Junior Basketball says

Easy sweep
To be honest, even if the Timberwolves led by Xu Hao, Rubio and Love achieved the second record in the Western Conference, there are still many teams that think they are just lucky, and the Nuggets who are about to compete with them for the promotion spot are among them one.

The head coach of the Nuggets, George Karl, is not an idiot. He is even one of the best coaches in NBA history. In the end, everyone firmly believes that the team's strength is at least not inferior to the Timberwolves, and there is still the possibility of promotion.

Karl didn't know the inner thoughts of the players. He expressed satisfaction with everyone's fighting spirit, but he himself didn't really believe that the Nuggets could complete Black Seven. Winning two or three of the games was basically an explosion of the collective universe.

For this round of the series, the entire Timberwolves team is more cautious. They don't want to capsize in the gutter in the first round.So when the Nuggets came to Minneapolis, what they encountered was a team of Timberwolves waiting for them.

Full of confidence, they were stunned at the beginning of the first game.Under Rubio's harassment, Lawson, the team's top scorer and point guard, completely lost his previous spirituality. Afflalo, who is the most accurate three-pointer, basically couldn't find an open shot.Except for Gallinari's mid-range shot and Faried's second offense, the Nuggets have no other way to score points.

Instead, the Timberwolves made consecutive shots amidst the cheers of the home fans.The Nuggets' perimeter defense is close to none, and they are not tall enough. Rubio and Xu Hao are constantly switching between on-ball and off-ball modes, and their shooting percentages are frighteningly high.On the inside, Love alone can play with Faried and Koufus, two rough guys with no muscles and no skills.

The Timberwolves, who were blooming internally and externally, scored 20 points in half a quarter, and Karl couldn't stop their offensive even after timeouts.Fortunately, after the substitute lineup came on stage, Harrington still found the sight, which barely prevented the Nuggets from being directly defeated.

Still, the Nuggets trailed 30-38 at the end of the first quarter, a situation they weren't used to.However, the Timberwolves did not intend to leave them a way out. After the second quarter, they still maintained a stormy offense. At the end of the half, they had extended their lead by 17 points, and they seemed to have no pressure at all.

During the intermission, the Nuggets players were listless. They felt that the game was too magical, and they fell behind by nearly 20 points at halftime. Is the gap between the two sides really that big?Karl also felt a little embarrassed. Before the game, he boasted too much about the strength of the team. He didn't expect to be slapped in the face at the end of halftime. He didn't give him any face at all!
Of course, from the perspective of the Timberwolves, there is no need to give the Nuggets any face.Although the Nuggets once narrowed the point difference to single digits in the second half, they never tied the score. The Nuggets didn't get any chance at the last moment.

120 to 105, the Timberwolves easily won the first game of the series at home, and only allowed the Nuggets to score 105 points, which fully proved their strong defense.Carl also said helplessly after the game: "They have two very young and very good guards. It is difficult for us to take advantage of the backcourt. This is also an important factor for our loss. Of course I am not saying that our players did not play enough. Well, the truth is the Timberwolves have too good of a player, but we're going to try to win."

It's a pity that Karl can only talk about it, and the Nuggets have nothing to do with the Timberwolves.Although Karl put McGee, who has better jumping, in the starting lineup in the second game, which improved the maneuverability of the inside combination, but that's all. Neither McGee nor Faried had the awareness of defending the high position. Keep pulling out to shoot three-pointers.Driven by his teammates, he felt very hot in this game. In the first quarter, he scored 5 points on 3 of 12 shots from beyond the three-point line.

Xu Hao and Rubio have grown-up beauty, and the result is that Love took on most of the firepower output in this game, scoring 44 points and 21 rebounds in a large double-double, while Xu Hao and Rubio scored double-double assists one after another.The backcourt combination of the Timberwolves this season can be described as splendid, but it also makes people forget that they also have a talented power forward. Love undoubtedly proved himself today.

Under the full output of Love, the Timberwolves continued to beat the Nuggets 113-100 at home, turning the big score into 2-0. As long as they win two more games, they will be able to enter the second round with their heads held high. What the Nuggets don't want to see.

In the third game, the Nuggets started to speed up wildly with their home court advantage. Affected by the altitude of Denver's plateau, many Timberwolves players performed sluggishly and fell behind their opponents by 11 points in the first quarter.But at this time, Xu Hao, who has the best physical fitness in the team, stood up. He scored 17 points single-handedly in the second quarter and helped the team take the lead with a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first half.The high-altitude combat did not seem to weaken his firepower at all, and the mediocrity in the first quarter was more like a kind of forbearance.

In the second half, Xu Hao dealt with the Nuggets almost on his own, allowing the Timberwolves to cling to the score.In the last 3 minutes of the fourth quarter, he scored 8 points in a row to establish a sufficient lead. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 115-111 in the away game. Xu Hao's own statistics were impeccable 39 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.

After being defeated by the Timberwolves for three consecutive games, the morale of the Nuggets has dropped to an extremely low level. In addition, the Timberwolves players have adapted to the altitude of Denver, and they directly beat the Nuggets to dogs in the fourth game.The final score of the two sides was 121 to 89, of which 89 points were also the Nuggets' new low in a single game this season, but they did not expect to appear in the playoffs.

To be honest, it was really embarrassing to beat the opponent with 32 points. After the game, the entire Nuggets team looked like they were constipated. The Timberwolves also felt embarrassed and stepped forward to hug each other.However, for them, being able to kill their opponents 4-0 will undoubtedly save a lot of time, allowing them to deal with their opponents in the second round of the playoffs in the best condition.

In fact, the Timberwolves are also the fastest team in the league to reach the second round, and the others are fighting fiercely with their opponents.However, it seems that their opponent in the second round will still be the Thunder. Last season, the Timberwolves defeated the Thunder in the eighth place in the Western Conference. It can be said that they have formed a deep hatred between them.Now that the Thunder has become a lower-ranked side, if they can eliminate the Clippers, they must want to give the Timberwolves a little color, and it would be more perfect if they can win.

(End of this chapter)