The Fifth Point Guard

The other matchup in the top half of the Western Conference is the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves.

The core members of the Lakers' three consecutive championships have not been lost, but the team's overall lineup has decreased in thickness compared to before.

O'Neal, Walker, Fox, Kobe, and Fisher started five tigers, and the Lakers, which got rid of injuries, were finally able to play healthy with all members.

On the bench, there are outside killer Horry, potential small forward Devin George, "Mad Dog" Madsen and others.

But if you want to find a player who can be called the leader of the bench lineup from the bench lineup, you really can't find it. This is the biggest difference between the Lakers and the previous seasons.

On the Timberwolves side, the lineup is also very neat.

Nesterovic, Garnett, Szczerbiak, Peeler and Hudson formed the starting lineup.

Compared with the Lakers, except for the two points of Garnett and Szczerbiak, other positions are obviously weaker than the Lakers.

However, compared with the Lakers, the Timberwolves' bench strength is quite good.

The level of shooting guard Gill is enough to compete with Peeler for the starting spot.

Inside player Joe Smith was the No. 1 pick in 1995. Although he has just returned from injury, he has been able to provide strong support for the Timberwolves inside, and he can play 15-20 minutes per game without any problems.

Strickland, a veteran point guard, is the team's anchor at critical moments.

Forward Trent and point guard Mark Jackson can also show up occasionally.

In addition, the Timberwolves also have an old teammate of Shentong, Loren Woods.

Woods got a lot more opportunities this season than last season, and even played 11 starts.

However, Woods' thin body led to the weakness of insufficient confrontation as the game progressed, and his statistics of 2.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.3 blocks were not enough to support him to stay on the court.

Because when he was on the court, the inside of the Timberwolves was often overwhelmed by the opponent.

For two years, Woods' confrontation has not improved significantly.

In a high-level league like the NBA, it is impossible to make money lying down, either because you are talented or you are sweating profusely.

Here, it's like sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat.

Before the start of the series, no team was optimistic about the Timberwolves winning, even though it was still one place ahead of the Lakers in the regular season.

Because everyone knows that the Lakers are a playoff team, and O'Neal in the playoffs is not the same person as O'Neal in the regular season.

In the first game, the Lakers proved that those experts have a clear vision.

117-98, bloody Minnesota.

The Lakers turned to the guests and made the first victory in the away game.

Bryant showed off his power, personally scored a game-high 39 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, and shot a whopping 53.3% from the field.

O'Neal also entered the state, contributing 32 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks, completely blowing out the opposing Slovenian center.

Garnett's performance was as stable as ever, with 23 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He did everything for the team, but compared to the brutality of the Lakers team, he seemed isolated and helpless.

However, after losing the first game at home, the Timberwolves, like a wolf smelling blood, launched a fierce counterattack in the second game.

119-91, the Timberwolves tied the big score to 1-1.

Garnett scored 35 points, 20 rebounds and 7 assists. The Wolf King took the lead and provoked the entire team by himself.

Surprisingly, point guard Hudson, an undrafted player with a height of only 1.85 meters, scored 37 points and 10 assists higher than Garnett in this game.

The Timberwolves have proved to the world that they are not soft persimmons for the Lakers to knead.

In the third game, the Timberwolves continued the bloodiness of the second game.

114-110, the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers away in overtime.

Garnett scored 33 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, and Hudson also scored 27 points and 4 assists like a god.

For the Lakers, although Kobe scored 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, O'Neal also scored 28 points and 17 rebounds, but no one scored in double figures except Fisher.

After the first three games, the Timberwolves took a 2-1 lead, which not only surprised the fans, but also made the league and experts panic.

So, in the fourth game, the Lakers logically defeated the Timberwolves 102-97.

There were many penalties in this game that were not conducive to the Timberwolves, but they were not unjust, after all, the referee of this game did not go in.

What's more, Garnett's appeal is not as strong as the OK combination.

What the No. 1 high school student in the United States is waiting to see is the Western Conference semifinals between the Spurs and the Lakers. No one wants to see a small point guard like Hudson running around the court with two braids.

Perhaps it was because the referee got too angry and hurt himself in the fourth game. In the next two games, the Timberwolves no longer had the vigor they had at the beginning of the series.

The Lakers went up and down, and eliminated the Timberwolves 4-2 as everyone wished.

Garnett: I will come next year.

Referee: I will still be there next year!

Garnett: Are you trying?

Referee: Just try it.

Garnett: Calling Brother!

Cassel, Sprewell: ─━_─━

In the second half of the Western Division, the Dallas Mavericks, second in the West, faced the Trail Blazers, seventh in the West.

Nowitzki, who scored 46 points in the first game, played a devastating 3-0 against the Mavericks.

Just when the Mavericks were preparing for the next round in advance, and when all experts were optimistic about the Mavericks sweeping the Trail Blazers, the resilience of the Trail Blazers veterans was shown.

98-87, 103-99, 125-103 scored three consecutive cities and tied the big score at 3-3!

This process simply stunned everyone.

How could the Blazers suddenly reinvent themselves after falling behind 0-3?

The reason is a person!

Zach Randolph.

3 games behind, the victory is already hopeless, the Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks simply let those young people play more.

Who knew that Randolph, who started the game, exploded as soon as he ignited, scored 25 points and 15 rebounds against Nowitzki, and instantly overwhelmed the opponent Nowitzki in terms of performance.

Nowitzki really couldn't find a way to deal with this chubby Toutuo-like figure.

Only then did Cheeks realize that he had unintentionally dug out a gold buried in the gravel.

From 0-3 to 1-3 to avoid being swept, this is an opportunity that Randolph won for the team, and Cheeks simply continued to let Randolph do it himself.

As a result, Randolph was really competitive. The next two games against the Mavericks were all the team's highest scoring.

22 points and 9 rebounds in the fifth game, 21 points and 10 rebounds in the sixth game.

Among them, in the sixth game, Nowitzki scored only 4 points.

Such a bursting performance allowed the Blazers to enter the tiebreaker and saw the hope of eliminating the Mavericks to advance.

In the history of the NBA, there has never been a team that has been able to turn from 0-3 behind to win 4-3.

If the Trail Blazers can do it, they will make history!

Stimulated by this honor, Cheeks was confused again, and he reused the veterans who had already given up.

And Randolph, at the most critical time, was once again ranked fourth or even fifth choice by the head coach.

The results don't lie.

The Mavericks successfully won the battle of Tianwangshan 107-95, and eliminated the Trail Blazers 4-3 thrillingly.

After the game, a reporter interviewed the fans who watched the game live, and asked him about Cheeks' coaching views in this round of playoffs.

The fans gave a very pertinent evaluation: Shit, you are a puddle of shit, your life is cheaper than ants, I drive a Mercedes, and you dig your nose. #%@...(*￥