"I have great respect for the Golden State Warriors. They are the defending champions, but frankly, I would rather face them in the semifinals. Gregg Popovich's Spurs have used 20 years to prove to everyone that no matter what season they are, they are always a complete winner.

competitor, it’s not a good opponent for Portland.”

Damian Lillard is a true warrior, and he may have been the toughest opponent of the Golden State dynasty, so it's not surprising that he once again publicly disparaged the Golden State Warriors. What is surprising is that Lillard has nothing to do with the Spurs.

Attitude.

When he learned that his semifinal opponent was the Spurs, Lillard publicly showed weakness?

Is this a strategy or sincerity?

People are more willing to believe it is the former, but in fact, Lillard is telling the truth.

Lillard is proud enough, but after seeing the Houston Rockets being swept by the Spurs, he had to lament that the Spurs are really scary now. You must know that the Houston Rockets are the bitter enemy of the Trail Blazers. They played against each other four times in the regular season.

, he Lillard failed to take away a victory from the Houstonians.

"He's an incredible guy. I've never seen a player like him before. People always talk about how great Michael Jordan and Earvin Johnson were in their rookie seasons, but I wasn't an NBA player at that time.

What I see is that the Spurs' No. 35 is making a new history."

"That would be fun, I like this kind of matchup"

After Damian Lillard spoke out, McCollum, another gunner in the City of Tear, was not far behind. Compared to Lillard's praise for the Spurs team, McCollum directly praised Jiang Hao. He even used

Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson came to be compared with Jiang Hao.

This shows how outstanding Jiang Hao is in McCollum's heart.

Fans are sure that McCollum, as a star player, does not need to compliment a rookie at this time.

So why else would he do this?

"Yes, he is very powerful, and his threat is not even much lower than Kawhi Leonard"

McCollum gave the reason. In his opinion, Jiang Hao is the most dangerous player in the Spurs team second only to Leonard.

Even Aldridge, who started his career with the Trail Blazers, couldn't get McCollum to say these words.

“This is not a good sign”

Although Spurs fans would love to see their opponents praising Jiang Hao, they don't have to worry about Jiang Hao. When your opponents value you, that's the hardest thing.

In fact, in the eyes of many people, the reason why the Rockets were swept out by the Spurs is related to the importance they attached to Jiang Hao. In the first two games of the series, the Rockets obviously did not attach enough importance to Jiang Hao, and they waited for them to react.

time, but the best opportunity has been lost.

The Trail Blazers faced off against Jiang Hao before the game even started, which undoubtedly proved that the upcoming series would be more difficult than imagined.

Although the Trail Blazers' regular season record is not as strong as the Houston Rockets, their ability to eliminate the New Orleans Pelicans led by Anthony Davis and LaMarcus Cousins ​​in the first round speaks for itself.

The most important thing is that they also have a top-notch backcourt combination. To a certain extent, the backcourt duo of Lillard and McCollum is even stronger than Houston's lightbulb combination.

For example, on the offensive end, both Lillard and McCollum are top scorers averaging 20 points per game this season. Although the Spurs' perimeter defense is very strong, can they really withstand the impact of the Trail Blazers' double guns?

Both Jiang Hao and Dejounte Murray are very potential defensive players, but they suffer because they are young. Faced with the impact of star players like Lillard, can they still perform as usual?

Spurs fans dare not make this definition.

In fact, Popovich didn't dare. Although he was full of confidence in the semifinals, he still gave Leonard his first reliance. In his opinion, as long as Leonard performs normally, the Spurs will

Can win.

………

Due to the regular season record, the semifinals with the Trail Blazers were first held at the Trail Blazers' home court.

The Spurs and their team came to Portland the day before the game started, and after only a few hours of rest, they fully devoted themselves to training.

Maybe this is the Spurs basketball culture, they always do the right thing at the right time.

One day later, at the Trail Blazers' home court - Moda Center, Jiang Hao experienced what a torn city is when he came on the field.

The fans here are very fanatical. They don't know what respect is for their opponents. For a few seconds when Jiang Hao passed through the player tunnel, he felt that his eighteenth generation ancestor had been greeted over and over again by Trail Blazers fans.

And in response, he could only respond with silence.

"Jiang, this is the playoffs. What you see is just the tip of the iceberg. You can't understand the environment we faced when we played at the Detroit Pistons' home court in 2005. Compared with that scene, this is simply child's play.

"

Manu Ginobili patted Jiang Hao on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Have the Portland Trail Blazers ever won a championship in history? Why does it feel to me that the culture of this team is like an old woman who has been widowed for many years and seems to be holding back her energy?"

Ginobili laughed. He thought Jiang Hao's metaphor was very vivid, right? A city torn apart, what to tear apart?

"The Trail Blazers won a championship. Of course, that was in the 1960s and 1970s. You should have heard of Bill Walton. He is the greatest star in the history of the Trail Blazers."

Ginobili then gave Jiang Hao some knowledge about the Blazers' team history.

"LaMarcus, did you hear that? Although the fans here are crazy, they are still showing goodwill to you. You are very welcome here."

Tony Parker slapped Aldridge on the butt and joked.

The latter laughed heartily. For Aldridge, he felt great at this time. His career started here. He has a deep relationship with this city, and he has also worked for this city.

The team has worked hard, and in this case, the fans here really shouldn't point their guns at him.

The on-site director was also very discerning at this time, and he pointed the camera at Aldridge.

The original owner, now the guest, what kind of performance will Aldridge show when he comes to the Moda Center again?

Everyone is looking forward to this.

Frankly speaking, Aldridge did not perform very well in the series with the Rockets. Although he has the title of "Rockets Nemesis", in fact, he averaged only 176 points per game in the series with the Rockets.
Chapter completed!