On January 4, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Portland Trail Blazers sat at home to meet the Eastern Conference powerhouse Atlanta Hawks. In a way, the two teams have been a bit of a sibling this season, with the Hawks reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season and failing to make it to the top eight in the division so far this season; the Blazers also made the playoffs last season, but this season is mired in a quagmire, and the prospects for the playoffs are rather bleak.
Interestingly, although the same disease, but the two teams did not have the slightest intention of mercy, the game from the beginning of the two sides opened the city gates, a big fight, the fourth quarter of the two teams a total of 267 points, the Blazers 136-131 narrowly won the opponent, difficult to defend the home.
As the eagles' number one star, Trae Young shined in this game, shooting 17 of 26 from the field, including 7 of 12 from outside the three-point line to cut a season-high 56 points, in addition to giving 14 assists, and the offensive end almost single-handedly carried the team on his shoulders. However, such a super god battle did not help the team to win, which has to say that the opposing team's little Simmons, the 23-year-old rising star ushered in a big outbreak in this game, personally snuffed out the Eagles and Trae Young's winning dreams.
In the whole game, Simmons Jr. appeared for 38 minutes, 13 of 21 shots, 16 shots from outside the three-point line, cut the team's high 43 points, in addition to 3 rebounds and 7 assists, in the face of Trae Young's continuous attacks on the offensive end, he was always able to respond, especially in the third quarter of the game, he played a unique 18 points, directly becoming the key to determining the balance of victory and defeat.
After winning this game, the Blazers also struggled to end the previous wave of 4 consecutive losses, and Lillard undoubtedly became the most "frustrated" person behind this victory, because he watched this game from the sidelines, and Simmons Jr., who started instead of him, shined and led the team to win. What is more embarrassing is that in addition to Simmons, Powell, Little, and Nurkic in the Blazers team have all scored at least 20 points, and the team's overall offense has shown a multi-point blossoming situation.
Since losing to the Nuggets in the playoffs last year, Lillard's mentality has changed subtly, repeatedly asking the team for reinforcements, being repeatedly exposed by the media to apply for a trade to leave the team, and even once being installed as a "selling teammate". Although Lillard has repeatedly responded to denials of the rumors, since the beginning of the season, his personal competitive status has declined significantly, and the team's performance struggle is an indisputable fact.
In the context of Simmons's sudden rise, people have to sigh whether Lillard and the Blazers' fate has come to an end, and a peaceful breakup may be a better choice for each other.