The Way of the Center

"The league has officially issued a ticket! Anjie is suspended for ten games, Morris is suspended for five games, and Coach Ricard is suspended for three games! It will be implemented immediately!"

"Damion Lillard suffered a structural injury to his ankle and may not be able to make it to the playoffs!"

"Damien: Ibaka's actions were very dangerous and should have been punished more severely."

"Serge Ibaka: I didn't mean to."

The emergence of the biggest farce in the NBA this season has given various media outlets countless angles and topics to speculate on. The contradiction between Anjie and Ibaka, the iron-fisted attitude of the league, Lillard's injury... all these things have become places of interest to fans and the public.

Some people said that the league's punishment for Anjie was a bit too harsh. After all, it was Ibaka who caused trouble first.

But some people said that the league's punishment for An Jie was too light. An Jie took the initiative to directly attack the opponent's head with his fist, which is really too bad. If Morris didn't pull that, maybe something bigger would happen.

No matter what the outside world says, this is indeed a difficult time for the Trail Blazers.

When this Trail Blazers loses Ainger, Morris, Lillard and Ricard at the same time, what's left?

A lonely Paul George and a no longer young Iguodala are all the Trail Blazers have now.

Nurkic may have been very good, but he can't fill the vacancy left by Ainger. Meyers Leonard has become more mature, but his defense cannot be compared with Morris.

The Trail Blazers instantly changed from the league's No. 1 super team to an ordinary and simple team.

Although the miracle of the 31-game winning streak started, the Trail Blazers have no worries about this year's regular season record. But I couldn't see the miracle continue, I have to say, it's still a pity.

December 25, 2017, Christmas, was also the first day after Anjie and the others were suspended. Angie and Morris still appeared on the Trail Blazers' bench at the Moda Center. But these two guys can only appear there in suits. As for Ricard, this guy can only go to the audience to watch the game.

An Jie, who has played full-time for four consecutive seasons, has not experienced the feeling of watching a show on the bench in a suit for a long time.

I don't know if it was God's deliberate arrangement, but today when An Jie and other main players were suspended, the Trail Blazers met their biggest opponent this season-the Golden State Warriors.

Before the game, Durant expressed regret for the suspension of Anjie and Morris and Lillard's injury. He also bluntly accused his former teammate Ibaka, thinking that action was too clumsy.

But An Jie also knows that regrets are regrets, Durant is impossible to hand over the victory. After the game starts later, this terrifying No. 35 is destined to show no mercy.

For the Warriors, although Klay Thompson's injury made their lineup less complete. But compared to the severely injured Trail Blazers, the Warriors' lineup is still strong enough.

In this game, Paul George seemed to have found the feeling he had when he was playing for the Pacers, but this time, his opponent changed from James who ruled the East to Stephen Curry and Kevin Du who ruled the West. rand.

George's performance made An Jie feel ecstatic, this good guy really did not disappoint anyone. Today, George even played a 50-50 performance with Durant, which made the fans in the Moda Center cheer wildly again and again.

However, the strength of the Warriors cannot be shaken by one George. In the third quarter, Curry made a terrifying performance of 5 of 6 three-pointers in a single quarter. It was also under Curry's three-point rain that the Trail Blazers failed to bite the game and eventually lost.

Originally, the finale of this Christmas game was highly anticipated by the fans, but due to suspension and injuries, it became anticlimactic.

After the game, An Jie felt very excited.

It's not because this guy feels excited after losing, but after seeing the terrifying strength of the Warriors, he can't wait to try against the Warriors in the playoffs.

This Christmas, An Jie had a rare rest, although this way of rest was not what he wanted.

At the beginning, An Jie could calmly face the punishment of the league. After all, when the team's performance is so good, it is quite a pleasant experience to take a few games off occasionally.

However, when Morris and Ricard had all been lifted, and only Anjie had to sit on the bench to watch the game, this guy began to feel a little unbearable.

Watching his teammates fight on the field, but he can only stand by and watch. An Jie would rather not have this chance to rest.

Maybe Anjie is a militant in his bones. When playing games, he always complains that it is too hard after a season. But when you really get a rest, you can't take it easy.

So in the past few days, the lights in the Moda Center training hall are always turned off very late. Apart from "family activities" with Catherine, An Jie, who has excess energy, can only focus on the training ground.

The ten-match suspension made An Jie disappear from the basketball court for more than half a month. Now it's not just Anjie, even the fans can't bear the days without Anjie.

Although Nurkic shined during the period without Anjie, he played very well. But in Portland, I am afraid that even if Jordan returns, he will not be able to replace An Jie.

During the suspension period, although the results of the Trail Blazers were no longer terrible, they were definitely not bad. The Trail Blazers have won six of those ten games. In these ten games, Paul George averaged a terrifying 31.5 points per game.

An Jie was right. It was definitely the right choice to entrust the team to this kid.

Time passed day by day, and when the Trail Blazers played at home, Anjie would go to the scene. When the Trail Blazers played away games, Anjie simply stayed at home with his family.

This kind of day lasted until January 13th, and it finally came to an end.

Finally, on January 13th. In the Portland Trail Blazers' away game against the Magic, Anjie appeared again, but not in a suit!

The huge number 00, the name that gives people strength behind it. The iconic crop tops and headbands, the Way of the Center sneakers that have taken the world by storm...everything exciting and familiar is back!

Although this game is played at the home court of the Magic, although the Magic is not worth mentioning to the Trail Blazers. But because of An Jie's comeback, this game became the highest-rated game of the day, bar none.

In the comeback battle, facing the weak magic, An Jie was not polite. After holding back for more than half a month, not only did he not lose his form like others worried, but he used his excitement to score a super triple-double of 45 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists in the Amway Center.

The suspense of this game disappeared at the end of halftime, but An Jie didn't have the slightest intention to stop.

After all, after holding it in for so long, An Jie couldn't comfort himself unless he broke out.

This big victory let the entire league know that the dangerous Trail Blazers team is back!

After Anjie returned, the Trail Blazers immediately won another wave of 15 consecutive victories. It wasn't until they fought back to back against the Rockets that the winning streak finally stopped.

But at this time, the Trail Blazers, who have already achieved 52 wins, no longer have to worry about the regular season.

Let alone weak teams, even some teams that can be selected for the playoffs may not necessarily be able to win 52 wins in one season. However, when the Trail Blazers did all this, there were 22 games left in the regular season.

Others are still fighting for rankings and playoff spots, but the Trail Blazers have started to sit back and relax early. Even if Lillard is reimbursed for the season, people don't seem to notice how much weaker this Trail Blazers team has become.

Until April 12, when the Trail Blazers ended the season with a 103-100 win over the Pelicans in their final regular-season game, no one noticed anything.

With 72 wins and 10 losses, although the Trail Blazers failed to create history again, their 72 wins have improved a lot compared to the previous two years.

72 wins, a record that was hailed as impossible to break back then, was easily touched time and time again by the Trail Blazers. This result is definitely worthy of the expectations of the fans.

It's a pity that now that the playoffs are approaching, the Trail Blazers' starting lineup is missing an important fulcrum.

Lillard's injury in the middle of the season has been gradually forgotten by most people. After all, the Trail Blazers are doing so well now that it is impossible to see how Lillard's absence will affect the team.

But Ricard is very clear that after entering the playoffs, the trouble caused by Lillard's absence will be infinitely magnified. Shabazz Napier may still be in charge of the team in the regular season, but whether the kid can perform in the playoffs is another matter.

Ricard rubbed his temples. Although the regular season is over, in order to prepare for the playoffs, he has also racked his brains these days.

The Trail Blazers' failure in the playoffs in the past two years can also be "attributed" to the fact that the team lineup is not strong enough.

But this year, with a team that has achieved 72 victories, if Ricard fails again, he may not be able to accept such a result.

The Trail Blazers waited for two years before finally getting this chance to hit the championship. The lack of Lillard will indeed make the game difficult, but the Trail Blazers must also overcome!

After taking a sip of coffee, Ricard buried himself in the game video again. Divac is right, now, I really look more and more like Van Gundy's bald workaholic...