Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 233
The Timberwolves are back-to-back after the All-Star weekend. Fortunately, the second game is back at home, which is relatively easy.

The visiting Grizzlies, the Grizzlies are now very close to the Nuggets, Trail Blazers, and Hornets. Their rankings are from sixth to ninth in the West.

Going one step further, it is basically difficult for several of their teams to have hope, but the sixth or ninth, the difference is undoubtedly very huge.

When the Timberwolves gradually began to prepare for the playoffs, many other teams were working hard for the team's record.

The Grizzlies are one of them, so they want to try any strong team they meet.

At this stage, the Grizzlies have adjusted the lineup and let Mayo play the sixth man.

In addition, Rudy Gay missed the game due to injury, and the Grizzlies are also in a delicate situation.

If they can't hold on to the decline in their record now, their hard work for most of the season may be in vain.

Timberwolves this time, is to allow the team to continue to adjust the state.

Zhang Sixin wants to take advantage of the two home games at the end of February to allow players who went to the All-Star Weekend to re-enter the regular season.

During the All-Star weekend, he wants the players to relax and get better, and there can be no problems.

And Curry felt a little uncomfortable in his ankle during training, and he won't play this time.

It was Jeremy Lin who replaced him in the starting lineup. So far this season, Jeremy Lin has actually improved faster than expected. Sometimes Zhang Sixin also feels that it is wrong to give Bledsoe more opportunities, but Jeremy Lin’s technical characteristics are basically formed when he is relatively old.

Of course, he still needs to be promoted to a lower level before reaching the peak, and his current strength is in a relatively embarrassing position.

At the beginning of the game, the Grizzlies entered the state faster by relying on Randolph's offense.

After Randolph came to the Grizzlies, his performance was very stable, and he was the strongest attack point inside the team.

Love is not an opponent just to fight hard in the paint.

But in fact, the two insiders of the Timberwolves did not suffer any big losses when facing the black and white bears. The Timberwolves still did not play out from the outside.

Jeremy Lin's deterrence is far inferior to that of Curry. Coupled with DeRozan's slow progress, the Timberwolves became the lagging side at the beginning of the game.

In addition, the Grizzlies replaced Gay's Sam Young as the starter.

Obviously the weakest point of the starter, but he took a few shots.

The Grizzlies have been changing styles this season. Their head coach Hollins found that the Grizzlies lineup seems to be really difficult to play offensively, but it is relatively easy to improve the defensive strength.

So starting from this season, the Grizzlies have gradually changed from an offensive style of play to a defensive style of play.

And this season, their style of play is a bit fragmented, and it will appear a bit chaotic in many cases, but at the same time, the opponent's defense may also be misguided.

The Timberwolves are in this situation today. They can't understand the opponent's attack rhythm. As a result, the opponent's seemingly chaotic rhythm has gained an advantage.

However, this situation will not last forever. As the game progressed, the Timberwolves gradually figured out the details of the Grizzlies today, and the defense began to be targeted.

During the rotation period, Mayo's strength was originally the only one, but this guy's shooting is very strong this season. His relegation to the bench is also related to his decline in strength.

Judging from the fact that this buddy died at a young age, he is also an undisciplined master. It is not surprising that smoking something will affect his physical fitness.

Mayo is also iron and likes to shoot this time, and he is inseparable from the Timberwolves' bench lineup.

In the second quarter, the efficiency of both sides was relatively sluggish, and the offensive end can be said to be pecking at each other.

Curry's absence still has a relatively large impact on the team. There would not have been such an obvious performance. The key opponent is the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are also strong inside, and the Timberwolves' inside advantage has been weakened a lot.

Defensive players such as Grizzlies Tony Allen are very strong in single defense, and DeRozan is also restricted, making the game a bit boring.

However, after Jeremy Lin gradually began to dare to play, the Timberwolves also performed well on the outside. At least their shooting must be better than the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies do not shoot three-pointers when playing offensively.

But in the first half, the Grizzlies still took the lead.

The Timberwolves, who played back-to-back games, really couldn't stand the Grizzlies' hand-to-hand play.

Love was exhausted by Randolph, and he even missed a few rebounds.

When entering the intermission, Zhang Sixin also chatted with Love to make him more flexible.

Both of them are very strong after the confrontation, but Randolph still has a soft touch after the confrontation. This is the ability that Love does not have. Love is better on the offensive end to play misplaced pick-and-rolls, or pull out to shoot.

Randolph is able to top defense, his movement and interference shots are not very good, but he is somewhat similar to Love.

As for Gasol, this game is a mutual consumption of life with Milicic, so there is nothing to say.

Then the outside line, the worse the Grizzlies' outside line is, the more the Timberwolves can't let there be surprises in this regard.

Because the outside cost of defending the opponent is lower, then the Timberwolves can gain an advantage by relying on a slightly stronger outside line.

At the beginning of the second half, the Grizzlies were still full of momentum.

Randolph on the inside is still strong, and Conley on the outside has also begun to exert his strength, and it once felt like the game was about to end.

But the Timberwolves still resisted this wave and gradually began to fight back.

Randolph's physical strength is not bad, but he has been fighting against Love, and he can't keep his hit rate.

The Timberwolves always blocked the opponent's three-pointer from the outside, and the Grizzlies went in from the outside. Milicic has already sent several big blocks, which caused the Grizzlies' offensive efficiency to gradually decrease.

Halfway through the third quarter, the excitement of the Grizzlies faded away, and the Timberwolves began to narrow the gap.

There is nothing special about the Timberwolves' offense, it just relies on shooting more accurately.

During the rotation period in the second half, Mayo was completely screwed.

On the contrary, Green, who was unknown in front of him, suddenly hit two three-pointers, and the Timberwolves immediately caught up with the score.

The Grizzlies were also speechless. They didn't expect Mayo to be unable to hold on to the bench.

If it weren't for this guy's continuous strikes, the Timberwolves wouldn't be able to catch up so easily.

To be honest, the Grizzlies' defense is really good, better than Gay's defense.

The advantage disappeared during the rotation period, and the Grizzlies were very depressed, but there was nothing they could do.

They can only fight the Timberwolves for the final quarter, and their head coach Hollins also encouraged the players: "We can lead the opponent for so long, and then we can lead again."

It's just that he didn't expect that the situation is indeed different now.

In front of the Grizzlies, it was Randolph who supported the offense. Now Randolph plays in the low post, and his efficiency is completely ineffective.

Although Love has also become a mascot on the offensive end because of his high consumption, the Timberwolves still have other players who can score.

After all, the background of the Timberwolves is much better than that of the Grizzlies with an uneven lineup.

(End of this chapter)