One Thousand One Hundred and Fifty-One: Not Quite Close

On the first match day of the 2016-17 playoffs, all four games were played very anxiously.

The players definitely don't want to play so hard in the first round, but for the fans, this is a huge benefit.

The regular season is over, who still wants to watch that kind of trivial game?

An anxious and suspenseful game is definitely what fans want to see the most.

With the wonderful four games on the first day as a foreshadowing, people are more interested in the showdown between the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers.

Last season, the Trail Blazers played very fiercely with the Grizzlies. Although the Trail Blazers are only eighth in the Western Conference this season, this is because they suffered injuries in the middle and late stages of the season.

In terms of hard power, the Trail Blazers are definitely not as strong as eighth in the Western Conference.

Link once said that the Trail Blazers are one of the strongest eighth teams in the Western Conference in history, and he was not just saying nice things.

On the morning before the game started, many fans and experts predicted the outcome of this game.

Most of them believed that the final score difference of the game would be within 10 points.

In other words, they all think this will be an anxious game!

Before the game started in the evening, when Link was interviewed by reporters, the reporter asked him questions related to this statistic.

However, Link was not very interested in this: "I don't like to predict the results before the game, and it is impossible for me to accurately say what the point difference of this game is. So, forget about this problem and watch the game with peace of mind. Bar."

Link waved his hand, which was equivalent to saying nothing.

On the other hand, Lillard very much agrees with this prediction.

"There is no doubt that this will be a real battle. We will do our best, and the eighth in the Western Conference is not necessarily here to run with us."

Both sides hold different opinions, but their attitude towards the game is the same - they must go all out!

The referee signaled the starting players from both sides to enter. Link took off his training clothes and jumped up twice.

He looked around and saw that the entire FedEx Arena had been turned dark blue by uniformly dressed fans.

Such a scene,

Long time no see!

For the Trail Blazers, the starting five are Lillard, McCollum, Evan Turner, Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard.

This lineup is very in line with the trend of today's small ball era. Harkless at the fourth position can shoot suddenly and is a third or fourth swingman.

In addition to being tall, No. 5 Meyers Leonard also has an excellent three-pointer.

This season, he averaged nearly 3 three-pointers per game, with a shooting percentage of 37.7%. He is a reliable space-based fifth position.

Once the two are separated, McCollum and Lillard are full of opportunities.

Of course, this lineup's ability to open up space is not as good as the Warriors', because starting small forward Evan Turner's three-pointers are really not good enough.

Turner's three-point shooting percentage this season is only 26.3%. As a player who mainly plays the third position, this is naturally not qualified.

But it doesn't hurt that just one position can't shoot three-pointers.

The Grizzlies, on the other hand, unceremoniously brought up the Twin Towers lineup.

The Grizzlies have nothing to hide, and they don't need to conserve their strength for future games.

No matter who Gasol or Jokic goes against Harkless, it will be Harkless' nightmare!

Stotts naturally knew this shortcoming. In fact, he never thought about relying on defense to contain the Grizzlies.

Whether the Trail Blazers can win tonight depends entirely on whether Portland's backcourt can shoot out all the bullets with full firepower.

The referee threw the ball up, and the Grizzlies officially started their playoff journey in the 16-17 season!

Meyers Leonard won the ball for the Trail Blazers, and Lillard quickly advanced after receiving the basketball.

However, Conley was well prepared. He intercepted Lillard near the three-point line, forcibly ending Lillard's possibility of completing a sneak attack.

But Lillard did not stop the ball, but immediately handed the ball to McCollum again!

McCollum paused after catching the ball and seemed to want to shoot.

But in fact, his goal is to complete the breakthrough!

Wade's athletic ability has begun to decline further this season, and breaking through Wade is the most correct choice.

But McCollum had just taken a step forward, but he hit a hard wall with Wade!

Wade blocked McCollum in time, leaving him no room to break through!

"What!?" McCollum was a little surprised. Not only did Wade not take advantage of his fake move, but he actually followed up so quickly.

This shouldn't be the case!

"Boy, don't think of the playoffs so easily!" Wade shouted, which further depleted McCollum's already high morale.

Seeing Wade's perfect defensive move, Link was not surprised.

Wade took a long break at the end of the regular season. During that time, he played no more than 25 minutes in each game.

Moreover, this is the playoffs. In the playoffs, guys like Wade always get all kinds of inexplicable bonuses!

The current Wade is not the easy-to-bully old man in the latter part of the regular season.

The Trail Blazers' offense suddenly came to a standstill. McCollum couldn't find a passing target for a while, so he could only hand the ball to Harkless who cut from the baseline.

Harkless's steps were faster than Jokic's, and he easily got away by one body.

After receiving the basketball, Harkless did not hesitate and jumped directly for a layup!

But as soon as he lifted the basketball, he was blocked by Jokic behind him.

Harkless does have an absolute advantage in speed, but don't forget that Jokic also has an absolute advantage in height.

"The Trail Blazers launched a series of attacks, but they all failed! From Lillard to Harkless, they couldn't find any openings!"

While talking, Gasol passed the ball long and the Grizzlies counterattacked!

The experienced Evan Turner reacted immediately the moment Harkless was taken advantage of and caught up with Link in time.

Turner may be a second-place pick, but if you put aside his second-place status, he is indeed a remarkable player.

Link and Turner have a duel while traveling at high speeds, which is actually a very interesting confrontation.

Turner was the second pick in 2010, while Link was voted out in 2010. Logically speaking, their career development trajectories should be reversed.

However, this is a magical fate. Link is now a league superstar, and Evan Turner is just an inconspicuous role player.

Turner used all his strength to fight with his body, hoping to force Link to slow down.

But when he actually confronted Link, he found that he was being completely pushed away by Link!

Link was like a bulldozer at this time, completely ignoring all obstacles in front of him!

"Who is this!?" Turner gritted his teeth and continued to apply pressure, but it had no effect at all.

He had just expected a lot of fake moves that Link might make. However, when Link faced Turner, there was no need for him to fake moves at all.

Just crush it in and that's it!

Occasionally, I feel James' bulldozer style of play, which seems quite enjoyable.

Link relied on Turner to forcefully take off and hit the ball directly through this poor 10-year No. 2 player.

The whole place was boiling, and the stands were rising and falling like waves.

"Dunking from behind, Link scored easily! Well done, he made a good start for the Grizzlies!"

Whoopi Brown couldn't help but roar loudly, completely unlike an 80-year-old man.

Most elderly people his age have trouble speaking clearly. But the old Hubie at FedEx Arena seemed to be always full of passion.

Terry Stotts put his hands on his hips, feeling helpless.

Although the game had just gone back and forth, he could see that the two sides were really far apart!

Indeed, Link said that the Trail Blazers may be one of the strongest eighth teams in the Western Conference in history.

But he didn't say that the eighth strongest Western Conference in history could defeat the Grizzlies!

The score difference is within 10 points? Stotts found that everyone was a little too optimistic...

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