The godfather of basketball started from conquering the NBA

After beating the Spurs, the Timberwolves also faced the final challenge of breaking out of the West, the Denver Nuggets.

This Nuggets team is different from the "track and field team" of the previous life. This Nuggets team has the absolute core Curry, and DeRozan who has been strengthened by Xu Xiao.

This backcourt combination made Paul suffer a lot, and the Warriors in the second round can be said to have died at the hands of Curry.

"Huh? The Warriors died at the hands of Curry. That sounds weird."

Xu Xiao smacked his lips. There was nothing wrong with that view. In six games, Curry made 43 three-pointers, an average of six or seven per game. In two of the games, he made 10 three-pointers directly. Anyone who saw that would be confused.

There is also an enhanced version of DeRozan. With this kind of firepower configuration, the Timberwolves may be the only team in the entire West that can match it.

However, the Nuggets' ability to reach the Western Conference Finals was not entirely due to their backcourt. Their lineup is actually quite luxurious.

In addition to Curry and DeRozan in the starting lineup, there is also a super three-point shooter, the famous "Italian Cannon" Gallinari. The outside firepower of these three players is among the best in the entire league.

Their inside players are Paul's former right-hand men, David West and Tyson Chandler.

These two can be said to be the two most underrated stars.

West's inside offensive skills are among the best in the entire league, and although Chandler can only catch dunks on offense, his defense is definitely one of the best in the league.

There are also many famous players on the bench, such as the former Mavericks' championship hero, "A Mountain in Puerto Rico" Barea, former Pistons "Prince" Stuckey, and Split who is extremely good at standing defense.

Although they are not very famous, they are all very suitable players for the Nuggets.

In fact, compared to the Spurs or the Heat, the Nuggets are the team that really gives the Timberwolves a headache.

Because this kind of team doesn't play reasonably at all. In other words, their offense is not reasonable at all.

When the feel is right, no one can stop you. If the feel is not right, just gg.

The Timberwolves are not afraid of teams that play reasonably, such as the Spurs and James of the Heat.

Because the Timberwolves' lineup is the most reasonable lineup in the league. As long as you follow the tactics, no matter how perfect your tactics are or how powerful your stars are, you are no match for the Timberwolves.

Only the Nuggets are a team that can truly test the Timberwolves and figure out how to deal with their mad-like style of play.

Before the first game, almost 99 percent of the media believed that the Timberwolves would win without a doubt.

The reason is nothing more than that the Timberwolves have a more reasonable lineup and stronger defense. In this era, small ball and three-pointers are still not accepted.

Therefore, no one is optimistic about the Nuggets who rely too much on three-pointers. Even though they just defeated the Warriors, who are recognized as the "Galaxy Battleship" this season, they did not get enough attention from everyone. Some Spurs fans are still angry because in their opinion, if the Spurs can advance to the Western Conference Finals, defeating the Nuggets is a foregone conclusion.

But he gave everyone a loud slap in the face in the first game. Curry went on a rampage in Minnesota's home court, making 13 of 9 three-pointers and scoring 44 points and 7 assists in the game, leading the Nuggets to a 118-109 victory over the Timberwolves in the first game and getting off to a good start.

But even so, everyone still doesn't think the Nuggets can win. After all, this is only the first game, and they also lost the first game against the Spurs and Timberwolves in the last round. Everyone has seen how they beat the Spurs later.

So everyone is still optimistic about the Timberwolves and doesn't take the Nuggets too seriously. They just think that the Nuggets had a hot touch in the first game. After all, for a team that relies on hot touch, you can't be so hot in every game.

The second game was still held at the Timberwolves' home court. Xu Xiao made some adjustments in this game, such as reducing Yao Ming's playing time. In the previous game, he was a little superstitious and let Yao Ming go to the inside to play against Chandler, trying to gain an advantage through more inside play.

The price of doing so was that on the connecting end, the Nuggets chased him and threw three or four three-pointers, which not only failed to narrow the score gap, but widened it. Although Yao Ming had good offensive efficiency, scoring 7 points with 6 of 14 shots, his defensive loopholes were too big.

However, Xu Xiao did not blame Yao Ming. After all, his age is there. The yellow man also has a serious injury. In addition, at the age of 34, he can be a surprise soldier, but it is definitely impossible to expect him to be the C.

So in this game, Xu Xiao only gave Yao Ming 5 minutes, and he was under a lot of pressure to do so. After all, since he took office, they have never lost the first two home games by 0-2.

If we can't win this game, the team will really be on the edge of the cliff.

Although there were no problems with the Timberwolves' tactics and the team's performance in this game, the game was still tense.

DeRozan, the former Timberwolves player, stood up. At this moment, he was like a ruthless killer, attacking the Timberwolves' defense again and again.

The current Jimmy is not the Jimmy with great skills. The current Jimmy is just a third-year rookie. Facing DeRozan who has been strengthened by Xu Xiao, it is really uncomfortable for him.

The key is that Jimmy Butler hardly made any mistakes, and he kept sticking to DeRozan every time, but DeRozan didn't care at all. He received the ball with his back to the basket, dribbled it, turned around and made a pull-up shot.

Every shot was blocked and every shot went in. Now Xu Xiao could only beg DeRozan to show mercy on the bench.

In the first three quarters, the Nuggets relied on DeRozan's 34 points to keep the score close and entered the fourth quarter with a slight disadvantage of 77 to 80.

In the fourth quarter, Italian cannon Gallinari found his touch again, found an opportunity through the outside pick-and-roll with Curry, and made a three-pointer.

This game was completely lost due to the unreasonable shooting of the Nuggets.

113 to 110, the Timberwolves lost another game, and the series score has come to 0 to 2. The Timberwolves were pushed to the edge of the cliff by the Nuggets. They lost two home games in a row, and the next game will be played in the Denver Plateau next door. In history, no team has ever successfully turned the tables after falling behind 0 to 3.

In other words, if they lose the next game, it will almost be a death sentence for the Timberwolves.

This game finally made the media and fans start to take the Nuggets seriously. A team that can force Xu Xiao's Timberwolves into a desperate situation is definitely not an ordinary team. It seems that defeating the Warriors is not just luck. The Nuggets really have the strength.

After Curry exploded in the first game, DeRozan scored 39 points in the second game, including 34 points in the first three quarters, helping the team to keep the score close despite a bad performance.

The Italian cannon woke up in the fourth quarter, making 4 of 3 three-pointers, scoring 11 points in a single quarter and 15 points and 9 rebounds in the whole game. Although Curry had a bad touch in this game, scoring 19 points with 7 of 23 shots, he still created a lot of offensive space for the team with his excellent off-ball running.

This also made Xu Xiao realize that conventional game methods would definitely not work. Since he was facing an unreasonable team, he had to use some extreme methods on them.

Anyway, we have been forced into a desperate situation. If we don't make any changes and just wait for the Nuggets to get into a bad mood, that would be no different from waiting to die. We have to give it our all in the next game.