Junior Basketball says

Chapter 383 Defending the home field
The Timberwolves, who returned to Minneapolis with a big score of 1 to 1, naturally received a great welcome. In the eyes of fans, it is already very good to be able to erase the home court advantage of the first place in the Western Conference. After all, the Timberwolves have a record in the regular season. The above is not as good as the opponent.This also makes them full of expectations for the final result: Will the Timberwolves be able to reach the finals this year?

In order to be able to take advantage of the emotions of the fans and turn the Target Center into the home of the devil, the Timberwolves officially released a slogan on social media: Defend the home.Although a little mediocre, they are murderous in this situation. You must know that if the Timberwolves win their two home games, then they will get the match point in the Western Conference Finals and occupy a huge advantage.

The emotions of the Timberwolves fans were unsurprisingly instigated by this slogan. The tickets for the third and fourth games of the Western Conference Finals have basically been wrapped up. Fan organizations, large and small, have begun to prepare all kinds of support materials. The silver and black army that came from afar came down one by one.Even if it can't affect the opponent, it can greatly boost the morale of your own team.

On the afternoon of the game, when Timberwolves players came to the arena one after another, they were also shocked by the enthusiasm and madness of the fans.There are still two or three hours before the start of the game, and the entire arena is full of seats. Everyone can find fans wearing their own jerseys, not to mention those colorful cheering signs, which are dazzling on the sidelines.

Regarding the attitude of the fans, the players who have just joined the Timberwolves this season are all shocked. You must know that in the previous games, Timberwolves fans rarely created such a fanatical atmosphere, which completely refreshed their three views.

Seeing their stunned expressions, Xu Hao felt a little funny, but at the same time he was also very emotional.How could Target Center have such a grand event a few seasons ago?Since Garnett traveled east to Boston, the Timberwolves have been in a trough for a long time. Not to mention coming to the arena to support them, whether the tickets can be sold out is still a question.

Therefore, in the NBA, the size of the market is not the most important, the key lies in the team's record.For example, the Cavaliers after James joined, the Spurs who got Duncan, and the Timberwolves now, Cleveland, San Antonio, and Minnesota are all small ball markets, but because of their outstanding records, the fans are very cohesive, and endorsements are soft. .

Under such circumstances, Xu Hao naturally hopes to help the Timberwolves continue to maintain such an excellent record. It is a good thing for himself, the team and the city. He does not want the team to become a bully. The fish belly is gone.

When the Spurs players walked into the target center, it was alright for a seasoned veteran like Duncan, but the faces of the young players on the team turned pale, even Leonard, who had an eye-catching performance in the first game. His face was also slightly moved.

The experienced Popovich was keenly aware of the emotions of the players under his command. After returning to the locker room, he said firmly: "The Timberwolves fans are very cohesive, but this is not the first time we have played the devil's home court. I believe Everyone's psychological quality is enough to cope with such a situation. I hope you can play normally and don't be frightened!"

Under the comfort of the old man, the team members' emotions stabilized, but there are some sounds that you can't hear just by blocking your ears.When the on-site DJ introduced the Spurs players, the deafening boos in the audience almost made their hearts skip a beat. They could all hear the deep malice in it. Obviously, the Timberwolves fans had decided to bury them completely with boos.

Although Popovich had already cheered everyone up before the game, except for the super stable Duncan, the other four Spurs players played continuously from the beginning of the game.On the contrary, the Timberwolves players performed bravely amidst the cheers of the home fans, especially Xu Hao, who continued his fiery touch from the previous game and hit open three-pointers from the bottom corner consecutively.

In this game, McHale resumed his regular starting. He wanted to free Xu Hao from the heavy organizational tasks and concentrate on scoring.If the Spurs still intend to cut off Rubio's passing route, it's not too late to replace him!
However, Rubio did not plan to hold the ball all the time. Xu Hao's ability with and without the ball is very strong, but he is more powerful when he has the ball in his hands.What's more, Rubio's shooting has reached the level that the opponent can't ignore. As long as the Spurs' defensive strength starts to rise, he can turn into an outside shooter and let Xu Hao tear the opponent's defense.

Facing the powerful Xu Hao, Leonard was still at a loss. The lessons of the last game made Green dare not come to help him.Popovich felt very helpless on the sidelines. Could it be that his outside gate is only used for one game?

Xu Hao completely ignored Leonard's defense in the first quarter, scoring 12 points and 3 assists in a single quarter.Although the Spurs' overall shooting feel recovered in the second quarter, they couldn't stop Xu Hao, who was fully fired. In addition, other people also gave full play to their strengths. The Timberwolves have always firmly suppressed the Spurs. Still leading the opponent by 11 points at the end.

The performance of the home team made the fans even more crazy. They screamed and shouted wantonly, passing on their enthusiasm and support to the players.The halftime break didn't change the situation for the Spurs. They didn't look like the No. 4 team in the Western Conference at all. They felt more like the team that was swept 0-[-] by the Timberwolves in the first round. Nuggets.

Of course, Xu Hao’s performance was not as violent as the previous game, but he also scored 31 points and 7 assists in the first three quarters. In the end, his personal data was fixed at 38 points and 11 assists, helping the Timberwolves beat the team 111-100. Spurs. The 11-point difference is not small in the playoffs, let alone the Timberwolves suppressed the Spurs throughout the game.

At the end of the game, the entire Target Center was boiling, and the fans acted as if the Timberwolves had won the championship at home, but in fact this was only their first home win in this round of the series.However, this is still of great significance to the Timberwolves. After all, with this victory, they overtook the Spurs by a large score and took the lead in taking the lead.

For the team's performance, Popovich was obviously very dissatisfied. After the game, he said a few casual words at the press conference and hurried off, leaving McHale with a red face to continue answering questions.Looking at the figure of the old man leaving, McHale felt very refreshed. Isn't it a happy thing to be able to take the lead in the duel with an epic coach?
(End of this chapter)