Junior Basketball says

Chapter 461 Reaching the Finals
When the Spurs' strategy of slowing down the pace fails, they are destined to be completely dragged down by the Timberwolves.Under the leadership of Xu Hao, the Timberwolves players who have regained their fast-paced offense and defense are like a group of wild horses, constantly galloping back and forth on the court. Except for the two young defenders Leonard and Green, no one else You have to work hard to keep up.

The defense that the Spurs rely on for survival was directly rushed to pieces by the Timberwolves. The worst thing is that Duncan can hardly protect the basket in the interior.Every time he returned to the basket out of breath, the Timberwolves' players had almost finished their offensive rounds, and because he was the only one inside, the rebounding was not as good as the Timberwolves' inside.

In the last few minutes of the first quarter, the Timberwolves frantically chased points, and McHale consciously did not change the starting lineup.Indeed, the slow pace of the game before was not only exhausting the physical strength of the players, but also their spirits. It was great for them to be able to play a familiar rhythm on the field and fill every column of statistics. encourage.

It was under McHale's "indulgence" that the Timberwolves blasted a 2-12 scoring climax in the last 2 minutes of the first quarter, leading by 9 points instead.This result left Popovich stunned. He originally thought that the Timberwolves would need some time to adjust, but he did not expect that they found the feeling immediately and taught the Spurs a profound lesson.

When the players from both sides took a break, Popovich's eyes stayed on Xu Hao. He loved and hated this Asian defender.I love him purely because of my appreciation for superstars. He has excellent tactical understanding and strong personal abilities. Any coach will like such a player, and Popovich is certainly not immune.

Of course, I hate him because Xu Hao is used as a sharp knife almost every time, directly piercing the Spurs' tactical layout, and also beating the silver and black army into disgrace.As an opponent, Popovich was angry and helpless. Who let the Timberwolves get such an excellent guard by luck?On the opposite side, he could only accept a violent beating.

Under Xu Hao's leadership, the Timberwolves, who had regained their form, did not give the Spurs too many opportunities.Even if GDP tries hard to seize every opportunity to score, they seem to see their youthful appearance from the Timberwolves. They also have unreasonable offensive firepower and iron-blooded defense that will never stop until they reach their goals. One night, they finally understood the feelings of the team they defeated at the beginning. After all, it was themselves who had been struggling to catch up with each other.

When the teammates found their feeling, Xu Hao, who was the core of the tactics, naturally played more and more easily.Rubio consciously handed over the ball to him and let him organize the team's offense.Xu Hao didn't refuse either. Originally, the Timberwolves had two commanders to a certain extent. Now it is obvious that his condition is even better, and it is normal for him to be the organizer.

In the second quarter, Xu Hao still did not rest. His needle-pointing helped the Timberwolves score 35 points in a single quarter, further widening the point difference.The Spurs basically relied on Duncan to score points at the basket in this quarter. Ginobili occasionally added a three-pointer, but the others felt cold. Most of the shots became Love and Jordan's defense. rebound.

Popovich frowned on the sidelines, and he also tried to change his tactics, but the Timberwolves players were like a group of mad dogs tonight, constantly rushing up to bite their opponents, leaving the Spurs players with no room to score.More importantly, the Timberwolves' bench depth is not worse than that of the Spurs. McHale can replace players on the field at any time, and those bench gangsters who have already suffocated their energy on the bench will never be stingy with performance His own is even more fierce than the starter.

To some extent, most of the Spurs players have old arms and legs, and there is almost no way to face the younger and more impactful Timberwolves. This is a big problem that Popovich cannot solve even if he changes his tactics continuously.Unless he is a magician, he can instantly make the old Spurs about ten years younger, and maybe be able to compete with the Timberwolves.

As the game progressed, the Spurs became even more unable to compete with the Timberwolves' fast passing and running.Under Xu Hao's request, every Timberwolves player on the court would not let the ball stay in their hands for more than 3 seconds. After receiving the ball, they would either immediately transfer it to a teammate in a better position, or directly use their own skills. Way to score, it seems faster.

Until the end of the game, the Timberwolves did not give the Spurs any chance. In the end, they won a 112-95 away game, rewritten the big score to 3-1, and won the match point of this round of the series.The strong performance of the Timberwolves surprised everyone. Before, everyone thought that the old-fashioned Spurs could cause them a lot of trouble. Unexpectedly, they just resisted a little and were beaten into a dead dog. They wanted to win three games in a row Reversing the promotion is tantamount to nonsense.

Sure enough, after returning to the home court, the Timberwolves played the highest level of this round of the series amidst the deafening shouts of the fans. The seven players of the team scored in double figures, and the two guards Xu Hao and Rubio sent a total of 23 assists.The Timberwolves played against the Spurs throughout the game, took the lead from the first round of the game, and never fell behind.

But this time the Timberwolves did not kill them all. They also let the GDP score exceed 20 points. In the end, they easily won 108 to 99, and eliminated the Spurs 4 to 1 to advance to the finals.When the final whistle sounded, the entire Target Center became a sea of ​​joy, and the fans celebrated the team's second consecutive year as the Western Conference champion, and launched an impact towards the second championship trophy in team history. Barking and jumping like the Timberwolves have won the championship.

Looking at the crowd completely in the carnival, Xu Hao showed a smile at the corner of his mouth. This is what he likes about Timberwolves.As a small ball market team, it is not easy to have so many die-hard fans. You must know that the Timberwolves, which established the team in 1989, did not gradually start to be loved by fans until Garnett was selected in 1997. The season reached the pinnacle of team history.There may be many fans who came for the championship, but Xu Hao didn't think there was any problem.

For any team to consistently attract fans, winning and championships are the most important things.The style of play may change with the replacement of players, but the championship gene will always exist, and only in this way can we have higher popularity.

(End of this chapter)