The Way of the Center

"Go back to your country!"

"Aren't you a great Chinese!? Why aren't you the winner now!"

"This is the Staples Center. You can't even beat the Clippers, and you still want to win against the Lakers?"

98 to 1o5, the Thunder finally suffered their first defeat of the month on the tenth day of February. "Even though the game is over, the fans of the Lakers still launched a "saliva offensive" against everyone in the Thunder. The main reason is that An Jie's rough defense on the field really annoyed them.

With 29 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks, Anjie beat Durant for the first time and became the team's highest scorer. But Bryant's 34 points and Pau Gasol's 22 points still ensured that the Lakers could win without risk.

Anjie used to be one of these fans, and the Lakers used to be his favorite team. But now, he is on the opposite side of these "fellow lovers".

"Don't bother with them, this is Los Angeles." Westbrook has long been accustomed to hearing these words when he played in college.

"I won't talk to them at all, the damn penalty when I'm fucking angry!" Thinking of this, the veins on An Jie's forehead bulged again.

Why hasn't Westbrook encountered such a thing? When playing against the Cavaliers before, Westbrook was sure that James made a key layup at the last moment, but the referee also turned a blind eye. At that time, Westbrook let this matter rot in his heart, because he grew up in the big dye vat of Los Angeles, and he knew that even in the nba, there were many unfair places.

This time the referee's favoritism wasn't too much, but it just happened to be An Jie's turn.

"Don't be unhappy, Ann, the NBA is a commercial league, and the Lakers are one of the biggest sources of income for this league. You will get used to this kind of thing." Atkins has been in the NBA for more than ten years. When playing for the Lakers, he also received many "benefits" from referees.

"Yes, if we are really strong enough to beat the Lakers directly, then the referee's whistle will not help them." Jeff Van Gundy also had to stand up and say something, lest the confidence of the young center be hit .

An Jie sat in front of his cabinet thinking, but stopped complaining.

"Let's go guys, go to the press conference with me." Van Gundy said of Anjie, Westbrook and Durant naturally.

"Today against the Lakers,

The consumption of the team must be great. Tomorrow the team will go back to back to Portland to play a tough game, do you think your players can handle it? "It's a commonplace topic, but every time the reporters will not give up asking.

"I still say the same thing, if the league is willing to arrange the schedule reasonably, then the quality of the nBa game will definitely be greatly improved." Van Gundy also replied as before.

"Ann! We saw you arguing with the referee several times during the game. Do you think Kobe's last key steal was a foul?" The person who asked the question was Dorsey from ESPN, Anjie's old rival.

To admit that Kobe's obvious foul was a beautiful steal? An Jie really couldn't say it in his heart. Although he was young, Muslav gave him many "ideological and political" lessons.

"Don't use youth as an excuse to be impulsive. Before answering the reporter's question, please consider the impact of what you say." This is a "classroom focus" that Moslav repeatedly emphasized to An Jie.

"The referee's penalty really distressed me, but our offense in the fourth quarter was indeed severely restricted by the opponent. This is the biggest reason for our loss." An Jie replied calmly, without any flaws .

"Hum, you're lucky." Dorsey snorted softly in his heart. He didn't believe that An Jie, a rough player, could get past every conflict.

After all post-match business has been dealt with, the players are given a two-hour break. Ordinary people are envious of stars who casually earn millions of dollars a year, but the hardships of being a professional player are completely invisible to others.

Westbrook rushed to Kathy Barr's home overnight to visit the grandmother of his late best friend. Immediately after that, I took a taxi to Los Angeles International Airport, preparing to take a special plane with the team to Portland, 1500 kilometers away from Los Angeles.

And An Jie talked to Catherine on the phone. Since Catherine's identity was exposed, he has been very worried about the living conditions of this mixed-race girl.

"What's the matter, Catherine, are there any reporters bothering you these days?"

"It's getting less and less. Today, only a reporter from a small gossip magazine came to pester me and asked me some boring questions. I ignored them." Listening to Catherine's lively tone, she should have gradually gotten used to it. Ames City is fairly peaceful, even public figures can live normally in this small town.

"Well, that's what you should do to keep these flies away from you. By the way, did you get that skirt?"

"Not yet, maybe tomorrow. Ann, are you sure you want me to attend with you? I... I'm a little nervous." Catherine became shy while talking, Phoenix All-Star, An Jie Naturally, he would not let go of such an opportunity to meet Catherine, and of course the bearded man would not let go of the chance to get Anjie's free tickets.

"It's okay, this is not a formal occasion, just come and have fun!" An Jie's parents felt that Phoenix was too far away and they didn't want to travel around, so they declined An Jie to participate in the All-Star Weekend together. invitation. Those of you who used to be on the Cyclone team are now busy making the final sprint into March Madness. In this way, the only people who can accompany An Jie during the All-Star Weekend are Catherine and Beard.

"Hey! Ann! Let's go!" It was assistant coach Alton, and the Thunder players had already started boarding.

"Hey baby, I have to get on the plane. I know you are very distressed during this period, and I really want to come back to accompany you, but there is really no way. Don't think about those unhappy things, okay, we will have a few more days We can meet again."

"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile. I love you Ann."

"I love you too, Catherine."  …

Flying away from the unpleasant Los Angeles, the journey of a new day is still waiting for the three thunderbolts.

"Although Coach Van Gundy has repeatedly emphasized that the players' physical strength will not be a problem, I don't think any coach will admit this. The fact is that the players cannot be full of energy in back-to-back games!" 87 to 1oo , The game entered the final moment, and the Thunder trailed the Trail Blazers by 13 points!

"The game against the Lakers has drained the energy of the Thunder players. They just defeated the Trail Blazers five days ago, but now they are completely different teams!" Mike Breen shook his head helplessly.

In order to allow the players to rest, Jeff Van Gundy has severely reduced the playing time of the three Thunder players. But helplessly, even if they can rest for a few minutes more than before, it will not make them recover much better.

In the last three minutes of offense, Durant was exhausted and missed another shot, and Anjie was too tired to jump up. Greg Oden was beaten by Anjie once, and he was caught today. After this rebound, he has already scored a double-double.

That's why the Bulls' 72 wins can be called great. In addition to their own strength, those guys must also have good fatigue resistance. Consecutive battles and consecutive victories are something that many teams cannot do.

96 to 106, the Trail Blazers beat the Thunder's three juniors at the Rose Garden Stadium, and Roy and Oden also staged a perfect battle of revenge.

The champion Oden had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and "Yellow Mamba" Roy had 22 points and 5 assists. Looking at the data of these two people alone, it may not reflect the advantage of the Trail Blazers.

That plus Aldridge's 11 points and 10 rebounds, bench bandit Travis Outlaw's points, the Spanish trapeze, and the international player Rudy Ferrandez's 13 points selected for the nba slam dunk contest this year, these are enough to make The Thunder, drained by the Lakers, lost.

Westbrook and Durant each scored 20 points and 20 points, but their shooting percentages were only 35%. Although Anjie's shooting percentage reached 50%, his 17 points and 6 rebounds were clearly unsatisfactory. , He lost too many rebounds in this game, which has never happened in the previous 47 games.

Except for the Thunder's three young players, only Chris Wilcox, the offensive core on the bench, scored in double digits. If the Blazers can't even win the Thunder in this state, they are really ashamed of the fifth position in the West.

After losing two games in a row, not only did the Thunder fail to achieve five consecutive victories, but they fell into a vicious circle of losing streak again. But the only thing that comforts Jeff Van Gundy is that the All-Star Weekend in the next few days will be a great opportunity for the team to recuperate.

Only three games away from the ninth-ranked Suns, and only four games away from the eighth-ranked Jazz. It doesn't look like much though, and the game still has a full half season left. But it is not so easy to catch up.

Originally, Presti's task for Jeff Van Gundy this season was to avoid the bottom and train new players, but they have reached this point. Is there any reason not to hit the playoffs?

"Take advantage of these few days to rest well. In the following games, all teams will start to hit the playoffs with all their strength!" Van Gundy watched the three rookies boarding the plane to Phoenix, and the Thunder's sprint in the second half of the season, but all It's up to them. (To be continued.) 8