Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 78 78. I'm Waiting for You in the Western Conference Finals
In the TNT studio, Charles Barkley shook his head helplessly: "In the first half, the Sonics were not only completely unable to perform on the offensive end, but were also frequently penetrated by the Timberwolves on the defensive end. This really doesn't look like a top four team in the West team."

"I think the Rockets brought more trouble to the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs than the Sonics. The Sonics played really badly."

After taking Charles Barkley's words, his partner Kenny Smith's face was full of smiles: "This round of the series, the Timberwolves are likely to complete a 4-0 sweep and become the first team in the league to advance to the conference finals this season."

"And another set of matchups in the West has been determined. It will be the Suns against the Spurs. This situation is simply good for the Timberwolves."

"No matter who the Suns or the Spurs can advance to the finals, it will definitely take a lot of work. As the opponent, the Timberwolves have waited for a long time and have an advantage in preparation!"

…………

After returning from the second half, McMillan made some adjustments to the starting lineup. The biggest adjustment was to take Daniels at the small forward position and replace him with Radmanovic, who is 103 meters tall and weighs [-] kilograms. .

Radmanovic's performance in the regular season was not bad, averaging 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

But after entering the playoffs, Radmanovic's poor offensive and defensive efficiency was infinitely magnified. In the first round of the series, Radmanovic averaged only 5.3 points, 3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.

And the shooting percentage dropped to 37.1%, and the three-point shooting percentage was only 20.8%.

This hit rate can be described as dismal, and even the head coach McMillan has abandoned Radmanovic in the follow-up, leaving the white striker to sit on the bench and doubt his life.

But McMillan has nothing to do now. Szczerbiak's performance in the first half was too dazzling. Facing Daniels' defense, Szczerbiak was as simple as playing a warm-up match.

Whether it was a back-up jumper after knocking Daniels away with his body, or a brutal collision after knocking Daniels away head-on with the ball, Szczerbiak used his physical advantage to the extreme.

In the current situation, McMillan can only bring Radmanovic, who is similar in stature, to the field, thereby sanctioning Szczerbiak's offensive efficiency.

Even if Radmanovich's own offensive efficiency is extremely poor, McMillan can only choose this way.

After all, Radmanovic's annual salary is only 230 million US dollars, and people really can't ask too much of him.

In the third quarter, the end of Antonio Daniels made the Sonics more difficult on the offensive end.

Originally, the presence of Daniels on the court could relieve the offensive pressure of Ray Allen and Lewis to a large extent, but the current offensive pressure of the entire Sonics is completely on Ray Allen and Lewis.

The two of them were already unable to move an inch under the Timberwolves' zone defense, but now they had to bite the bullet and force their shots, and the offensive efficiency was naturally a mess.

As for the team's third scoring point after entering the playoffs, Jerome James was defended as a new generation of "Seattle Iron God".

Facing the strong and strong "sugar man" Olowokandi, James' physical advantage is not great, and Garnett's help defense comes to harass him from time to time, which makes Jerome, who is already rough in technology, James was simply miserable.

Even several times when James turned around, Garnett cut the ball from the side, inexplicably sent a turnover, and became the No.6 teammate of the Timberwolves.

Jerome James' performance made Supersonic fans unbelievable. It was hard to imagine that this turned out to be a powerful center who averaged nearly 20 plus 10 per game against the Kings in the first round of the playoffs.

If Jerome James in the first round of the playoffs played the league's first-line center level, then James' performance in this game is more like a drinking fountain administrator.

That's right, it's still worse than the "Sugar Man" Olowokandi, the water dispenser administrator of the Timberwolves!
"dudu~"

As the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the Timberwolves beat the Sonics by 41 points in the first game of the Western Conference semifinals, making the biggest difference in the playoffs this season in one fell swoop!
The previous biggest point difference was the 30-point victory of the Suns over the Mavericks. These two teams are typical representatives of strong offense and weak defense.

Considering that the two teams often score more than 120 points, 30 points is not so unusual.

But in this game, the Timberwolves beat the Sonics by 41 points in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Timberwolves have been in the lead from the first quarter, until the garbage time of the last quarter, the Timberwolves still have the upper hand, pressing the Supersonics to the ground and trampling crazily.

In the whole game, the Timberwolves had a total of eight players scoring in double figures. Among the 12 players on the stage, all the players scored more than five points, and the lowest score was "Sugar Man".

However, while "Sugar Man" only scored five points on the offensive end, he took off 8 rebounds and sent 4 blocks on the defensive end. The maximum salary contract becomes the basic salary!

In addition, "Wolf King" Garnett also taught Rashad Lewis how to be a man in this game. His 28 points, 21 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals and 3 blocked shots shone on the court, becoming the most dazzling player in the first game of the semifinals. exist.

Garnett's offensive ability is average, and Garnett's lack of scoring methods in tough battles has always restricted him from becoming an excellent court scorer.

But in the face of Rashad Lewis' defense, Garnett easily scored 28 points after clocking out of get off work in three quarters. He really doesn't regard Lewis as a human being.

As for other people, Szczerbiak, who also clocked out of get off work in three quarters, scored 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals, and his shooting percentage was as high as 73.6%, which severely slapped "sharp shooter" Ray Allen in the face.

Even if the defensive intensity encountered by the two is not at the same level, it is indeed a more interesting thing to defeat the sharpshooter Ray Allen in front of the sharpshooter.

On the bench, "Penny" Hardaway and Salmons both felt very hot. Among them, Hardaway's 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists seemed to be back to the peak. Level of offensive efficiency.

至于萨尔蒙斯则在三分线外6投4中，全场12分1篮板2抢断的数据依然稳定，在主教练卢克手下开始逐渐兑现天赋，正在向一名出色的3D球员开始发展！
…………

At the press conference after the game, Supersonics head coach McMillan was in a low mood. The loss was something McMillan had expected a long time ago, but he lost to the Timberwolves by 41 points in the first game of the semifinals, which made McMillan feel very helpless. .

Obviously, the gap between the Sonics and the Timberwolves is far more exaggerated than the fans imagined. Even McMillan thinks highly of himself, thinking that the team has a chance to win a few games.

From the current point of view, not to mention how many games the Sonics have won in this round of the series, it has become a problem not to be defeated by the Timberwolves in every game.

After all, McMillan has made many adjustments off the court in this game, but he has been unable to break through the Timberwolves' zone defense. This makes McMillan desperate, and for the first time he questioned his coaching level in his heart.

For the Timberwolves, coach Luke remained calm and calm in the post-match press conference, and did not start to be complacent just because the team won a 40-point victory.

It was completely within Luke's expectation that the Timberwolves could win. No one knows how to defend three-pointers better than Luke. Even if you look at the entire sports world, no one can do better than Luke.

Luke is very aware of the development trend of the three-pointer, as well as the core factors of defending the three-pointer. These are the experiences accumulated by many coaches in the league after more than ten years.

But at present, these things belong to Luke alone. At least Luke can become one of the pioneers leading the era of small balls.

"Nate is an excellent basketball coach. The Sonics have become very strong under his hands this season, but the Timberwolves' defense has restrained the Sonics, which makes it difficult for the Sonics to fully play on the offensive end."

"The Timberwolves will not take it lightly in the next few games, and will still go all out in the remaining games."

"But I am more concerned about another set of matchups. I hope certain teams will not let me down. I will wait for you in the Western Conference Finals."

"After hiding for so long during the regular season, even bastards should come out at this time." Luke leaned back slightly, with a sneer on his face.

(End of this chapter)