On the court, the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers came to the final moment. The two sides entered the 11th minute of the fourth quarter, which meant that there was only one minute left before the end of the game.
The on-court timer showed the difference between the two sides, 93 to 96, with the Timberwolves trailing the Trail Blazers by 3 points.
As the home court of the Timberwolves, the fans never expected that the game would end like this. Not to mention them, even Zhao Feiyang and others were somewhat surprised.
I thought that the Trail Blazers would be unable to continue at the last moment, but Damian Lillard seemed to be hanging up. Even though he played for 40 minutes, there was always gas in his "gas tank", and he also Always performs brilliantly.
This caused the Timberwolves to underestimate his ability and miscalculate the situation on the field.
At this time, both sides entered the timeout and sat on their respective team benches to rest.
For the Timberwolves, head coach Norman Thomas was also deploying the latest tactics. After picking up the tactical board and making gestures for a while, the timeout ended, the referee's whistle sounded, and the players appeared again.
"Remember, don't be in a hurry!"
"We still have time!"
Coach Norman comforted everyone.
The players nodded.
Soon, the two sides took to the court.
Timberwolves offense.
Zach LaVine is still dribbling the ball.
As soon as he got the basketball, Lillard jumped in front of him and kept reaching out to steal it. LaVine was not intimidated by the opponent's momentum. Although Lillard kept pressing him, LaVine remained stubborn. Protect the basketball.
After halftime, Zhao Feiyang came up from the wing to receive the ball, and LaVine handed the ball to him.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang, who got the ball, first feinted to catch up with CJ McCollum, who was guarding him, and then changed direction with the ball and entered the two zones.
Originally, he planned to go directly to the basket to take a shot. Unexpectedly, two big men from the opponent's inside team came up at the same time. Zhao Feiyang wanted to pass the ball to Dwight Howard, but the opponent was unable to respond at all. Adrian Ennis was also on the side. Focusing on rebounding, there is no suitable chance to catch the ball.
Helpless, Zhao Feiyang could only take the first shot under the double team.
boom.
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
Fortunately, Adrian under the basket found a chance to grab the rebound.
After getting the rebound, he tried to hit hard under the basket, but the opponent's center Mason Plumlee immediately stepped up to defend, and Adrian had no choice but to transfer the ball away.
The basketball was given to Andrew Wiggins on the wing. Wiggins didn't have a better shot, so he gave it to LaVine on the outside.
Lillard, who was standing next to LaVine, reacted quickly. As soon as LaVine got the basketball, Lillard suddenly pressed forward, almost causing LaVine to lose the ball this time.
At the critical moment, Zhao Feiyang stood up. He rushed to the three-point line in the left corner and waved to LaVine.
LaVine passed the ball to his hands immediately.
After getting the ball, Zhao Feiyang made another fake move to knock McCollum away, and then stood outside the three-point line and directly threw a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
Zhao Feiyang finally scored at the last moment before the end of 24 seconds, which also relieved the Timberwolves fans watching on the sidelines.
96 to 96.
The two sides ended in a draw.
There are 36 seconds left.
The Trail Blazers serve and attack.
Unlike the Timberwolves' caution, the Trail Blazers gave the ball directly to Lillard.
In addition to Zhao Feiyang, other players in the Timberwolves can also perform to a good level, but the Trail Blazers can only rely on Lillard now.
This state just gave all the Trail Blazers players a "last-ditch" mentality, and it also allowed Lillard to dribble the ball to the half court without hesitation after getting the ball.
He went directly to the top of the arc outside the three-point line and hit a three-pointer against LaVine's defense before he could stand firmly.
It's a familiar position and a familiar distance.
Uh-huh.
A crisp three-pointer fell accurately into the basket.
This goal not only dumbfounded the fans in the Target Center Arena, but also stunned the Timberwolves players. Only on the Trail Blazers bench, a group of bench players excitedly shouted and screamed for their star. .
99 to 96.
The Trail Blazers lead by 3 points.
There are only 26 seconds left.
This time it was really the Timberwolves' turn to become anxious.
In such a passive situation, Zhao Feiyang, as the core of the team, is no longer calm. Without any hesitation, he directly directed Adrian under the basket to send the ball, and then directly sprinted towards the half court with the ball.
When the Trail Blazers players saw Zhao Feiyang rushing towards the three-point line, they immediately reacted to his move. Lillard gave up guarding LaVine and stepped in to double-team Zhao Feiyang with McCollum immediately.
Before the two men formally double-teamed, Zhao Feiyang also came to the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the right side of the basket.
With all the fans watching, he jumped high into the air and threw the ball directly against the two defenders.
Lillard was almost able to interfere with Zhao Feiyang, but McCollum blocked Zhao Feiyang's sight. Even so, neither of them could prevent Zhao Feiyang from throwing the ball into the basket.
Uh-huh.
When Zhao Feiyang's three-pointer also fell into the basket, all the fans present stood up and exclaimed.
99 versus 99.
The two sides were tied again.
There are only 11 seconds left.
The Timberwolves players have adopted full-court marking measures, and the Trail Blazers players have also continued to pick and roll, trying to get the team's core Lillard to catch the pass.
Under successive screens, Lillard finally got the ball successfully.
He played the same way as before, taking the ball and sprinting towards the half court without any hesitation.
Regarding this situation, Timberwolves head coach Norman Thomas was very worried on the sidelines. He kept shouting at LaVine who was guarding Lillard on the court, "Zach, foul quickly! Quick!"
After hearing this, LaVine also reacted quickly, but unfortunately he was a step too late. Lillard, who rushed to the half court, also heard it. Seeing LaVine rushing toward him, Lillard deliberately made a feint. The shooting action is actually facing LaVine's hand and throwing a three-pointer towards the basket.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
LaVine's foul was whistled.
However, what no one expected was that Lillard threw the basketball into the basket with a seemingly unintentional throw.
Uh-huh.
When the basketball hit the basket, not to mention LaVine who was marking him, even the fans on the sidelines were dumbfounded!
"WTF?"
"Is this okay?"
"Damien is so lucky..."
Seeing this goal scored, Zhao Feiyang, who was standing there resting, couldn't help but sigh. He knew that this game might be impossible to save!
With the audience booing, Lillard walked to the free throw line, waited for him to receive the referee's pass, and made a free throw in front of everyone's eyes.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
103 to 99.
The Timberwolves trailed by 4 points.
With only the last 3.6 seconds left, it seemed almost impossible to turn defeat into victory!
call out.
The Timberwolves called a timeout.
Players from both sides return to their respective team benches.
Head coach Norman Thomas gathered everyone together and wanted to say something, but after thinking for a moment, he had nothing to say.
If the difference was only 3 points, it would be easy to handle. Now that the opponent is 4 points behind, the opponent can completely let go and not defend. In this way, even if the Timberwolves beat the Timberwolves, there will not be enough time to reverse the defeat.
"The last attack was to give the ball to Zhao..."
Coach Norman said.
call out.
Soon the referee's whistle sounded and the two sides took the stage again.
At the final moment of the decisive battle, the morale of both sides changed drastically. The Trail Blazers have begun to celebrate the upcoming victory, while the Timberwolves are all depressed.
Timberwolves serve.
Under the interference of the Trail Blazers, the ball was still given to Zhao Feiyang. Zhao Feiyang didn't hesitate when he got the ball. He took advantage of every opportunity, dribbled the ball across the center line, took off and threw the basketball.
Uh-huh.
A beautiful long three-pointer hit the basket.
At this time, the game is still not over, with the last 0.7 seconds left. However, this has no meaning. The Timberwolves did not defend at all, allowing the Trail Blazers to send the ball out and consume the last bit of time.
Beep.
The sound of the timer ending sounded.
The whole game is over.
103 to 102.
The Trail Blazers finally defeated the Timberwolves by 1 point.
The scene was filled with sadness.
Countless Timberwolves fans were in disbelief.
"Oh! No! How could you lose such a game?"
"This is probably the most confusing game since the start of the playoffs... Our lineup is not worse than theirs..."
"Zhao scored 27 points, LaVine scored 10 points, Dwight scored 21 points and 11 rebounds... and other people's scores were not bad, but we just lost... "
"Damien scored 40 points by himself...Okay! I have to admit, this guy's performance really exceeded our expectations..."
Fans were buzzing and left disappointed.
The Trail Blazers players took the initiative to shake hands with the Timberwolves players, and then a group of people left the court with excited shouts.
Zhao Feiyang and his teammates watched the opponent leave and couldn't help but sigh, "This time I really underestimated the enemy!"
It was also that night that the results of this game were announced.
Originally, many people in the outside world believed that the Timberwolves could win, but they were unexpectedly counterattacked by Lillard at the last minute, which undoubtedly surprised many people.
The media reacted unanimously to this. Almost all of them praised Lillard, while others stepped on Zhao Feiyang in order to gain ratings, and found various imprecise data to support their rhetoric.
"Oh! Is this a superstar? It seems that Zhao's performance is not very good... As we all know, there are many so-called stars who are very good in the regular season, but once it comes to the playoffs, their The true level will be revealed..."
"They are both older rookies. It seems that the gap between Zhao and Damien is not that big... Damien scored 40 points..."
