The first battle between the pioneers and the Grizzlies made most people break their glasses.
Imagine that the fierce competition process did not appear, Lillard and link''s point show did not appear.
Although Aldrich scored the highest 32 points, the Blazers fans will not be happy about it.
The Blazers seemed to have changed into a team. After the game, the whole team was dead and lifeless.
And what Lillard said at the press conference showed their frustration incisively and vividly.
People find it strange.
You know, the pioneers in the last round, even when they were 1-3 behind, were still strong.
They reversed the success of the clippers, I don''t know how many fans they attracted.
Now, the Blazers just lost one game. Why does that momentum seem to disappear?
People wonder why the pioneers are so vulnerable this time.
It''s just 0-1 down. There''s still a chance.
But on the other hand, it''s not hard to understand the mentality of the Blazers.
The reason why they are so depressed is that for them, the pressure from the Grizzlies is greater than the pressure from being 1-3 behind...
they may be able to regroup when they are 1-3 behind, because 1-3 is not hopeless.
The Grizzlies just let the Blazers see no hope...
after the first game was slaughtered by Grizzlies, Terry stoats and his team immediately studied the countermeasures, hoping to solve the team''s problems.
So in the second scene, the pioneers made a change.
In the Second World War of the series, the Blazers put second year guard C.J. McCollam into the starting line.
Mccullam has almost no sense of presence in the regular season. As a substitute for Matthews, he averaged only 6.8 points per game and played less than 20 minutes per game.
But in the first round of the playoffs, he did quite well. The average score per game rose from 6.8 points to 17 points, and the three-point hit rate was as high as 47.8%!
Mccullam scored a career high 26 points in Game 4 of the clippers series! That game also made him the first Blazers player in history to score at least 26 points in the playoffs since Steve colt in 1985.
Stotts replaced mccullam, is to continue to play mccullam''s potential. Add a point of attack with the ball to ease Lillard''s pressure.
But it is clear that Stotts overestimated mccullam''s attacking ability with the ball.
His idea is right, but if he wants to share a part of Lillard''s burden, not any defender can do it.
Lillard''s importance to the pioneers is self-evident, if he can be easily replaced, it will not be so important.
In the Second World War of the series, Lillard was still overwhelmed by the combined defense of link and Conley. What about mccullam? He did play some role. At the beginning of the game, he made two consecutive shots.
But when the Grizzlies paid attention to him, the change in stotz was in vain.
Now, C.J. mccullam can''t get the upper hand in one-on-one with butler.
Butler has been regarded as the best defensive player of the season, and mccullam is just a little substitute who has just made a point.
However, fortunately, with Aldrich''s excellent performance in the first quarter, the Blazers managed to survive.
Aldrich made 4 of 6 shots in the first quarter, as if he had recovered his former high efficiency.
After the first quarter, the Blazers were only 5 points behind the Grizzlies. On the surface, it''s a little bit better than the last one.
But Stotts did not have any relaxed expression on his face, he was very clear that the team was able to bite the score today, not because his adjustment had an effect, but only because Aldrich was in good personal condition.
However, a qualified head coach can not expect a player who is in high condition to win the game.
A good state will come as soon as it is said, but similarly, it will also be said to leave.
Depending on the sudden good state to win, it is no different from gambling.
But the game has played so far, Stokes has no good way to solve the problem. The Trail Blazers are just these players. No matter how skillful their tactics are, they can''t do anything beyond their ability.
Sure enough, after entering the second quarter, Aldrich''s good state disappeared.
Gasol helped link keep a closer eye on the "shooting machine", so Aldrich made only one of five shots in the second quarter.
Lillard 6 in 2, McCollam 2 in 2...
the Blazers'' attack is completely in a state of stagnation, and what''s more, the defense rebounds of the Blazers suddenly collapsed.In the second quarter, the Grizzlies played many second attacks by rebounding.
The gap was widened. The trailblazers, who were only 5 points behind at the end of the first quarter, were 17 points behind by halftime.
As Lillard thought, the real game against Grizzlies is one.
The next three, just repeated killing.
In the end, the pioneers failed to make trouble for Grizzlies. In the second game, they lost again 97-82.
Link played only three and a half quarters on the end, only 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, which is not a painless data.
Link didn''t have to work at all, and the Blazers themselves collapsed.
At the end of the game, Hubie brin joked, "the staff have to check the FedEx''s hoops. I think the Blazers have tipped the baskets."
Although this is only a joke, but also reflects the Blazers today shooting rate continued to decline.
In the whole game, the Blazers shot 77 times and struck iron 47 times. The shooting rate of the whole team was only 39.0%!
Among them, Aldrich 20 7, 35% of the shooting rate. Lillard is 5 out of 16, shooting 31.3%.
Mccullam is more "excellent" with a shooting rate of only 23.1% for 3-out of 13 shots!
Apart from scoring two goals at the beginning of the game, he played iron almost all the time.
The pioneers can say that iron has reached a new height and iron has developed a new temperament.
Not only that, the Grizzlies also used 12 rebounds in the front court and scored 29 points with the second attack. It turns out that the gap between Grizzlies and blazers is actually bigger than people think.
Lillard is only on the one hand. In other places, the pioneers do not necessarily have an advantage.
After the game, a reporter asked stotz, "the next game is going back to Portland, back to Moda center. Do you think your team has the ability to change the situation at home? Are you going to create the miracle of the first round again? "
Like Lillard yesterday, Stotts could not answer anything but look depressed.
He smiles awkwardly and then turns away in silence.
Without saying a word, he gave a fairly clear answer.
In Portland, the pioneers did not resist.
On May 11, the Grizzlies finished game 4 of the second round of the series at Moda center. It also ends the Portland Trail Blazers'' season.
They had a brilliant time, but the ending was miserable.
Lillard averaged 21.0 points per game in the regular season, with a shooting rate of 43.4%. This round of series, but only 14.3 points per game, shooting rate of only 33.1%.
Aldrich averaged 23.4 points in the regular field, with a shooting rate of 46.6%. In this round of series of games, only 18.7 points were scored, and the shooting rate was 41.3%...
the Grizzlies only used one move to show the magic blazer.
Link didn''t score 30 in any of the series because he didn''t have to...
after the game, Lillard hugged link as usual.
But at this time, the No. 0 guard''s face, no longer had the confidence at the beginning of the series.
He used to think he and the team might be able to beat the Grizzlies, but now it''s naive.
Looking at Lillard''s dejected figure, link shook his head. Although he doesn''t want his friends to be like this, he can''t help it. This is competitive sports.
Link was prepared to say a lot of words to comfort Lillard at the press conference, but to his surprise, there was no reporter asking questions about the Blazers at the press conference after the game!
As soon as the series ended, Lillard and the Blazers were forgotten.
At the press conference after the game, the reporters no longer care about the Blazers and Lillard.
The only question they asked the most was, "in two days, the results of the regular season MVP will be revealed. Link, do you think you can win this award again? "
As expected, competitive sports never pity the weak.
As the MVP awards are approaching, the friction between link and curry, between Grizzlies and warriors, has also escalated to a white hot stage www.novelhall.com , the fastest update of the webnovel!