The scene of G1 in the finals.
In the Target Center Arena, the game entered the final quarter. The two sides scored 93 to 90, with the Timberwolves leading by 3 points.
There are less than 3 minutes left before the end of the game.
Minnesota Timberwolves serve.
Zach LaVine held the ball across half court. After reaching the half court, Zhao Feiyang helped him pick and roll on the wing. LaVine seized the opportunity and rushed to the basket, but after being blocked, he released the ball again.
Snapped.
The basketball fell into the hands of Zhao Feiyang. Zhao Feiyang tried to take a shot at the top of the arc. JR Smith immediately rushed up to him. In order to avoid unnecessary consumption, Zhao Feiyang passed the ball to Andrew Wiggins in the bottom corner.
Wiggins took the basketball and threw a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
The ball went in.
It was the Cleveland Cavaliers' turn to fight back.
The Cavaliers handed over the offensive power to Kyrie Irving at this time. He held the ball after halftime and was targeted by LaVine. The two faced each other, Irving dribbling the ball and trying to shake LaVine away, while LeBron stood in the open space on the wing to respond.
Irving still didn't pass the ball, but suddenly swayed away and threw a three-pointer into LaVine's hand.
boom.
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
Irving's three-pointer in this game was indeed almost meaningless.
Fortunately, the rebound was taken by Kevin Love. He did not force the shot under Dwight Howard's marking, but transferred the ball to LeBron on the outside.
LeBron took the basketball and shot a three-pointer.
boom.
Still unable to score, the basketball bounced out again.
This time the Cavaliers were not so lucky again, and the rebound was picked off by Adrian Ennis. After grabbing the basketball, he threw the ball with a long pass. This time, Zhao Feiyang deliberately took the ball to attract the attention of other defensive players. In fact, he waited for LaVine to cross the half court first and threw the ball to him with another long pass. hands.
boom.
The basketball fell into LaVine's hands.
Instead of rushing to the basket for a layup, LaVine stood at a 45-degree angle and shot a three-pointer decisively.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
As the Timberwolves made more and more three-pointers, the point difference between the two sides gradually widened.
The Cavaliers failed to pursue a three-point pursuit and could only harass the Timberwolves' basket with breakthroughs. Unfortunately, Howard and Adrian were extremely tough in the final minutes, and both of them always maintained extremely stable defensive performance.
So, in the last 20 seconds, the score between the Timberwolves and the Cavaliers was 113 to 106. The ball was still in the hands of the Timberwolves, and the Cavaliers had no chance to pursue.
At the last moment, Zhao Feiyang threw a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the top of the arc.
call out.
Accompanying the sound of the basketball hitting the net is the sound of the timer stopping.
116 to 106.
The whole game is over.
The first battle between the two sides ended with a 10-point gap, which also made many people feel incredible. They thought the first battle would be a life-or-death situation, but they didn't expect that it would only be an extremely intense fight in the first half.
In the second half, because the Cavaliers' outside shooting percentage was really low, they were unable to catch up with the Timberwolves, and naturally they were unable to play a life-or-death state.
competition is over.
The Target Center Arena was filled with cheers, and the fans were excited, screaming and shouting for the home team's victory.
The Cavaliers, who lost the game, also looked a little frustrated. After a brief greeting to the Timberwolves, a group of Cavaliers players left alone under the leadership of LeBron.
After the game, the media also reported the news immediately.
Many fans in other cities are in disbelief about the fact that the Cavaliers, who have the Big Three, lost to the Timberwolves in G1.
"What? The Cavaliers lost to the Timberwolves?"
"I know the Timberwolves are not weak, but are they so strong?"
"Does neither LeBron nor Irving work? What ability do the Timberwolves have to beat them?"
Not only the American fans were very confused, but the Chinese fans were also surprised by this game.
"Damn it! You win now? You even win by 10 points!"
"Zhao Feiyang is so good? Why did the Timberwolves shoot so many three-pointers? It's no wonder they beat the Cavaliers. Isn't it like the Warriors who won by outside output?"
"It's really surprising! It seems that the Timberwolves' defeat of the Warriors was not due to luck... In other words, the Cavaliers' Eastern Conference championship is not as valuable as we imagined. After all, the strength of the Eastern Conference teams has always been slightly weaker. Weaker ones..."
Amid the discussion of the fans, the first game of the finals ended quickly. Not long after, the Timberwolves and Cavaliers ushered in their second game of the Finals.
The venue for this game is still the Target Center Arena in Minneapolis.
Compared with the first game, the second game was completely different from the first quarter. The Cavaliers seemed to mind the first game they lost, so this time the Big Three launched a fierce attack from the beginning.
As the core of the team, LeBron James directly took over the team's offensive power in the first quarter and continued to beat Andrew Wiggins in isolation.
The offensive and defensive collision between the two is also quite exciting.
Wiggins changed his usual lazy attitude and used various tricks to limit LeBron's offense. LeBron kept beating him in isolation, using his body to back up to the basket, or using his body to forcefully suppress him during fast breaks.
Although Wiggins was guarding carefully from beginning to end, he still couldn't interfere with LeBron's superstar play.
So, at the end of the first quarter, the Cavaliers took the lead relying on LeBron's strong offense.
This time the lead was 10 points, which made the Timberwolves fans on the sidelines panic.
Fast forward to the second quarter.
During this quarter, Irving increased the number of shots and LeBron reduced his offense. He went down to rest for less than half of the period. The Cavaliers' offense on the court was mainly based on Irving.
Irving's singles play was quite effective, and he almost always suppressed LaVine during the matchup.
Coupled with the cover brought to him by other teammates, Irving's singles are easier.
By the end of the first half, the Cavaliers continued to maintain their lead. Irving's scoring in this quarter allowed the Cavaliers to keep the point difference at around 15+.
Such a point difference also gave the Timberwolves a sense of crisis.
Fortunately, after the second half came, the Timberwolves' three-point shooting was once again overwhelming.
Needless to say, Zhao Feiyang's shooting percentage was good, and Kevin Martin, who came off the bench, also had excellent touch. With the two's stable output in the second half, the Timberwolves not only quickly caught up with the score, but also directly overtook the Cavaliers.
When the game ended with 1 minute left, the score between the Timberwolves and the Cavaliers was 109 to 101. The 8-point gap caused the Cavaliers, who originally seemed full of hope, to fall into the abyss of defeat again.
