As a Kobe hater, he was actually teammates with Kobe!

Kevin Garnett was stunned at first, then he started to curse at Zhou Ze: "Rookie, you're as soft as my used toilet paper!"

"You're just a weakling who only dares to shoot three-pointers from the outside."

After hearing these words, Zhou Ze was stunned.

"Man, if I remember correctly, you just made one iron shot, and you haven't scored once in the basket." Zhou Ze said with a smile on his face.

Zhou Ze, a rookie, and Garnett, who has won MVP and DPOY, started to quarrel on the court.

But careful fans can clearly see that every time Zhou Ze takes a step forward, Garnett will subconsciously take a small step back, always keeping a safe distance from Zhou Ze.

The referee's timely intervention also brought the farce between the two to an end.

"Thanks, my big brother!" Kwame Brown looked at Zhou Ze with gratitude in her watery eyes, like a little princess.

Zhou Ze smiled and patted his shoulder, like a prominent elder brother comforting his frightened younger brother.

"Kobe, your rookies are so arrogant." Garnett couldn't help but complain to Kobe.

"Haha, yeah." Kobe laughed.

...

...

In the next round, Kevin Garnett went straight to the low post to challenge Zhou Ze.

Although Zhou Ze was at a disadvantage in terms of height and arm span, he had considerable advantages in terms of strength and weight. However, Garnett was too flexible. After his first back-to-the-basket shot, he faked a turnaround shot with a shoulder shake, tricking Zhou Ze into jumping up. Then, he turned to the left, took two steps, and put the ball in despite Kwame Brown's defense.

After scoring the goal, Garnett didn't forget to stimulate Zhou Ze: "Rookie, see? This is the gap between me and role players like you."

Zhou Ze, who was beaten by Garnett with fake moves and footwork, did not say much at this time, but in the next offensive round, he responded directly with a three-pointer.

"Three-points, Zhou...Ze..." the DJ on the scene shouted in a long tone.

Of course, in tonight's game, the person defending Zhou Ze was not Kevin Garnett. As a player with his own defensive system, the team's head coach Casey would not be stupid enough to let the Lakers pull Garnett out to the three-point line.

Garnett needs to help the Timberwolves protect the rim and assist in defense.

The one defending Zhou Ze is Michael Olowokandi, the NBA No. 98 pick selected by the Clippers in 213. He is 122cm tall and weighs kg. He has excellent physical fitness but rough skills.

Olowokandi is faster than most centers, but there is still a clear gap compared to Zhou Ze.

In addition, big players are generally "slow", which means they are not very agile, just like an aircraft carrier turning around.

Zhou Ze used speed and a rhythm that sometimes fast and sometimes slow to defeat Olowokandi.

"Wow..."

"OMG!"

"Zhou, he hit another three-pointer."

"This is his third three-pointer in this quarter."

"He only missed one of four shots."

Zhou Ze made 4 of 3 three-pointers, bringing the Lakers' lead to double digits.

Seeing that something was wrong, the Timberwolves immediately requested a timeout.

"WTF!"

"Boss, let me take charge of guarding this little brat later."

Garnett returned to the bench and said with a depressed look on his face.

Zhou Ze scored 9 points, even surpassing Kobe's 8 points.

Although the difficulty of scoring for the two players and the degree of attention they receive from defense are completely different, Zhou Ze's presence can allow Kobe to gain a more comfortable offensive space.

besides...

What surprised Garnett was that the bust No. 1 draft pick Kwame Brown actually became a little tougher after the "conflict" just now.

Especially in terms of rebounding, he tried his best to position himself, which resulted in him being unable to grab offensive rebounds.

...

...

After the timeout, Zhou Ze did not continue to play.

That’s right, it’s still limited by physical strength.

Zhou Ze is different from the high artillery on the outside. On the defensive end, he needs to fight with the opponent's inside players under the basket.

During fast breaks, Zhou Ze also has to run as fast as he can.

Even if Zhou Ze cannot catch the ball, he can still stretch the opponent's defense and create good fast break opportunities for other teammates.

Especially tonight, the Timberwolves had the team's starting center switch defense on Zhou Ze. Since Olowokandi was unable to catch up with Zhou Ze who was running fast without the ball, when Zhou Ze came to the basket, he was usually able to attract help defense from other players.

This also makes the Lakers' offense extremely smooth.

Even Kobe couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. Since Shaquille O'Neal left, he has never fought such a rich battle.

Even with the epic defensive gate of Kevin Garnett, it is difficult to make up for the loopholes created by Zhou Ze on the offensive end.

...

...

The game entered the second quarter, and Michael Olowokandi was still defending Zhou Ze. Through the first quarter, Zhou Ze had a rough idea of ​​his strengths and weaknesses.

The rhythm of his movement has become more varied.

Not only sudden stops and starts, but also sudden detours.

It seemed like he was running towards the top of the arc, but he suddenly turned around halfway and returned to the bottom corner again.

For this reason, after missing the first two three-pointers in the second quarter, Zhou Ze started raining cold three-pointers on the Minnesota night.

"ouch!"

"ouch!"

"ouch!"

In just 2 minutes, Zhou Ze made 3 consecutive three-pointers and hit all of them.

Starting from the time Zhou Ze hit his first three-pointer in the second quarter, every time he scored, the Timberwolves fans felt as if Kobe's iron elbow was hitting their cheeks.

It is worth mentioning that the first two times were in small open spaces, and when he hit the third time, the opponent had already pounced on him, but Zhou Ze still shot confidently and decisively, facing Olowokandi's fingertips and hitting the top shot.

This shut Minnesota down again.

On the Timberwolves bench.

Garnett's face was filled with anger, and he said unwillingly, "Boss, let me guard this guy."

Coach Casey shook his head.

Although he was helpless about Zhou Ze's unreasonable three-pointer, Garnett had to stay under the basket. Once he was pulled outside the three-point line by the opponent, the entire Timberwolves' inside line would be broken through by the opponent.

"But... boss... this guy is about to break the halftime three-point record." Garnett said with a grim expression.

The NBA player's personal record for three-pointers in the first half is 8. Zhou Ze has currently made 9 of 6 three-pointers. In addition, there are still 7 minutes left until the end of the first half.

Garnett really couldn't stand it.

This arrogant rookie in front of him actually set a new NBA half-time three-point record in front of his DPOY.

This moment!!!

Casey couldn't help but fall into deep thought.