Target Center Arena.
The Cleveland Cavaliers challenged the Minnesota Timberwolves away from home, and the game between the two sides has entered the second half.
After taking a temporary lead in the first half, the Timberwolves continued their previous play style and still had Dwight Howard on the court in the third quarter.
He did change his previous lazy attitude and became extremely serious, both offensively and defensively.
This also made his value to the Timberwolves finally highlighted.
After the Timberwolves played a stable performance, the Cavaliers also began to make adjustments. LeBron James had taken a break in the second quarter before, but after the start of the third quarter, he took to the court again.
At the same time, Kyrie Irving was temporarily replaced to rest.
The Cavaliers' model suddenly changed. Under the command of head coach Tyronn Lue, the Cavaliers immediately started offensive tactics around LeBron.
call out.
Cavaliers attack.
JR. Smith advanced with the ball, and after halftime, LeBron came up to catch the ball from the wing. The person defending him is still Andrew Wiggins.
In previous matches, Wiggins did not get any benefits, but this did not affect his enthusiasm and focus on marking LeBron.
Snapped.
LeBron catches the pass.
He stood outside the three-point line with the ball in one hand and prepared to attack. Wiggins took a stance to defend him.
There was a distance between the two, and LeBron deliberately stood there waiting for Wiggins to come up. As soon as Wiggins saw that LeBron was planning to shoot, he immediately moved over to interfere with the defense.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped forward, LeBron suddenly dribbled the ball out from the left.
Wiggins turned his body sideways and was unable to adjust for a while. After a slight hesitation, he was thrown away by LeBron and entered the basket.
Seeing LeBron rush into the penalty area, Howard rushed forward to block LeBron's shot.
The two met each other in mid-air. As soon as Howard stretched out his hands, LeBron knocked him away and entered the basket with a backhand throw and sent the ball into the basket.
Snapped.
The ball went in.
The basketball hit the backboard and fell firmly into the basket.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to attack.
Zhao Feiyang temporarily returned to the second position, with Zach LaVine holding the ball to organize the offense. LaVine dribbled the ball across half court and then followed Zhao Feiyang to cover. He broke through from the wing and entered the basket. The Cavaliers quickly changed their formation inside and showed a double-team attitude.
LaVine did not force the ball, but moved the ball out, and Zhao Feiyang, who was standing outside the three-point line, successfully received the basketball.
The moment he took action, JR and LeBron jumped at him at the same time.
The flanking attack between the two seriously interfered with Zhao Feiyang's sight. The basketball he threw failed to hit the ball, but fell to the basket and bounced out.
boom.
The rebound bounced out of the basket.
This time, before Howard pounced, Love had already occupied the position in front of him. However, what Love didn't expect at all was that Adrian on the side was also ready.
The moment the basketball was about to fall into Love's hands, Adrian reacted faster and slapped the ball away.
The basketball flew out and fell into Howard's hands.
Howard didn't hesitate when he got the ball. He stood under the basket, leaped high and dunked the ball hard into the basket.
boom.
His dunk almost ripped off the rim.
Such a move instantly ignited the audience, and the Timberwolves fans even screamed and applauded Howard's dunk.
As both sides continued to attack and defend, the game quickly came to the final quarter.
Irving, who had had enough rest, also came to the court. This time, the situation faced by the Timberwolves became even more severe.
The strength of the Big Three is not in vain. Whether it is LeBron or Irving, these two are the league's top superstars, and any one of them is difficult to deal with.
What's more, there is Love inside to contain the Timberwolves' core Howard.
With Irving's appearance, the situation on the court changed again.
The Timberwolves, who had a slight lead, were recovered, and the Cavaliers once again overtook them to maintain the lead.
As the fierce battle between the two sides continued, time finally came to the last 1 minute and 16 seconds of the last quarter, when the two sides scored 110 to 114.
The Cavaliers lead the Timberwolves by 4 points.
At this time, the ball is in the hands of the Cavaliers.
As soon as Irving brought the ball across the half court, Zhao Feiyang quickly marked him. Unlike before, at this time the entire team was in full-court marking mode, with Zhao Feiyang constantly interfering with Irving's ball control.
But the opponent is a top point guard in the league. How easy is it to interfere with the opponent's dribbling?
"LeBron."
Owen shouted.
LeBron on the side pretended to come up to respond, but in fact he suddenly made a pick-and-roll.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Irving broke through towards the basket, and LeBron immediately broke away and walked towards the basket. The two giants rushed to the basket at the same time, which put huge pressure on the Timberwolves.
Howard and Adrian guarded the basket one after another. Adrian was responsible for grabbing rebounds, while Howard stepped forward to interfere with defense.
This time, Irving did not take the shot when he was close, but threw it directly when there was still some distance.
Uh-huh.
A two-point shot hit the basket steadily.
As soon as the ball was scored here, Adrian quickly went to the basket to serve.
He threw a long pass directly to Zhao Feiyang, who had already passed half the court. Zhao Feiyang, who received the ball, originally planned to layup directly after halftime, but he raised his head and glanced at the scoreboard, and finally stood on the three-point line and took the shot.
In an unguarded situation, Zhao Feiyang stood on the three-point line and successfully hit a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
Still 1 point away.
Cavaliers offense.
This time Irving was double-teamed in the half court. Seeing that he almost made a mistake in dribbling and passing, LeBron came directly to respond at the critical moment.
After getting the ball, LeBron stood at the top of the arc and took a stance. On the Timberwolves side, Wiggins went up to guard, and Adrian was ready to double-team inside at any time.
The two faced each other, and LeBron didn't take a three-pointer, but drove the ball directly to the basket.
The moment he entered the third zone, Wiggins, Adrian, and Howard inside were all ready. The three of them double-teamed at the same time to prevent LeBron's ball.
However, even if three people double-teamed at the same time, they had blocked most of LeBron's shooting space. Before landing, LeBron still found a chance to throw the ball.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the backboard and fell into the basket accurately.
The scoring of this goal also made the Timberwolves fans on the sidelines sigh.
"Oh! No! Why is this guy LeBron so strong?"
"Already like this, still can't stop him? This is not our problem, this guy is really too difficult to deal with..."
"This guy is worthy of being a superstar in the league. Although he always likes to stick together...but, I have to admit that his ability is indeed very strong..."
Zhao Feiyang, who was standing on the court, felt helpless when he saw the goal.
He shook his head in disappointment, "There are three of us and we still can't defend ourselves? What can we do?"
