The Way of the Center

The 2013 All-Star Weekend has come to a perfect conclusion, but the fans' eyes are not over yet.

One day after the All-Star weekend, the NBA officially arranged 8 matchups of 16 teams for fans.

For fans, such a dense schedule can keep their watching experience from being interrupted. But for players, such an intensive schedule can bring them nothing but torture.

Anjie and Lillard rushed to Phoenix overnight, because the Blazers will challenge the Suns at the American Airlines Center Arena in today's game. Catherine, on the other hand, flew to Portland first, waiting for Anjie to return.

Ricard had long been waiting in Phoenix with others, and Anjie and Lillard, two guys with All-Star missions, arrived in the early hours of the day before the start of the game. Fortunately, Houston is not far from Phoenix. If this game is played in the East, then Anjie and Lillard will really want to cry without tears.

Since Stoudemire and Nash left successively, the Suns have officially entered a period of reconstruction.

This season, the Phoenix Suns have a record of only 17 wins and 36 losses so far, ranking second to last in the Western Conference. All of their wins combined don't have as many winning streaks as the Trail Blazers. No way, a team without any stars and low desire to win must be vulnerable.

But even so, Ricard was concerned. The two central axes of Anjie and Lillard are very tired today. It is still unknown how much strength they can exert on the court.

If both Angie and Lillard are out of order, even the penultimate Suns in the West may have an upset.

The bottom-ranked team beats the top three teams. This kind of drama plays out in the NBA several times every season. Therefore, Ricard's worries are not groundless.

Before the start of the game, he thought hard about a lot of rotation methods, trying to minimize their physical exertion while allowing Lillard and Anjie to play a role. What's more, An Jie's finger has just recovered, and he doesn't want An Jie to fall into the deep pit of injury because of overwork.

Ricard and Anjie felt that their nerves hadn't recovered yet, and they were already sitting in the visiting team's locker room at the American Airlines Center Arena.

"Damn it, less than 24 hours ago, I was still in the locker room of the Toyota Center wearing the uniform of the All-Star Game." When changing clothes, An Jie also complained a little.

"Don't worry, Ann, we won't let the winning streak end." Iguodala patted An Jie on the shoulder, and his meaning was simple. Today, other people will help An Jie carry more burdens.

Warm up, final deployment, play, game. Everything was going on in an orderly manner, but the center of everyone's topic, as always, was An Jie.

People are talking about his winning streak, people are talking about his excellent performance in the All-Star Game, people are talking about any possibility that will happen to Angie. But one topic has become the focus of today - An Jie's physical fitness.

"I also came to Phoenix directly after the All-Star Game. To be honest, even if I just commented on the game, I still feel tired. I can't imagine how Anjie will deal with the fierce confrontation later." An ESPN commentator began to complain to the fans.

"The Suns center "Polish Hammer" Gortat is not a soft persimmon. This guy has a very tough style. He will not let Anjie be too easy today. On the contrary, he will catch Anjie well and be very tired." Opportunities consume Anjie crazily."

Everyone is worried about Anjie. If the Trail Blazers' winning streak ends up in the hands of the Suns, who are second to last in the Western Conference, it would be a bit of a pity.

Gortat was also extremely excited during the warm-up. I believe that the current coach of the Suns, Lindsay Hunter, must have arranged tactics for Gortat.

This heart-wrenching game finally began. Under Gortat's fierce eyes, Anjie jumped high and still won the first attack for the Trail Blazers.

But An Jie knew that Gortat's ability was more than that. Afterwards, Anjie will definitely not be easy on both ends of the offense and defense.

Sure enough, Anjie had just stepped into the three-point line, and Gortat stuck to Anjie like a candy to defend.

Although Gortat's statistics are not gorgeous, this guy's style is really tough, and his role on the field is also very huge.

Under this guy's relentless push and push, An Jie found that if he insisted on getting a good position, it would definitely consume a lot of energy. Today, what An Jie can't afford the most is physical strength.

So Anjie gave up the fight, and instead mentioned the high position to help Lillard make a pick-and-roll. He's not afraid of Gortat, it's just that he needs time to find a better way.

After successfully breaking through the Suns' Slovenian defender Dragic's defense, Lillard didn't even think about it, and went straight to the penalty area for a layup.

However, due to lack of rest, Lillard's speed today is not as fast as usual. Luis Scola, a member of Argentina's golden generation, completed the defense in time and strongly interfered with Lillard's layup.

Lillard's finishing ability under physical contact has always been his shortcoming. Now coupled with lack of physical strength, this goal failed to score.

Seeing the Trail Blazers' exhausted first offense, those fans who supported Anjie and the Blazers couldn't help feeling tense. Such a start is not a good sign.

In contrast to the Suns, Goran Dragic seemed particularly confident in front of Lillard today. Through smooth advancement and timely passing, he assisted Scola to walk past Hickson under the basket and successfully scored.

An Jie really wanted to rush to defend, but his speed was a few seconds slower. However, it is often these few seconds of time difference that can determine success or failure.

The Suns, which seemed to be far behind the Trail Blazers, actually controlled the rhythm of the court. Dragic was the commander-in-chief of this beautiful rhythm. The direction of the entire game was under the control of the Slovenian.

Not only can he score by himself today, but he can also assist his teammates to score. Lillard looked so immature in front of him, powerless to fight back.

Throughout the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were led by the nose. If it weren't for the positive performance of Matthews and Iguodala, the Suns might have taken the lead for the most part.

3o to 23, the mighty Blazers are actually seven points behind the Suns, the second-to-last in the Western Conference. Ricard immediately took a stool and sat among the players. He desperately wanted to change the situation, otherwise the game would only become more and more favorable to the Suns.

After the start of the second quarter, the Suns immediately felt the change. On the offensive end, Anjie is no longer at the forefront, but more active behind the free throw line.

The tired Lillard no longer organized the offense, but handed over the ball as soon as halftime passed.

Rickard used a very classic tactic that can indeed save Anjie a lot of energy, that is, let Anjie, a high point, act as the organizer.

Gortat's current entanglement has little effect on Anjie, because Anjie will not hold the ball for too long, he will always find teammates who have opportunities quickly and accurately, and his vision is so wide that Draghi Qi, who plays point guard, admires him very much.

In fact, it's not that An Jie really has eyes in the back of his head, it's just that he spent a lot of time memorizing all the tactics Ricard taught him. That's why he was able to complete those beautiful no-look passes time after time. Because when and where his teammates will appear, An Jie has a plan in mind.

Since then, Anjie's physical fitness has not only been liberated, but the Blazers' offense has also been revitalized.

Although the offensive efficiency is lower than when Anjie is the main attacker, it is enough to deal with the Suns.

Since then, Anjie and Dragic have brought pleasing passing performances to the audience. The two organizers with completely different styles have used all their skills to fight for the team's victory.

However, the firepower of Iguodala, Matthews and Lillard is beyond the reach of the Suns.

What about Gortat? He was full of anticipation before the game. But now, he can only wave his arms in front of An Jie like a fool, and he can't get the slightest advantage of his body and physical strength.

In the second quarter, under Anjie's excellent organization, the Trail Blazers successfully completed the counterattack. But the lead of only four points still cannot reassure the fans of the Trail Blazers. After all, Dragic has fully demonstrated his excellent state today, and it is not impossible to lead the Suns to counterattack in the second half.

During the intermission, Suns coach Lindsay Hunter arranged a lot of defensive strategies for Anjie's organization. As long as the passing route is strangled, no matter how powerful An Jie is, it is impossible for the basketball to pass through the defender's body.

So in the second half, Gortat's defense against Anjie was no longer so aggressive. However, just when everyone thought that An Jie, who was standing behind the free throw line again, was going to pass the ball, he broke through!

With a beautiful one-handed dunk, Anjie's sudden force made Gortat and Scola unable to react. An Jie has had enough rest. Although his physical strength is still weak, An Jie can still handle it for only one and a half games.

In the second round, Gortat was a little afraid of An Jie. And An Jie just smiled jokingly, and after playing two crotches and changing hands, he rushed forward again!

The Polish Hammer would not fall twice at the same place. He quickly moved sideways, blocking An Jie's attacking route. Angie either squeezes him out of the way, or gets called an offensive foul.

However, Anjie's tricks are not limited to those few. When he rushed to Gortat, he suddenly stopped, and then immediately turned around to win a little space for himself, and shot a jumper backwards.

Another move usually only done by perimeter players, but now people are no longer surprised to see Ainger do it all. Anjie's all-rounder has long been known throughout the world. Even if he shook Gortat down, the fans thought it was reasonable.

Gortat is completely stunned now. Why did the Chinese who tried his best to avoid confrontation with him in the first half suddenly come back to life in the second half? But before he could think about it, An Jie had already scored one after another.

Afterwards, Gortat found that even if he came hard, Anjie was not afraid. Now An Jie will not worry about lack of physical fitness, because there is only this time for the competition.

Played dead in the first half, revived in the second half. Rickard and An Jie, the two thieves, successfully placed Lindsay Hunter, the interim coach, together.

In the fourth quarter, Dragic was still working hard, and he did help the Suns cling to the score.

But every time the Suns are about to turn back, Anjie will stand up and use various means to create a little distance again. Then the sun chased again, and Anjie pulled again. The game has entered a vicious cycle, the longer the Suns drag on, the worse it will be for them.

At this time, if a star stands up and breaks the balance, then the Suns can take advantage in one go.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that the Suns have no stars.

Finally, with Ricard's excellent strategy and Anjie's all-around skill. The Trail Blazers narrowly beat the Suns 102 to 98 in the away game. If it hadn't been for Dragic, who was under tremendous pressure at the critical moment, to become weak, the victory or loss of this game would have to be said otherwise.

In any case, Anjie and the Trail Blazers finally survived the first game after the physical breakdown. And their winning streak has officially become 26 consecutive victories.

But after the game, Ricard did not look very happy. Because he knows that although this game can be won, it also encountered many difficult problems.

The opponents after the Trail Blazers will be stronger than the Suns. And the physical strength of Anjie, Lillard and others will not recover so quickly.

Greater challenges and difficulties are yet to come. The Suns after the All-Star Game are just warming up.

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