O'Neal's jump ball was as steady as ever. After the Lakers got the ball, they quickly passed halftime with Payton's push.
Because they had already played against each other before, Payton did not choose to single Cassel, but handed the ball to Duan.
Now Madman Sprewell is playing small forward in the Timberwolves, and Duan is directly facing off against Madman.
Taking into account his height advantage, Du En did not call a pick-and-roll and directly faced the madman's defense with a high post shot.
"You still have some ability! But you have to work harder, otherwise I'll kill you!"
Du En sat the madman in the penalty area and started talking trash.
Having said that, the Madman's defense is quite tough.
The Madman rookie was on first-team and second-level defense in his second year. Before Jordan came back for the first time, he went to the Warriors specifically for the Madman.
However, the New York Knicks are tireless in destroying people. The madman's mental attributes are not good to begin with, and his physical fitness has declined to a certain extent because of New York's extravagance.
As for defensive strength, it mainly depends on physical talent and willpower.
Look at Wiggins, who usually plays healthy basketball, and his defensive votes are only in single digits.
But in the finals, with full willpower and historical talent, the Celtics' two top picks beat everyone else with accuracy, but they were blocked one after another against Wiggins.
Now the Madman's defensive attitude is not as active as when he was a rookie, and his physical fitness has declined a bit. How can he defend Duen?
Even after hearing the trash talk, the madman became angry and used all his strength to defend Du En, but he was still pushed away by Du En with an iron rock.
However, just when Duan leaned away from the madman and turned around to rush to the basket, Garnett's magic weapon descended from the sky and suddenly double-teamed him.
"Fuck, it turns out it was Garnett's help in defense!"
Garnett's lateral movement is very fast and his arms are extremely long. It is easy to quickly help defend and interfere with the offense of outside players.
However, after Du En saw Garnett, instead of being afraid, he felt happy.
"You are allowed to have thighs?"
Duan stopped the ball in an emergency, swung it first and tried to hit Garnett, but Garnett remained unmoved.
Immediately afterwards, Dunn pretended to pass the ball to Garnett who let it go. At this time, Stanislav Medvedenko had already run to the bottom corner.
At this time, Garnett finally turned sideways and prepared to rush to the bottom corner.
At this moment, Duan's hands when passing the ball suddenly paused, then took the ball back a little, and quickly threw the ball over the backboard.
"not good!"
Garnett noticed the passing path and quickly turned back, only to find that O'Neal was already hanging on the basket.
Garnett's assisting defense was already cost-effective. Seeing that the Madman was having a hard time defending Duane, he subconsciously came over to help defend.
The problem is, the Lakers have O'Neal inside, and Earvin Johnson alone will definitely not be able to defend him.
However, if Garnett doesn't wipe the madman's butt, then Duane will rush to the basket and it will be 2V2 on both sides. O'Neal will also be difficult to deal with this point.
"Kobe obviously didn't show up tonight, but why do I feel that this scene is a bit familiar, and it feels like Kobe was playing on the field?"
When Garnett learned before the game that Kobe was not coming, he felt that tonight's game was safe. Now that the game has just started, he feels that something is wrong...
In fact, only Kobe Bryant in the Lakers team could ignore the defense one-on-one, easily break into the basket, and then steadily feed the ball to O'Neal's mouth, unleashing O'Neal's low-post dominance as much as possible.
Passing the ball to O'Neal is an excellent tactic, but it also requires an outside player above the All-Star level to be qualified to execute this tactic!
In other words, it was also because O'Neal's alley-oop occupied the space under the basket. In order to avoid injury, Earvin Johnson did not go to the basket to pick up the ball and grab the baseline ball.
By the time O'Neal fell from the basket, the Lakers' perimeter players had returned to the backcourt.
In fact, the Timberwolves' ability to switch offense is pretty good, but they obviously didn't have the chance to play like this this time.
In a positional battle, the Timberwolves started with Cassel holding the ball and beating Payton in singles.
But Payton also wants to save face and cannot always be bullied by Cassel.
After exerting all his strength, Cassel turned over and raised his head after a back attack, but Payton missed it.
Although it was a bit of a stroke of luck, the defense was indeed successful.
After Payton dropped the ball, he immediately ran forward, followed not by Cassel but by Duane and Madman.
The Madman certainly couldn't defend the one-on-two frontcourt. In the end, Perdue connected and completed an alley-oop. Duan dunked with both hands, once again ravaging the visiting team Timberwolves' basket.
"You can run faster!"
Duane didn't hang on the rim for as long as O'Neal did. After dunking, he released his force on the rim and landed immediately.
Then when returning to defense, he continued to trash talk the madman, affecting the madman's mentality.
It's easy for a madman to get the upper hand. Once a madman gets the upper hand, he will be like Westbrook, refusing to pass the ball to his teammates and insisting on taking the ball to attack himself.
Even if Garnett's offense is not as good as his defense, he still averages 20+ points per game!
Dunn hopes that the Madman can prevent Garnett from dying and allow Dunn to win the battle for the No. 1 forward in the Western Conference!
Sure enough, the madman was provoked by a rookie again and again. He was indeed furious and immediately asked Cassel for the ball.
Duen had studied before the game. In recent seasons, the Madmen like to shoot three-pointers and long two-pointers, so Duen can only defend from the three-point line.
Facing Duen's close defense, the Madman first acted as a triple threat, pretending to shoot, but in fact threatened Duen with his elbow, creating space for shooting and breakthrough.
Seeing this, Du En immediately changed his hands and placed them on the madman's waist, without relaxing his defensive intensity.
After such a move, the madman knew that Du En was not an ordinary rookie, so he immediately connected his hips with his back, turned around, and rushed to the left.
Du En moved laterally to keep up, and continued to put his hands on the madman's waist to slow down the madman's breakthrough speed and limit the force in the madman's waist when he took off to shoot.
The madman knew that there was a risk of being blocked if he continued to go to the basket, so he did not hesitate and immediately chose to make an emergency stop.
And at the same time as the emergency stop, the ball protector pushed Du En, and then stepped back and stepped on the three-point line to take a shot.
This ball is a long two-pointer, and the shooting preparation is obviously not sufficient. A little further outside is a three-pointer.
However, the Madman did rely on his personal strength to create a shooting opportunity.
Du En flew out and did not interfere with the madman's shooting. He could only turn his head and look at the flight path of the basketball as usual before considering whether to launch a fast break.
Duang——
It can only be said that the madman's shot was quite powerful, and the ball flew very fast. Likewise, the time it takes for the sound of the iron to be heard is shorter than that of other balls.
When Du En saw the ball bounce outside, not far from where he was, he immediately stepped forward to grab the rebound.
After the madman noticed the iron, he immediately rushed forward. When Du En got the ball, he wanted to step forward and hug the ball, hoping for a chance to compete for the ball.
Du En saw the madman baring his teeth and claws, and slapped his palm directly on his arm, so the ball protector clamped the madman's hand in a big circle, and immediately threw his right hand into the frontcourt to lose three points in the half.
The referee also knew that the madman had committed a foul, but Duan wanted to use it to create three free throws, which was a bit too much.
There is indeed a home whistle these days, but that's not how fouls are caused, otherwise the game would be unwatchable.
In a strong dialogue like tonight's, the league advocates letting the stars solve the problem themselves.
Unless the referee is given a special assignment, there will rarely be a situation where he doesn't show any shame.
Ever since, the madman just committed a common foul, and the Lakers served from the sideline again.
The Madman averages about 2 fouls per game, and it is unrealistic to punish the Madman by drawing fouls.
Du En learned about tonight's penalty scale and thought to himself: "It seems that we can only win the game with hard power!"
After the serve, the Lakers quickly started a positional battle after halftime.
Du En got the ball again, started playing with his back, and continued to beat the madman into the penalty area.
However, at this time, Trenton Hassell suddenly double-teamed over and interfered with Duan's dribbling.
When Duan saw the opportunity, he immediately passed the ball to Kareem Rush, who replaced Kobe in the starting lineup, and signaled the opponent to give him a hand-off screen.
Originally, Du En also wanted to defeat the madman directly in singles. Who knows that either Garnett or Trenton Hassell will assist the Madman on defense.
Then, Du En can only use his true ability to play small guards in pick-and-rolls!
Kareem Rush wanted to shoot a three-pointer directly after receiving the ball, but when he saw the movement of Duan's hands when passing the ball, he immediately understood.
When Duan pushed Trenton Hassell and came over to catch the ball, Kareem Rush immediately passed the ball to Duan and then blocked the pursuer behind Duan.
Upon seeing this, Cassel immediately switched to Duan, and Garnett under the basket had to get closer to the free throw line.
After seeing Cassel, Duen didn't take it seriously. He immediately elbowed the way, knocked Cassel away, and continued to rush towards the basket.
Immediately afterwards, Garnett stopped in front of Duen, but Duen performed a European step and faked a pass while leaping forward.
In order to prevent O'Neal from getting the ball, Garnett could only take a step back. However, at this moment, Duan suddenly stopped and took a throw!
Garnett reacted and immediately jumped to block the shot, but found that it was too late.
"The ball is in!"
"Duane, Duane, Duane!"
After Duane scored the floater, the Staples Center burst into loud cheers.
Although Du En's goal was not a one-on-five, it still managed to penetrate the Timberwolves' defense on his own!
And he faced Garnett's defense and scored the ball in front of Garnett. This goal was too tough!
In fact, Garnett didn't think anything was wrong when Dunn hit a floater in front of him. Instead, he looked at O'Neal with the corner of his eye on his way to the frontcourt.
During the Timberwolves' offensive round, Garnett was not in a hurry to get the ball.
The Madman had already scored a lot of points because of the opponent Du En, but he didn't score a single point and seemed a little irritable, eager to get the ball and score.
Du En continued to guard against the madman. The madman also combined sudden shots, but did not pass the ball and continued to beat Du En alone.
In fact, Du En's defense against the madman is not very good. The madman can always get a chance to take action while ducking and moving.
Just like when Kobe faced double teams, he still shot as usual when he got an open shooting opportunity.
Similarly, the madman's mid-range shot also has the flavor of a three-iron shot. He can make a shot, but his hit rate is not high.
During the break, Du En asked his assistant to look at the data panel.
The Madmen made 2 of 8 shots in the first quarter and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 6 points. Looking at the data, Duen actually defended well enough.
However, Du En's own defense of the madman knew that he had not completely defended the madman.
Many times, it is because the madman forces difficult shots, wasting the ball and reducing scoring efficiency.
Thanks to the fact that the Madmen continued to fight after failing to score, the score in the first quarter was 19 to 24, and the Lakers temporarily led by 5 points.
"Dunn, you have a heavy defensive task today. Do you want to take a rest first?"
As soon as Du En saw his statistics, he made 4 of 5 shots in the first quarter and scored 8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, when he heard Jackson calling him.
"If I had a choice, I would choose to rest in the garbage time of the fourth quarter, provided we beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first three quarters!"
Hearing what Du En said, the Zen master was also very pleased: "Very good, very energetic!"
The Zen master liked this kind of young man who was fucked by him and was still full of fighting spirit.
The second quarter resumed, with Duane leading the Lakers side, while only Garnett took the lead for the Timberwolves three-headed monster.
Seeing that Madman was away, Duen didn't have to expend too much energy on the defensive end, so he kept calling pick-and-rolls and played some simple balls first.
Garnett's help defense was indeed terrifying. Duan was blocked just as he broke through the basket.
Later, Du En learned the lesson and directly took the screen and shot a three-pointer.
The second quarter lasted just over three minutes. After Duan scored two three-pointers, the Timberwolves had to send the Madman back to the court.
Although the Madmen couldn't withstand Duen's back attack, they also limited Duen's three-pointers in the first quarter.
After the Madman came up, Duan indeed not only stopped shooting three-pointers, but also took the initiative to reduce his shooting rights, and instead rushed to the basket to pass to O'Neal.
Duen focused more of his physical strength and energy on defending madmen and talking trash.
Sure enough, as if a manic maniac, he continued to use all kinds of martial arts on Du En, using the iron again and again to prove that he was really strong.
"Prepare me a bag of glucose, I need more energy."
Taking advantage of the timeout in the second quarter, Duen spoke to an assistant coach in advance and asked him to help prepare what was needed during the halftime break.
I have to say that defending a madman is indeed a chore.
Although the madman's hit rate is not high, the madman's shooting frequency is high! Half of the Timberwolves' offensive rounds require Duane to defend the madman.
Since the defensive madman can win, Duen will naturally have to work harder to defend the madman.
However, Duen, who originally had some stability in physical fitness, felt a little exhausted before the first half was over and was unable to do his job.
It is precisely because of this that if you want to finish the second half of the game in better condition, you will definitely not be able to survive just by eating bananas and drinking energy drinks during the halftime break.
Originally, the intensity of tonight's game was at the playoff level.
It's not too outrageous for Duane to enter playoff mode early.
Not long after, the second quarter ended with the score 40 to 47. Although the Lakers continued to widen the point difference, their lead did not expand much.
It can be seen that the second half was definitely a fierce battle.
During the halftime break, O'Neal ordered a table of delicious food for everyone as usual.
Seeing Duan using the punching bag, O'Neal also asked for a bottle of glucose.
But instead of injecting, you just open the cap of the bottle and enjoy it like drinking, one sip of glucose and one sip of food, accompanied by the smell of sweat in the locker room...
"Dunn, would you like some?"
O'Neill toasted to Du En. Although Du En was a little hungry, he still chose to shake his head.
Choosing to inject glucose was originally to avoid vomiting while inhaling.
Besides, if you have just eaten and played, it is easy for your brain to become sleepy due to lack of oxygen, which affects your concentration during the game.
After hanging up the punching bag, it wasn't long before halftime ended, so Duane drank half a bottle of Gatorade before re-entering the court.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Du En was in average condition, but in the second half of the quarter, it seemed that the glucose started to take effect, and he felt a lot more relaxed.
As it happens, the madman may have eaten something, and his concentration began to decline.
Duan got rid of the Madman's defense and hit a mid-range and a three-pointer in succession, helping the Lakers open the point difference to 10 points.
However, Garnett, who didn't take many shots in the first half, also stepped up in the third quarter.
Hitting two consecutive mid-range shots made Duan realize why Garnett's mid-range shots are respected as the iron-blooded mid-range shot.
Fortunately, the Madmen continued to be sluggish in the second half of the third quarter, which also gave the Lakers the opportunity to continue to open up the score.
62 to 74, the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead.
"Shaq, Duan, are you okay?"
Jackson seemed intent on closing the game in the first half of the fourth quarter, because in the second half of the fourth quarter, O'Neal was easily hacked.
O'Neal shook his head upon hearing this, indicating that he needed to rest.
Du En felt that he was in good condition, so he continued to lead the team in the starting lineup.
It is worth mentioning that Duan has played 31 minutes tonight and is the player with the most playing time for the Lakers.
After returning to the court, Doon continued to face off against Madman again.
Obviously, the Timberwolves did not give up the game and wanted to bite the score at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
However, enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.
When the madman saw Du En, he felt as if he had received the taunting skill and immediately lost his mind.
While strengthening defense, Duan also started to play smart ball. Taking advantage of Garnett's absence on the court, he used pick-and-rolls to hit small guards and score from the basket.
Relying on Duan's outstanding performance of 2 of 3 shots and 2 of 4 free throws in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring 6 points in a row, the Lakers continued to widen the point difference.
When the Timberwolves sent Garnett and Cassell, the Lakers also pressed O'Neal and Payton.
Next, Duan basically stopped playing singles with the ball, but focused on passing the ball to O'Neal.
With the help of O'Neal's low-post dominance, the Lakers once expanded the point difference to 17 points.
However, the Timberwolves resorted to an alternative method and used shark-cutting tactics to fragment the Lakers' offense.
Fortunately, O'Neal's free throws did not stretch his legs. Although he only made 4 of 8 shots in the fourth quarter, it was enough for the Timberwolves to go home in despair.
87 to 95, the Lakers finally led by 8 points and won this strong dialogue game!
It is worth mentioning that the Madman made 9 of 24 shots, 2 of 5 three-pointers, and 6 of 7 free throws, scoring 26 points.
Garnett made 9 of 16 shots and 3 of 4 free throws, posting a double-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
However, Duan relied on his comprehensive statistics of 11 of 25 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, 6 of 10 free throws, 32 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He won and won the game and successfully defeated the Madman and Garner. special.
After the game, Du En was interviewed and continued to rant: "Doubts are meant to be broken.
I really like what Michael Jordan said: If I don’t beat my opponent, others will think I’m on the same level as him!
We are number one in the Western Conference and will also be number one in the league. We are not afraid of any challenges! "
