Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 68 68. The first round of the playoffs!
On April 4, the Timberwolves and the Rockets will play the first game of the first round of the playoffs at the Target Center Arena today.

Before the game started, the entire Timberwolves home court was completely packed. When the players were still warming up on the court, the atmosphere of the entire home court was already lively.

For the city of Minnesota, last season, the fans had experienced the thrill of dominating the regular season, but the Timberwolves still couldn't break out of the West after entering the playoffs.

So far, Timberwolves fans have never felt the atmosphere of the finals.

This year, under the leadership of the new head coach Luke, the Timberwolves have achieved a historical record of 67 wins and 15 losses. This dominance has made Timberwolves fans full of confidence and looking forward to this year's playoffs.

So fans will naturally not miss the first matchup of this playoffs. Of course, as long as the Timberwolves are not unexpectedly upset in the playoffs, there is absolutely no doubt that the home court is full.

After all, this year's Timberwolves are the closest to the championship since the establishment of the team. I believe that no fan is willing to miss such a playoff matchup.

Before the game, Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy called Yao and Mai to the side alone, apparently to tell them something.

Although the depth of the Rockets' lineup this season looks pretty good, in fact, they are really counting on Yao and Mai.

The two directly built the Rockets' offensive system inside and out, especially McGrady's comprehensive offensive end, which saved Jeff Van Gundy, who is not good at offense, a lot of trouble.

McGrady averaged 25.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game during the regular season.

Among them, the average of 25.7 points per game ranked sixth in the league, second only to Iverson, Kobe, James, Nowitzki, and Stoudemire.

Although McGrady's offensive efficiency is average, and his true shooting percentage on the court is far lower than that of the league's first-tier stars, McGrady's strength lies in the balance of offense and defense, and he can use his personal ability to help his teammates open up the situation on the offensive end.

This is very important for the Rockets with average role players. If there is no McGrady on the offensive end to attract double-teams, it is absolutely wishful thinking to make a difference under the defensive pressure of the playoffs with the Rockets' overall role players.

However, McGrady's average playing time this season is as high as 40.6 minutes, which is still McGrady's time in the regular season. After entering the playoffs, McGrady's average playing time will definitely increase further.

Otherwise, it will be difficult for Jeff Van Gundy to help the team stabilize the situation with the offensive system.

After all, defensive coaches like Jeff Van Gundy are all of this virtue. Whether it is Larry Brown, who is in full swing, or Chuck Daly, who has retired from success, these guys who focus on defense have mastered the ability to kill the main force.

That is to say, after gaining weight, Yao Ming's physical exertion is particularly obvious, otherwise Yao Ming may face scrapping when he just entered the league!

"Yao, in this game, play more aggressively in the paint and try to get a deeper position. The Timberwolves' player at the center position is Karl, who is only [-] meters tall."

"Facing him, you just need to hold high and fight high. Unless the Timberwolves flank you, it will be difficult for Karl to limit you in one-on-one."

"You just need to be careful of his ball and iron elbow. Whether we can make an upset in this round of the series or not, your performance will be very important."

Looking up at the nearly two-meter-three Chinese giant, Jeff Van Gundy said with a serious face.

Hearing the reminder from head coach Jeff Van Gundy, Yao Ming just nodded slightly, expressing that he had heard Van Gundy's arrangement.

"Jeff, you are too cautious. Although the Timberwolves have an excellent record in the regular season, they can't take advantage of us against us."

"No one in the Timberwolves can guard me on the outside, and no one can guard Yao on the inside. This has been proven in the regular season."

"So in this round of the series, we are almost sure, 67 wins, it sounds very majestic, but soon they can't laugh."

Looking sourly at the Timberwolves who were warming up for shooting, McGrady's words revealed a sense of confidence.

Even when he was talking, he was a little drowsy, and he looked like he hadn't rested well.

"Don't underestimate the enemy, Tracy, this is the stage of the playoffs, any behavior that underestimates the enemy will pay the price." Jeff Van Gundy frowned.

Impatiently waving his hand, McGrady didn't want to listen to Van Gundy's rambling anymore, so he turned around and returned to the court to warm up.

.........

In the TNT studio, the famous former NBA star Charles Barkley, who was in charge of explaining the game, said with a chuckle: "Kenny, which team do you prefer to take the lead in this game? Personally, I am optimistic that the Timberwolves can hold the home court. I know if you plan to support the Rockets."

Barkley's words made Kenny Smith extremely disgusted. The two were already old partners. Smith didn't hold back at all and went back: "Charles, I think what you are asking is nonsense. You know, I am steadfast this season. side with the Timberwolves."

"At present, the outside world has been passing that the Rockets may complete a black eight against the Timberwolves, but I really don't see where the Rockets have a chance to win."

"If I want to say it, the Timberwolves are enough to solve the Rockets in four games!"

"Of course, as the Rockets are your old club, I want to save your face, up to five games, really no more!"

What his partner Kenny Smith said made Barkley couldn't help but laugh. As the studio's golden partner, Barkley naturally knew that Kenny Smith was unconditionally on the side of the Timberwolves this season.

But Barkley obviously didn't agree with Smith's words just now, "The Timberwolves are indeed very strong, but you said that you can solve the Rockets in five games, which is completely nonsense."

"Since you still support the Timberwolves as always, I will support the Rockets in this game."

"I predict that the Rockets will win the Timberwolves by five to ten points in the away game. I just hope that your face will not be swollen by yourself after the Timberwolves lose, haha!"

.........

As the game is about to start, the two sides announced the starting lineup respectively.

Rockets: David Wesley, Bob Sura, McGrady, Juwan Howard, and Yao Ming.

Timberwolves: Cassell, Madman, Szczerbiak, Garnett, and Divac.

In this game, Luke chose the veteran Divac at the center position instead of Karl Malone, who has been used in the regular season.

No way, Yao Ming's height is really a headache. No matter how strong Karl Malone is, he is only 20 meters tall. Against Yao Ming, the height gap between the two is a full [-] centimeters.

This gap can no longer be made up by strength alone. Even though Luke has made a series of plans against Yao Ming before the game, Karl Malone's height is still not suitable for starting in this round of the series.

Even if the Timberwolves want to attack Yao Ming, the person behind him who is responsible for defending Yao Ming must immediately defend the penalty area, instead of being easily scored by Yao Ming who turns around and hits high.

Divac is [-] meters tall. Although there is still some gap with Yao Ming's height of nearly [-] meters, Divac is already the tallest center player in the Timberwolves.

The reason why Luke rarely used Divac during the regular season was because Divac moved slowly and was easily targeted by a mobile inside line on the defensive end.

But in this round of the series, Luke doesn't have to worry about this problem at all. After all, Yao Ming has no mobility at all after gaining weight. Apart from some fancy offensive skills, his movement speed has become a major drawback of Yao Ming.

In terms of foot movement speed alone, the 37-year-old Divac will not be at a disadvantage this year, and Divac's height of [-] meters is definitely more suitable for defending Yao Ming than Karl Malone.

Even if it is difficult for Divac to limit Yao Ming in a one-on-one defense, Luke has already planned for this point. As long as Divac can use his height to hold Yao Ming under the basket, Luke is confident that he can beat Yao Ming to the point of collapse. !

After the game started, Divac and Yao Ming stood in the middle circle to jump the ball, and the ball was first taken by the Rockets.

This season, the Rockets have nothing more than two ways of playing on the offensive end, either McGrady and Juwan Howard's high pick-and-roll, or handing the ball to Yao Ming to play low.

Then Juwan Howard helped Yao Ming in the mid-range position, helping Yao Ming to throw the ball out immediately after encountering a flanking attack.

Even though Uncle Huo who joined the Rockets has been used as a waste by head coach Jeff Van Gundy, from an economic point of view, Uncle Huo, who can contribute 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game this season, is still worthy of his $550 million salary.

At the beginning of the game, Yao Ming fell directly into the low post and reached out for the ball from a deep position under the basket. Obviously, the Rockets wanted to open the situation from Yao Ming's point.

After all, Yao Ming's inside advantage is very obvious. This is the offensive focus that Van Gundy arranged before the game.

It's just that Van Gundy didn't expect that Luke would temporarily put Divac on the starting lineup and replace Karl Malone off the court.

But even this can't change the Rockets' determination to hold high.

Everyone opened up according to their positions. McGrady lobbed the ball to Yao Ming at a 45-degree angle on the right. But Yao Ming had just received the pass and hadn't thought about his next offensive move. Garnett, who was on the strong side, suddenly caught Yao Ming. come up.

Garnett's lateral movement speed is very fast, and it can be said that no one can match the position of the active power forward. Therefore, when Garnett attacked, Yao Ming's center of gravity had not been adjusted yet, and Garnett was hungry. A wolf usually pounced on him.

Garnett's decisive help defense obviously made Yao Ming a little flustered. In the panic, Yao Ming raised the ball high, trying to pass the ball over his head to Juwan Howard who was supporting him.

However, Yao Ming's passing action is really immature in the eyes of Garnett, who has the top defensive ability in history.

Just when Yao Ming just raised his hand, Garnett cut the ball with quick eyesight and quick hands.

After the steal, Garnett immediately saw the "madman" Sprewell running forward.

Without any hesitation, Garnett swung his arms and threw a long quarterback pass.

Similar to this kind of pass across the court, Garnett didn't know how many passes during the regular season. After all, this is one of the Timberwolves' counterattack tactics this season.

Catching Garnett's pass, the madman left Bob Sura, who was chasing after him, far behind him. Facing the unguarded basket, the madman directly made a one-handed heavy dunk in the style of smashing Huashan!
As the madman scored a dunk in the fast-break counterattack, the entire Timberwolves home court erupted with deafening cries.

Even though the game has just started, the enthusiasm in the hearts of the fans has been hard to hide.

In a sense, this is the unique charm of the playoffs!

The Timberwolves' steal and fast break made Rockets coach Van Gundy look a bit ugly. The Timberwolves made such a morale-boosting counter-attack dunk at the beginning of the game, which made Van Gundy feel a little bad.

The Rockets were attacking. This time Yao Ming did not reach for the ball in the low post. The steal just now made Yao Ming a little ashamed, so Yao Ming decided to let McGrady take charge of the offense this round.

McGrady, who was holding the ball, also had no intention of passing the ball to Yao Ming. Looking at Sczerbiak who was defending him, McGrady showed a look of contempt on his face.

"You couldn't guard me during the regular season. Do you think you can guard me in the playoffs?" McGrady changed directions continuously, not paying attention to Szczerbiak who was defending himself.

"You close-eyed grandma, basketball is not a sport for one person, I really hope you can understand the meaning of this sentence!" Szczerbiak just smiled lightly without getting angry because of McGrady's contempt.

Szczerbiak's words made McGrady a little awkward. It sounded like Szczerbiak was teaching McGrady, which made McGrady feel a little uncomfortable.

"Your attitude makes me uncomfortable. Today I want to score 40 points on your head, no! It's 50 points!"

As soon as the words fell, McGrady suddenly pulled up from outside the three-point line through continuous crotch changes and scored a three-pointer.

This kind of offensive choice is definitely the most hated shot by NBA coaches, especially a coach like Jeff Van Gundy who already hates three-pointers. McGrady's dry play is simply annoying to Van Gundy.

But there is no way, this is one of McGrady's offensive methods. McGrady is the player who likes to pull up three-pointers most in the league today, and there is no need to add one after that.

Even if you look at the entire history, Tracy McGrady is definitely the most chic player with a three-pointer. I am afraid that only Kevin Durant of later generations can compare.

"boom!"

An unmistakable sound of iron strikes resounded through the Target Center arena.

Pull-up three-pointers not only test the strength of the waist, but also the player's shooting touch!
"You're right. Today you're going to hit me 40 times, no! It's 50 times!" Szczerbiak's smile still looks so innocent.

But at this moment, Szczerbiak's words sounded so harsh to McGrady.

There is a kind of person who is very annoying. He obviously didn't say any dirty words, but his words sound full of irony.

"The game has just begun." McGrady replied coldly.

On the offensive end, the Timberwolves, who are in a positional battle, still have an advantage. Except for the two groups of Divac and Szczerbiak, the other three groups have physical advantages that are visible to the naked eye.

The Rockets' player at point guard is David Wesley, a player who also averaged 17 points and 7 assists in his peak period.

However, time makes people grow old. Wesley, who is now 35 years old, has lost the breakthrough speed that defenders rely on most. Apart from his 38% three-point shooting rate this season, what Wesley can do is to use his brain to make up for his body. on the gap.

However, David Wesley is only 1.8 meters tall, and this height is Cassel's favorite bully.

As a master of post-up singles in the first position, Cassell can always explode with amazing scoring efficiency when facing shorter defensive players.

"Shu~"

With the madman pulling Bob Sura aside, Cassell turned back to Wesley and hit a solid jumper to help the Timberwolves score their first field goal of the game.

Even though everyone is 35, even though everyone is a point guard, what Cassell wants to say is, "I'm an All-Star point guard!"

In the Rockets' offensive round, it can be seen from McGrady's eyes that McGrady was a little bit worried about the failure to make the last attempt.

But when McGrady was about to play Szczerbiak again on the offensive end, he could only hear Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy standing on the sidelines and shouting loudly: "Tracey! Pass the damn ball to Yao, let him go Low singles, don't continue to use that damn dry pull!"

Jeff Van Gundy's voice was so loud that even the Timberwolves players could hear it clearly, McGrady couldn't help it even if he wanted to pretend he couldn't hear it.

McGrady's face was gloomy at Van Gundy's words. After a moment of silence, McGrady still found the right position and hoisted the ball high to Yao Ming.

But this time McGrady's lob was blocked by Garnett who suddenly jumped out from the side before Yao Ming could reach it.

After stealing the ball, Garnett did not immediately look for a defender, but quickly advanced forward with the ball.

At this time, the Rockets, who discovered the mistake, also immediately disarmed the backcourt.

On the way to advance, Garnett found Szczerbiak who was in the bottom corner. Seeing the opportunity, Garnett passed the ball decisively.

After receiving the pass, Szczerbiak aimed at the basket before McGrady pounced on him. He raised the knife from outside the three-point line and gracefully completed the open shot.

"Shu~"

The sound of basketball hitting the net sounded again. Szczerbiak's three-pointers this season are as high as 44%, and open three-pointers are rarely missed.

If such an opportunity is carried out by Szczerbiak, it will basically be a bonus!

With Szczerbiak's three-pointer from the bottom corner, the Timberwolves have already played a 7-0 offensive against the Rockets in the opening game.

This made Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy completely unable to suppress his anger. While calling a timeout from the sidelines, he also complained very dissatisfied with McGrady.

In these two offensive rounds, McGrady missed a three-pointer and the other was a pass error by McGrady. For Van Gundy, who pays attention to discipline, it is really a bit fucked.

In particular, Jeff Van Gundy's offensive tactics arranged before the game did not play out once, which made Van Gundy a little annoyed.

He hit the ball to Yao Ming twice, but once it was Yao Ming's mistake after receiving the ball, and once he made a mistake without even touching Yao Ming's hands.

And these two mistakes were also played by the Timberwolves with effective defensive counterattacks. I am afraid that this situation is unacceptable to any defensive coach.

If it's just that the offensive end has been unfavorable, Van Gundy would only scold at most, but now even Van Gundy's proudest defense has been beaten into a sieve by the Timberwolves, which makes Van Gundy feel that his face has been thrown on the ground by Luke and trampled crazily!
"Good job, guys, your performance is far better than I expected." After high-fiving the players off the court one by one, Luke showed a smile on his face.

"Lu, it looks like we can win this game. This is really a perfect start!" Assistant coach Raymond was a little excited.

Even more excited than the head coach Luke, those who don't know may think that this guy is the head coach.

"Don't be too happy, even if what you say makes sense!" Luke smiled thoughtfully.

Back from the timeout, the Rockets' offensive style of play has not changed much, but Uncle Huo changed from supporting Yao Ming's strong side to the weak side.

The person supporting Yao Ming has also changed from Juwan Howard to Wesley.

Obviously, Garnett's excellent defense ability made Yao Ming a little bit bad both in and after receiving the ball.

Jeff Van Gundy has no ability to change the Rockets' offensive focus, but what Van Gundy can do is to try to help Yao Ming distract Garnett, the defensive core, and make Yao Ming as comfortable as possible on the offensive end.

Van Gundy's move to change Luke didn't take it seriously. In fact, Garnett is not necessarily the player who helps defend Yao Ming, but Garnett's help defense is the best.

But when Garnett was transferred to the weak defensive side by Van Gundy's design, the Timberwolves' flanking strategy against Yao Ming remained unchanged.

Luke didn't allow Yao Ming to have any chances to play under the rim in this series.

Luke can hold his nose when others score, but Luke will never allow Yao Ming to score!

After all, Yao Ming's offensive efficiency is too terrifying. If he defends Yao Ming normally, Luke has no doubt that Yao Ming can score an average of 25 plus 10 per game in this round of the series.

The Rockets' offense now focuses on Yao and McGrady. When Yao Ming's offensive environment is not good, McGrady will naturally take on more offensive responsibilities. This is the result Luke wants to see.

Luke is very clear that unless he double-teams McGrady throughout the game, it is impossible to defend McGrady in this round of the series, and even the way to defend McGrady can only pray that he feels good.

Since it was impossible to pinch two people's offensive lines at the same time, Luke simply shifted the focus of defense to Yao Ming alone. The defense method against McGrady was single defense, and he resolutely did not double-team.

In this way, the Rockets will change from a twin-star team with both inside and outside to a single-core team. Since they can't guard McGrady, then Luke simply let McGrady attack!

In this round of the series, McGrady's average playing time will definitely exceed 40 minutes. Luke only needs to use the wheel tactics to consume McGrady, and McGrady's offensive efficiency will naturally drop.

As for the next thing, it can only be left to God's will.

If McGrady is really a magic soldier, how can he make shots on the offensive end, and make all kinds of unreasonable shots, then Luke can only grit his teeth and admit it. After all, who makes him the son of God?

Throughout the first half, the Timberwolves clearly had the upper hand in the situation, and McGrady's touch was still in line with his usual true efficiency.

As for Yao Ming's words, he was speechless by the Timberwolves' defensive tactics. On the offensive end, not to mention comfortable singles with the ball, connecting the ball later became a big problem.

At the end of halftime, the Timberwolves ended the game 51:36 at home, leading the Rockets by 15 points.

Only 36 points were scored in the half, which made Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy's face turn from red to black. If it weren't for the presence of so many people watching, the assistant coach had no doubt that Van Gundy would slam the tactical board fiercely.

In terms of statistics, although McGrady scored 19 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in halftime, and his personal scoring directly accounted for more than half of the team, this still could not help the Rockets to restore the situation.

Even McGrady's excessive shots have become the main reason why the Rockets are behind by a big score.

On the other hand, Yao Ming only made 3 of 1 shots on the offensive end in the first half, plus he made 4 of 6 free throws. Yao Ming only contributed 3 points, [-] rebounds and [-] turnovers.

This statistic is really bleak for a core member of the team. The number of turnovers is almost the same as the number of points scored. This is simply killing Yao Ming.

At the same time, the commentator Charles Barkley was madly slapped in the face. Under the ridicule of his partner Kenny Smith, Barkley said helplessly: "If Yao had this offensive efficiency when I bet with you, I still need it." Go kiss the ass of a donkey!"

　This is really a big chapter, look how many pages there are, haha.

　　Ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support, everyone!

　　Today's update is late because I wrote a lot, to be honest, the two chapters add up to ten thousand today, and the free period is ten thousand, which is interesting enough!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)