The confrontation between Zhao Feiyang and Kobe Bryant brought the atmosphere to a climax. However, Kobe Bryant only played less than 6 minutes and was replaced before the second half of the second quarter.
Previously, the score difference between the two teams was not big, but now without Kobe Bryant, the Minnesota Timberwolves continued to counterattack under the leadership of Zhao Feiyang.
By the time the second quarter was about to end, the Minnesota Timberwolves had already taken an 8-point lead.
Beep.
The live timer sounds.
The first half is officially over.
Before the second half, the Lakers cheerleaders were specially called out to perform.
You must know that the Lakers cheerleading team is also an extremely beautiful scenery in the NBA. This time, Chinese fans bought tickets to watch the game. Although most of the reasons were because of the Lakers and Timberwolves, part of the reason was because they wanted to see the cheerleaders. style.
After the hot dance continued for a while, the players from both sides who had entered the locker room to rest came out again.
Preseason games are mainly about warming up, and winning or losing has no impact on the team's record. Therefore, both the Timberwolves and Lakers players looked relaxed.
Beep.
The third quarter begins.
The fans' eyes withdrew from the cheerleaders' hot dance and once again focused on the confrontation between the two teams.
This time, the Los Angeles Lakers chose to replace the core lineup, and of course Kobe Bryant continued to appear as the team leader.
For the Timberwolves, head coach Norman Thomas finally arranged a starting lineup that he thought he could try after testing.
Dwight Howard and Zhao Feiyang are of course indispensable, and when it comes to choosing the fourth and third positions, Gorgui Dieng and Andrew Wiggins have become the best choices. As for the first position, Head coach Norman Thomas continues to let newcomer Zach LaVine take over.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the game between the two sides continued.
This time the Los Angeles Lakers attacked, and Jordan Clarkson advanced with the ball. After halftime, Kobe Bryant tried to catch the ball, but Zhao Feiyang blocked him and refused to give him any chance to catch the ball.
Jordan Clarkson observed the situation on the court and transferred the ball to Larry Nance on the wing just to be on the safe side.
Larry Nance entered the basket with the ball. He jumped to avoid the defensive player in front of him. As soon as he successfully entered the basket, he threw the ball with a hook. At the critical moment, Dwight Howard pounced on him. He jumped up high and slapped the basketball in his hand.
Snapped.
A big shot was delivered.
The basketball rolled out and fell right in front of Andrew Wiggins.
Andrew Wiggins picked up the basketball and made a long pass, throwing the ball into Zhao Feiyang's hands. Zhao Feiyang dribbled the ball towards the half court and sprinted towards the half court. As he was running wildly, Kobe Bryant was also chasing after him.
Just as Zhao Feiyang was approaching the basket, he deliberately looked back and saw Kobe Bryant, who was about to jump up and block his shot.
Zhao Feiyang did not choose to hit hard, but threw the ball high behind his head.
boom.
Before Kobe Bryant could fully react, Dwight Howard, who was following up from behind, rushed up quickly, steadily caught Zhao Feiyang's pass in mid-air, and smashed the ball in with an alley-oop dunk. in the basket.
The whole audience exclaimed.
The fans were excited.
"nice shot!"
“Wonderful cooperation!”
"With this combination, it won't be a problem for the team to reach the playoffs. I even think it won't be a big problem to reach the Western Conference finals..."
After the goal was scored, Kobe Bryant quickly organized the team to counterattack.
After halftime, he personally took the ball and looked for offensive opportunities at the top of the key.
However, no matter how Kobe Bryant directs at the top of the arc, the Lakers players don't react much. Except for young players such as Jordan Clarkson, the reactions of others always seem hesitant.
This scene made Kobe Bryant so angry that he almost threw the ball away. Later, he became so angry that he did not pass the ball out again, but forcefully threw the ball away with a three-pointer.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the rim.
Dwight Howard grabbed the rebound.
This time after halftime, Zhao Feiyang also attacked with the ball at the top of the arc. When Zach LaVine gave the ball to him, Zhao Feiyang dribbled the ball toward the basket and Dwight Howard quickly went up to the high post to help him cover.
After covering the screen, Dwight Howard took advantage of the situation and rushed to the basket.
Kobe Bryant followed Zhao Feiyang tightly, and after Zhao Feiyang entered the inside, he planned to make a high jump shot. Unfortunately, Zhao Feiyang did not intend to hit the ball hard at all, but threw the ball with a high throw.
Dwight Howard, who followed up, caught the basketball, jumped up again in mid-air and dunked the ball hard into the basket.
boom.
The ball went in.
The wonderful cooperation between the two once again aroused cheers from the audience.
The entire Timberwolves team was overjoyed, and head coach Norman Thomas even had a smile on his unsmiling face.
As the game continued, the cooperation between Zhao Feiyang and Dwight Howard did not end. In a few minutes, the two played tacit cooperation one after another, once helping the Timberwolves open the score to 14 points.
The Los Angeles Lakers also tried to counterattack, but unfortunately only Kobe Bryant was able to perform well.
Also because of the poor performance of others, Kobe Bryant gradually occupied more of the team's ball rights. After a period of time, Kobe Bryant's performance was not much better, and the Lakers' offense became more and more stagnant.
"Oh! Kobe is indeed old! He's getting older!"
"If they were young, I'm afraid the Lakers would still be able to save the current lineup, but judging from this season's trading performance, I'm afraid the Lakers don't care... Now that they have decided to give up, what happens next? The game really means nothing..."
"It's no wonder that Kobe has come up with the idea of retiring. Continuing to play will not bring any good results to the team. It is better to leave before the current situation is so bad. This will not only make him look decent, but also allow the Lakers to enter earlier. Reconstruction period…”
call out.
With 9 minutes and 01 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Kobe Bryant was replaced and rested. From this moment on, he has been sitting on the team's bench and has never appeared on the court again.
After seeing the Lakers choose to give up, the Minnesota Timberwolves quickly made adjustments.
The main players like Zhao Feiyang and Dwight Howard all took a rest, while Zach LaVine and other new players continued to toss on the court.
After a while, the timer reached zero, and the two sides tied 103 to 116. The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves by 13 points.
The two sides’ pre-season tour of China has also officially come to an end.
