of heaven? That's a rookie too!

Subsequently, Anthony Davis finally made a shot. However, a long-distance two-pointer is simply not a scoring method that Davis can rely on. He was only forced by An Jie to be unable to survive inside, so he chose to hit one with his own range. But this kind of long-distance two-pointer with the lowest "cost performance", how many points can Davis score on Anjie after a game?

The Hornets' offense became more and more chaotic, while the Blazers' offense flourished under Anjie's organization. Monty Williams had no choice but to call a timeout in advance. If this continues, the decline may be irreversible.

"Davis and Rivers come down and take a rest, Ryan Anderson and Vasquez, take more shots!" Monty Williams really couldn't just watch these two rookies messing around on the court, maybe the two This guy will be the backbone of the team in the future, but now, they will only make the situation worse!

Davis and Rivers Jr. are downcast. It is obvious that their performance has made the coach distrust them.

After returning from the timeout, even Ricard was a little surprised. Davis and Rivers are currently the most valuable "property" of the Hornets, but now, when the Hornets need to score, these two guys were actually pressed to the bench by Williams.

However, the first attack after the Hornets came back from the timeout was executed very calmly. Without restless rookies, they have fewer turnovers and less irrational shots.

Ryan Anderson continued to fire from the outside, and Vasquez also "educated" Lillard with his excellent basic skills. After the two "stars" of the Hornets were not on the court, they bit the score again.

Robin Lopez's defense didn't make Anjie much easier. Although he couldn't pose a threat to the Blazers inside, can Anthony Davis do it?

After the end of the second quarter, the Hornets unexpectedly trailed by only four points 50-54. You know, Davis Erivos didn't play for half of the second quarter!

"I hope you saw how others played just now? Do you want a chance? You have to show me!" During the intermission, Monty Williams took advantage of the problem to play, hoping to make Davis and Rivers Play better, the two rookies also know, now whether you are the No. 1 pick or born in a basketball family, Monty Williams only recognizes performance!

Not to mention, Williams' move is really useful. After the start of the third quarter, the performance of Rivers and Davis was indeed much better than that in the first half.

It's not that these two guys can carry the banner of scoring, but that they played more calmly than in the first half. Playing calmly will undoubtedly be of great help to the team. Under the miraculous defense of Ryan Anderson and Vasquez, the Hornets still did not admit defeat after more than half of the third quarter!

The Rose Garden fans are getting nervous. Could it be because of the lack of Aldridge, the Blazers will capsize again in the home gutter?

J . J . Hickson is also very annoyed, he always shrinks to the inside unconsciously, so many years of defensive habits make it difficult for him to change all of a sudden. And this habit is understandable when defending other inside players, but today, he met one of the top inside shooters in the league, Ryan Anderson.

The two sides remained in a stalemate until the end of the third quarter, 70 to 75, the Hornets were still behind, and they still had a chance.

"I'm afraid no one expected that this game would become so tense. The fourth quarter must be quite exciting! So, the confrontation between the low-ranked team and the high-ranked team is not without suspense. This is the NBA, this is basketball. Players are alive, not a set of data.” Kevin . Harlan couldn’t get enough of it, and today T . NT asked him to talk about the ball without a partner, which proved that T . NT's indifference to this game. But judging from the current situation, Kevin Harlan got a good job.

Anjie looked at Ryan Anderson, the guy who caused them the most trouble in this game. A thought reverberated restlessly in his heart...

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . Mobile version reading URL:

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like