lakers championship

Chapter 425 Experts Are Right

Tianyang made an additional free throw, and the Lakers got off to a strong start, and then continued to play steadily, using passing and large-area switching defenses, and successively succeeded on both ends of the offense and defense.The Timberwolves were a little lost, Teague had difficulty getting the ball inside, Butler was also struggling under SkyOcean's defense, and Wiggins was slow to warm up. By the end of the first quarter, they trailed by 21 points 33-12.

During the timeout between quarters, Thibodeau clutched the tactical board tightly, spitting and talking at length for 75 seconds. When the bell rang to continue the game, he still chased Downs and Butler to emphasize something, but the two players He didn't seem to care much, and there was still a little impatient expression on his face.

Such a scene made the TNT trio have complex expressions.

O'Neill: "When I played with the Celtics, I worked with Thibodeau. His love for basketball is one of the highest types of people I have ever met. I really hope he can go further. "

Kenny: "Judging from the expression, he is talking about some specific tactics, not the kind of chicken soup encouragement and general emphasis. Could it be said that the Timberwolves will have a particularly big change in the second quarter? They can solve the problem in the first quarter. Is there a problem?"

Barkley: "Let's see, the Timberwolves win one game and it's not a loss. If they win two games, it's a profit. It's reasonable to lose to the Lakers. It's the first playoff game after 13 years. I believe that even Timberwolves fans will not be dissatisfied .”

...

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Lakers served from the bottom line.

Rondo quickly advanced to the right wing, stopped the ball and waited to find someone, and passed the ball to the top of the arc.

Tianyang took the ball, looked up at the situation on the court, and cooperated with McGee in the pick-and-roll, but Towns still stood at the free throw line and did not switch defenses, nor did he chase McGee who was cutting outside.Seeing this, Tianyang decisively stopped and passed the ball.

McGee received the ball, and Towns finally reacted, but it was too late, and the basketball had already flown from the three-pointer to the hoop.

Dang, the shot hits the iron, but Wharton still nodded, the opportunity has been run out, but he failed to hit.On the contrary, Thibodeau looked depressed. Towns' defense just now was like air.

Gibson got the rebound and handed it to Butler to quickly take it to the right wing.At the same time, Towns ran from the left position, used Teague's cover on the baseline to get rid of McGee, rushed to the short corner on the right, and faced Rondo with his back.

Barrett lobs the pass, and Towns catches the ball and hits back. Although his core strength is small and it is particularly difficult to beat some power forwards, he still has a great advantage against traditional point guards like Rondo.

With two consecutive strong tops, Towns got room to shoot, turned around backwards, and threw the shot chicly.

Swish, the shot was made.

...

McGee served from the line, Rondo took it to the left wing, and used Randall's pick-and-roll to go to the baseline, but Gibson did not switch defenses, and Teague quickly bypassed the wall to catch up, and could only pass the ball to Randall too much.

Randall got the ball, glanced to the right, passed the ball, and stepped forward to do a pick-and-roll.

Tianyang received the ball at 45 degrees on the right side and started a fake shot, but Butler was not fooled. Instead, he used the pick-and-roll to run to the top of the arc, and then made a quick change of direction to sway Gibson to the free throw line, but Towns and Butler Le shrinks to the basket together. After weighing the pros and cons in an instant, he passes the ball to Randall.

Randall took the ball, hesitated for half a second, and did not shoot a three-pointer. Instead, he dribbled the ball into the inside line, facing the interference of Gibson and Downs, and hit the board with a high throw.The basketball bounced off the board and landed on the hoop, spun several times, and came out of the basket.

There was a sigh at the Staples Center, and Towns got the rebound and made a long pass up the court.

Teague took the ball from the center line, quickly rushed to the right wing, and passed the ball to Butler who was already squatting in the bottom corner.However, Tianyang also retreated immediately, but Butler failed in the three-threat attempt, and passed the ball back resentfully.

Teague took the ball again, broke through violently, and went inside against Rondo.

McGee and Randall shrunk their defense, and Teague, in a three-man siege, struggled to pass the ball to the top of the arc. people defend.

There were boos at the Staples Center, but Towns aimed steadily at the frame and shot, and with a bang, he hit a three-pointer.

The Timberwolves chased for 5 points in a row, and Wharton tilted his head to think for a while, but did not call a timeout.

...

The Lakers attacked, and Tianyang caught the ball from the backcourt and took it to the top of the arc, signaling the audience to open up. Butler mistook him for a single, and decisively clenched his fists in a decisive posture, but he passed the ball to the right .

At this time, Ingram and McGee had just completed an uncovered pass, and after receiving the pass, they took advantage of the opportunity to kill the inside line.But Wiggins quickly bypassed McGee and caught up again, and Ingram decisively scored the ball.

McGee received the ball, facing Downs who was standing upright with his hands on his hips, he rushed to the basket in three consecutive steps.

He jumped up, dunked with one hand, and easily scored 2 points. Cheers erupted from the Staples Center.

Butler and Thibodeau spread their hands at Downs at the same time, with puzzled expressions on their faces, as if they were asking:

"what are you?"

O'Neill shook his head and laughed, "If Downs hadn't scored five points in a row, I'm afraid Thibodeau would have scolded someone, just his performance..."

As soon as the words fell, Butler dribbled the ball to the left wing, used Towns' pick-and-roll to enter the inside line, and started a three-step layup against McGee's close defense, and finally forced a shot.

Snapped!McGee nailed the rebound, but Towns, who followed up, jumped high and easily grabbed the offensive rebound. Then he made a violent dunk with a "clang" sound, and caused a foul and received an additional penalty, which excited the Timberwolves bench.

"Uh..." O'Neal seemed to be silenced suddenly, unable to speak for a while, but finally forced to speak, "He's not bad on offense, but his defense is too loose. He is completely a cash machine for the Lakers."

Downs added a free throw, and the Timberwolves 29 to 35, reducing the difference by half in 2 minutes.

...

The Lakers attacked again, and Rondo dribbled the ball to the top of the arc. After several attempts to break through, he chose to pass the ball.

Tianyang received the ball and signaled to pull away. After quickly changing direction and shaking Butler away, Tianyang took two steps into the inside line.

Wiggins shrunk to help defend, Tianyang immediately scored the ball; Ingram caught the ball and rushed inside, attracted Towns to make up the defense and then divided the ball again, McGee caught the ball and threw it directly.

Miss!McGee took off and caught an offensive rebound and shot again!

Still miss!McGee took off again to grab the rebound, and just about to make a shot, the referee suddenly blew his whistle and called Downs a thug for a foul.

Amidst the cheers of the fans in the audience, McGee went to the free throw line. Unfortunately, he missed both free throws.

...

The Timberwolves attacked, Teague dribbled the ball to the right 45 degrees, and cooperated with Towns in the pick-and-roll.

The speed of the two is extremely fast, one immediately cuts to the top of the arc after blocking, and the other immediately hits the inside line.The Lakers were forced to switch defenses, Teague stopped at the free throw line, turned around and passed the ball to Towns, and ran to the right sideline, leaving all the space under the basket.

Perhaps considering that Towns hit a three-pointer just now, Rondo chose to defend close to him, as if he wanted to create an offensive foul, but Towns pulled the ball back and sprinted sideways to the inside.

Rondo hurriedly moved laterally to intercept, but Towns suddenly stopped and retreated, and made a three-pointer.

Swish, the second three-pointer hit, the Timberwolves 32 to 35, only 3 points left.

Wharton shook his head slightly, reaching out to call a timeout.

In the TNTT live broadcast room.

O'Neal's expression was serious: "Towns feels very good on the offensive end today, and his luck is also very good..."

Kenny shook his head and spread his hands: "COME ON, Shaq! Be magnanimous, it's all thanks to Thibodeau's tactical adjustments. Didn't you find that all the offenses of the Timberwolves in the second quarter were handled by Towns?"

Barkley nodded slightly: "Perhaps our peers (EPSN) predicted correctly. Once Towns opens his hands, let alone Towns with a three-pointer, the Lakers will have a very headache."

O'Neill remained calm: "I believe in Wharton, he will find a solution right away."

(End of this chapter)