The older superstars of the NBA

Target Center Arena.

In Game [-] of the Western Conference semifinals, the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the Portland Trail Blazers.The game is about to start, and the players on both sides are ready.

Before officially playing, Zhao Feiyang, the team leader and home city hero, also took the initiative to walk to Damian Lillard to say hello.

The two had been teammates in the All-Star Game before, and although they didn't have a deep friendship with each other, they didn't know each other.

"Hey Damien, welcome to Minneapolis."

Zhao Feiyang took the initiative to give a high five.

Lillard also responded enthusiastically, and gave Zhao Feiyang a hug, "Zhao, I really didn't expect to meet you in the semifinals! Frankly speaking, this is not what we expected... But no matter whether we win or lose, we can win." I'm looking forward to playing against a player like you..."

"Me too!"

beep.

The sound of the timer sounded, and the starting players of both sides officially stepped onto the court.

The lineup of the Timberwolves has not changed. The first position is played by Zach LaVine, the second position is handed over to Zhao Feiyang, the third position is still Andrew Wiggins, and the fourth and fifth positions are occupied by Adrian. Ennis and Dwight Howard are in charge.

For the Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard is naturally the No. [-] position, CJ McCollum is the team's second-in-command at the No. [-] position, Maurice Harkless is the No. [-] position, and Maurice Harkless is the No. [-] position. The No. [-] and No. [-] positions are handed over to Al Farouk and Mason Plumlee.

From the lineup alone, the Timberwolves are stronger than the Trail Blazers.

Except for Lillard and McCollum, the Trail Blazers are just role players.As for the Timberwolves, Zhao Feiyang and Howard needless to say, both of them are All-Star players.

As a rising star, LaVine has just won the mvp in the All-Star Rookie Challenge, and he is still shining in the dunk contest. Judging from these places, his talent will be realized sooner or later. It is not easy to grow into an All-Star player. impossible.

Wiggins on the front line is not an ordinary person. We all know that he has good talent. Although his desire to win is not so strong, his talent is there. Once he takes the game seriously, his ability value will increase exponentially.

The only one in the starting lineup who is not very capable seems to be Adrian. Many people know that he is the undrafted pick of the league. He seized the opportunity to get up because of the conflict between Howard and the team. To a certain extent, it is also due to Zhao Feiyang's help and training for him.

But I have to say that since the start of the playoffs, Adrian's performance has been very stable.

His rebounding is not the best, neither is his mid-range shooting, and his skills at the basket need to be improved.But his defensive attitude is always the most positive. If it is only compared to this point, Adrian can simply beat Howard.

Not only is his defensive attitude positive, Adrian's awareness at the basket is also quite good.He will always cooperate with Howard's actions. Once the opponent goes out to cover the defense and causes a loss of position, Adrian will go up to fill the loophole immediately.

Many of his actions seem insignificant, but the facts have proved that Gorgui Dieng, another core striker of the team, can't achieve such an effect when he cooperates with Howard on the court.

Not only was Gorgi unable to connect the entire team, he was also unable to grab a position and grab a rebound at a critical moment.

It is precisely because of his comparison that Adrian's seemingly inconspicuous actions truly showed his teammates his abilities.

on the field.

The referee stood in the middle of the court and threw the ball high under the attention of everyone.

Snapped.

Howard took the lead to reach out and shoot the ball, and the basketball happened to fall into LaVine's hands.LaVine held the ball across the half, and the other players also looked for opportunities on the other side of the half as usual.

It's just that no one noticed that when LaVine got the basketball and advanced towards the half court, Lillard, who was pretending to tie his shoelaces in the last second, suddenly moved in the next second. He rushed out from behind and slapped the basketball that LaVine was dribbling with his right hand.

Snapped.

The basketball rolls out.

Lillard's eyes were quick and his hands rushed to grab it immediately. Before LaVine even recovered, he found that Lillard had already dribbled the ball towards the half court.

There was an uproar at the scene.

No one expected it.

Even Zhao Feiyang could only watch Lillard rush across the half court.

Swish.

Lillard took the lead to the half court and put the ball in the basket with a layup before LaVine caught up.

The ball is in.

This is also the first two points scored by the Trail Blazers.

For the Timberwolves, this is also the first lesson they have received from the Trail Blazers.

LaVine, who was intercepted, was a little dissatisfied.

In his opinion, under normal circumstances, no player will rush out to steal when he first advances. Lillard's aggressive behavior is undoubtedly a bit impolite.

He blocked Lillard, who was about to go over, and kept yelling at the latter, "Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

"Nobody's going to grab the ball in this situation... You guys are so cunning..."

Lillard looked very calm about LaVine's questioning.

"Zach, this is a game! If you can't adapt, I advise you to retire early!"

A simple sentence successfully ignited the anger in La Bra.

Fortunately, before the incident got serious, Zhao Feiyang had already run over to dissuade him. He stopped Lavin who was making small movements, pulled him aside and comforted him, "Zach, what are you doing?"

"Dude, wake up!"

"The opponents we face are all different. Every point they score, we lose the possibility of winning the game by one point... So you have to change your mind! This is not the regular season..."

"Don't fight Damien! You are one of our core players. If you are suspended for any situation, who will support the team's future situation?"

A series of comforts from Zhao Feiyang quickly calmed down Lavin.

Snapped.

Zhao Feiyang personally served the ball to LaVine.

After getting the ball, LaVine was no longer impulsive. After waving to Zhao Feiyang, he seriously dribbled the ball across the half.

Lillard quickly surrounded him. He stared at the ball in LaVine's hands without saying a word, but put on a very serious defensive posture.

LaVine also did not force Lillard to fight. After realizing that Zhao Feiyang ran from a better position from the wing, he immediately threw the ball into Zhao Feiyang's hands with a long pass.

Snapped.

Zhao Feiyang, standing on the three-point line in the bottom corner, received the pass smoothly.

The moment he was about to make a shot, McCollum made a sudden defense.Zhao Feiyang did not forcefully throw the ball towards the opponent, but gave it to Adrian who ran out of the penalty area.

As soon as the ball was given, Zhao Feiyang immediately ran to the basket. Adrian quickly passed the ball back, and then took advantage of the opportunity to block McCollum who was following up to defend.

Zhao Feiyang, who got the ball, successfully entered the basket and scored a layup.

Swish.

The ball is in.

The cooperation of the two drew bursts of applause from the outside.

It was the Blazers' turn to attack.

Lillard advanced with the ball, and after he crossed the center line, McCollum kept running and tried to come forward.

LaVine stared at Lillard, constantly reaching out to interfere.

Seeing that the two came beyond the three-point line, Zhao Feiyang also stuck to the running McCollum and dared not relax.

He thought Lillard would choose to pass the ball.Unexpectedly, the next second, Lillard faced LaVine with a three-pointer.

Such a resolute and decisive shot made everyone unexpected.

LaVine, who was defending Lillard, responded immediately, but he was still a little short of being able to block Lillard's shot.

Swish.

A three-pointer hit the basket firmly.

Lillard's style of play really made LaVine a little stunned, not only him, Zhao Feiyang was also touched by Lillard's style of play!

It seems that he has no rules and no great offensive skills, but he just dares to shoot, and he lifts the basketball with confidence and throws a three-pointer towards the basket.

This self-confidence alone is enough to make people feel admirable!

Soon the Timberwolves counterattacked.

After suffering two consecutive defeats, LaVine looked a little restless.After halftime, he took the initiative to seek a pick-and-roll opportunity. Adrian on the inside saw the opportunity to raise the high position, and LaVine took advantage of the opportunity to dribble the ball into the basket.

Lillard was pulled away halfway, but he was never left by LaVine.

Seeing LaVine avoiding other defensive players and entering the basket, the moment he raised the basketball to shoot, Lillard jumped up from the flank and reached out to interfere.

boom.

The basketball bounced off the edge of the rim.

Although he was not blocked, LaVine's shot was indeed blocked by Lillard.

Fortunately, Howard reacted quickly at the basket. After the basketball popped out, he squeezed the opposing player away and rushed into the basket. Then he jumped high and smashed the ball into the basket with a one-handed dunk.

The offensive and defensive performance of the two sides in the first quarter was not much different.

The Trail Blazers basically focused on Lillard and McCollum's offense. After Zhao Feiyang almost defended McCollum, McCollum's performance in the first quarter was naturally not as good as before.

The latter only took 5 shots in this quarter, only one of which was a 2-point layup, and the rest of the time he missed all of them.

On the other hand, LaVine's defensive restrictions on Lillard are really limited, especially in terms of personal ability and mentality. The young LaVine is indeed not Lillard's opponent.

The performance of other Trail Blazers players is average, and they occasionally cooperate with Lillard, but they still cannot pose a threat to the Timberwolves.

For the Timberwolves, Howard can do whatever he wants inside. His strong style of play makes it difficult for the Trail Blazers to block the inside line. Therefore, during this period of time, the Timberwolves have also continued to transfer the ball to the inside line, allowing the inside line to seize the opportunity to attack the opponent. loopholes.

Soon the second quarter will come.

The two sides replaced the core on the field, and the substitutes replaced them.

As soon as the substitute lineup was switched, the gap between the Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves came out.

Especially the backcourt combination of Kevin Martin and Ricky Rubio, coupled with the cooperation of Gorgui, the former team's main striker, such a second team immediately widened the gap in score between the two sides.