At halftime, Zheng Ke was pulled by ESPN's reporter Erin for an interview.

Erin blinked her beautiful big eyes, her pink lips were slightly open, and the snow-white skin on her chest was faintly visible on the V-shaped neckline: "The Timberwolves performed well in the first half, right?" You got 19 points and 3 steals. ”

Zheng Kefei looked away, lowered his eyes, and muttered, "Well, it's okay." But we can't take it lightly, you know, the Rockets are also very good. ”

Zheng Ke didn't notice that while he was being interviewed, several Timberwolves teammates who had already entered the tunnel were coming back and forth, and few of the audience members got up to go to the bathroom. And the noise gradually quieted down, and people seemed to be waiting for something.

Erin suddenly changed her words and said unexpectedly, "Happy birthday, Zheng!" ”

"Happy Birthday!"

Before Zheng Ke could react, the lights in the target center arena suddenly dimmed, and then the audience shouted "Happy Birthday" in unison, a birthday song was played on the loudspeaker, and several spotlights shone on Zheng Ke's body.

It was an unexpected surprise, and the 20,000 spectators sang birthday songs together. This made Zheng Ke a little frightened and a little overwhelmed, and he felt really loved.

"The cake is coming!"

I don't know who roared, and people turned their heads to look at the entrance of the passage.

There, McHale took the lead, and Taylor, along with Zheng's father and Zheng's mother, the old Taylor couple, and Zheng's lovely son, slowly walked out with a huge cake cart.

Zheng Ke didn't know what to say, he felt his heart full of enthusiasm. He hugged his relatives one by one.

"What's going on? Who arranged it" Zheng Ke asked softly in her ear with Taylor in his arms.

Taylor replied: "The fans came up with it, and the Timberwolves owners are very supportive. ”

Zheng Ke shook his head. I can't believe that one day in the future, in the stadium of the target center, 20,000 people will live for him alone.

"Happy 21st birthday, son." Zheng's mother hugged Zheng Ke with tears in her eyes.

"You've worked hard, Mom." Zheng Ke soured his nose.

"Work well. Pay attention to your body. Zheng's father is still so unsmiling, but Zheng Ke has experienced a strong love from his father's eight-character mantra. He pursed his lips and did not speak, but hugged Father Zheng tighter

"Today is the 21st birthday of our "wolf god". McHale took out the microphone at this point. He began to speak: "Three years ago. Our Zheng came to the Timberwolves. To be honest, I didn't expect this kid to do such an earth-shattering thing at the time. (referring to last season's championship)"

There was a burst of laughter at the scene.

"He brought his talent to Minnesota, so let's wish him a happy birthday!"

There was a sudden cry at the scene, but words like "happy birthday" were faintly heard. They were busy handing out cakes right now, and the Timberwolves had cake gifts for everyone in attendance.

"Thank you, thank you." McHale gave the microphone to Zheng, who said, "Oh my God." You're doing such a grand event without me. This is definitely the coolest birthday party I've ever had in my life. Thank you to my family, to all the members of the Timberwolves, to the fans and friends, to Minnesota! ”

The audience began to cheer.

"Ahem, in addition" Zheng Ke didn't forget to add after finishing: "Remember to divide the two cakes of "Jazz" more, the game is too long, I think he is already hungry"

The scene burst into laughter, and the camera showed Barkley, who was really fighting the cake to exterminate. When Zheng Ke mentioned him, he immediately laughed. Immediately, Smith on the side made a mistake and smeared the cake on Barkley's face. This is like the fuse of the cake war, the scene suddenly the cake flew wildly, Zheng Ke suffered the worst, and his whole body was wiped up

Half-time doesn't have that much time to waste. Zheng Ke took the time to sneak into the locker room, he hurriedly took a shower, changed into a clean sportswear and walked out

In the first half, the Timberwolves led by eight points at 62-54, and overall, the Timberwolves had the upper hand.

Of course, that doesn't mean anything. The only thing that can be changed is the tense atmosphere before the game. Especially when the players on both sides have eaten the cake, this originally deep resentment has faded to the extreme. It seems that there is no unsolvable grudge in the NBA, even if it is a sworn enemy of the player era, after retiring, they can still happily sit together and participate in the Hall of Fame, but the relationship in private is unknown.

The leading position on the court is still the Timberwolves, although Scola does have a hand in offense, but when it comes to defensive ability, he can only rely on a few occasional "touches" to fight for offensive fouls. From Randolph to Scola, there are a lot more smiles on Lefou's face, maybe Scola is a little dizzy when his steps are shaky, but it's a wonderful feeling compared to Randolph constantly shooting over your head and then grabbing the board.

He picked up another rebound.

Lefou's backcourt rebounding ability is getting stronger and stronger. The data shows that one out of every third basketball that the Rockets miss is grabbed by Love, and usually when he grabs a rebound in the backcourt, he will look for the fastest teammate to find the first place.

"There it is!"

Love deified Hawkeye and looked at the end of the basketball court, where a giant No. 17 was running wildly, followed by a group of Rockets players who were eating ash behind his butt.

"Oops, it's a little bit stronger." As soon as the basketball came out of his hand, Lefu felt that something was wrong, and when he just threw it, the power was too strong.

Love watched the basketball with concern, and it flew higher and higher in the air, reached the top, and then slashed to the front court in a beautiful parabola. The heads of the audience at the scene also rose and fell with this basketball cannonball like a plane

"I'll go." Zheng Ke looked back at the basketball, estimated the distance, and slowly slowed down.

The basketball was so high that it flew straight from the top of the rebound to the back of the audience. Zheng Ke stuck his waist and stopped outside the three-point line, shaking his head helplessly, while Lefu in the bottom corner on the other side hugged his head in a collapsed manner, his mouth was slightly open, his eyes were dull, and he had a completely embarrassed expression.

After that, Lefou's embarrassing performance was included in funny scenes after the game, and it was often broadcast on major television stations that broadcast the NBA.

Zheng Ke was a little helpless to defend, this time Lefu passed too outrageously, which was equivalent to giving the rocket a ball for nothing.

Brooks pushes in with the ball.

The Timberwolves defended in three or two, with Love and Pekovic forming the interior defensive twin towers, and Afflaro, Billups and Zheng Ke standing on the outside.

The Rockets are very iron from the outside today, and Brooks, Ariza, and Battier have all scored no three-pointers so far, and if it weren't for a goal from center David Anderson on the bench, the Rockets might all have zero three-pointers right now. As a result, under Billups' signal, the Timberwolves became a slightly rusty two-three defense.

Brooks cut in at 45 degrees, but lost the ball under the trap of Zheng and Billups.

This is an opportunity! Zheng Ke's eyes lit up.

He picked up the basketball, went down with two teammates, and in the frontcourt, Zheng Ke, Billups and Afflaro formed a three-on-one situation against Ariza.

Ariza looked left and right before finally pounced on Billups, who was dribbling.

I'm waiting for you to come! A hint of cunning flashed in Billups' eyes, and he took the basketball in his hand, then saw the gap and threw it near the basket on the other side.

Zheng Ke, who was rushing forward, rose from the ground, stretched his body elegantly in the air, he grabbed the tumbling basketball with both hands, and then swung it down!

"Bang!"

Zheng Ke lifted his legs and hung from the basket. His eyes were pressed down, and he looked at the world.

On the Timberwolves' bench, the extras led by Ty Lawson made exaggerated moves. One by one, they looked horrified, and at the same time leaned back as if they had been hit by a huge impact, expressing their surprise at the empty connection.

"The wolf gods of Minnesota are getting more and more tyrannical." Barkley licked his thick lips, as if he was still savoring the taste of the wonderful cake.

The wolf god is the nickname of Zheng Ke by fans, and most of Zheng Ke's nicknames come from other people's love for him.

Starting with the original ZK, then the nuclear weapons, the wolf god, this is like a microcosm of his three-year growth, and the evaluation of him by a living being.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves' advantage became more and more apparent.

It's not about the scoreline, it's about the morale of the team. The Timberwolves are getting braver and braver, and the Rockets have a habitual sense of collapse.

When Yao Ming made a third mistake in the fourth quarter, and when Zheng Ke led the Minnesota Wolves to the fourth quarter and still galloped all over the court, the result seemed to have been predicted. Yao Ming is still the overlord of the inner line, but he can't dominate the battlefield like Zheng Ke, which is Yao Ming's weakness and the sadness of Rocket.

Zheng Ke was named the Player of the Match and contributed 37 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Although Yao Ming also scored 30 points, he only grabbed 6 rebounds. In this regard, Hayes, who came off the bench, seemed to be superior, he grabbed 7 rebounds in just 11 minutes of playing time, and one more than Yao Ming! This made Yao Ming criticized by experts after the game, thinking that as the league's No. 1 center, it was really unreasonable to only take these rebounds.

The Timberwolves' eight-game winning streak came so suddenly, as if they were notoriously painful to slap in the face.

At the start of the season, the 2-3 Timberwolves were looked down upon by experts and took over a wave of eight consecutive wins. In last year's playoffs, experts saw that the Timberwolves were eliminated by the Trail Blazers, and as a result, the Timberwolves advanced to the second round; Optimistic about the Lakers, optimistic about the Rockets In short, in the midst of not being favored all the way, the Timberwolves reached the Finals and won the O'Brien Cup, leaving a red and swollen face all the way

Now, the Timberwolves are one of the hegemons in the West, and they still have a terrible prediction that the Timberwolves will kneel this season, I really don't understand them, how can they have the courage (to be continued......