In the first quarter of the game, the Timberwolves and the Lakers played a tie, which more or less surprised Minnesota fans.

Timberwolves fans, many have watched the previous Timberwolves and Lakers games. In the U.S., there are many more options for broadcasting NBA games than at home.

In China, after Da Yao entered the NBA, what most people can see is basically the Rockets or Lakers games broadcast on TV, even if they want to watch any other games, they all have to depend on the mood of the TV station, and it depends on whether they broadcast it or not.

At that time, fans who watched football either watched the Rockets or Lakers games, and if they wanted to watch other games, they could only watch text broadcasts.

But in the United States, whenever it is a Timberwolves game, Minnesota fans can still watch it in front of the TV even if they can't go to cheer on the road.

When playing against the Lakers before, the Lakers still had O'Neal in their team, but even then, the Timberwolves were still able to fight with the Lakers led by O'Neal, and even suppressed the Lakers for a time and won the game.

But in today's game, the Lakers are obviously missing an interior super pillar, O'Neal, but the Timberwolves are not able to dominate the Lakers' heads.

Such a gap is difficult for fans to accept for a while.

It was the same when O'Neill was there, and it was the same when O'Neill wasn't? Is it O'Neill's dish? Or did the Timberwolves turn into a vegetable?

So the question is, O'Neill dish?

The answer to this question is too obvious, not that the Lakers are stronger than before, but that the Timberwolves are weaker than before.

Sometimes fans watch the game so simply, in their opinion, the star plus the star equals the championship, and they don't think about whether those stars can have chemistry after they come together.

Basketball is not as simple as one plus one.

The Lakers with O'Neal are strong, but the Lakers without O'Neal will not be weak.

What's more, the Timberwolves' style of play has obviously changed a lot compared to the previous game.

There is no way for ordinary fans to understand such a change, but senior fans can understand the thoughts of players and coaches like the Timberwolves.

The regular season is a game for playoff appearances, but at the same time, it is also a great opportunity for teams to experiment with their lineups and playing styles.

For a playoff team, it's far more important to check and fill in the gaps than to keep "win-win-win" constantly.

This point, the Warriors in the 15-16 season, must have a lot of say.

Right? 73 wins overall runner-up!

The fans were not satisfied with the Timberwolves' performance, but on Coach Philip's side, the mentality was much better.

This is another attempt since the beginning of the season to strengthen the team's regular offensive means, instead of putting the treasure on a player in the martial arts, de-superstaring, which is what any aspiring coach wants to do.

Relying on the absolute singles of the stars, the risk is simply too great.

And there will be a huge problem that the team's coaching staff and management can easily be "kidnapped" by stars.

This is something that Philip has always tried so hard to avoid.

It's just that the previous game taught him a big lesson, which made Philip restrain his mind a little, but in today's game with the Lakers, after Marbury independently adjusted the ball ratio of the players on the court, Philip saw a little more hope.

In the second quarter, Philip comforted Takeshi and said good things about Takemi, while changing the team to a substitute lineup.

However, he didn't make much adjustments, and only replaced Garnett and Takemichi with Cherokee Parks and Chris Kyle, and also moved Marbury to the No. 2 position, and Tom naturally became the No. 3 position.

Wallace on the inside has also become the No. 4 position.

Before the players came on the court, Philip instructed the players to pass the ball more, and at the same time, let Wallace block and take it off, providing better opportunities for Chris, Marbury and Tom.

On the Lakers' side, as Martial Arts went off, the larger Roporter Horry also went off the break and was replaced by Kobe Bryant, while Lakers center Elden Campbell was also replaced by substitute center Sean Lukes (208cm/110kg, third pick in 2 rounds in 1992).

O'Neal's absence also gave other interior players more opportunities to perform.

It is worth mentioning that this backup of the Lakers, Sean Lukes, once played for the Timberwolves for two seasons, and was teammates with Garnett and others.

It's just that after Garnett gradually grows up, Sean Lukes has little effect, after all, he is a traditional No. 5 position, but his height and strength have no advantage in the No. 5 position.

Such a player is too replaceable, and the Timberwolves were not full of talent on the inside at that time, but they could only give Shaun Lukes only a few minutes of bench playing time.

In the Lakers, Sean Lukes can generally get 10 minutes off the bench, and his position is generally counted as the No. 4 position.

It's just that in today's game, he appeared as the No. 5 again.

As the whistle blew, the Lakers served in the backcourt, and Nick Van Exel, who held the ball, slowly dribbled into the frontcourt, and when he was close to the three-point line, Kobe Bryant, who had just come off the bench, crossed the three-point line on the wing, and without the ball, he quickly turned his back and leaned on Marbury's body to prepare to receive the ball.

And at the moment when Marbury lowered his center of gravity and planned to use his body to resist Kobe, Kobe turned around without the ball, and instantly passed Marbury cleanly, and at the same time that Kobe crossed Marbury, Nick Van Exel, who was approaching the top of the arc, also quickly passed the ball to Kobe.

The latter took the ball and blew it up into the paint area with a high throw and a high board that easily overcame Wallace's block.

"Huh!"

The basketball brushed against the rebound, then landed firmly in the basket with a crisp sound.

Kobe Bryant, who scored the goal, ran back towards his own half, and hooked his finger towards Wu Dao, who was sitting on the bench at this time, when passing by the Timberwolves rest area, looking defiant.

And Kobe's actions were also watched by Minnesota fans, and some fans in the front row were stunned at first, and they opened their voices one after another to greet Kobe.

Fans of "small rural cities" like Minnesota are like this, many of them have standard "red necks", and their tempers are also very irritable, and for a while, the whole stadium has become noisy.

"Oh ~ look at that! That young man from the Lakers is provoking Wu! ”

"If I were Coach Philip, I would immediately replace Wu and shut up that kid!"

The two commentators at home also smiled and talked about "cross talk" after noticing Kobe's actions, and they didn't have much respect for Kobe.

No way, although Kobe Bryant is one year older than Wudao, he entered the league a year earlier.

But there are already a lot of differences in the status of the two players.

Kobe Bryant is a substitute player of the Lakers, although he has been playing very well as a substitute, but the substitute is the substitute, in the Lakers team, the ranking does not know what number it is, in the eyes of fans, Kobe is undoubtedly a "little brother" behind O'Neal, Eddie Jones and others.

But martial arts are different.

Although he is only a rookie player, and he is not yet 19 years old, Wu Dao is the boss of the Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves are now the first in the West, and even Wu Dao once suppressed Jordan, Malone and other old superstars on the scoring list.

Coupled with the "grievances" between Wudao and Ma Long, Jordan and others during this time, fans seem to have put Wudao in the position of "star".

one, is a small sub; And the other is the Timberwolves boss who competes with the superstars, and the status of Wu Dao and Kobe Bryant is completely different.

Fans feel that Kobe's actions are arrogant and self-conscious, but Kobe himself does not have this kind of "consciousness" at all.

This is the one who dared to say to Jordan, "I can blow you up, Michael." The young man who said this treats the famous man like that, and treats martial arts, let alone expect Kobe to have any "awe".

On the basketball court, even if you tyrannize Kobe, he can still say "I don't agree" in his mouth.

Personality is like that, others can't change it at all.

In the face of Kobe's provocation, Wu Dao was not angry, but grinned and asked Coach Philip who was sitting next to him:

"Coach, can you put up with this guy?"

"I can't stand it anyway."

Hearing Wu Dao say this, Philip also covered his head and shook it gently, feeling speechless, he could only say with relief:

"Don't care, Martial Dao."

"If you have to take any cat or dog provocation, then you don't have to rest in the next game."

"Leave it to your teammates."

"You're the wolf king of our timberwolves, and you should have some shelf, shouldn't you?"

Philip patted the ass of the martial arts and said respectful words. He didn't want to send Takedo on the field at this time because he wanted to experiment with the lineup. But it's obviously not a good thing to let the martial arts hold back, so it can only be said that.

Only half of what he said was true.

"Stephen!"

As he spoke, Philip shouted to Marbury in the field, and seeing that Marbury's attention was being captured, Philip said loudly:

"Shut up that kid!"

As he spoke, Philip pointed at Kobe.

When Philip signaled to Marbury, Chris Kyle, who was slowly dribbling the ball across the halfway line, also heard this, and did not hesitate, and did not get close to the top of the arc, so he quickly gave the ball to Marbury on the side.

Chris Kyle doesn't have much else to offer, it's acquaintance.

"Smack!"

Basketball starts, Marbury quickly made a tentative step, and then the left-handed ball quickly rushed from the left side, Kobe's reaction speed was quite fast, and he did not mess up his rhythm because of Marbury's tentative step, although Marbury was half a beat faster, but Kobe Bryant was also experienced and immediately gave a little physical confrontation.

Kobe's strength also slowed down Marbury's rush speed, and this delay also allowed Kobe to slide smoothly in front of Marbury.

The breakthrough route was blocked, and Marbury quickly changed direction in advance, trying to break through Kobe, but while Kobe, who was nimble, Kobe Bryant, who was nimble, quickly adjusted, his right hand also poked and poked at Marbury's waist, directly stopping Marbury.

Marbury knows that he has no chance to break through Kobe Bryant in this round of offense and defense, he has crossed the three-point line, and there is no depth to accelerate the breakthrough, in this position, unless he uses his feet to shake off the opponent's projection and wants to hit the inside, the opponent's interior player will definitely be able to react.

The basketball quickly hooked back, Marbury passed back to Chris Kyle, who took the ball, shook his body, made a momentum, and after pulling Nick Van Exel's defense, quickly pulled up and shot a three-point shot.

It's true that he's an acquaintance, but if his teammates can't return the ball after the ball, then he won't be polite! Bad timing of the attack? So what?

The substitute players came on the field just to be able to play some performances, in order to be able to get rid of the status of the substitute!

"Bell~~~"

Chris's luck wasn't so good, the basketball smashed directly into the inside of the basket and popped straight out.

Wallace pushed Rick Fox hard to get into the board, took the ball in his hands, then quickly got up a little bit, picked up the defender and sent the ball into the net with a low layup.

The Timberwolves scored smoothly, and although the process was a little stumbling, it was a good start to the second quarter.

But the Timberwolves didn't have time to be happy for long, the Lakers launched a counterattack, Kobe Bryant once again received the ball one step away from the three-point line, and after the basketball started, Kobe Bryant quickly dropped the ball and moved a big step, and then completely ignored Marbury's pursuit and shot directly in a high position.

Kobe's shooting position is undoubtedly an inefficient area, but his timing of his shot is quite good, Marbury's height and Kobe Bryant have a big gap, and when it is half a beat slower, it is even more impossible to stop Kobe's projection.

"Bell~~~"

The little blacksmith seemed to be in power, and Kobe's jump ball slammed out of the basket.

But Kobe Bryant himself seemed to have expected it, and he didn't stand still at all after shooting, and then quickly entered the basket card position, and the moment the rebound appeared, it happened to be held in his hand.

Starting with the basketball, Kobe Bryant turned around with the ball in a dashing back, dodged Marbury who pounced from behind, and then stuck to the baseline and shot in the direction of the rebound 10 degrees.

The basketball went straight into the net with a crisp sound.

After the goal, Kobe Bryant completely ignored Marbury, turned his head to look at the martial arts on the bench not far away, and the meaning in his eyes was self-evident.

"Haha, this kid."

Mitchell warmly hooked Wu Dao's shoulders and sighed with a smile.

Everyone around the Timberwolves also looked at Kobe Bryant in the field with amusement, as if they were watching a monkey. Obviously, not only Coach Phillip, but none of these members of the Timberwolves have Kobe Bryant in their eyes.

Or, in their opinion, the Lakers' "nobody" doesn't even have the qualifications to challenge martial arts.

Wu Dao really wanted to play at this time, but he also felt Philip's thoughts, so he didn't say anything.

Other coaches have praised you like this, and you can't say it without giving face.

But it is not okay to be pressed off the court all the time, and let Kobe Bryant jump his face and pretend to be forced.

"Coach, let Wallace go to the outside to defend him."

"The Lakers aren't too strong on the inside this quarter."

"Cherokee Parks should be able to handle it."

"Boost that kid!"

(End of chapter)