Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 88 88. Garnett became a god for one season, and the Timberwolves made team history!
In Game [-] of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs missed three players. In addition to Robert Horry and Bruce Bowen, who were doomed to be unable to play due to injuries, the team's main center Mohamed was also absent due to injuries.

According to the Spurs official announcement before the game, the team's main center Muhammad suffered a groin strain in the game against the Timberwolves and will miss the game.

Meanwhile, head coach Gregg Popovich said in pregame interviews that Muhammad's injury was caused by Karl Malone's multiple elbows as he scrambled for a rebound.

Taking this opportunity, Popovich criticized the Timberwolves again, bluntly saying that the Timberwolves are a group of moths on the field, causing injuries to other players many times on the field, and asked the league to severely punish the Timberwolves.

Popovich's remarks were naturally heard by Karl Malone. After his comeback this season, Karl Malone's temper has been restrained a lot. In his 40s, Karl Malone is no longer as hot-tempered as he was when he was young.

But this time Karl Malone did not hold back when he was interviewed by the media before the game: "Some old things are always talking nonsense in front of the media. This is the first time I heard that elbows can cause players to strain their groins. My iron Did the elbow hit the base of his thigh?"

"What's more, I didn't make any unnecessary moves in this round of the series. Today I have seen what it means to talk nonsense with your eyes open."

In the face of the media, Karl Malone directly called Popovich an old man, and did not save Popovich any face.

With Karl Malone's qualifications, Popovich is naturally not in his eyes, especially when Popovich is talking nonsense and laying the responsibility on him, Karl Malone will naturally not get used to this old thing!
The Spurs, who lacked three important players throughout the game, were once at a disadvantage in the situation, and were kept suppressed by the Timberwolves on both offense and defense.

On the offensive end, the Spurs can barely continue to fire with Duncan's "stable as an old dog" mid-range shot, but on the defensive end Duncan is almost exhausted by Popovich.

Originally, the Spurs were on the defensive end with Bruce Bowen on the outside and Muhammad on the inside. Duncan only needed to be the core left and right to help defend.

Now that the Spurs' internal and external defenses have been pierced by the Timberwolves in one fell swoop, Duncan has to invest more energy on the defensive end to wipe his teammates' ass.

Parker, Barry, and Nesterovic all have poor defensive abilities. When these people are on the court at the same time, Duncan, the "flying devil", can't recover even if he really flies.

Nesterovic from Serbia is [-] meters tall. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Timberwolves. Strictly speaking, he is an old acquaintance of the Timberwolves.

However, Nesterovic's lateral movement speed is slow, and he looks very cumbersome on the court. When defending pick-and-rolls, he is simply a black hole in a black hole.

Facing Karl Malone, Nesterovic was suppressed both in terms of strength and speed. This is still a 40-year-old Malone. If Malone was at his peak, he would have no time to beat Nesterovic. things!
At the end of the half game, the Spurs, whose defense was defeated by the Timberwolves, were already behind by a full 21 points.

Trailing by 21 points at halftime in the playoffs, this kind of thing was absolutely unimaginable for Spurs fans before.

To be precise, no fan in the league would have thought that the Spurs, the league's No. 20 team in defensive efficiency, would be led by [-] points at halftime.

It can only be said that the absence of Bowen, Robert Horry and Muhammad is too fatal to the Spurs, allowing the Timberwolves to win the game without any effort.

With the end of the game, the Timberwolves beat the Spurs by 3 points in the G32 game, rewriting the total score of the series to 3:0, only one step away from sweeping the Spurs.

After the game, an angry Popovich took the players away without accepting an interview. This round of the series made Popovich feel very aggrieved.

The Spurs, who could have been evenly matched with the Timberwolves, are now facing the end of being swept out 4:0, which made Popovich feel broken, and his resentment towards Luke became visible to the naked eye.

Instead of reflecting on the mistakes he had made, Popovich blamed the Timberwolves' dirty tricks for the impending elimination of the Spurs.

Unwavering view that the Spurs are the victims of this series.

For this kind of psychology, Luke can only slowly "cure" him in the future. If this round of the series has not attracted the attention of the league, Luke really wants to find a chance to have Popovich and Larry Brown as companions.

It's just that the Timberwolves are only one step away from the finals. Luke can only put this account to the next season, otherwise the Timberwolves who have been banned by the league and entered the finals will really have no one to use.

Even a role player like Mark Madsen has to be reserved for backup, after all, no one knows what will happen in the finals.

Especially the Eastern Pacers and the Heat are not good at it. The Pacers' "Wu Sheng" and Artest, and the Heat's Mourning and Kenyon During.

With both Trenton Hassel and Eddie Griffin unable to play, and "Madman" must not be involved in the suspension, Luke must prepare for the worst.

As for whether Popovich will target him in the future, Luke doesn't know, but what Luke knows is that he will definitely not let the old dog Popovich go!

From the moment Popovich instructed Bowen to step on Nehbar, Popovich's coaching career has been marked with a cross!
…………

In the fourth game of the Western Conference finals, the Spurs launched a counterattack under the leadership of Duncan and Ginobili. The Spurs played very brutally throughout the first half. Four offenders.

With Tim Duncan's outstanding personal performance, the Spurs were only one point behind the Timberwolves in the first half.

However, after returning from the second half, when Tim Duncan's offensive efficiency gradually began to decline, the Spurs' defensive problems were infinitely magnified. "Madman" Sprewell seized the opportunity and scored 11 points in the third quarter to help the Timberwolves. Open the score.

In the fourth quarter, Duncan, who was physically exhausted, was too dead. Too much energy on both offense and defense made Duncan almost collapse.

Even in the final stage, Duncan made two consecutive shots, and he was so tired that it was difficult to lift his arms.

At the end of the game, the Timberwolves defeated the Spurs by 17 points in an away game, winning the division finals with a big score of 4:0, and entering the NBA Finals for the first time in team history!
Duncan's personal performance throughout the series was good enough, averaging 25.6 points, 13.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game. However, facing the Timberwolves, Duncan had two fists and four hands. He could only watch the Timberwolves step over his head. However, for the first time in team history, they entered the stage of the finals!

As the league's top power forward player with the same reputation as Duncan, Garnett's performance in this round of the series is also very good.

四场比赛加内特场均可以轰出22.2分17.6篮板5.4助攻2.8抢断以及2.7次封盖。

In addition to being slightly inferior to Duncan in terms of scoring, Garnett completely suppressed Duncan in other statistics, leading the team to sweep the Spurs 4:0, showing the power of the "Wolf King"!
It is worth mentioning that the league recently announced the honors of the regular season for the 04-05 season.

Among them, Garnett defeated Duncan, Nash, and O'Neal with a gap visible to the naked eye, and was elected as the regular season MVP of the 04-05 season.
In addition, Garnett was also elected as the best defensive player for the first time in his career, becoming the third player in NBA history to win both MVP and DPOY in a single season after Michael Jordan and Olajuwon!
It is no exaggeration to say that this season is definitely the pinnacle of Garnett's career. If the Timberwolves can finally successfully win the championship trophy, Garnett's current historical status will be on an equal footing with Duncan.

After all, Duncan currently has two championships in his career and two regular season MVP trophies, but Duncan has never been elected as the best defensive player.

As long as Garnett can maintain this state, it is not difficult to surpass Duncan!
In terms of the best team, this season the Timberwolves have a total of three players selected for the best team, among which Garnett is the best team, Madman is the best second team, and "Alien" Cassel is the best third team.

The three were selected to the best team at the same time. This is also the brightest moment in the history of the Timberwolves.

Even when the league just announced the awards, Timberwolves owner Glenn Taylor was so excited that he spent $20 alone for the team to eat, drink and have fun.

And said that if the Timberwolves can win the championship trophy this year, Taylor is willing to throw 100 million US dollars for the team to be cool, as long as Minnesota can bring back the first championship trophy in team history this year!
This year's Timberwolves are definitely as luxurious as a bumper harvest. The only pity is that the Timberwolves' record last year was too good, which is very unfavorable for Luke, who was selected as the best coach.

In the selection of the best coach, Luke lost to D'Antoni, who led the Suns to 31 wins. It was the first time in his career that he passed the best coach, which was somewhat regrettable.

After all, the selection of the best coach depends not only on the team's record, but also on how much the coach improves the team's wins.

Unless the coach leads the team to an epic record, Luke's situation is very disadvantageous when selecting the best coach.

If it weren't for D'Antoni's being too monstrous this season, leading the Suns to an abrupt increase of 31 wins, in fact, Luke's chances of winning the best coach this year are still very high.

However, Luke didn't care about passing by the best coach. Luke is the youngest basketball coach in the NBA. Luke has time and is also confident in regaining these honors in the future!
.........

With the Timberwolves sweeping the Spurs 4:0 in the Western Conference Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals are currently being fought fiercely. The Heat and the Pacers are tied at 2:2. Both sides have almost the same chance of advancing.

Before the series is really over, no one knows which team will make it out of the Eastern Conference finals with the Timberwolves.

But what is certain is that no matter who can make it out of the Eastern Conference, this year's finals will definitely be a battle of dragons and tigers, which will make the entire league tremble!
　There are three chapters at noon, and there are more in the evening.

　　It's on the shelves, and I beg friends who like to keep books to open automatic subscriptions if they think it's okay. Subscriptions are what our authors eat, and they live by this.

　　Thank you guys, thank you very much!
　　...............

　　In the finals, the two gold medalists next to Luke were all suspended. It was really a bad trip to the finals.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)