Chapter 41 Lin Fei: I really envy you, I have nothing but 3 points and 1!
The ball is converted, and the Timberwolves attack.
Without Lin Fei on the field, the Timberwolves quickly switched to a traditional offensive mode. The Wolf King received a pass from Darrick Martin in the high position and continued to hit Luke Walton's weakness.
Wharton Jr. defended very hard, sticking close to the wolf king, not giving an inch, and not making shots.
Although most rookies lack experience, they are very active on defense, because this is often their starting point and the capital that makes them valuable.
The wolf king pushed Wharton with his back twice to find the rhythm, and after turning over, he made a decisive mid-range jumper.
"Bang!"
The ball was still a little short of a shot and missed the frame.
The wolf king frowned slightly, apparently feeling somewhat dissatisfied psychologically.
His offensive state has been online since the beginning, but after Lin Fei came on the court midway, he had to switch to constant running cover mode.
There was no main attack shot for 5 consecutive minutes, which also made the Wolf King feel a little cold.
But Lin Fei's 5-of-4 three-pointers were indeed an arrow that pierced his heart, helping the Timberwolves quickly expand their lead, and the Wolf King had nothing to complain about.
In the playoffs, where every game is a must-win, winning is the key. No matter how well Lin Fei plays, this Timberwolves are still his Kevin Garnett team.
"Snapped!"
O'Neal's strong body pushed Olowokandi aside, flew forward and grabbed the defensive rebound, and quickly gave it to Kobe after landing.
The Lakers counterattacked quickly, and the "Madman", who had rested for enough time, was full of energy and turned over to chase after him.
Kobe stabilized his rhythm in the frontcourt and waited for O'Neal to get into position. The Sharks ran all the way and spotted the gap where the Timberwolves' zone defense failed to position in time. The agile tank flashed into the penalty area.
After receiving a pass from Kobe, he jumped up from the Wolf King and made another violent slam dunk.
"Boom!"
In less than 30 seconds, O'Neal scored 4 points and 1 rebound in a row, and the offense and defense exploded quickly.
O'Neal, who landed a dunk, was completely out of shape. He turned over and clenched his fists at the Wolf King and roared:
"Don't get too complacent, buddy, the game has just begun!"
Lin Fei, who was sitting on the Timberwolves bench, did not notice O'Neal's outburst. He was carefully communicating with Cassel next to him about some cooperation details in the game just now.
When the Timberwolves attack, the ball still goes to the Wolf King in the high position.
This time, the Wolf King chose to face up to Walton.
"Whoosh!"
At the moment when the Wolf King started to break through, Kobe looked at the right time with cold eyes, let go of the "madman" and quickly double-teamed him.
Garnett faced double teams and had no choice but to shoot the ball, but Kobe predicted it in advance and stabbed the basketball away with a flying shot.
"Snapped!"
Steals +1.
Kobe flew forward with the ball and went straight to the middle. After all, the young man had an absolute advantage in physical strength. "Madman" and Szebiak both turned over and failed to catch up. They could only watch the Black Mamba enter the penalty area and complete the fast break. buckle.
"Boom!"
Timberwolves (32): (21) Lakers.
After the timeout, the Lakers chased 6 points in a row under the leadership of the OK combination. The one-sided start became suspenseful, and the Purple and Gold Army in the away game also slowly found their sense.
With only 17 seconds left in the first quarter, the Timberwolves made the final attack of the first quarter.
"Madman" made a sudden stop and took a mid-range shot after pressing time to break through. Kobe defended the ball very well and missed the basketball frame.
"Bang!"
Olowokandi's tip-up under the basket still failed, the red light came on, and the first quarter ended.
Flip Saunders looked stern. He felt that his use of players in the first quarter was a bit bold, and he was also overconfident in the game.
You must know that this is a tiebreaker, and there is no room for sloppyness.
Lin Fei indeed scored 13 points in less than five minutes on the court, but it disrupted the rhythm of the game between the two main players, Wolf King and "Madman". This is not a good signal.
The current Timberwolves can be said to have an original tactical system, as well as a second offensive system with Lin Fei as the core.
This second offensive system directly helped the Timberwolves win the game at the last moments of G5 and G6 in the Western Conference Finals, but it does not seem to apply to the entire game.
What Kevin McHale said is not unreasonable. After all, this Timberwolves must rely on the three-headed monster to win the game in a more secure way.
After the start of the second quarter, Flip Saunders let Lin Fei come on again, and Szebiak came off the court to take a break.
But at this time, Lin Fei's main task on the offensive end is to open up space and continue to let the Wolf King and "Madman" be the main attack points.
Facts have proved that this change has also achieved very good results. Fisher has always defended Lin Fei, and other Lakers players are also like frightened birds. On the defensive end, they will always be distracted by Lin Fei's sharp running positions.
The Wolf King first scored two points with a jump layup during a breakthrough, and then the "Madman" broke through Devin George on the offensive end and reached the basket to score 2+1.
But Lin Fei was still targeted on the defensive end, and veteran Fisher took the opportunity to hit a three-pointer, slightly recalling his face.
Seeing that the "madman" was going to explode, Kobe, who had only rested for 1 minute, couldn't sit still, and quickly got up to play in dead time.
Seeing that the score advantage was obvious, Philip Sanders changed his tactics again, replacing Lin Fei and Darrick Martin, and replaced Cassell and Szerbiak again.
The Timberwolves return to tonight's starting five, which is also the strongest lineup on the defensive end. If there is Trenton Hassell, it will be more perfect.
Compared with the 53 points scored by the two teams in the first quarter, in the second quarter, when the defensive intensity of both sides increased significantly, the scoring efficiency also declined rapidly.
O'Neal became more and more brave in the penalty area, and the Timberwolves could only adopt shark-cutting tactics in advance.
The Wolf King's advantage at the power forward position is still obvious. He scored 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block in a single quarter, basically matching O'Neal.
"Madman's" offensive performance was slightly inferior to Kobe's, but Szebiak's three-pointer made up for it.
Lin Fei, who was sitting on the side bench, couldn't help sighing, he scored two three-pointers on Kobe's head tonight, and the [Superstar Killer Card] also reduced Kobe's touch by two 20%.
This guy can actually continue to break through and score.
It seems that the Black Mamba tonight is already in shape to play an efficient game. If it were not for the reduction of the [Superstar Killer Card], Kobe would probably go completely crazy...
In the last 0 minutes and 30 seconds of the second quarter, the Wolf King turned over from the baseline and hit another jumper.
"Shh!"
Timberwolves (49): (37) Lakers.
Always holding a double-digit lead.
Kobe played "Madman" with his back and turned over but failed to hit the iron, but O'Neal under the basket once again grabbed the offensive rebound and violently succeeded in a dunk.
"Boom!"
The point difference returned to 10 points.
There were only 13 seconds left on the timer before the end of the first half.
Phillip Sanders called a timeout and was about to replace Lin Fei for the final attack of the first half.
Obviously, it is indeed the most appropriate choice to launch tactics around Lin Feilai in the last attack at the end of the quarter.
It can be said that the Timberwolves have played a bright card. The "Zen Master" naturally told all the players to guard Lin Fei no matter what, and to delay the ball on the side of the ball as soon as possible when encountering a screen to cut off Cassel's passing line.
Pause back.
The Timberwolves fans at home could not wait for Lin Fei to score another three-pointer, and they started shouting in advance:
"Fifth, fifth, fifth..."
Mike Breen in front of the commentary desk also said excitedly:
"Although Lin is only an undrafted player and has too many technical shortcomings, his three-pointers have quickly attracted a large number of fans in the league!"
"When he is running on the offensive end, the stars on the court seem to be focused on him alone!"
"Even stars such as the OK combination, Kevin Garnett and Latrell seem to be eclipsed in an instant!"
"My, God, this is magic!"
on the field.
The Timberwolves served the ball from the frontline, and "Alien" Cassel held the ball on the right side of the top of the arc and feinted.
Lin Fei continued to interspersed with running positions, Hei Mamba Kobe's gaze was like a sword, he gritted his teeth and followed closely.
During several body collisions with Kobe after running back and forth, Lin Fei felt pain in his shoulder and arm, and was almost knocked to the ground.
But he never meant to resort to diving to get a foul, because this is the playoffs where the bayonet is red, and the referee will not indulge those weaklings.
Neither the Timberwolves' team will nor Lin Fei's own will will allow him to do this.
"Whoosh!"
The Wolf King and Olowokandi may have physical problems or lack of concentration. The quality of their two consecutive screens was not very good.
Of course, after the Lakers suffered consecutive losses from Lin Fei in the first quarter, the communication between players on delays and defense changes became more tacit. Cassell had no chance to pass the ball over.
Seeing that there was not much time left in the attack, Kassel turned back to Lao Yu to catch the dribble behind Professor, threw the opponent away and went straight to the basket.
"Whoosh!"
Facing Devin George who came up from the supplementary defense, Cassell made a fake fax shot, made a difficult throw after a fake, and the high-arc basketball stably entered the net.
"Shh!"
The ball went in and the lights came on, and the first half was over.
51: 39.
The Timberwolves regained a 12-point lead.
"Sam, I'm so envious of your skills!"
Lin Fei was the first to rush up and high-five Cassel. His words were not complimentary at all, he was truly envious and drooling.
Cassell's ball from breakthrough to throw is quite beautiful. It can be said that it played Fisher and Devon George continuously, and the overall difficulty factor is very high.
The top five point guards in the league at their peak seem to be shining again after breaking through injuries.
After Cassell completed this breakthrough buzzer-beating throw, his back actually felt obvious pain, but he still responded to Lin Fei with a smile:
"Lin, it's still my fault that my passing level is not good enough. We can't get three points, so we can only choose two points!"
Lin Fei frowned and sighed, invisible pretense is the most deadly:
"Sam, I really envy you, Latrell and Kevin for having such comprehensive skills, pure hexagonal warriors!"
"Unlike me, I have nothing but three points!"
The smiles on the faces of Kassel, the madman and the wolf king who surrounded them suddenly changed. Why doesn't Lin Fei's words sound like he is praising them?
Mud, this guy has tricked you again!