Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 71 71. Half a foot into the semi-finals!

The commentator Coney Flake was a little helpless about the Rockets' performance: "It's hard to imagine that the Rockets are actually a team that ranks fifth in the league in defensive efficiency during the regular season."

"In these two games, I didn't see the defensive dominance that the Rockets should have played at all. Instead, the Timberwolves did a very good job on the defensive end, which put the Rockets in trouble."

"We weren't surprised that Bob couldn't guard Latrier, but what was surprising was that Jeff didn't make too many adjustments on the defensive end."

"In this game, Latrell ushered in another explosion, and this kind of thing really shouldn't happen to Jeff.

Flake's partner Tom Horvath agreed: "Yes, the Rockets' performance in these two games is not like a western powerhouse at all, especially the weakness of the offensive end is simply surprising."

"During the regular season, the Rockets also had a game where Yao and Mai played abnormally and finally relied on role players to win the game, but in this round of the series, the Rockets have no counterattack momentum at all."

"Even though Yao's offensive environment has improved in this game, everyone knows that if the Rockets continue to play with this momentum, it's only a matter of time before the Timberwolves win the series."

…………

Back in the second quarter, the Timberwolves have crushed the Rockets without any suspense in terms of overall morale.

This can be seen from the state of the Timberwolves' substitute players. Among them, Hudson, a famous player in the league, shot from inside and outside, and almost penetrated the Rockets' defense line by himself.

You know, this is a playoff-level confrontation. Convulsive players like Hudson who rely on touch are not reused, and their playing style on the court has become even more restrained.

But in this game, Hudson played very confidently on the offensive end, as if treating this game as an ordinary regular season, he broke the Rockets' defense line to pieces, and completely played the entire league. The first background.

In addition, Nehbar's performance on the bench is also very stable, and no one on the entire Rockets bench can keep up with Nehbar's rhythm.

It's not that Nehbar's starting speed is extremely fast, nor is it that Nehbar's physical fitness is excellent, it's just that Nehbar's soft style of play makes the Rockets completely unable to adapt.

Nehbar, a player who seems to be mediocre on both ends of the offense and defense, but on the offensive end, Nehbar has a variety of offensive changes.

Whether it is three-pointers, mid-range, pick-and-rolls, or points after a breakthrough, Nehbar has brought his advantages to the extreme, so that Jumbari, who is facing him, does not know how to defend.

At the end of the half, the Timberwolves extended their lead to 13 points with their better overall performance.

This is still the case when the Rockets star Tracy McGrady only rested for just over two minutes in the first half, otherwise the Rockets' offensive performance will only stretch their hips even more, and it is not impossible for the Timberwolves to lead by 20 points.

After returning from the second half, Jeff Van Gundy's use of Yao Ming became obviously tangled.

Because the Minnesota's defensive approach to Yao Ming is very transparent, as long as Yao Ming falls in the low post to catch the ball, the Timberwolves will catch the ball without hesitation.

On the other hand, when Yao Ming held the ball in the high post, the Timberwolves insisted on single defense, allowing Yao Ming to use his height advantage to complete the shot from the mid-range position.

Although Yao Ming's shooting touch is very soft, his shooting percentage in the middle distance can also reach about 50%.

But the Timberwolves couldn’t hold back Yao Ming’s mid-range shots. Let’s not talk about whether Yao Ming can maintain this high shooting efficiency after physical exertion. Just say that when Yao and Mai are on the court at the same time, Van Gundy can’t let Yao Ming alone. There is no end to casting.

Otherwise, the other four members of the Rockets will become a decoration, especially McGrady's point is completely wasted as an accompanying runner. The Rockets can simply surrender and surrender without continuing to struggle in this round of the series.

So after the struggle, Van Gundy still let Yao Ming fall in the low post. Even if Yao Ming will be double-teamed as soon as he catches the ball, at least Yao Ming standing inside can use his height advantage to try his best to grab rebounds and win more offensive rounds for the Rockets.

To put it mildly, Van Gundy suddenly realized that if he continued to use Yao Ming as a high-ranking turret and use the Rockets, he would definitely lose the game.

To put it bluntly, Jeff Van Gundy has no choice but to define Yao Ming as a blue-collar center and let Yao Ming do things like rebounding and protecting the rim.

As for the heavy responsibility on the offensive end, it was forced to transfer to McGrady and others.

"Shua~" As the madman once again succeeded in a one-on-one step-back three-pointer, the Timberwolves officially widened the point difference to 20 points, and they were about to send the game into garbage time.

This situation on the court made Jeff Van Gundy gradually numb, from the initial anger, to the frowning and contemplation later, to the current numbness of his face.

If it's just that the defensive end can't limit the madman, Jeff Van Gundy won't be too much of a headache, but the most important thing at the moment is that Van Gundy is completely powerless to change the team's offensive performance.

This weakness is not only a lack of offensive tactics, but also a flaw in the team's lineup.

As long as the Rockets can have No.3 players on the court at this time to stand up and continue to fire, the Rockets will not be so passive.

At the end of the three quarters, the Timberwolves replaced all the main players with a 23-point lead.

From the current point of view, this game is basically going to be a final conclusion. Even if Jeff Van Gundy is not dead, it is difficult for the Rockets to usher in a comeback within 12 minutes.

Unless the Rockets' rotation lineup can play a fairy performance from beyond the three-point line, the Timberwolves will definitely win this victory.

Of course, although the Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was a little desperate, these two losses made Jeff Van Gundy realize a lot.

I believe that after this game, Van Gundy will be able to formulate a new battle plan based on the video replays of these two games. Even if the defects in the lineup are difficult to make up, if nothing happens, the Rockets in the next game will usher in changes.

At the very least, they can have a good deal with the Timberwolves and continue to struggle in this round of the series that has already advanced with half a foot.

"Dudu!"

As the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the Timberwolves once again beat the Rockets by 24 points at home, rewriting the total score of this round of the series to 2:0.

In this game, Yao Ming's personal data ushered in a rebound, but the data of 17 points and 9 rebounds can only be reduced to tasteless. Watching the team lose another away game, the distance from being eliminated is getting closer and closer.

As for Tracy McGrady, who still contributed 43 points, 31 rebounds and 6 assists in 4 minutes of playing, his personal data is absolutely impeccable, but the team just can't cross the mountain of Timberwolves!
The best performer for the Timberwolves is still the All-Star guard "Madman" Sprewell.

The madman scored 26 points, 4 rebounds and 28 steals in the first game in the last game. In this game, the madman scored 5 points, 3 rebounds and [-] assists again, helping the team overcome the black eight rumors and put the face of the Timberwolves black fan on the ground Crazy rubbing!
除此之外，加内特稳如老狗的斩获18分18篮板7助攻4抢断以及2次封盖，卡塞尔13分1篮板6助攻，斯泽比亚克12分6篮板2封盖，以及哈德森的16分2抢断等等。

With this game over, the Timberwolves will travel to Houston with a 29-2 lead on the 0th.

At that time, if the Rockets lose the game again, the Rockets really can only prepare their fishing rods in advance, choose a fish pond and prepare to go home to fish.

After all, since the establishment of the NBA, no team has been able to complete a comeback after falling behind 0:3 in the playoffs.

Even if there are miracles in competitive sports, miracles will definitely not belong to the Rockets!

　Today I went back to the countryside to celebrate the old man’s birthday. It was too late after dinner, so I didn’t go back. I slept in a big kang in the countryside, and the old man went to bed too early, so it was really inconvenient to code.

　　Let’s make this update today, and fill in the missing words tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)