"Tony! We can't double-team him, so you have to continue to defend."
Doc Rivers yelled down the court from the sidelines.
He had already analyzed the video footage of the Trail Blazers' important games before the game, and knew that the team's rotation relied on Zhang Jun's breakthrough to open up the rhythm, but in fact the purpose was not Zhang Jun's point. It was the three pitchers in ambush on the outside.
If you choose to double-team Zhang Jun, the outside pitchers will all fire. If you don't double-team Zhang Jun, you will have to bear individual singles from him.
Doc Rivers would prefer the latter.
"I don't believe that you can score every goal. Even if you can score, how long can your physical strength help you carry it?"
Tony Allen nodded.
He knew that this was a very important task entrusted to him by coach Doc Rivers, to single-handedly defend the Trail Blazers core scorer Zhang Jun.
It is not the first time that Tony Allen has defended a player of Zhang Jun's type. Iverson and Wade have defended alone.
But even so, Tony Allen still wants to say that Zhang Jun is a completely different player from the latter two.
Not a difference in personal skills, but a difference in basketball IQ.
"This kid seems to have understood my defensive habits, and he has fully adapted to it."
Zhang Jun shot 7 of 11 from the field in the first half of the game. Even a personal defensive leader as strong as Tony Allen, it is difficult to limit him in one-on-one defense.
The Trail Blazers played a 16:10 offensive high slot, and the offensive efficiency in this half of the game almost caught up with the entire first quarter.
However, in the matchup with Tony Allen, Zhang Jun's physical exertion was also huge. After the last breakthrough and layup, Nate McMillan decisively replaced him and regained the main lineup.
"Take a good rest, the Celtics will not hand over this game so easily."
Zhang Jun nodded.
Luo Yin and Aldridge played to replace Zhang Jun, but at the same time Garnett and Pierce of the Celtics also played one after another.
Coupled with Rajon Rondo who played early before, the Celtics almost got the full starting lineup.
The offense of Luo Yin and Aldridge was blocked again, and Garnett's help defense and single defense in the interior put a lot of pressure on the two.
Fortunately, Jarrett Jack stood up at the critical moment and helped the Trail Blazers stabilize the situation with two three-pointers, but in just 3 minutes, the Trail Blazers were still beaten by the Celtics 12:6 wave of attack.
Zhang Jun, who resisted the defense of the Celtics for half a quarter, had to be activated by Nate McMillan in an emergency and took the court again.
The Trail Blazers also took the full starting lineup, and Zhang Jun alone initiated the offensive ball.
The offense with the ball faced Garnett's high throw and scored, and Aldridge's pick-and-roll pass helped the opponent complete the iconic mid-range jumper.
At the same time, Zhang Luo's connection was staged again. Luo Yin made a long half-court pass to help Zhang Jun dunk quickly.
At the end of halftime.
The Trail Blazers and Celtics tied at 50:50.
The tenacity shown by the Trail Blazers in the game also exceeded everyone's expectations.
Barkley couldn't help but said: "Before the start of this game, everyone thought that the picture of this game must be a one-sided situation, but now it seems that this is a team that is fully qualified to challenge the Boston Celtics. team."
Kenny Smith nodded in agreement and said, "The Celtics defended everyone in the Trail Blazers, but they just failed to guard Zhang Jun. This was definitely something they didn't expect before the game."
"Zhang Jun had 24 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the half, which is almost the stats of an All-Star player in the whole game."
"He's a really talented player."
Celtics coach.
Doc Rivers breathed a sigh of relief with his hands on his hips.
He was thinking about how to play the second half of the game.
"This kid's personal offensive ability is too strong. Tony Allen can't limit him alone. Zhang Jun also has the strength to defeat the entire opponent alone. The current score is the best proof."
"If he is allowed to continue playing like this, maybe it will really help the Trail Blazers win the game, but if Zhang Jun is double-teamed, it will be in the hands of the Trail Blazers coaching staff."
This is two cups of poison, and Doc Rivers knows very well that only those championship-level teams have the ability to give their opponents two cups of poison, and it depends on how the opponent chooses.
"And now that the Blazers have that ability, it also means that...."
Doc Rivers admits that he has underestimated this youth army, but he is not worried about it. In his opinion, the ones who really need to worry should be those western powerhouses.
"I really want to see how **** this year's Western Conference playoffs will be."
Doc Rivers chose one of those cups of poison.
He intends to exhaust Zhang Jun to death, and let him adjust the entire Celtics defense alone, and will never double-team him easily.
After all, in his opinion, no matter how good Zhang Jun is, he is just a rookie. No matter how strong he is, can he surpass the Celtics' Big Three?
However, once such a decision appears, it means that Paul Pierce will devote a lot of energy to Zhang Jun on the defensive end, and he may not have more physical strength to complete the offensive end tasks.
So Doc Rivers made adjustments at the same time, allowing Rajon Rondo to hold the ball more, and Ray Allen and Garnett to participate in more offensive tasks.
In other words,,,..version. 】
The third quarter of the game.
Zhang Jun started his own solo performance.
He first singled out Paul Pierce to complete the attack with a breakthrough and mid-range, and then made two consecutive fouls.
Pierce shook his head and roared at the referee speechlessly.
"How the **** did you play the game!"
The referee wasn't used to him either, and directly issued a technical foul as a warning.
After Pierce defended, Doc Rivers replaced Tony Allen to defend. The process was slightly better, but the result was almost the same.
Zhang Jun made 3 fouls against Tony Allen in a single quarter, and stood on the free throw line to score for the team.
After taking the free throw, Zhang Jun took a deep breath and glanced at the scoreboard.
"74:76?!"
"We are still two points behind!"
In this quarter, Zhang Jun is almost alone in the offense. In the offensive tactics of the Trail Blazers, there are many players' individual offenses as the starting point.
Now Luo Yin's personal offense is completely blocked, and only Zhang Jun can execute the team's offensive tactics, and the efficiency will inevitably drop drastically.
Game four.
Nate McMillan did not dare to let Zhang Jun rest for a long time.
At the beginning of this quarter, Nate McMillan only let Zhang Jun rest for a minute, and the Celtics directly played a wave of 5:0 offensive high slots.
Nate McMillan had no choice but to replace Zhang Jun, who had only rested for a minute, in advance.
"The team is so dependent on him, I really don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
Monty Williams couldn't help sighing when he saw the worried Nate McMillan.
"If you don't play him, you will definitely lose. If you play him, you will have a chance to win. Any coach will make the same choice."
Nate McMillan nodded in agreement and asked, "What is Zhang Jun's average playing time this season?"
Monty Williams immediately opened the book in his hand, searched carefully and said: "Before leading the bench lineup, his average playing time was 32 minutes per game."
"After we decided to let him lead the bench lineup, Zhang Jun's average playing time has risen to 34 minutes."
Monty Williams had guessed what Nate McMillan was going to do, so he reminded him.
"Among all the players who played this season, Zhang Jun's average appearance per game can be ranked 34th."
"Among all rookies this year, his average playing time can be ranked second, second only to the Sonics' Kevin Durant averaged 35 minutes per game."
Nate McMillan immediately shook his head and said in denial, "No! Too few!"
"From now on, his average playing time will be adjusted to 36 minutes or more!"
"It can only be more than this time, not less."
Monty Williams shook his lips and couldn't help but said: "This average playing time is really a lot. Staying too much time on the court will increase the risk of injury, and it is easy to disrupt the rhythm and physical distribution of players. , and even lower offensive efficiency is not out of the question.”
Nate McMillan smiled slightly and said: "In the several draft reports I received, Zhang Jun has never been injured in the NCAA, nor has he missed a game."
"From the time he landed in the NBA to now, I haven't received an injury report from the team doctor, which shows that his body is very durable."
Monty Williams thought about it, and it seemed to be true.
Because tonight's game is a Christmas game, there are also quite a few movie stars and celebrities in the audience on the sidelines.
Scarlett Johansson looked at Zhang Jun on the court with a pair of winking eyes. She had just ended her relationship with actor and producer Josh Hartnett, and she was feeling irritable.
Since her debut, she rarely goes home for Christmas, and the discomfort of reorganizing her family makes her dislike going back there.
Strictly speaking, although Scarlett's family is not an acting family, her mother is a producer, and her grandfather is also a director and screenwriter, so she can be regarded as quite related to the entertainment industry.
It's just that her parents divorced when she was very young. Scarlett lived with her grandmother most of the time, so she didn't like her parents, and she was also a very rebellious girl in the eyes of others.
Annoyed, Scarlett thought of Zhang Jun whom she met when she was filming the advertisement, because she had promised him to watch his game, so she came here by accident.
"He's fierce when he plays basketball."
Scarlett couldn't help but smile and said.
At this time, Scarlett's cell phone rang suddenly. It was a message on Facebook, and a user named Durant Trumpet sent her a message.
"Hey, Scarlett, have a nice Christmas. I'm Kevin Durant of the Sonics. I'm the second pick in this year's draft. I've already followed you. Can you follow me? I can spend the first day after Christmas with you, waiting for your news, okay (*￣3)(ε￣*)."
Scarlett Johansson glanced at the messages on her phone with a frown, and then searched the Internet for photos of Kevin Durant.
"Um........"
Scarlett Johansson quickly deleted Durant's news, blocked him casually, and continued to pay attention to Zhang Jun's performance on the court.
The camera was right on Scarlett Johansson, who smiled and waved.
on the pitch.
Zhang Jun encountered a more intensive defense, and Garnett flew Zhang Junding out with a black elbow during a assist defense.
The point is that the referee hasn't seen it yet, thinking that Zhang Jun's body lost his balance during the breakthrough and failed to make a layup. After all, Zhang Jun's breakthrough speed is already very fast, so it's not unusual for the referee to see clearly.
"There's a lot of fouls they can't see."
Garnett, who defended the ball with a black elbow, looked at Zhang Jun proudly.
"You big yellow rat, I told you not to try to rush into the restricted area guarded by me. Next time you dare to come in, I will still overthrow you."
"If the referee sees it, it's a foul. If he doesn't see it, it's a good defense. Do you understand?"
Zhang Jun shook his shoulders. If it was the beginning of entering the NBA, he would naturally feel uncomfortable being defended by his opponents like this. But now, Zhang Jun has long been accustomed to the physical abuse of the teams and defenders in the league. The referees are blind. It doesn't matter anymore.
It's part of the game after all.
"You'd better pray that you don't get caught by me, or I will let you know the consequences of angering me at double the cost."
Garnett shook his head indifferently and said, "A rookie fledgling pretends to be a tough guy. At least you won't have that chance tonight."
Zhang Jun glanced at the score and time on the field, and it was indeed as Garnett said.
The Trail Blazers played the worst quarter of the game, only 16:22.
They were defended badly by the Celtics.
Coupled with the fact that there is not much time left on the court, the Blazers indeed have only a small hope of making a comeback.
It's just that with such a strong defense of the Celtics, such hopes are basically negligible.
Zhang Jun charged the team with explosives at the last moment, but still failed to make a comeback. Ray Allen's two three-pointers saved the Celtics.
95:99.
The Celtics win.
"This is a pleasing game. I don't need to describe too much about the twists and turns of the game. The Celtics won the final victory."
"But Zhang Jun, he beat everyone on the Celtics!"
Kenny Smith couldn't help but praised after the game.
Barkley also nodded in agreement and said: "16 of 32 shots, 10 of 13 free throws, Zhang Jun faced the strongest defensive team in the league~www.mtlnovel.com~ scored the highest score since the nba season 42 Points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists!"
"Remember, this is the statistic scored by a rookie this year, and this is also the third highest score scored by all players this year so far."
"The first two are Kobe Bryant's 45 points for the Lakers and LeBron James' 48 points for the Cavaliers."
Kenny Smith couldn't help but said: "But the latter two are super giants in the league!"
After the game, Zhang Jun was very irritable. Losing the game at his own home made him even more irritable, and he was still on a stage like the live Christmas game in the United States.
His 40+ stats are completely lackluster at the moment.
"You are a hero! Zhang Jun!"
"You are a son of Portland, not a son of Los Angeles!"
"You're going to lead us to miracles, and we've always believed in that."
Near the player tunnel, Zhang Jun was surrounded by passionate fans. He didn't smile until he saw such a scene.
Zhang Jun took off his elbow pads and jersey and threw them high at the fans, and then gave his signature sneakers to the nearest little fans.
This Nike is also smart enough. The new shoes have already been approved last month, but they were delayed until tonight’s Christmas game. Even Zhang Jun himself is wearing his first pair of signature sneakers for the first time today. play.
Not to mention really comfortable.
Indeed, as Xia He said, it was completely designed in the direction of his playing comfort.
Coupled with his 40+ stats tonight, Nike executives might faint from laughter in the toilet.
Rookie release, Christmas game, 40+ points, can there be a better ad than this?
Zhang Jun, who left the stadium, felt the message in his mind at the same time, and before he had time to check it, a beautiful figure appeared in front of him.