one-handed ball

Chapter 192

"Today, there are no empty seats in the Target Center. Listen to the sound here. They are shouting "ZK" loudly. Wow, the Timberwolves' home atmosphere is really strong!" Barkley explained into the microphone wearing huge headphones.As TNT's ace commentator, he and his partner Smith came to the Target Center to comment on the spot today.

Kenny Smith said with a smile: "Target Center is the league's famous home of the devil this season. In this slightly cold city, the outbreak of the Timberwolves has ignited the heat in the hearts of the fans here."

Barkley said: "So the popularity of this game can be seen from the atmosphere of the scene. I think it may be difficult for the Portlanders to retreat today."

Smith had a different opinion. He smiled and said to Barkley: "But I don't think so, Jazz. I think the Blazers can win. Although both teams are young teams, in terms of lineup configuration, the Blazers It seems to be better, especially the configuration of the inside line. The 2-meter Joel Pulzbilla and the 15-meter LaMarcus Aldridge are both 2 meters Kevin Love and Chris Anderson had too much of an advantage. And Kevin Love didn't look 11'08."

Barkley shook his head, rubbing his chin and said: "That's not the case. In terms of lineup configuration, the two teams are actually not much different. The Trail Blazers are dominant inside, but the Timberwolves are not vegetarian on the outside. If you look at it as a whole, I would rather I think the Timberwolves lineup is better, after all, with Chauncey, the Timberwolves can better grasp the rhythm of the game. You know, what really determines the outcome of the game is the belief, fighting spirit and luck of the two teams”

The game started, and Anderson beat Przybilla with his excellent jumping ability, took the lead in pointing to the basketball, and pushed the ball behind him.

Billups took the basketball, he advanced to the frontcourt, and then distributed the ball to Zheng Ke in the 45-degree area of ​​​​the free throw line.Just as Zheng Ke got the ball with his back, Batum immediately defended himself.Zheng Ke could clearly feel the hard work of Batum's defense behind him, which was an aura that was not there in the regular season.

However, Zheng Ke did not make a strong attack on the first ball. He handed it to Afflalo, who was wiped from the right, and blocked Afflalo's defender Roy, making a cover for Afflalo.

Batum immediately switched defenses with Roy, and moved to keep up with Afflalo.Afflalo opened the distance and threw the ball back to Zheng Ke. At this time, Zheng Ke was directly facing Roy.

Zheng Ke took the ball with his back, and Roy bent his arm against Zheng Ke's waist, pushing slightly outward.

"Brand, you don't want to win here today." Zheng Ke casually spat trash talk at Roy.

"Huh!" Roy didn't speak, he was afraid that Zheng Ke would suddenly exert strength while he was speaking.

Roy's silence was expected by Zheng Ke. The two have also faced each other 4 times this season. The record of 2 wins and 2 losses can only be said to be a tie. Roy can generally guess Zheng Ke's tricks.

Zheng Ke turned around with his left foot as the axis, bent his knees, and held the basketball with both hands, almost touching the floor.He looked directly at Roy, revealing a sharp light.

The audience held their breath, and everyone's eyes were focused on these two young people. In Barkley's words, this may be a matchup between the top five players in the league in a few years.

Zheng Ke took a tentative step on the right side of his right foot, but Roy was unmoved.Immediately afterwards, Zheng Ke stretched out his right hand and held the basketball with one hand, shaking his body like a dancer.Roy was a little uncertain about Zheng Ke's movements. Immediately, Zheng Ke made a rapid breakthrough on the right side, and the two bodies immediately came into contact.

"boom!"

Roy couldn't bear it anymore and was forced to take a small step back.

Zheng Ke was invincible, and pushed Roy away with all his strength, and passed Roy's defense with a big stride.Aldridge on the inside took two steps forward to make up for the defense, and Zheng Ke chose to lean forward and make an emergency stop jumper.

Roy behind him forgot the ball and sighed.

"Shh!"

A first-blood win always makes people extremely excited. The center of the target is like boiling water that has exploded, and there are deafening cheers all of a sudden.

"Is this the charm of the playoffs?" Zheng Ke muttered to himself, looking at the crazy fans in the audience, he felt his blood was burning.

Looking at the other Timberwolves players, after Zheng Ke's mid-range shot and the sound of cheers from the audience, Love and others obviously calmed down a lot. To a certain extent, this dispelled a lot of tension from the Timberwolves players.

The Blazers' rookie players are obviously different, and Aldridge has a flash of panic in his eyes.Roy seemed to see Aldridge's panic. He ran over and patted Aldridge on the shoulder, saying, "I'm responsible for the ball, it's okay. We'll just pay them back one more."

Trail Blazers attack.

There was no need for anyone to organize, boos immediately erupted at the scene, and the decibels shocked Zheng Ke.After a while, the sound of "defense, defense" sounded in the whole court, uniform, as if roaring in every player's ear.

In this case, the rookie players of the Blazers changed slightly, and their status was somewhat affected.

Steve Blake has the ball and he passes it to Roy.Afflalo clung tightly to Roy's body.This season, Afflalo's top position was unexpected by all experts. The player who averaged only 8.8 points and 0.6 rebounds per game conquered the audience with his defense and three-pointers.After the end of the season, he was highly praised by experts, thinking that Afflalo is a treasure on the outside of the Timberwolves. Some experts even said that the backcourt combination composed of Billups and Afflalo is the best defense in the NBA. backcourt combination.

Not to mention whether it is the No. [-] defensive combination in the NBA, at least facing Roy, Afflalo's defensive posture is extremely standard. His strict defense has taught Roy many times this season, and the two can be considered veterans. opponent.

Roy did not make a strong attack, and continued to pass the ball to Batum, who was near 30 degrees from the three-point line.Batum faked a shot and then smacked the ball to Aldridge.

Love reached out and put his hand on Aldridge's back, and his leg was stuck in the crook of Aldridge's leg.Although in the regular season, Aldridge often voted for Love, but in the playoffs, Whitman still did not make adjustments. He believed in Love, and he also knew that the two young power forwards in the West were holding back. If they meet each other, they will play with a 120 state. If this is the case, why bother to switch defenses?
Aldridge let out a long breath.

Before the game, the coach of the Blazers put a lot of pressure on him. In this round of the series, he and Roy are the two who can control the direction of the game. If he can beat Love like he did in the regular season, then the Blazers Players can grasp the absolute initiative on the court.

The Timberwolves didn't mean to double-team.

Aldridge holds the ball with his left hand, the ball bounces off the floor, he takes a small step with his right foot, his shoulders shrug down the middle, and he fakes a turn to the middle.Immediately, Aldridge took his left foot as the axis, and took a big step with his right foot to the left. The whole person turned around, and then kicked slightly, and his body floated backwards.

Love knew he couldn't cover it, but he still rushed forward and shouted loudly, hoping to scare Aldridge.

Whether he was scared or not is the next thing, but Aldridge was really soft-handed. This mid-range shot, which was usually a surefire shot, made a three-point shot, and Anderson, who was stuck in the main position under the basket, easily accepted the rebound.

"Haha, LaMarcus actually voted a three-way stick!" Barkley was not afraid of big troubles when he watched the show, and he leaned forward and backward laughing there. Anyway, since the camera is not with him now, he can play whatever he wants.

"After all, it's the first time to enter the playoffs." Smith also wanted to laugh, but he still maintained the basic quality of the host. He defended the Blazers he supported there: "Although LaMarcus just made a shot Three non-stick, but you can still see that the Blazers' tactics have been played out, the transfer of the outside line, and LaMarcus's jump shot seem to have been trained countless times."

"Kenny, did you ever vote three-way when you entered the playoffs for the first time?" Barkley obviously didn't want to discuss tactics or anything, and continued the topic of "three-way" to Smith.

Kenny Smith was very embarrassed. He smiled wryly and said: "Which player has never shot three non-stick shots? It's just a matter of time. There is a Chinese proverb that says: If you often walk by the river, there is no one who does not get wet shoes. We are players. Isn’t it the same? I think as long as you adjust your state, you will still be a hero in the future.”

Buckley: "."

While the two chatted wildly, the Timberwolves had already launched a counterattack. After Anderson passed the ball to Billups, Billups made a long pass to find Zheng Ke. Facing the retreating Blake and Roy, Zheng Ke held the ball directly, imitating James' bulldozer style layup, and rushed to the middle of the two, trying to pass through it.

Blake was fooled and reached out to pull Zheng Ke. Zheng Ke took the opportunity to throw the ball on the backboard and won two fouls.

Zheng Ke made two free throws and the Timberwolves led 4-0 and took the initiative to start the game.

(End of this chapter)