The away game against the Lakers is of great significance to the Trail Blazers. This not only further widened the gap with the Lakers in the Western Conference rankings and consolidated the No. 1 position in the Western Conference, but also greatly improved their confidence in the entire team.

This was a dignified victory. The main lineups of both sides were all produced, and the substitutes performed well. Everyone tried their best. In the end, the Trail Blazers defeated their opponents. It has to be said that this is a reflection of the Trail Blazers' strong strength.

The confidence of a strong team is being established in the hearts of the Trail Blazers players. This is the only way for a champion team, standing on the corpse of a king to a higher position.

Of course, it is too early to talk about the Trail Blazers surpassing the Lakers now. This is just a regular season game. Last season, the Trail Blazers were not at a disadvantage against the Lakers, but they were beaten 4:1 by the Lakers in the playoffs, which fully demonstrates that the playoffs and the regular season are two worlds.

The Trail Blazers players understand this. In order to welcome the playoffs, the whole team began to enter the state adjustment period, and Ramsey began to debug the lineup and inspect the marginal players.

Since the Trail Blazers have suffered serious injuries this season, one main player is reimbursed, and other main players are also playing and stopping, so the team's lineup rotation is a bit chaotic, without a very stable starting lineup and a stable rotation routine.

For a team that is determined to win the championship, every detail in the team must be considered. In the ever-changing NBA arena, many times the one or two details that determine the outcome of the game are just one or two details. If you do it well, you will win the game. If you don’t do it well, you will go home.

The main problem with the starting lineup is the point guard position. Valentine's reimbursement gave Cort and Porter a good training opportunity. These two newcomers showed maturity beyond their age on the court, and supported the team's backcourt organization task without the big brother.

Among them, Cort is relatively more sophisticated, and his breakthrough is quite sharp. When Drexler's breakthrough is relatively stubborn, he can often play a miraculous role in the offense. In addition to the poor game played due to drug use at the beginning of the season, Cort made many amazing performances in the subsequent games, including his magical performance at critical moments.

Compared with Cort, Porter is more talented. After all, he is a first-round pick. His physical condition is obviously better than Cort. He is a high-large point guard with a strong tactical execution ability and a big heart. He can make some key shots that are final. Sometimes when some balls are shot, Ramsey's heart can't stand it.

Regarding how to choose between the two, Ramsey also took turns to let them enter the starting lineup and matched with the other four sure starting players to see how the effect was.

In the 21st game against Seattle, Corter started, scoring 8 points and 1 assist, and Porter, who was a substitute, scored 6 points and 3 assists; No. 23rd game against Kings, Corter started, 7 points and 8 assists, Porter's substitute, 10 points and 4 assists; No. 25th game against Kings, Porter started, 12 points and 4 assists, and Corter's substitute, 8 points and 2 assists.

The two took turns to serve as the team's starting point guards, and the two were almost the same in performance. Whether it was scoring, assisting, or dealing with some problems on the field, the two young men tried their best to compete for the starting position and strived to be perfect.

In the 29th game against the Warriors, the game was unexpectedly anxious. Steve Colt, as the starting point guard, stayed on the court for 40 minutes, scored 25 points, 4 assists and 2 steals, and performed quite amazingly.

However, the Trail Blazers lost the game by 1 point in the end because of a fatal pass error from Corte, and lost unexpectedly on the away game.

After the game, Corte was quite frustrated because he thought that this fatal mistake not only made the team lose a game, but also made him lose the starting position of the team in the playoffs.

Porter, who played only 18 minutes in the game, also contributed 8 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. In addition to his slightly low shooting percentage, he was more efficient in all aspects, which made Colt feel that he might not have a chance.

Ramsey is actually very troubled by this problem. Both of the new players are excellent and have a good fit with the team. No matter who starts, Ramsey thinks there is no problem.

But it is because of this that who starts the starter becomes a problem.

After losing to the Warriors, the atmosphere in the Trail Blazers is still very calm. After all, victory or defeat is common. Moreover, for some strong teams, they would rather lose to the weak team in the regular season than to do their best to lose to the strong team, because the weak team will not meet you in the playoffs.

Therefore, the training ended on March 30th relatively early, and the team did not practice more because of losing.

However, there are still some players who stayed to practice consciously, including Colt and Porter. Now the two are in a competitive state, but they are also making progress together.

Gan Guoyang naturally continued to stay and practice more as usual, but this time he stood on the sidelines and started to be a one-on-one referee for Cort and Porter. The two guys began to fight on the court.

Colter is more flexible and has more experience. It is really difficult for Porter to defend against Corte. Porter's main attack method is jump shot, which is not very beneficial in one-on-one, but Porter's body is stronger and taller. Once the shot is not good, he began to use his physical advantage to crush Corte.

"Hold on, use the lower plate, don't use your elbow to push, use your crotch, you will be called a foul... Good ball Porter, but if it's a game, you will definitely be shot like this, you have to lean back." Gan Guoyang not only acted as a referee, but also continued to give guidance to the two.

At this time, Ramsey walked to Gan Guoyang, and he did not leave early today to see his wife.

"Mr. Ramsey, you are still here." Gan Guoyang was also a little surprised to see Ramsey.

"Yes, her condition is pretty good. I'll spend more time on the team... You two continue!" Ramsey responded to Gan Guoyang while asking Cort and Porter to continue to fight one-on-one.

"It's really difficult to choose a starting player. Both of them work hard and hope to be in the starting player."

"That's right, what do you think of Gan? Who do you think should be the starting point guard?" Ramsey seemed to be asking Gan Guoyang for his opinion.

"It's so difficult. Both of them are great and young. Why don't you ask Valentine if that guy's legs are thicker again?" Gan Guoyang shook his head and said.

"I asked Valentine, who prefers Porter. He is indeed more talented, taller, and stronger than Cort. He may be better than Valentine in the future." It seems that Ramsey has asked Valentine.

"Yes, Porter is indeed more talented, physical, basketball IQ, and learning ability. After all, he was selected in the first round. However... I still prefer to let Corte start."

At this time, Colt broke through and passed Porter and successfully counterattacked.

"Tell me your reasons."

"First, experience, Porter has not experienced the playoffs, and Cort performed well in the playoffs last season. You also know that the regular season and the playoffs are two worlds; Second, Cort has a stronger determination, and the whole team knows that he is taking drugs. Now he has quit, he has embarked on a new path. I believe his desire for victory; Third, Cort feeds me the ball better than Porter feeds me." Gan Guoyang said one and two three very well, but he gives people the feeling that the last reason is the real point.

Ramsey glanced at Gan Guoyang, but what Gan Guoyang said made sense. Cortt was really good at feeding Gan Guoyang balls, better than Valentine, and Porter and Gan Guoyang were not so skillful.

Combined with the experience, Ramsey also had an answer in his mind.

……………………

March ended soon, and the Trail Blazers' March schedule was relatively relaxed, much less intensive than the schedules in February and January. The Trail Blazers also successfully passed this critical period, and continued to lead the West in 10 wins and 2 losses in March.

In April, the league finally entered the final stage, and the strong teams in the playoffs began to enter the adjustment period, while the playoffs edge teams fought for the playoffs quota.

The situation in the West is generally clear. The Trail Blazers have left the Lakers and Rockets behind. Only when they don’t have an 8-game losing streak at the end of the season, they will definitely enter the playoffs as the number one in the West. This will also be their first return to the number one in the West since the 1977-1978 season.

The Trail Blazers' first round opponent in the playoffs will be produced among the Spurs, Suns and Kings. Among them, the Suns have little chance of catching up with the eighth Spurs. As long as the Kings don't fall, the Spurs will be ranked eighth in the West.

The Lakers still maintain the momentum of chasing the Trail Blazers and put pressure on them, but due to the division rules, they can only rank third in the West, and their first-round opponents are likely to be the difficult Jazz to chew.

Compared with the West, the competition in the East is more intense. The battle for eighth place begins between the Bulls and the Cavaliers, and the gap between the two is only a slight difference.

In order to compete for the playoffs, Jordan, who was reimbursed at the beginning of the season, returned early and started to participate in the team's regular season in the last month, but the team limited Jordan's playing time, which also made Jordan very dissatisfied.

Milwaukee is stable in second place, and the millennium fourth-year-old is likely to hit the third-place 76ers in the playoffs, which will be their best chance to break the curse of losing streak.

The selection of major regular season awards is also in full swing, and the media is also promoting the upcoming playoff war.
Chapter completed!