Junior Basketball says

Chapter 459
After the game, the Timberwolves players did not disband directly, but obediently waited in the locker room for McHale to return from the press conference.For this loss, McHale was very annoyed. In his view, the problems that occurred during the game must be solved immediately, and he will talk about it in the training session. Everyone's impression is definitely not as deep as it is now.

Xu Hao sat in his seat and began to reflect on his performance in this game.Parker's sudden outburst is of course a key factor in the Timberwolves' home loss, but the poor defense of guards including him is also a big problem.

Just as he was trying to think deeply, McHale walked in with a dark face, and the first sentence made everyone's hearts tighten: "I am very, very, very disappointed with your performance. Because you won a championship for this city last year, but that's not a reason for you to let your opponent score wildly on the court!"

Facing the head coach's criticism, everyone bowed their heads in shame. They really didn't play very well in this game and lost a home game.Although this does not mean that they will be eliminated by the Spurs, it is not a pleasant thing after all.Next, they will play two consecutive away games. As long as one is not careful, the opponent will immediately seize the opportunity.

Regardless of the fatigue caused by the game, the whole Timberwolves team analyzed the problems that occurred during the game, focusing on the defense of the perimeter and the protection of the basket.When Parker was attacking with the ball, almost no one stepped forward to delay him, allowing him to continue to maintain a very high speed, which made Jordan in the inside miserable. He suffered five personal fouls in this game, three of which were on the on Parker.Fortunately, the referee was merciful, otherwise he would have left the field with six fouls in the middle of the fourth quarter.

In the end, McHale put forward higher requirements to the players. He hoped to see a championship-level defense in the next game.In the history of the NBA, there are not many teams that can win the championship by relying on offense alone. Last season, the Timberwolves also did a good job in restricting the Heat's Big Three. If they regain this defensive attitude, defeating the Spurs will not be a problem.

Early the next morning, the entire Timberwolves boarded a plane to San Antonio. Although the league had arranged a two-day break between the second and third games, they still planned to get used to it as soon as possible and get in state.

For this game, McHale made a decisive change. The taller and stronger Sheved replaced Rubio as the team's starting point guard, and the other four positions remained the same.He decided to let Xu Hao be the sharpest knife of the team. It would be best to keep attacking the inside and score crazy points like Parker in the last game.

For this task, Xu Hao readily accepted. Although the Spurs' inside combination can be said to be the top in the league, he still firmly believes that he can break through this line of defense and teach the silver and black army a profound lesson.As for Leonard and Green who were mainly responsible for marking him, Xu Hao didn't take it seriously at all. He believed that his strength was enough to blow up the entire defense line of the Spurs, not to mention that there were so many reliable teammates around him to rely on. They will also create more space for Xu Hao.

Popovich did not change like McHale, and still maintained the starting lineup of Parker, Green, Leonard, Duncan and Splitter.Although the old man likes surprise players and is good at digging out available talents from the end of the bench, he does not like to change his starting five tigers without incident, and he also believes that they are the best starting lineup.

However, after the start of the game, Popovich found that his proud starting lineup was beaten by Xu Hao. Leonard, who had a pretty good defensive effect before, looked more like a toddler. He was often left behind by Xu Hao's acceleration.When he reacted and turned around to chase back, Xu Hao had already gone to the basket to challenge the insiders one-on-one.

This scene was familiar to the entire Spurs team. When they saw Xu Hao hitting the inside again and again to score the ball, they suddenly realized that this is what Parker did to the Timberwolves in the last game?It's just that the French sports car seems to be completely out of gas under the close marking of Sheved tonight, so they can only link up with the team, and the sharp breakthrough is forgotten at home.

Sheved was used as a pure defensive player, and Xu Hao also consciously took into account the important task of organizing the offense while breaking through and scoring, but his routine was very simple, that is, pick-and-roll or sudden points.But this time his teammates have a strong ability to seize opportunities. Most of his passes can be converted into assists, leading the Timberwolves to set off wave after wave.

Facing the indiscriminate bombardment of the Timberwolves, the Spurs are like a small boat in a storm, as long as one is not careful, the boat will be destroyed.Although the point difference between the two sides has not reached a desperate level for a while, the Timberwolves firmly hold the initiative on the field. If the Spurs do not want to change the situation, it will be a matter of time before they lose this game.

Xu Hao, who completely let go of himself, played very happily. His passing made the Spurs dare not put all the defense on him unscrupulously, and the defense of one or two people did not have much effect.In the first quarter of the game, Xu Hao single-handedly scored 15 points and 5 assists, helping the Timberwolves lead 43 to 31, and this is usually the data of a game under normal circumstances.

In the second quarter, Xu Hao still did not stop his footsteps. He scored 12 points and 7 assists again. At the end of the half, he brushed his personal data to 20+10. By the way, he continued to help the team maintain a double-digit score leading edge.

Such powerful firepower allowed Xu Hao to get more than 3 minutes of rest time in the first half of the third quarter, but the Spurs failed to seize the opportunity. When Xu Hao reappeared, the Timberwolves still led their opponents by as much as 12 points.The good news, which is not good news for the Spurs, is that Xu Hao, who played again, seemed to restrain his murderous intentions, and just kept assisting his teammates to score.

With 6 minutes and 12 seconds left in the final quarter, Xu Hao was replaced by McHale. At this time, the Spurs basically had no chance of coming back.Although Manu Ginobili's desperate hurricane allowed the Spurs to narrow the point difference to 9 points, the Timberwolves bench bandits headed by Ridnour and Ellington still defended the victory and regained their home court advantage .

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Xu Hao's outstanding performance in this game is a response to Parker in the previous game, and he performed even better, scoring 39 points, 15 assists and 4 steals.With such a performance against the Spurs' defense, Xu Hao can be said to be a model for all combo guards in the league.

(End of this chapter)