On April 22, the first round of the playoffs between the Trail Blazers, ranked No. 1 in the West, and the Timberwolves, ranked eighth, officially began.

"Ben, do you know what kind of task I'm going to give you?" Before the opening, Richard asked Big Ben with a smile.

Big Ben smiled and nodded: "It must be the Garnett who killed the other party......"

"That's right, Garnett will be handed over to you!" Richard said lightly.

Playing the Timberwolves, Richard really doesn't need to be nervous, and in the four meetings in the regular season this season, the Timberwolves were all hammered by the Trail Blazers.

Big Ben's defense of Garnett is quite good, far better than Big Ben's defense of Duncan.

The main thing is that Garnett is in front of Big Ben, all his basket skills have become ornaments, and with Big Ben's steel shield wall blocking him, he can't stand under the basket at all.

In this case, the only thing Garnett can do is to shoot in the middle of the iron......

"Kobe, you don't need me to say more about your work, do you?" Richard asked with a smile.

Kobe Bryant nodded solemnly, "Coach, Marbury handed it over to me, don't worry, I will let him know the gap between him and me!" ”

"Don't be so tight, take it easy, young man, even if you can't get rid of Marbury, we still have Bowen ......," Richard said with a smile.

"Impossible! I'm definitely going to be able to take care of Marbury on my own, Coach, just wait and see! Kobe Bryant swore that he would.

……

Against a team like the Timberwolves, there's really not much to arrange.

Big Ben defends Garnett, Kobe Bryant defends Marbury, and the remaining stinky tomatoes and rotten eggs in the Timberwolves are not worth mentioning.

Originally, if the Timberwolves' starting center Tom Gugliotta was there, then Richard might be afraid of the Timberwolves' interior line, but Gugliotta was reimbursed for the season just after the halfway point of the season......

The Timberwolves' interior line, with only one young Garnett carrying it at the moment, is really nothing to fear.

……

"Guys, what I want in this series is not just to win, but to win beautifully!" Richard yelled.

"We want the whole league to see the dominance of our pioneers!"

"Doot toot!" The referee blew the whistle for the start of the game, and players from both sides began to take the field.

The first possession of the Trail Blazers, Robinson received a pass from Kobe Bryant in the bottom corner and hit a three-pointer directly.

Then Garnett's iron-blooded big shot was not scored, and the rebound was picked up by Xiao Ao, and Kobe Bryant immediately organized a new round of offense.

Judging from the offensive momentum of both sides, the strength of these two teams is definitely not at the same level, and the gap between the Timberwolves and the Trail Blazers is probably at least two grades behind.

……

Just two minutes into the opening game, the Trail Blazers directly hit a wave of 8:2 mini-climax.

In the space of two minutes, the Timberwolves only relied on Marbury's breakthrough shot to score two points, which was quite miserable......

As for Garnett, both shots were iron, which was due to a bad hand, and on the other hand, the reason was Big Ben's defensive suppression of him.

Timberwolves head coach Philip Sanders let out a long sigh from the sidelines.

The current situation, he had envisioned, was not too unexpected......

But he must also have fantasies, such as God on the side of their Timberwolves, and the players have an unusually high shooting percentage on the court, and they have all kinds of hits.

Obviously, his fantasy didn't come true, and with the Trail Blazers' strength, the Timberwolves couldn't find a way out of this situation.

By the time the first quarter was halfway through, the difference between the two sides had reached double digits!

Richard replaced Kobe Bryant and Robinson with a backcourt combination of Martial Arts and Bowen......

The offensive firepower of this combination must have decreased a lot compared to Kobe Robinson, but the defensive intensity has increased by a cut, resulting in even more uncomfortable backcourt in the forest!

……

Nine minutes into the first quarter, Richard replaced Xiao Ao and Rashid again, and replaced Lao Sa and Old Curry.

As for Big Ben, he has been kept on the court by Richard.

If Garnett is not off, Richard is not ready to replace Big Ben......

In the next ten years, Big Ben will face off against Garnett and Duncan, the top insiders in history, countless times, and Richard hopes that Big Ben can take advantage of the fact that these new melons and eggs have not fully grown up and establish a psychological advantage first.

Psychological superiority is quite important for two players to play against each other.

Imagine that in recent years, if Garnett is in an absolute disadvantage every time he confronts Big Ben, then he will be at a psychological disadvantage when he encounters Big Ben in the future.

When he saw Big Ben, the first thing he thought of was his tragic experience of being abused.

That momentum is a few points weaker, and the confidence is also a few points weaker......

……

Garnett played for 11 minutes in the first quarter, and Richard also put Big Ben on the court for 11 minutes!

Sanders really can't help it, and he doesn't want to Garnett like this, but if he doesn't, the Timberwolves may collapse after the first quarter.

In the first quarter of the Trail Blazers' game, except for Big Ben, Richard didn't let the other players play for too long.

After all, the first round of the playoffs, in Richard's view, is just an appetizer before the big war, and he can't go so hard.

The lineup of Lao Sa, Old Curry, Big Ben, Martial Saint and Bowen is definitely not the strongest lineup of the Trail Blazers, but for the Timberwolves, it is also a super lineup that is enough to make them desperate.

……

Garnett's eleventh minute of playing time got 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal, which seems to be a very eye-catching statistic, but his five-point score consumed six shots, and the scoring efficiency is not high.

In this data, the only thing that can be regarded as Garnett's normal performance is the assist data.

Many people have made the point that Garnett is one of the few players who can play from the No. 1 to the No. 5 position since the league's inception.

There is also the saying that Garnett has his own system......

In fact, this is quite reasonable, Garnett's organizational ability is definitely at the top level of history in the interior line.

Averaged 6 assists per game in a peak season, which is quite rare on the inside, even some well-known interior players such as King Webb, the Gasol brothers and Brad Miller have never averaged 6 assists per game.

……

In today's game, if it weren't for Garnett's achievements on the organizational end, then I'm afraid the situation of the Timberwolves would be even worse, and it is not impossible to collapse in the first quarter.

Garnett's direct opponent Big Ben also has 11 minutes of playing time, although the current score is zero, but the data of 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist, the data definitely does not look as versatile as Garnett, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that Big Ben's performance is definitely better than Garnett!