Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 145 Unexpected surprise
In the second half of the third quarter, Ginobili broke out.

As the player with the highest degree of tactical freedom in the Spurs, Ginobili did not live up to the trust of coach Popovich.

He scored 8 points in a row in more than a minute, including two difficult three-pointers.

Originally, the Timberwolves had already caught up with the score, but when Ginobili made such a move, Zhang Sixin burst open.

This is too murderous. Among the Spurs players, Ginobili is really the X factor.

It is estimated that in the current Spurs, only he has this scoring explosive power.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves' offense did not stop. First, Curry scored 4 points in a row, and then Matthews and DeRozan hit three-pointers successively.

Only now did Zhang Sixin relax, while Popovich, who was not far from the sidelines, hadn't been happy for 2 minutes, and his face stinked again.

And Ginobili's performance has come to an end before, he seems to be a burst, it is difficult to last.

At the beginning of the second half, the score was actually a bit stalemate, but in the end it was like a roller coaster.

It's not that the defensive strength has not been improved, but that the star players of both teams have begun to go crazy.

And the time has gradually come to the rotation period, and both teams have made adjustments.

The Spurs are afraid to let Blair come up now, and only use Bonner, after all, it has a three-point tactical role.

For Duncan, he still has to rest for a while, and he can only let McDyess forcefully do the top. At least the veteran is still stable and will not increase the burden on the head coach's heart.

The Timberwolves are still in the first half rotation, and Belinelli and Frye both have more roles.

For Brewer, because of his characteristics, it is more difficult to play against the Spurs, and his playing time is far less than the previous round.

After all, the Spurs' third position is not in good condition and they don't need to strengthen their defense, and Brewer can't stand up to Duncan.

Compared with the nine-man rotation in the regular season, Milicic is the only substitute player with stable playing time for the Timberwolves in the playoffs. Everyone else depends on the characteristics of the opponent and their own state.

Because of Curry's good performance, Zhang Sixin let him play all the games in the third quarter.

So there will be some small adjustments in the rotation, and Love will have to bring a substitute for some time alone.

When Love brings the bench alone, it mainly depends on the touch of the rotation players. He still focuses on supporting and launching fast breaks.

Love is not in a good state today, Zhang Sixin did not expect too much, just hope they can stabilize.

Because at the end of the third quarter, Frye hit a three-pointer after playing, and the score between the Timberwolves and the Spurs was in an anxious period.

It only takes a few minutes to rotate the lineup, and the Timberwolves can fight the opponent.

At that time, it depends on the performance of the team's strongest players, and there is no regret in winning or losing.

But if something goes wrong with Curry's few minutes of rest, then it will definitely be more uncomfortable.

At this time, Duncan is also below, and the Timberwolves still have a relatively high chance of stabilizing.

Originally, if Curry was there, these few minutes would definitely be the time for the Timberwolves to attack, but Curry performed well in front and caught up with the score, which is not bad.

With Curry not there, Zhang Sixin let Milicic stay on the field and try to use the inside advantage to lead the lineup of shooters.

Frye is also below at this time, Zhang Sixin's plan is to let him wait for Ku to come up and then attack together, first increase the speed and consume Duncan before the final decisive battle.

So the current lineup is a transition, an arrangement that hopes to take advantage of it, but it doesn't matter if it doesn't take advantage.

Relatively speaking, the Spurs pay more attention to it.

Both Parker and Ginobili are on the court, and their head coach Popovich doesn't want the team to play too badly without Duncan on the court. After all, the Timberwolves have done this several times before.

Both teams didn't play well at the beginning of the last quarter, Zhang Sixin can accept it, but Popovich is a little uncomfortable.

In fact, he is also a relatively calm head coach, if it is not two games behind in the series.

The game was stalemate, and the Spurs felt that it was not enough.

They don't have enough confidence to bet on the critical moment of the game.

So Popovich replaced Duncan in advance. After two games, they also knew that the Timberwolves would usually let Curry rest for a while.

If you can seize this opportunity to take the lead again, the possibility of the Spurs winning the game will greatly increase.

Zhang Sixin did not switch to Curry in the first place. After all, the Timberwolves are also on the court with double insiders, and they will not just say goodbye just because Duncan comes up.

However, he is also considering whether to go to Curry in advance and start the final battle directly.

He doesn't mind fighting for physical strength. If it is at home, he will let Curry play directly.

But he is still a little more cautious in the away game, hoping to watch two rounds first.

If Curry can be allowed to rest for a while, the Timberwolves may have an advantage at the last moment.

However, neither of the two parties expected that the situation on the field would change dramatically when Zhang Sixin saw it.

Since it was an unexpected change, it must not be that the main players of both sides broke out.

It's Mills, who has been mediocre before, but occasionally replaces Curry as a rookie substitute who plays a few points.

Zhang Sixin doesn't think that the current Mills can create any miracles, and he didn't give him many opportunities before. After all, he is not a pure point guard, and it doesn't help the team much on the court.

However, just when Zhang Sixin was considering replacing someone, Mills suddenly scored two three-pointers in a row.

Without any warning, the head coaches of the two teams were a little confused.

Zhang Sixin couldn't help but Popovich might be thinking about who this is. He wasn't the main rotation player of the Timberwolves at all. He was completely transparent before.

There is no answer to this question for the time being, anyway, the Timberwolves suddenly took the lead.

Zhang Sixin simply let this lineup play for a while, hey, it really stabilized.

The Spurs are really anxious now, and they also want to hit a three-pointer.

However, neither Ginobili nor Hill made a hit, and the Spurs still can't shoot at critical moments this season.

Duncan played one in the paint, but it was difficult to score against Love and Milicic.

The point is that Duncan, who didn't have enough rest, was a little tired at home.

Spurs head coach Popovich also has no choice, the more the team misses a three-pointer, the more three-pointers the team needs.

They replaced Bonner again, intending to compete with the Timberwolves for outside offense.

It's just that it's really not difficult to limit a player like Bonner. He doesn't have as much work as Love, and he doesn't have enough strength. He can only be a spot-up shooter outside the three-point line.

At this time Mills had completed his task, and the Timberwolves replaced Curry again.

The team began to seek stability, and it was the strategy of the main outside line plus three inside lines.

"Absolutely cannot give the Spurs a three-pointer, and Duncan should also be locked up, and the rest is optional." Zhang Sixin said.

The Spurs almost wrote their thoughts on their faces at this time. If the Timberwolves' defense is not arranged well, the head coach Zhang Sixin should not be confused.

At the critical moment, Ginobili fouled Matthews from outside the three-point line.

Matthews, who was still a rookie, didn't expect Ginobili's routine to be so deep, so he jumped directly on him.

But it doesn't matter, Ginobili has a habit of making ghosts.

After making three free throws, he made a mistake when he rotated the Spurs' offense again.

Only time keeps passing...

(End of this chapter)