Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 244 Outside Strength
In the second half, Nowitzki showed the strength and mentality of a superstar as soon as he came up.

The missed three-pointer from the outside didn't affect him. He finally hit a three-pointer. The big cap on the inside didn't affect him. Nowitzki still got two chances to get to the free throw line in the third quarter.

Nowitzki used his personal ability to drive the Mavericks' offense, which also caused the Timberwolves to run into trouble.

However, even with Milicic's two fouls, the Timberwolves' defense is qualified.

Nowitzki led the Mavericks' offense, but he didn't play easily.

He played the performance of a superstar, but not the performance of a superstar explosion.

On the Timberwolves side, when the offensive end is more teamed, the rhythm has not actually fallen.

With the opponent's superstar fully exerting their strength, the Timberwolves can still stabilize the score, which shows that the Timberwolves' defensive strategy works.

On the other hand, it also shows that the other players of the Mavericks are really pulling.

Of course, the strength of young players such as Curry and DeRozan is also an important aspect.

The problem of scoring points is difficult for the Mavericks to solve. They want to bring up their attack power, but they actually have to wait for Terry to play.

When both Terry and Nowitzki are on the court, the Mavericks' scoring is guaranteed.

But Terry's own weak link is obvious, it is difficult to become a starter, so it is sometimes difficult for the Mavericks.

In fact, the Mavericks were able to win the championship strongly in history, and there are also reasons why the strong teams this season are not perfect.

"As long as we maintain our defensive efficiency, this game will be fine." Zhang Sixin laughed.

Entering the rotation period, the Mavericks have some advantages.

But the Timberwolves' substitutes played well in the second half, Jeremy Lin, Bledsoe and Green can all do it.

When Love rested, the Timberwolves fully demonstrated their outside firepower.

Can shoot, has enough ball-handling points, and has good defense.

Even if the personal ability of the bench is not outstanding for the time being, it is more stable than the Mavericks.

As a result, the two teams were going to end up in the last quarter.

Zhang Sixin was also complaining in his heart. When Le Fu was there, the two sides fought to the end, and it was still the same when Le Fu was not there.

His training of new players this season has indeed caused the team's combat power to be a bit unbalanced, but in the long run it will be very profitable.

Moreover, it was difficult for them to get good players who could make Zhang Sixin give up training some young people in the free market last summer.

In the final quarter, the Mavericks quickly got on Nowitzki.

Terry does not rest, the Mavericks are bound to win the game posture.

In the decisive lineup, the Mavericks and the starters changed two people. In addition to Terry, Peja also stayed on the court.

Now Marion's shooting is too unstable to play against the Timberwolves.

After all, if he can only attack the inside line, Love's presence or absence will have little effect, and Milicic's restricted area belongs to him.

Moreover, Marion is not necessarily required to defend the Timberwolves' front line. The Mavericks must always pay attention to the Timberwolves' back line.

Nowitzki hit two goals after coming up, forcing the Timberwolves to also put on the winning lineup.

In fact, it is the starting lineup, and the Timberwolves' starting lineup has never been false.

Curry and DeRozan made hits one after another. Halfway through the final quarter, Curry hit another three-pointer, and the Timberwolves firmly gained the lead.

Zhang Sixin smiled. Even though Curry has started two All-Stars, the teams' defense against him is still not at that level.

After all, it is difficult for superstars to get this kind of treatment when they attack from outside the three-point line.

This is also one of the reasons why Zhang Sixin is full of confidence in the team. Everyone always underestimates Curry, thinking that he is just a traffic All-Star, not a superstar.

And now Curry is on his way to evolve into a superstar.

With the Timberwolves' tactical system, he may seldom show the slenderness of a superstar. After all, his accurate three-point shooting is not as conspicuous as the exaggerated statistics of Love.

But as long as Zhang Sixin is willing, the team's tactical system can also help Curry enter the state of a superstar in advance, which is not the sudden situation of last year's playoffs.

In this season's playoffs, everyone still thinks that if Curry's first playoff breakout was accidental, there will definitely be teams that suffer.

After the Timberwolves' main lineup came on the field, the Mavericks encountered a crisis.

Nowitzki stood up again at the critical moment. He grabbed offensive rebounds twice to help the Mavericks stabilize the situation.

Only at this time, the Timberwolves will realize that without Love, the team really lacks something.

If they have an advantage in rebounding in this game, the result of the game can already be announced.

Of course, there are no absolutes. Love is not so flexible in defending the perimeter on the court.

Then the score was deadlocked, until the last 2 minutes, the Timberwolves lost another backcourt rebound, Chandler made a tip-up, and then Nowitzki hit again, and the Mavericks took the lead.

However, the mentality of the Timberwolves players has not been affected.

It didn't take long for Curry to steal Nowitzki, and the Timberwolves quickly counterattacked and took the lead again.

When the time has come to 1 minute, the Mavericks requested a timeout.

Back on the court, Nowitzki was blocked from receiving the ball.

Terry played with the ball on the outside and missed the last three-pointer.

Coming back, the Timberwolves cooperated patiently. Curry made a bow to pass the defensive player, went directly to the basket and hit a layup.

The Mavericks are very helpless, time is running out, but they are 3 points behind, Mavericks coach Carlisle needs to make a choice.

A quick two-point foul or a direct three-pointer will test the ability of the Mavericks at critical moments.

At the same time, it is also a test for the Timberwolves. The performance at critical moments is very important for both teams.

Zhang Sixin didn't know what the opponent would do, but the Timberwolves must give priority to defending three-pointers.

Maybe the Mavericks wanted to take a three-pointer directly, because they didn't have a quick two-pointer, but chose two-pointers after falling outside a few hands.

Nowitzki received the ball and made a layup, but then the Mavericks must have foul tactics.

In about 10 seconds, the Mavericks tried to press for 2 seconds, but immediately fouled after failing.

Curry stepped to the free throw line and made two free throws, and Terry missed a three-pointer when he came back.

Milicic protected the rebound, and there was basically no suspense in the game at this time, but the Mavericks still rushed up and made a foul.

Milicic made one of two free throws, but the Mavericks tried another three-pointer, and the game ended after a miss.

The Timberwolves still won the Mavericks without a general.

Zhang Sixin was also very happy, and said to reporters after the game: "I am very satisfied with the team's performance. They are working hard together with Kevin's share, and they play very well as a team."

"There's nothing wrong with Kevin's injury, he just needs to rest."

"It's not long before the start of the playoffs, so don't worry, you will soon see what the Timberwolves in the playoffs look like. I won't say much, just watch."

(End of this chapter)