Oracle Arena.
The home of the Golden State Warriors is also the venue for Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Two days after Zhao Feiyang was reimbursed for the season due to injury, the decisive moment for the two sides arrived.
The Warriors' morale was obviously high as they returned home, mostly because Zhao Feiyang's absence made them look more likely to win the game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, who came to play away from home, were in a completely different state. The morale of the team was low and full of resentment and dissatisfaction.
Before the game started, both teams were required to shake hands as usual, but this time the Timberwolves still refused to shake hands with the Warriors. Zach LaVine and other major players even took the initiative to walk to the Warriors' basket before the game, and several people surrounded the Warriors who were shooting. Zaza Pachulia warned the latter.
"Bichi! If we find you stepping on your feet again, we will definitely destroy you..."
"Damn idiot! You'd better not let me seize the opportunity, otherwise I will keep your career away from the NBA..."
"Pachulia, fuck you! Fake Squid! You dirty and dirty guy, you don't deserve to play with us..."
The more they talked, the more excited they became, and they even planned to take action.
Seeing this, other members of the Warriors also rushed to stop them. Three referees on the scene also came over to prevent the situation from escalating further.
Pachulia, who was surrounded, was really scared at this time!
After the stepping incident, he suffered too many things! Not only would Chinese fans raise a finger at him when he went out in Auckland, but many people would also make various disrespectful moves and say impolite and insulting words at him.
Even once when he went to a shopping mall, he was kicked out because the boss was Chinese.
The number of Chinese fans in the Bay Area is extremely large, and Zhao Feiyang, as the leader of yellow-skinned players, his performance is definitely worthy of pride for all Chinese.
Now that their pride has been destroyed by Pachulia's step, they naturally cannot give this guy a good look.
It would be okay if those people were just disrespectful. What was even worse was that someone called Pachulia in the middle of the night and asked him to be careful when he went out.
After a series of things happened, Pachulia was really frightened! Although his safety has not been compromised in any way, he still immediately spent a lot of money to hire a team of security personnel to patrol the door of his home day and night, and even arranged a team of personal bodyguards for him to follow him closely whether he was playing ball or traveling. .
Having done all this, when Pachulia entered the stadium with the Warriors, thousands of Chinese fans still booed him crazily.
"Pachulia! Hot chicken!"
"You don't deserve to be on the Warriors!"
"Disgusting maggot, you don't deserve to play basketball at all! You don't even have the most basic sportsmanship..."
The fans' crazy abuse made the scene a mess.
This scene really made Pachulia feel very hurt.
After all, he thought he did all this for the Warriors' victory, but now not only has he not been understood by everyone, but he has also received such a bad reputation.
He remembers clearly that when he first joined the Warriors, he was highly respected, and many Chinese fans asked him for autographs. But what about now? He seemed to be on the opposite side of everyone.
The Warriors did benefit from his help, but what about himself?
After his teammates helped Pachulia fend off LaVine and others, Pachulia suddenly became confused. He stopped practicing and sat down on a chair to meditate.
No one else said anything when they saw him like this, and even Coach Cole just let him sit there and rest.
Beep.
After the timer sounds, the live game officially begins.
Without Zhao Feiyang, the Timberwolves can only replace LaVine at the second position, with Derrick Rose responsible for dribbling the ball and organizing the offense.
Other positions remain unchanged.
The Warriors continued to send out the previous starting lineup. Although Pachulia's mood seemed a little unstable, coach Cole did not give up on him and let him continue to play the starting five.
Snapped.
After the referee threw the basketball, the Warriors took the lead in getting the ball.
The person holding the ball was Curry, and he dribbled the ball towards the half court.
Just after halftime, he encountered Rose who came up to mark him. The two met each other, and Curry successfully rushed into the two zones with the help of Clay's cover. When he came to the penalty area, Adrian also stepped up to defend in time and reached out to interfere.
Curry also raised the basketball one step ahead of schedule.
Uh-huh.
A crisp two-point shot fell firmly into the basket.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to fight back.
Rose dribbled the ball across half court, and after being interfered with, he handed the ball to LaVine. After getting the ball, LaVine dribbled away in the face of Thompson's interference. Bang, the three-pointer he threw failed to score and bounced directly off the backboard.
The rebound was picked off by Pachulia.
However, before he could make the next reaction, Adrian, who was standing next to him, rushed towards him. The person who originally defended Pachulia was Serge Ibaka. When the latter saw Adrian pounce directly on him, he was stunned.
Snapped.
Adrian slapped Pachulia directly on the head. When the basketball was slapped away, Pachulia also covered her head with a look of pain.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
"Timberwolves No. 20...technical foul..."
The referee's penalty immediately caused an uproar.
Adrian himself knew it well and did not explain anything to the referee. Raven and others also knew that Adrian did this on purpose. Instead of blaming him, they even came to comfort him.
"Good job man!"
"But don't come here directly like this. It's too troublesome to eat T... Learn from this bastard... He is the best at playing tricks..."
Adrian gave Raven an "I understand" look.
With all the fans watching, Pachulia stepped to the free throw line and took two shots after receiving a pass from the referee. Unfortunately, he failed to make the basket twice.
"Looks like this guy got it for nothing!"
"It can be seen that the Timberwolves are very dissatisfied with Pachulia... If the referee hadn't been here, I feel like they would have beaten Pachulia long ago..."
"He deserves it! This guy ruined the reputation of the Warriors and deserves to be beaten..."
The fans on the sidelines were talking a lot.
On the field.
The ball still belongs to the Warriors.
Curry attacked with the ball and passed it to Thompson after halftime. Thompson entered the basket through Green's pick-and-roll. After being interfered with in the penalty area, he threw the ball into Green's hands. Green rushed into the basket and smashed the ball into the basket with an alley-oop dunk.
In the rest of the first quarter, the Warriors' offense was as sharp as usual. On the other hand, on the Timberwolves' side, although LaVine and Rose performed well, as time went by, the Timberwolves gradually fell into a disadvantage.
