After losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first game of the series, the Minnesota Timberwolves were not discouraged. Instead, they kept thinking about new ways to solve defensive problems in private, especially against Kevin Durant. The biggest problem within the Timberwolves.
Two days later, Game 2 of the series arrived.
After experiencing the previous loss, this time the Timberwolves took measures to mark Durant from the beginning. At the beginning of the game, the Timberwolves sent Wiggins and Adrian to restrict Durant. One of them was responsible for marking, and the other was responsible for assisting in defense when Durant attacked the two zones.
This method did have some effect at the beginning. Although Durant still scored, his offense was no longer as easy as before.
Taking advantage of Durant's interference, the Timberwolves, led by Zhao Feiyang, quickly chased the points. By the end of the first quarter, the point difference was widened to 5 points by the Timberwolves.
5 points is not much, but from the Timberwolves' perspective, as long as the strategy of defending Durant can continue, then they are entirely likely to win.
In the second quarter, the Warriors also made strategic adjustments.
Durant reduces the chances of holding the ball and uses various methods to help his teammates attract double teams. After this adjustment, the Timberwolves' double-teaming of Durant did not weaken. Instead, Durant kept Wiggins and Adrian in check.
On the other side, Stephen Curry also took this opportunity to counterattack. He cooperated with the missed Green in pick-and-roll. The two men's tactics were quite effective, helping the Warriors to play a 6-0 victory in a few minutes. climax.
Seeing this situation, the Timberwolves had to let Zhao Feiyang personally mark Curry again.
The contest between the two began again.
Beep.
The second half started, and the third quarter came for both sides.
It's the Warriors' turn to attack.
Curry, who was holding the ball, was making gestures to his teammates while dribbling the ball forward. Zhao Feiyang kept interfering around him, reaching out from time to time to snatch Curry's dribble. Although he failed to succeed, it also brought Curry a a lot of pressure.
After halftime, Curry threw the ball at the top of the arc.
Green originally planned to come up for a pick-and-roll screen, but Curry motioned for him to go to the basket. After the basketball was swung into Green's hands, Green pretended to transfer the ball to Durant. Durant caught the ball on the wing and passed the ball as soon as the basketball was in his hands.
Adrian, who was covering up the defense back and forth, couldn't keep an eye on him. Green caught the basketball and threw it directly under the basket.
Snapped.
The basketball board falls into the basket.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to fight back.
Zhao Feiyang advanced with the ball, but unexpectedly, just after halftime, he was double-teamed by Curry and Clay who came up to defend. He hurriedly threw the ball into the hands of his teammate LaVine. LaVine took a decisive shot from beyond the three-point line. Unfortunately, he was just a little bit short. The basketball failed to score and bounced off the rim.
Snapped.
Zaza Pachulia grabbed the rebound under the basket, and when he raised the basketball to take a shot, Serge Ibaka, who came in, slapped his shot away.
The basketball fell into the hands of Durant on the wing. Durant held the ball and prepared for a singles, but found that Adrian and Wiggins were double-teaming again.
He did not choose to force the ball and decisively passed the ball to Green in the two zones. After getting the ball, Green took the ball straight to the basket and scored in a surprise attack before Adrian could fully react.
Uh-huh.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
In the third quarter, Green's successive goals also made him the Warriors' strongest offensive point. He also scored 12 points in a short period of time with the assists of his teammates, becoming the Timberwolves' biggest threat during this quarter.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
At the end of the third quarter, both sides entered the break.
After coming off the court, the Timberwolves' bench was filled with depression. I thought that Durant's problem was solved, but unexpectedly, Durant didn't score many points in this game, but the opponent's offensive point completely shifted to Green, and Green basically got the points that Durant didn't score.
You know, Green's single-game scoring record is only 24 points. He is not that good at scoring. He only averaged 10.2 points per game in the regular season this season. With one quarter left in the game, the Timberwolves have already let Green scored 20 points.
This was a fatal mistake for them.
"Andrew, you take a rest first...Adrian, you go and keep an eye on Kevin, like you did before, interfere with him at all costs...Gorgi, you go Position 4 cooperates with Serge..."
Head coach Eric Stotts arranged the tactics nervously.
Although I don't know if this method is useful, the Timberwolves now have no extra way to solve this problem.
Durant has always been a hurdle they can't get around.
call out.
The last section is coming.
Timberwolves serve.
Zhao Feiyang advanced with the ball, and LaVine continued to play the second position. As soon as he got the ball, Curry immediately followed him to mark him.
After halftime, the two continued to compete at the top of the arc. Zhao Feiyang was not in a hurry. After observing the situation on the court, he motioned for Adrian to come over and respond.
Adrian quickly came up from the wing, and his running led Durant to follow him. When Adrian made a pick-and-roll, Zhao Feiyang pretended to dribble the ball and rushed out from the right side. While attracting Curry's attention, he also got in front of Durant and interfered with the opponent's judgment.
Sure enough, Durant subconsciously went over to guard Zhao Feiyang, but just as he made up for it, Zhao Feiyang threw the ball with a ground pass.
The basketball flew into Adrian's hands. After getting the ball, he rushed towards the basket with the ball. Facing Green's interference, Adrian rushed into the basket and made a layup to avoid the opponent's score.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
Seeing a collaboration, the Timberwolves players were also very happy.
However, they had just scored a goal here, and Curry quickly rushed across the half court with the ball. After reaching the half court, Green came directly up to help him cover, and when he blocked Zhao Feiyang, Curry opened the distance and took action.
Uh-huh.
A crisp three-pointer fell firmly into the basket.
The ball went in.
Curry's completely unreasonable shooting gave the Timberwolves another headache.
As the game time went by, the lagging Timberwolves were always widened to a 9-point gap. No matter how Zhao Feiyang leads the team to chase points, he can never narrow the gap.
Especially after the Timberwolves stopped double-teaming Durant, Durant's occasional singles became a nightmare for the Timberwolves, leaving the Timberwolves with no time to take care of too many things on the defensive end.
Beep.
When the timer sounds, the game is over.
The two sides scored 120 to 110.
The Warriors won by 10 points.
Zhao Feiyang scored a game-high 37 points this time, but unfortunately he still failed to help the team achieve the final victory.
