Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 145 145. The playoffs are coming (two chapters in one)

The first round of the playoffs officially started on April 4. This season, the Timberwolves made history with a record of 24 wins and 74 losses.

So no matter which team the Timberwolves meet in the playoffs, they will have home court advantage.

In the first two games, the Lakers will be a guest in Minnesota under great pressure, and become more passive when they are already at a disadvantage.

This season can be regarded as Kobe's god-level competition. If it weren't for the double harvest of Garnett's personal data and team record, I believe Kobe has already booked the regular season MVP in advance.

只是可惜，加内特常规赛场均23.4分17.6篮板4.8助攻2.3抢断以及2.7封盖的数据虽然不如科比场均35分那般震撼，但加内特在个人效率和球队战绩上都遥遥领先。

The selection of the MVP in the regular season is not just about personal data. The bonus points for the team's record are far beyond people's imagination.

At present, it seems that Garnett's re-election as the regular season MVP has become a certainty, with comprehensive and scalp-numbing personal data and a team record of 74 wins and 8 losses.

No matter from which point of view, Garnett has no possibility of losing the election.

It is worth mentioning that Garnett has won two regular season MVPs in a row. If Garnett wins the MVP again this season, he will become the fourth player in NBA history to win three consecutive MVPs!
Since the establishment of the NBA, only three players have accomplished this feat in the entire history.

These three players are the ancient "Lord of the Rings" Russell, "Basketball Emperor" Chamberlain, and "Big Bird" Larry Bird.

In addition, even the "God of Basketball" Michael Jordan failed to win the regular season MVP for three consecutive years.

After all, in addition to strength, this kind of thing also needs some luck.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Garnett can finally be elected as the MVP of the regular season and complete the feat of three consecutive games, Garnett will secure the No.1 throne in the league.

And beat Karl Malone and Tim Duncan at the power forward position, becoming the well-deserved number one power forward in history. Even though Garnett's career is still very long, three consecutive MVPs are enough for Garnett to beat the pack.

Before the start of the game, Lakers star Kobe Bryant said in an interview with the media: "This will be a difficult series matchup. Still hopeful."

It can be seen from Kobe that he is full of desire to win. Even if the depth of the Lakers' lineup reaches the point where Kwame Brown must be used as the starter, Kobe still does not want to give up lightly.

Except for the star Kobe Bryant, the Lakers head coach "Zen Master" seemed much calmer, and he didn't even take Luke seriously in his words.

"The Timberwolves lineup is much better than the Lakers. Although only three Timberwolves have been selected to the All-Star lineup this year, there are far more than three players with All-Star strength in the Timberwolves."

"This will be a round of disparity in strength, but it is not only the lineup that determines the final outcome on the field, there are many other factors."

"At this point, the Lakers have excellent experience in the playoffs. I believe the chances of the Lakers advancing are much higher than the fans imagined."

"Zen Master" Jackson kept silent about Luke's excellent coaching ability, and also did not comment on the deal between "Little Shark" Bynum and Gortat.

After all, this deal has embarrassing Zen master who wanted to step into the management team. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a wound in his heart.

Although Jackson doesn't hate Luke as much as Popovich and Larry Brown, but he really doesn't like Luke.

In particular, Luke personally led the team to break the best record he set when he led the Bulls that year, which made Jackson feel very uncomfortable, and even gave birth to many crises.

.........

Before the game, the players from both sides warmed up by shooting in the half court. Jackson stood on the sidelines holding the tactical board as if explaining something to the players. Kobe stared at the tactical board with a frown. serious.

As for the Timberwolves, it seemed a lot easier. The players warmed up individually. Even if there were occasional players with solemn expressions, they would soon be attracted by the appearance of the head coach Luke.

Not only did Luke not explain the precautions to the players before the game, he also didn't seem nervous. Instead, he talked with assistant coach Raymond talking and laughing.

Only Ranbir looked a little nervous, sitting aside and rubbing his hands subconsciously back and forth. These actions all showed that Ranbir's heart was not as relaxed as Luke's.

In fact, the first round of the playoffs is approaching, and Luke really doesn't have much sense of urgency now. All this comes from his familiarity with the Lakers coach "Zen Master" Jackson.

Luke knew very well that this guy Jackson would play a triangle offense. At most, he would pull out two triangles on the left and right sides at the same time, and make some improvements on the basis of the triangle offense.

It is inevitable that Jackson will not give up playing the triangle offense, especially when Kobe is in a hot state this season, the Zen master who does not play the triangle offense is simply useless, and only serves to instill chicken soup for the players.

The most feared defense in the triangle offense is the three-two defense.

Even if Jackson can pull out two sets of triangles at the same time, the conventional three-two defense will hardly limit the performance of the Lakers.

But as long as Luke puts Gerald Wallace and Garnett on the left and right sides, the Lakers' triangle offense will be half-baked based on the two's ability to help defend.

Unless, like in the game where the Lakers narrowly beat the Timberwolves at the end of the regular season, Kobe can cut melons and chop vegetables in a double-team state to help the team continue their offensive firepower, otherwise Luke will let Jackson know what cruelty is.

Tell the "Zen Master" with the facts that although the era of the triangle offense is not over yet, in front of the Timberwolves, the triangle offense is a joke.

Timberwolves' starting lineup for this game is: "Glove" Payton, Madman, Gerald Wallace, Garnett, and Bynum.

The Lakers are: "Reaper" Smash Parker, Kobe, Odom, Kwame Brown, and Gortat.

Both teams sent regular starters, and Zen Master still insisted on using the Twin Towers. Even if Kwame Brown's personal strength is hard to describe, Zen Master can only choose to believe in this guy.

Although Kwame Brown often has buttery hands and can't catch the pass from his teammates in the air cut, in fact, Kwame Brown's finishing efficiency in the penalty area is not bad, and his 53% field goal percentage is not as bad as people think.

However, in this round of the series, Kwame Brown needs to face up against "Wolf King" Garnett, one of the best inside players in the league today.

The fans can only pray that Kwame Brown will not be beaten out of the psychological shadow. Just like when he first entered the league, the connection ball scolded by Jordan is terrified.

.........

As soon as the game started, Kobe was flanked by the Timberwolves on the offensive end. As long as Kobe entered the shooting range, the Timberwolves would definitely double-team Kobe.

Kobe's personal offense will be the biggest threat to the Timberwolves in this round of the series. Once the Timberwolves can control Kobe's point, it will be difficult for the second-in-command headed by Odom to make waves.

On the offensive end, Garnett and "The Glove" Payton took the lead in starting to exert their strength. After all, these two sets of matchups are the most advantageous point of the Timberwolves.

As a blue-collar insider, Kwame Brown's defensive ability is not bad, but the reaction speed is really slow in Garnett's view.

Taking advantage of his footsteps, Garnett played Kwame Brown continuously on the offensive end, and played the personal level that a regular season MVP should have at the beginning of the game.

Although Garnett's performance is excellent, Kwame Brown is at a disadvantage in this regard, but the Lakers dare not attack at will like the Timberwolves. They can only let outside players try to interfere and try to help Kwame Brown share the defensive pressure.

The five players on the Timberwolves field have good offensive capabilities. Once the Lakers flank Garnett, other players will have a very good chance, which makes "Zen Master" Jackson dare not bet at all.

As for "Gloves" Payton, he also has obvious advantages when facing "Reaper" Parker. Parker is 1 meters tall and weighs 93 kilograms.

But Smush Parker is from a real dirt road. His offense is not stable enough, and his defensive ability is average. Apart from working hard enough, a guy like Parker is easy to catch in the NBA.

If he hadn't participated in this year's summer league and was given a non-guaranteed contract by the Lakers, who were seriously short of guards, Parker would have almost left the league.

Smush Parker is very famous on the streets of New York. The name "Reaper" is the best awe for him, but the NBA league is different from street basketball, especially when entering the playoffs, any flaws will be eliminated by the opponent. Unlimited magnification.

The core strength of Smush Parker, who was born on a dirt road, is already very bad. Now it is miserable to meet "Glove" Payton, who is very good at post-up singles.

"Glove" Payton is also 1.9 meters tall and weighs 82 kilograms, which is a little lighter than "Reaper" Parker, but "Glove" Payton's core strength can beat Parker by more than two blocks.

As the two of them confronted each other while walking, Parker was almost knocked out several times, and the way he stumbled looked a little funny.

The entire first quarter of the Lakers didn't go well at all. On the defensive end, the Timberwolves found flaws and targeted them endlessly. The most important thing was the offensive end. "Zen Master" Jackson found that he couldn't crack the Timberwolves' ultimate defense.

When Kobe was targeted by the two opponents, the offensive ability of others was completely unable to break through the Timberwolves' defense.

In more cases, Kobe can only use difficult moves to complete the shot. Several times, because Kobe protruded too deep inside, the Timberwolves have triple-teamed Kobe, completely blocking Kobe's passing vision, forcing Kobe to use more. Difficult moves to end the attack.

Kobe's poor offensive environment has put the Lakers at a disadvantage. Even the second-in-command Odom can hardly stand up and take on the big responsibility at this time.

The person who defended Odom in this game was Gerald Wallace. Whether it was one-on-one defense or running without the ball, it was difficult for Odom to come up with a chance.

As for the "Grim Reaper" Parker, who performed fairly well in the regular season, he suffered a lot under Payton's hands. He only made [-] of [-] shots in the first quarter, which made Parker less and less confident. The meaning of returning to the original shape.

If it weren't for Luke Walton, who was replaced later, with a fairly fiery touch, hitting a three-pointer on the left and right sides, the Lakers might have been beaten to pieces.

At the end of the first quarter, with Luke Walton scoring two consecutive three-pointers in the last 2 minutes, the Lakers narrowed the point difference to 4 points.

In the second quarter of the game, the two sides switched to a rotation lineup to start a contest. Only at this time in the game can fans see the gap between the Lakers and Timberwolves.

During the rotation stage, the Lakers sent some small fish and shrimps, and there were even a few players that Timberwolves fans couldn't name, but the rotation lineup on the Timberwolves side almost didn't blind the fans' eyes.

"Alien" Cassel, Nehbar, Szczerbiak, Eddie Griffin, Magloire...

These players are singled out except for Eddie Griffin, and several others have the strength to play in the starting lineup. Now they can only use the rotation time to play in the Timberwolves. It has to be said that the Timberwolves' lineup is simply luxurious.

On the Lakers side, Aaron McGee, Vujacic, Devin George, Brian Cook, Turiaf.

Comparing the lineups of the two sides, "Zen Master" Jackson only felt that his mouth was full of sour taste, and his whole body exuded the smell of lemon.

Obviously the Lakers are the giants of the league, and Los Angeles is located in one of the most luxurious areas in the United States. In the end, they were hanged and beaten by that ghost place in Minnesota in the lineup. Jackson really didn't want to accept this cruel fact.

The most cruel thing is that the Timberwolves lineup is obviously very good, but most of the players' salaries are not high. Compared with the free market recruitment, several players are reinforced by the Timberwolves through trading operations.

Jackson didn't know whether it was the Timberwolves' good vision or luck. In short, Jackson was getting more and more angry with the lineup in his hands, and even couldn't help cursing in a low voice: "What kind of help is this. !"

The poor strength of the Lakers' rotation made Jackson have to brainlessly increase the playing time of the main players.

Kobe Bryant, who played the full first quarter, is currently sitting off the court to rest, but Odom, who got one and a half minutes of rest in the first quarter, had to quickly return to the court.

Odom's return can at least allow the Lakers to find a backbone on both ends of the offense and defense. If it doesn't work, it can also allow Odom to use his personal ability to play individual singles, and there will be no forced shots when 24 seconds are approaching.

Otherwise, the leaderless little fish and shrimp of the Lakers would not be enough for the Timberwolves to bite their teeth.

Especially when the all-star player Magloire had already killed all directions in the paint, Jackson sat on the court and held his forehead with one hand, thinking of dying in place.

Within a few minutes of the second quarter, Jackson brought the main players back to the field, especially Kobe. A 2-minute break is already a gift.

Luke on the Timberwolves' side seems much calmer. Although the strength of the substitute is not as good as the starting lineup, it is enough to deal with the Lakers at this stage and can completely buy more rest time for the main players.

With the end of the first half, the Timberwolves extended their lead to [-] points, and both offense and defense revealed the dominance of the defending champion.

The overwhelmed Lakers were breathless from top to bottom, and even the head coach "Zen Master" Jackson began to despair...

(End of this chapter)