Transition of possession.
Gary Payton intended to hit the injured Cassell, but Cassell defended the ball very well. Payton didn't get a good shot, so he gave the ball to Kobe again.
Kobe played "Madman" with his back in the high post, and his fadeaway jumper was beautiful, but his sights were still a bit off.
"Clang!"
The basketball bounce missed, Olowokandi clenched his teeth and got stuck on O'Neal's huge body.
The defensive rebound was easily grabbed by the Wolf King as he jumped up.
"Snapped!"
Come to the offensive end.
This time, the Wolf King was in the high position on the left, and he hit Stanislav with his back. With gorgeous steps, he turned over and hit another jump shot.
"Uh-huh!"
"Are all the men in your country as soft as women? That's so sad!"
Timberwolves (4): (2) Lakers.
The Target Center Arena burst into cheers, and the fans chanted Kevin Garnett's name. He is the well-deserved soul of this team.
After scoring 4 points and 1 rebound in the first 90 seconds, the Wolf King quickly got into shape. This was also what the "Zen Master" was most worried about.
Whether it is O'Neal or Stanislav, the effect of single defense against the Wolf King in the high position is not very good, not to mention that Olowokandi in the low position has a good ability to eat cakes.
If Devin George is used to double-team, the Wolf King's passing and support abilities are equally good, and the Lakers will still suffer.
Either way, the "Zen Master" can only use single defense to limit the Wolf King as much as possible, betting that his high-post jump shot will not be very efficient.
If tonight's game is really shot to death by the Wolf King, there is nothing that can be done.
The Lakers attacked, O'Neal and Gary Payton were in a high pick-and-roll, and the latter misplaced and accelerated to break through the basket.
The Wolf King quickly rushed to cover up the defense. Payton could only choose to pass the ball, but the angle of the ball was obviously a bit tricky.
The focused Wolf King reacted quickly, and quickly made a save with his long arms. His fingers obviously touched the basketball.
The trajectory of the basketball was changed, and O'Neal, who followed up, failed to catch the ball. Cassel had quick eyes and quick hands and quickly pounced to win the ball.
"Snapped!"
The Timberwolves counterattacked with a fast break, and Cassel rushed into the frontcourt without any trace of the impact of his back injury.
Payton couldn't catch up with the alien, so Devin George had to make up for it. "Madman" followed up on the right side to contain Kobe's defense.
This left Szebiak empty.
Cassel, who entered the penalty area, looked at all six directions and looked back at the moon to catch Szebiak who was following up.
The latter stepped to the free throw line, faced Devin George who turned over and was caught off guard, leaped up and dunked with two hands.
"Boom!"
Devin George was dunked directly to the ground.
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded. Devin George was in the reasonable collision area and was knocked down. His hand obviously hit Szczerbiak's shoulder. This was a defensive foul.
2+1.
Szebiak, who has always played calmly and low-key, performed a wonderful fast-break dunk in the opening game. The Timberwolves' home momentum became stronger and stronger.
The Wolf King, Cassel and "Madman" all rushed up to high-five Szczerbiak, while Kobe walked up to Devin George and said in a low voice:
"Next time I encounter a similar situation, even if I am a vicious criminal, I will force my opponent down!"
Devin George nodded angrily, thinking that it would be strange for me to listen to you.
OK gets all the credit when they win, and role players like them take the blame when they lose. Devin George has an annual salary of more than 4 million U.S. dollars, and he can't commit the crime and fight for his life.
This year's Lakers team is originally just a show-off. The role players in these teams know the team's problems best, and there is basically no chance of winning the championship.
This season, Lakers veteran Rick Fox has declined rapidly due to injuries and age, and Devin George has assumed the starting small forward position.
But he is far from the strength of a championship team's starting small forward. He can't do well in offense and defense. Most of the time, he relies on Kobe to wipe his ass. The Lakers' lineup has long been full of hidden dangers.
"Uh-huh!"
Szebiak, who stepped to the free throw line, also took extra free throws and successfully scored 3 points.
The Lakers attacked, and this time O'Neal finally got a good opportunity in the low post, and Kobe also passed the ball quickly.
However, the Wolf King's defense was very timely. He jumped up and covered the sky with his long arms, decisively destroying O'Neal's dunk.
"Beep!"
The referee blew the whistle and sent O'Neal to the free throw line.
"Uh-huh!"
"Clang!"
Still the familiar one of two free throws.
The rebound was grabbed by the Wolf King, and he turned over and quickly passed it to the "alien" Cassel.
The Lakers' defense was fast, and Cassel kept his pace and played positional warfare, summoning a screen pick-and-roll from the Wolf King at the top of the arc.
Facing Stanislav who was moving slowly in a misplaced position, Cassel originally wanted to pass the ball to the Wolf King, but when he saw the opportunity, he decisively made a three-pointer.
"Uh-huh!"
There are also.
Cassell's traditional trick is post-up singles, and his mid-range turnaround jump shot is a masterpiece.
But now as the back injury continues to worsen, Cassel has also reduced the number of post-up plays and tried more face-to-face shots and breakthroughs after pick-and-rolls.
Timberwolves (10): (3) Lakers.
In the first three minutes, it was a hearty 10:3. The Target Center Arena was filled with excitement. The fans shouted to beat the Lakers and beat the OK combination.
"Zen Master" had no choice but to stand up and blow the whistle and call the referee for the first long timeout.
Phillip Saunders, his face glowing red, applauded the players as they walked off the court, and Lin Fei also stood up and handed Szebiak a towel.
"Wally, that fast break dunk 2+1 just now was so cool. Devin George's expression at that time was like a lost orangutan!"
Sitting next to Lin Fei, Szebiak smiled and said, "Lin, a dunk is much easier than a three-pointer. I believe you can do it too!"
Lin Fei smiled awkwardly and asked him to dunk in the game. I'm afraid it would take a while.
Lin Fei's maximum reach height is 3.36 meters, and the height of the NBA basket is 3.05 meters. Dunking in training is not a big problem.
When he was at Qingbei University in CUBA, Lin Fei also performed several explosive fast-break dunks in games.
But Lin Fei is Asian after all, and his explosive power and jumping ability are average, so the beauty and explosiveness of dunks are far inferior to those of Kobe and James.
Now because of the system, attributes such as dribbling and layups have been cleared. It is even more difficult to dunk in actual NBA games.
Although there is no separate attribute of dunk in the system, Lin Fei guessed that it has the greatest relationship with the two attributes of dribbling and layup.
Lin Fei gained another 15 points of free attribute in this morning and afternoon training, but after adding it to the free throw attribute of 98 points, he still failed to increase the free throw attribute to 99 points.
It seems that we can only wait until we win tonight's tiebreaker and gain more free attribute points before making any moves.
Pause comes back soon.
The Timberwolves started well and Cassel was in good shape, so Flip Saunders did not make early substitutions.
On the "Zen Master" side, Stanislav was replaced by Luke Walton. Although he is only 2.03 meters tall,
But Luke Walton is relatively strong, weighing 107 kilograms, and does not suffer too much against the Wolf King in terms of strength.
Moreover, Luke Walton's lateral movement is faster, which is obviously better than that of the Ukrainian white basketball player.
This time, Kobe used the screen to force his way to the basket and hit a difficult layup against the "Madman". At the same time, he also caused a foul on the opponent's shooting thug.
"Uh-huh!"
Kobe also made extra free throws when he stepped to the free throw line. This 3-pointer was very crucial for the Lakers to stop their decline.
When the ball was transferred, Cassel still gave the ball to the most reliable Wolf King for singles.
The Wolf King held the ball in the high post against Luke Walton, who was more than 10 centimeters shorter than him. His confidence in shooting was completely revealed, and he made another decisive face-to-face jumper.
Luke Walton quickly jumped up and closed his eyes. The Wolf King's shot missed a little and bounced out of the frame.
"Clang!"
The ball luckily landed on Olowokandi's side, but O'Neal squeezed Olowokandi hard for the rebound, and the latter passed the ball to Szebiak in the high post.
Devin George's defense was timely. Szebiak stabilized the rhythm, turned over and gave the ball back to Cassel on the outside.
Cassell summoned a screen from Olowokandi, bypassing Gary Payton and accelerating to the basket.
Faced with O'Neal's defensive interference, Cassell made a difficult running shot while running. The ball flew over O'Neal's head, hit the side of the basket and bounced out, but still missed.
The Wolf King and Luke Walton rushed to the basket at the same time to compete for rebounds. The Wolf King used his absolute advantages in height and wingspan to crush Luke Walton.
He tapped the ball over the opponent's head, trying to complete the tip-in.
But the crosshair was still a little off, and the ball fell to Luke Walton's side after popping up.
Little Walton jumped up again, trying to pull the basketball out, but due to the interference of the aerial confrontation with the Wolf King, his body lost balance and his fingertips hit the basketball first.
"Uh-huh!"
The basketball that Luke Walton finally touched bounced back and fell firmly into the net.
After landing, the Wolf King beat his chest and laughed, giving a thumbs up to Luke Walton who looked confused:
"Brother, great job!"
The referee Bald Crawford also quickly blew his whistle to indicate that the goal was valid and it was an own goal.
As a rookie, Luke Walton made another mistake when he came up.
The "Zen Master" on the sidelines frowned. Although this own goal is not as harmful as in a football match, it will still affect the team's momentum.
In front of the technical desk, the staff added 2 points to the Wolf King's data column.
According to the rules of the International Basketball Federation FIBA,
If the opposing player accidentally pokes the basketball into his own basket, then naturally the score cannot be added to himself, but to the captain of the opposing team.
According to NBA rules, the score for an own goal is awarded to the player on the opposing team who is closest to the basket.
This goal should indeed be remembered most by the Wolf King. It was his strong interference that made the inexperienced Walton panic and create an own goal.
Timberwolves (12): (6) Lakers.
Luke Walton's own goal sent Target Center into jubilation again.
O'Neal turned around, passed the pick-and-roll with Kobe, and finally caught the ball and hit a 6-foot shot.
But the "Madman" also used the pick-and-roll to break through the basket and shoot, causing O'Neal's thug to foul.
"Uh-huh!"
"Uh-huh!"
Walked to the free throw line and made both free throws.
The home court was full of momentum, and the Timberwolves always took the initiative on both offense and defense.
By the official timeout of 6 minutes in the first quarter, the lead was already 10 points.
The team has obvious advantages, and Flip Saunders has become bold in his tactical arrangements:
"Lin, you come on next and replace Latrell!"
"Sam, you are in good shape. You should be able to play the whole first quarter. I want to test the chemistry between you and Lin. Don't be afraid of mistakes and show your unconstrained passing skills!"
After the timeout, Lin Fei and Cassel high-fived and both walked onto the court.
The Timberwolves fans at home burst into cheers:
"Lin is on the court, and it's raining three-pointers!"
