one-handed ball

Chapter 377 Entering the Finals Again

The Spurs won at home.

In the third game between the two teams, the Spurs played a battle of their own style and rhythm amidst the cheers of the home fans and won the victory.

The significance of this victory is that the Spurs defeated the undefeated myth of the Timberwolves, which laid a foundation of confidence for the soldiers and civilians in San Antonio.At the same time, the economic significance of the Spurs' victory in this game is also quite significant. If the Timberwolves lead the Spurs 3-0 with a sweeping posture, I am afraid that there will be a lot fewer people watching the game in the fourth game. After the Spurs win the third game, The two teams seem to have a tendency to return to the same starting line.

郑克第三场数据依然华丽，全场36分8板9助攻3抢断1盖帽，打马刺他场均可以得到43.7分。

Then came the fourth game between the two teams, still at home for the Spurs.

Before the game started, Spurs fans declared that the Spurs would definitely win this game.Judging from the competitive state of the two teams in the previous game, the Spurs did not show much decline.At the beginning, the Timberwolves led by 5 points, and then the Spurs overtook them. Until the end of the final game, the Spurs had a moderate lead.In the previous decade or so, fans were used to seeing the Spurs win in the home arena.

Don't be arrogant or impatient, don't be in a hurry.

A few years ago, some people stereotyped Zheng Ke as a defensive player, similar to an all-around fighter like Iguodala.But now Zheng Ke has won two scoring titles, and the total score of next season will exceed [-] points, becoming the youngest Mr. [-] points in history.

The game against the Spurs proved Zheng Ke's scoring ability very well. It is difficult to compare him with Jordan.

"I'm afraid this is another battle between dragons and tigers!" Before the game, "Magic" Johnson made a prediction about the game in this way, guessing that the final score difference between the two teams would be within 5 points.

After the start of the game, the Timberwolves changed the conventional way of Zheng Ke's main attack in the previous game and switched to Billups commanding.

Billups had a sense of trance when he led the Pistons against the Spurs, and he was filled with emotion.Zheng Ke was liberated from the positioning of the point forward and devoted himself to defending and scoring.

This is a relatively new style of play for the Timberwolves. In this year's regular season, when Billups was old, Zheng Ke played well as an organization forward and led the Timberwolves to an exaggerated record of 76 wins.Now that Zheng Ke has been removed from this position and replaced by Billups, the pressure on Zheng Ke has actually been shared.

"Is this really okay?" Assistant coach Thomas had reservations about this, and did not object to Thibodeau's tactics, nor did he further propose ideas for improvement.

In the first quarter of the game, the Spurs led the Timberwolves by 24 points 22 to 2.

Popovich didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Thibodeau's gourd. Zheng Ke's horror lies in his all-around skills. Organizational passing is one of Zheng Ke's best skills.

The two teams continued anxiously for half the game. Zheng Ke tepidly scored 14 points and 4 rebounds, and Billups scored 11 points and 5 assists. The two teamed up to score more than half of the Timberwolves' halftime score.The Timberwolves also led 47 to 46 at halftime, with a slight advantage of one point.

After the start of the second half, Zheng Ke began to strengthen his personal offense.

If Zheng Ke didn't get the ball, the audience would boo deafeningly. Zheng Ke asked himself if he had done anything to be sorry for the people of San Antonio, but he quietly became the most hated person here.

However, this aroused his fighting spirit even more. At the beginning of the second half, he succeeded in consecutive low-post attacks.

In the confrontation between Jefferson and Zheng Ke, in addition to suffering from the loss of physical strength caused by Zheng Ke's strong physical confrontation (aggressive person), he also has to endure the trash talk from Zheng Ke from time to time.What Zheng Ke really does is to destroy his opponent from both physical and mental levels, without mercy.

The Spurs counterattacked, and Ginobili made a three-point jumper from the outside.

Then Zheng Ke got a chance in the counterattack. After dribbling the ball to the frontcourt, he made a layup in the air. After avoiding Duncan's defense, he made a pull-up layup and completed a smart goal.

"It's another goal that's good enough for the top ten goals, but it's a pity that only the boos of the Spurs fans can be heard here." Zheng Ke smacked his mouth, thinking coquettishly.

Perhaps it was Thibodeau’s tactical effect. Zheng Ke’s offensive efficiency was very high while retaining a lot of physical strength in the third quarter. He led the Timberwolves to play wave after wave of shock waves. Falling behind, and then opened up by the Timberwolves.

It's as if Zheng Ke was used to the ordinary tactical shots at halftime, and suddenly changed to a personal strong attack, and the Spurs would look very uncomfortable.

The Spurs started double-teaming and Zheng Ke started passing the ball.

The fiery touch of the Timberwolves players in the first half was still there. Billups received a pass from Zheng Ke from the outside and hit a high-arc three-pointer. The difference between the two teams further widened.

The fans were a little unbelievable. In the third quarter, the Timberwolves led 34 to 21 by 13 points, and the total point difference between the two teams came to 14 points.

By the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves' offensive rhythm had become perfect. Zheng Ke and Billups diverged and took turns to control the ball. The Spurs still couldn't find a chance to hit a climax to overtake or tie the score.The two teams have been deadlocked for half a quarter. Zheng Ke scored more than 40 points and scored 26 points in the second half.

At the end of the game, the Timberwolves won a big victory 106 to 93, with a total score of 3 to 1 to get the match point.

Spurs fans were disappointed. The two teams looked evenly matched at halftime, and suddenly collapsed in the third quarter.Zheng Ke, who scored 47 points in the game, became the object of everyone's curse here. He scored 33 points in the second half, breaking the Timberwolves VS Spurs scoring record in the half of the playoffs.

Zheng Ke's personal honor has not kept up, but his personal strength has been affirmed by many celebrities.

In the current series with the Spurs, Zheng Ke averaged 44.5 points per game.In the 1988 series against the Cavaliers, Jordan had the myth of averaging 45.2 points in the series.So after the game, the two began to be compared again, and even this Spurs and that Cavaliers were compared to test the gold content of their scores.

On May 5, the two teams played their fifth game at the Target Center.

This is a battle of life and death for the Spurs, and perhaps the last checkpoint for the Timberwolves to pry open the door to the finals.

The Timberwolves are younger and their style of play is more entertaining. Coupled with Zheng Ke's sometimes gorgeous and sometimes domineering performances, fans all over the world far surpass the Spurs. After winning the match point 3-1, the voice of the Timberwolves to enter the finals reached its peak. In this case, except for local Texas, most fans still support the Timberwolves.

The media are advocating for Zheng Ke outside, and the comparison with Jordan in the past few days is also a matter of opinion.

When the game started, TNT, ESPN and Chaoting TV all sent guests to commentate on the spot. They sat in the audience seats in various places, wearing headphones, and commented on the spot.

After the start of the game, the Timberwolves played in a regular way, and Zheng Ke was handed over to play singles in the low position.

The Timberwolves players have also seen the comparison between Zheng Ke and Jordan. Jordan scored an average of 45.2 points in five games. If Zheng Ke can score more than 48 points in this game, he can break Jordan's record in the playoff series. record.Therefore, the Timberwolves players intend to help Zheng Ke, and Zheng Ke will launch the attack first.

The Spurs players didn't think too much, because Zheng Ke played a lot of singles in the past few games, and there were also many games where he started to attack continuously.

With his back against Jefferson, Zheng Ke leaned on it, feinted, turned 180 degrees with his left foot as the axis, and hit an elegant backward jumper.

With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Zheng Ke made a three-pointer from the outside and scored 12 points. The Timberwolves led 21 to 19 by 2 points.

Thibodeau replaced Zheng Ke, leaving Love and Billups on the court, and replaced veteran Mike Miller and burly and Montenegrin Pekovic.

This is an unconventional substitution. Generally speaking, Zheng Ke will finish the first quarter of the game and then rest for half a quarter in the second quarter.If this is the substitution, then Thibodeau has sent a signal that it is very likely that Zheng Ke will be put on the field at the beginning of the second quarter.Popovich had a solemn expression, thinking about countermeasures for the changes in the Timberwolves.

It is certain that Jefferson will be replaced at the same time, so who will be replaced?
Popovich looked at the Spurs bench, swept across faces with different skin colors, and finally settled on the young and slightly immature Danny Green's face.Danny Green performed amazingly in the first game. He also performed well in the third game where the Spurs won. rise.

"Danny Green replaced Jefferson, and the Spurs stepped up their offensive rhythm, hoping to play an attack wave and establish an advantage when Zheng Ke was away." Barkley explained to the audience.

However, Popovich is a bit wishful thinking. Even if Zheng Ke left the game early to rest, the Timberwolves are still strong, and they will not lose the wind in the confrontation with the Spurs.At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs only led the Timberwolves by 26 point 25 to 1. At present, there is no clear trend of who will win and who will lose.

As Popovich expected, Zheng Ke appeared on the playing field at the beginning of the second quarter.

Love and Billups rested, and the Timberwolves' possession of the ball became more concentrated.The substitutes did not fight for the ball with the boss, Zheng Ke wanted to play singles, and everyone opened up space to watch him perform.

The Spurs have no good strategy to deal with Zheng Ke, except for double-teaming or double-teaming, but a double-team will destroy the overall defensive effect and create an open space.Jefferson's defense can only rely on small moves to add points.It was very easy for Zheng Ke to beat Jefferson. He relied on strength in the low position, and broke through in the high position by virtue of his speed advantage. Occasionally he did some other offensive skills, such as stepping back and jumping, which was completely handy and natural.

At the end of the half, Zheng Ke scored 27 points on Jefferson, including two plus ones. Jefferson received his third personal foul 2 minutes before halftime and was forced to rest.

Only relying on Zheng Ke's performance, the Timberwolves had the upper hand in the game against the Spurs.

After the second half, Zheng Ke continued his scoring performance. Amidst the cheers of the home fans and the referee's discerning eyes, Zheng Ke caused a lot of trouble for the Spurs. Jefferson got his fourth foul soon after coming up. Today he is in a foul crisis.

At the end of the three quarters, the Timberwolves led the Spurs by 81 points 71 to 10.

After the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves maintained an efficient scoring level, Zheng Ke controlled the overall situation on the court, and did not give the Spurs a chance to counterattack.The game went on until there was more than 1 minute left in the final, and the Timberwolves led 105 to 93 by 12 points. Popovich just sat on the bench, knowing that the Spurs' situation was over and there was no hope of a comeback.

At the end of the game, with the ribbons fluttering, Zheng Ke scored 48 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, a statistic that almost no ordinary star can get in his entire career.

The audience stood up and applauded Zheng Ke and the Timberwolves, and the cheers of "MVP" were endless in the Target Center arena.
(End of this chapter)