From sparring to superstar

Chapter 184 182. Pick me alone, right?

Szczerbiak also has a nickname, 'strike star take-off booster'.

With the help of the opponent's booster, Li Ao easily scored 2 points and 1 assist in the start.

He retreated to the backcourt, ready to continue with his teammates to lure Garnett into the low post.

But the Timberwolves have changed their style of play!
Garnett asked for the ball directly from beyond the three-point line!

Facing Odom's defense, Garnett dribbles like a guard.

Dribbling the ball outside the three-point line and seeing the surprised and nervous expression of the opponent is one of the sources of joy for Garnett to play the game.

But this time, he saw Odom's speechless eyes, as if to say-that's it?
Garnett cursed two bad words, showing off to the wrong person.

This guy is the one who won't be broken in front of Kidd for fancy dribbles.

With a hint of shame and anger, Garnett pulled horizontally, changed direction, and broke through!
Garnett's lateral movement speed is not faster than Odom's, but the offensive side takes the initiative. Odom has no anticipation ability to defend against outside breakthroughs. .

Odom retreated quickly, Garnett rushed to the right side of the free throw line, leaned on Odom, turned over, took off, and took a long two-point shot...hit!
Li Ao, who had watched Garnett's entire singles game, couldn't help but slander—hit the back and hit the back, just go to the high post and ask for the ball.

When his Spider-Man handles the ball better and his post-up is better, he will also play like this.

I don't care if the efficiency will be higher, just be handsome.

When Li Ao came to the frontcourt, an unexpected situation appeared - Garnett was standing beside him!
Seeing Szczerbiak go to defend Odom, Li Ao immediately ran to the bottom line, Odom pulled the ball to the top arc, and Li Ao slid the bottom line to cover.

Garnett did not follow the bottom line, but walked up, came to the front of the basket and opened his arms, and immediately followed Li Ao when he came out of the basket.

Li Ao was stunned. It turned out that the defensive pitcher slipped to the baseline, and it was still like this!

But it's Garnett's wingspan... No!His wingspan is one centimeter longer than Garnett!
It was his Spider-Man thinking that solidified!
Li Ao came to the left side of the three-second zone. Seeing that Li Ao didn't get a chance directly, Odom broke through directly instead of being a card master.

Szczerbiak was tricked by Odom's fake move and jumped to the other side. Odom rushed in the middle, and Garnett retracted and pinched, successfully blocked Odom's advance and at the same time covered the three-second zone left side.

Li Ao didn't stand stupidly, and ran to the high position immediately, and received the pass from Odom at the two-point position in front of the basket. Anthony Peeler moved ahead of time, and Li Ao was stuck as soon as he received the ball.

Without a strong shot, Li Ao points the ball at a 45-degree angle to the right, and Big Q catches the ball and makes a three-pointer...hit!
7 to 5, the Clippers overtook the score!

After playing the Jazz, Spurs, and Kings in a row, the Clippers felt too easy on the offensive end when they played the Timberwolves.

After the All-Star Weekend, the Timberwolves, whose record is so much ahead, were able to be caught up by the Clippers because their defense was so-so, and they couldn't keep up with the first-class and top defensive teams in March.

The Timberwolves' defense is not bad. After all, there is Garnett, but until now, they can only rank 17th in the league, at a mid-range level. Only Trier Brown can help Garnett on the defensive end. Landon, Billups, Nesterovic, Dean Garrett.

There must be only one center forward, and Trier Brandon and Billups, although they can form a meat grinder combination in the backcourt, they don't match up at all on the offensive end. In the mid-term, the two partners played together to hold each other back.

Since March, Billups has become a pure substitute. Except for key defenses, Trier Brandon and Billups can count minutes on the court together.

However, the Timberwolves players have gotten used to this situation in the second half of the season.

If you can't defend, attack!
After the All-Star break, the Timberwolves averaged 99.2 points per game!
Garnett continued to break through with the ball in the top arc, and the fans' attention was on Garnett. Suddenly, Garnett grabbed the ball and pushed straight to close range.

On the wing, Szczerbiak used Nesterovic to block Li Ao, then cut in, caught the ball, rushed inside against O'Neal, took off, made a layup...a ​​pull-up layup...missed!
Li Ao rushed in yelling "Eat my cap" and grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Timberwolves retreated quickly, and Garnett cursed at Szczerbiak.

Among the 5 swear words, there is 1 sentence mixed with "He is so far away, what are you afraid of him doing, even if you are blocked, it is better than missing the shot, and the ball may bounce out if you are blocked".

Just now, Szczerbiak made a strong attack on the frame, but was scared by Li Ao's voice and pulled the lever.

Garnett felt a headache for Li Ao's deterrence. The inside teammates were afraid of being dunked, and the teammates with poor attacking skills were even more afraid of being blocked.

Li Ao, who passed the ball to Greg Anthony and ran forward, also understood why Garnett went to the top of the arc to launch an attack.

The superstar with the highest salary in the league, apart from money, is really selfless.

In order to open up the team's offense, the mid-short range and flanks are all freed up, so that teammates have better space to cut into the attack frame and run from the flanks to catch and shoot.

Willing to sacrifice his performance and efficiency for the performance of his teammates.

Although Szczerbiak was determined just now, the opportunity really came out.

Li Ao came to the frontcourt, took Garnett to the bottom corner, stopped running, and opened up space for his teammates.

Let Garnett stay away from the center, reduce Garnett's chances to make up defenses, and create better offensive conditions for his teammates.

Who wouldn't sacrifice some data or something.

Odom broke into the inside line easily under the defense of Szczerbiak. Trier Brandon could only rush in from the left sideline ahead of time to slam Odom. Odom scored the left sideline. Greg Anthony's wide-open [-]-pointer...heck.

Although I didn't make it in, the opportunity appeared very easily!

Li Ao went to the bottom corner and Garnett went to the top arc. Both of them created good offensive conditions for their teammates.

In the next few rounds, the scores of both teams continued to rise.

But the Clippers' scoring rose faster than the Timberwolves!

Garnett is not inside, no one in the Timberwolves can pass the ball from the inside to the outside, Trier Brandon has a pass, but he can't see anything after he gets inside.

As for the Clippers, Odom attacks from the outside, can pass when breaking through, and can also pass after receiving a return pass from the inside. O'Neal has a good ability to distribute the ball inside.

Without Garnett radiating the entire mid-range defense in the middle, Odom played very easily.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Clippers extended their lead to 6 points, with a score of 21 to 15!

Odom continued the performance of the previous game, with 6 points and 3 assists in the half quarter!

It can be said that Garnett made a very bad decision when he switched to Li Ao.

Not only did not limit the Clippers' offense, Li Ao was able to paddle with his hips on the offensive end.

After the official timeout returned, Garnett returned to the regular defensive area.

With Garnett defending and assisting, the Clippers switched back to Li Ao's high-post offense.

Li Ao launched an offense, and Odom or Maggette, who came off the bench and cut into the frame, scored the ball inside. Although the Clippers did not score as high as in the first half, they still maintained a high offensive efficiency.

At 11 minutes and 45 seconds, Maggette, who came off the bench as Billups' outside singles, stepped back and hit a super long three-pointer. The Timberwolves chased the score to 31 to 34, and the price difference narrowed to 3 points.

When the Clippers were attacking, after Li Ao received the ball from a high position, he didn't hit back, turned around and passed straight to the bottom line on the left.

After Odom screened for Matt Harprin, he took advantage of Garnett to switch Matt Harperin, moved to the bottom line, avoided the area covered by Garnett, and got a chance to pass the ball.

At the same time, he got rid of the opponent's backup shooting guard Philip Lopez's defense and circled forward.

After receiving the ball, Odom rushed from the bottom line, but Garnett's defensive awareness is really good. Seeing Odom's actions, he went directly to the basket.

Garnett was very confident, and Odom didn't dare to attack the frame under his defense. Seeing Philip Lopez lose Odom, he immediately turned around and went back to make up for Matt Harprin, who was running to the high post. Fortunately, the team's shooting guard still has a defensive awareness.

It's a pity that this St. John's University-born teammate at the end of the first round of the 98 class entered the NBA at the age of 24. He has good skills but poor physical fitness, which is not enough to show his skills in the confrontation of the NBA.

As Garnett expected, Odom made a pass after reaching close range, but the angle of the pass did not seem to be at a 45-degree angle to the left... Garnett's eyes widened, and he quickly turned around and pressed it... was knocked out of the baseline .

After Li Ao passed the ball, he immediately turned around and cut in, received a return pass from Odom, took off, knocked Garnett back, and dunked the ball into the basket!

Garnett is going berserk!
He punched hard... in the chest.

That bastard little spider!
Nesterovic doesn't dunk in the paint, and Dean Garrett doesn't dunk in the paint.

Just stare at him, the wolf king, and buckle alone!
What a grudge!
In the last 3 seconds of the first quarter, Philip Lopez received the serve from the free throw line and dribbled a step without making a shot.

Accompanied by Garnett's scolding of Philip Lopez who didn't shoot a super long shot, the long whistle at the end of the first quarter sounded.

36 to 31, the Clippers maintain a 5-point lead!
Li Ao performed efficiently in the first quarter, making 7 of 5 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, 13 points in a single quarter!
...

The Clippers are eager to rush to seventh and avoid the Lakers.

The Timberwolves want more!

The defeat in the first quarter did not affect the Timberwolves' desire to win.

In the second quarter, Philip Sanders became ruthless, letting Billups and Garnett take turns to attack!

Billups' high ball possession rate and provocative style of play make it difficult to be compatible with supporting teammates. When he holds the ball, Garnett's supporting ability is basically abolished, and the rhythm of the two is not the same.

But now Philip Sanders can't control so much. Billups and Garnett performed very well in singles in the first quarter. There is no other way to improve the offense. He chooses to give it a go.

This time, he bet right!
比卢普斯第二节拿到10分2助攻、加内特7分3助攻，两人疯狂地单打分球，率队单节拿到31分！
Billups is not good at partnering with supportive insiders, but Garnett has comprehensive abilities, and he spares no effort to move, allowing him to be in a position that can respond to Billups at any time, so that Billups can play when the opportunity is really bad. , there is a pick-up point.

The Clippers also played well in this quarter, with more blooming points. Piakowski, who came off the bench, scored two corner three-pointers, plus a cutting layup, and scored a team-high 8 points. Adding Li Ao's 6 points and Jermaine O'Neal's 5 points...the Clippers scored 28 points in a single quarter.

After halftime, the Timberwolves chased the score to 62 to 64, and the point difference was reduced to two points!

Waves are prone to accidents.

It's the same on the pitch.

Billups' style of play can be played according to the opponent when it is accurate, but it is really scary when it is iron.

In the third quarter, Billups hit all 4 shots!
Philip Sanders replaced Billups with Trier Brandon in time to stabilize the outside offense, but after the outside offense stabilized, he discovered that there were also big problems inside.

In the second quarter, Garnett spared no effort to support Billups, and together led the team to overwhelm the Clippers on the offensive end, narrowing the point difference, but his physical exertion was also very high!
He is willing to make sacrifices in his style of play, but that is not his style of play, and it consumes more than his own offense.

On the Clippers side, Gentry noticed that Garnett's physical strength was declining, and made decisive adjustments-knocking defense!

In the third quarter, the Clippers successfully limited the Timberwolves' offense and only allowed the opponent to score 18 points!
Garnett's physical strength declined, and Li Ao had more chances to catch and shoot mid-range shots. He made 5 of 3 shots and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored 8 points in a single quarter, together with Matt Harperin who scored 4 points and 2 assists. Leading the team to score 24 points in a single quarter.

88 to 80, the Clippers extended their lead to 8 points!
At the end of the quarter, Philip Sanders once again chose to take a gamble and chase points. Trier Brandon was not suitable. He sent Billups on the flanks with Anthony Peeler and Philip Lopez. Szczerbiak was placed at power forward and Garnett played center.

Garnett stayed in the three-second zone throughout the second half of the third quarter and did not expand. The offense was also standing up and paddling, and finally slowed down. At the end of the quarter, he began to actively cover the flanks and cut into the offensive frame.

In this kind of headwind, it is right to choose Billups!

At 11 minutes and 06 seconds of the final quarter, Billups made a two-point shot. He scored in double figures in the final quarter, scored 11 points, added 2 assists, and led the team to score 28 points in a single quarter!

However, on the defensive end...the opposing Clippers also scored 25 points!
108 to 113, the Timberwolves are still 5 points behind!
When the Clippers attacked, the Timberwolves defended hard.

But the offensive lineup they put up is poorly defended.

Li Ao easily cut to the inside and received a pass from Matt Halperin. Dean Garrett and Garnett both pressed towards him. The ball, take off with one step and release the basket successfully.

115 to 108, the Clippers' lead expanded to 7 points!
With 38 seconds left in the game, Billups quickly rushed to the frontcourt after catching the ball, facing Li Ao who was defending the defense, he directly scored a three-pointer... "Pa"...

The familiar scene appeared in front of Billups again.

Greg Anthony, who was chasing back, grabbed the ball, and the last hope of the Timberwolves was stifled.

At 10:27 p.m., the final whistle blew.

奥多姆19分7板9助攻2抢断、小奥尼尔18分11板2助攻2盖帽、李敖29分5板7助攻1抢断4盖帽。

The three joined hands to lead the team to beat the Timberwolves 115 to 108, raising the record to 49 wins and 31 losses!
　Ask for a monthly pass!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)