OK The early Lakers were also a strong team, and this can be seen from the Lakers' record.

But before the Lakers officially introduced the Zen master's triangle offensive system and completely corrected Kobe, the Lakers' team was not very dominant.

As long as there is a team that can limit O'Neal's play, there is hope that they can beat the Lakers.

Of course, restricting O'Neal is not an easy task for all teams in the league, but it is not easy to return, and it can be done in the right way.

O'Neill is indeed one of the most dominant centre-forwards of the moment, but he also has a lot of problems.

For example, his lateral movement, O'Neal has still increased his weight significantly compared to the magic period, his lateral movement speed is completely different from that of the magic Ao, his bounce is still terrifying, yes, but the increase in weight also increases the burden on O'Neal's body.

In order to have more time on the court, in order to be able to play a more "absolute" attack on the offensive end, O'Neal often chooses to sacrifice some defenses that are too far away.

Nowadays, he has very few and is difficult to defend from the inside.

Now the Lakers' team, the ability of the No. 4 position is actually good, Robert Horry once helped the Rockets get two championships in the two years that Michael was absent from the NBA, so far, his honor is not even comparable to O'Neal!

Horry is a great player, but he doesn't fit that well with the Lakers' current system.

The Lakers are using Horry as an offensive point.

Although Horry has a three-point ability, he also has some breakthrough ability.

But Horry doesn't actually have a super hard ability to solve outside, and his defensive ability often can't make up for this weakness that O'Neal can't defend.

O'Neal needs a partner on the inside, preferably the kind of player who can help protect the rim and run outside to help defend.

Otherwise, O'Neal simply doesn't need an inside partner, and directly assigns him a scorer who can digest a lot of ball possession in inefficient areas.

Hores Grant, the interior of the best defensive second team; Glen Les, an outside scorer with this ability, is more compatible with O'Neal.

As for Robert Horry, he can have some surprise effect against certain teams, but most of the time, the fourth scoring point is more suitable for him.

And for a team like the Timberwolves with a super No. 4 spot, Robert Horry doesn't play a big role.

After the game with the Lakers, Wu Dao was not so concerned about the Lakers, and he felt that the Timberwolves were already able to deal with the Lakers led by O'Neal, even if they faced each other in the playoffs, he was confident that he could lead the team to defeat the Lakers.

The Timberwolves, who won the Lakers, are full of momentum, and this year, there are few opponents in the West who can threaten them, and after easily biting the hard bone of the Lakers, the players are very relaxed.

Obviously, there are still many games in the regular season, and the eyes of the Timberwolves players have begun to aim at the Eastern giants, as if they have successfully broken out of the cruel West.

On March 1, the Timberwolves hosted the current Eastern Conference powerhouse, the Detroit Pistons, after a day of rest.

The Pistons, led by Grant Hill and Joe Dumas, caused the Timberwolves a lot of problems.

Although the bad boy army has long since fallen apart, although the current Pistons are still quite strong, in the game with the Timberwolves, Wudao feels that the Pistons are not dirty.

Players naturally have small movements when defending, but to this extent, they can't be related to dirty at all.

Joe Dumas, who was the first to win the "Sportsmanship Award", was polite off the pitch and played cleanly on the pitch, but the intensity was still there.

Marbury, who was marked by him, played very uncomfortable this game, both the ball and his own single offense were severely restricted.

As a result, the Timberwolves' offense didn't run as smoothly as in previous games.

The rhythm is uncomfortable, and the hit rate of Wu Dao's ball today is also affected by this factor.

After the first quarter with the Pistons, the Martial Arts Tri-of-One only scored two points, and the Timberwolves were also rare in the first quarter to fall into passivity, trailing the opponent by one point with a score of 23:24.

The Timberwolves' offense was not smooth, and they certainly couldn't let the opponent play fluently, and Takeshi kept an eye on Grant Hill on the defensive end, defending him from a 4-of-0 shooting, only to score two points from the free throws.

The Pistons and Timberwolves are the offensive core of both teams, and they are not comfortable playing this game today.

In the second quarter, the Timberwolves tried to adjust the team's offensive focus, and Coach Philip did not find a way to make the martial arts smooth when he noticed that the martial arts were uncomfortable today, but decisively focused the offense on Garnett on the inside.

In Philip's view, the Pistons don't have that kind of tough super interior line, and Garnett should be able to pick up the burden and share the offensive pressure for the martial arts.

But the ideal is very full, but the reality is quite cruel, Garnett did increase his shots in the second quarter, but the team's offensive efficiency has not improved significantly.

Do you think Garnett will use his physical gifts to frantically attack the Pistons' interior after getting the ball? Then you would be wrong, the Pistons are true that they don't have star-caliber interior players, but they are very tough defensively.

Garnett learned it in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, he often opted for a mid-range "iron-blooded jumper" when attacking with the ball.

Fans are watching the game on the spot, Garnett's jump shot is very good in terms of timing and action, and Garnett's footwork is also good, and the Pistons players who defend him can only symbolically raise their arms to interfere with his jump shots.

From the perspective of fans, Garnett's ability to "wantonly jump shots" under the defense of the Pistons is too strong, and the Pistons have nothing to do with him.

But in fact, the Pistons didn't want to take Garnett at all, even if his iron-blooded jumper hit about 55 today, the Pistons were still not in a hurry, and they didn't seem to think that Garnett could help the team win the game by relying on his jumper.

22:17。

In the eyes of fans, the Timberwolves played really well in this quarter, Garnett was like no one, the Pistons had no way to take him, and the Timberwolves' strong defense was also shown in this quarter, and the martial arts even blocked Grant Hill at one point, making Grant Hill miserable.

At the end of the second quarter, both sides made some substitutions.

It's just that after the substitution, the Pistons' offense suddenly became sharp with the arrival of Jerry Starhouse (the third pick in the first round in 1995).

This guy was just traded to the Pistons from the 76ers and has only played a few games with the Pistons for the time being.

But his ability is beyond doubt.

is also a bench lineup, and the Timberwolves' Chris Kyle is not enough to see in front of the Tanhua Show, and he was completely beaten.

Midway through the third quarter, Coach Philip called a timeout and replaced Marbury.

But what disappointed him was that even if Marbury was brought back to the court, there was still no way to stop the Pistons' fierce offensive in this quarter.

23:29。

The Timberwolves were pulled by 6 points in a single quarter by their opponents.

Wu Dao also returned to the court in the second half of the third quarter, and made two consecutive three-pointers in the last two minutes to stop the bleeding for the team.

Otherwise, after the third quarter, the Timberwolves may even suffer a big setback.

And now, although the situation on the court is still very stalemate, as Wudao gradually finds its form, the momentum of the Timberwolves team is even higher than in the previous two quarters.

In the final quarter, the Timberwolves and Pistons battled hard.

Grant Hill also seems to have managed to adapt to the defensive intensity of the martial arts, and he has regained some touch. With the help of his teammates, he can often get rid of Martial Arts' defense and tear apart the Timberwolves' defense with outside projections.

27：26。

The Timberwolves maintained the lead until the last minute, although Grant Hill was under the strong defense of the martial arts, pressed the whistle, and the difficult mounted archery failed to score smoothly, and lost the stunner.

And the victory of the game was also included in the Timberwolves.

In the whole game, Wudao "only" scored 16 points, but the Timberwolves were able to win smoothly, but he was indispensable.

Although this game was not a hearty win for the fans, it was also a great joy for Minnesota fans to be able to defend against the Pistons' last attack and win the game under such tremendous pressure.

However, the martial arts mood of winning this game is not very beautiful.

The Pistons are not a very strong team, but they are such a team that has caused so much trouble to the Timberwolves and even almost defeated them.

This also made Martial Arts secretly vigilant.

Their timberwolves don't seem to be as invincible as he imagined.

When he doesn't feel good, even if he shares the ball with his teammates, his teammates don't seem to be able to support the Timberwolves' offensive firepower.

Garnett's iron-blooded jump shot can't shoot dead at all. Tom also seems to have been active on the court as a scorer for a long time, and today the ball was not played well on the offensive end.

Several players in the team seem to have a dependence psychology on the offensive end?!

Wu Dao didn't know how to describe such a feeling, he always felt that the team's independent offensive ability seemed to be degraded, and he always felt that his teammates seemed to be a little weak?!

Wu Dao had such a feeling in his heart, and after the game, he privately approached Coach Philip and told him how he felt, and he thought it was necessary to train the players well to keep them in a sense of urgency and enthusiasm during the game.

However, Coach Philip, who heard Martial Arts' words, didn't care at all, but he felt that Martial Arts was because of today's bad feeling and so-so performance and mentality, and he was actually relieved by Martial Arts:

"Martial arts, you relax, it's normal for a player's hand to fluctuate."

"Michael was a blacksmith all the time."

"And didn't you handle the ball very well today?"

"In the previous game, if the hand was not good, I decisively reduced my shots, and when the feeling came, I strengthened my personal attack."

"You played very well, the team was able to win, and we can see your contribution."

"Don't be nervous."

Coach Philip's comforting words were stunned for a moment, and he didn't feel that there was a problem with his fight.

Just as Takeshi was about to continue to talk about his feelings, Coach Philip patted Takemichi lightly on the shoulder and interrupted in a serious tone: "This team is running around you. ”

"I can more or less understand your worries."

"But don't worry, our Timberwolves' system is invincible from the current point of view!"

"No team can stop us, I believe in your quality."

"Martial arts, if you're really not at ease."

"Just find a way to keep your game in shape."

"As long as your hand doesn't fluctuate, won't the problems you worry about not exist!?"

I don't know if Coach Philip's words were really in his mind, or if he just said the comforting words to make Martial Arts not think too much.

Hearing Coach Philip's words, it was naturally impossible to say anything more, and he left silently.

But Philip's words.

Wu Dao couldn't help but feel a little speechless in retrospect, and there were no ups and downs in his hand? What immortals?

Even if it can be maintained, what if there is an injury?

Although these words were unlucky, Wu Dao still thought so in his mind, and for some reason, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.

March 3rd.

The Timberwolves play the Dallas Mavericks at home, an underdog team with an 11-47 record.

In today's game, Wu Dao regained his previous sense of shooting, and his scoring efficiency exploded, with 6 of 6 in the first quarter, one of which was a three-point shot, and he easily scored 13 points.

The Timberwolves also led their opponents by as many as 12 points in a single quarter at 33:21.

The advantage is huge, and Coach Philip also replaced some players such as Takeshi and Garnett with a smile in the second quarter and replaced the rotation lineup.

It's just that in the second quarter of the game with the Mavericks, there was an accident.

Tom was knocked to the ground during a scramble with his teammates, and was unable to get up from the floor on his own for a while.

The team doctor immediately gave Tom a brief medical examination after realizing that something was wrong and felt that the problem seemed to be not small, so he hurriedly sent Tom off the court.

Although Tom missed the game after the Mavericks, the Timberwolves still won the opponent with a score of 103-87 under the leadership of martial arts.

And when the game was over, the players also learned about Tom's injury.

Groin strain, which requires three weeks of rest.

This is the initial diagnosis, and the subsequent recovery is analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

After hearing the news, everyone in the Timberwolves breathed a sigh of relief, this is just a small problem, and from the perspective of time, it will not have any impact on the Timberwolves' playoff journey.

However, with injuries in the team, Coach Philip is also alarmed.

These days, he is so obsessed with the Timberwolves' winning streak that he seems to have forgotten that this round of the regular season is gradually coming to an end.

The players have been playing for months on end, and the fatigue has accumulated a lot.

The regular season enters the middle and late stages, which is the stage of concentrated outbreaks of fatigue injuries, and they Timberwolves have to guard against it.

"Let's take a break!"

"Judging by our current record, the playoffs are already a certainty."

"There's no point in pursuing so-called team history records."

"Our goal is the championship!"

"All the main players, starting today, will be rotated."

"Take care of your body for the playoffs!"

On this night, Philip was in the lounge and announced the rest to the players.