Oracle Arena.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
The arena was packed with people and the colors were yellow and white everywhere. Warriors fans wore uniforms to cheer for the home team. This time, even many Chinese fans who like Zhao Feiyang did not stand up and cheer for him again.
For Oakland fans, the championship is obviously more important than anything else, it is an honor for the entire city.
call out.
After the referee's whistle, the game officially started.
The starting lineups of both sides took to the court.
The lineup of the Golden State Warriors is the same as before. The team's backcourt is assigned to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes is assigned to the third position, and the fourth and fifth positions are assigned to Germany. Raymond Green and Andrew Bogut.
For the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team's No. 1 position is held by Ricky Rubio, the No. 2 position is naturally the leader Zhao Feiyang, the No. 3 position is still given to Andrew Wiggins, and the No. 4 and No. 5 positions are still held by A. Derian Ennis and Dwight Howard are in charge.
Compared with the previous lineup comparison, the Timberwolves are not much weaker than the Warriors in the starting lineup. However, in the substitute lineup, without Zach LaVine and Kevin Martin, they are undoubtedly much weaker. of.
Snapped.
The referee threw the ball high.
Howard and Bogut jumped up at the same time to fight for the ball.
Snapped.
Howard did not disappoint the Timberwolves. This time he was the first to slap the basketball. The ball fell into the hands of Zhao Feiyang. After getting the ball, Zhao Feiyang immediately handed the ball over to Rubio, who held the ball and advanced to the half court.
The game officially started, the fans temporarily quieted down from cheering, and players from both sides also assumed offensive and defensive postures.
After the ball passed halftime, Rubio passed the ball under Curry's defense. Zhao Feiyang, who ran over from the wing to receive the basketball, was very calm. After getting the ball, he was not in a hurry to play singles, but instead observed the situation on the court.
Seeing Howard stuck in position under the basket and reaching for the ball, Zhao Feiyang immediately dropped the ball into his hands.
Snapped.
After getting the ball, Howard hit hard under the basket. He kept hitting Green who was marking him behind him with his body.
Although Green's physical fitness is not as good as Howard's, Howard is no longer in his prime, and Green's defense is also very hard, resulting in Howard not being able to find a suitable opportunity to take action for a while.
boom.
Howard failed to pass the ball and passed it to Wiggins on the wing.
Wiggins stood in the right corner and pretended to take a three-point shot. He made a feint and sent out Barnes who was marking him. Then Wiggins rushed into the two zones with the ball, and the Warriors' interior players made up for it. Before the defense came up, he threw the ball out with a mid-range shot.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
The Timberwolves bench players on the sidelines cheered.
It's the Warriors' turn to attack.
Curry advanced with the ball, and Rubio followed him on defense from the start. After halftime, Green suddenly came up to the high post to cover, and Curry took the opportunity to rush towards the basket.
Rubio, who was guarding Curry, was blocked, and Howard, who was originally guarding Green, had to cover up.
Curry rushed into the two zones and failed to find a suitable shot opportunity. When he was approaching the penalty area, he chose to pass the ball. At this time, the ball was given to Thompson on the wing.
As soon as Thompson got the basketball, Zhao Feiyang quickly got in front of him.
The two met face to face. Thompson originally planned to force a breakthrough, but Zhao Feiyang was physically stronger than him. He was completely unable to push away Zhao Feiyang during the breakthrough.
Seeing that there was not much offensive time left, Thompson did not choose to act recklessly, but once again distributed the ball to Curry who was standing outside the three-point line.
Curry caught the ball smoothly.
The moment he made the shot, Rubio lunged at him.
However, even though Rubio had covered Curry's eyes, he still couldn't interfere with his shot.
Uh-huh.
Curry's three-pointer seemed to fall into the basket with ease as usual.
There was applause in the arena, and Warriors fans were screaming and shouting for their team's goal.
The Timberwolves continued to fight back.
This time after the ball passed half-court, Zhao Feiyang deliberately detoured behind Rubio to receive the ball. Rubio pretended to pass the ball to Zhao Feiyang, but actually attracted the opponent's attention.
The next second, he suddenly dribbled the ball towards the basket.
Howard, who was inside, had already anticipated this and directly stepped in to help him with the pick-and-roll screen. This move blocked Thompson who followed up to cover Rubio, but Green, who was marking Howard, also covered up at this time.
Rubio faced Green's defense.
The two faced each other, and Rubio tried to end the fight with a floater. However, as soon as he stretched out his hand, Green jumped high and slapped his basketball away.
Snapped.
The basketball rolled out.
Just as he was about to rush out of bounds, Rubio quickly flew over and saved the ball. The moment he threw the basketball back, he turned his head and saw Zhao Feiyang rushing towards the three-point line in the corner.
Snapped.
Rubio threw the ball directly into Zhao Feiyang's hands.
Zhao Feiyang didn't hesitate when he got the ball. He raised the basketball and shot a three-pointer before Curry came up to defend.
Uh-huh.
The ball was scored steadily against Curry's defense.
The Timberwolves had just scored an offense here. Before the players could celebrate, Green quickly released the ball under the basket.
He has a really high level of tacit understanding with Curry and Thompson. With just one look at the two of them, they understood and immediately sprinted toward the half court.
boom.
Green made a super long pass and threw the ball directly to the half court. Thompson got the ball first, but he did not choose to play it himself. Instead, he threw the ball into Curry's hands, and he helped Curry by the way. Blocked Rubio who was chasing behind him.
Facing the unguarded basket, Curry didn't hesitate at all. He raised the basketball and rushed into the basket for an easy layup.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
The game went on minute by minute, and throughout the first quarter, the Timberwolves' performance completely exceeded the Warriors' expectations.
When the two sides played in the series last season, the Timberwolves really had too many problems. If it weren't for Zhao Feiyang's incredible performance, they might not have been able to play the seventh game.
However, this season's Timberwolves are completely different.
The team's interior has been greatly improved, and it is no different from the Warriors.
Needless to say, Zhao Feiyang's strength on the outside is natural. If it weren't for LaVine and Martin being temporarily unable to play, I'm afraid the Timberwolves' backcourt strength is not weaker than the Warriors at all.
The same is true for the team's level of integration.
If the Timberwolves relied entirely on Zhao Feiyang last season, then the Timberwolves have changed a lot this season.
Of course, they still rely on Zhao Feiyang, just like the Warriors rely on Curry, but Zhao Feiyang can play more relaxedly on the court, instead of having to do every offense personally as before.
Beep.
The referee whistle sounded.
The first quarter ended for both sides.
During this quarter, both the Warriors and the Timberwolves played very well, and neither side exposed too many weaknesses. Except for the Timberwolves' No. 1 Rubio who suffered a bit against Curry, basically everything else Nothing went wrong.
The same is true for the Warriors. Compared with the Timberwolves, their lineup has already been perfectly integrated.
The score between the two sides was 30 to 31.
Although the Warriors are 1 point ahead, the Timberwolves are still on the same starting line as them.
During the break, players from both sides took the time to rest.
For the Timberwolves, head coach Norman Thomas also tried to change to other lineups. When he planned to replace Zhao Feiyang, Zhao Feiyang hesitated again and again, but still stood up to express his thoughts.
"Coach Norman, I can't get off."
"The team needs me now... Our lineup is already lacking, so I hope I can lead the team to win the first game, which will definitely improve our morale..."
"If I choose to rest more, with the strength of the Warriors, I'm afraid we will be gradually pulled apart..."
Zhao Feiyang expressed his concerns.
Coach Norman was also confused. After a long time, he nodded and agreed with Zhao Feiyang's idea. However, before the start of the second quarter, he asked Zhao Feiyang to organize the team's offense at the No. 1 position in order to save his own energy and reduce the probability of injuries that may be caused by too many breakthroughs.
In the second position, Shabaz Muhammad came off the bench again, replacing Zhao Feiyang to guard Thompson.
In the fifth position, the team's super center Howard was also temporarily replaced to rest, and Gorgui Dieng replaced him in the paint as a substitute.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the second quarter started.
As expected by the Timberwolves, the Warriors did not make much adjustments to the team's lineup. Except for replacing Ennis on the forward line and letting Andre Iguodala play, the other positions remained unchanged.
Curry and Thompson were also on the court.
The game continues.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to serve.
Zhao Feiyang held the ball and passed half court.
This time was very different from before. As soon as he took the ball across half court, Thompson immediately came up to defend and double-teamed him with Curry.
The double-team restriction between the two caught Zhao Feiyang off guard, and he could only quickly transfer the ball to Muhammad.
Muhammad observed the situation on the court and found that there was no better opportunity inside, so he simply stood outside the three-point line and took the shot.
boom.
His touch was not very good, and the basketball he threw bounced out of the basket.
Muhammad shook his head helplessly.
The rebound bounced out, and Adrian was about to go up and grab it. Gorgi on the side failed to block Green, and Green seized the opportunity and jumped up to grab the basketball first.
After getting the rebound, Green rarely passed it to Curry or Thompson, but to Iguodala on the wing.
Iguodala quickly counterattacked with the ball. He was very fast and passed halftime in the blink of an eye. Zhao Feiyang tried to go up to cover, but was blocked by Thompson and Curry. The two people's screen also helped Iguodala seize the opportunity. After crossing the half court, he quickly entered the basket and dunked.
boom.
The ball went in.
The Warriors scored 2 more points.
