Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 39. Bloodbath in Orlando (39)

On January 1, the Timberwolves ushered in a revenge game.

In this game, the Timberwolves will be a guest in Orlando and challenge the Magic away.

The Magic was the team that gave the Timberwolves their first defeat this season. At that time, the Magic not only ended the Timberwolves' 11-game winning streak, but the head star Francis also blew up the "alien" Cassel in a personal matchup.

The exploded Cassel was completely bruised, and was sprayed into scum by the fans after the game.

This incident is still fresh in the Timberwolves players' memory. The record for the opening streak in NBA history is the 15-game winning streak set by the Rockets.

At that time, the Timberwolves, who had won 11 consecutive victories at the beginning of the game, had already set their goals and planned to attack the historical record of 15 consecutive victories at the beginning of the game.

Even at that time, everyone thought that the only team that could pose a threat to the team was the Heat team led by "Shark" O'Neal.

As a result, the Timberwolves accidentally overturned when facing the Magic, and were upset by the Magic to end their 11-game winning streak. At the same time that the Timberwolves ushered in their first defeat of the season, the Magic's upset was like a pot of cold water was directly poured on the Timberwolves players. superior.

Let the Timberwolves be pulled back to reality directly from the beautiful fantasy, so the memory of this defeat of the Timberwolves is still fresh, even now.

In addition, head coach Luke also said at the press conference after the game that he can't wait for the next match with the Magic.

Because that defeat was not only the Timberwolves' first loss of the season, but also Luke's first coaching loss since entering the NBA.

A man will always remember his first time, and he will face the Magic again. Luke only hopes that this game will not disappoint him.

The Magic's competitiveness in the Eastern Conference this season is already very strong. Except for the lineup needs to be adjusted and the head coach Davis's coaching ability is average, this Magic does not have many flaws.

However, as the Magic and the Kings completed the "old cat" Mobley and Christie's deal not long ago, the current Magic has basically begun to fall apart from the inside.

The team's record has also plummeted, and it has now fallen to the tenth place in the Eastern Conference.

Even if Francis, Grant Hill, Turkoglu, Howard, Nelson, Christie, these names are all famous names, if the coach can't bring the players together, then in an excellent lineup, they can only lose with hatred ball.

Before the game started, Luke held the tactical board and kept explaining something to the players. This scene is relatively rare on weekdays, and Luke rarely talks too much before the game.

At most, it is a special exhortation to a certain player. Scenes like this kind of comprehensive explanation are rare nowadays.

"Madman" Sprewell ushered in a comeback in this game. For the Timberwolves, this is definitely the best news recently.

But unfortunately, Garnett will continue to miss this game due to a finger contusion. Garnett's absence is definitely a big loss for the Timberwolves, which will directly drop the Timberwolves' defensive pressure to a notch.

But things like injuries are beyond Luke's control, so what Luke can do is to lead the team to win as much as possible during Garnett's absence, and don't be overtaken by the Suns and other teams behind him.

Even though the Timberwolves lost the two games Garnett was absent, Luke is still full of confidence in this game, because the return of the madman can make Luke play more diversely.

"Wally, you will be pushed to the fourth position in this game, but the Magic's power forward player is Hedo, and he can't cause you any trouble inside."

"You just need to pay attention to the position in the defensive counterattack. Today we will play a fast-paced game. We can play as fast as we can!" Looking at the burly but handsome Szczerbiak, Luke's voice was still cold and hoarse.

"No problem, coach. With Xidu's body, I will definitely make him feel desperate." He raised his right hand to show off his biceps, and Szczerbiak had a relaxed smile on his face.

"duo~"

After the start of the game, the ball was first jumped by the Magic. The Magic's starting lineup for this game is: Francis, Christie, Grant Hill, Turkoglu, and Howard.

The Timberwolves are: Hassel, Madman, Nehbar, Szczerbiak, and Karl Malone.

The absence of Garnett in this game allowed Luke to play a different set of starters.

Luke chose to put the "alien" Cassel on the bench, and then put Trenton Hassell, a defensive fighter, in the first position. Offensive completion limit.

Although Hassel played as a point guard in this starting lineup, Nehbar is the real ball handler for the Timberwolves.

In addition, Luke's boldest decision was to put Szczerbiak in the starting four position in this game, instead of choosing Eddie Griffin or Divac to form a double with Malone. tower.

Szczerbiak is 110 meters tall and weighs [-] kilograms. He is a veritable monster with muscles. If he faces Turkoglu in the fourth position, he will definitely have the upper hand without a doubt.

And the mobility and counterattack speed of this lineup will be terrifying, and the offense with the ball on the offensive end will also give the Magic a headache.

As soon as the game started, Francis and Howard played pick-and-rolls in high positions, but the person defending Francis in this game was Trenton Hassell, a defensive champion like a mad dog.

This made Francis unable to get rid of the defense after using the pick-and-roll.

Now Howard has just entered the league as a rookie, and his tactical status in this Magic team is very low, averaging only 8.3 shots per game.

More often than not, Francis and Grant Hill are used by the Magic to distribute the offense. No matter which player is the final point, the possession of the ball must pass through these two hands anyway.

Failed to get rid of Hassell's defense, Francis reluctantly passed the ball to Grant Hill. After receiving the pass, Hill shot a jumper directly from the mid-range position.

"boom!"

Protecting the backcourt rebound, Karl Malone passed the ball to his teammates immediately. Before Nehbar received the pass, the other three Timberwolves players had already sprinted forward and launched a counterattack against the Magic basket.

During the counterattack, Nehbar saw Szczerbiak, who took the lead, and passed the ball decisively.

After receiving the pass, Szczerbiak used his experience to continue to slow down, stuck Christie behind him tightly with his body, and then completed a layup with a backhand while Christie hurriedly avoided physical contact.

"Shu~"

At the beginning of the game, the Timberwolves took advantage of the opportunity of the Magic's missed shot to play a defensive counterattack. Even Luke nodded subconsciously for this shot. Obviously, he was satisfied with the player's execution effect.

"Beautiful! Wally's body control is perfect. Even Doug can only watch the ball score."

"If it goes so smoothly in the future, then we will win this game." Seeing Sczerbiak who quickly returned to defense, assistant coach Raymond couldn't help laughing.

"Don't worry, the good show is yet to come." After taking a sip of his drink, Luke wiped the water stains from the corner of his mouth casually.

In the Magic's offensive round, Francis used the pick-and-roll this time and directly chose a mid-range jumper.

Unfortunately, Francis missed the basket under the interference of Hassell. Karl Malone protected the rebound again, then glanced at the madman who had already counterattacked in the frontcourt, and directly threw a long pass from the quarterback.

After receiving the pass, the madman who counterattacked to the frontcourt made an extremely stretched one-handed dunk!
The Timberwolves played the Magic twice in a row at the beginning of the game. Luke couldn't help laughing when he saw this scene.

Luke knows that the Magic's tactical system in this period is chaotic, and head coach Davis has been hovering on the verge of dismissing get out of class, but Luke never imagined that the Magic's defensive attitude has become so decadent.

It is unbelievable that the team is sitting on Christie and Howard, the inside and outside defensive champions, but they have the third-worst defensive efficiency in the league.

……

It was the Timberwolves offensive round again. This time Nehbar simply singled Grant Hill on the offensive end, looking for opportunities through continuous crotch from outside the three-point line, and then suddenly combined the ball to complete the shot half a step away from the three-point line.

"Shu~"

With Nehbar's strong three-pointer hit again, the Timberwolves have hit a 7:0 climax.

After receiving the serve, Francis subconsciously looked at the head coach Davis, but when Francis found that Davis did not seem to be pausing, Francis could only hold the ball and continue to move forward.

Taking advantage of the breakthrough, Francis distributed the ball to Christie in the right corner, but Christie's three-pointer from the corner was still missed by the madman's defensive interference.

This time Howard overwhelmed Karl Malone to take off this precious offensive rebound, but before Howard got up to make a second attack, Hassel, who was like a chicken thief, directly took the ball from Howard's hand.

After the steal, Hassel saw Szczerbiak running forward at a glance, but Hassel's passing ability was average. Hassel was obviously hesitant about this ball, for fear of making a mistake in his pass, so he still The ball was handed over to Nehbar for the first time.

However, Nehbar, who also saw Szczerbiak, naturally would not let this opportunity go. I saw Nehbar very boldly pass a long pass from an oblique angle to the ground.

This kind of long pass across the half court is a test of the passer's skills. Nehbar needs to predict the madman's next route, and then get the ball on the madman's route in advance, otherwise the ball will be lost. will make mistakes.

But when the madman made an air cut to the basket, Nehbar's long pass just bounced to the madman's hand, and the madman didn't even need to bend down to adjust his position.

Needless to say, the madman who received the pass simply made a mid-air spin this time and smashed the ball into the basket hard!
After the opening, the Timberwolves scored four goals in a row and directly beat the Magic 9-0. The Magic had no power to parry.

Magic coach Davis on the sidelines angrily threw the tactical board on the ground, and then roared at the referee to call a timeout.

Davis couldn't bear the defense of the Magic during this period, and even had the idea of ​​​​going on strike immediately.

After continuing to coach like this, Johnny Davis felt that he would definitely have a myocardial infarction, and sooner or later he would die suddenly in this field in Orlando!

　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for support, thank you!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)