Target Center Arena.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals, the Minnesota Timberwolves faced the Portland Trail Blazers. The game is about to start, and players from both sides are ready.
Before officially playing, Zhao Feiyang, the team leader and home city hero, also took the initiative to walk up to Damian Lillard and say hello.
The two had been teammates in the All-Star Game before. Although they didn't have a close friendship with each other, they didn't know each other.
"Hey Damien, welcome to Minneapolis."
Zhao Feiyang took the initiative to reach out and give a high five.
Lillard also responded enthusiastically and gave Zhao Feiyang a hug, "Zhao, I really didn't expect to meet you in the semifinals! Frankly speaking, this was not what we expected... But no matter whether we win or lose, we can I'm looking forward to playing against players like you..."
"Me too!"
Beep.
The timer sounded and the starting players from both sides officially took to the court.
The Timberwolves' lineup has not changed. The first position is held by Zach LaVine, the second position is given to Zhao Feiyang, the third position is still Andrew Wiggins, and the fourth and fifth positions are occupied by Adrian. Ennis and Dwight Howard are in charge.
For the Trail Blazers, the No. 1 position is naturally none other than Damian Lillard, the No. 2 position is the team's second-in-command CJ McCollum, the No. 3 position is held by Maurice Harkless, and the No. 4 position is taken by Maurice Harkless. Positions No. 1 and No. 5 are given to Al Farooq and Mason Plumlee.
Judging from the lineup alone, the Timberwolves are stronger than the Trail Blazers.
Except for Lillard and McCollum, the other players on the Trail Blazers are just role players. As for the Timberwolves, it goes without saying that Zhao Feiyang and Howard are both All-Star players.
As a rising star, LaVine just won the MVP in the All-Star Rookie Challenge and also shined in the Slam Dunk Contest. Judging from these points, his talent will be realized sooner or later. Growing into an All-Star level player is not impossible.
Wiggins on the front line is not an ordinary person. He is well known for his talent. Although his desire to win is not that strong, the talent is there. Once he takes the game seriously, his ability value will increase exponentially.
The only one in the starting lineup who is not very capable seems to be Adrian. Many people know that he is an undrafted player in the league. He only took advantage of the conflicts between Howard and the team to seize the opportunity to get up. A lot of it. To a certain extent, this is also due to Zhao Feiyang's help and training.
But I have to say that since the start of the playoffs, Adrian's performance has been very stable.
His rebounding is not the best, nor is his mid-range shooting, and his skills at the basket also need to be improved. But his defensive attitude is always the most positive. If this is the only difference, Adrian can beat Howard.
Not only is Adrian's defensive attitude positive, but Adrian's awareness at the basket is also quite good. He will always cooperate with Howard's actions. Once the opponent goes out to defend and causes a loss of position, Adrian will immediately go up to fill the gap.
Many of his actions may seem unremarkable, but facts have proven that the team's other core striker Gorgui Dieng and Howard cannot achieve such an effect at all when they cooperate on the court.
Not only was Gorgi unable to connect the entire team, he was also unable to seize position and grab rebounds at critical moments.
It is precisely because of his comparison that Adrian's seemingly inconspicuous actions truly showed his abilities to his teammates.
On the court.
The referee stood in the middle of the court and threw the ball high in front of everyone's attention.
Snapped.
Howard reached out his hand first to shoot the ball, and the basketball fell into LaVine's hands. LaVine held the ball through half the court, and the other players also stood towards the half court to look for opportunities as usual.
However, no one noticed that just when LaVine got the basketball and pushed towards the half court, Lillard, who was pretending to tie his shoes one second, suddenly moved the next second. He suddenly moved from LaVine to the other side. He rushed out from behind and slapped away the basketball held by LaVine's right hand.
Snapped.
The basketball rolled out.
Lillard's quick eyesight and hands quickly pounced on him and grabbed it immediately. Before LaVine even recovered, he found that Lillard had already taken the ball and ran towards the half court.
There was an uproar.
No one expected it.
Even Zhao Feiyang could only watch Lillard rush across the half court.
Uh-huh.
Lillard took the lead and rushed to the half court, and easily put the ball into the basket with a layup before LaVine could catch up.
The ball went in.
These were also the first two points scored by the Trail Blazers.
For the Timberwolves, this is also the first lesson they learned from the Trail Blazers.
LaVine was a little dissatisfied with being intercepted.
In his opinion, under normal circumstances, no player would rush out to steal the ball when it first advances. Lillard's aggressive behavior is undoubtedly a bit impolite.
He blocked Lillard, who was about to pass by, and kept shouting at the latter, "Hey, what on earth are you doing?"
"No one will grab the ball in this situation... You are too cunning..."
Lillard looked very calm in response to LaVine's questioning.
"Zach, this is a competition! If you can't adapt, I advise you to retire early!"
A simple sentence successfully ignited the anger in La Bra.
Fortunately, before the matter got serious, Zhao Feiyang had already come over to dissuade him. He stopped Raven, who was making small movements on his hands, pulled him aside and comforted him, "Zach, what are you doing?"
"Dude, wake up!"
"The opponents we face are all different. The more points they score, the less likely we are to win the game... So you have to change your mindset! This is not the regular season..."
"Don't fight Damien! You are one of our core players. If anything happens to you and you are suspended, who will support the team in the future?"
Zhao Feiyang's series of consolations quickly calmed down Raven.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang personally served the ball to LaVine.
After getting the ball, LaVine no longer acted impulsively. After waving to Zhao Feiyang, he seriously carried the ball across the half court.
Lillard quickly surrounded him. He stared at the ball in LaVine's hands without saying a word, but just put on an extremely serious defensive posture.
LaVine did not force a fight with Lillard. After discovering that Zhao Feiyang had moved into a better position from the wing, he immediately threw the ball into Zhao Feiyang's hands with a long pass.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang, who was standing on the three-point line in the bottom corner, successfully received the pass.
The moment he was about to take action, McCollum suddenly came over to defend. Zhao Feiyang did not force the ball to the opponent, but gave it to Adrian who ran out of the penalty area.
As soon as the ball was given out, Zhao Feiyang immediately ran towards the basket. Adrian quickly passed the ball back and then blocked McCollum who followed up to cover.
After getting the ball, Zhao Feiyang successfully entered the basket and scored a layup.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
The cooperation between the two drew bursts of applause from outside the stadium.
It was the Trail Blazers' turn to attack.
Lillard advanced with the ball, and after he passed the midline, McCollum kept running and trying to come forward to respond.
LaVine stared at Lillard and kept reaching out to interfere.
Seeing the two of them reaching the three-point line, Zhao Feiyang also followed the running McCollum and did not dare to relax.
He thought Lillard would choose to pass the ball. Unexpectedly, the next second, Lillard hit LaVine with a fadeaway three-pointer.
Such a resolute and decisive move caught everyone by surprise.
LaVine, who was guarding Lillard, reacted immediately, but he was still barely able to block Lillard's shot.
Uh-huh.
A three-pointer hit the basket steadily.
Lillard's style of play really stunned LaVine. Not only him, but Zhao Feiyang was also touched by Lillard's style of play!
He seems to be disorganized and doesn't seem to have any great offensive skills, but he just dares to shoot. He just lifts the basketball and throws the three-pointer towards the basket with confidence.
This confidence alone is enough to be admired!
Soon the Timberwolves counterattacked.
After suffering two consecutive defeats, LaVine seemed a little out of sorts. After halftime, he took the initiative to seek pick-and-roll opportunities. Adrian, who was inside, saw the right opportunity and reached the high post. LaVine took advantage of the opportunity and dribbled the ball into the basket.
Lillard was pulled away midway, but was never left behind by LaVine.
Seeing LaVine avoid other defensive players and enter the basket, the moment he raised the basketball to take a shot, Lillard pounced from the wing and reached out to interfere.
boom.
The basketball bounced off the edge of the basket.
Although he was not blocked, LaVine's shot was indeed blocked by Lillard.
Fortunately, Howard reacted quickly under the basket. After the basketball popped out, he pushed away the opponent's players and rushed to the basket. Then he jumped high and smashed the ball into the basket with a one-handed dunk.
There was not much difference in the offensive and defensive performance of both sides in the first quarter.
The Trail Blazers basically relied on Lillard and McCollum's offense. After Zhao Feiyang almost guarded McCollum, McCollum's performance in the first quarter was naturally not as good as before.
The latter only took 5 shots throughout the quarter, including only one 2-point layup, and missed all the rest.
Looking back at Lillard, LaVine's defensive restrictions on him are really limited, especially in terms of personal ability and mentality. The young LaVine is indeed no match for Lillard.
The other Trail Blazers players performed generally and occasionally cooperated with Lillard, but they still could not pose a threat to the Timberwolves.
For the Timberwolves, Howard is completely demanding in the paint. His strong style of play makes it difficult for the Trail Blazers to stop the inside. Therefore, during this period of time, the Timberwolves continue to transfer the ball to the inside, allowing the inside to seize the opportunity to attack the opponent. loopholes.
Soon the second quarter arrives.
Both sides replaced the core players on the court and replaced them with substitutes.
As soon as they switched to the bench, the gap between the Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves became clear.
Especially the backcourt combination of Kevin Martin and Ricky Rubio, coupled with the cooperation of Gorgui, the former team's main striker, this second lineup immediately widened the gap between the two sides in the score.
