Mingzhu City Gymnasium.
The game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers is about to begin. Players from both teams have already entered the stadium. Amid the cheers of fans in the audience, they are warming up under their respective baskets and waiting for the countdown.
Beep.
The moment the timer rang, the substitute players from both sides got off the field, leaving only their main players on the court.
The Cavaliers' starting lineup is as follows: Isaiah Thomas at No. 1; JR Smith at No. 2; LeBron James at No. 3; Kevin Love and No. 5 are given to No. 4 and No. 5. Kyle Korver.
After Kyrie Irving left, the Cavaliers' financial strength has indeed become much weaker.
Although one All-Star guard left and another All-Star guard came, most people know that Thomas' performance cannot be compared with Irving. Even though he was so good last season, he relied more on Made by the system.
Compared with Irving's ability to attack at critical moments, Thomas' height is a big problem in the first place. It is even less likely that the Cavaliers will build a set of tactics around him. Then his original advantage will naturally be gone without the support of the system. There is a clear gap between him and Irving in singles ability.
For the Timberwolves, the team's starting number one is Derrick Rose, number two is Zach LaVine, number three is the same Andrew Wiggins, and number four is given to Seth. Ergui Ibaka, and the fifth position is taken care of by Dwight Howard, who has returned from recovery.
Judging from this lineup alone, the Timberwolves are stronger than most teams in the league. If they hadn't been able to trade suitable strikers during the offseason, I'm afraid they would have been even stronger.
Zhao Feiyang, who was on a truce, also appeared with his teammates this time, but due to injury, he could only sit on the team's bench wearing a suit.
The moment he appeared in this suit, countless fans in the stands sighed.
The "hero's return" drama they were looking forward to did not happen.
Fortunately, there are many stars in both teams, which is not a loss for the Chinese fans, so the atmosphere at the scene soon became lively.
After both players take their positions, the referee walks to the middle and throws the ball.
Snapped.
After throwing the basketball, the Timberwolves took the lead in getting the ball, and Howard slapped the ball into LaVine's hands.
After getting the ball, LaVine didn't hesitate and took the ball directly towards the half court. He was very fast and rushed to the opponent's penalty area before the Cavaliers players could react. Unfortunately, he ignored one thing, that is, there is someone like LeBron in the Cavaliers' lineup.
The moment LaVine jumped up and threw the ball towards the basket, LeBron chased him from behind. He jumped up and rushed towards LaVine.
Snapped.
Amidst the exclamations of the fans in the audience, LeBron hit a chasing block and slapped the ball out of LaVine's hand. The basketball bounced off the backboard and fell out.
LaVine himself was a little stunned when he was blocked. When he realized that it was LeBron who was chasing the block, LaVine felt a little relieved in his heart.
The basketball was snatched away by the Timberwolves in the chaos, and Ibaka followed up and got into the basket for a dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
The Timberwolves scored the first two points of the game.
It was the Cavaliers' turn to fight back.
Thomas advances with the ball.
After getting the ball, he passed the half court under Rose's guard. After reaching the half court, he gestured to others to come up and cover him just like when he was with the Celtics.
First, he made a gesture from JR on the side. After seeing that JR had no reaction, Thomas waved to Korver inside, hoping that the opponent would get up to the high position and give him a pick-and-roll.
However, Korver also had no reaction.
This time it was Thomas's turn to be embarrassed.
"Damn it!"
"If this were in Boston, I'd be kicking those guys' butts already..."
Little Thomas muttered something.
When he was angry, he obviously didn't want to cooperate with other Cavaliers players. Even if LeBron on the side indicated that he could cooperate, Thomas ignored him and suddenly swayed away and shot in front of Rose.
boom.
The basketball hit the backboard and bounced out of the basket.
Thomas failed to score a three-pointer.
"Depend on!"
"You could score this kind of goal before..."
Little Thomas cursed a few words helplessly.
The rebound fell to Love, who singled under the basket and threw the ball with a hook. Unfortunately, the ball failed to score, and Howard took off the rebound.
Howard glanced at the court and threw the ball long. After receiving the pass, LaVine accelerated and sprinted toward the half court with Rose. Thomas was very fast and caught up with the two of them immediately. Originally, he could just keep an eye on Rose, but he seemed to be more interested in LaVine and insisted on going over to have a fight with LaVine.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he made a move, LaVine, who was about to rush to the free throw line, passed an air pass. Rose, who had already reached the basket, did not hesitate, jumped high, caught the ball in mid-air and dunked.
boom.
Rose put the ball into the basket with a two-handed dunk.
Thomas' defense caused dissatisfaction with JR.
"Hey, man, what are you doing? I'm guarding LaVine, you just need to keep an eye on Derrick... Man, don't try to do everything, just keep an eye on your own guy first, okay? ?”
JR said angrily.
Little Thomas knew he was in the wrong, and given JR's status as a "guard with a knife," he did not argue with the other party. He just kept saying, "OK! It's my problem! My negligence..."
"That's enough! JR, get ready to serve!"
Snapped.
The ball was given again.
Although JR was a little reluctant, he still stood under the basket and passed the ball to Thomas. The latter didn't waste any time after getting the ball. He turned around and rushed towards the half court without waiting for JR to catch up.
The situation on the court was like this. Off the court, on the Cavaliers bench, Iman Shumpert, who had previously argued with Thomas, kept a cold face at this time.
The two almost had a fight in the locker room. If LeBron hadn't stepped in to persuade the two at the critical moment, there might have been a locker room incident on the first day of the Cavaliers' season.
Although the two did not conflict, the problem of the locker room in the locker room still existed, and Shumpert certainly would not let it go. He also knew that Thomas would not give up.
At this time, the team's head coach Tyronn Lue sat next to Shumpert. Tyronn Lue has a very good relationship with the players and can get along with them in private. Therefore, when Shumpert saw the head coach coming in person, he immediately made room for him.
"Hey, Iman, you're welcome! Sit down! I have something to talk to you about."
"Coach Lu, what's wrong?"
"I want to discuss things in the locker room with you... Iman, you are a veteran player of the team and have made a lot of contributions to the team. Frankly speaking, I appreciate you... However, the current situation of the team is very complicated, and sometimes a little sacrifice may be needed..."
"You know, the front office has a little bit of hope in Isaiah, and they're hoping that Isaiah can fill the void left by Kyrie... So, can you give up that spot? ?”
