Tom. Thibodeau sat on the bench with a blank face, his brow furrowed. Next to him was Jimmy, who scored 22 points today but still couldn't do anything. Butler. Jimmy is holding his chin with one hand, and you don't know what he's thinking.

Maybe he was thinking about leaving Minneapolis?

Jimmy. Next to Butler are two of the Timberwolves' young rookies, Wiggins and Towns, who have serious expressions because their performances are far from great.

Downs was okay, with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the game. Although the shooting percentage as an interior is only 50%, it is not too bad overall.

Wiggins was a bit embarrassed, scoring just two points on 1-of-11 shooting from the field. And on the defensive end, whoever touches him will score. Without a doubt, he's the second biggest reason why the Timberwolves are being played like this today.

The first reason is Henson's strategy of letting Antetokounmpo play the No. 1 position.

With 35 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Antetokounmpo played a "Jamesian" statistic. His impact caused the Timberwolves' defense to collapse at one point, and once Thibodeau was packed, Antetokounmpo was always able to find teammates in the open space.

Today, Croatian shooter Bogdanovic scored 20 points off the bench because he was comfortably 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point line.

Combined, these elements leave the Timberwolves trailing by 20 points with 1:38 left in the game. And that's why Butler, Downs and Wiggins sit off the court.

They don't have to fight anymore, garbage time has long come......

"The game has lost its suspense, and the Timberwolves have no resistance in front of the Pacers. I think, Adam. Xiao Hua must have regretted arranging this match as the opening match. Because at this point, the ratings of this game must be miserable. ”

Barkley looked at the data of both sides, and the Timberwolves' three-point shooting rate was only 21.2%...... If the Timberwolves are a little more accurate, they may be able to chase after them. But with all they can do is go to the basket, Thibodeau is undoubtedly a wise choice to give up the game.

"Actually, you can't blame Stern, the Timberwolves are not weak, plus Jimmy. Butler's relationship with the Pacers, this ball is indeed very topical, and there is nothing wrong with using it as the opening game. If you want me to say, it was Coach Henson's tactical set-up that ruined the suspense of this game. "Kenny. Smith spread his hands, who made Henson make the Pacers so strong?

"The state of the Pacers is completely different from that of the preseason, and many reporters have said that the Pacers are going to be bad after losing Paul. Well...... After the game, they just waited to be humiliated by Henson. O'Neill smiled gloatingly.

The TNT trio are already talking about other things, after all, the game itself, there is nothing too much to watch.

Henson sat on the bench, his eyes glued to the big screen. He couldn't wait and wanted to embrace his first win on the "last lap."

Without victory, he will not rest on his laurels.

Eventually, the referee's whistle freed the Timberwolves players. Jimmy. Butler was the first to get up and walk back into the tunnel and refused to be interviewed by all reporters.

Again, he collapsed in the Banker's Life Arena. Since Henson's return, Jimmy. Butler hasn't won well here.

In the 16-17 season, Jimmy was still in the Bulls. Butler was swept 4-0 by the Pacers in both the regular season and playoffs. Moving to the Timberwolves last season, Butler came to the Bankers Living Arena twice, but only walked away with one victory.

And this year, Jimmy. Butler lost the first time he was here. In three years, he played Henson's team 11 times, and Butler won only one......

Such a result is naturally to make Jimmy. Butler's face was gloomy. As everyone knows, before the game, he also said righteously, "I won't be soft."

For now, Henson doesn't need him to be soft at all.

Jimmy. Butler "panicked and fled", Tom. Thibodoke wasn't so lucky.

As soon as he shook hands with Henson, Thibodeau was surrounded by reporters. And the reporters' questions made the former defensive master even more embarrassed.

"How would you rate this 17-point defeat?"

"Coach Thibodeau, why is your defensive system useless in front of the Pacers!?"

"What do you think of Andrew. What about Wiggins' performance today? Will you keep it in the starting lineup!? ”

"About Jimmy. Is the contradiction between Butler and Downs and Wiggins true? ”

As soon as you lose, all kinds of bad things will come to you. Hellish Thibodeau, he had to wipe his ass for this painful loss.

In the end, Thibodeau summed up the game in just one sentence: "Don't underestimate Henson. Joe, even if he doesn't have Chris. Paul. ”

With that, Thibodeau pushed away the reporters and walked towards the players' tunnel. He secretly rejoiced in his heart that he was fortunate to be a Western team and couldn't meet Henson a few times a season......

The best thing to do when confronting a powerful enemy is not to fight him, but to avoid it.

As miserable as the Timberwolves are, the Pacers are as glorious as they are.

As soon as the match was over, Antetokounmpo was sought after by reporters. One of the most asked questions about him is, "Have you ever thought about competing for the regular season MVP this season?" ”

There is no doubt that in the eyes of reporters and fans, Antetokounmpo's performance in the first game was completely MVP-calib.

'I'll try my best, but the first thing I think about is how to help the team win.' Antetokounmpo was in a good mood, and when Henson first asked him to play the number one position, he was actually a little worried. After all, the No. 1 position is the most special position on the basketball court.

But out of trust in Henson, Antetokounmpo chose to accept it. As a result, he showed great power in his first fight. There is no doubt that this time it has greatly boosted Antetokounmpo's confidence when he plays the number one position.

In addition to Antetokounmpo, Bogdanovic, who scored 20 points, George who scored 18 points, and Oladipo, who scored 17 points, are also the darlings of journalists.

Of course, the most popular is Indianapolis' basketball godfather Henson. Joe.

It's his home turf, after all.

'I lost in pre-season on purpose and we didn't want anyone to know my style of play too early.

"The Timberwolves' defense wasn't good enough because their players weren't as focused as the Bulls at the time."

"And Chris. Paul's Break? He just made a decision that would be good for his career, how can you tell that we broke up? We've won five championships together, and you're giving me a reason to break up? ”

"The goal for this season, of course, is to win the championship. I know the Warriors are strong this season, and I know that there will be a lot of strong players in the East this year. But that's okay, I'm going to spend a season slowly proving that the Pacers are incredibly tough. ”

Henson answered the reporters' questions throughout the day and did not leave rudely. He just wants to let the world know that the Pacers' goals remain the same!

How do you say that? You can take what I don't want, but you can't grab what I want!

I haven't retired yet, so no one wants to grab the championship!

111-94, the Pacers completed a perfect opener performance. But most people are well aware that this is just the beginning of Henson's curtain call......

※※※

This year, the NBA officially scheduled only 2 opener performances. One was a one-sided slaughter between the Pacers and the Timberwolves, while the other was a one-sided slaughter between the fearsome Golden State Warriors and the Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder.

In the opening game of the new season, the two favourites won the tournament in no surprise.

And the victory of these two games seems to have also made the competition between the Pacers and the Warriors start from the beginning of the season.

On October 19, after the opening game, the Pacers defeated the Bucks in Milwaukee to win two in a row. The Warriors, on the other hand, relied on Jerebuko's stunner to overpower the Jazz in Salt Lake City, and also won two consecutive victories without danger.

On Oct. 20, the Pacers beat the Nets in back-to-back games. The Golden State Warriors, on the other hand, humiliated the Washington Wizards at home with a season-high single-game score of 144.

There was no overtime in this game, but because Curry shot a terrible 11-of-16 three-point shooting percentage, the game exploded to 51 points! Let the Wizards fall completely.

The Golden State Warriors are showing their energy unscrupulously, and although it was the Wizards who lost, Henson knew very well that the Warriors were provoking themselves!

Subsequently, the Warriors and Timberwolves defeated the Knicks and Grizzlies, respectively, to win four in a row. And the Warriors and Thunder have also become the only two teams in the league that have not lost so far.

It's a pity that the Warriors' undefeated gold body was broken on October 23. Facing the Denver Nuggets, who have improved so much this season, the Warriors fought until the last minute, but still lost by two points.

Among them, Jokic, the star of the Nuggets, scored 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in this game, and he proved with his actions that the center is still dominant in this league.

At this point, the Warriors lost the first game of the season. As an opponent who is fighting openly and secretly with the Warriors, people want to see if the Pacers can continue to win and take the lead in getting rid of the Warriors.

However, in the opinion of most experts, it will not be easy for the Pacers to win five straight games and throw off the Warriors.

Because on October 24th, the Pacers' opponent will be the San Antonio Spurs!

While the Spurs lost Leonard this summer, it's clear to all. Popovich's team is never a soft persimmon.

The "cold war" between the Pacers and the Warriors is about to enter the first turning point.