As soon as Shaun Livingston was intercepted, there was an exclamation outside the court. Zhao Feiyang, who stole the basketball, reacted quickly, picked up the basketball and sprinted towards the half court.
He ran in front, and Sean Livingston reacted and chased after him. The two came to the basket one after another. Zhao Feiyang was the first to lift the basketball and throw the ball out.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
After scoring this goal, Sean Livingston was not only not discouraged, but also aroused his desire to win. So, he began to follow Zhao Feiyang's defense method of death coil.
"Zhao, don't even think about beating me... I will never let you score..."
Shaun Livingston took the initiative to engage in physical confrontation, resisting his attack while spewing trash talk.
Zhao Feiyang seemed much calmer.
After Zach LaVine brought the ball across the half court again, he and Zach LaVine briefly blocked the ball, then threw away Shaun Livingston and shot a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
Such a sudden pick-and-roll really caught Shaun Livingston off guard.
Even though he continued to defend closely in the next few minutes, he still could not prevent Zhao Feiyang's scoring from increasing little by little.
With 6 minutes and 09 seconds left in the third quarter, coach Steve Kerr finally couldn't stand it anymore.
He called for the next substitution, and Shaun Livingston, who was in a passive state and was losing ground, was replaced by Stephen Curry.
"Sean! Get some rest!"
Steve Kerr patted Shaun Livingston on the shoulder.
The latter looked sad and disappointed when he walked off the field. He seemed to be very dissatisfied with his performance and frustrated with losing the trust of the head coach.
When Stephen Curry came on the court, Zhao Feiyang finally began to change his strategy.
Stephen Curry and Shaun Livingston are not on the same level. Zhao Feiyang does not want to have too much entanglement in the third quarter. In this case, he will definitely consume too much energy in the last quarter and will not be able to carry the entire ball. team's offense.
Therefore, Zhao Feiyang turned on the assist mode, constantly organizing offense on the court, helping his teammates attract double-teams or open up situations.
On the offensive end, he gave up the number of shots, basically giving the ball to teammates in a better position, and guiding his teammates to take the initiative; on the defensive end, Zhao Feiyang's only goal was Stephen Curry, and he devoted all his energy to Mark the opponent and limit the opponent's performance.
This style of play allowed Zhao Feiyang to save energy, but it did not allow Stephen Curry to open up too much of a score.
By the end of the third quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors were tied at 81-84.
The Timberwolves are still 3 points behind.
They have been lagging behind for three consecutive quarters. Although the point difference is not much, this performance undoubtedly further confirms the fact that the overall strength of the Timberwolves is not as good as the Warriors.
During the break, the official studio continued to discuss the direction of the game.
"So far, the Timberwolves are only 3 points behind, but I think the Warriors haven't tried their best yet. Maybe the last quarter is when they fully exert their strength..."
"Stephen Curry scored 19 points and 6 assists, and Zhao Feiyang scored 26 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. From a personal performance point of view, Zhao Feiyang's performance was better than Stephen, but it can also be explained from the side, that is The Timberwolves are relying on him more..."
"The Warriors also have players in other positions, and they cooperate very well, especially coach Steve Kerr's system that brings them together...The Timberwolves' tactical performance is not bad, but Relying too much on Zhao Feiyang’s performance, unless other players follow suit and perform well, it will be too difficult for them to win against their opponents..."
While officials were discussing the game, the support rate on the Internet also changed further.
The number of people who think the Golden State Warriors can win has increased from 75% to 90%.
Only 10% of people think that the Timberwolves still have a chance to win, and among these 10%, according to fans' predictions, most of them are fans in Minneapolis.
In this way, in addition to the Minnesota Timberwolves' own fans who still support them, fans in other cities in the league almost all side with the Golden State Warriors.
At the same time, the results of the voting initiated by the anchors of China Central Television also changed.
Compared with the United States, the results from CCTV are even more exaggerated.
Ninety-seven percent of people believe that the Warriors can win the final victory, while only 3% of people think that the Timberwolves still have a chance to win.
Of these 3%, I'm afraid most of them are Zhao Feiyang's supporters.
Oracle Arena.
On the Timberwolves bench.
The last quarter was about to start, and Zhao Feiyang gathered the players together.
"Guys, I just heard from my agent that 90 percent of the fans on the Internet believe that the Warriors beat us...I'm very angry, why don't they want to believe us? Just Even some of our own fans are like this..."
"But then I figured it out, their distrust is not a bad thing for us...Challenging a goal that seems impossible to outsiders is the most interesting thing, so the less they believe it , the more we should defeat them and let everyone see our strength..."
"Let them be surprised, and let the 10% of fans who support us not be disappointed..."
As soon as Zhao Feiyang finished speaking, the other players also cheered up.
They were originally very aware of their situation, but now even their own fans don't support them, which undoubtedly makes many people feel unhappy.
This kind of discomfort is the key factor that stimulates them to pursue victory.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the final quarter began.
All the players of the Timberwolves put their hands together and shouted victory together under the leadership of Zhao Feiyang.
The core lineups of both sides also appeared again.
Compared with the first three quarters, the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter was obviously not much greater.
The Timberwolves served, and as soon as Klay Thompson came up, he went over to interfere with Zach LaVine's dribbling. Stephen Curry also took the initiative to physically confront Zhao Feiyang, and from time to time stretched out his hands to interfere with his efforts to cover.
After the ball passed half court, Zhao Feiyang faced pressure from double teams. Zach LaVine planned to pass the ball to him, but Zhao Feiyang waved to others.
Snapped.
The ball was given to Andrew Wiggins on the wing.
After Andrew Wiggins got the ball, he pretended to lift the basketball and take a shot. After deceiving the opponent's defense, he went all the way to the basket and planned to force the shot.
Unfortunately, faced with Andre Iguodala's defense, Andrew Wiggins could only pass the ball out, and Zhao Feiyang in the bottom corner caught the basketball.
But this time he had no room to take action. Stephen Curry blocked his eyes and got in front of him to defend.
Zhao Feiyang immediately signaled to Zach LaVine, who ran over to cover him. Taking advantage of Zach LaVine's blocking, Zhao Feiyang stood behind him and took the first shot.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
Zhao Feiyang scored another three-pointer.
