Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 304
The Spurs' main lineup can't do it, and the bench lineup can't do it either.

Their head coach, Popovich, was also pushed into a hurry, and started playing primary and secondary, betting three points.

Betting on three-pointers in the first half, the Spurs are also talented, but this kind of reverse operation is sometimes easier to achieve.

After the Spurs played one and four, the situation was better than in the first quarter.

Coach Popovich simply put more medicine and directly reduced the lineup.

The Spurs' small lineup played well, and Jefferson showed a good touch.

It's just that the Spurs really can't take care of defense with a small lineup.

DeRozan played casually after he came up, and when the Spurs couldn't get Duncan, he rushed in without worrying about someone's defense.

Even Leonard played two games with his immature skills. Anyway, he just needs to use his physical fitness to suppress his opponent.

In this case, the Spurs will kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred.

When the defense becomes more targeted, it becomes killing eight hundred enemies and self-defeating one thousand.

So the strange trick can only be used for a sneak attack, it can't really reverse the situation of the game at all.

Facing a strong team like the Timberwolves, it is already very good to be able to raid most of the court.

So at the end of the first half, the Spurs could only fall behind aggrievedly.

Zhang Sixin also didn't expect that since the new season, they have played against strong teams like the Mavericks and Spurs relatively easily, even if they are back-to-back.

In the past, such a back-to-back would have been a devil's schedule.

In the end, their strength has increased a lot, or their opponents have become weaker, or both.

The Spurs may or may not change in the second half, and they can change randomly.

The Spurs are very capricious in the regular season, and it is possible to operate indiscriminately. The head coach has status, and the core players have a good temper, so the Spurs don't care so much in the regular season.

Of course, they are strong enough, and they can get good results most of the time.

So the Timberwolves don't need to predict their opponents, just do their best in the second half.

In fact, the Spurs' performance in the second half was no different from that in the first quarter.

They still want Parker and Duncan to solve the problem with a pick-and-roll, but Parker is in a mediocre state today, and Duncan playing Love is not an effective solution.

As time went on, the Spurs' scoring efficiency became worse and worse, and the three-point line was completely blocked by the Timberwolves.

At the end of the quarter, the Spurs spent more time playing freely.

Although the last half of the quarter was normal, the improvement is the defense, and the offensive end is not good at all.

Although the Timberwolves' offensive efficiency has also declined, they easily won the game by virtue of their lead.

After the game, Love, who was the best performer in the game, talked to reporters about the schedule. He said, "I am fine. I eat well, sleep well, and do warm-up activities. My body is fine. Our team is young and energetic, and we have an advantage in playing close games. So playing back-to-back, 5 games within 4 days, and games with a strong schedule, we have no problem as a team."

Winning the ball means high spirits. As the head coach, Zhang Sixin will definitely not be as optimistic as the players.

He will plan ahead in the team rotation, so as not to make the main players too tired.

However, the team has more home games at the beginning, which is better, and the players can better adapt to the days of playing games.

Curry has already hired a trainer to start training on strength, reducing the burden on the ankles, and is also improving core strength to achieve a similar effect.

Zhang Sixin has been paying attention to Curry's situation and giving him constant encouragement.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will become stronger."

Back-to-back and back-to-back, the Timberwolves ushered in another strong team in the West, the Grizzlies, at home two days later. During this time, they have met half of the strong teams in the West.

The Grizzlies got off to a rough start because Randolph was injured.

The Grizzlies didn't make any moves in the summer. The Western Timberwolves, the Thunder and the Grizzlies were all the same. They became strong teams because of the promotion of young people, so they were very chic in the summer. After all, the young people have grown up again.

The Grizzlies are also strictly demanding themselves, and have further transformed into a defensive team.

With the strength, the team wants to go further. The idea of ​​the head coach Hollins is to improve the defense.

But there are gains and losses. After the Grizzlies improve their defense, the offense will not be able to maintain efficiency.

After all, it is difficult to achieve both offense and defense. The Grizzlies do not have the team background of the Timberwolves and Thunder. Simply put, the stars are not strong enough.

The Grizzlies were still in the starting lineup for the second half of last season, that is, Randolph couldn't play, and the fourth position was replaced by defensive striker Cunningham.

Cunningham worked hard on defense, but against Love, he couldn't handle it in terms of strength.

Therefore, the Grizzlies insider who could wrestle with the Timberwolves last season will be difficult to deal with without one person.

But at the beginning of the game, the Timberwolves did not go as smoothly as expected.

The main reason is that the Grizzlies' defense has really improved, as well as the personal progress of Conley and Gasol Jr.

The guard duo of Conley and Tony Allen got off to a rough start for Jeremy Lin and DeRozan.

And Love was double-teamed to a certain extent at the beginning. When the Timberwolves did not open the outside line, they were uncomfortable playing inside.

In this case, the Timberwolves also showed a very good defensive ability.

However, when everyone was fighting to defend, Rudy Gay's ignoring defensive singles played a role.

Although this buddy is not effective at times and is not very efficient, he is indeed better than DeRozan in fierce defense with the ball. Paul George is still a bit tender now.

Therefore, after experiencing rare difficulties on the offensive end, Zhang Sixin began to rotate.

The Timberwolves can play a lot of outside players, and they can change their luck.

Moreover, in the fierce defensive confrontation, both sides consume a lot, and the Timberwolves can compete with the Grizzlies for rotation.

The Timberwolves have more and better rotation players. When the Grizzlies players are physically exhausted, it will be difficult to limit the Timberwolves' offense.

Of course, Zhang Sixin also misses Curry's three-pointer a little bit. With Curry, it is difficult for the Grizzlies to block the Timberwolves' outside line like this.

Facts have proved that the defensive approach of the Grizzlies group of players works well.

It's just that they don't have enough strong stars, and it's not enough to just do one thing well if they want to go further.

During the rotation period, the Timberwolves began to chase points.

Because Gasol went down, the Grizzlies' inside line began to fail.

As for Whiteside, although he is still almost conscious, his physical advantage has been fully utilized, and he can score and block shots in the paint.

When the Grizzlies reached the second quarter, Gay was not so accurate, and DeRozan and Love started to play better and better for the Timberwolves.

All-star players are still a bit different. Even if the Grizzlies defend well, it is impossible to lock them up for the entire game.

"The Grizzlies' offense has finally come to normal, but our offense can be better." Zhang Sixin said, "When the Grizzlies are weak inside, we not only need to be tough in the penalty area, but also cooperate with outside shots."

(End of this chapter)