In the first half of the second quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves relied on Adrian Ennis's performance to score frequently, which further widened their already-leading lead.
On the other hand, for the Cleveland Cavaliers, even though the team is lagging behind, Seiya Thomas still insists on playing in isolation. Not only does he signal other players to help him cover, but he also firmly controls the ball, the offensive rights and the number of shots he takes. Let go.
Another round of attack.
The Timberwolves failed to score on the fast break, and the rebound fell into the hands of the Cavaliers. Thomas got the ball and passed halftime leisurely.
After arriving at half court, Thomas began to look for opportunities for his teammates to come up and cover.
Ricky Rubio went up to guard, but Thomas did not flinch because of his interference and still controlled the ball and looked for opportunities.
Seeing that the others were not moving well and could not open up enough space to shoot, Thomas decisively rushed to the right three-point line. After reaching his most familiar shooting spot, Thomas decisively raised the basketball and took a shot. .
boom.
A three-pointer popped up directly, but Thomas failed to score this time.
Fortunately, the rebound was picked off by his teammate. His teammate failed in a singles attempt under the basket, so he once again passed the ball back to Thomas.
Thomas didn't hesitate after receiving the basketball. He raised the basketball to meet Rubio's hand and took a shot.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the backboard again.
When Thomas Jr. shot this ball, teammate Jeff Green was at the three-point line in the right corner. At this time, Jeff had already pulled away and had perfect shooting space, but even if Thomas Jr. noticed him, he could not Didn't transfer the ball.
The basketball bounced off. This time Adrian would not give the Cavaliers players under the basket a chance. He jumped high and used his anticipation to pick off the rebound.
After getting the rebound, Adrian threw the ball with a long pass.
Zach LaVine, who had already passed half-court, caught the ball while running, and then jumped up and made a one-handed dunk under the watchful eyes of the fans in the audience.
boom.
The basketball hit the basket steadily.
It was the Cavaliers' turn to continue their offense.
Before Thomas held the ball for halftime, teammate Iman Shumpert also came to him and reminded him, "Hey, Isaiah, no matter what you think about our relationship... I have to remind you. , since your touch is not very good now, then you should make more breakthroughs! I can cover you..."
"We have been stretched to double digits, but we must not lose more offensive opportunities..."
Thomas didn't even pay attention to Shumpert's words. At this time, he just raised his proud head and dribbled towards the half court.
After Shumpert realized that he was asking for trouble and walked away, Thomas muttered, "Do I need a substitute who can't average 10 points per game to teach me how to play?"
"The NBA really has all kinds of people!"
"I would actually be a teammate with such a guy... Damn it!"
After reaching the half court, Rubio came up to mark, and Thomas started shaking with the ball.
When he was looking for an opportunity to break through, LaVine suddenly double-teamed him. The sudden double-team caught him off guard. Before he could completely stabilize the situation, he was slapped by Rubio for paying attention to LaVine. Sneak attack the basketball.
Snapped.
The basketball falls out.
Rubio grabbed the ball first, and when he got the ball, he threw it directly in front of LaVine. LaVine also successfully received the ball while running. By the time Thomas reacted and caught up, LaVine had already jumped up and dunked in mid-air.
boom.
A two-handed dunk ended the fight.
The Timberwolves further opened the point difference by 2 points.
At this time, the game had entered the end of the second quarter. Faced with little time left, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue shook his head helplessly and sighed, and had no choice but to replace Thomas.
"Hey, JR, come on!"
"It's not about replacing Iman, it's about replacing Isaiah... connect more teams, organize the offense, don't just play alone..."
After Tyronn Lue finished his instructions, the referee's whistle sounded on time.
When Thomas heard the whistle on the court, the first thing he thought of was that Shumpert had been replaced. However, when he noticed that it was him who had been replaced, Thomas's face was full of surprise.
"Wang Defa?"
"Let me go down instead? Are you kidding me?"
Thomas Jr. showed his doubts to Tyronn Lue amidst the exclamations of the fans in the audience.
Tyronn Lue was still very patient, waving to Thomas, and after he walked off the court, he also took the initiative to comfort him.
"Isaiah, take a rest first! This is only the second quarter, I need you to conserve more energy..."
Tyronn Luo's statement about emotional intelligence made Thomas less resistant.
However, he still complained to Tyronn Lue uncomfortably, "Coach Lu, can you not let that guy Iman partner with me next time? He is simply too slow! He was driving dozens of meters behind a car. It’s like an old classic car. I’m really afraid that this guy will be sent to a nursing home after being knocked down..."
"Oh! I'm not looking down on that guy, I just need someone to keep up with my speed... Don't you want a player like Kyrie to be the engine of the team? OK! I can definitely do that. , I can even be faster than Carey..."
"You have to believe me, the Cavaliers must have earned this deal..."
Thomas sat back on the team bench chattering.
Head coach Tyronn Lue was very helpless about all this, but he could only continue to bear it all in silence.
The game time on the court ran out quickly, and the first half of the two sides ended with the Timberwolves leading by 10 points.
Soon the break ended and the second half started for both sides.
In order to recover the lost points, the Cavaliers decisively chose to play LeBron and Love. Their appearance did help the Cavaliers achieve some results in a short period of time, narrowing the point difference between them and the Timberwolves.
When the third quarter entered the second half, the Timberwolves also took decisive measures to replace main players such as Zhao Feiyang and Howard.
It was the Timberwolves' turn to attack.
After playing again, Zhao Feiyang decisively chose singles in the face of J.R. Smith's interference. Considering the discomfort coming from his ankle, Zhao Feiyang chose to shoot.
After getting the ball, he shook and pulled away, but at the same time that JR was shaken away by him, Zhao Feiyang, who was taking a step back, accidentally twisted his ankle. Coincidentally, this time it was again. The left ankle was twisted.
Snapped.
The basketball thrown by Zhao Feiyang fell one step ahead of schedule because of this small movement, and the basketball did not even touch the basket.
Fortunately, Ibaka reacted quickly under the basket and immediately rescued the ball and threw it into Howard's hands. After receiving the basketball, Howard ended the battle with a dunk.
This time the offense was successful, but Zhao Feiyang's situation made all the Timberwolves players nervous.
call out.
Coach Eric also decisively called a timeout on the sidelines.
"Zhao, how are you?"
"Damn it! Man, don't get hurt again!"
Teammates immediately gathered around Zhao Feiyang and became anxiously concerned.
