NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 537 A Carefully Designed Offensive and Defensive Strategy

Su Qun calmly adjusted his glasses. After all, he was an experienced person, having once been the editor-in-chief of Basketball Pioneer News. He had seen it all, so naturally he wouldn't get as excited as Wang Zixing.

"If we look at the roster, the Clippers definitely have the advantage, but as you know, anything can happen in the NBA. The Clippers have been on a winning streak, and every opponent wants to end it. They will definitely go all out, so this game won't be easy," Su Qun said.

Players from both sides practice before the match.

Lillard was practicing his three-pointers with a blank expression, and his three-pointers were incredibly accurate! He was almost never wrong during practice, and what's even more amazing is that when he was practicing long-range three-pointers, he shot five and made them all!

Even though he made all his shots, Lillard remained expressionless, his face filled with murderous intent. Many fans thought he was there to cause trouble tonight!

Lillard is a well-known killer in the NBA; the game-winning plays he's had throughout his career could fill a long highlight reel.

The Clippers fans at the scene had a bad feeling watching Lillard play so aggressively. Were they worried that Lillard might have to wear a watch today?

Lin Ning shared the same concerns. She had inexplicable confidence in Jia Fei, but Lillard's murderous aura was still too chilling. This guy was definitely an assassin, without a doubt.

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.

The Clippers' starting lineup for the home game is Jia Fei, Beverley, George, Gallinari, and Olynyk.

The Trail Blazers' starting lineup for the away game was Lillard, CJ McCollum, Harkless, Aminu, and Nurkic.

The Trail Blazers' lineup has a clear role: the two sharpshooters are responsible for shooting, the two wings are athletic and have good defense, and the center, Nurkic, provides high-quality screens and can protect the rim from the wings.

The Trail Blazers' impressive record this season owes much to this roster.

The starting lineups for both sides were announced, and the match was about to begin amidst cheers from the fans in the stadium.

Nuka and Olynyk jump the ball near the center circle.

Although the crossbow also bounces like a matchbox, it bounces higher than Olynyk, and he wins the jump ball.

The Trail Blazers gained possession on their first possession, and Lillard dribbled the ball across half-court.

Beverley clung to Lillard like glue.

Lillard has always claimed to be 191cm tall, but when he stands next to Curry and Westbrook, he is clearly shorter than both of them. Considering that Westbrook is unlikely to exaggerate his height (or claim to be shorter), it is obvious that Lillard is exaggerating his height.

Many guards in the NBA are listed at 191cm in height, such as Curry, Westbrook, Rose, Lillard, CJ, Lin, and Irving.

But standing next to these guys, Lillard can't out-squeeze anyone; he's always the shortest. The only guy he can out-squeeze is 58, because he's genuinely a tiny bit taller than 58.

Therefore, assuming that 58's height of 183cm is true, then Lillard's height of 185cm is confirmed.

This shows how prevalent the exaggeration of height is in the NBA, comparable to the Chinese entertainment industry. In the Chinese entertainment industry, Huang Xiaoming claims to be 180cm tall, but Ding Li Huang, who co-starred with him in "Shanghai Bund," is only 170cm tall. The two are about the same height when standing together, which means Huang Xiaoming's height is definitely less than 180cm, or the police measurement must have been wrong (which is obviously impossible).

Furthermore, the official height of the baby is 1.7 meters, and the official height of Da Hei Niu is 1.8 meters. However, he is clearly much shorter than Da Hei Niu, by more than 10 centimeters. Assuming the baby's height is not exaggerated, then it can be concluded that Da Hei Niu's height is exaggerated; he might be taller than 1.8 meters, perhaps even 1.9 meters, which is simply impossible. Therefore, it can be concluded that the baby's height is exaggerated…

Back to the game, Lillard used Nurkic's screen to launch a long-range three-pointer. The ball spun around the rim and missed, giving the fans in the arena a scare...

Speaking of Lillard's long-range three-point threat, only Curry can compare to him in the entire league. Just raising his hand feels like a shot is going in; it's truly terrifying.

Paul George grabbed the rebound, pushed the ball up himself, and faced Harkless's defense. He unleashed a flurry of powerful moves, his silky dribbling making the crowd feel like they were eating Dove chocolate. But his final jump shot bounced off the rim...

The crossbow mechanism was put away and handed over to Li for guidance.

Liskovic pointed at the top of the arc and quickly passed to Aminu on the other side!

Aminu made a strong and decisive drive to the basket, drawing a foul from Gallinari!

Aminu made both free throws, giving the Trail Blazers an early lead.

The Clippers are on offense. Beverley dribbles the ball over and passes it to Jia Fei.

Jia Fei receives the ball, and CJ is guarding him.

But the double team attack came quickly, and Jia Fei immediately passed the ball out.

The Trail Blazers rotated very quickly, and the ball reached Olynyk at the top of the key, but the Trail Blazers actually let him go.

But Olynyk missed a three-pointer!

The Trail Blazers grabbed the rebound and immediately launched a fast break. CJ McCollum made a layup, giving the Trail Blazers a 4-0 lead!

On the Clippers' side, Jia Fei and Olynyk ran a pick-and-roll, but were double-teamed by the opponent.

Jia Fei understood that the opponent's strategy was to sandwich him and leave the others empty, with Olynyk and Beverley as the main targets.

However, this defensive strategy is extremely risky. These two are not Rondo. Both of them have a three-point shooting percentage of nearly 40% this season, and their output is also high.

But that's exactly what the Trail Blazers did. Coach Stotts' strategy was undeniably bold. However, on the other hand, it's impossible to completely stop the Clippers without making trade-offs. If you expect CJ to guard Jia Fei one-on-one, you might as well expect Kardashian to do the same; that would be more effective.

In previous games, the Trail Blazers tried having Harkless guard Jafi, Aminu guard Paul George, and CJ guard Gallinari.

But Jia Fei was too smart, too good at reading the game, constantly letting Gallinari overpower CJ in the elbow area or in the low post, making CJ question his existence.

This game is likely to be tough for the Clippers. After the Trail Blazers adopted a strategy of double-teaming Jia Fei, Olynyk and Beverley seemed to have lost their shooting touch, going 0-for-5 from three-point range in the first quarter.

On the offensive end, the Trail Blazers also had a specific plan: after securing a defensive rebound, they would resolutely launch a counterattack, with their two forwards relentlessly attacking the Clippers' basket.

Not only the two forwards, but Lillard also frequently attacked the basket using pick-and-rolls, leaving Olynyk struggling to defend him. The Clippers' interior defense was under immense pressure.

Although the point difference was small, the Clippers played haphazardly. Olynyk and Gallinari each accumulated two fouls in the first quarter and were substituted early by Harrell and Jeff Green.

After Harrell came in, the Clippers' interior defense did not improve at all. Facing the tall Nurkic, he was at a disadvantage in one-on-one defense and was overpowered by the opponent several times.

At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers trailed by 4 points, 28-24, playing at home.