After slapping the basketball out of Mike Conley's hand, Zhao Feiyang picked it up immediately. After getting the ball, he immediately rushed towards the half court.
Unwilling to give up, Conley did not give up and chased Zhao Feiyang. Unfortunately, Zhao Feiyang immediately threw him away as soon as he sped up. Conley could only watch as Zhao Feiyang rushed to the basket with the ball.
boom.
Zhao Feiyang jumped high and dunked the ball with both hands into the basket.
Of course Conley was unhappy when he was intercepted.
When he was walking through half the court to prepare to catch the ball again, he passed by Zhao Feiyang. Perhaps because his mentality was a bit broken, Conley deliberately bumped Zhao Feiyang with his shoulder. Although the movement was not large, it still made Zhao Feiyang turn around and look at him.
"Man, are you trying to piss me off?"
Zhao Feiyang asked with a chuckle.
Conley was not timid at all, "So what?"
"Okay, I like to compete with tough people."
After saying that, Zhao Feiyang simply didn't run to the half court, and directly followed Conley in a close defensive posture. Conley didn't think too much about Zhao Feiyang's move. After taking the serve from his teammate, he quickly continued to advance towards the half court.
However, he underestimated Zhao Feiyang's defense after all.
From the moment he got the ball, Zhao Feiyang kept reaching out to interfere. The difference from Conley's memory is that this time Zhao Feiyang is more than one level better defensively than before.
"Could it be that Coach Tom trained him?"
Conley was secretly shocked, thinking that Zhao Feiyang was trained with the help of Thibodeau.
The two were constantly competing.
Zhao Feiyang tried to snatch it, but Conley protected the basketball. After halftime, Conley was about to pass the ball to his teammates, but the next second Zhao Feiyang accurately judged his problem.
Snapped.
Another slap. This time, luckily Kang used his body to block Zhao Feiyang, otherwise the basketball would have been intercepted by Zhao Feiyang after it fell out.
"Tony, come here and cover for me!"
Conley waved to his teammate Tony Allen.
The latter saw that Conley was tightly entangled, and hurried up to help Conley pick and roll. With Tony's block, Conley finally had a chance to break through.
He carried the ball all the way to the basket, and when he was about to reach the penalty area, he jumped directly to avoid the defender. But at the last moment when he was about to throw the basketball, a figure suddenly flew up from behind him.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang slapped the basketball out of Conley's hand.
The moment the basketball flew out, the referee's whistle sounded, and all the fans at the scene let out a burst of unbelievable exclamations.
"Oh! It's so tragic!"
"I originally thought that Mike would never lose to this guy! But looking at it now, this Chinese kid is more powerful than I expected..."
"Twice in a row...shame on Conley!"
Fans on the sidelines were talking a lot.
On the court, Conley's mentality after being blocked was even worse than before, but he was still able to control his emotions.
Soon, the Grizzlies were on serve again.
This time when the ball was in Conley's hands, he took the lead and raised the basketball before Zhao Feiyang pounced on him.
boom.
The basketball failed to score and bounced directly off the rim.
Fortunately, Gasol jumped up and grabbed the rebound under the basket. After getting the ball, he took a second shot and sent the ball into the basket with a one-handed dunk.
Although the ball was scored, Conley's previously very strong fighting will had been defeated by Zhao Feiyang. The obvious gap between the two also caused the self-confidence deep in his heart to gradually disappear.
Seeing Conley lose his fighting spirit, coach Thibodeau no longer forced him to stay on the court, and finally replaced him at 3 minutes and 44 seconds into the second quarter.
"Mike, get some rest!"
Coach Thibodeau said comfortingly.
Although he is still the stubborn middle-aged man, after leaving the Timberwolves, he still thought about whether there was a problem with the way he got along with the players.
Now that he has come to the Grizzlies, he doesn't want to cause any problems with the team's core players, so sometimes his attitude is much gentler than when he was with the Timberwolves.
The game continues on the court.
Timberwolves offense.
After halftime, Zhao Feiyang got the ball. When he got into a singles stance, coach Thibodeau on the sidelines immediately shouted to his players.
"Defense!"
"Don't give him any chance to make a move."
The Grizzlies players continued to make adjustments. When Zhao Feiyang rushed in with the ball, they directly went up and blocked Zhao Feiyang's path.
Zhao Feiyang did not force himself.
In fact, he was waiting for this opportunity. He first deliberately attracted the opponent to double-team him, focusing all the defensive attention on himself, and then took the opportunity to assist his teammates.
Snapped.
Zhao Feiyang threw the ball high, and Gorgi jumped up to catch the basketball, slamming the ball into the basket with an alley-oop dunk.
There were loopholes in the defense on the court, which also made Thibodeau very angry off the court.
"What are you doing?"
"Mark, keep an eye on the people inside...Don't care about the situation outside! Just do what I said before..."
It was the Grizzlies' turn to fight back.
The ball passed half-court, and defender Tony Allen took the ball and reached inside. His breakthrough failed to score, but Randolph of the Grizzlies rushed to the basket, grabbed the rebound, and then smashed the ball in with a dunk.
With their own forward lineup, the Grizzlies still maintained a sufficient threat in this quarter.
However, the Timberwolves' substitutes also caught up under the leadership of Zhao Feiyang. When the second quarter was about to end, the Grizzlies, who were originally leading, were also caught up by the Timberwolves. In the last 7 seconds, Zhao Feiyang even more He rushed near half-court and threw a long three-pointer.
Beep.
The timer sounded and the first half was over.
The score between the two sides was 60 to 57.
The Timberwolves lead by 3 points.
Zhao Feiyang scored 16 points in this quarter and also sent 4 steals and 2 blocks. It can be said that he was the best player on the court during this quarter.
During halftime, the two sides returned to the locker room.
As usual, Coach Thibodeau continued to adjust the team's defense and addressed the players' problems on the court in a targeted manner.
However, just when he was mid-sentence, Gasol, who was sitting on the chair, interrupted him.
"Coach Tom, can I take a break in the third quarter?"
"My knee was injured last season, and it still hurts occasionally... I'm afraid that if I keep playing like this, it will affect my condition..."
Just after Gasol finished speaking, Randolph on the side also spoke.
"Coach, I also want to take a break. I played the first two quarters! This is not my previous playing time... It will consume too much of me if this continues..."
The two main players expressed their opinions publicly on this occasion, which made Coach Thibodeau's face suddenly become solemn.
If it were in the past, he would not hesitate to reprimand the two of them directly, and even deliberately criticize them in front of everyone in order to show his majesty.
But the past of the Timberwolves is still fresh in my mind. Although the Grizzlies do not have a super core like Zhao Feiyang, nor a leader player who can bring the team together, what if something happens again? manage?
After much consideration, Thibodeau finally decided to make adjustments.
"good."
"Mark, you and Zach will take a break in the third quarter."
"Everyone, listen, I can give you a break, but after the break you must treat the game with an all-out attitude..."
Thibodeau's approach received applause from Gasol and Randolph.
The two of them breathed a sigh of relief and looked very happy.
Seeing this, other players also hurriedly expressed their opinions to Thibodeau.
"Coach, I also need some rest."
"Me too."
Tony Allen and Jermichael Green stepped forward.
Thibodeau looked at the two main players and wanted to refuse, but he couldn't say it. But if you don't refuse, what will happen if all the main players take a break?
This puts Thibodeau in a dilemma.
After hesitating for a while, he finally made a decision.
"good."
"You take the time to rest, we will have a fierce battle in the fourth quarter!"
Just like that, when the second half came, when the Grizzlies lineup appeared on the court again, all the Timberwolves players were surprised.
"WTF?"
"Coach Tom was overthrown again?"
"What are you talking about! Coach Tom is standing there properly...but I can't understand why all the people who come up this time are substitutes?"
"Has this paranoid middle-aged man finally compromised? It doesn't seem like it... but the lineup has indeed changed..."
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the game between the two sides started again.
This time, the Timberwolves made no excuses and directly put all their main players on the court. Zhao Feiyang personally went to the first position to hold the ball and organize the offense, while LaVine went to the second position to play the scoring position.
Snapped.
Timberwolves serve.
Zhao Feiyang attacks with the ball.
Facing the Grizzlies' substitute players, Zhao Feiyang planned to use tactical offense to cooperate at first, but when he easily got rid of the defensive players in front of him, Zhao Feiyang did not intend to hesitate any longer and directly rushed into the basket with the ball. He flew down and made a one-handed chop.
boom.
The moment he slammed the basketball into the basket, the Grizzlies bench players under the basket just watched helplessly.
It's not that they don't want to stop it, it's that they simply can't.
