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Chapter 455 Sweeping the Lakers
After all the awards including MVP have been awarded, the first round of the playoffs will begin.This season, the overall situation that the West is strong and the East is weak has not changed. The two Northwest Division teams, the Timberwolves and the Thunder, won 60+ games at the same time and ranked first and second, followed by the Spurs. , Clippers, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Warriors and Lakers.

In the East, the Heat are thriving. They won 59 wins and 23 losses and ranked first in the East. The second Knicks only won 53 games. From the third to the eighth are the Pacers, Nets, Bulls, and Eagles. , Celtics and Bucks.Judging from the relatively weak overall strength of the Eastern Conference this season, the Heat have at least booked a place in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But what the Heat look like has nothing to do with the Timberwolves for the time being, unless they can meet again in the finals.Now what Xu Hao and the others need to pay attention to is their opponents in the first round, the Lakers, who are also their old opponents in the past few seasons.

This season, the Lakers formed a new super lineup. They successively won Warcraft Howard and Nash, plus the original Kobe, Gasol and Artest, which can be called an All-Star starter.At the same time, players such as Jamison, Blake and Jordan Hill are also sitting on their benches. Logically speaking, their strength is quite good.

It's a pity that the Lakers changed three head coaches in a row in one season. No matter whether it was Bickerstaff, Mike Brown or D'Antoni, they couldn't squeeze the big names in the team into a fist, so they fell aggrievedly. Eighth in the Western Conference, almost missing the playoffs.Although they did get a spot in the end, it was a failure for them.

Xu Hao didn't have any pressure on the Lakers, who were in disarray. Even if they had enough stars to stand up, they probably wouldn't be too strong after they were broken up.Another key issue is that the average age of the Lakers lineup is too large, and it is a piece of cake for the Timberwolves, who pursue speed and are not afraid of physical confrontation.

Xu Hao's prediction was very accurate. The Timberwolves beat the Lakers in the first game of the series.Although Howard worked very hard to score a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds in the interior, Kobe, the Lakers' strongest scoring weapon, was restricted by Kirilenko. He only made 23 of 7 shots and contributed 18 points and 7 rebounds. Rebounds and 4 assists, did not play a normal level at all.

To make matters worse, the Lakers kept letting the stars play singles with the ball almost the entire game, with close to no tactical coordination.In addition to Kobe and Howard's habit of going it alone, the restriction of team commander Nash is also an important factor.

McHale emphasized with Rubio before the game that he must constantly try to interfere with Nash, preferably forcing him to engage in physical confrontation and disrupting his dribbling rhythm.McHale has the confidence to let the team's starting point guard go on full-time defense. After all, the Timberwolves still have Xu Hao on the court. He can also organize offenses, but he is not as coquettish as Rubio.

Under the instruction of the coach, Rubio showed his excellent defensive ability. Under his close marking, it is difficult for Nash, who has entered the twilight of his career, to get enough space, let alone organize an offense.As a result, he only scored 12 points and 6 assists, and also had 3 turnovers. This assist-to-turnover ratio is not Nash's style at all.

Without the court brain and no siege weapon, the Lakers had no choice but to swallow a defeat. They lost to the Timberwolves 92 to 110 in the away game, and fell behind 0 to 1 by a big score. However, this result did not make everyone feel Accident.

In the second game, the Lakers failed to cause trouble for the Timberwolves. Nash was still lost in Rubio's defense. Although Kobe and Howard teamed up to help the Lakers overtake the score, the Timberwolves won 111 to 101.

After heading to Los Angeles with a 2-0 score, the entire Timberwolves team felt the deep malice from Lakers fans. There were many insults on the signs they held on the sidelines. The only good thing was that they did not involve racial discrimination. .It seems that Lakers fans still have some brains. If they use racial slurs, they will probably be banned from entering the arena.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves are already experienced in many battles, especially last season's Finals against the Heat led by the Big Three, which allowed the young people in the team to grow up rapidly. These swearing slogans can no longer shake their hearts. It aroused their anger even more.Even if it's Staples, they're going to beat the Lakers hard.

At the beginning of the game, Xu Hao and Love teamed up and hit 4 three-pointers from the outside, helping the Timberwolves to a 12-2 start.Although Kobe also hit a three-pointer in response, the firepower of the Timberwolves was very fierce. The Lakers' defense was full of loopholes in front of them. Howard got a foul each.Just over half of this section, the Timberwolves have taken a 22-10 lead.

In front of the home fans, the Lakers also tried to counterattack, but whenever they showed such signs, they were immediately wiped out by the Timberwolves' three-point rain.It has to be said that the Timberwolves felt very hot in this game. In addition, four of their starting five tigers can fire from the outside.

The Timberwolves kept their lead until the end. They beat the Lakers 101-92, rewriting the big score to 3-0.When the game ended, there were deafening boos in the Staples Center. The Lakers fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the home team in this way. It’s all right if you lose on the road. Are you sure you can’t beat your opponent at home? ?

To make matters worse for the Lakers, their star star Kobe accidentally sprained his ankle with 2 minutes and 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter and missed the fourth game.This news made the Lakers fans feel very disappointed. With Kobe in charge, they can't do the Timberwolves. Now Kobe can only watch his teammates fight from the sidelines. The Lakers can only die with dignity at best.

Sure enough, the Lakers had no power to fight back in the fourth game of the series. They were suppressed by the Timberwolves throughout the game. In the end, they lost 85 to 103 at home and were swept out by the Timberwolves.No one thought that the Lakers would be swept away, including the Timberwolves players. They thought they would encounter a hard battle!But now they don't need to consider the feelings of the Lakers players, and then they need to face another opponent.

(End of this chapter)