After the Minnesota Timberwolves lost two games in a row, the outside world has increasingly questioned them. Many fans who supported the Timberwolves began to lose hope, thinking that this time the Timberwolves might not be able to cross the threshold of the Grizzlies.
"It looks like the Timberwolves may have a hard time winning."
"It's okay to lose the game. After all, it's not easy to win the championship. There is no shortage of teams in the league that won the championship last season but were eliminated the next season. The Timberwolves are just one of them!"
"I'm just curious how many games are they going to end this series?"
Fans are buzzing.
At the same time, other playoff teams in the West are also fighting fiercely.
Ranked first in the Western Conference is the Golden State Warriors, and the team they faced in the first round was the Portland Trail Blazers.
Needless to say, the gap in strength between these two teams is obvious. The Warriors completely defeated the Trail Blazers in the first two games, even though CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard both lost in the first game. A total of 75 points were scored, but they still could not stop the Warriors' strong performance.
Especially in the second game, the Warriors and Trail Blazers tied 110 to 81. Durant scored a game-high 27 points. Curry and Thompson scored a total of 33 points. On the other hand, McCollum and Lillard added He only scored 31 points.
The difference is almost unnecessary to compare.
Ranked second is the San Antonio Spurs, and their opponent is the seventh-ranked Los Angeles Clippers. The competition between these two teams was obviously more intense than expected.
In the first game, the Spurs and Clippers tied 102 to 100. The Spurs relied on Kawhi Leonard's key goal to win at the last moment.
Chris Paul played for 40 minutes in this game, organizing the offense as the backbone of the team from beginning to end. Unfortunately, he lost to the opponent's buzzer beater in the end.
In the second game, the Clippers immediately counterattacked. Paul and Blake Griffin performed superbly. One scored 25 points and the other scored 26 points, supporting the Clippers' strong output on the offensive end.
For the Spurs, Leonard felt misfired, and Tony Parker was not in very good shape, so the score between the two sides was 109 to 100.
The Spurs came close to losing by double digits.
The big score of 1 to 1 also made many fans look forward to the next performance of both sides.
The last two teams to face off are the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The brothers who fought side by side in the past have now become rivals. This is the fate of the two core teams of the Rockets and Thunder.
James Harden and Russell Westbrook were the core of the Thunder team at the time, and the period of the "Three Thunder Young Masters" was also deeply missed by many fans.
However, compared to the constant anger every time he plays against the Warriors, Westbrook's attitude towards Harden is completely different.
After all, Harden was traded away, but Durant took the initiative to join the Warriors.
For Westbrook, one of the two remains a friend, while the other has become an enemy.
There is not much suspense in the games between these two teams. The Rockets successfully defeated the Thunder in the first two games.
Although Westbrook's average points per game remain at 28+, his power alone is really limited, especially after the Thunder made various transactions this season and the strength of the team's lineup has declined significantly. The Thunder rely on him. It's really hard for a person to be alone.
The war situation in the west is like this, and the gap between the east and west is actually smaller.
The Boston Celtics, No. 1 in the Eastern Conference, faced off against the Chicago Bulls, No. 8 in the Eastern Conference. The two teams scored 1-1 in the first two games.
Although the Celtics have the best record, they have not shown a tendency to overwhelm the Bulls.
The same goes for the Toronto Raptors, who are third in the Eastern Conference, and the Milwaukee Bucks, who are sixth in the Eastern Conference. The two teams played 1-1 in the first two games of the first round.
In Game 1, the Bucks defeated the Raptors 97-83.
Antetokounmpo Giannis scored the highest 28 points in the game. Five other Bucks players scored in double figures, and the overall performance was outstanding. The best performer for the Raptors was DeMar DeRozan. He played 39 minutes in the game and ended up with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist.
However, apart from him, all other Raptors players performed mediocrely. Only another main player, DeMarre Carroll, scored 16 points, and no one else scored in double digits.
In the second game, the situation turned around instantly.
Antetokounmpo Giannis was still strong, scoring the team's highest score of 24 points. Another player, Khris Middleton, scored 20 points. Two others scored in double figures, and the others performed really average.
The Raptors, who didn't perform well enough last time out, are in good shape this time. DeRozan still scored a team-high 23 points. Another core player, Kyle Lowry, also played well and scored the team's second-highest score. 22 points.
In addition, three other players scored in double figures.
In the end, the Raptors defeated the Bucks 106-100 and won the game.
The overall strength gap between the six teams in the Eastern Conference does not seem to be large, with the only exception being the second-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers, whose opponent is the seventh-ranked Indiana Pacers.
The Cavaliers defeated the Pacers in the first two games.
In the first game, the Cavaliers defeated the Pacers 109-108. At the last moment, LeBron James rushed into the penalty area with the ball and finished the opponent with a layup, winning the game by 1 point.
In the second game, the Cavaliers defeated the Pacers again 117-111.
The 6-point gap was due to Kyrie Irving's key three-pointer at the last minute, plus LeBron James rushing to the basket for a single to tie 2+1, and finally made a free throw into the basket.
Although this series is not over yet, the 2-0 score has obviously given many Cavaliers fans hope.
After the results of the Eastern and Western Conferences were released, the outside world has begun to speculate on the championship teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Timberwolves, which were valued by fans in the past, began to be excluded from the Western Conference championship due to their losses in the first two games. Many people believed that they would not be able to enter the Western Conference finals, or even the second round.
As time goes by, the Timberwolves are about to usher in the third game of their series.
This time the Timberwolves head to Memphis, where they will play their next two road games. If it can be stopped, there is still a chance to take the game back. If it cannot be held, the season will officially end after two away games.
When everyone set off, Howard, who had been recuperating at home, also joined the team.
When he appeared on the team, his teammates looked at him in complete astonishment. Many people thought it was Howard returning from injury.
"Dwight, what are you doing here?"
"Man, don't tell me your injury is healed! That would make me happy..."
Seeing his teammates looking forward to it, Howard could only dash their hopes, "No, of course my injury is not healed yet."
"But I hope to go with you! I am a part of the team. Even though I can't play on the court, I am still a part of the team... Even if I sit on the sidelines and cheer you on... it's fine... ..”
Teammates tried to dissuade Howard from his kindness, after all, he was still injured.
But who knew that Howard seemed so determined that he had to set off with his teammates. In the end, everyone was helpless, especially the head coach Eric, who couldn't refuse, so they could only take him to Memphis with him.
The night they arrived in Memphis, everyone stayed at the hotel.
After all, this is an away game, and the official match will be tomorrow. All players were banned from going out the night before, and they are not allowed to do anything outside the regulations.
No one had any problems in the past, so the team didn't emphasize it this time.
Until 11 o'clock in the evening, Howard, who was resting in his room, quietly sneaked into teammate LaVine's room, knocked on LaVine's door and immediately entered.
"Hey Zach, do you want to go out and relax?"
Howard smiled evilly and gave LaVine a "you know" look.
Although LaVine was a little excited, he still declined Howard's invitation.
"No, Dwight, I can't go now. There is a game tomorrow evening. What if the game is delayed?"
"Oh! Man, when did you become so timid? The game is only tomorrow evening, what time is it now? We don't have to play for too long, we can come back at three or four in the morning at most, how about it?"
Howard said, "I have a few buddies I know locally who know some really fun places with great hot girls...everyone is something that can get you high..."
Raven still shook her head.
"Please! Don't spoil the fun! Let's go! I'm just going to come back after a while, what can happen? Anyway, there is nothing to do tomorrow, just have a good rest then..."
"I promise you won't regret it!"
Howard tried to persuade him for a while, but LaVine finally couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"Just the two of us?"
"Call Zhao together!"
Howard quickly interrupted LaVine.
"No! You can't call him! It's not that I don't want to invite Zhao to play with me, but when has that guy been messing around outside? He is an excellent and good man who never cheats outside, and next door to him is Coach Eric. ...We would be easily found if we knocked on the door..."
"Go find Adrian and Gorgi... These two guys might go with us... There's no need for others to shout! The more people there are, the easier it is to be discovered. Just us Four is enough..."
"Okay! Wait until I change my clothes!"
Zach said.
"Not only do you need to change clothes, but also remember to bring your umbrella..."
Howard reminded with a smirk.
The two quickly slipped out of the room and found Adrian and Gorgi, who indeed chose to join as they expected. Therefore, without most of the team knowing, the Timberwolves' three main players and one main injured person quietly slipped out of the hotel the night before the game to indulge.
