Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 200 200. Timberwolves' products must be high-quality products, brave former disciples

On May 5th, the Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets officially kicked off the Western Conference Semifinals at the Target Center.

Before the start of this round of the series, the Timberwolves' online support rate pushed the Nuggets sideways in a crushing manner.

As of 40 minutes before the start of the game, the Timberwolves' online support rate had reached 92.6%, that is to say, only 7.4% of the fans supported the Nuggets to win the game, which also included Timberwolves' black fans.

The strength of the Timberwolves even caused the bookmakers to close part of the handicap. They only opened over/under and odd/even, and all the wins and handicaps were closed.

Because there is still some gap between the two teams, especially after the Timberwolves swept the Jazz 4:0 in the first round, the Nuggets are even less favored by the outside world.

The overall strength of the Nuggets this season is comparable to that of the Jazz. The two teams are basically at the same level, and even the regular season records are not much different.

Compared with the Utah Jazz, the Nuggets have the advantage of having a top scorer like Anthony.

The ability to kill the game at the critical moment will be much higher than that of the Jazz.

However, the Timberwolves' defense is not only the top in the league, but also one of the best in the entire history. Fans don't know what Anthony can do in this round of the series.

According to the regular matchup of the Timberwolves, Anthony will be defended by Gerald Wallace, but no one knows whether Luke will let Artest confront Anthony head-on.

After all, Artest is one of the best defensive strikers in the active league, and Anthony is the most explosive striker in the active league. No matter how Luke adjusts the fans, they will not be surprised.

Although everyone in this Nuggets can score, the core they really rely on is still inseparable from Carmelo Anthony.

Once Anthony's personal performance is restricted by the Timberwolves, the Nuggets will be in a very unfavorable situation, and it will become very difficult to open the situation through other players.

And there is no player in the Nuggets defense that can face Iverson head-on. Whether it is Andre Miller, Steve Blake or Nehbar, these people can't keep up with Iverson's speed, let alone defense. Can't help Iverson's offensive methods.

The only player in the entire Nuggets who can briefly confront Iverson on the back line is Anthony Carter.

Anthony Carter is 1.8 meters tall and weighs 86 kilograms. His defensive ability can only be regarded as average, barely reaching the NBA pass line.

But Anthony Carter is still active in defense. If George Karl is willing to use Carter to mark Iverson all the way, just like the Lakers used Tyronn Lue back then, the Nuggets can barely keep up with Iverson.

However, Carter's offensive ability is too poor. If George Karl keeps Carter on the court for a long time, it will have a great impact on the offensive rotation of the entire Nuggets.

Especially when Anthony's offensive environment is already extremely bad, how to use players will be a test for George Karl.

The Nuggets' starting lineup for this game is: Andre Miller, Nehbar, Anthony, Nene, and Marcus Camby.

The Timberwolves are: "Glove" Payton, Iverson, Artest, Millsap, and Ben Wallace.

The Nuggets still use their regular lineup and have not changed because of Iverson.

It seems that George Karl knows that no matter how much the team's defensive efficiency ranks fourth from the bottom, it will be difficult to cause trouble for the Timberwolves, so he decided to deal with the Timberwolves on the offensive end.

On the other hand, the Timberwolves made some adjustments to the starting lineup.

Luke took Gerald Wallace out of the starting lineup, switched to Millsap for the top spot, and put Artest back at the three to match up with Anthony.

Luke used Artest to defend Anthony head-on. This is something fans have thought about before, but the outside world did not expect Luke to put Millsap in the starting lineup.

In the first round of the series against the Jazz, due to the huge gap between the two sides, Millsap got a lot of playing time.

四场比赛米尔萨普场均能够贡献8.4分7.6篮板2助攻1抢断以及0.8次封盖，其中投篮命中率为61%，两侧中距离稳如老狗。

For a rookie player who is playing in the playoffs for the first time in his career, Millsap's performance is already worthy of recognition. Apart from being slightly green on both ends of the offense and defense, Millsap's skills are mature enough.

The Nuggets' starting power forward is Nene Hilario. In the first round of the playoffs, Nene averaged 15.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was also as high as 58.5%, making him the third scorer in the team.

Nene is two meters tall and weighs 114 kilograms. He has excellent core strength, and Nene's basketball IQ is also very high.

When Luke used Artest to defend Anthony, Gerald Wallace, who weighed only 100 kilograms, was obviously at a disadvantage.

Gerald Wallace is an agile striker defender. It is not Wallace's strength to fight against a strong player like Nene.

Once Nene seizes the opportunity to use his body to eat raw inside frequently, Gerrard will be in a very embarrassing situation.

After all, it is impossible for the Timberwolves to focus all their defense on Nene. Compared with the offensive threat brought by Nene, Anthony and Nehbar are the most important problems that the Timberwolves need to solve.

Except that Millsap is slightly shorter than Nene, the two are very similar in stature and overall style. Even in terms of strength alone, Nene will never be able to touch Millsap in the low position.

The presence of Millsap allows Artest to concentrate on defending Anthony without having to worry too much about other players.

Throughout the first quarter, the Nuggets continued their offensive strategy, with Andre Miller and Nene playing pick-and-rolls in high positions, and Anthony attracted the defense from the flanks as a single point of last resort.

Both Nene and Miller are very good at mid-range shots, and no matter who comes up with the opportunity, they can make shots as soon as possible.

And there are two stars, Anthony and Nehbar, next to the two, which makes it difficult for the defensive team to help defend on a large scale.

It was with this trick that the nuggets eliminated the sun 4:2 in the first round and advanced to the western semifinals with the next gram.

However, George Karl obviously underestimated the defensive ability of the Timberwolves. No matter how well Andre Miller and Nene played in the pick-and-roll, the Timberwolves seemed unmoved on the defensive end, and they were not at all underestimated by Anthony and Nehbar. intimidated by people.

For several consecutive offensive rounds, Miller and Nene's pick-and-rolls were not smooth enough. On the other hand, Iverson made continuous breakthroughs on the offensive end, piercing the Nuggets' defense line with a little force.

Until halfway through the first quarter, George Karl found that the team's conventional style of play not only had no advantage in the face of the Timberwolves, but even dragged the team back.

Under Artest's key care, the head star Anthony's offensive environment was extremely poor. He only made [-] three shots in the half quarter and barely scored two points by relying on free throws.

In desperation, George Karl could only grit his teeth, follow the example of the Timberwolves to find flaws, and use Nehbar's personal advantages to single Iverson on the offensive end.

Iverson's defense is the weakest link in the entire Timberwolves starting lineup. Although the Timberwolves will frequently defend Iverson, Nehbar's basketball IQ is extremely high. Once faced with double-teaming, Nehbar Always make the most reasonable choice at the first time.

Seeing the outstanding personal performance of the former disciples on the field, even Luke couldn't help applauding Nehbar.

Nehbar's ability to read the game has become more and more abundant. Luke has a hunch that the person who really caused trouble for the Timberwolves in this round of the series will not be Anthony, but his former disciple.

As Nehbar faced Iverson at 45 degrees on the right side and hit a three-pointer with a step back, then he used Byver to make a mid-range shot in the next round. Nehbar scored five points in a short period of time to help the team Further tighten the score.

Even though Iverson's breakthrough on the offensive end is still sharp, Anthony is also in no state under Artest's defense, and can only use the space he turned around to barely shoot.

But Nehbar still led the Nuggets to play with their old club, refusing to be opened by the Timberwolves.

At the end of the first quarter, with Nehbar's outstanding personal performance, the Nuggets are only three points behind in the away game.

　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket, thank you, third child!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)