Junior Basketball says

Chapter 242 Continue to Fail
The double-digit loss to the Lakers in the first game of the series made the Timberwolves feel very disappointed. They had expected that they might lose, but they didn't expect that they would lose without fighting back.The Timberwolves were rubbed on the ground by the Lakers for almost the entire game, and the jeers from the fans on the sidelines drove them crazy. This seems to be a hell home.

For this reason, McHale held an internal meeting on the second day after the game, hoping that everyone could sum up some experience and lessons through the first game.But this meeting did not achieve the desired effect at all, because the Lakers were completely unreasonable in the game that just ended. When Kobe started to explode, other Lakers players were also brought up by him.

It can be said that what the Lakers showed in this game was unparalleled strength. The Timberwolves could not find their weaknesses at all, and naturally they were unable to exploit them.McHale felt helpless because every player under his command lowered his head in the meeting. As long as he didn't name a specific person, they would never take the initiative to answer questions.

Finally McHale looked at Xu Hao, he hoped that the team commander could say something useful to the team.Xu Hao felt the eyes of the head coach, he stood up helplessly and said: "I haven't come to any useful conclusions about this game, I can only say that if we want to beat the Lakers, we must start from two aspects. It's their inside line, and the second is Kobe..."

McHale rolled his eyes. What Xu Hao said didn't mean he didn't say anything. As long as a little analysis is done, any fool will know that this is the key to defeating the Lakers, but the more critical question is, how can we achieve these two points?Or at least do a little bit of it.

In desperation, McHale had no choice but to wave his hand to announce the end of the meeting. When he thought that he would have to find a solution for the second game with the members of the coaching staff later, he felt a little headache.But what is the solution?He is the team's head coach, and he must take responsibility for this matter. The players' opinions can only be used as a reference, and they have to formulate the real plan.

The Timberwolves' coaching staff has been discussing late into the night, but they still haven't come up with at least effective countermeasures. This is not good news for the Timberwolves, which means that they may still be unable to deal with the Lakers in the second game.

McHale felt a headache. He knew that the Black Eight miracle was very difficult to be born, let alone against a team as powerful as the Lakers.For the Timberwolves, not being swept by their opponents is enough to celebrate, and promotion is almost a matter of no consideration.

The so-called black eight miracle refers to the elimination of the No. 8 seed by the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs. It has only happened 3 times in NBA history, which can be said to be very few.You must know that there are eight series in the first round of the playoffs in each season. Even if there were not so many teams in the early days of the NBA, there are at least a few hundred in the first round of the playoffs now. The proportion is low. .

The first black eight miracle in NBA history appeared in the 1993-94 season. The Nuggets broke into the playoffs as the eighth in the West. .At that time, the playoffs were still a best-of-five game, and when the Sonics led 2-0, everyone thought they would sweep the Nuggets.However, after returning to the home court, the Nuggets won two games in a row, and defeated the Supersonics with Mutombo's last-minute block in the deciding game, and finally stopped the second round.

The second black eight miracle came from the Knicks in the 1998-99 season. Their opponent was the old enemy Heat.The two sides won in turn in the first four games, and the point difference was not small. The Knicks won the first game by 20 points, the Heat won the second game by 10 points, the Knicks won another 24 points in the third game, and the Heat won the fourth game with 15 points in return.In the crucial fifth game, the "CIC King" Houston stumbled and scored 2 points to kill the Heat at the last minute with an unprofessional throw, and the Knicks also made it all the way to the finals.

The closest Black Eight Miracle is the Warriors in the 2006-07 season. They have to face the Mavericks, the "general runner-up" of the previous season.Just when they were about to make a comeback, the Warriors gave them a blow in the series, and then the Mavericks pulled back a victory, but the Warriors returned to the home court to win two games in a row and get the match point 4-1.Although the Mavericks who returned to Dallas stubbornly won another game, the Warriors simply won the sixth game and finally eliminated the Mavericks 4-2 to advance.

It can be said that these black eight miracles cannot be replicated. The Nuggets can beat the SuperSonics by relying on Mutombo's 31 blocks in five games; the Knicks can extinguish the Heat by relying on Houston's final performance. A magical kill at the critical moment; the Warriors eliminated the Mavericks, which seemed more like a conflict of styles between the teams. The Mavericks did not expect that the opponent would play a fast-paced run-and-gun game on the court.

However, now the Timberwolves are helpless against the Lakers. Let alone win the series, whether they can win the next game is still a question.McHale didn't come up with a good idea, so he could only take it one step at a time and adapt to the situation during the game.

However, McHale did not expect that the Timberwolves, who were completely defeated by the Lakers in the first game, showed a good competitive state at the beginning of the second game. The outside shooting percentage was very high, and they actually suppressed the Lakers in terms of score.

At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves led 33 to 28. The advantage is not big, but it is very important to them.Just as the Timberwolves were preparing to pursue the victory, the Lakers strengthened their inside offense in the second quarter. Jackson replaced Odom in a targeted manner, forming the Lakers' three-high lineup that most frightened other teams, completely controlling the three seconds. Zone, whether offensive or defensive.

At the same time, the Lakers also strengthened the perimeter defense, forcing the Timberwolves' small players to choose to break through, and then solve the problem at the basket.Relying on the dominance of the inside, the Lakers slowly overtook the score. By the end of the first half, they had taken a 60-54 lead and never gave the Timberwolves any chance.The strength of the Lakers lies in that even if their outside players can't solve the problem, they can still score with the league's top inside combination, so as not to weaken the offensive firepower.

The Timberwolves players had no choice but to swallow another defeat. In fact, at the end of the first quarter, they thought they could win.In this game, the five Timberwolves scored in double figures, but they couldn't stop the Lakers from scoring 67 points and 32 rebounds. At the same time, they also scored 8 blocks. It can be said that they lost in this game. Haven't had any tempers yet.

(End of this chapter)