As time went by, the last spot in the Western Conference finals was finally announced.
After seven games between the two sides, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets were tied at 4-3.
In the last key battle, the Timberwolves defeated the Rockets with a slight advantage of 109 to 107.
With 9.1 seconds left before the end of the game, LaVine, as the core, scored the winning 2-pointer on a breakthrough, which caused the Rockets to lose at the last moment.
The game was very fierce, and players from both sides even clashed on the court.
On the Timberwolves side, Dwight Howard quarreled with Crete Capelin and others. Fortunately, the two of them had played together before, so this conflict was still within control and did not get bigger due to the situation on the field.
Even more striking are the other places.
There was a lot of tension between Zach LaVine and Chris Paul. The two pushed each other and even trash-talked each other.
During the match between the two teams, Paul also used some small tricks to cause trouble, which made the Timberwolves players have great opinions on him.
After LaVine quarreled with him, a good-tempered player like Derrick Rose also almost quarreled with him. If the two sides hadn't been separated in the end, I'm afraid Paul would have suffered a big loss surrounded by Timberwolves players.
Conflicts return to conflicts. As soon as the timer sounds, whatever grievances the players on both sides had are over!
LaVine, Rose and others were very generous and took the initiative to shake hands with Paul. Although Paul looked unhappy after losing the game, he did not refuse such a handshake.
After all, the style of play of this Timberwolves team is still good. Both LaVine and Rose are very clean. From the defensive end to the offensive end, the opponent has nothing to blame!
"Zach, Derek, congratulations!"
"Man, don't be discouraged... Come back next season! It's an honor for us to have opponents like you..."
Compared to Paul's attitude, James Harden is undoubtedly much friendlier.
Big Beard will also be unhappy on the court, but his style of play is completely different from Paul's, so naturally there won't be so many grudges.
At the moment the game ended, Harden stood there and sighed heavily several times. After a brief moment of sadness, Harden took the initiative to walk up to LaVine and Rose and expressed his blessings to them.
"Congratulations!"
"Zach, Derek, no matter what, remember to defeat the Warriors! This is our common goal!"
The two also exchanged blows with Harden.
"Of course, the Warriors have to be beaten!"
"James, just wait and see! We will advance to the finals with your expectations..."
The battle for spot in the Western Conference semifinals is over!
Next, the Timberwolves will successfully meet the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
On the night the game ended, many Timberwolves fans also left comments and discussions on the team’s official website.
"It's rare to reach the Western Conference finals again! I remember Zhao led us there last time... It's a pity that this guy left! If everything goes well, I hope we can defeat the Warriors and reach the finals... ....”
"If everything goes well, the Cavaliers take down the Raptors, and we take down the Warriors... then we will meet Zhao's team... I wonder who will win?"
"We could reach the Western Conference finals without Zhao. I wonder how strong we would be if Zhao was still there?"
Eastern Conference Finals.
Game day has finally arrived, and it is an extremely special day for both the Cavaliers and Raptors.
Air Canada Center Arena.
In the evening, the place was crowded, and countless fans poured into the arena to cheer for the home team.
Beep.
When the buzzer sounded for the start of the game, the fans in the entire arena fell silent for a moment. The starting lineups of both sides also walked onto the court under the watchful eyes of all fans.
This time the Cavaliers have both LeBron and Zhao Feiyang on the court at the same time.
Head coach Tyronn Lue considered that the two were getting along well on the court, so he asked Zhao Feiyang to organize the team's offense, and at the same time help LeBron share some of the opponent's defensive attention.
For the Raptors, the team's No. 1 position is given to Kyle Lowry, and the No. 2 position is given to DeMar DeRozan.
The third position is given to Poeltl, the fourth position is taken by Anunoby, and the fifth position is taken by the team's big man Varanacius.
The two sides are on the verge of breaking out.
Snapped.
The referee threw the ball, the Cavaliers took the lead in taking the basketball, and the ball fell into Zhao Feiyang's hands. Zhao Feiyang got the ball and made a wonderful pass to LeBron. LeBron drove the ball straight to the Raptors basket.
Poeltl, who was marking him, took a stance and wanted to withstand LeBron's attack. Unexpectedly, the two met each other, and LeBron turned around and avoided him.
Snapped.
LeBron tossed the ball over the backboard with his left hand.
The basketball hitting board fell steadily into the basket.
The Cavaliers scored the first goal.
It was the Raptors' turn to fight back.
Lowry advanced with the ball, and he marked Zhao Feiyang just after halftime. What surprised Zhao Feiyang was that the reputation of "little steel cannon" was not in vain. The two met each other, and Lori directly pushed Zhao Feiyang away with his body and rushed towards the two areas.
The sudden move really startled Zhao Feiyang and allowed Lowry to get into the basket smoothly.
However, when he was about to take a shot, Kevin Love suddenly stepped up to block his shot space. Lowry didn't act recklessly and threw the ball directly to the right side of the basket.
Anunoby stood there and jumped high to catch the ball and dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
Both sides performed well in the first quarter.
The Cavaliers relied on LeBron to maintain their lead, while the Raptors relied on the combination of DeRozan and Lowry to perform stably. By the end of the first quarter, the score was 36 to 31, with the Cavaliers leading the Raptors by 5 points. .
The gap is not big, and it is nothing to both teams.
Fast forward to the second quarter.
LeBron came off the court to rest, and Zhao Feiyang began to dominate the Cavaliers' offensive possession.
The Raptors also temporarily let DeRozan and a main player go down to rest, leaving Lowry to attack on the court.
The Cavaliers serve.
Zhao Feiyang, who got the ball, advanced with the ball, but after halftime he was indeed marked by Lowry. The two met each other, and Zhao Feiyang suddenly accelerated and rushed out. Lori reacted quickly and adjusted his body in time to block Zhao Feiyang.
Seeing that Lowry was so close, Zhao Feiyang deliberately made a deceptive move in the next second. When Lowry rushed towards him again, Zhao Feiyang deliberately raised the basketball towards him and made a shooting motion.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
Zhao Feiyang's foul was successful.
Regarding his style of play, Lowry also smiled speechlessly. It's no wonder that Lowry suffered a loss with this goal. After all, Zhao Feiyang has rarely taken the initiative to cause fouls.
Uh-huh.
Zhao Feiyang, who walked to the free throw line, took the referee's pass and easily made the first free throw.
Immediately afterwards, the second free throw was also successfully thrown.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
It was the Raptors' turn to fight back.
Lowry held the ball for half the game and saw his teammates running. He pretended to organize others to move, but in fact he approached Zhao Feiyang and planned to break through.
Zhao Feiyang stepped forward to guard him closely, but Lowry decisively retreated and threw a three-pointer in this situation.
His shooting seemed a little unreasonable, but the basketball he threw hit the basket accurately.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
Lowry's three-pointer even surprised Zhao Feiyang.
