When the martial arts began to exert force, the second quarter of the Timberwolves played unusually smoothly.

As the scores between the two teams began to widen, the Spurs' coach Popovich did not dare to let David Robinson continue to rest, and in the middle of the second quarter, David was replaced on the court early.

But David Robinson's arrival didn't make a real difference to the Spurs' defensive end.

After the Spurs restored the twin-tower lineup, Takeshi also completely withdrew Garnett's possession and began to play a lot of ball-holding singles.

Takemichi's shots focused on mid-range shots close to the baseline, as well as three-pointers and high-post shots in the direction of the horns.

In addition to completely penetrating the Spurs' Chuck Person, Wu Dao also gave Chris Kyle a few assists.

Chris Kyle is limited in his ability to drive with the ball, but as a small defender, shooting can be said to be what he relies on to survive.

He may not be able to make Chris Kyle hit three-pointers frequently in high-intensity games, but if he just assists his teammates and shoots three-pointers in the open space, Chris Kyle still has a certain shooting percentage.

At the end of the second quarter, Wudao's individual score in a single quarter also came to 18 points, and Chris Kyle's three-pointer was also 3-2, successfully making some contributions to the team.

Under the fast-paced offense of the Timberwolves, the Spurs' twin-tower lineup failed to adapt to the rhythm of the Timberwolves for a while, and David Robinson, who returned to the court, felt a little cold, and the shooting rate was still very low.

Duncan's play is still excellent, not only limiting Garnett's play well on the defensive end, but also making many achievements on the offensive end.

If it weren't for David Robinson's control of the vast majority of the Spurs' finishing shots, the Spurs' situation would not have become so passive.

When there is a huge gap in the offensive efficiency of the two teams, the previous "balance" of the two teams is also broken.

In the second quarter, the Timberwolves directly beat the Spurs for a single quarter 33:21, and the difference between the two teams also came to 16 points.

At halftime, the score on the scoreboard was at 56:40.

The fans at the Target Center cheered and applauded the Martial Arts and Timberwolves players, and Martial Arts' outstanding performance in the second quarter was recognized by all home fans.

That kind of chic and efficient style of play has created a large wave of fans for the martial arts circle.

And under the backdrop of Garnett's sluggish performance, the scoring efficiency of martial arts horror is in stark contrast to Garnett, so that the focus of fans naturally shifts to martial arts.

Yes, before Takeshi came to Minnesota, Garnett, who entered the Timberwolves as a high school student and often played on the court, was recognized by Minnesota fans as the "future".

But when the Timberwolves sent away Ryder, and Garnett teamed up with Tom and Marbury still failed to bring hope to Minnesota, Minnesota fans had already had some different ideas in their hearts.

Since Garnett joined the Timberwolves, the team has not been able to make the playoffs for two consecutive years, although last season was deliberately messed up, but in the eyes of fans, the team failed to make the playoffs is an indisputable fact.

And this year, with the arrival of martial arts, the Timberwolves have shown a strong strength that is obviously what a playoff team should have.

Pure fans will take it for granted that this change is brought about by the rookie of Martial Arts.

Garnett + Marbury + Tom = missed the playoffs.

Martial Arts + Garnett + Marbury + Tom = playoff strength team.

As soon as the simple formula is converted, doesn't Martial Arts become the one who brings hope to the team?

And judging from the performance of martial arts in these games, how did the Timberwolves choose a rookie? This is the choice of a thigh!

Fans are creatures, most of them are simple and pure.

They fan a player, often not because of how handsome that player is, whether he can sing and dance rap. There is often only one reason for a player to be a fan, and that is to be strong enough!

Under the premise of "strong", things such as being handsome and having a good personality will become a plus.

If a player's personal qualities determine the number of followers of that player, then 95% of players in the NBA don't even deserve to have fans.

During the break, the Timberwolves players returned to the rest area one after another, and Coach Philip happily high-fived the players one by one.

The team actually played the Spurs with David Robinson like this in the second quarter, far exceeding Coach Phillip's expectations.

In order not to destroy the momentum of the team, Coach Philip did not play his "art" of coaching in the second quarter.

Of course, when the team has built a nearly 20-point lead, he, as a coach, needs to do something about it.

"Martial arts, you played very well in the second quarter."

"The team has such a big lead, and it is inseparable from your efforts, which is good!"

"You have a good rest first, and I'll send you to play later."

"And Chris, you're playing very well, those two three-pointers are beautiful! You're also the same as martial arts, take a break for the time being. ”

"Kevin, you've defended very hard and you're doing well, but you've also played two quarters, so take a break for a while."

After praising the players by name, Coach Philip clapped his hands and, after attracting everyone's attention, continued:

"In the third quarter, Tom, Marbury, and Cherokee Parkes rotated on."

"Tom, the Spurs' outside line is average, you play hard and help the team keep that advantage."

"Unless the Spurs are going to give up the game, otherwise, this quarter will be the hardest game of the game, I believe you, Tom!"

Philip walked up to Tom in a serious voice, grabbed Tom's hand, and said sincerely. Tom, who was entrusted with the responsibility by the coach, looked into Philip's eyes and nodded heavily.

Wu Dao was chatting with Chris at this time, he was already sitting on the bench, the relationship between the two of them was not bad, and the reason was very simple, when Chris was on the court, Wu Dao played very comfortably, who would refuse to accept a "senior" who passed the ball to him crazy?

Chris is the same, although Martial Arts is a big core with the ball, but Martial Arts has a very good passing vision, as long as he can run out of the open position, Martial Arts will often send the ball to his hands, Chris only needs to grasp the opportunity of the empty position, to be able to add a stroke to his data panel.

"As long as I hug the thigh of martial arts, I can also become a starter!"

Chris has already thought about it, he must cultivate a tacit understanding with martial arts, and he must strengthen the practice of three-point shooting when he is free. It is only a matter of time before Martial Arts becomes the team's starter and the core of the team, and if he Chris becomes the one who has the most tacit cooperation with Martial Arts in the whole team.

He can also sit in the starting position.

Garnett sat next to Chris, and saw Tom, who was happily coaxed by Coach Philip to stand up and stretch, Garnett's expression was a little complicated.

On the Spurs' side, Popovich obviously had no idea of giving up, trailing by 16 points.

In the NBA, it's not uncommon to come back from 16 points down at halftime. Even if you fall behind by 16 points in the final quarter, you still have a chance to win.

Spurs will have a day off after today's game. This schedule gives Popovich some room to maneuver, and he plans to fight for a wave in the third quarter, and if he can narrow the gap to 8 or even less than 8 points, he will defend and let Duncan and Robinson and other main players play until the end of the game!

With this in mind, Popovich did not choose to make a substitution.

Soon, with the sound of buzzers, the two teams were back on the pitch.

Timberwolves' ball possession.

Marbury received the ball at the back and quickly took it to the frontcourt.

Popovich was relieved to see that the Timberwolves didn't continue to keep the rookie on the court.

And Spurs' Chuck Person was secretly happy when he saw that his opponent was replaced by Tom, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Huh?"

Seeing the unexplained smile on Chuck Person's face, Tom, who had entered the front court early, muttered softly, and his face became a little ugly.

What does this laugh mean?

What does that mean!

Naked mockery! In Tom's opinion, Chuck Persson was mocking him.

"Stephen."

Tom's heart was hot, and he quickly got rid of Chuck Person and ran towards Marbury, shouting at Marbury as he ran, reaching for the ball.

Marbury didn't hesitate at all, quickly sent the ball to Tom's hands, and after the ball was released, he also quickly ran to the left side where Tom was originally located, vacating the position at the top of the arc and giving Tom plenty of room to play.

Tom took the ball and quickly made a sharp stop, quickly dropped the ball on the left side during Chuck Person's pursuit, and then accelerated to advance, Chuck Person, who had been trained by the martial arts army for a quarter, was nervous, and the moment he noticed Tom's breakthrough, he slid to follow up and blocked it.

Tom didn't take two steps with the ball before he was stopped by Chuck Person's strong force.

Chuck Person only felt that Tom's rush speed and impact power were too friendly, and the corners of his mouth were even bigger when he blocked Tom, and he felt that defending Tom was such a happy thing for the first time.

Tom, who came to a stop, didn't have a chance to hit the basket, lifted the ball and shook it, and then passed the ball back to Marbury in the back.

No way, Chuck Person's movements are excellent and beautiful, and forcing a shot is not a wise choice.

Marbury received the ball from the outside, clicked it, quickly jumped from the side to the middle, paused in the middle of the march, lifted the ball with a feint and flew away after the pursuing Avery Johnson, Shi Shiran shot.

However, as soon as the basketball was thrown, Duncan under the basket quickly made up for it, jumped up and blocked Marbury's shot.

"Da~"

Duncan jumped very high, and although he didn't block Marbury's projection, his fingertips still managed to reach the basketball.

A clear sound came to his ears, and Duncan immediately turned around and entered the basket.

"Bell~" As the basketball collapsed out of the basket, Duncan also grabbed the ball in his hand with a violent palm, pressed the ball with both hands, and accepted the rebound.

“ohhh~~”

After interfering with his opponent's shot, he turned around to grab the board, and Duncan's tough athleticism drew a low cry from the reporters around him.

The Timberwolves, who failed to attack, also quickly retreated.

Duncan also passed the ball to his teammates, and then slowly ran towards the front court.

In the third quarter, the Timberwolves did not have a "hard special" on their side, and the Spurs' twin-tower lineup began to really play its role.

David Robinson also stopped choosing his so-so mid-range shooting when the team was so big behind, and began to prepare to force the basket.

After several transmissions, the basketball was successfully given to David Robinson, who held the ball and forced it directly into the basket with a sinking step, deceived Roberts by lifting the ball by a point, and then directly burst into the basket with one hand.

Although the Timberwolves quickly organized a counterattack, as Tom's shot was inaccurate, after hitting an iron, the counterattack was directly declared unsuccessful.

The Spurs are still playing steadily with the Timberwolves, and the basketball is in the hands of Duncan, who pulls out the basket, and the latter quickly turns past the slightly slower Cherokee Parkes after a back hit, and gets up after entering the basket with both hands.

Following Robinson, Duncan also began to wreak havoc on the basket.

These two goals also became the tone of the game in the third quarter.

Don't look at the Timberwolves' side of Chelokee Parkes and Stanley Roberts are not much worse than the Spurs, but both players are extremely traditional and have mediocre athletic talent.

Unfortunately, David Robinson and Duncan not only have enough height, but also great strength, and great agility.

Facing the Timberwolves, these two slow forward players who can't pull out the basket, are really easy to deal with.

And Tom, the small forward on the Timberwolves' side, is also focused on how to score, and he doesn't take care of his teammates under the basket at all on the defensive end.

Duncan and Robinson, who got the ball in the low post, didn't have to worry about Tom's help defense at all, and the two became wild horses in the third quarter, wreaking havoc on the court, and the Timberwolves had no way to stop them.

The Timberwolves were completely blown up on the defensive end, and the offensive end was also stumbling.

Tom played very uncomfortable under Chuck Person's defense, and Chuck Person's buddy didn't have to think about offense at all in the third quarter, and his mind was all about how to defend.

And Chuck Person is also very smart, he doesn't expect himself to be able to block Tom at all, his goal is to interfere with Tom's projection as much as possible.

Chuck Person's defensive style didn't work against Budo, because Budo dribbled fast enough, and his speed and explosiveness were strong enough to get rid of him. But against Tom, Chuck Person's defensive style was excellent.

Give Tom a "100 million points" against him, and Tom's shooting percentage becomes quite low when he shoots.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Spurs hit the Timberwolves with a 14-6 spurt.

The difference between the two teams was actually reduced to 8 points.

Seeing this situation, the first thing I couldn't help but was not the coach of the Timberwolves, but the fans of the Timberwolves, the wails of disappointment, the angry scolding, and the cries of praying for Garnett and others to play intensified.

Coach Philip's face darkened when he saw this scene, and after a hurried timeout, he sent Garnett back to the court, and at the same time replaced Stanley Roberts.

Although Wu Dao did not play, during the timeout, Philip instructed Sam Mitchell to let go of his defensive players at the right time and go inside to fill the position. At the same time, Marbury was instructed to increase the rush to divide the opponent's attention and create opportunities for Garnett.

After some arrangement, the Timberwolves' large loss of points was finally stopped.

At the end of the third quarter, the score of the Spurs and the Timberwolves came to 26:19, and the difference came to 7 points.

In the final quarter, Coach Philip thought about it again and again, but still did not replace Wudao on the court, he planned to use this lineup to continue to play with the Spurs, judging from the situation in the second half of the second quarter, their Timberwolves still have the key to victory.

On the Spurs' side, seeing that the difference had narrowed to 7 points, Popovich also decided to give it a go.

Popovich's tactics are also very simple, give the ball to David Robinson, and crazy chisel the inside line of the Timberwolves!

And this game has finally reached the decisive stage.