"Zach, are you okay?"
"Man, where are you hurt?"
After Zach LaVine fell to the ground, the referee's whistle sounded, and a group of teammates quickly gathered around to ask about his condition.
Raven shook her head and said nothing. The situation did not look optimistic.
The on-site team doctor also rushed up to check. After a short diagnosis, the team doctor called the staff to carry LaVine out on a stretcher.
The appearance of this scene also made all the fans present exclaim.
"It's over! Now the team is over! It seems that Zach's injury is not serious. If he is reimbursed for the season due to injury, the pressure on the team will be even greater in the following games..."
"What a terrible news! The injury came so suddenly!"
The fans were filled with regret.
The game continued, and the team's head coach Norman Thomas replaced Ricky Rubio to replace LaVine for the rest of the first quarter.
Beep.
The first quarter ended soon.
At this time, many Timberwolves players had already left, such as Zhao Feiyang and Kevin Martin. When they saw LaVine being carried out of the court, they couldn't help but catch up and care about LaVine's condition.
"Zhao, I'm sorry... I feel some pain in my ankle... Now I don't know what the problem is..."
"I'm afraid that I might not be able to play in the next games..."
Raven looked frustrated and almost cried.
Zhao Feiyang grabbed his hand and kept comforting him, "Zach, don't think too much. Go to the hospital for a checkup first. Maybe the situation is not as bad as you said!"
After LaVine left, Zhao Feiyang stood at the intersection of the players' tunnel with a look of helplessness. He doesn't know what LaVine's condition is, but if LaVine really withdraws from the game due to injury. Their winning percentage may be even smaller in the Western Conference finals, and their chances of winning the Warriors will also be slimmer.
Injuries are fatal to any team.
Break time.
The cheerleaders were dancing on the court, and Zhao Feiyang, Martin and others walked out of the tunnel again.
After they returned to their seats, coach Norman quickly called them over to ask about the situation. After learning that LaVine didn't look optimistic, coach Norman also sighed deeply.
"Let's not think too much now...how to win this game is what we need to do..."
"Zhao will play the No. 1 position in the next quarter. Ricky, you are ready to take over Zhao's position at any time...Kevin, you should continue to play the No. 2 position. If you need a rest, Muhammad can replace you. The scoring position..."
Head coach Norman quickly made the specific arrangements.
call out.
The break passed and the second quarter came again.
Perhaps it was LaVine's injury that rekindled hope for the Trail Blazers. After the start of this quarter, the Trail Blazers struggled again.
Damian Lillard, the core of the team, adjusted his condition and began to cooperate with his teammates in pick-and-roll tactics, constantly seeking opportunities to chase points.
The Blazers serve.
After Lillard held the ball for half the court, he looked for an opportunity at the top of the key. Teammate Al Farooq came up from the wing to cover and helped Lillard block the shooting space. Lillard stepped back a little distance and directly stepped back to shoot a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
A three-pointer hit the basket steadily.
The scoring method he was good at before reappeared, which also marked Lillard's return to his peak state.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to fight back.
Zhao Feiyang advanced with the ball, and after reaching the half court, he signaled others to run. Andrew Wiggins ran out of space from the wing, and Zhao Feiyang transferred the ball to him.
Wiggins got the ball and broke through to the basket. After being double-teamed, he passed the ball out. Martin in the left corner caught the ball.
He stood on the three-point line and took decisive shots.
Uh-huh.
A precise three-pointer hit the net steadily.
There was applause from the outside.
In the first half of the second quarter, both the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves performed very steadily.
The Timberwolves mainly use team tactics, launching attacks from the outside and even ending the offense.
The Trail Blazers took the initiative to give all offensive opportunities to Lillard. Compared with before, Lillard has learned to be smarter. Whenever his teammates have the opportunity, he will transfer the ball away, thereby helping his teammates to perform well and saving himself at the same time. Physical fitness.
The score difference between the two sides has always hovered between 7 and 9 points, and there has not been much change until the second half of this quarter.
Zhao Feiyang took a break and Martin dominated the offense on the court.
After the ball passed half court, Martin took the ball on the wing and prepared to break through. The person who came up to defend him was CJ McCollum.
The two have played against each other many times, and their confrontation with each other is no less than that of Zhao Feiyang and Lillard.
As soon as Martin got the ball, he deliberately made a feint to trick McCollum into coming up.
His previous fake moves had deceived McCollum, and he also gave McCollum several fouls. This also made the latter extremely cautious. Even though he was already marking him, he still did not rush to reach out to interfere.
McCollum just stared at Martin's pace and body.
Seeing that the opponent was indifferent, Martin no longer feinted, but pulled away and suddenly changed direction and rushed towards the basket from the left corner.
McCollum reacted quickly and followed Martin into the basket.
Seeing that Martin was about to raise the basketball and shoot, McCollum jumped high and rushed towards him. Mason Plumlee, the defensive player under the basket, was afraid that McCollum would not be able to stop the opponent, so he also rushed to defend Martin and stretched out his hands to block.
The three met in mid-air. Martin did not give in, but faced the opponent very forcefully and chose to fight and then threw the ball.
Snapped.
McCollum slapped him.
His hand slapped Martin's ball, but also hit Martin's hand.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
McCollum's force was so strong that Martin was knocked down when he landed. When the live camera was shown to him, Martin not only did not get up from the floor in a hurry, but also clenched the fingers of his right hand with his left hand with a look of pain on his face.
The sudden scene once again made the entire Timberwolves nervous. The fans obviously did not expect that such a small accident would happen again. Although they did not know Martin's condition, they still sweated for him as he fell on the ground.
"How are you?"
The referee came up and asked Martin.
His teammates also rushed to his side.
"Kevin, what's wrong with you?"
Martin answered them with a sad look on his face, "Damn it! My finger seems to be broken...Fake! It hurts me so much..."
"Broken finger?"
This statement also scared his teammates.
The referee quickly signaled the courtside staff to call the team doctor.
As a result, the team doctor who had just been out for a short time appeared in front of everyone again. Under the watchful eyes of all the fans, this time the team doctor quickly gave simple diagnostic suggestions.
"His finger is indeed broken! He needs to be sent to the hospital immediately..."
"ah?"
Under the gaze of tens of thousands of fans at the Target Center, Kevin Martin walked toward the player tunnel with the team doctor.
In the Timberwolves' team bench, a group of substitute players were really puzzled. Many fans in the stands also lamented.
"Why did the injury happen so quickly at such a critical moment?"
"It's not enough to hurt one, now I've hurt the second one...it's over! This time it's completely over..."
"I can understand why injuries come at this time! Many players have not played many playoff games. For them, such high-intensity games are extremely physically taxing, especially against opponents that are far superior to what they have encountered before. ..."
"As a result, the probability of injury will naturally increase greatly..."
"I just hope that the condition of these two people will not be too bad. Now is not the time when we can lose our troops... Anyway, no more people will be injured, especially Zhao. If he has any injuries again, then we will It’s completely over!”
"There is no need to wait until Zhao is injured. We may not even be able to win this game... The Trail Blazers and Damien have been waiting for such an opportunity. Obviously, they finally waited... "
Losing two of the team's top players at once also hit the Timberwolves hard.
Head coach Norman had no time to feel sad and immediately replaced Zhao Feiyang, and his partner was naturally Ricky Rubio.
However, in this way, once Zhao Feiyang needs to rest, all those who will take his place will be substitute players.
The strength of these players is relatively average. If they really go against McCollum and Lillard, they will definitely not be able to beat their opponents.
With 2 minutes and 33 seconds left in the first half, the ball was in the hands of the Timberwolves.
The referee did not penalize McCollum's hitter foul, but only awarded a simple foul.
The Timberwolves were very dissatisfied with this, but there was no way to complain about these issues during the game, so the team could only continue to play.
The sideline ball is delivered.
After getting the ball, Zhao Feiyang took a shot directly from outside the three-point line. McCollum continued to interfere. His defense was more aggressive than before, and he even made some small moves from time to time. Such actions also interfered with Zhao Feiyang's shot.
boom.
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
The rebound was picked off by the Trail Blazers.
It was their turn to fight back.
His teammates gave the ball to McCollum, who was closest.
McCollum dribbled the ball across half court, and Zhao Feiyang followed him deliberately. There was friction between the two bodies, and Zhao Feiyang did not give in at all, but directly stepped forward to put pressure on McCollum.
Perhaps McCollum was also resentful. Lillard on the side kept waving at him to pass the ball, but he didn't pass it. Instead, he took the ball to the basket and attacked.
Seeing that McCollum successfully reached the basket, in order to prevent Zhao Feiyang from blocking his shot, he specially used the lever action to avoid it.
However, the moment McCollum jumped up to take action, Zhao Feiyang swooped over from behind and slapped McCollum in the face.
Snapped.
The basketball was blown away and McCollum was knocked to the ground.
The scene was filled with exclamations of surprise.
Fans can all see that Zhao Feiyang's defense this time clearly has a sense of revenge. Although he didn't make any too reckless moves, a slap on the opponent's hand was really a bit unpleasant.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
To everyone's surprise, Zhao Feiyang was awarded a technical foul!
"WTF?"
"Black whistle! This must be a black whistle!"
"Why didn't McCollum call the foul before? Whoever made this special code is definitely favoring the Trail Blazers..."
