The Way of the Center

"Why? I just want to go home, that's all."

The words Angie answered at the press conference a few days ago became the reason why Portland fans cheered wildly today. In their hearts, Portland and the Moda Center are Anjie's home.

The sign with the words "Welcome Home!" is being shaken in the hands of countless fans at this moment. They are all ecstatic for Anjie's return. Most importantly, at this moment, Anjie is very likely to bring a victory to the fans at home!

Westbrook squinted, a drop of sweat slipped into his eyelid. This guy was already too exhausted. Blazers and An Jie seemed to be pressing hard on him, making him unable to breathe.

When he wiped the sweat from his eyes with his hands, Courtney Lee had already advanced the ball into half court. Westbrook had to take a deep breath, and continued to push forward.

"The pace of the Trail Blazers is too fast! Coach Donovan and his players must have never imagined that Coach Ricard would actually make the Trail Blazers speed up! But we can clearly see that the physical fitness of the Thunder players is It was a great test. The pressure brought by the Blazers after accelerating the pace is unimaginable!" Jeff Van Gundy knows the Thunder, especially Westbrook.

Whether the size of this guy's chest is normal or not, Ricard couldn't escape his eyes.

The guy with thinning hair and glasses knows that if even Westbrook is panting, there aren't a lot of guys on the Thunder lineup with plenty of energy left.

Look at Carmelo Anthony, he has been sitting on the bench for a long time, but his face is still tired. The pressure of falling behind 3 to 1 has already overwhelmed the Thunder. Now Ricard continues to suppress with oppressive fast-paced offense, which is a double blow to the Thunder both psychologically and physically.

Westbrook had barely posted it when Courtney Lee made the pass. The ball flew quickly and came to Iguodala's hands.

This time, Iguodala didn't "slowly" let the ball stay in his hands. Instead, he touched the ball with one hand and immediately transferred the ball to the inside.

After Morris received the basketball, everyone on the Thunder team followed the basketball for more than half a circle. But Morris is not the end point. After he leaned back with the ball, he passed the ball again.

George, who has been looking for opportunities, caught the ball from the mid-range after taking advantage of Anjie's beautiful pick-and-roll. This was an open shot. Everyone thought that George would shoot, even last year. Andre Robertson thinks so too.

Robertson was exhausted after bypassing Angie's pick-and-roll,

But he still resisted the feeling of fatigue and jumped up suddenly, hoping to interfere with George's shooting as much as possible.

However, after Robertson got up, George took back the basketball and immediately broke through. Just now George just made a fake shot!

When George broke through, no one in the Thunder team had the strength to chase back. George used an ordinary layup to add two points to the Trail Blazers. Why did he choose a layup? Because George now also has to save energy, the extra dunks will only make him more tired.

If even the Trail Blazers who dominate the game are feeling tired, so will the Thunder. Although there are still more than three minutes before the end of the fifth game between the two sides, the Thunder are only five points behind. But Ricard can know from the situation on the court that he and the Trail Blazers have already stepped into the circle of the Western Conference Finals with one foot!

The game was so anxious until the last moment. If the game was said to be anxious, it was because the point difference between the two sides was not too big. But in fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Trail Blazers have firmly controlled the rhythm from beginning to end, and the Thunder have no chance at all.

As eager as An Jie is to win the championship, there is as much energy he bursts out on the court. Although Anjie didn't score as high as 40 or 50 today, his active performance on the defensive end did make the Thunder's offense very difficult.

Westbrook, who has been pushed into a desperate situation, has been facing the five-point difference that has been pressing on him for a long time, and has never known how to surpass it.

Three-pointers, in order to reverse the situation when there is not much time, Westbrook must rely on three-pointers!

This guy glanced at Anthony and pretended to want Chunqiu, but suddenly broke through with the ball! Napier, who returned to the court in place of Courtney Lee, made a timely lateral move, but he found that even then, he still couldn't stop Westbrook from crushing towards the basket.

Anjie tensed his nerves. If Westbrook really came in, he could only make a clean defense. Because if there is a foul, it will most likely give Westbrook a chance to play a three-pointer.

Facing his former good brother, An Jie opened his arms. He pushed away Adams who was trying to stand in front of him, and was ready for a decisive battle with Westbrook!

Westbrook was like a cruise missile, and with a "whoosh" it entered the penalty area! He jumped up suddenly. If someone else was defending this frightening momentum, he might have consciously dodged away!

But Angie won't, he has to stop the offense, he has to protect the rim at Moda Center. At this moment, An Jie seemed to have returned to ten years ago, to the night when he and Westbrook met for the first time...

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Westbrook took off, and everyone in the penalty area followed suit, and the scene was chaotic. Several Cyclones players who took off directly surrounded Westbrook in the middle, so no one knew what was going on with him who was deep in the defense.

The seemingly dense defense is nothing in Westbrook's eyes. The gap that should be filled is still not filled. As long as he carefully avoids these outstretched arms, he can easily score the ball.

The Cyclones' defenders began to fall from the air, while Westbrook was still rising, and now it suddenly became clear that the basket seemed ready to let the ball fall into its arms at any time.

"Crack!" The basketball in Westbrook's hand was suddenly slapped away diagonally from behind, and the ball hit the backboard heavily and bounced out. Westbrook glanced in surprise, and Anjie's palm was already there!

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"Crack!" The crisp voice sounded again, and Westbrook took a closer look, and the opponents in front of him were not players of the Cyclones. And the one on him no longer represented it.

The scene that happened just now was almost exactly the same as what happened when Westbrook and Anjie first contacted each other, so that both Westbrook and Anjie thought they had traveled back to ten years ago.

Now that crisp sound woke Westbrook up, he knew that he was not in the memory, he was still in reality! He was blocked by An Jie again just now! Moreover, it is almost the same way as it was ten years ago!

Compared with the past, this is no longer a painless block. When Westbrook knew that he was not dreaming, but was actually in the NBA Western Conference semifinals, he knew it. The Thunder team and their hopes of winning have been completely shattered by An Jie's palm!

"Beautiful block! An's control of the penalty area is absolutely unique in history! His control of the timing of the block and his superb positioning, so that he will not miss any opportunity to give the opponent a big risk! Weiss Tebrook's layup failed! Oklahoma City Thunder, failed!"

Westbrook landed in embarrassment, then quickly turned and chased. But he couldn't catch up with anything, couldn't catch up with George who was holding the ball and counterattacked, and couldn't catch up with Anthony who was defending with all his strength. Can't catch up...can't catch up with the decisive seconds.

"Bang!" There was a loud noise, and Westbrook knew that Paul George had completed a beautiful counterattack. At that moment, Westbrook's legs suddenly softened and he sat on the ground.

Seeing this situation, Coach Donovan immediately called a timeout. Seven points difference, only 21 seconds left, and the last timeout was also used. He knew that this meant that the first season of cooperation between Anthony and Westbrook was over.

"It's over! Although the game is not over yet, the entire series ended early! Look at the stands at the Moda Center, look at the trailblazers' bench. The entire Moda Center has turned into a joyful dark red Ocean!" As Mike Breen yelled, the cameraman turned his camera on Westbrook again.

This guy's head was buried deeply with a towel, so that you couldn't see the expression of this strong man. Anthony put his arm on Westbrook's shoulder and whispered something in Westbrook's ear at the same time. Perhaps, he wanted to comfort the team leader who was much younger than him.

Both Donovan and Rickard were called into the second team after the timeout, but now, all eyes are on the sidelines.

At this time, An Jie suddenly got up and walked straight to the Thunder's bench. Under the horrified eyes of the Thunder players, An Jie crouched in front of Westbrook, who buried his head.

"We saw! Ann is in front of Westbrook at this moment! We all know that these two guys have a very close relationship in private. Eliminating Westbrook may be the worst way for Ann to advance." !" Even the commentator shifted the focus of commentary from the field to the field.

An Jie didn't speak, just stretched out his hand, pulled Westbrook's head over and leaned on his shoulder. The towel on Westbrook's head fell to the hardwood floor. When he was embraced by Anjie, Westbrook's tears could not stop flowing down...

Ten years ago, the teenager was high-spirited and shined in the March Madness tournament.

Ten years ago, with the pride unique to Los Angeles, he defeated the little-known dark polo team and defeated the impressive yellow-skinned big man.

Ten years ago, Anjie was surrounded by wildly celebrating players in white jerseys. Everyone in the Cyclone team in red jerseys is out of tune with that happy sea.

"I'm really happy." Ten years ago, An Jie looked at Westbrook who had won the victory, and his heart was full of envy.

Who would have thought that ten years later, everything would be reversed. Westbrook and Anjie hug each other tightly, this damn guy once again shattered his dreams, but Westbrook, really loves this damn guy... and only he, can feel himself current mood.

"I know this feeling, Russell. But we can't be defeated by this feeling, we have to stand up!" Anjie whispered in Westbrook's ear.

Westbrook stopped his twitching and wiped away his own tears.

The strong No. 0 guard suddenly stood up, and he realized that the game had already ended.

"I'll come back and stand here, Ann! Come on guys, don't lose my championship!" After Westbrook finished speaking, he hammered Anjie's chest, then turned and walked towards the player tunnel.

An Jie's nose was a little sour. He obviously won, so why did he feel a little sad?

Only in Andersen's story can there be a perfect ending. While the world of competitive sports is rich in winners, there are even more outstanding losers.

Westbrook and Angie may become the two most talked about enemies and friends in NBA history. But those are things for later...