After the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors with a score of 3-0, there was actually no suspense in the Eastern Conference finals. Zhao Feiyang's single-core team can defeat the Raptors' "double-gun combination", not to mention the return of LeBron later.
The final result of Game 4 of the series between the two sides was completely unsurprising.
In the expectation of all Cavaliers fans, the Cavaliers easily defeated the Raptors in this game, winning the Raptors with a score of 100 to 89, ending their trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After the Cavaliers swept the Raptors 4-0, the entire league was shocked.
Many people had previously thought that it was impossible for the Cavaliers to sweep. At most, a score of 4-2 would be great. After all, the Cavaliers' lineup has been weakened this season. How easy is it to reverse this situation?
No one expected Zhao Feiyang's explosion in the second half, especially when he led the team to victory in two consecutive games in the absence of LeBron! This really shocked many people!
The Cavaliers, who won the Eastern Conference championship, are also very happy. After working hard for a long time, they can finally enter a rest state one step ahead of schedule.
At this time, the fourth game of the Western Conference has also been played, but the situation in the Western Conference is obviously much closer than that in the Eastern Conference. The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors are tied at 2-2.
The two sides quickly reversed after the first game, and the Warriors seized the opportunity to attack the Timberwolves' wing position. They funneled the ball into Durant's hands, allowing Durant to cool down and hit the Timberwolves' forward players.
Although it was Wiggins who was guarding Durant, he really couldn't stop Durant's strong attack, so the Timberwolves ultimately lost to the Warriors in this game.
The score between the two sides was 99 to 104. Durant scored the highest score in the game. He scored 36 points alone, while Wiggins, who faced him, only scored a pitiful 10 points.
In the third game, the Timberwolves chose to adjust their tactics.
Adrian Ennis was placed in the starting third position, Andrew Wiggins temporarily went to rest, and Dwight Howard and Serge Ibaka were responsible for the interior.
Considering Durant's strength, the Timberwolves did not hesitate to abandon Adrian's technical advantage at the basket and planned to let him, who is more defensively focused, interfere with Durant.
This arrangement does play a role.
Adrian's defense is extremely hard. From the beginning to the end, as long as Durant gets the ball, he will do his best to pounce on it. Even if sometimes he cannot interfere with Durant, he will try his best to consume his physical energy.
Not only that, on the offensive end, he also showed the spirit of "a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers". In the face of Durant's interference, he was still able to launch attacks from the wings and rush into the interior, even though Durant's defense on him had already failed twice. It was quite good, but Adrian still seized the opportunity to score the ball.
It was Adrian's performance in this game that led the media and some industry insiders to call Adrian the "next All-Star forward", and the outside world's praise and appreciation for him reached another level.
With his restriction on Durant at the forward position, the Timberwolves finally narrowly defeated the Warriors by 2 points and won the third game.
After 2-1, the Timberwolves' morale was high, and many Minneapolis fans believed they could advance to the finals.
But in the fourth game between the two sides, the Warriors regained the Timberwolves' advantage.
The person who made the meritorious service in this game was Klay Thompson.
He threw 7 three-pointers in the game and scored many mid-range shots, eventually scoring a game-high 31 points.
Stephen Curry and Durant also performed very steadily. One scored 20 points and 11 assists, and the other scored 23 points. Because of the stable performance of these three people, as well as the lack of touch from Zach LaVine and Derrick Rose, the Warriors seized the opportunity to counterattack and win the game.
After the score was tied, the two sides came to the most critical battle of Tianwang Mountain. Whoever wins this game will likely win the series.
Not coincidentally, this game was held at Oracle Arena, the home of the Warriors.
In the first half, LaVine was on full fire. After coming on the court, he succeeded in a single against Klay, and also seized the opportunity to throw a three-pointer from the bottom corner. Although Rose doesn't have the explosive touch he had in the previous game, his condition is also much improved than before.
In this case, he chose to take the initiative to attack with the ball and fight a war of attrition with Curry.
The two of them also targeted each other in offense and defense, and the energy and concentration they put in were quite terrifying.
At halftime, the Timberwolves led the Warriors by 4 points.
The difference is not big.
For both sides, the gap has not widened, and the outcome of the game is still unknown.
Fast forward to the second half.
Curry and Thompson worked hard one after another, and their three-point shooting skills finally came out. Under the guard of the Timberwolves, the two threw two key three-pointers respectively, widening the point difference in an instant!
Since then, the Timberwolves have been chasing points.
The process of chasing points is difficult, especially when neither LaVine nor Rose feels good. At the last moment, Adrian stepped up and took a shot from the wing. His three-point shot was not that powerful, but his mid-range shot was very stable.
Taking advantage of Durant's rest time, he repeatedly succeeded in singles with the ball on the wing. By the time the Warriors reacted and sent Durant to mark him, the point difference between the two sides had narrowed to only 3 points.
There are only the last 3 minutes left in the game.
In the last three minutes, the Warriors tried desperately to widen the point difference, while the Timberwolves took the opportunity to send the ball to the basket and used their advantage inside to stabilize the situation.
Both sides had their own gains in their playing styles. When there was only one minute left in the game, the score of the two teams was 104 to 106.
The Timberwolves are 2 points behind.
The ball is in their hands.
At the critical moment, head coach Stotts gave LaVine the ball and asked him to execute the key ball. However, due to defensive interference from the Warriors, LaVine did not make the key shot.
The ball he missed was picked up by the Warriors, who played a fast break. Curry used this fast break to throw a winning three-pointer at the last moment.
When the score was tied at 109-104, the Timberwolves no longer had any possibility of coming back to win.
With 7.1 seconds left, the Timberwolves' counterattack failed. LaVine gave the ball to Rose, but Rose failed to throw the ball in.
The two sides ended the game with a 5-point difference.
Timberwolves fans were left disappointed following the Warriors' Game 5 victory in the series. Many fans finally began to miss Zhao Feiyang at this time.
"If Zhao is still there, maybe we have a chance to make that key shot..."
"That's right! He helped me turn defeat into victory in this situation before... It's a pity that he is no longer here..."
"Look at his performance with the Cavaliers. Even without us, he can lead the team to victory... But what about us? Can we beat the Warriors without him?"
