Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 66. Popovich
February 3.
Luke led the team to a 113:101 victory over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference in his first game after returning from suspension.

The Celtics have a very good record this season and are currently ranked third in the East after the Heat and the Pacers.

Especially before the trade deadline, the Celtics got Antoine Walker from the Hawks through a trade.

At present, the Celtics headed by Pierce and Antoine Walker have become an eastern force that cannot be ignored.

Coupled with Ricky Davis, "The Glove" Payton, and LaFrentz, it is difficult for the Celtics to hit the championship this season, but if they want to make a difference in the playoffs, it is not a problem. big.

As long as they don't meet the Heat, Pacers and Pistons in the playoffs, the Eastern Conference semifinals are the Celtics' lower limit for the playoffs.

However, in this game, the Timberwolves still defeated the Celtics by 12 points in an away game. Even though Madman and Eddie Griffin were absent, it could not conceal the strength of the Timberwolves on both offense and defense.

Especially after the head coach Luke took over the team's coach again, the Timberwolves' style of play on the court is completely two extremes compared to when assistant coach Raymond led the team.

Luke led the team to play very aggressively, both offensively and defensively.

In this game, Luke mainly targeted Pierce and Ricky Davis. As for Antoine Walker, he was not on Luke's target list at all.

Even Luke adopted a "shooting tactic" against Walker on the court. As a result, Fat Toutuo, who has a low shooting rate all year round, did not disappoint Luke.

He made 16 of 5 shots and 7 of 1 from beyond the three-point line. This is Walker's shooting touch in this game.

It can be said that Antoine Walker's performance is absolutely crucial for the Timberwolves to beat the Celtics away.

It's not that Luke looks down on Walker, it's that Fat Toutuo is a typical data brush. He has made 41% of his field goals and 32% of his three-pointers in his career, and he has been selected to the All-Star team three times.

It can only be said that shooting offensive power forward players like Antoine Walker are indeed rare in recent years, but if Walker is placed in the small ball era of later generations, this guy is not as easy to use as Raheem with attributes .

Rahim's defense is poor, but his basketball attitude is at least much better than Fat Toutuo's.

Luke used a shooting tactic against Antoine Walker throughout the game. He didn't let Garnett stare at the defense one-on-one at all, otherwise Walker's offensive efficiency would drop further to freezing point.

There is no doubt about this. When the peak Garnett is determined to defend Walker, all Walker can do is to pass the damn ball quickly!
面对防守态度极其敷衍的胖头陀沃克，加内特全场砍下26分21篮板4助攻3抢断以及2次封盖，几乎是凭借一己之力就统治了凯尔特人内线。

And this game is also the fifth time Garnett scored 5+20 data this season. In this regard, Garnett is proud of the league and undoubtedly occupies the top spot in the league.

The victory over the Celtics brought the Timberwolves back to life. At present, the Timberwolves have only 14 games left before the end of the season.

Judging from the current overall momentum of the Timberwolves, there is absolutely no doubt that the Timberwolves broke the best record in team history this season.

The difference lies in which number the Timberwolves can set the new best record in team history at!

…………

In the next few games, the Timberwolves still played very fiercely on the court, and the head coach Luke began to manage the rotation.

The main players participating in the game rotation are aging veterans like Karl Malone and "Penny" Hardaway, as well as players with serious medical histories.

Now that the playoffs are getting closer, Luke has to find a way to let the veterans get more rest so that they can get a breather in the intensive playoffs.

As for the spirited young man like Salmons, Luke has only one opinion, and that is to fight!

As long as there is still a breath, don't even think about getting too much rest with Luke. This must be on par with LeBron James. Is physical exertion enough to call a timeout? !

With the Timberwolves' game in March all over, the Timberwolves' record came to 60 wins and 13 losses, becoming the only team in the active league with more than 60 wins.

As for the next team that is expected to break through the 60 mark, there are only three teams, namely the Suns and Spurs in the West, and the Heat led by "Shark" O'Neal in the East.

These three teams are the most promising teams to break through the 60 mark this season except the Timberwolves.

Although the Pacers may break through the 60 mark in theory, but from a practical point of view, the possibility of breaking through 60 wins is extremely slim.

If nothing else, the probability of the Pacers' final victory will hover between 55-59 wins.

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

On April 4, the Timberwolves ushered in the challenge of the Spurs in the second game of the April sprint month.

This game attracted many fans to watch before it started. After all, the grievances between the Spurs and Timberwolves this season are well known.

Spurs player Robert Horry fouled Hudson maliciously in the last match. This foul directly caused Hudson to suffer a shoulder contusion and missed many games afterwards.

Even Timberwolves player Eddie Griffin beat Robert Horry angrily for his teammates, pushing Horry to the ground and hitting him frantically.

Eddie Griffin, who was expelled after the game, also publicly shouted at Horry, saying that Horry's dogleg must be discounted in the next match.

At present, Eddie Griffin's 8-game suspension has ended, and this game will be Eddie Griffin's second game after returning from suspension.

Even now that the playoffs are approaching, it is very unwise to have court conflicts on the court.

But the fans still want to see if Eddie Griffin will beat Horry again, after all, Eddie Griffin's brain has not been very good!
However, the lineup sent by the Spurs after the start of the game obviously disappointed the fans, because Popovich actually rested all the main players in this game.

In this game, Popovich not only pushed the troika off the court at the same time, but none of the main players in the weekdays, including Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry, played.

The players on the entire Spurs team are either rookies like Udri, or substitute players like Devin Brown who don't usually play much.

This scene obviously disappointed the Timberwolves fans. The fans had already prepared to watch Griffin beat Robert Horry, but Popovich gave up before the game!

Popovich is really scared!

Originally, Popovich has always been afraid of the Timberwolves team after the court conflict between the Timberwolves and the Pistons.

It wasn't until the Timberwolves clashed with the Pacers again not long ago, and the head coach Luke took the lead in the charge, that Popovich called the Timberwolves all lunatics!

Popovich is very clear that the beam between the Spurs and the Timberwolves has already been forged last time.

In addition, Larry Brown is Popovich's master, and now Larry Brown has been beaten so badly by the Timberwolves, so there is no possibility of reconciliation between the Spurs and the Timberwolves.

In this case, Popovich has no doubt that Eddie Griffin will really cause trouble.

Originally, at the juncture of the playoffs, Popovich believed that Luke should not watch players make mistakes.

As a result, the battle with the Pacers made Popovich understand that not only Eddie Griffin has no brains in this Timberwolves team, but the head coach Luke also has no brains!

It's just a fight. Popovich doesn't know if it's normal to bring a ball to the court, but what Popovich knows is that if this game is played normally, the Spurs will definitely follow in the footsteps of the Pistons.

Now that the playoffs are about to come in half a month, Popovich doesn't want to see the team completely withdraw from the championship like the Pistons.

Even though Robert Horry caused him a very big problem, Horry is an important player for this Spurs to win the championship.

As long as Horry is injured and retired by the Timberwolves at this stage, the Spurs' chances of winning the championship will be further reduced.

So Popovich, who knows this well, decisively admits that he simply put all the main players off the court in this game, and there is no way for the Timberwolves to vent their anger.

If the Timberwolves really want to vent their anger on the substitute players like crazy, then Popovich can laugh out loud off the court.

It is definitely a good thing for the Spurs who are about to play in the playoffs to use these substitute players who usually don't play much time to guide the Timberwolves to make mistakes.

After all, the Timberwolves are a stumbling block for the Spurs to win the championship. If the Spurs want to win the championship, the Timberwolves, who have played first in the league this season, are definitely a mountain that they have to climb.

Although Popovich is ashamed of admitting to counseling, Popovich can only bite the bullet and pretend to be his grandson under the general situation.

Popovich is very clear that this Timberwolves fight on the court has never been a bluff, but will really kill!

The Pistons have already paid a bloody price for this. Rasheed Wallace was beaten to the ground, Larry Brown is still lying in the hospital recuperating, and Ben Wallace has multiple fractures inexplicably. Watching from the sidelines in the hospital.

This incident made Popovich a little scared, and even when the game started, Popovich didn't dare to stand on the sidelines and direct as usual.

Instead, he sat quietly off the court, or sat in the farthest corner. Popovich was afraid that the Timberwolves players would send him to the hospital like revenge for Larry Brown.

As for the accidental injury conclusion given by the alliance?
Popovich really wanted to put a shoe on the face of President David Stern!
accidental injury?

Popovich doesn't know whether others believe it or not, but Popovich himself will never believe it!
As far as Luke's vengeful character is concerned, it's better to go to hell if you accidentally hurt someone or something!

"Damn it, what a bunch of cowardly bastards, they are too scared to even play, I want to see how long they can hide!" Off the court, Eddie Griffin gritted his teeth and looked in the direction of the Spurs bench. .

"Don't worry, Eddie. Now that the playoffs are approaching, it's normal for the Spurs to give in. Don't worry, unless the Spurs don't want to win the playoffs, they will run into us sooner or later."

"At that time, let's see if that old guy Greg will be so scared that he doesn't even dare to deploy the main force." Patting Eddie Griffin on the shoulder, the madman who had just returned from injury showed his white teeth.

"If you can meet the Spurs in the playoffs, don't rob me. That guy Robert fouled me maliciously last time, which made me lie in the hospital bed for a long time."

"Next time you meet me, you must avenge this revenge with your own hands!" Hudson subconsciously rubbed his shoulders, and when Robert Horry was mentioned, Hudson couldn't help showing a fierce light in his eyes.

Hearing the conversation of Griffin and the others beside him, Luke frowned and looked over.

Seeing that Luke's expression was wrong, Hudson closed his mouth decisively, and slapped the bad mouth twice, as if to express to Luke that he was just talking.

"Coach! Opposite is a group of shrinking turtles. In the playoffs, I must teach them a good lesson!" Luke's appearance made Hudson hesitate, but Eddie Griffin said fiercely. .

Slanting his gaze at Griffin coldly, Luke didn't answer right away. After a pause, he said slowly: "God is always there, but God doesn't always stand behind some people!"

.........

In this game, the Spurs sent out a fringe lineup that usually didn't have much playing time, and the Timberwolves with a normal rotation defeated the Spurs without much effort.

And the Spurs' decisive confession made the Timberwolves feel like they had punched cotton, so the Timberwolves completely spread this bad breath on the game.

Even in the garbage time of the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves did not show mercy. In the end, the game ended, the Timberwolves 124:75, and 49 points at home bloodbathed the Spurs.

The 49 points also set a record for the largest point difference this season, breaking the previous bloodbath of Orlando's 47 points.

It is worth mentioning that the previous season's point difference record was also set by the Timberwolves, and Magic head coach Johnny Davis was fired because of that game, and he has not found a job until now.

If nothing else, there should be no team in the league that would not hire Johnny Davis as the team's head coach.

Hiring Davis as the team's head coach means that he will go to the opposite side with Luke, and provoke a lunatic to become an enemy for no reason!
After all, Johnny Davis, who was dismissed by Luke himself, crazily smeared Luke on the Internet, and was even dubbed the number one Luhei in the league by fans!

In this case, as long as the management of each team is not sick, there is a high probability that they will not contact Davis.

In everyone's eyes, Johnny Davis is completely self-inflicted. His own coaching level is very average.

Now that Davis has provoked the league's No. [-] plague, Johnny Davis' coaching career may be coming to an early end.

Even if they want to find a job as an assistant coach, each team must carefully consider whether it is worthwhile to introduce Davis at the risk of offending Luke.

Especially after the introduction, if Davis still smears Luke like a mad dog, is the team management really willing to bear the consequences!

The 49-point bloodbath of the Spurs at home not only brought the Timberwolves' record to 62 wins and 13 losses, but also nailed the Spurs to the pillar of historical shame.

Since the Spurs chose to admit defeat before the game and hid all their main players off the court, the Timberwolves will naturally not be polite to this game.

Losing 49 points in a single game made Spurs coach Popovich look very ugly, but Popovich had nothing to do about it.

The road was chosen by himself. Even if the road is covered with a layer of shit, Popovich can only bite the bullet and eat it in his mouth...

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(End of this chapter)