one-handed ball

Chapter 215 Growing Timberwolves Player
In the single-game scoring list of the playoffs, Zheng Ke ranked 14th in history, and also created the highest scoring record in a single game of the Timberwolves playoffs.

In this year's playoffs, Zheng Ke is not the first player to complete 50+.Prior to this, on April 4th, in the Celtics vs. Bulls game, Ray Allen scored 30 points through three overtimes. Unexpectedly, after more than ten days, I got a higher score.

On the single-game scoring list in the playoffs, the highest score is naturally the 63 points of the well-known Joe Gang.After that came Baylor, Chamberlain, Barkley, Iverson and a series of familiar superstars.It has to be said that Zheng Ke can be ranked among them, which is a great affirmation for him.

But this is not good news for the Lakers.

Originally thought that the first game was an exception, and the direction of this round of the series would be like the second game, where the Lakers won the final victory with oppressive strength.But I didn't expect the Timberwolves to be so perverted. They scored 14 three-pointers in the game and wiped out the Lakers with the rain of three-pointers.

1 to 2 behind.

Among the teams in the Western Conference semifinals at the same time, the Spurs also had a hard time.It seems that the magic language of winning the championship in odd-numbered years has lost its magic power. This year's Spurs' journey to the playoffs is not easy.In the first round encounter with the Jazz, the two old coaches battled wits, and the players on the court fought hand-to-hand.In today's semifinals, the Spurs are temporarily behind the Rockets 1-2.

McGrady is like a natural Spurs nemesis. He was obviously injured in the regular season, but he came back at this critical moment, and it seems that he is calmer than before. In three games, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.3 assists per game.Van Gundy, the former head coach of the Rockets, said bluntly: McGrady has changed, and the spring of the Rockets' Big Three is here!
May and June are the golden months of the NBA. Basketball fans all over the world are paying attention to the playoffs of the world's number one basketball league.Compared with previous years, the ratings of this year's playoffs have skyrocketed, especially in Asia.According to a survey, the western semifinals between Timberwolves vs. Lakers and Spurs vs. Rockets has become the most concerned event in Asia recently, while Zheng Ke, Timberwolves, Yao Ming, and Rockets have correspondingly become the most searched on major websites recently. vocabulary.

Zheng Ke's popularity can be seen from this.

The fourth game between the two teams will be held two days later, still at Target Center, and still live broadcast around the world.

Zheng Ke was sitting on the sidelines laughing and chatting with Billups, the camera loomingly followed him, recording every move he made.

"Is Derek (Fisher) defensively strong?" Zheng Ke asked Billups with a smile.

"Ha~" Billups smiled with his mouth tilted, and commented: "It's okay, he's a little short in height. He's very strong, and his feet are not very flexible, but he has rich experience. Overall, he Defense among point guards in the NBA is upper-middle."

"We can make more use of Kevin (Love)'s pick-and-roll, and use his inflexible footwork to break through his defense." Zheng Ke nodded and gave his own suggestion.

"Of course!" Billups raised his eyebrows, talking about the pick-and-roll, which has become his most common offensive tactic this season.

"Kevin's progress is very fast." Zheng Ke looked at Love who was in contact with the defense on the court, and praised him.

"Well." Billups nodded and said with a smile: "His pick-and-roll skills and passing level are getting higher and higher. Paul (Gasol) has trained him well in this series."

"It's simply a natural barrier. His broad body and strong lower limbs are the prerequisites for him to be an excellent screener. In the single-block screen cooperation with him, the more I play, the more comfortable I am." Zheng Ke also nodded, he Very satisfied with this teammate.

"So our power forward position doesn't need to be strengthened anymore. I don't know what it will be like when Kevin grows up in two years." Billups said full of expectation.

After a while, Zheng Ke suddenly said: "Actually, Kyle (Lowry) can do it too."

"It's pretty good," Billups admitted.

"You have been passing on his experience?" Zheng Ke asked.

"Not really." Billups shook his head and said, "Kyle (Lowry) has unbelievable talent in his body. He's not improving fast, but he's improving all the time. I have a hunch that in a few years Lowry in his prime is bound to be a terrifying athlete at the No. [-] position in the league."

"Oh?" Zheng Ke didn't expect Billups to have such a high opinion of Lowry, and was immediately surprised.

Billups suddenly sighed, with a helpless expression on his face, and said, "The recent state of Randy (Foye) is worrying."

"Foye?" Zheng Ke murmured softly. He remembered Foye's performance in the playoffs.Now Whitman would rather trust Mike Miller than a more dynamic, impactful Randy Foye.Randy - Foye's state is indeed worrying.

Zheng Ke frowned, he wanted to say something, but finally opened his mouth without saying a word.

The fourth game of the series between the Timberwolves and the Lakers was held at the Target Center. An hour before the game, the arena was full of fans, big and small, who came to cheer for the Timberwolves.

People can see that in the city of Minneapolis, the streets and alleys floated the promotional slogans of the Timberwolves playoffs like Chinese New Year.The huge posters of Zheng Ke and the huge posters of the Timberwolves fluttered in the wind on the streets with the most traffic. People looked up to see, and what they heard when they looked down were all about the NBA playoffs.

Basketball has become the most popular sport in Minneapolis, and Zheng Ke has also become the pride of the city of Minneapolis, just like the little emperor of Cleveland.

Before the game, this game was considered a brutal encounter.The Lakers hope to defeat the Timberwolves and regain home court advantage, and the Timberwolves hope to defeat the Lakers to establish the overall advantage of the series.Therefore, the two teams will definitely show their strongest strength in such a game, and the process of the game will inevitably be extremely exciting.

Sure enough, at the beginning of the first quarter, the Lakers showed a different side from the previous three games. Bynum was taken off the starting lineup, Odom mentioned the starting power forward position, and Gasol served as the starting center.

It seems that the Lakers seem to have let go of their inside advantage. In fact, this is a sign that the Lakers want to attack the Timberwolves inside.As the starting center, Gasol must have a deeper position. He entrusted the organizational task to Odom, who has been immersed in the triangle offensive system for many years, obviously to allocate more energy to his personal offense. .

This is a change for the Lakers, targeting the Timberwolves' seemingly good insiders.

As soon as the game started, the Lakers fed the ball again and again, and Gasol started his individual singles in the low post.He first hit a mid-range shot, then faked Anderson to trick him into fouling, and then hit two consecutive hooks from the same spot.

The Lakers started 8-0, and Whitman requested a timeout.

This change caught Whitman off guard, and Zen Master's seemingly self-defeating martial arts move revitalized the entire deadlocked Lakers' dragon.Gasol obviously played the poor version of "O'Neal", but the headache was that Anderson's defense could not guard the Timberwolves' penalty area, and the poor version of "O'Neal" suddenly became a real big shark.

"Kevin (Love), you defend Paul (Gasol)!" Whitman had no choice but to switch Love to the center position. Love, who was the most criticized defense in the regular season, has now become the Timberwolves. The only savior.No way, among the Timberwolves inside, only Love's defense is a threat to Gasol. Anderson is easy to overwhelm, and the effect of single defense is extremely poor. With Love standing still, it seems that he can't cover a few in a game. Cap, but the defensive effect is better.

"Let me play power forward!" Zheng Ke suddenly stood up and made a proposal that surprised everyone.

Whitman was taken aback. He looked at Zheng Ke, where there was a pair of firm eyes.Immediately, his heart was beating unsatisfactorily, and his mind was spinning rapidly: Zheng Ke played power forward, then Odom could restrain himself, and Zheng Ke was abnormally strong and had excellent rebounds, so there was no need to worry about not having rebound protection. After grabbing the rebound, you can even go straight to the fast break, and the Timberwolves' mobility will become even stronger!
"it is good!"

Whitman made a decisive decision and agreed to Zheng Ke's initiative, and then he made personnel adjustments: "Zheng will be the power forward, Kevin will be the center, and Corey (Brewer) will be the small forward."

Zheng Ke looked at Anderson with a sorry expression.

Anderson didn't take it seriously, he stretched out his long arms, waved his fist, and said aggressively: "Go and blow up the Los Angeles people!"

"Blow up the Los Angeles people!" Zheng Ke rolled his eyes and shouted loudly.

"roar~"

"Blow up the Los Angeles people."

The players on the Timberwolves bench roared in response, and the low morale instantly rose!

(End of this chapter)