Junior Basketball says

Chapter 309

Defeating the Suns is the fourth-to-last regular season game of the Timberwolves this season. After the game, they lead by 0.5 games with the same number of games as the Grizzlies. Into the playoffs.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves' schedule is not bad. Their opponents in these three games are the Wizards, Pacers and Jazz. Currently, except for the Pacers who are still in the top eight in the Eastern Conference, the other two teams basically missed the playoffs. For them, there is no need to work hard to win a game. The Timberwolves only need to concentrate on gnawing off the hard bone of the Pacers.

For Xu Hao, these three teams are not a small challenge, because their starting No. 05 position is not a good one.The Wizards had the No. [-] pick in last year's draft, and Wall was known as the fastest point guard in the league. The Jazz had Deron, one of the "[-] point guard twin stars." Even the Pacers' starting point guard, Collison, was low-key but practical. Quality point guard.If the Timberwolves want to win these three games, Xu Hao's performance is still very important, but both coaches and teammates have confidence in him.

After a short rest, the Timberwolves team flew to the capital Washington to challenge the Wizards.Since sending Arenas away in the middle of the season, the Wizards have officially started rebuilding, and the core is naturally the No. 16.4 pick Langwall.The latter did not live up to the trust of the team. This season, he averaged 4.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and [-] assists per game. His talent is so strong that it will overflow.

Facing Xu Hao, an opponent who only entered the industry a year earlier than himself and had just experienced a serious injury, Wall was not afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, and he was determined to prove his strength against Xu Hao.Originally, his physical fitness is quite good, and his speed is a magic weapon for survival. Wall believes that he can use his speed to play Xu Hao in the applause.

However, at the beginning of the game, he realized that he was wrong. Xu Hao’s performance was completely different from those cautious players who had just returned from injury. When Wall got the ball, he posted it immediately, without hesitation. Physically perform body-on-the-body jamming.Even though Wall used a large change of direction, Xu Hao still followed him like a shadow.

This kind of defense makes Wall very uncomfortable. No matter how strong he is, he is only a rookie, and he has not yet reached the level where he can still output normally in the face of a strong defense.In the first quarter, Xu Hao forced Wall to make 3 turnovers, and only scored 4 points and sent 2 assists. 10 turnover.Under the leadership of Xu Hao, the Timberwolves established a double-digit lead in the first quarter and played very easily.

Wall was so focused on competing with Xu Hao that he completely forgot the task of organizing the offense. The Wizards could only rely on individual players to score points on the offensive end. The efficiency was very low, far inferior to the Timberwolves' comprehensive offense.The Timberwolves rubbed the Wizards on the ground throughout the game, and finally won another easy 101-85 victory.

Wall, who is favored by the Wizards management, looked like a kid who didn't understand anything in front of Xu Hao. He only scored 12 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, but made 8 turnovers. His performance was very poor. .More importantly, he failed to restrain Xu Hao on the defensive end, allowing the latter to easily score a triple-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

The Timberwolves' away win left the Grizzlies and Suns behind them in despair. They eagerly hope that the Pacers can teach the Wolves a profound lesson and at the same time keep their hopes of reaching the playoffs alive.The Pacers are indeed not easy to deal with this season. Their starting lineup is quite competitive: Collison is responsible for organization in the backcourt and Dunleavy Jr. is responsible for shooting. Granger is the core of the team on the wing, and Hans Bu is in the interior. Lu and Hibbert, two big men with tough styles, are in charge.

Facing the Timberwolves, who came from afar, the Pacers had an advantage from the very beginning. Brewer, who was not dominant in size, was continuously overwhelmed by Granger in the low post. The last line of defense composed of Hansbrough and Hibbert maximized It greatly restricted Love's scoring in the paint.Xu Hao didn't have a good idea outside. At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves trailed 27 to 34.

In the second quarter, McHale made adjustments and asked Xu Hao and Ellington to increase their outside shots. The defense of Collison and Dunleavy was not enough to interfere with them.After putting the offensive focus on the perimeter, the Timberwolves quickly recovered. Xu Hao hit 2 consecutive three-pointers in 3 minutes, helping the team tie the score in one fell swoop.However, the Pacers are not easy to mess with. Although the Timberwolves evened the point difference, they still could not gain a clear advantage. At the end of the half, the two sides fought to a 57-level tie.

The Timberwolves, who had tasted the sweetness, continued to try outside shots in the second half, but the Pacers could easily score near the basket every time, and the score between the two sides never opened.It wasn't until the last 3 minutes of the whole game that the Timberwolves took the lead with Xu Hao, Ellington and Love's consecutive three-pointers, and kept the advantage until the last second.

In this campaign, Xu Hao once again contributed a quasi-triple double - 25 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists. His fiery state is eye-catching. Many teams that have already made it to the playoffs have begun to be careful. The complete Timberwolves The appearance is not easy to deal with.

With the prestige of the winning streak, the Timberwolves easily defeated the Jazz 99-89 after returning to their home court, but this time it was not Xu Hao who was in the limelight. He scored 18 points and 6 rebounds in a satisfactory manner. and 8 assists, which by the way limited Deron to 15 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists.The hero of the Timberwolves' victory in this game is undoubtedly Love. He scored 33 points and 20 rebounds in a large double-double, which directly blasted the Jazz's inside line to scum.Love's partner Jordan also scored 11 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. The two teamed up to dominate the basket.

Although the Grizzlies and the Suns did not play a game each, the Timberwolves' playoff spots have already been settled. Their victory or defeat will not affect the top eight rankings in the Western Conference at all, and can only determine their order in the draft lottery. bit.This made the management of the two teams very frustrated, and they wanted to break up the existing lineup and start rebuilding. This is a later story.

Reaching the playoffs again made the Timberwolves fans rejoice. They did not expect that the team could still break into the top eight in the Western Conference even though Xu Hao missed most of the games.Although there is no improvement compared to last season, the difficulty is more than one level higher. Even if they are eliminated in the first round, it will be a great comfort to the fans.

(End of this chapter)