Although Hamilton did not block the ball, it forced Lin Fei to raise the arc of his shot.
"Clang!"
The basketball missed and the long backboard bounced to the left side of the court. Szebiak and Tyshawn Prince rushed up at the same time.
"boom!"
The active Prince fell to the ground with a flying dive, but he did not completely control the ball. Szebiak followed closely and fell to the ground, rolling with Prince to fight for it.
The floor was instantly polished with oil by the two of them.
Just when the referee was about to blow the whistle for the ball, Szebiak struggled to lift the basketball from Prince's hand. Ben and Olowokandi fought hard for it, and the two also fell to the ground. restricted area.
The scene was quite explosive, and the basketball court seemed to have turned into a wrestling arena.
The ball was snatched by Ben and passed immediately to Billups who stepped forward to receive the ball.
Hamilton quickly threw Lin Fei away and ran towards the frontcourt, but Billups was accidentally tripped by his teammate Prince who was still lying on the ground, and the basketball in his hand flew out.
"Snapped!"
The Wolf King's long arms covered the sky, and he rushed forward to regain the ball, handing it to Cassel who came forward to respond.
Cassel made a wonderful pass from behind, and the basketball seemed to have eyes. It instantly flew into the hands of Lin Fei, who was one step away from the right side of the three-point line at the top of the arc at a 60-degree angle.
At this time, Hamilton was shocked. It was too late to come back to guard against Lin Fei.
Lin Fei jumped decisively after catching the ball, struck out quickly in the chaos, bent his bow and nocked an arrow to shoot another.
In the frontcourt penalty area at this time, Ben, Olowokandi, Tayshaun Prince, Szebiak and Billups were all still lying on the ground.
The basketball flew leisurely over the five people and whizzed towards the basket.
Ben quickly stood up and prepared to fight for the rebound, but he stared at the basket and sighed helplessly in the next moment.
"Uh-huh!"
the second.
The Timberwolves and Pistons continued to fight for each other, coupled with the unexpected change of ball ownership, which vividly demonstrated the suffocating defense and hand-to-hand combat in the finals.
Lin Fei's three-pointer, which took advantage of the chaos, was like a sharp arrow that penetrated the Pistons' iron wall.
The Target Center Arena burst into cheers, and there were only 5.2 seconds left before the end of the first quarter.
Lin Fei's consecutive three-pointers seemed to make the Pistons a little confused. Ben quickly passed the ball to Billups from the baseline, but Billups was careless when he turned around while dribbling.
"Whoosh!"
The "alien" Cassel rushed up like a ghost, showing the rich experience of a veteran, and actually took the ball away from Billups.
Borrowing a screen from the Wolf King, Cassell dribbled to the right and made a backhand move to pick the basket, and the basketball went into the net steadily.
"Uh-huh!"
The Timberwolves scored 5 points in a row.
Billups blamed himself, and Pistons head coach Larry Brown also frowned on the sidelines.
It seems that Lin Fei's appearance in the last two minutes of the first quarter was another good move by Flip Saunders.
"Clang!"
Billups' half-court shot missed the buzzer, and the first quarter ended.
Timberwolves (25): (18) Pistons.
Relying on the backcourt combination of Lin Fei and Cassel, the Timberwolves scored 8 points in the last 2 minutes of the first quarter, extending their lead to 7 points.
Lin Fei's appearance not only achieved good results in chasing Hamilton, he also made 2 of 3 three-pointers on the offensive end, and also maintained an efficient touch.
Phillip Sanders was filled with joy and took the initiative to hand a towel and Gatorade to Lin Fei as he walked off the field:
"Lin, you played great. You continue to play in the first half of the second quarter. Sam takes a rest and Latrell plays!"
"Good coach!"
Lin Fei also had a smile on his face. Originally he was worried about not having enough playing time in this round of the finals, but now it seems that what he has to worry about is physical fitness.
In the final analysis, this is all thanks to Hamilton, who allowed his defensive loopholes to be covered up to the maximum extent.
Szebiak patted Lin Fei on the shoulder and smiled: "Lin, it seems that you are born to be a good guard against Hamilton! You are going to explode in this round of the finals!"
The Wolf King also smiled and encouraged Lin Fei, but he began to worry about his FMVP.
After the start of the second quarter, Larry Brown took advantage of the situation and let Hamilton, who had played the entire first quarter, take a rest and replaced him with the strong small forward Coris Williams, which was obviously intended to target Lin Fei.
At the same time, Memit Okur was replaced by Ben Wallace to enhance the shooting firepower on the offensive end.
After all, this is only the first game of the finals, so the head coaches of both teams are making various attempts.
The Timberwolves took the lead in the second quarter.
Phillip Sanders arranged a perfect cover run tactic for Lin Fei. This time Billups was replaced to chase Lin Fei.
The double cover provided by the Wolf King and Olowokandi was of high quality, allowing Lin Fei to successfully get rid of Billups. White center Memit Okur could only switch defense, but his movement speed was too slow. .
Lin Fei received the basketball one step away from the 30-degree three-point line on the left, faced Okur's clumsy defense, bent his bow and arrow, and took a lightning shot.
"Uh-huh!"
besides.
The third.
If this ball had been played by Ben Wallace, Lin Fei would have been given a solid block. Flip Saunders targeted Okur's shortcomings in switching to defend smaller players.
"OMG, third one, if Lin continues to be so accurate, I'm afraid the Pistons won't last long!"
The ball was transferred. Billups took the ball and used the pick-and-roll to hit Lin Fei. However, the "Madman" quickly changed over and Billups gave the ball to Coris, who was opposite Lin Fei.
Corliss was strong and held the ball behind his back, but he hit Lin Fei twice. Lin Fei could only stumble back.
Seeing that Corliss, who was close to the basket, was within his shooting range, the Wolf King quickly rushed forward to cover the defense.
The ball was given to Rasheed Wallace again, Olowokandi came up and delayed, and Roaring God passed the ball to Okur in the high position beside him. Okur's mid-range shot was quite soft, and the basketball went into the net steadily.
"Uh-huh!"
Second-year Memit Okur has not fully developed his three-point skills at this period. He is more of a mid-range catcher and shot with a high shooting rate. He is the leading scorer on the bench for the Pistons.
Although Lin Fei's defense changed again, allowing the Pistons to seize the opportunity to take open shots, both the Wolf King and the Madman were willing to do so. Who can make their three-pointers accurate?
Turn around and the Timberwolves attack again.
This time Lin Fei continued to open up space on the outside and contain Billups.
"Madman" and the Wolf King played a pick-and-roll in the high post, and they broke into the basket in a misplaced position. They exchanged hands in the air with Rasheed Wallace and scored two points.
Without Ben's low post guarding, the "Madman"'s confidence in breaking through the basket has obviously increased.
Rasheed Wallace came to the offensive end, and with the help of the pick-and-roll with Billups, he caught the ball in the high post and then decisively shot a trademark straight-arm jumper, which he also made.
"Uh-huh!"
The Timberwolves made a quick start from the bottom line, and "Madman" accelerated with the ball. Lin Fei and Szebiak made consecutive runs.
As long as Lin Fei is on the court, the offensive and defensive rhythms of the Timberwolves and Pistons are obviously faster, and their scoring efficiency seems to be higher.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
This time it was still through continuous screens with the inside line. Lin Fei once again faced Memit Okur who was changing defense in the right corner. He received the ball from "Madman", pulled it up and shot another one.
Okur threw the ball very fiercely and hit Lin Fei's arm directly with his big hand.
"Clang!"
"Beep!"
Although the shot was missed, the referee blew the whistle and 3 free throws were made.
Okur shook his head and sighed. Pistons head coach Larry Brown on the sidelines did not hesitate. Taking advantage of the free throw time, Ben quickly replaced Okur.
"Uh-huh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Uh-huh!"
Lin Fei walked to the free throw line calmly and took all three free throws.
Lin Fei played 2 minutes in the first quarter and 1 and a half minutes in the second quarter. In less than 4 minutes, Lin Fei made 3 of 4 three-pointers and 3 of 3 free throws. He already scored 12 points, the highest in the game.
In this slow-paced era that focuses on defense, Lin Fei's superb three-point shot is really a terrifying scoring weapon.
However, with the return of Ben, the Pistons became very decisive in switching defenses after the pick-and-roll. Ben Wallace immediately rushed to resist Lin Fei, not giving him a chance to catch the ball.
Feeling the strong collision between Ben's tendons and flesh, Lin Fei gritted his teeth tightly, knowing that this was the confrontation in the finals.
Big Ben's return made the Pistons' defense tougher, and the Timberwolves failed to get any good opportunities in the subsequent offensive rounds.
On the other hand, the Pistons continue to use Lin Fei to create open shots on the offensive end. Everyone has a good passing vision.
After a 4:0 spurt, the Pistons recovered the point difference back to single digits.
Flip Saunders also quickly replaced Lin Fei during the dead ball time, and Trenton Hassell came on.
As soon as Hassell came on, so did Hamilton on the Pistons' side. Within 30 seconds of his appearance, he once again contributed a 19-foot mid-range jumper after a run.
"Uh-huh!"
Flip Saunders had no choice but to let Lin Fei appear again in the next dead ball time:
"Lin, in tonight's G1, you and Hamilton will go up and down together. This may be a big test for your physical strength!"
Lin Fei gritted his teeth and nodded: "Coach, I will try my best!"
When the opportunity comes, you must not miss it!
