After Dwight Howard helped the Minnesota Timberwolves score the first goal, the Timberwolves players were looking forward to it.
This game lacks the core of the team, Zhao Feiyang, and many players also want to know whether Dwight Howard alone can lead the entire team to defeat the opponent.
The Cleveland Cavaliers soon struck back.
Kyrie Irving held the ball through half the court. He took the ball at the top of the arc to observe the situation on the court. Zach LaVine went up to mark him.
The two met each other, and Kyrie Irving started shaking while dribbling.
LeBron James on the side deliberately used his movement to create the illusion that he was going to catch the ball. As a result, LeBron James' small movements caused other Timberwolves players to misjudge.
When Kyrie Irving changed direction and drove straight to the basket, the Timberwolves' defense was already in chaos.
Uh-huh.
A layup successfully threw the ball, and Kyrie Irving's singles effect was quite obvious.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to counterattack.
After Zach LaVine dribbled the ball across half court, he was stared at by Kyrie Irving. He could only give the ball to Andrew Wiggins on the wing.
Andrew Wiggins was facing LeBron James. The two faced each other. Andrew Wiggins tried to swing to the basket, but was followed by LeBron James. Seeing that he could not get rid of LeBron. James and Andrew Wiggins can only risk sending the ball to Dwight Howard.
After getting the ball, Dwight Howard continued to play singles, turned around and entered the basket, knocked away Kevin Love and dunked the ball again.
boom.
The scoring of this goal also made the Timberwolves players on the sidelines very happy.
Even head coach Norman Thomas couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
When the team's lineup is obviously inferior to the opponent's, Dwight Howard, as the team's strongest firepower, can still score the ball. This undoubtedly reduces the pressure on the Timberwolves a lot.
Without Dwight Howard, I'm afraid the Timberwolves would be just like last season. Facing such a super strong team, a group of salty fish would have no power to fight back, and it would be impossible for them to withstand the opponent's offense and defense. .
The game goes on.
Dwight Howard's performance was quite good. In the first quarter, he alone became the Timberwolves' strongest scoring point.
He scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in 12 minutes. This performance can be said to be very good!
Compared to him, other players in the Timberwolves were not stable enough. Zach LaVine was pretty good. He gave 5 assists to his teammates and also scored a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer. Kevin. Martin's scoring ability is also pretty good, scoring 6 points in 3 shots.
Because of the stable performance of these three people, the Timberwolves' performance on the offensive end was acceptable.
As for the defensive end, with Dwight Howard supporting him in the paint, the Timberwolves' inside defensive capabilities have improved several levels compared to before.
The Cavaliers have obviously never played against such a Timberwolves team. Therefore, even with the presence of the Big Three, they were still 2 points behind the Timberwolves at the end of the first quarter.
The score between the two sides was 32 to 30.
It looked like the Timberwolves still had a bit of a lead.
Beep.
Both sides enter rest time.
Before the second quarter, on the Cavaliers' bench, head coach David Bratcher was constantly deploying new tactics.
Although no one knew what he was talking about, they could see him picking up the tactical board and making gestures through the big screen lens.
"We must restrain him..."
"As long as they can restrain him, they can't beat him...Dwight is as important to them as an engine..."
The cameraman at the scene walked into some pictures of the Cavaliers' bench, and could vaguely hear the words of head coach David Bratcher from the pictures. However, such pictures did not appear on the big screen at the scene. Only fans watching the live broadcast can see it online.
At the same time, Zhao Feiyang, who was recuperating at home in Minneapolis, was also watching the live broadcast of the game. Seeing the team's performance in the first quarter, although he was not so satisfied with it, he was still very satisfied with Dwight. Howard was surprised by his abilities.
"This guy looks like he is only 29 or less than 30 years old... If he didn't always act like a superstar, this guy would definitely be able to go to more places..."
"As long as he is willing to contribute, with his current strength, he can definitely help the team reach the Western Conference finals... But I hope this guy will not play happy basketball all the time. At most, he can just play in the regular season. In the playoffs, he must Get serious...."
His eyes returned to the Quicken Loans Center.
Beep.
The second quarter begins.
The Cavaliers didn't make much adjustments to the lineup this time. Except for LeBron James taking a rest, head coach David Bratcher just changed the two big men in the paint.
Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov came off the bench, and they began to take charge of the Cavaliers' interior offense and defense.
The Timberwolves didn't make much adjustments. Dwight Howard continued to play, Kevin Martin was temporarily replaced, Zach LaVine moved to the second position, and Ricky Rubio organized the team's offense.
The Timberwolves serve again.
This time Ricky Rubio pushed the ball to half court.
Compared to Zach LaVine's swiftness, he appears more conservative and calm. When he stood at the top of the arc to organize the offense, Dwight Howard on the inside also made a move to catch the ball.
However, this time, as soon as he ran out, Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov immediately double-teamed him.
"what's the situation?"
Before Dwight Howard could fully react, he was tightly entangled by the two men.
Seeing that he couldn't catch the ball, Ricky Rubio quickly gave the ball to Zach LaVine on the wing. Zach LaVine held the ball and broke through to the basket. His reaction was very quick. When he was approaching the basket, he found that the opponent was coming to interfere, so he threw the ball one step ahead.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the backboard and hit the basket smoothly.
Although the Timberwolves scored again, from this second on, Dwight Howard was entangled. The Cavaliers seemed to do this on purpose, and even did not hesitate to miss others to get to the basket. In short, they put all defensive restrictions on Dwight Howard.
After holding on for most of the quarter, Dwight Howard finally couldn't stand it anymore.
Head coach Norman Thomas saw that he was exhausted and quickly replaced him.
Unexpectedly, not long after the Timberwolves made the substitution, the Cavaliers immediately replaced Kevin Love.
"Guys, it's our turn to fight!"
"Don't be afraid of their inside defense... let me break through and dunk hard..."
Head coach David Bratcher shouted to the players on the sidelines.
