Beep.
The moment the timer rang, the game was over, and Game 4 of the series ended with the Minnesota Timberwolves' victory.
In this game, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Memphis Grizzlies by 16 points.
The big score was 2 to 2.
It can be said that the previous haze has been swept away by the victory in these two football games. The Timberwolves not only won the game, but also avenged all their previous revenge.
More importantly, after four games, the Timberwolves have adapted to the Grizzlies' defense, while the Grizzlies have obviously failed to adapt to the Timberwolves' offense, especially when a super core like Zhao Feiyang chooses to play in singles. The team simply couldn't find anyone to restrain him.
Mike Conley, the team's core defender and the strongest defender, was beaten by Zhao Feiyang in two consecutive games. While the opponent frequently scored 30 or 40 points, Conley only scored a pitiful dozen points.
This point was obtained when Zhao Feiyang took a break. It has to be said that in the competition between the core defenders, Conley was already far behind Zhao Feiyang.
After the fourth game, other teams in the East and West also had the latest results.
It's extremely surprising that there are only two teams.
One is the former championship team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. With their Big Three, they easily eliminated their opponents in the first round, sweeping the Indiana Pacers out with a 4-0 score.
The other team is the Golden State Warriors in the West.
The Golden State Warriors themselves are a super strong team. The original team has enough strength to win the championship. This season, there is another Kevin Durant. There is no need to talk too much about such strength.
Facing an opponent like the Portland Trail Blazers, the Golden State Warriors only needed four games to easily eliminate the opponent without any effort.
When this round of the series ended, the outside world's speculation about the championship became increasingly clear.
Many fans originally believed that the Warriors would win the championship. After seeing them directly sweep the Trail Blazers, more fans believed that the Warriors' championship must be guaranteed.
"Splash Brothers and Kevin, is it necessary to continue this match?"
"If I were their opponent, then I would simply give up! Such a lineup is extremely unreasonable. I don't know what this idiot Xiao Hua is doing? If it was in Stern's era, he would definitely not let someone The strength of one team directly crushes other teams..."
"It is undeniable that the current NBA is becoming more and more boring! The strong teams are getting stronger, the bad teams are getting worse, and the stars are all crowded into one team... I want to say those What should a weak team do? Fortunately, they can still get a lottery pick by virtue of their bad performance, otherwise there is really no hope..."
"This thing is really outrageous! Starting from LeBron, stars can get together, and then to Durant, the star teaming up and reaching the peak...the strength of these two people can be ranked at the top in NBA history. Ranking, but what they did undoubtedly hurt the entire NBA and affected the excitement of the NBA..."
"I still miss the era when there were many stars. At that time, every team had its own star, and most teams were competitive... But now, who can tell me that the Warriors are like this? How could our lineup not win the championship?”
Fans on the Internet are talking a lot.
Time flies so fast, and in the blink of an eye, the fifth game of the first round of the playoffs arrives. This time the home court is back in the hands of the people of Minneapolis, and Timberwolves fans are also looking forward to the team winning another game and seizing the match point in the series.
On game day, the Target Center Arena was packed with people. Tens of thousands of fans flocked in, holding signs cheering for their players and wearing uniforms in the same color as their team's uniforms.
The moment the Timberwolves entered the scene, the entire arena erupted into a tsunami of cheers and shouts.
When the Grizzlies entered the stadium, the fans at the scene also booed wildly to undermine the opponent's morale.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the main lineups of both sides walked onto the court.
There are no changes on the Grizzlies side, while the Timberwolves continue the lineup arrangement from the previous game, without placing LaVine and Gorgui in the starting lineup. It's not that the Timberwolves are still punishing LaVine and others, but the potential shown by these two lineups gives the Timberwolves hope.
Snapped.
This time the Timberwolves won the ball first.
Ibaka slapped the basketball away from Marc Gasol, and the ball fell into the hands of Derrick Rose. When Rose got the basketball, he only glanced at it and immediately threw the ball under the opponent's basket.
It turned out that the moment Zhao Feiyang saw Rose getting the basketball, he had already reacted and rushed towards the opponent's basket. He was very fast and arrived near the opponent's penalty area in the blink of an eye. After receiving the long pass from Rose, Zhao Feiyang took action under the interference of Tony Allen.
He also learned the trick from Isaiah Thomas, using a backhand layup to avoid Tony's interference and throw the ball toward the backboard.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the backboard and bounced firmly into the basket.
It was the Grizzlies' turn to fight back.
Mike Conley advanced with the ball, and after reaching half court, Gasol came up to cover him. Conley took advantage of the situation and drove to the basket. After encountering a defense, he threw the ball over Zach Randolph's head. The latter caught the basketball during the collision and then slammed the ball in with a dunk.
It was just a seemingly ordinary dunk, but no one expected that after Randolph's dunk, he suddenly rushed to the sidelines to signal the referee to suspend the game.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
Randolph walked to the sideline with everyone looking confused. Then he said a few words to coach Thibodeau, and the team doctor on the side rushed to his side immediately.
"what's the situation?"
Zhao Feiyang was also stupid.
He didn't know why Randolph suddenly called a timeout! Judging from the opponent's condition, it seems that he has some kind of injury, but it seems that there is no news that he was injured before!
"Tony, what's wrong with that guy Zach?"
When Zhao Feiyang was confused, he also walked to Tony Allen and asked.
After several games of competition, the two of them got to know each other somewhat. Tony did not hide the news, and explained to Zhao Feiyang, "I'm not sure, but I guess it's Zach who's old injury has relapsed..."
"A recurrence of an old injury?"
"During the regular season, he was sidelined because of a back strain... Later, he almost recovered, and then Coach Tom came... You know, he doesn't care about your injury. What does the disease look like? In short, under his pressure, that guy Zach has been practicing with injuries..."
After Tony's explanation, Zhao Feiyang finally understood.
No wonder Randolph's performance under the basket is actually better in his impression. However, since the start of the series between the two sides, he has not shown his level. He only helped the Grizzlies on the defensive end. Many contributions.
It turns out that the root cause is the injury on the back!
"Tony, I advise you to be careful, Coach Tom is very powerful...be careful in the future you will be forced to play the whole game...look at our core Dwight! If not Because you suffered injuries after playing for too long, you may not be able to win this series at all..."
Zhao Feiyang patted Tony Allen on the shoulder and said.
The latter didn't mean to refute him at all, and even looked vaguely disappointed and sad in his eyes.
Not long after Randolph came off the field, he and the team doctor left towards the tunnel. As soon as he left, the fans at the scene also recovered from their confusion.
Obviously, everyone can guess that it must be because of injuries.
The Grizzlies can only replace Randolph with other players.
No one expected that Randolph's departure would soon create loopholes in the Grizzlies' defensive system.
Adrian, who had been playing hard with Randolph, finally seized the opportunity this time. In the rest of the first quarter, he took frequent shots. Not only did he grab a lot of rebounds under the basket, he also relied on his own Persisted in playing the most exciting game of the season.
call out.
When the whistle of the first quarter ended, the Timberwolves and the Grizzlies were tied 33 to 27. The 6-point gap was not that small, and it was enough to give the Grizzlies a sense of crisis.
Adrian became the highest scorer on the team this time. He played for 12 minutes and scored 16 points and 9 rebounds. It can be said that without the restrictions of Randolph, he suddenly became the Timberwolves' under the Grizzlies basket. The biggest threat.
The second quarter continues soon.
The Timberwolves did not adjust their strategy and continued to seize the Grizzlies' loopholes and refused to relax. Adrian also received support from Zhao Feiyang and had much more ball rights on the wing than before.
Therefore, taking advantage of this wave of attacks, the Timberwolves continued to expand their lead.
Coach Thibodeau was so anxious, especially when he saw his team falling further and further behind on the court, that he simply got up and went to the side of the court to give instructions.
This attitude gradually made the Grizzlies players a little impatient, especially after the start of the third quarter, even players like Gasol showed a hint of discomfort.
Randolph, who left, never came back.
His departure basically declared the Grizzlies' failure.
When the two sides played with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score between the Grizzlies and the Timberwolves was 80 to 96. The Grizzlies were actually opened to 16 points, which also allowed the Grizzlies to start from the top. Everyone was in a state of depression.
Coach Thibodeau could no longer control his temper and scolded the players during several timeouts. His harshness did not bring positive feedback. Instead, it made Gasol and others who had performed fairly well before become worse and worse. .
When the time came to the last 51 seconds, it was basically impossible for the situation on the court to reverse.
The Timberwolves decisively replaced core players such as Zhao Feiyang and LaVine, and sent substitutes to consume the last time.
Beep.
The moment the timer sounded, the game between the two sides came to an end, with the score tied at 109 to 94. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Grizzlies with a 15-point gap to win the match point.
The big score also became 3 to 2.
