The second game of this series is even more suspense-free than the first. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Sam. Kassel strained his back muscle in a misplaced defense against Maddie in the first minute and was unable to continue the game. Martin replaces. He failed to return for this game.

The Wolves, who lost their core point guard, were still high-spirited, fighting with the Rockets with tenacious defense, and Garnett also played at a very high level, cutting 24+12 to completely blow up the Rockets' No. 4 position. However, the Rockets maintained the lead with the steady play of the CTM trio, and finally won another game at home 91-98.

And in the east, Ben. Wallace has been reeling from Artest for stealing the best defensive player, and he exploded against the Pacers, cutting down a dominant 11+22+5 stats. The Pistons led into the final 2 minutes, but the Pacers' center Jeff. Foster's two points and a rebound in the middle of the crunch time turned the tide. Mr. Reggie with a big heart. After Miller's key long-range shot, the Pistons trailed by three points. Bodiloga and Rashid missed back-to-back three-pointers, and the Pacers came back from a late point to beat the Pistons by four points to keep their home court.

But the Pistons have played with confidence. What about the Eastern Conference champions? We almost won their home stadium!

In the second game, the Pistons still held a slight lead in the fourth quarter, and in the final moments, Richard. Hamilton stepped up to the plate, making consecutive fouls from Pacers players and walking to the free-throw line multiple times. In this difficult defensive battle, he shot 1 shot in the last 5 minutes and scored 7 points on 5-of-6 free throws to support the whole team, you must know that the Pacers only scored a total of 8 points during this period.

72:67 The Pistons won the low-scoring hand-to-hand battle, and the Pacers lost home-court advantage.

***

"Sam, are you sure you're going to keep playing?" Sanders asked, looking concerned.

"Yes, this is our home stadium, and we can't let the Houstonians get away with it anymore!" Kassel looked determined.

"It's hard to control the subsequent development of this muscle strain, and I'm afraid that forcing you to play will jeopardize your career."

"I'm 34 years old, so it's not too early to retire." Cassel smiled, a hint of tenderness on his ugly face. "I wanted to be a role model for Kevin, who was at Hakim when I first entered the league. Olajuwon won two championships. Now we are facing Olajuwon's Rockets, I want to help Kevin win the opponent, I want to help Kevin win the championship! ”

"If you insist, you're still going to be our starting point guard!" Saunders may not be a good manager at a very high level, but he is a respectable manager who respects the opinions of his players. Kassel shook Sang Shuai's hand gratefully.

(Paraphrase 1: Historically, Kassel has indeed fulfilled this promise.) On March 5, 2008, the 38-year-old Cassel announced that he would join the Celtics after being laid off by the Clippers and join his old teammate Garnett. He then had a spectacular performance in the finals, helping Garnett win the only championship trophy of his career.

Allusion 2: In 2015, Sanders, then president of the Timberwolves, unfortunately died of cancer, and Garnett, who returned to the Wolves in good clothes, sat alone in front of Sangshuai's parking space to mourn his mentor, and was reluctant to leave for a long time. The sentimental picture condensed by this man's lonely back represents a classic master-apprentice relationship in NBA history)

***

The Target Center is not the home of the devil in the NBA, it is neither as warm as the Warriors' home arena of the Oakland Arena (renamed Oracle Arena in '06), nor as cultural as the Lakers' Staples Arena, nor as sharp as the Rockets' Toyota Center Arena. But as soon as the Rockets players came up, they were confused by the home atmosphere here.

"I remember that we didn't play this away game before, it wasn't so noisy!" Wang Zhizhi, who has always spoken elegantly, also said loudly, and if he didn't shout loudly here, he couldn't hear what each other was saying.

"I think it's because the Timberwolves are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time, and the fans are so enthusiastic." Yao Ming said.

Yao Ming guessed correctly, it is precisely because of the 7 consecutive years of first-round tours that the enthusiasm of Minnesota fans who have been holding back for 8 seasons has finally been released. It's not just the fans who are enthusiastic, the Wolves players heard that Lao Ka was going to insist on playing with an injury, and they all had red eyes, and they had to win this game.

The rocket came up and still played at his own pace, and Wang Yao combined an inside pass of the Great Wall of China to cooperate, and Yao Ming won the one-arm dunk.

Sprewell forced a strong attack through Maddy and scored a layup, and Maddy did not show weakness and immediately assisted Billups to shoot 2 points. Cassel immediately assisted Garnett's jumper.

But the Rockets immediately suffered a loss, and the Timberwolves players were so motivated today that even Sprewell spared no effort to defend Maddie in front of him and resolutely refused to let him catch the ball. The Wolves grappled the rockets in hand-to-hand combat.

Wang Zhizhi's ability to resist pressure was a little worse, and under Garnett's pressure, he was stealed by Sprewell as he passed the ball carelessly. The madman immediately runs wild to stage a dragon dunk, and Maddie follows closely. The madman jumped up and Maddie jumped up, reaching out to give him a big hat.

Sprewell's dunk turned out to be a feint, he passed the ball low in the air, and Cassel received the ball and made an easy layup.

Wolves were in high spirits and were as excited to see Kassel score as if they had collectively scored. "Come on, kill them!" Garnett roared and motivated everyone, and constantly instructed his teammates to stand and defend.

Under the pressure of this perversion, the Rockets players collectively misaligned. 17 points in the first quarter and 18 points in the second quarter. The Rockets, who are known for their offense, only scored 35 points in the first half! And Kassel became more and more courageous, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, more than Yao Mai's combined 14 points.

In the third quarter, Maddie tried to take over the game and kept winning singles. But the Timberwolves pitchers played at a high level, and Sprewell and Maddy did not show weakness in their shooting, hitting three three-pointers in a single quarter. Even Garnett threw in a long-range shot.

"That's it, beat them down with their three-point shot!" Saunders continues to inspire the players.

In the fourth quarter, Cassel finally left the game with a back discomfort, but his spirit had reached the hearts of every wolf. Szzczebiak hit a three-pointer, Hojberg hit a three-pointer, and the Wolves were not just starry, but into the rhythm of the wolves. Although the rocket found the touch of attack, it gradually ran out of time in the bite of the wolves.

The final bell rang, and the 90-101 Rockets lost the wolf's mouth. The CTM combination combined for 68 points but was unable to prevent the defeat, Billups contributed 18+5+9 and played well, seemingly crushing the opposing player, but he had an inexplicable sense of powerlessness in the face of Kassel.

Cassel Sr. played 26 minutes with an injury and had 18 points and three assists. The stats were mediocre, but it was his mental encouragement that allowed the Wolves to come up with a fighting posture and win this dignified battle.