The King of the NBA

The Timberwolves swept the Mavericks 4:0, and the other teams in the West did not drag on for too long in the first round. The Warriors defeated the Spurs 4:2, the Rockets defeated the Grizzlies 4:1, and the Clippers defeated the Trail Blazers 4:2. Qiqi advanced to the second round.

On the eastern side, the Cavaliers swept the Nets without bloodshed. There was no suspense. LeBron James was still strong in the Cavaliers and fully informed the game. In addition, the Eagles defeated the Celtics and the Bulls defeated the Bucks. The four-time Raptors lost to the Wizards 3:4, and were overcome by the Wizards to complete the counterattack.

Of course, the gap between fourth and fifth is not that big.

When the first round ended, the second round of the playoffs began soon. The Timberwolves ushered in their first game against the Rockets at home.

"The Rockets are not an easy team to deal with, we must go all out." Adelman's expression was dignified, and his opponents urged: "We must not take it lightly."

"yes."

"clear."

All the players responded one after another.

Subsequently, Adelman spread out the tactical board and began to arrange tactics.

Not far away, Rockets coach Kevin McHale is also deploying tactics. Adelman dare not underestimate the Rockets, and McHale dare not underestimate the Timberwolves. The two sides played against each other twice in the regular season, and the Rockets all lost.

"Let's fight like this later." McHale spread out the tactical board, arranged some tactics, and then said: "Remember, we must guard Ning well. If we defend him, we will win half of the battle. Also, play more inside, Howard must open this point."

From the perspective of the lineup, there is still a gap between the Rockets and the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves' current lineup has almost no weak points, and it is comparable to the Warriors. Although the Rockets have James Harden and Dwight Howard, the combination of the two of them may not be as good as Ning Yi + Love, at least In terms of scoring ability, Howard is still inferior.

It is precisely because of this that McHale asked Howard to play this point. If he couldn't open this point, it would be difficult for James Harden alone to defeat the Timberwolves.

"beep"

Game start.

In the auditorium, the home fans had a warm atmosphere, cheering for the Timberwolves.

Last season, the Timberwolves stopped in the second round and failed to enter the Western Conference finals.

"attack!"

The Timberwolves got the ball, Ning Yi yelled, and quickly rushed towards the Rockets in the half court. Rubio saw that Ning Yi had reached the frontcourt, and immediately passed the ball. Martin landed on the corner three-point line, and Love came to the other side On one side, Dieng rushed to the inside.

The next moment, Ning Yi made a fake breakthrough, directly pulled out, and made a bold move.

"boom!"

It's a pity that the ball was not able to be scored.

Howard took the rebound and passed it to Harden.

The Rockets start with Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, Trevor Ariza, James Harden, and Jason Terry. Although Terry is the No. 1 position, he is actually responsible for organizing most of the time. The person is Harden. Harden went to the frontcourt and tried it out. Seeing that the opportunity was not good, he passed the ball to Terry. Terry made a sudden point and passed it to Ariza. Ariza made a three-pointer, but also missed.

At the beginning, both sides failed to make a three-pointer, and each adjusted their rhythm. The Timberwolves began to play according to tactics, giving the ball to Love and letting him single-handedly play Jones.

Love has an advantage in singles against Jones, scoring two in a row, making a 4:0 start for the Timberwolves.

But soon the Rockets returned the favor, playing inside as well. Harden and Howard made a pick-and-roll, and a pass was passed to Howard. Howard feinted and fooled Love, who was supplementing the defense, and jumped up with a dunk. .

After this dunk, Howard seemed to have found the feeling and scored consecutive points in the interior, but in a short time, he had already scored 6 points in the interior.

Moreover, Howard is a threat to the Timberwolves inside, and he also has a strong rebounding ability, so after a few minutes, the Rockets have the advantage.

"beep"

Adelman called a timeout.

After the players came down, Adelman replaced Love and Rubio, and then ordered: "Wait and use foul tactics. Don't let Howard play too easily in the paint."

Soon, the pause is over.

Back on the court, the Timberwolves began to use foul tactics.

Foul against Howard, which was used by the Timberwolves in the regular season, and other teams are also using it, similar to the "shark hacking tactic", because everyone knows that Howard is not good at free throws.

But unexpectedly, Howard's free throws were not bad today. The Timberwolves fouled him twice in a row. Howard actually made 3 of 4 free throws, a hit rate of 75%.

"Snapped!"

Another foul.

Howard went to the free throw line, made two free throws, amazing, it's unbelievable, when did Howard's free throws get so good, 5 of 6 free throws!

Seeing this situation, Adelman was also a little speechless. This is not Howard's routine operation, and I don't know what he ate before he came today. The free throws are so accurate, almost catching up with the defenders.

"No need to continue." Adelman gestured to give up "foul tactics."

Howard has such a high free throw percentage, if he continues to "cut" it, the gain will outweigh the loss. What's more, this is only the first quarter, and there are too many accumulated fouls, which is not good for the Timberwolves.

The "foul tactics" failed and the score fell behind. Ning Yi frowned secretly and started the scoring mode.

The Rockets still can't stop Ning Yi. Although Ariza is also good at letting go, Ning Yi has too many scoring methods. The exchange of eighteen martial arts makes Ariza a headache.

But Harden is also in good shape today. Ning Yi can score, and he can score. The Rockets can't guard Ning Yi, and the Timberwolves can't see Harden. His score almost offsets Ning Yi's score.

But the difference between the two sides is getting bigger and bigger.

The Rockets are leading more and more, because Howard seems to be playing chicken blood today. He is like a god of war in the paint. He has rebounds and blocks. He is particularly sharp on the offensive end. Dion has good athletic ability and height. But physical confrontation is too far behind Howard.

Under Harden's leadership, Howard dunked again and again, ravaging the Timberwolves' basket.

Of course, the most incredible thing is Howard's free throws. After more than eight minutes in the first quarter, Howard made 7 of 8 free throws. Even Rockets fans are a little confused. I have never seen Howard like this. It's Howard!

"7 of 8 free throws, what a hell." Ning Yi complained, also a little speechless.

Adelman shook his head with a wry smile, called a timeout, replaced Ning Yi, and began to change into a rotation lineup.