"Magic" Johnson said at the beginning of the fourth quarter: "If the Mavericks still can't find a way to limit Zheng Ke, with the Timberwolves' consistent last-minute performance, it will be difficult for the Mavericks to win." ”

As a result, the calf was unfortunately hit by him.

The score could not be pulled away, and when Zheng Ke was on the court, the Timberwolves were able to ensure maximum stability. Even if Nowitzki is hot today, facing the Timberwolves' interior defense, he has already scored 30+ points.

115-108, the Timberwolves won by seven points.

The Timberwolves killed the suspense and easily won two straight games at home. This fourth quarter, which was supposed to be full of ups and downs, became calm under the action of Zheng Keding's Seagod Needle.

Originally, people thought that it would be difficult for the Mavericks to pose much of a threat to the Timberwolves, but now the Timberwolves are leading 2-0, completely killing the suspense. The Mavericks can only support half a game at a time, which is more than the Grizzlies in the first round. When the Grizzlies were a little over a quarter, they would be opened up by the Timberwolves to build the foundation for victory.

Nowitzki scored 39 points in the game, shooting 3 of 5 from the outside three-point range, completely blowing up the Timberwolves' interior line. His jump shots left a deep impression on Minnesota fans, especially after switching to Jordan Jr.'s defense in the fourth quarter.

But looking at the data, Lefou, who scored 16 points and 14 rebounds, is also very efficient, at least he can be called the No. 1 in the NBA for the protection of rebounds in the backcourt.

After Lefu entered the NBA, his stats have steadily improved every year. Being selected as an All-Star this year is one of the biggest affirmations for him. His injury had a huge impact on the Timberwolves last season, and this year the Timberwolves have had a smooth ride and have basically not had a particularly major injury. This is also a big reason for winning 76 wins.

Among the Timberwolves, Love has shown the strength of the All-Star, but when it comes to tactics, people always think that the Timberwolves are a single-core team.

In this game, Zheng Ke made 14 of 25 shots, 3 of 7 three-pointers, and 10 free throws. He had 41 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, and since entering the playoffs, he has played more than 40 minutes per game. The efficiency is higher than in the regular season, almost to the point of averaging a triple-double per game, and no one can stop it.

Game 3 moved to Dallas, and the Timberwolves went to the next game 105-92. Got the match point 3-0.

The Mavericks play a joint defense. However, the Timberwolves are very accurate in several outside three-point shots, and Lefou, who is an inside lineman, can also withdraw to the three-point line and shoot three points after blocking. He shot 41.7 percent from three-point range this season, no worse than Nowitzki's three-point shooting ability.

The Timberwolves play man-to-man defense, which is also the most commonly used style of play in the NBA, even if Love is blown up by Nowitzki, Thibodeau only shoots people from time to time, and uses multiple players to rotate the defense to consume physical strength. The way to spell talent. Giving the Mavericks a setback in their unstoppable offense during the regular season, Terry only came up on the second floor. The rest of the time it was completely lost.

Except for Terry, the Mavericks don't have a knife-like figure on the outside, and Kidd and Billups are all stable and long-lasting. Marion was in front of Zheng Ke, and his shots became unconfident. Thibodeau values defense, and the Timberwolves players are aware of this, and under Thomas's tutelage, they are not inferior to any team in terms of temperament. The whole team played with passion and fighting spirit.

On May 9, the Timberwolves continued Game 4 at the Mavericks' home court.

It was a game that could not be lost, and the Mavericks as a team had adjusted after two days of ideological battles. This is a game where they fight for honor, and if they win, there is still a chance to live, and if they lose, they have to go home and fish. It's hard to accept for such an old team that has come together for the championship dream.

Before that, Zheng Ke was officially elected the MVP of the 2010-11 NBA regular season!

Zheng Ke was not unanimously elected, and among American journalists, there are always some who prefer Ross and James, and Zheng Ke cannot be a heartthrob. But the fact that he successfully won his first regular season MVP did not surprise too many people, which is reasonable.

At the press conference of the awards, Zheng Ke was also rarely excited.

"This is my first regular season MVP trophy and I didn't expect it to come so quickly. However, I would say that without the team's efforts, I would not have been able to get this honour, which is an honour that belongs to us as a team. Zheng Ke said the opening sentence sincerely.

Zheng Ke, who was born in November 1988, is not yet 23 years old this year, which makes him surpass Wes Unseld as the youngest regular season MVP in history, breaking a record that has been in the dust for more than four decades. Of course, if Zheng Ke fails to win the MVP, Rose, who is in second place, can also break this record.

Barkley said of Zheng: "Zhengke reminds me of Duncan. They are all heroes from small cities, low-key and talented. ”

Then Zheng Ke didn't think about making the ceremony of receiving the MVP trophy bigger, such as returning to his university alma mater to present the award or something. All his goals now are to win the championship, so the award ceremony was told to the league that it was held directly at the press conference. Due to the "hostile" state of Dallas, there were not even a few fans who came to celebrate, low-key and simple.

Zheng Ke won the MVP of the regular season and gained a lot of GS points, which further improved his attributes.

At the beginning of the game, he was still in the familiar small forward position. Since Kidd's active defense of Zheng Ke failed in the second game, the Mavericks have completely given up and simply let Marion defend to the end. Carlisle fantasized that maybe Marion had summed up some experience and suddenly had an enlightenment.

Chandler's frontcourt rebounding ability is good, but when Thibodeau switched positions, let Chandler, who was weaker in Lefou's defensive offensive ability, and let Jordan Jr. defend Nowitzki, the Timberwolves' backcourt rebounding was more stable. Zheng Ke and Afflalo were often quick to go down, and Lefou's long pass caused a lot of trouble for the Mavericks. You don't need to play much of this kind of ball, but as long as you hit two in a row, the Mavericks will lose morale.

Bench matchup, led by Lowry, Timberwolves, has a slight upper hand.

The Timberwolves took a 19-point lead at halftime, and the first quarter was stretched so far away that the Mavericks' snow-white fans couldn't shake it anymore. One by one, they looked at the camera with teary eyes, holding their heads with both hands, and their eyes became confused and painful.

Zheng Ke scored 38 points, 9 rebounds and 15 assists, and almost had a triple-double.

The Mavericks are not bad, but compared to the Timberwolves, they are obviously one head worse. In particular, the Timberwolves are not afraid of their three-point shots like a convulsion, and their strong outside defense has become a nightmare for the Mavericks, and the three-point shooting rate in a series can be as high as 30 percent, and it is difficult not to lose.

On the No. 3 position, Zheng Ke has become an existence that cannot be prevented.

Strength, speed, and skill are all at their peak, and there are some active skills at hand. The [Aggressive] skill on the set is simply too rebellious, and the physical strength that was originally consumed like a stream of water is like opening a floodgate, and the "bang" can't be stopped at all, and it is basically impossible to maintain a high-intensity defense against Zheng Ke by the same person in a game.

But as long as the slightest flaw is revealed, Zheng Ke can easily cut points.

From the No. 1 to No. 5 positions of the Mavericks, only Nowitzki has the advantage, and it can only be regarded as a mutual explosion, because Love and Jordan Jr. are both rebounding monsters.

Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, is the most willing to spend money among NBA owners. This year, the Mavericks fell on the road to the championship again, and his face was full of disappointment. Watching Zheng Ke talk and laugh off the court again in the fourth quarter, his heart was full of excitement, next year is Zheng Ke's contract year, Zheng Ke can choose to jump out of the contract or renew the contract with the Timberwolves in advance, this is the thickest thigh, or with diamonds, and the media has already begun to break all kinds of news. Cuban doesn't know if Zheng will leave Minnesota, but if he can form a combination of Zheng and Nowitzki, he will be so excited that he can't sleep all night.

The Timberwolves became the first team to win the entire series in the second round, and in the words of the media that likes to exaggerate, the Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals twice in three years.

Then, perhaps stimulated by Zheng Ke, James' Heat also won two games in a row, defeating the Celtics 4-1 overall to become the second team to confirm the division finals.

Then came the Bulls and Hawks, who played six games. The Bulls, who won the battle of Tianwang Mountain, were really different, and they were in great shape, defeating the Hawks by 93-73 points to become the third team to confirm the division finals. The Hawks couldn't stand on the ground under the Bulls' defense, and in the sixth crucial game, the team shot only 36.5 percent from the field, mostly players like Horford who were 2-of-10 and Jamal Crawford who were 2-of-10.

Then the whole league shifted its attention to the Spurs and Lakers, who had already tied 3-3.

These two of the most successful teams in the West in more than a decade have a large fan base. When the Timberwolves swept the Mavericks 4-0, they started a fierce war of words on the Internet, and the news comments on the forum were mostly strange answers to the families of the opposing fans.

And the seventh game of the life-and-death battle on the Spurs' home court, the highest ratings have already surpassed the ratings of the Timberwolves and Mavericks series.

One is the team that looks old every year, and every year there are predictions that they will fail, and the other is last year's defending champions, with the glory of the metropolis and the aura of a glorious history

(To be continued......) u