"Jermaine, rest well!" During the pause in the first quarter of the game, Rick Carlisle walked to Jermaine O'Neal's side very rarely, because Rick Carlisle was very satisfied with Jermaine O'Neal's performance in the last few minutes of the first quarter of the game, and after comforting Jermaine O'Neal, Rick Carlisle turned his attention to Meng Xu, you must know that Rick Carlisle has talked to Jermaine O'Neal many times, but Jermaine O'Neal still goes his own way, refuses to change his style of play on the court according to his own requirements, but in today's game, Meng Xu just yelled at Jermaine O'Neal twice, and Jermaine O'Neal really changed, which also made Rick Carlisle excited at the same time, giving birth to a sense of frustration, it seems that he is still a certain distance away from being accepted by Meng Xu, by Jermaine O'Neal, and the Pacers' proud soldiers, although so, Rick Carlisle also has enough confidence, as long as he gives himself enough time, I must be able to really subdue this group of guys in front of me.

Although the main lineup of the Timberwolves and the Pacers played on par, and even led the Pacers by two points at the end of the first quarter, but when the bench lineups of both sides came on the court, even if the Timberwolves still left the two main players of Sprewell and Szczebiak, the Timberwolves' bench lineup inevitably fell into a disadvantage when facing the old ball ruffians of the Pacers, and when the official timeout in the second quarter, the difference between the two sides was not only wiped out, but the Pacers also overtook the score.

After experiencing the madness of the first quarter, Kevin Garnett obviously began to play when he returned to the court after the official timeout, after all, a game has 48 minutes, and with the strength of the Timberwolves and the Pacers, today's game will definitely play until the fourth quarter, or even the last minute to determine the winner, so it is very necessary to distribute physical strength reasonably, so in the rest of the second quarter, Garnett almost did not shoot on the offensive end, but most of the time, Garnett is all about tackling the defenses around his teammates.

And Meng Xu is similar to Garnett, now Meng Xu has basically adapted to the first three quarters to drive his teammates, and then in the fourth quarter to stand up and take over the game as appropriate, and for the Pacers, Meng Xu's most threatening thing is not his all-round scoring ability, but Meng Xu's ability to tear apart the opponent's defense, and omnipotent passing vision, as long as Meng Xu is willing, once his teammates have an opportunity on the court, Meng Xu can pass the basketball to their hands very accurately, therefore, When Meng Xu focused on organizing the team, the Pacers also became more fluid on the offensive end, and it seems that except for Meng Xu, all the other players of the Pacers are the beneficiaries of Meng Xu's style of play.

"Today's game is really a bit weird, as the core of the Timberwolves and the Pacers, Meng Xu and Garnett have almost no desire to attack in the second quarter, both of them put their energy on the defensive end, and organize the team's offense, this kind of scene is really rare!" The Pacers and Timberwolves are still playing the court, but after seeing that Garnett and Meng Xu basically didn't shoot much on the offensive end, Scott Skeles also showed a surprised expression.

"Kevin's performance in the second quarter was really different from what it used to be." Magic Johnson is already very familiar with Meng Xu's style of play this season, and he is very appreciative of Meng Xu's style that is more and more similar to himself. But for Garnett's performance today, Magic Johnson was a little surprised, although after Garnett reduced the number of shots, the Timberwolves' offense was a little not smooth, but Magic Johnson can also see that Garnett really wants to win this game, and his current move must be to accumulate physical strength for the next game and prepare for the critical moment to take over the game.

When the halftime was over, the Pacers players on the court walked into the tunnel with a score of 47-44 to the boos of the fans. Today's game is undoubtedly a very crucial game for the Timberwolves, if the Timberwolves win, they can end the Pacers' winning streak and at the same time be able to climb to the first place in the West, but now the target center, these Timberwolves fans on the scene, after the end of the half, obviously do not have the confidence before the start of the game.

Because in the entire second quarter, the performance of the Timberwolves from beginning to end was not ideal, and the bench lineup could not beat the Pacers, and the main lineup also had a tendency to be suppressed by the Pacers in the second half of the second quarter.

"Randy, how do you think the two teams will change in the second half?" After all the players of the two teams walked into the player tunnel, several commentators on the scene also began to discuss and predict the trend of the two sides in the second half of the game.

In fact, the main thing is the prediction of the Timberwolves, after all, the Pacers' tactics have hardly changed since the beginning of this season, and from the current situation on the court, the Pacers have gradually gained the upper hand, so the possibility of the Pacers changing the formation in the second half is almost none, and the Timberwolves must make certain changes.

"Today's game is like this, in fact, it is also expected, from the situation on the court, both teams for today's game, very well prepared, so both sides must have made sufficient plans in advance, as for how to change, I personally think that Kevin Garnett must stand up in the third quarter, if he is still like the second quarter, the Timberwolves will definitely be played by the Pacers in the third quarter." In Randy Whitman's view, the current Timberwolves do have the strength to challenge the Pacers, but the Timberwolves are still slightly inferior to the Pacers in terms of personnel allocation, and the biggest difference is that the Pacers have one more Jermaine O'Neal, whether it is on the offensive end or on the defensive end, Jermaine O'Neal can share a lot of pressure for Meng Xu. On the other hand, the Timberwolves, although the overall strength is also very strong, but the Timberwolves lack a qualified second-in-command, a player who can share the pressure and take responsibility for Garnett, which is why, even if Meng Xu does not shoot, the Pacers can still play very smoothly, and as long as Garnett is played, the Timberwolves will encounter various difficulties on the offensive end.

"Hopefully the Timberwolves will make some changes in the third game, otherwise it won't be so easy for them to win this game." After Randy Whitman finished speaking, Scott Skeyles then added.

However, this group of commentators discussed for a long time, and after halftime, the Timberwolves did not make any changes in lineup and tactics, but simply and rudely continued to send all the main lineup, using the main lineup against the Pacers' bench lineup, but they also had the right thing to predict, that is, Garnett really became active again after the start of the third quarter.

Philip Saunders' simple and crude method has also received good results, the Pacers' group of old ruffians are obviously a little powerless against the main lineup of the Timberwolves, especially after Garnett began to play the basket, whether it is the 37-year-old veteran Derrick Coleman, or Jeff Foster can't prevent Garnett, although after playing less than three minutes in the third quarter, Rick Carlisle replaced most of the main players, but in the face of the Timberwolves, The Pacers still couldn't find a way to re-neutralize the Timberwolves for a while, and when the third quarter ended, the Timberwolves were 71-72 again.