The Way of the Center

On the training ground the next day, Ricard was clearly not as loud as he used to be.

His temper is still fiery, and his training requirements are still strict. However, that loud roar no longer appeared frequently.

Instead, there was a violent cough that appeared from time to time. Even if Anjie and Ricard didn't tell others about those things, such an obvious flaw would definitely make everyone suspicious.

"What's the matter with you, man?" Divac asked Ricard the same question for the third time today.

"It's just a cold. The temperature in Portland this winter is really terrible." Rickard deliberately wrapped himself in a small vest, but in fact the sweat on his forehead was already densely hanging in a row.

During the training break, the old Miller, who had paper inserted in both nostrils to prevent the snot from dripping all over the training ground, also gave Ricard cold medicine. Miller Sr. had a bad cold, but he hadn't forgotten to share his medicine with his head coach. Ricard was very relieved, and this sense of relief also made him decide to keep this secret with An Jie.

A "cold" can make the people around you so nervous, if you let them know that you have chronic bronchitis with a scary name, it's no wonder these guys don't panic.

For the stability of the team's morale, and for everyone to devote themselves to basketball. Ricard decided to keep this secret in his heart.

God never let the fate of the Trail Blazers be magnanimous, and Ricard wanted to challenge fate.

After two days of rest after the loss, the Trail Blazers continued their regular season journey.

On December 21, in the days approaching Christmas, the Trail Blazers ushered in the challenge of "Rookie King" Anthony Davis on the road.

Compared with last season, the second-year Davis has improved significantly like Lillard. No matter how powerful Lillard is, he lives under Anjie's halo. Anthony Davis, on the other hand, is completely self-reliant.

With 11 wins and 13 losses, the Hornets' performance this season after being renamed the Pelicans still hasn't made people see improvement. However, the competition between Anthony Davis, the all-round insider of the new generation, and An Jie still attracted much attention.

Once upon a time, An Jie has become the object of challenges of the future generations. Once, he ran behind Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming. Now, there is another group of children chasing after An Jie.

"I am very eager to challenge Anjie. If I can, I will do my best to beat him in the game!" Facing the reporter's interview, Anthony Davis showed his youthful self-confidence.

But self-confidence off the court is self-confidence, but on the court, you have to speak with your strength.

An Jie had to admit that Anthony Davis was indeed much better than himself in terms of versatility.

"Big Eyebrows" Davis can not only play inside, but also shoot three-pointers and control the ball independently. In short, he is completely an inside Durant No. 2.

But in terms of dominance inside, Davis is still far behind Anjie. No matter how versatile an insider is, his dominance of the paint area cannot be weakened in the slightest. Otherwise, he would not be considered a good inside player. And Davis still has a long way to go in this regard.

Ryan Anderson's long-range shots are still a headache, and Eric Gordon's performance is also worthy of recognition. As for Anthony Davis, this guy hasn't been beaten all over the place by Anjie like last season. He scored 21 points and 9 rebounds today, and his performance can be described as quite outstanding.

But Anjie's perfect control of the penalty area still makes Davis' quasi-double-double data meaningless.

Help defense, rebound, counterattack, support, score. Everything that Anjie can do in the paint area has been done perfectly.

With 29 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and 7 assists, it seems that Anjie's data is not much better than Davis. But the gap between them is more than a star and a half.

In the end, Anthony Davis' challenge came to an end. last attack,

Davis's shot from outside the three-point line was seriously interfered by Anjie. The basketball just touched the front of the basket, avoiding the embarrassment of direct non-sticking. After that, the whole game was declared over.

107 to 110, the Pelicans in excellent condition made the Trail Blazers play unexpectedly hard, but Anjie's steady performance still allowed the Trail Blazers to avoid losing streak.

The fans of the Moda Center let out a sigh of relief. Sure enough, the loss to the Timberwolves in the last game was just an "accident".

After winning this game, the Trail Blazers ushered in Christmas 2013 with a proud 27 wins and 1 loss, the league's first record.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, Catherine returned to Portland as scheduled.

And An Jie's parents and the bearded man also met for the first time after An Jie and Catherine got married. When the parents of both parties heard that An Jie and Catherine had a child, they were not to mention how happy they were.

The Ricard family and the Lillard family also experienced this joy with the family, and celebrated Christmas with their teammates, which has almost become Anjie's "tradition".

This year's Christmas, Anjie and the others had a very simple life. Anjie and Lillard didn't dare to eat too much for dinner, even though the dishes on the table were a hundred times more delicious than the bland and nutritious meal.

The reason is simple. Tomorrow, as the defending champion Trail Blazers will inevitably have to fight a Christmas game. As an important game broadcast live across the United States, Anjie and Lillard don't want to eat too much and affect the next day's training and competition.

This festival, as long as everyone can get together, it is enough for Anjie and Lillard.

The next day, when the men walked into the Moda Center with their children and their families to celebrate Christmas, Rickard and An Jie, who were coughing, could only spend this important festival in the locker room.

Ricard's cough has worsened, but it still can't stop this guy's passion for coaching.

"The Clippers want revenge, so let's go out and let them experience it again. What does it feel like to be swept 4-0!" Ricard tried his best to restrain himself from shouting, but when it comes to excitement, he always Can't help roaring.

Ricard's yelling in pain was not meaningless. As soon as he finished speaking, the players below turned into a group of bloodthirsty wolves.

It's true that the Clippers want revenge, but the Trail Blazers once again defeated a strong enemy, which made the fans watching the excitement even more

They are happy.

The Christmas game is about to break out. Paul and Griffin are really eager for revenge. The shame of being swept out 4-0 in the playoffs last season, they have held back until now before they can release it.

At the beginning of the game, the Clippers almost suffocated the Blazers. Griffin and Paul frequently played alley-oops, making the Moda Center a venue for the two to take off.

But as the game progressed, the shortcomings of the Clippers' insufficient lineup became more and more obvious.

Whether it's Matt Barnes on the bench or the once-famous Willie Green, they can't survive under the defense of the Trail Blazers' second unit.

In order to solve this problem, Doug Rivers can only increase the playing time of Griffin, Paul and the old Blazers Crawford.

The three in excellent condition continued to bombard the Moda Center. Facing Paul's elusive passing and precise shooting, the game continued until the last moment without a winner.

In the end, An Jie opened up space to score against Jordan's defense at the basket. This goal also made the game officially enter overtime.

The Christmas game went into overtime, which is undoubtedly the situation that fans most hope to see. Except, of course, Trail Blazers fans.

In overtime, the state of Griffin and Paul, who played too long, declined. The Trail Blazers, which have been changing players according to strict rotation, have not been affected.

An Jie stabilized the morale of the army in the last two minutes, allowing the Trail Blazers to play steadily. The tired Clippers scrambled and ruined their previous 48-minute effort.

107 to 111, the Trail Blazers won two consecutive victories in the Christmas game. Of course, the Clippers, who were swept last season, still failed to turn around this time.

Griffin and Paul scored an exaggerated 35 points, 15 rebounds and 34 points and 16 assists respectively. Persevered until the last moment.

The poor Los Angeles Clippers, as long as they can't beat the Trail Blazers for a day, they can't take off the hat of "regular season team" for a day.

An hour after the game, Ricard was taken to the hospital by An Jie. Rickard stayed in the hospital for infusion until one o'clock in the morning before finally going home to say Merry Christmas to his wife and daughter.

And what about Anjie? When he came home, Catherine and her parents were already asleep...

How can other people see the hard work behind this? Victory is always thought of too beautifully.

After the Christmas War, Catherine went back to work, and the bearded man returned to Ames to manage his already popular restaurant in the city. And An Jie's parents are in Portland.

Now that they are getting older, An Jie's career is relatively stable. Spending more time with their son has become the only wish of parents.

An Jie's mood must have improved a lot as he no longer only faced the empty house after returning home every day. However, the Trail Blazers' record has experienced the biggest fluctuation since the beginning of the season.

On December 28, three days after Christmas, the Trail Blazers and the Heat, Anjie and James finally met again after last season's finals.

The "finals preview" match between the two sides naturally became a national live broadcast again. It can be said that the ratings of this game are the highest so far this season.

The performance of the two teams did not disappoint, and they continued the momentum of last season's finals very well. It's just that today, the winner of the game has become the unremarkable Chris Bosh.

In the last 2.7 seconds of the game, Bosh received a wonderful pass from Wade and hit a three-pointer against Anjie's defense. The Heat, who were two points behind, killed the game and finally avenged last season's tiebreaker.

And this is also the first time in many years that someone can score a lore goal on An Jie's head.

Bosh's lore brought the Heat a regular-season victory, but Anjie's lore last season directly brought the Blazers an O'Brien Cup.

Therefore, people still think that Bosh is just lucky. Soon, the Trail Blazers' winning streak would continue.

However, a day later, the Trail Blazers, who went to New Orleans to fight again with the Pelicans, were defeated.

Today, the big breakout is no longer Davis. It's the emerging small guard, Jrue Holiday.

Who doesn't eat dumplings? The Pelicans have played so far this season and can only hover on the edge of the playoffs. It's not uncommon for an occasional upset to win a game.

But in Portland, the Trail Blazers' first losing streak caused an uproar.

The fans are afraid that the Trail Blazers will go high and low, and then go downhill.

But fortunately, the Trail Blazers defeated the "King of the North" Toronto Raptors in back-to-back games the next day, stopping the losing streak.

This game was held on December 31, that is to say, after tonight, 2013 will become history.

There is no doubt that 2013 in the basketball world belongs to Anjie and the Trail Blazers. But for the upcoming 2014, Anjie has even bigger ambitions.

The life of a professional player is like this, playing and playing, and another year has passed. But for An Jie, as long as he can continue to win, as long as he can be with his beloved, he is already very happy. Whether that's 2014, or 2024...

But in the coming 2014, An Jie's life will definitely undergo earth-shaking changes. Because in the coming year, there will be one more lover An Jie loves.

Who knows what will happen next? It's like no one knows how many O'Brien Cups An Jie can win.