On the court, the Charlotte Hornets attacked with the ball. After the ball advanced to halftime, the Hornets core Kemba Walker used the pick-and-roll screen to rush to the basket. After being double-teamed, he quickly transferred the ball to teammate Al Jay. In the hands of Ferson.
Jefferson rushed to the basket and took a shot. Bang, the basketball hit the backboard.
Timberwolves center Gorgui Dieng picked off the rebound. After landing, he glanced at the court and immediately threw the ball long after spotting Zhao Feiyang's figure.
Zhao Feiyang got the ball and dribbled towards the half court. After he crossed the half court, Walker chased after him to defend and try to block the ball.
The two met in mid-air. Zhao Feiyang directly pushed Walker away with his body, but the latter's hand failed to touch Zhao Feiyang's basketball at all.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhao Feiyang chose to throw the basketball with his left hand.
boom.
The ball went in.
The basketball hit the backboard and fell into the basket smoothly.
There were cheers.
At this time, the game has entered the second quarter, and the score difference between the two sides has gradually widened.
The Timberwolves maintained the lead under the leadership of Zhao Feiyang, while the Hornets continued to have problems. There was not much tacit understanding between the players. They all wanted to play brilliant statistics. As the team leader, Kemba Walker also supported If you don't stay on top, you won't be able to convince everyone at the critical moment.
54 to 41.
13 points difference.
Before the end of the first half with 3 minutes and 04 seconds left, this was the score difference between the two sides.
call out.
The Hornets make a substitution.
Walker was replaced and Jeremy Lin replaced him.
This is also Jeremy Lin's first appearance in this game.
When he walked onto the court, there were no cheers.
Compared with Zhao Feiyang's popularity based on his strength, Jeremy Lin's Chinese identity cannot help him gain more support in a place like Minneapolis where there are not many Asians in the ice and snow.
The Hornets serve.
Jeremy Lin advanced with the ball, and this time Zhao Feiyang directly signaled to teammate Zach LaVine to switch defenses.
"Zach, let me do it!"
"good."
Lavin was very obedient and immediately exchanged with Zhao Feiyang.
After Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball past half-court, Zhao Feiyang had been waiting at the top of the arc for a long time. When the two sides met, Jeremy Lin was not in a hurry to play singles, but instead signaled his teammates to pick and roll.
Compared to one-on-one duels, he is better at cooperating with teammates in pick-and-rolls.
Soon, a teammate came up from the wing to help Jeremy Lin fend off Zhao Feiyang. Although Zhao Feiyang was prepared, the next second, he still fell behind Jeremy Lin due to interference from the opponent.
Jeremy Lin's reaction is extremely fast. In the past, his speed and explosive power were top-notch among the new generation of guards in the league. Now, the impact of injuries has been too great. Although he cannot maintain the peak level he once had, it is still not a problem to explode occasionally. .
As soon as Zhao Feiyang was blocked, Jeremy Lin rushed towards the basket from the right side.
LaVine, who was switching defense, tried to cover Jeremy Lin. As soon as he stretched out his hand, Jeremy Lin dribbled between him and his pick-and-roll teammate.
After successfully avoiding LaVine's cover, Jeremy Lin reached the basket in two or three steps. When he encountered a Timberwolves big man's cover in the penalty area, Jeremy Lin made a pull shot and accurately sent the ball into the basket.
Snapped.
The ball went in.
Jeremy Lin's single won applause from other Hornets players. On the bench, even Walker, the core of the team, stood up and applauded.
"Hmm... not bad!"
"If he had the same speed as he did in his prime, he would indeed be a man who had performed like 'Linsanity'..."
Zhao Feiyang sighed with emotion.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to fight back.
Zach LaVine advanced with the ball and was targeted by the Hornets before halftime. Zhao Feiyang stepped up to respond, and LaVine passed the ball to him.
Zhao Feiyang dribbled the ball across half court and was about to take a shot at the three-point line when he found Jeremy Lin reaching out to cover.
Seeing that the opponent's hand almost touched the basketball in his own hand, Zhao Feiyang made a feint.
The moment Jeremy Lin was staggered, Zhao Feiyang suddenly changed direction from the right side. Jeremy Lin's center of gravity was a little unstable. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhao Feiyang suddenly pulled the ball back with his right hand.
The next second, Jeremy Lin became unsteady and slipped with his left foot.
The scene was filled with exclamations of surprise.
Zhao Feiyang raised the basketball and shot a three-pointer decisively.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
The two have their own merits in one-on-one, but Zhao Feiyang's move of almost knocking Jeremy Lin down was undoubtedly more powerful.
After scoring, Jeremy Lin was not angry, but showed a surprised expression.
Zhao Feiyang looked at him and they smiled at each other.
The first half was over soon.
When the second half came, the situation on the scene did not change much. The Timberwolves still maintained the lead. Even if Zhao Feiyang was replaced, the team did not collapse.
The Hornets tried to pursue, especially in the second half, they had a small climax due to the efforts of Jeremy Lin, Walker and others.
It is a pity that the young people of the Timberwolves are not inferior to them, especially the scoring performance of LaVine and Wiggins, which also made many Timberwolves fans shine.
Beep.
The two sides ended the game 103 to 93.
The Minnesota Timberwolves once again won their third consecutive victory after their second consecutive victory.
After the game, players from both sides shook hands and hugged. After saying hello, when Zhao Feiyang walked to the tunnel, he once again thought of the absent Dwight Howard.
"As soon as this game is over, this guy's suspension is over... He can finally return to the team in the next game..."
"Now is the time for running-in. We are not afraid of making mistakes, but we are afraid of hidden problems... In short, it doesn't matter what happens in the regular season. Once we get to the playoffs, it will be too late..."
With the team's successive victories, Minneapolis fans seemed to have forgotten that one of their own stars was suspended.
Not only did the local news media not mention it, but even the Timberwolves players didn't take it to heart.
Soon, the next training day comes.
Early this morning, the Timberwolves players all arrived at the training facility on time for training. More competitive players like Zhao Feiyang, LaVine and Adrian had already been training for more than an hour before everyone arrived.
"Good morning."
"The big boys..."
Coach Norman Thomas came wearing a sports uniform, holding a tactical board and a thermos cup in his hands.
He seemed to be in a good mood and rarely greeted the players vocally.
"Training has officially begun, is there anyone else who hasn't arrived yet?"
"I need to name..."
Coach Norman asked as he picked up the list.
He didn't think much about it, he just said it casually. Unexpectedly, someone soon reminded him, "Coach, Dwight is not here yet..."
"Um?"
Coach Norman put down the list and glanced toward the court.
Sure enough, he found Howard absent from the crowd. Not only that, he discovered that only Howard was not present on the entire team.
"What is this guy doing again?"
"I sent him a text message yesterday to ask him, and he said he would come to training in advance..."
Coach Norman looked helpless and had to let the players start training first while he stood there and called Howard himself.
"Beep...beep...Hey, I'm Dwight Howard. I'm busy right now. What do you want? It's time for my voice message..."
After hitting several times in a row, all Coach Norman heard were busy cues.
This made the smile on his face disappear immediately, and the good mood that could have lasted all day suddenly sank.
"Farke!"
"What does this guy want to do? If he doesn't want to come, you can tell me directly... I have coached so many people, and I have never seen such an unpunctual guy..."
The more Coach Norman thought about it, the angrier he became. In anger, he actually called other members of the assistant coaching staff and asked them to take out their mobile phones and call Howard one after another.
So, a group of people stood there trying to figure out how to contact Howard.
Some called him, and some called his agent. In short, all kinds of methods were used, but they still couldn't contact him.
At the same time, in a rather luxurious private club, the banned Master Huo was finishing his battle last night.
The curtains in the room were not opened, and the light in the room was extremely dim.
On that oversized and soft wooden bed, Howard slept in the middle position, and beside him, there were three blondes and a sexy black girl.
These four girls were also in a deep sleep. When Howard's cell phone rang several times, the girl sleeping outside didn't even open her eyes. She took out her cell phone from under the pillow and threw it out of the room.
Snapped.
After the sound of the phone breaking, the whole world seemed to be quiet!
Howard's absence undoubtedly made head coach Norman Thomas extremely unhappy. However, considering the attitude of the team management, he decided to hide it for the time being and did not tell the team's general manager Sam about the matter after the training. Mitchell.
However, Coach Norman's kindness did not receive any response. Howard did not have any subsequent text messages or phone calls, nor did he communicate with anyone on the team.
Even if Zhao Feiyang called him many times, there was no way to get a reply from him.
Seeing that another game day is coming, the entire Timberwolves team will take a plane to Brooklyn to compete against the Nets.
An hour before the team set off, everyone from Zhao Feiyang to Kevin Martin kept calling and sending messages to Howard.
But their efforts for a long time were fruitless.
Until ten minutes before departure, Howard still did not show up at the airport.
In this regard, not only Zhao Feiyang and Coach Norman were disappointed, but other players on the team also found it difficult to understand this so-called "star".
You can hide your absence from training, but you really can't hide your absence from games.
Soon, the Timberwolves management learned of the matter. After the team's general manager Sam Mitchell learned that Howard had not come to the team for several days, he immediately contacted the other party's agent.
As a result, the other party's agent also said that he had no contact with Howard.
At this time, the news that Howard had severed contact with the team spread quickly. The Minneapolis media liked such gossip so much that they quickly reported it with added fuel and jealousy.
"Dwight forced the team management to try to get the team to trade him!"
"The former super center refused to play for the Timberwolves? Can this transaction of the Timberwolves be regarded as the most loss-making operation in the past decade?"
"Dwight has lost contact with the Timberwolves management! An insider revealed: He no longer wants to stay here..."
For a time, countless scandals were overwhelming.
