Target Center Arena.
This is the home court of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the sixth crucial game of the Western Conference semifinals. Time came to the last quarter, and there were only 2 minutes and 19 seconds left before the end of the game.
At the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves once led the Golden State Warriors by double digits. However, by this time, the Timberwolves were not only overtaken by the Warriors, but also pulled by the Warriors to 7 points.
In the first half of the last quarter, the Warriors seized the opportunity of the Timberwolves' absence of "Zhao Feiyang" and continued to narrow the gap between the two sides through Kevin Durant's singles.
After they tied the game, Stephen Curry, who had previously been in poor touch, finally hit his form. So, with the cooperation of him and Durant, the Warriors quickly overtook the Timberwolves.
On the Timberwolves side, although LaVine, Rose and others continued to counterattack, their performance was still unable to stabilize the situation, and they could only watch the score fall behind a little bit.
After losing Zhao Feiyang, a powerful output player, the Timberwolves have inevitably fallen to the brink of collapse.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
The Timberwolves called a timeout.
At the last moment of the game, head coach Eric still did not give up. After the players came off the field, they quickly set up tactics, hoping that the players could withstand the pressure and catch up with the score.
"Derek, I need you to break through with the ball... If you can't find a more suitable opportunity, Zach, you go to the wing to receive..."
"Guys, cheer me up, we haven't lost yet..."
After laying out the tactics, Coach Eric encouraged the players.
Regarding his encouragement, the players' performance was obviously not very good.
Zach LaVine and Adrian Ennis complained even more dissatisfied.
"Damn it! These guys can't defeat us with normal tactics, so they use this despicable method to injure Zhao..."
"If Zhao was still here, the Warriors would have lost long ago! How could they still be ahead of us?"
"Dirty team! Dirty behavior... Why don't I step on their people and choose Stephen or Kevin? That's what they did anyway..." "
Hearing Adrian say this, Rose on the side was afraid that he would not be able to think about it, so he hurriedly tried to persuade him, "Adrian, don't be impulsive, man, that may just be Pachulia's behavior alone and has nothing to do with the rest of the Warriors." .... Even if they do that, we can't imitate them, otherwise you will be despised like Pachulia..."
Adrian was a little angry when he heard this, "Derek, don't glorify these guys... They are not stupid! They just sacrifice Pachulia's reputation to gain greater benefits! They How can you refuse?"
"If they are really embarrassed by this, they should stand up and ban Pachulia and prevent this bastard from playing, instead of enjoying the benefits of Pachulia's actions with peace of mind... People's hearts are The most unpredictable thing is, sometimes don’t look at what those guys say, their actions are more honest than their words..."
Ross didn't know how to answer.
In the end, Coach Eric came forward to persuade Adrian.
"Don't be impulsive, we still have a chance to beat them with dignity! Zhao's injury may not be as serious as we thought. Maybe after we defeat the Warriors and enter the Western Conference Finals, Zhao will come back smoothly and join us in the finals. ......."
Coach Eric's words did calm down many players.
Although Zhao Feiyang's injury seemed a little bad when he left, he didn't go to the hospital for examination after all, so no one knew the extent of his injury!
Considering that Zhao Feiyang has not suffered any particularly serious injuries before, the players still have certain illusions about whether Zhao Feiyang can return smoothly.
call out.
The whistle sounded again and the timeout ended.
Compared to the concerns of the Timberwolves players, the scene on the Warriors' team bench was completely different. Curry Thompson and others who came on the field not only changed their previous slump, but also exchanged tactics and game experiences with laughter.
Even Durant, who never showed much joy, rarely smiled.
The Warriors team bench was even more joyful. The substitutes had long since lost their preoccupied look. Instead, they were a group of people sitting together happily chatting non-stop.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to serve.
Rose advanced with the ball, and Curry came up to guard.
The two spent half the game one-on-one.
LaVine rushed up from the wing to receive the ball. When he passed by Rose, Rose transferred the ball to his hands and helped him block Curry.
LaVine took advantage of the situation and rushed into the two zones. When Green was preparing to defend inside, LaVine chose to throw in advance.
Uh-huh.
A solid two-pointer.
The score difference narrowed to 5 points.
It was the Warriors' turn to fight back.
Curry held the ball across half court, and when he reached the half court, he found that Durant was double-teamed. Thompson on the side tried to go up to respond. Curry gave him a signal, and Thompson took advantage of the situation and went up to help him ward off Rose, who was marking him.
With just a simple pick-and-roll, Curry pulled away and raised the basketball to shoot a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
A crisp three-pointer hit the basket steadily.
Curry, who has repeatedly shown "miracles" in the previous series, is back!
The Timberwolves fans at the scene were in mourning, and many stood in the stands shaking their heads and sighing.
"Damn it!"
"This guy made another shot!"
"There is not much time left in the game, and it seems that it is difficult for us to reverse the situation... It is a pity that Zhao left with an injury. If he was here, we would definitely be able to recover the score... ."
The fans off the court were talking a lot.
On the field.
After Curry opened the point difference to 8 points, the Timberwolves also hurriedly pushed forward. After halftime, Rose passed Curry through a screen and entered the two zones. When he was about to rush to the basket for a layup, Pachulia once again stepped up.
Perhaps it was the sequelae caused by Pachulia stepping on Zhao Feiyang. After Rose discovered that the opponent was coming to defend, he almost threw the ball out without even thinking about it.
Snapped.
The ball came to Andrew Wiggins on the wing.
Wiggins held the ball and raised the basketball to shoot.
boom.
The three-point shot bounced directly away.
His performance in this game was sluggish, and his three-point shooting touch has never been very good. This shot still continued the previous touch, and the last hope of the Timberwolves was gradually annihilated.
The time left in the game is getting shorter and shorter until the timer sounds to officially declare the end of the game.
Beep.
The score between the two sides was 127 to 120.
In the end, the Timberwolves lost to the Warriors by 7 points.
At the end of the game, the Timberwolves fans at the scene were completely unable to accept this result. Everyone stood up and booed the Warriors players in the stands, and the Timberwolves players completely refused to shake hands with the Warriors.
Even head coach Eric was like this. He turned and walked towards the locker room with the players, paying no attention to the people on the Warriors side.
