The King of the NBA

Entering the second quarter, the Timberwolves still had an advantage at the beginning. The Timberwolves had a stronger rotation than the Rockets and had more players available.

However, the Rockets originally had a rotation of eight or nine players. After more than two minutes into the second quarter, McHale began to bring in Harden, Ariza and other key players.

Harden started to explode as soon as he came up, scoring consecutively.

This was a bit sudden, which caught the Timberwolves off guard and was overtaken by the opponent before they could react. Fortunately, Adelman immediately called a timeout, so the point difference was not widened too much.

Adelman did not blame the players, relying on rotation players to compete with Harden, this is simply unrealistic, not to mention Clarkson, Whiteside, Shabatz these players have not fully grown yet.

"Substitution." Adelman made a substitution, replacing Love and Dion. "Later, help Love pick and roll more. Love, you need to attack more."

"Yeah." Le Fu nodded.

Soon, the pause is over.

The two sides returned to the court, Ning Yi stared at the court, frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?" Duan Xiaoran asked.

"We're afraid we're going to be at a disadvantage." Ning Yi shook his head and sighed again.

Sure enough, things were just as Ning Yi worried, and the Timberwolves soon fell into a disadvantage.

Love is actually playing very well, but the Timberwolves only have him at this point to occupy a considerable advantage, while the Rockets have Harden and Howard, both of which have advantages.

With one against two, even Lefu can't stand it.

So halfway through the second quarter, the Timberwolves fell into a disadvantage, and the point difference was gradually widened, but in just a short time, they were already behind by as many as 11 points.

"Adelman." Terry Burt changed color and called in a deep voice.

Adelman shook his head and called another timeout.

I can't continue to fight like this, my side has completely fallen into a disadvantage, whether it is state or morale, they are suppressed by the Rockets, if this continues, the point difference will only get bigger.

"Let me talk about it." Adelman took a deep breath and made some adjustments, but did not replace Love, even though more than eight minutes had passed in the second quarter.

Love cannot be replaced at this time, because the opponent will not replace Harden.

The Rockets have a rotation of eight or nine players, and this game is so critical. How could McHale replace Harden at this time? It is possible to replace Howard. After all, Howard has a weakness, and that is free throws.

Sure enough, when the timeout came back, Howard was replaced, and Harden remained on the court. He was fully opened, and the offensive end was difficult to stop. Even if the Timberwolves used double-teams, it could not limit his scoring.

There is no way to completely guard against a player like Harden.

Since you can't guard against it, you can only score against the opponent.

Love began to further strengthen his personal offense, playing consecutive low-post singles and causing damage. His strength lies there, and his scoring ability is not much inferior to that of Harden.

It's just that in this way, Le Fu's physical energy will be consumed a lot.

On the side of the Rockets, Harden was also scoring points and started a confrontation with Love. The two came and went, dominating the last three minutes of the second quarter.

"beep"

When the first half ended, the score was 61:52, and the Timberwolves trailed by 9 points!

Ning Yi and his teammates returned to the locker room together. In the locker room, Ning Yi cheered everyone up, but it's hard to say how much effect it can have.

The game depends on strength, not to mention the playoffs, and it is not possible to reverse the situation with a few words of encouragement.

The second half begins.

Entering the second half, the Rockets' offensive became more aggressive, the point difference further expanded, and it returned to more than ten points.

"Foul on Howard." Adelman made a decisive decision and gave instructions to let the players use the "cut Howard" tactic to send Howard to the free throw line.

Howard's free throws can only be considered average, he did not perform as "super-level" as he did in the first game, and his average shooting percentage was only 40%. However, the Timberwolves had problems with their own offense, lost touch and decreased efficiency.

Love consumes a lot of physical energy and his state declines, but no one among his teammates stands up. As a result, the overall offensive efficiency of the Timberwolves has dropped greatly, making it difficult to compete with the Rockets.

As one ebbs and the other grows, the difference in points becomes wider and wider.

"Ning Yi, the point difference is getting bigger and bigger." Duan Xiaoran frowned, and even she became nervous, "If you continue to fight like this, the situation will be very unfavorable to you."

"I know." Ning Yi smiled bitterly, and said: "The game is still early, I believe in Love and the others."

At this time, besides trusting your teammates, what else can you do?

With Ning Yi absent, the Timberwolves are left with only Love. If Love plays well, it's okay to say, but if Love doesn't perform well, or something goes wrong, then the Timberwolves will be caught blind.

As for the others, Rubio, An Ding, Turner, Brewer, Dion, and Jokic are not available, but who can compete with Love and Ning Yi, and who can replace them?

No one can replace it.

"Sure enough, the lack of Ning's problem is still highlighted." Adelman sighed secretly, couldn't help but glanced at Ning Yi, just in time to meet Ning Yi's gaze, and the two looked at each other, knowing it in their hearts. Adelman made a substitution and replaced Love. It is not good to let Love continue to play at this time. Instead, it will continue to consume his physical energy. It is better to replace him to rest and recover his physical fitness. Wait until the fourth quarter It's easy to fight.

With Love replaced, the Timberwolves really have no leader.

This situation is very bad. In good times, it is not a big problem even if the core players are not there for a while, but in this kind of adversity, if the core players are not there, everything will be chaotic.

The team lacks a backbone, the offense is chaotic, and the defense is loose. It can be said to be full of loopholes.

Naturally, the Rockets will not let go of this opportunity. Taking advantage of this time, the Rockets further widened the point difference. Even in a pure rotation matchup, the Timberwolves fell into a disadvantage.

But at the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves trailed by 16 points.

"This difference is too big." Ning Yi frowned.

In fact, everyone knows that the point difference is too big, even if there is a whole quarter left in the game, it is too difficult for the Timberwolves to reverse 16 points.

By the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves tried to counterattack.

Love returned to the court and scored some points, but the hole in front of him was too big, and the Rockets were not a weak team. It was too difficult to catch up to 16 points.

In the last two minutes or so, the Timberwolves were still 11 points behind.

"It's over."

"Oh, I still lost."

In the auditorium, the home fans were lost, some had left, some stayed, expecting a miracle.

It's a pity that the miracle didn't happen. In the last two minutes, even Love couldn't score. As the game time dwindled, the Timberwolves completely lost their chance.

In the end, the whole game ended with a score of 117:105. The Timberwolves lost the game by 12 points, and the total score of this series became a 1:1 tie.