The Way of the Center

"Derrick Favors is in excellent form today! His turnaround jump shot has already caused Aldridge to suffer! Let us see, in such an anxious moment, whether Favors can stand up!" Jeff Van Gundy That tense voice matched the atmosphere of Energy Solutions Arena very well.

Before the game, no one could have imagined that the Jazz would force the defending champions like this at home. The excellent performance of Favors and Hayward beat the tired Trail Blazers unexpectedly.

Especially Aldridge, who just participated in the all-star game, has not fully recovered his physical fitness. And in this case, he happened to meet Favors who was in excellent form.

Now, there are only two minutes left in the game, and the Jazz are still one point behind the Blazers. As long as Favors seizes this offensive opportunity and scores the ball, the Jazz will take the lead for the first time in this game!

Seeing that Favors began to raise his hand to ask for the ball, Ricard immediately shouted in the audience. An Jie and Aldridge completed the switch in an instant, and now An Jie personally marks the Jazz's top card inside!

"Damn it!" When Favors received Exum's pass, he couldn't help cursing in his heart.

Although he was in excellent form today, Favors still felt very uneasy against Anjie.

Favors was originally a power forward. He has no advantages in height, wingspan, or strength. It might not be so easy to break through An Jie's defense.

"Come on, boy, let me see how powerful you are!" An Jie's cold and ferocious voice interrupted Favors' thoughts.

For those with courage, An Jie's words are provocative. But for someone like Favors who is afraid of An Jie, An Jie's words are nothing short of a threat!

Favors began to get nervous. He wanted to pass the ball to Haywood, but now the Trail Blazers have locked all the passing routes. Obviously, they just wanted to force Favors to single out Anjie!

Favors is the number one scorer of the Jazz today, forcing the opponent's number one scorer to play singles, which also shows how confident Ricard is in Anjie's ability.

There was no way, Favors couldn't continue to waste time, so he could only bite the bullet.

He began to hold the ball with his back, intending to push back.

First time! Favors exerted great force, but he also clearly felt that the feedback from behind him was completely different from before.

Second hit! On the contrary, Favors exerted a little light force.

An Jie smiled, it seems that Favors is very smart, he knows how to change the rhythm, rather than relying on brute force to solve the problem.

But this kind of cleverness is not enough for Favors to pass the test!

When Favors exerted his force for the third time, he found that he hadn't hit anything. And beside his ball holder, a pair of long arms have been stretched out. An Jie didn't continue to confront Favors head-on, but planned to steal it!

After Favors reacted, he immediately wanted to protect the basketball, but it was a pity that An Jie's arm was too long, and he stabbed the basketball away before Favors!

Seeing that the basketball was out of control, Iguodala rushed over immediately and took control of the ball before everyone else.

After that, it was the transition offense that the Trail Blazers were good at. After losing the All-Star selection and being aggrieved for a weekend, Lillard ran all the way, and finally ended the offense with an exaggerated straight up and down dunk.

The completion of this offense not only allowed the Trail Blazers to widen the point difference to four points, but also greatly boosted the morale of the Trail Blazers players.

In the next few minutes, Favors failed to score again under Anjie's marking. The Jazz's offense fell into a quagmire in an instant. With Haywood alone, the Jazz could not shake the leading position of the Blazers.

The originally anxious game became no suspense because of a simple defense change. Jeff Van Gundy couldn't help feeling that this year's best defensive player must belong to Anjie again.

"Beep~~~" Under Anjie's terrifying defense, the beeping sound after the game was simply a sound of nature to Favors.

96 to 87, the Trail Blazers successfully had the last laugh at the Energy Solutions Arena and won the first victory in the second half of the season after the All-Star Game. And today, Anjie's 28 points and 13 rebounds also allowed him to officially surpass Kevin Love and become the player with the most consecutive double-doubles in a single season in NBA history!

If it weren't for the fact that Anjie and the others were playing an away game today, the scene might have been boiling. Although this is just an ordinary regular season victory, for Anjie, this is a historic moment.

54 consecutive double-double games, God knows how many years it will take for this record created by An Jie to be broken by future generations. Moreover, 54 games may not be the end yet. When will Angie's consecutive double-doubles stop, no one knows...

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"...Thank you everyone, I think I have to go back to the locker room now, my teammates and coaches are still waiting for me!" After the game, An Jie was naturally submerged in the reporters' long guns and short guns .

After finally getting out, An Jie also wanted to find an excuse to leave quickly. An Jie was afraid that he would not be able to go home tonight if he continued to spend with this group of guys.

Under the obstruction of the stadium staff, the reporters finally "let go" An Jie at the door of the locker room.

Push open the door and walk into the locker room. An Jie, who was originally smiling, suddenly froze. The scene in the locker room was really unusual.

In the past, after the game, the tired players would throw their jerseys and sneakers all over the floor. Today, however, the visiting team's locker room in the Energy Solutions Arena was neatly tidied up, just like before the game.

The floor was spotless and the lockers were neatly closed. When An Jie looked at his teammates and coach again, it was even more strange.

The group of guys was quiet and no one spoke, and no one went to the shower. They just sat in front of their cabinets and stared at An Jie, some with expectant smiles on their faces.

"I said, what the hell are you guys planning? Let me tell you, it's winter, and I can't stand things like pouring Gatorade." An Jie looked around nervously, he was afraid Suddenly, a bucket of Gatorade poured over my head behind my back.

At this moment, Ricard stood up. He reached into the inner bag of his suit, as if he was digging for something.

When Rickard walked in front of An Jie, his hand finally stretched out from his suit.

"Happy Chinese New Year, kid!" Rickard handed something with both hands, which is...a red envelope.

"Huh?" An Jie was confused, but still instinctively accepted the red envelope.

Afterwards, the team's assistant coach Divac also came out and also gave Anjie a red envelope.

"Happy Chinese New Year, and congratulations on breaking the nba record."

After that, Lillard.

"Happy Chinese New Year! I still keep the red envelope you gave me last year. This year, let me give it to you, hehe. By the way, you have to keep increasing that number for the double-double record in a row."

Iguodala, Aldridge, Matthews, Meyers Leonard...everyone sitting in the locker room came up one by one and offered Angie a strong Chinese style Red envelope.

During the Spring Festival last year, Anjie sent red envelopes to everyone in the team. Although it was just a small move, it made every Trail Blazers player very touched.

This year, An Jie just broke the nba record on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year. Then, it was the turn of these teammates to send red envelopes to An Jie.

An Jie held a stack of thick red envelopes, and the joy in his heart was stronger than when he broke the record. He just stood there blankly, reminiscing about this wonderful locker room moment.

He never thought that this group of foreigners from different countries and regions would specially remember the Chinese New Year because of himself. Moreover, they also prepared such a down-to-earth gift for themselves.

"What's the matter, brat, I have a ten-dollar bill in my red envelope. I'm much more generous than you were last year." Seeing that An Jie didn't speak for a long time, Ricard took the initiative to stand up and break the silence.

"Damn it... you guys are really good at messing things up..." For some reason, An Jie suddenly felt very warm. The people in this locker room seem to be no longer teammates, but family members.

After that, everything returned to normal in the locker room due to the rush back to Portland. Only An Jie smiled silly at the stack of red envelopes in his hand.

When An Jie and the others arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport, the winter wind was already blowing heavily.

An Jie looked up at the sky, it was naturally pitch black and there was nothing. At this time, parents must be at home, and have a happy Chinese New Year with Catherine, Big Beard and An Xiang.

A gust of night wind blew past, and even An Jie couldn't help shivering. An Jie tightened his collar. Although the temperature continued to drop in winter, his heart was extremely warm.

In a foreign country and people in a foreign country have had a different New Year's Eve, this feeling is really unexpectedly warm...

"Happy Chinese New Year..." Looking at the group of tall guys walking in front of him, An Jie whispered to himself.

"An, stop dawdling, let's go!" The shouts of his teammates made An Jie smile and quicken his pace...