Xue Ding came to the frontcourt penalty area with the ball. Paul immediately rushed up. Facing Paul's defense, Xue Ding chose to play sideways and scored two points from the basket.

10 to 110

Paul held the ball to the frontcourt and continued to suppress the rhythm, and did not rush to attack.

Xue Ding began to defend closely, and at the same time, Chandler also leaned over to form a double-handed attack on Paul. Facing the two-handed attack, Paul chose to pass the ball to West.

The latter shot from the three-point line and hit the iron, and Blake took the backcourt rebound.

The Hornets missed the shot, which was an opportunity for the Trail Blazers.

When Blake grabbed it, Xue Ding was about to cross the center line and reached out to ask Blake for the ball.

Blake took the ball and looked at it. He happened to see Xue Ding holding it up with one hand, and then passed it to Xue Ding for a long time.

After Xue Ding got the ball, he quickly started. He would not miss this opportunity to counterattack. He killed the basket from near the center line and ended the attack with a dunk.

"Beep!"

At the same time, the referee whistle sounded, and the chasing Collison fouled the thug, and Xue Ding also had extra punishment.

Xue Ding stood on the free throw line, took a deep breath, and hit the free throw.

The score difference is only 4 minutes left, and there are 1 minute and 2 seconds left.

Paul received the ball and quickly advanced to the frontcourt, trying to open the Blazers to a firm foothold, and counterattacked the ball and scored.

Pritchard immediately called for a timeout and made some tactical adjustments.

Roy, who had been on the bench in the fourth quarter, replaced him on the court, and it seemed that he wanted to strengthen his offense at the last moment to see if he could turn the defeat into victory.

But it was Pritchard's substitution that caused the Trail Blazers to lose the final goal.

After Roy came on the court, Xue Ding took the initiative to hand over the ball to him and went to the frontcourt to open up space. However, he didn't expect that Roy was intercepted by Paul shortly after he got the ball.

The already close score difference was widened to 8 points after Roy's mistake. Even if Xue Ding hit two consecutive goals in the last time, he was powerless to turn the situation around.

In the end, the Trail Blazers lost the game 110-115.

Xue Ding made 17 shots in this game, hitting 11 of them, scoring 1 point, 8 rebounds and 11 assists, but he still failed to avoid the team losing at home.

However, after the game, it was found that the loss of this game had no effect on the Trail Blazers' ranking, because in the other two games that were held later, the Trail Blazers' direct competitors Nuggets and Rockets lost to the Spurs and Bulls at the same time.

With the end of this game day, with two regular season games left in the end, the final ranking of the Trail Blazers has been determined. Even if the Trail Blazers lose all the last two games, they will be ranked seventh in the West to enter the playoffs.

And if they want to go further, they must expect the Spurs, who are ahead of them, to lose in the second two rounds, so that they can enter the sixth position in the Western Conference.

But the Spurs' opponents in the last two rounds were the Timberwolves, the bottom of the West, and the Pistons, who missed the playoffs early in the East. With the Spurs' strength, there is basically no big problem to win these two opponents.

So, in the post-match locker room, Prichard made a decision in front of all the players.

"I'm sorry, we didn't win this game in Rose Garden tonight, but we don't have to be too pessimistic. Now that we have obtained the playoffs, we have to prepare for the playoffs.

From now on, all the team's work will serve the playoffs.

So, here I want to announce something to everyone. In the next two games, we will take some of the main players to take turns to let our substitutes go to the court to prove themselves at this time."

As soon as news that Pritchard was about to rest for the main player, Roy and several others immediately said that they could continue to play, and in order to win a better ranking, they were willing to fight.

Xue Ding also stood up and expressed his opinion to the head coach.

But Prichard rejected the players' statement and said: "The regular season is a long journey. We have played for more than half a year from October last year to now, and almost the next day it is a game. Such a game is too intense. Now the playoffs are coming soon. At that time, the confrontation will be more intense and the intensity of the game will be greater. You are all too tired and need to take a good rest for a while.

So, players who are resting in the next two games can take this opportunity to relax and take a break, and welcome the playoffs with the best physical condition, my children."

Aldridge's last season reimbursement seemed to have a big blow to Prichard. From the beginning of this game with the Hornets, he has always been paying attention to the situation on the court, fearing that his players will suffer from injury again, which is why he kept holding Roy on the bench in the fourth quarter.

After Prichard finished speaking, no one of the players opposed his intentions.

Indeed, compared with the regular season, the playoff level must be improved at least one level. It would be fine if the opponent you meet is not the kind of strong inside line.

But once they encounter teams with strong inside lines like the Grizzlies or Jazz in the playoffs, they will really lose their skin even if they don’t die. Now their opponents are not sure, and everything is possible.

Just as Prichard was talking about this in the locker room, the team's general manager also came to the locker room and agreed to Prichard's decision. In the next two games, the main player will be rested.

There is another reason Prichard did this, that is, to examine who can really stand out in the playoffs on the team's bench.

Now that Ade is reimbursed, the team's staff is already in short supply, and it is impossible to sign a free agent in a ten-day contract, so they can only pick people from the team's substitutes and development league.

There are only two games left for Prichard, and he must make good use of these two games.

After announcing the rest, Xue Ding quickly took a shower in the locker room and packed up his own things and left, and did not participate in the team's post-match interview.

Now for Xue Ding, the most important thing is to take good care of Yaya.

Because the Trail Blazers' game was scheduled for early games, it was just dark in Portland after the game, and Xue Ding wanted to return to Yaya's side earlier to take care of her.

When Xue Ding returned home, Yaya was sitting alone in the living room watching TV, while the four old men went to bed early.
Chapter completed!