Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 252
Zhang Sixin was not sure about the rankings of the few teams on the fringes of the Western Conference playoffs before. The Hornets are a bit miserable now because their second leader West is injured.

It is not a big problem to say that they are the weakest in the playoffs after losing a general. The Timberwolves are definitely willing to play them.

Of course, without a strong star, the Nuggets, who are not good at defense, are actually easy to deal with.

The eighth Grizzlies in the Western Conference are actually not that easy to deal with. Even if their nominal striker Gay is reimbursed, in fact Gay's impact on the Grizzlies is not that great.

After Gay recovered in the next year, the Grizzlies found that he did not make the team stronger, and finally sent him away, making the Grizzlies a team of black and white bears and Conley.

This is Zhang Sixin's analysis. In fact, before the start of the playoffs, the outside world generally believed that the last four in the Western Conference playoffs, the only one who had the hope of winning the next game was the Thunder. No one thought that the Spurs would be so good.

After the regular season, everyone rested together for two days, and then the playoffs started.

The Timberwolves adjusted for one more day as the second in the West, and then they ushered in the challenge of the Hornets at the Target Center.

West was unable to play, and the Hornets' No. [-] starter was Landry, who was traded in the middle of the season. Landry, who was originally the sixth man, was also ordered in a crisis.

The Hornets team is strong in defense, and their style will not change without the general, even if the offensive end is estimated to be worse, although Landry can also be regarded as an offensive insider.

No one thinks that the Hornets will have a chance. Based on the performance of the Timberwolves in the playoffs last season, it is likely to be a sweep.

But what I didn't expect was that there was an accident in the first game.

Love was in a mediocre state against Landry in this scene, but Paul broke out and kept scoring points with Curry.

In the final quarter, the Timberwolves only took a slight lead, but when Curry used a screen to go around the defense, Paul pushed Curry, and Curry accidentally sprained his ankle.

Then under the leadership of Paul, the Hornets reversed and won.

Zhang Sixin didn't even think about this situation. In fact, it's okay for the Hornets to explode. After all, Paul is also a powerful All-Star player, but Curry's injury again really makes people want to swear.

If Curry can't play in the playoffs, the Timberwolves' upper limit will be much lower.

Fortunately, Curry is like every sprain, which is not too troublesome, but he also needs to rest for a while.

"Coach, I have no problem, I can play." Curry said firmly.

Curry was also very depressed. He and Paul had been fighting fiercely in this game. Paul was prepared for a little trick, but he still had an ankle problem.

He hated his ankle a little bit, why jumped out at a critical moment and caused trouble.

Young people, as soon as their blood gets hot, they want to go even if they are closed.

"It's okay, let's recover first. The first round of the playoffs is not so tense yet. The team needs you to do more important things." Zhang Sixin comforted Curry.

It is impossible for Paul to explode every game. Even if Curry rests, they will not be afraid of the Hornets in the first round, so Zhang Sixin is not just comforting his disciples. The Timberwolves are still stronger than the Hornets.

Moreover, the mission has been triggered on Curry, and he can definitely shorten the time to recover and return.

Rather than taking risks now, Zhang Sixin hopes that Curry can play at a better level when the team needs him more. That is the opportunity for the Timberwolves.

After the first game, the Timberwolves had two days to make adjustments. Zhang Sixin said during team training: "The Hornets are not a good offensive team. There may be some reasons for our loss in the first game, but there are also reasons for not being aggressive enough defensively."

"Since they are not good at scoring, we can't let them score even one point easily."

The Timberwolves did take it lightly in the first game, the Hornets were too weak, and some generals were injured.

The result is that they were fought by the opponent to the final quarter, otherwise they should not lose even if Curry had an accident.

After losing the game, Curry was still injured and had to rest, and the young Timberwolves also became nervous.

Players who performed poorly were ashamed, thinking they had failed the trust of the manager.

Seeing the players taking extra seriousness in training, Zhang Sixin suddenly felt that it would be good to lose a game first. The players can correct their attitudes in the subsequent games, and a little twists and turns are worth it.

After training, Zhang Sixin also talked to Jeremy Lin. He will start instead of Curry in the crucial playoffs.

There are reasons similar to those in the middle of the season, but there are also reasons why Jeremy Lin is now close to his peak.

After the regular season, some players have also improved their strength, among which Jeremy Lin is more obvious.

After all, he is also an older rookie, and his physical condition has reached its peak. In the second half of the season, he got more and more opportunities and received sufficient training.

And now Jeremy Lin's physical fitness is really good, his speed is very fast, not slower than Curry, and he is physically stronger than Curry, so he has no problem against Paul.

Knowing that he will take on more responsibilities in the playoffs, Jeremy Lin also attaches great importance to it. He immediately stated: "Coach, I will definitely do my best to live up to the trust of the coach."

To Zhang Sixin's surprise, Jeremy Lin triggered the task again.

[Trigger special task: Lin madness descends. 】

[Jeremy Lin was ordered to activate his super state (limited time to improve the state, the time is seven games). 】

Now it's really stable. If Jeremy Lin breaks out, maybe Curry can rest for two more games.

At this time, because of Curry's injury, the outside world's expectations for the Timberwolves have also declined.

The Timberwolves are still very strong this season, but the outside world just thinks that a group of young people are not good enough.

Before the start of the playoffs, they thought that they might stop in the second round. It was difficult to replicate last season's Western Conference finals. Now that Curry was injured and failed in the first game, various media who feared the world would even think that the Timberwolves might stop in the first round.

"Love routinely pulls his hips in the playoffs, and the Timberwolves are going to be finished."

"Curry is very strong, but his ankle is always a big problem. Physical endurance is also part of the star. Curry is still a little bit worse. It is impossible for him to take the Timberwolves to new heights."

"There are too many examples where Curry may be lost because of injuries."

"Curry is not the answer to the No. [-] position. The point guard still depends on Paul."

After the game, Paul cared about Curry's situation in an interview, saying that he would never want to see Curry injured.

But he also said that the playoffs are different from the regular season. He is a fighting spirit and will lead the Hornets to defeat the Timberwolves in the series.

The first round of the playoffs, which was originally without suspense, has different possibilities due to various reasons, and the attention of the outside world has also increased.

Originally, most of the attention was on Timberwolves fans, and the Hornets also had some fans, but now it is necessary to add a lot of neutral fans who are watching the excitement. This series may become popular due to messy reasons.

But for the Timberwolves, there is still only victory.

(End of this chapter)