The training camp is extremely limited, starting on January 8 and starting the regular season on February 5, with less than a month to go.

Such a short period of time is too short for the Nuggets in the rebuilding period, far from enough to run in.

In the hard training camp, time flew by, and soon came to February 5th, which was also the start of the season.

It was also on this day that the Nuggets sat at home and welcomed their first opponent of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Compared to the summer league, the regular season was so much more lively, the Pepsi Center was packed, and the Nuggets fans were very good, even if the team's record was extremely bad last season, and they came to watch the opening game in the hope of getting off to a good start.

Playing in a noisy stadium is also a test for players, especially for rookies.

Chi Liang's performance was okay, and his heartbeat sped up a bit. But Lafrenz is different, he is the starting center of the Nuggets and is about to play.

For Lafrenz, Chi Liang can only express envy, and he can only wait for the opportunity.

As long as he is given the opportunity, he will be able to grasp it.

"Lafrentz, as long as you play to your normal strength, I believe you will not lose to the center of the Timberwolves!"

Chi Liang saw Lafrenz's nervousness, patted him on the shoulder, and took the initiative to encourage his friend.

"Don't worry, see how I beat him!"

Lafrenz slowed his nerves a little, took a deep breath, and prepared to play.

In this game, the starting list of the Nuggets is center Lafrentz, power forward McDyce, small forward Folkson, scoring guard Stich, and playmaking guard Van Exel.

On the other side, the Timberwolves fielded center Dean Garnett, power forward Kevin Garnett, small forward Joe Smith, scoring guard Anthony Peeler and point guard Stephen Marbury.

The starting lineup of the Nuggets surprised Ji Liang slightly, and Billups did not appear in the starting lineup.

But if you think about it, Stizy is actually not weak, although last season Stizy was plagued by injuries and did not play much, but he was also a player who averaged 15 points per game, and he was also the hero of Dan Esser's creation of the Black Eight Miracle.

From the perspective of the lineup, the two sides are almost the same, but the Timberwolves and the Nuggets are different, they are not a rebuilding team, and they naturally far surpass the Nuggets in terms of running-in.

Under the guidance of the referee, the two sides began to enter the jump ball session, which was played by Lafrenz and Dean Garnett.

After the two sides were ready, the referee threw the basketball vertically into the air, and when the basketball began to fall, the two centers jumped one after another.

With his height and arm length, Lafrentz beat Dean Garnett and slapped the basketball to Van Exel.

At the beginning of the game, Van Exel attacked with the ball, he had the mind to be the boss, and he had no idea of passing the ball, and finally ended up playing iron.

Van Exel, known as the 'Fan Maniac', is known for his daring madness, even if he doesn't guarantee a hit, he will shoot as soon as the opportunity arises.

After a few rounds of playing, the characteristics of both teams were presented to the audience.

The Nuggets are not a defensive team, and the starters are very mobile, but the downside is that they are not very tall.

Center Lafrentz, who is 211 centimeters empty, but likes to float on the outside to shoot, if it is a small-ball era in the future, it can definitely be reused by the team, it can be said that this is the wrong era.

As for the number one star McDyce, he, like Kevin Garnett, was a rookie in 1995.

His height is not as good as Garnett, but his offensive ability is not below Garnett in the slightest, and the two sides can be said to explode each other.

Garnett, however, has more strengths, as he moves quickly and has a strong defensive ability. At the same time, compared to last season, he is obviously much tougher, more active on the inside, and no longer obsessed with outside shooting.

On the other side, McDyce is limited by his height, and although he is agile on his feet, he obviously suffers defensively.

The Nuggets' interior defense is weak, and the outside defense is not much better, Van Exel and Stich have a strong impact and weak defense, only Fox dares to fight and dare to grab, but he is also lonely.

In addition, due to the lack of running-in, the Nuggets' cooperation is obviously not as good as that of the Timberwolves, which also leads to the Timberwolves beginning to dominate the court.

In the eight minutes of the game, relying on stronger defense and cooperation, the Timberwolves dominated the game and led the Nuggets by 7 points at 25:18.

It was also at this time that the two sides began to switch to the rotation lineup.

"Billups, Clark, Taylor, Washington, and ......"

On the Nuggets' bench, D'Antoni looked at Williams and then at Chi Liang again, giving people a feeling of swaying.

Ji Liang is sitting on the precarious side, hoping that the coach can choose himself.

It's a pity that in the end, D'Antoni chose Williams, even if he was not self-disciplined enough, but last season he averaged nearly 20 points per game, and D'Antoni didn't want to give up easily.

In D'Antoni's view, Ji Liang's personal ability may be stronger, but after all, he is only a rookie, and he is likely to be affected after playing. Williams, on the other hand, has no such worries, and he is more experienced.

Ji Liang was a little disappointed, but he didn't show it, and now that he doesn't play, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have a chance.

In terms of the bench lineup, the Timberwolves are no less impressive, with bench gangster Sam Mitchell, although he does not play as a starter, his scoring ability is no worse than the starter.

After coming on the court, Sam Mitchell took the lead, showing his scoring ability as soon as he came up, and continued to attack the Nuggets' interior.

The current Billups is far from his peak, but his projection ability still helps the team stabilize the point difference.

In the confrontation of the second lineup, the two sides were deadlocked, and due to the run-in reasons, the Timberwolves took the lead and gradually gained the upper hand, but they never widened the difference.

By the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves had an eight-point lead at 34-26.

In the substitution lineup, Williams missed both shots, grabbed only one rebound, and was burst into a sieve by the opposing player's speed.

D'Antoni couldn't stand his performance on both ends of the floor and reintroduced Foxon at the start of the second quarter.

At halftime, the Timberwolves were still far ahead in the first half, and although the Nuggets were trying to catch up, the point difference not only did not narrow, but there was a tendency to widen.

In the third quarter, D'Antoni gave Williams another chance, but his performance was still poor, resulting in a bench for the remainder of the game.

In this game, no matter how D'Antoni responded, he could not change the trend on the court, and by the end of the game, the two sides ended with a score of 92-110.

With the home team in front and the away team behind, the Timberwolves dominated the away team and beat the Nuggets by a big margin.

In the whole game, Chi Liang did not get the opportunity to play, but it was Lafrenz who finally played the whole game and gained 13+8 excellent data.