Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 333
The last opponent of the Timberwolves' seven-game streak is the Thunder. Facing the Thunder that can threaten them, Zhang Sixin has completely different requirements for players.

Historically, the Thunder entered the finals this season, so Zhang Sixin believes that the Thunder will be the biggest trouble for the team to break out of the West.

Compared with the Spurs, who have a problem with the lineup, they must show an attitude towards every game of the Thunder.

"The Thunder is the most dangerous enemy in the West, so this game will be played as a playoff," Zhang Sixin said.

The players are also very serious. The Thunder is also a rising youth team. Everyone likes to make comparisons.

And the Thunder is full of fighting spirit to challenge the Timberwolves.

When the game started, the two sides began to fight each other.

In order to limit the impact of Westbrook, the Timberwolves discharged Whiteside to start.

However, Westbrook was still the Thunder's most active player in the first quarter.

On the Timberwolves side, Love slapped Ibaka.

Ibaka is a defensive player, and Zhang Sixin did not expect Love to be so aggressive.

It's because Love split three at the start, and the Thunder's defensive arrangement was a bit unexpected.

In addition, Ibaka's defense is indeed powerful, but in terms of strength, it is actually not as good as Love.

This is what led to the two teams with good defense, they came up with full firepower and started to attack each other.

In the process of Love slapping Ibaka, Ibaka actually sent two big caps.

So Zhang Sixin is also considering whether to consider a small lineup for this game.

The Timberwolves are used to domineering inside, but the Thunder Ibaka and Perkins are not bad at defending the inside, and whether their consumption in the inside is worth it.

If the speed increases and the inside line is abolished, who will suffer.

In fact, it can only be insiders like Perkins and Pekovic who can't keep up with the speed.

But looking at Westbrook's state, Zhang Sixin still didn't make an immediate decision.

Durant is already difficult enough to deal with. If Westbrook's breakthrough space cannot be blocked inside, the Timberwolves will not be so easy to play. If they are purely offensive, they will not feel so stable.

It's not that he didn't dare, but it was unnecessary. Zhang Sixin really wanted to find a more secure way to deal with the Thunder, after all, he was the imaginary enemy in the playoffs.

With Harden's growth this season, the Thunder's three juniors showed off together, which is really difficult to deal with.

The point is, the risk of pinching Durant is greater.

If you don't pinch Durant, Durant may get mad and take it away.

You can only look at the right time to attack, and consume more at other times.

In comparison, the current Thunder is indeed more difficult to deal with than the Lakers.

After all, the Thunder's three young players are all on the outside, and the Timberwolves' defensive strength in the backcourt is slightly weaker. The Lakers' twin towers just hit the Timberwolves' powerful inside.

In fact, the Timberwolves are now also facing the trouble of not having the same offensive and defensive lineup. Curry and DeRozan, the All-Star duo, are not too strong in personal defense.

Wings like Green and Leonard are now on the bench.

The Timberwolves' lineup is indeed strong enough, but it is not invincible.

Fortunately, no team can accurately grasp their weak links, and even if they grasp some parts, it is useless. The Timberwolves will use the intensity and attack power of the whole game to win the victory.

The Timberwolves were actually slightly ahead, but when the Thunder replaced Harden, they caught up with the score. The Timberwolves have a group of useful substitutes, but their personal abilities are indeed not as outstanding as Harden for the time being.

Of course, it also depends on the state, and this time it seems that the Thunder's three young men are all in good state.

If it weren't for Love's touch at the beginning, the Timberwolves might be over this game.

Just when the Timberwolves felt embarrassed, the Thunder actually felt the same way.

Their offensive and defensive sense of fragmentation is much more obvious than that of the Timberwolves. After all, they start with three blue-collar players.

This still can't limit the Timberwolves. Thunder coach Brooks is also considering, if he doesn't go to the offensive lineup and fight the Timberwolves.

Of course, apart from the Thunder's three young men, they don't have strong offensive players, and they also limit the Timberwolves' strong substitutes.

They want to attack, in fact, they want to increase the shooting points and go to the inside line. After all, the two inside lines are mainly defensive.

But that's still a gamble. After all, it's hard to defend now, and the next inside defense point may be lost by the Timberwolves.

The two top players in the Western Conference both felt that the other side was not good at playing.

In the first half, both sides played very resolutely, but they didn't put all their ideas into practice.

Before entering the intermission, Paul George hit a three-pointer and the Timberwolves also slightly led their opponents.

"Details. To beat the Thunder, I can only say that there is no shortcut. They are improving every season. We must be more decisive in offense than them, and we must be more meticulous in defense than them. They are challengers, but we must do better than them." Zhang Sixin encouraged the players.

"The Timberwolves are not invincible, we can beat them, we must be more confident." Thunder coach Brooks said.

In the third section, both sides have targeted measures.

The Thunder's three-point defense is tighter, and Love has a lot less chances at the three-point line.

The Timberwolves shrank a little, they didn't want Westbrook to continue to rush.

As for Durant and Harden, they tried not to give three points.

However, Westbrook felt really good today, and he also hit a three-pointer.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves' offense did not pull away. Although Love did not continue to hit three-pointers, he still felt good, and Curry also played better than in the first half.

It is also related to the opponent's defense against Love's three-pointers. If they want to attack Love's three-pointers, it is difficult for two people to interfere with Curry in the first place, and Curry can enter.

Several small and big fights proved Curry's ability.

And DeRozan also seized several opportunities to attack the inside.

Although it was blocked by Ibaka, it also caused damage, and the Thunder felt the urgency.

In fact, the game was still at a stalemate at this time, but seeing the stability of the Timberwolves' offense, the Thunder was a little worried about the final matchup.

Therefore, they chose to take the lead in changing, and started to play one big and four small ones.

After the lineup became smaller, they hoped to gain an advantage on the offensive end in one fell swoop.

Zhang Sixin chose to follow the opponent's changes and put Paul George in the fourth position.

Paul George will not change with Durant. Even if Westbrook is in good condition, the Timberwolves' defense still pays the most attention to Durant.

Not only is Durant more dangerous, but also because he faces a tighter defense, but his scoring is not much worse than that of Westbrook in good condition.

This is Durant's strength, which cannot be ignored.

And in this game, when it was about to enter the final quarter, the rhythm became faster. The players on both sides seemed to be unaware of fatigue, but the Thunder still made a mistake in thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)