one-handed ball

Chapter 238 One step away

Before the start of the game, Van Gundy made the Magic players play more aggressively.

What is more aggressive?It's not that playing harder means being more aggressive, but playing more aggressively.The Magic is a team that focuses on outside shooting. There are very few good breakthrough players in the team. Except for Alstom, only Turkoglu and Lewis can barely break through a few times. To increase the aggressiveness, Howard must play his "Warcraft" demeanor. Only when he opens up first, will the Magic's outside shooters have a chance to play.

Exploding the inside of the Timberwolves is the only thing the Magic can do at this stage.

So Howard in this game assumed the most important responsibility for the Magic. From the beginning of the first quarter, he began to fall into the low post and play "Birdman".

Fortunately, what happened, Howard caused Anderson two fouls in the first quarter after only 5 minutes, and Anderson was forced to replace early.The Timberwolves were forced to make early substitutions. Under Zheng Ke's suggestion, the relatively slow-moving Love served as the center, Brewer, who moved faster, served as the small forward, and himself served as the team's power forward.

This is not the first time that Zheng Ke has served as the team's insider. Although he has not learned many insider skills, he is a real "super blue-collar" with fierce rebounds and outstanding defense.Especially in the face of a dubious player like Lewis, even if he has a little height advantage, for Zheng Ke, he can make up for this disadvantage with his superhuman wingspan.

This is not a bold change. The Timberwolves have often used such a lineup of one big and four small this season, and all players are no strangers to this tactic.

The Timberwolves played very freely. Zheng Ke would occasionally rely on his convenient footwork to double-team Howard. Once Howard distributed the ball outside, Zheng Ke would quickly appear on the outside. His defensive mobility was fully revealed in this quarter of the game.

At the end of the single quarter, the two teams shook hands with 23 draws.

The direct confrontation of the substitute lineup is not as good as the confrontation between the main players. Facing Nelson, Lowry is not afraid of tigers when he is a newborn calf, and several strong breakthroughs have had good results.In the last game, Mike Miller, who made 4 of 0 shots, regained his touch and made 3 of 2 three-pointers in the second quarter, helping the Timberwolves surpass the Magic by 2 points.

This game is extremely anxious.

Amidst the roar of cheers from the audience, the Magic players always clenched the score. Even if the Timberwolves led by up to 10 points, they still let them chase back.Until halfway through the fourth quarter, the two teams were still inseparable, and the score was tied.

"It turned out to be such an anxious situation. This is the finals that everyone wants to see! The Magic played really tenaciously." Barkley praised the resilience of the Magic.

"From the perspective of the scene, both teams have a chance to win this game. In comparison, I am more optimistic about the Magic winning this game." Smith expressed his opinion.

"I don't think so. The Timberwolves' key ball ability at the last moment is stronger than that of the Magic. Including the previous game against the Rockets, the Timberwolves can always grasp the situation on the court at the last moment and win the game." Barkley Talk eloquently.

Just like buying a lottery ticket, the key game at the last moment of the NBA is all about character, and perhaps a wave of flow may determine the final outcome of the game.

And this kind of wave is often decided by the strong whether to erupt.

Zheng Ke is such a strong man.

He began to take over the game in the last 5 minutes of the game. First, he cut off Lewis' dribble on the defensive end, and then hit two consecutive mid-range fadeaway jumpers and a layup on the offensive end.

The Timberwolves lead 91 to 85 by 6 points.

It's not that the Magic don't work hard, but that they really don't have excellent flank defenders to limit Zheng Ke. Whether it's James or Kobe, they are the main sufferers of this Magic team.

"Quick attack!"

Zheng Ke grabbed the rebound from the backcourt and began to rush towards the frontcourt, pushing like a bulldozer and raising smoke and dust like a group of thieves.

He made an emergency stop jumper outside the three-point line, an unreasonable chasing three-pointer!

"Shh!"

Return!The Orlando fans hopped their feet angrily.Zheng Ke is really abominable. His explosive performance during this period has allowed the Timberwolves to lead by as much as 9 points. In the game that is over in more than 3 minutes, the Timberwolves have too much advantage and are too strong initiative.

The Magic called two timeouts in a row. After returning, they relied on Turkoglu to hit a three-pointer and finally stabilized their position.

However, the performance of the Timberwolves was even better. Zheng Ke, who was double-teamed, scored an outside Love, and the power forward Love made a three-pointer for the fifth time in this game!Also in.

After the goal, Love walked back, opened his arms arrogantly, and was booed by the Orlando fans in an arrogant manner.

Two minutes later, the Timberwolves still led by 2 points 101 to 91. With 10 minute left in the game, this basically declared the death penalty for the Magic.

In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Magic 104-96. Zheng Ke scored 15 points in the last quarter, made 25 of 13 shots, 7 of 4 three-pointers, 8 of 7 free throws, and scored 37 points and 9 rebounds. Led the Timberwolves to win two consecutive away games in the Finals, getting closer and closer to winning the O'Brien Cup.

After the game, during the press conference, Whitman was full of praise for his disciple Zheng Ke: "What else can I say? He has done everything he can do, and he stood up at the most critical time in the fourth quarter , scored 15 points and only made one turnover, his performance was flawless."

For the Timberwolves, in addition to Zheng Ke contributing a game-high 37 points, Love also scored a playoff-high 22 points and 15 rebounds.He felt hot in this game, and he made four of five shots from beyond the three-point line. He looked more vigorous than "Mr. Billionaire" Lewis.

When interviewed by the media after the game, Zheng Ke expressed some praise to his little brother: "Kevin is a magical person, we like to call him "Eros". His performance is phenomenal. When he gets double-teamed, he's able to get the open shot in and he's been amazing. And on top of that, you know, he grabbed 15 rebounds, and oh my god, that's over Dwight's head Grabbed it! His ability to protect the backboard is a big guarantee for our victory."

A reporter also asked Zheng Ke: "Now you are leading 2-0 in the series, and you were overturned without winning two consecutive away games in the finals. Are you ready to win the championship?"

Zheng Ke smiled and said: "Of course not. The NBA is a place where miracles are born, and anything can happen. We will never relax ourselves at this moment and take it lightly. You know, the Magic is a tenacious team. Howard is full of strength, losing two games in a row, they will definitely fight back, we must be fully prepared."

Questions from the reporters basically never left the range of the basketball. Zheng Ke looked at the technical statistics brought over from the table and answered their questions one by one without leaking anything.

Whitman is very excited. He has not been in the NBA for a long time, but he has almost touched the O'Brien Cup that many coaches have never touched in their entire lives.

He himself knows that the level of coaching is only average in the NBA.At most, he has some experience in cultivating young players, which is absolutely inferior to masters such as Popovich and Phil Jackson.Zheng Ke's contribution is the greatest for the Timberwolves to get to where they are today.

Compared with other "several giants get together" teams, single-core teams are always monolithic, and so are the Timberwolves.Whether playing against the Trail Blazers, or the Lakers, the Rockets, the Timberwolves clenched their fists and blasted out.Maybe the overall strength of the Timberwolves is not as good as the Lakers or the Rockets, but when it comes to fighting spirit, this young guard is always enthusiastic.What's even more frightening is that the Timberwolves are not as complete as the Blazers. Billups, who is in his 30s, and Mike Miller, who is almost 30, are the treasures of the Timberwolves. Pulling them back puts the Timberwolves on the right track.

Therefore, this is the luck of the Timberwolves this year. All the special factors have brought the Timberwolves to such a height.

At present, it seems that the Timberwolves are one step away from the highest honor of the championship.

(End of this chapter)