Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 10 10. Good News

In the next three games, the Timberwolves defeated the Hornets, Eagles and Bobcats successively. Since the start of the new season, they have remained unbeaten and have now increased their winning streak to five games.

And the record of five wins and zero losses also allows the Timberwolves to temporarily rank first in the league.

At the same time, in ESPN's latest combat power rankings, the Timberwolves also overwhelmed the pack, ranking first without any suspense.

After the start of the new season, each team will enter the running-in stage, so teams that often make moves during the offseason need about ten games to complete the buffer.

For a team like the Timberwolves whose core lineup has not changed at all and only made some corner reinforcements during the offseason, the beginning of the season is actually a strong period for the Timberwolves.

In other words, while other teams are still in a state of running-in and groping, the Timberwolves have gone all out and are leading at the starting line.

In addition, the changes in the Timberwolves in the new season are also amazing. In the five games that have ended, the Timberwolves averaged 111.6 points per game, ranking third in the league.

As for the average conceded points per game, it remained at 91.2 points, ranking fourth in the league.

You know, these two sets of data can definitely be called terrifying.

The Timberwolves' offensive efficiency ranks third among the 30 teams in the league, and the Timberwolves' defensive efficiency ranks fourth among the 30 teams in the league.

This kind of dominant performance on both ends of the offense and defense is also the main reason why the Timberwolves can top the list.

值得一提的是，“狼王”加内特在这五场比赛场均可以砍下28.7分16.1篮板4.8助攻2.1抢断以及2.9次封盖。

Looking at the entire league, currently only Allen Iverson, who can compete with Garnett in terms of personal performance, averaged 34.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 3.1 steals per game.

At present, Garnett and Iverson are the rebounding leader, the scoring leader, the player with the highest defensive efficiency in the league, and the player with the strongest offensive firepower in the league.

It's just that Garnett led the Timberwolves to the league's best performance, while Iverson will do everything possible to lead the 76ers to victory.

So far, the 76ers have a record of two wins and four losses. Even though Iverson has tried his best on the offensive end, it is still hard for the 76ers to win.

………………

On November 11, when the Timberwolves had a bright future and even the fans started to go crazy, news finally came from general manager McHale.

To be precise, what came out of McHale was good news.

"Good news, Lu, Carl's side has obviously loosened up, and now he is very interested in joining the team."

"It must have been the performance of the team during this period that impressed Carl." After these words, McHale was also full of expectations, "Carl said that he would probably arrange things around him within a week, and then he would come to Minnesota for the conference. report."

When McHale invited Karl Malone to join the Timberwolves some time ago, Karl Malone didn't have much interest at first.

Although looking at McHale's face, he didn't reject it outright, but from the bottom of his heart, Karl Malone still didn't think about joining the Timberwolves.

After all, the Lakers were swept out by the Pistons 4:1 in the Finals last season, which has chilled Karl Malone, and even prepared for a career without a championship.

So when the Timberwolves, the Lakers' defeat last season, sent out an invitation, Malone never thought about joining.

However, with the Timberwolves' outstanding team performance during this period, as well as ESPN and the media's extensive reports, Karl Malone's mind gradually became active.

According to ESPN and various authoritative media reports, with the current competitive state of the Timberwolves, the Timberwolves are likely to break out of the siege for the first time in team history in the new season and launch an impact on the status of the defending champion Pistons.

Because the Timberwolves' performance on both offense and defense in the new season is too explosive, just looking at it right now, they are even better than the Pistons.

As long as the performance of the Timberwolves is not a flash in the pan, then there will definitely be a Timberwolves name on this year's championship list.

In addition, Karl Malone is not reconciled to retiring so hastily. Let alone the lack of a championship in his career, just the fact that the Big Four failed to win the championship last season has become a major stain on Karl Malone's career.

So if there is a chance, Karl Malone still wants to beat the Pistons head-on, and while winning the first championship trophy in his career, he will wash away the shame of last season by himself.

Finally, because Karl Malone and McHale also have some friendship in private, and the Timberwolves have shown such a strong championship competitiveness in the new season, this also makes Karl Malone want to try one last time.

Even if he still can't win the championship this season, Malone has at least fought for it. No matter what the final result is, Karl Malone will not regret it, even if Malone wants to succeed more!

.....................

In the next game, the Timberwolves will fly to Portland to challenge the Trail Blazers away.

This season, the Blazers are still, as always, less than the top and more than the bottom.

It's just that after the start of the game, the Blazers' current team record is even worse than last season.

If the current situation continues, then head coach Cheeks is likely to face a crisis of getting out of class.

After all, the Blazers have not had a particularly strong rookie worthy of training in the past two years, so what the Blazers need to do is to try their best to achieve results, so as to give the team owner Paul Allen an explanation.

Paul Allen can be regarded as the richest owner in the NBA at present, which has caused the Blazers management to bear huge psychological pressure all year round.

Because Paul Allen is not short of money at all, what he needs is grades instead.

This season, the Trail Blazers also have Zach Randolph, Raheem, "Little Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire, and Darius Miles and "Fan Crazy" who have not been able to realize their potential.

It stands to reason that this lineup is not very bad, and even Randolph just won the MIP (Most Improved Player Award) last season with an average of 20.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

But the results of the Blazers in the new season are very outrageous. The current record of one win and five losses seems like a sharp knife suspended over the head of head coach Cheeks.

As for whether Morris Cheeks can complete self-rescue, it depends on his own coaching level.

In this game, the Timberwolves did not encounter much resistance when facing the Trail Blazers, whose defensive level was extremely poor, their mental state was sleepwalking, and most of them were singles on the offensive end.

With Garnett still playing like an old dog, the Timberwolves led the Trail Blazers by 21 points at halftime, as if the Timberwolves hadn't played their full strength, and the Trail Blazers had already been beaten to waste the game.

After returning from the second half, Zach Randolph, who only wanted to collect statistics, had no ability to lead the team to reverse.

And the head coach Luke has never been used to mistakes. Even if the team has a big lead in the third quarter, Luke still rotates normally, allowing the main players to continue to play a role in the third quarter.

"Beep-beep-beep"

As the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the Timberwolves finally slaughtered the Trail Blazers with 37 points in an away game, setting the league's record for the largest point difference this season, and at the same time increasing the team's winning streak to six games!

除此之外，加内特在本场比赛继续砍下27分18篮板4助攻3抢断以及2次封盖，将与自己对位的扎克兰多夫打到自闭。

It made Randolph score 38.6 points and 9 rebounds with only 7% field goal percentage.

Although today's "black bear", no, to be precise, today's Zach Randolph has not yet reached the peak, but in this personal confrontation with Garnett, Randolph can be said to have been well placed. class! !

(End of this chapter)