Junior Basketball says

Chapter 385
Before the Western Conference Finals, no one thought that the Spurs would be beaten like this.Some people may have thought about the score of 3 to 1, but they thought that the Spurs would definitely lead, but now the facts are completely different from their imagination.

The pressure on the Spurs standing on the edge of a cliff is high. You must know that their goal this season is the championship. They did not expect that they are very likely to be eliminated before the finals. This is unacceptable to the entire Spurs team.After the Lakers were eliminated strongly, they were full of confidence in winning the championship, but unexpectedly, the younger Timberwolves were more difficult than the Lakers.

Immediately after returning to San Antonio, Popovich held a team meeting, but no one knew what they talked about in this meeting.The current general argument from the outside world is that the Timberwolves should be able to solve the problem within 6 games and reach the finals for the first time in team history.In fact, reaching the Western Conference finals for two consecutive years is already very good. Before that, the Timberwolves only reached the conference finals once, but Xu Hao no longer looked down on the conference finals. He was determined to help the team win the championship.

Yes, win the championship!In his eyes, reaching the finals is only a matter of time. They already reached the Western Conference Finals last season. Logically speaking, the finals should be their goal, but Xu Hao feels that the team is strong enough to compete for the championship.

Faced with this may be the last game of the Western Conference Finals, McHale led the team to San Antonio early to arrange for the players to rest and train.For this coach with outstanding achievements in the player era, this is undoubtedly a great honor. He does not want to fall before dawn, so he must minimize all possible risks before the game!
In addition, McHale also privately interviewed the three core cores of Xu Hao, Rubio, and Love. If they want to defeat the Spurs and advance to the finals, their three performances are crucial.Of course, in McHale's heart, Xu Hao's expectations are the greatest. His strength on both offense and defense can be said to be the top of the team. Xu Hao is an absolute contributor to the Timberwolves' 3-1 lead.In case Xu Hao suddenly languishes in the next game, the probability of the Timberwolves advancing will plummet.

Xu Hao was not surprised by McHale's request. The team must rely on his performance if they want to win.But Xu Hao didn't want to fight alone in this game. He played relatively easily in the last game, which was also his favorite way.

So he solemnly said to McHale: "Coach, I will try my best to complete my task, but I also hope that my teammates can give me more support, just like the last game, isn't the process of our winning Is it easy?"

McHale nodded and smiled and said, "I'll tell them. You just have to continue to play your role."

In response to the Minnesota fans, the San Antonio fans also turned the AT&T Center into the devil's arena, and the noise was even worse.In their view, since Timberwolves fans can boo an experienced and steady team like the Spurs, they should be able to influence the Timberwolves in the same way, right?
In fact, they did succeed. The Timberwolves made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the game. Jordan even had the embarrassment of missing an alley-oop dunk. This was the first time he missed a dunk this season.Love and Rubio also hit hard and failed to grab rebounds. Among the starting five, only Xu Hao and Korver were considered normal, and the Timberwolves were also lagging behind in the score.

McHale paced anxiously on the sidelines, the screams and cheers in his ears adding to his headache.He had been mentally prepared before, but when the team really started to fall behind, he began to worry about gains and losses.Of course, the big score between the two sides is now 3 to 1. It doesn't matter if the Timberwolves lose a game, but it may also have a serious impact.

Xu Hao on the field was also a little anxious. While he was fighting with the opponent, his mind was spinning rapidly.Although the Spurs have not yet achieved an overwhelming advantage, with their experience and strength, this is almost inevitable.As the outside core of the Timberwolves, he must find a way to break the game and pull the team out of trouble.

The best way is of course to score points like crazy. Fortunately, Korver has a good touch and Xu Hao is not alone.Soon Xu Hao changed his mode. Others only existed as cover walls and containment points. He kept breaking through and then passing the ball. Korver kept looking for loopholes in the Spurs' defense. After receiving the pass, Another hit and it hits.

In less than 3 minutes, Xu Hao and Korver teamed up to help the Timberwolves catch up with the score.As Xu Hao completed a breakthrough dunk, the Timberwolves tied the score at 25, and McHale also breathed a sigh of relief.On the contrary, Popovich's heart was raised, for fear that Xu Hao would copy the 50+ triple-double in the second game, and it would be difficult for the Spurs to win.

But Xu Hao is obviously not that perverted, and the Spurs players are also very active in scoring points. At the end of the first quarter, the score between the two sides was 35 to 34, and the Timberwolves were 1 point behind. This was still acceptable to McHale and Popovich. of.

Unexpectedly, the situation changed suddenly in the second quarter. Xu Hao didn't rest at all. He led the Timberwolves' bench to play a 12-0 spurt, and instantly opened the point difference to double digits.In this small climax, the short and flexible Barea should be the one who contributed the most. He scored 8 points alone and turned the Spurs' solid defense upside down.

With this wave of offensive, the Timberwolves have the upper hand on the court, and Xu Hao is also happy to create opportunities for his teammates.In his opinion, it is enough to play superstar basketball once in a while, and always play like this, unless he is Superman.As awesome as Chamberlain, he once played such an inhumane performance with an average of 50.4 points per game in a single season. Didn't he win the championship for the first time after he started passing the ball?

At the end of the half, the Timberwolves continued to lead 58 to 50, and did not give the Spurs any chance to comeback in the second half.From this point of view, this young team has done better than many old teams. You must know that the most common problem with young people is that they are arrogant because of their early victories, and eventually lose what looked like a very good situation. .

4 to 1, the Timberwolves won four games in a row after losing one game first, and eliminated the Spurs, the leader of the Western Conference. Celebrate the win, now they're a Finals-caliber team.Xu Hao stood on the sidelines with his hips crossed, looked at his teammates celebrating wildly and smiled slightly: Now he is only halfway to his goal this season!

(End of this chapter)