A month, whether it is long or short, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers, the two strongest teams in the West, met again. This time, the game was still played in Los Angeles. The first three matches of the two teams were all arranged at the Lakers' home court, and the first two matches against the Trail Blazers won a complete victory, which put the third game also the Lakers' last home pressure.

Before the game, Riley unexpectedly made a remark, claiming that Gan Guoyang should not rank first on the MVP rankings and that the first place should be given to the Magician.

"Yes, that's what I think. The Trail Blazers have excellent record and Gan's personal performance is also great, but the value of a most valuable player is not only reflected in these places. He should be able to make his teammates better. In this regard, the Magician is better than Gan, and his data and personal performance are not bad at all. The Magician should obviously be ranked first."

Riley's remarks naturally attracted a rebound from the Trail Blazers. Drexler told reporters before the game: "If Gan is not the most valuable player, then the setting of this award will be meaningless."

Buck Williams and Terry Porter also supported Gan Guoyang. On the contrary, the protagonist Gan Guoyang seemed very modest in an interview. He said: "Riley's words are not completely unreasonable. I also think that as a super point guard who won three championships, the Magician's performance should be an MVP, and I still have a lot to learn from him."

Gan Guoyang's modesty was beyond the expectations of many people. Not only did this guy not lose on the court, but he did not lose off the court. Everyone still remembers that before the Western Conference Finals last year, Gan Guoyang and Pat Riley had a verbal battle. Riley believed that Gan Guoyang would never be as good as Jabbar, while Gan Guoyang claimed that Riley's hairstyle was the worst among all coaches, worse than Jack Ramsey - Jack Ramsey was bald.

The two of them played the first game to the sixth game, but in the seventh game, Riley did suddenly stop talking. Then the Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers in the seventh game and entered the finals.

Now that both sides are still playing in the regular season, Riley has begun to release his propaganda weapons, which is enough to show his importance to this game, but Gan Guoyang did not get into Riley's condom, and he learned from last year's lesson.

During last year's mouth game, Gan Guoyang deeply realized the impact of this off-court voice on players' courts. In the top leagues of the NBA, any change in factors may lead to abnormal performance. Riley is an old fox after all, and the impact of this kind of thing on him is zero. Gan Guoyang is still young, and his mentality fluctuates when stimulated by Riley. This is also the reason why Gan Guoyang performed well in the Western Conference Finals but lacked one step away from greatness - he was unable to control the trend of the series, and he was moved by Riley.

Now, Gan Guoyang faced Riley's provocation, but it was a provocation in the regular season. He unexpectedly chose to retreat and soften, and used polite words to make excuses. At the same time, Gan Guoyang also knew that the current Trail Blazers were not sure to face the Lakers at this time.

Unlike a month ago, both sides lost all the states. The Trail Blazers seemed a little embarrassed under the siege of the entire league. Although they still won more than lost, they were no longer as easy as they were at the beginning of the season.

The Lakers got rid of the bad state in December. After losing to the Trail Blazers, Byron Scott returned to the team. They first played an eight-game winning streak, including the Heat, the Cavaliers, the Spurs, the Mavericks and other teams, and the offensive enthusiasm and defensive intensity of the entire team have been improved by a level.

The Lakers only lost one game in January, which was against the New York Knicks at Madison Garden Square. The old Lakers faced the wolf-like Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley in the interior and surrendered, and the Lakers were ended in a winning streak at the basketball holy site.

But then the Lakers scored another four-game winning streak. Magic Johnson also basically secured the best of January with his outstanding performance. His comprehensive performance in scoring, assists and rebounds also made Riley say that "the Magician is the real MVP" has been recognized by many people.

Before the game, Riley's psychological tactics did not have much effect, but the magician was not particularly worried about this. He had his own plans. Riley knew that the Lakers under his command were extremely talented, but the Trail Blazers on the opposite side were also amazingly talented. They often fought against the Trail Blazers many times and were often not particularly good decisions, especially as the Lakers were getting older.

On the contrary, the Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers twice in the playoffs because of their defensive tactics, which gave them weights to the final victory balance.

Throughout January, Riley was committed to improving the quality of the Lakers' defense and improving the players' enthusiasm for defense. Therefore, the Lakers, who have always crushed their opponents with offense, limited their opponents' scores to below 100 points in eight games in January. You should know that the Lakers' average points per game are generally above 105 points, which is enough to show that the Lakers' defensive efforts are effective.

At the same time, the methods used by teams to deal with the Trail Blazers in January also benefited Riley a lot. The videotapes of the Trail Blazers losing games were watched repeatedly in the office, looking for the Trail Blazers' lineup and tactical shortcomings, and developing new ways of dealing with the Lakers based on the situation of the Lakers.

It was precisely because of these preparations that Riley dared to speak out in the pre-match interview and fired smoke bombs to interfere with the psychological state of the Trail Blazers players. He was fully prepared on the court.

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"Good evening, everyone, I'm happy to bring you a live commentary on the NBA game. The game we're going to broadcast tonight is the Los Angeles Lakers' home game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The first two matches in the West are eye-catching. I'm CBS commentator Dick Stokes, and sitting next to me is everyone's old friend Tom Hayshin."

Most viewers in the United States who turn on the TV will hear the familiar commentary from Dick Stockton, and important games like this will usually be left to him to take charge.

Stockton explained to the audience the current situation of the two teams in the studio. However, as a non-team person, he did not know some of the changes that the two teams have encountered, especially the strong fighting spirit shown by the Lakers, so Stockton, like most people, is optimistic that the Trail Blazers will win this game.

However, Tom Hayon, as a former professional player, knows the importance of mental state to a team. Now it seems that Lakers are in a strong spirit, while the Trail Blazers are declining from prosperity. It is still unknown whether Feng Fu will adjust as soon as possible away games.

As expected by Haiyin Thorne, the Lakers were the first to win the first half just as the start of the first half. They did not double-team Gan Guoyang like other teams, but focused on the defense of the two backcourt players of the Trail Blazers, allowing Porter and Drexler to make consecutive mistakes and were repeatedly counterattacked by the Lakers.

After achieving strength at the beginning, the Lakers immediately changed their strategy and began to defend Gan Guoyang. Instead of using three-man double-team, they used A.C Green and Michael Cooper, two of the Lakers' best defensive players, putting their defensive end energy on Gan Guoyang.

Pat Riley believes that the output of using three players to double-team against Gan Guoyang is not the best. Cooper and Green's defensive ability is enough to cause trouble for Gan Guoyang, which is enough for Riley. Worthy and the Magic have to focus on the offense.

The Trail Blazers were completely chaotic from the beginning, with offensive tactics running, echo rotation in defense, and player rotation all chaotic. In addition, with Magicians, the Lakers' counterattack attack was ten times sharper than other teams. This "Show-time"-style impact had a great psychological blow to the players. In the first quarter, the Trail Blazers were given 33 points by the Lakers, and they only scored 22 points and 11 points, setting the tone for the game.

In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers' situation was not better. Both sides entered the second lineup rotation. Riley deliberately put Scott on the bench in the lineup and let Cooper start in order to let Cooper go up to deal with Gan Guoyang, and then Scott then led the second lineup to play in the transition.

For the Trail Blazers, how to play the transition from the second team seems to have become a long-standing problem for them. After a month of running-in experience, Buck Williams has adapted to the role of the sixth man and has performed quite well. However, in addition to him, the Trail Blazers' bench is really embarrassing and useful. The veteran Paxson, who could have relied on, was absent due to a foot injury. The Trail Blazers have only a lot of forwards, but their strength in the backcourt substitutes is too weak. Inman has been seeking a deal, but there is no following. At the same time, the transaction message also makes Danny Yang and others unable to play with peace of mind.

In the games lost by the Trail Blazers, the opponent's sixth man performed very well. Scott was like a tiger going down the mountain, without any stranger to the identity of the sixth man. He came up and took over the Lakers' offense and used his personal ability to expand the score gap for the Lakers.

The scene was a one-sided situation.
Chapter completed!