"In this round of the series, the Lakers are at a disadvantage, and they cannot compete with the Timberwolves on both offense and defense."

"If Walton hadn't performed well in the first half, hit three three-pointers from the outside and scored 12 points in the half, I believe the game has entered garbage time ahead of schedule."

"The Timberwolves are really not friendly to Kobe's defense. As long as Kobe enters his offensive range, the Timberwolves will immediately attack Kobe and will never give Kobe any chance to make a phone call."

"And when the Timberwolves attacked Kobe, Kevin, Larry and Gerald can always make up for the spot as soon as possible, so that the Lakers can't find any open opportunities. For the Lakers, this is simply terrible."

During the halftime break, Charles Barkley said helplessly.

Barkley doesn't like the Timberwolves. This is something that the entire fan circle knows. Barkley believes that the Timberwolves' strength has made the game lose its suspense.

The 74-8 record in a single season makes the Timberwolves seem invincible. The Timberwolves have a high probability of winning the opponent in every game, which makes Barkley always likes to support teams that fight against the Timberwolves, and this round of series is no exception.

It's just a pity that the Lakers' performance in the first half disappointed Barkley. When Kobe's point was targeted by the Timberwolves, the Lakers' offense was like a set of loose sand.

Even the second leader Odom was completely unable to reorganize the offense, which was why the Lakers were always suppressed.

"The Timberwolves' defense is like a wall of iron. This is a team that uses team defense to the extreme."

"Even if Kobe has a good offensive environment, it will be difficult to win this game by his personal ability alone, not to mention that Kobe's offensive environment on the court is simply terrible."

"In fact, the Lakers have done a good job on the defensive end and have not allowed the Timberwolves to play too many defensive counterattacks."

"But unfortunately, the offensive end has been unable to break through the Timberwolves' defense. If Phil still can't find a way to crack the defense, the Lakers may face a sweep in this round of the series."

Kenny Smith is one of the commentators who firmly support the Timberwolves. Seeing Buckley's face full of grievances, Kenny Smith only felt very happy.

………

When the second half of the game came back, the Lakers were still playing in a triangle on the court.

Triangle offense is synonymous with "Zen Master" Jackson. As long as Jackson takes power in the team for one day, the Lakers will not give up on the triangle offense.

However, compared with the first half, the Lakers have not changed. In the first half, the Lakers tried every means to hand the ball to Kobe, so that Kobe could lead other players to attack at this point.

However, because the Timberwolves' trimming defense against Kobe was so crazy, Kobe's offensive environment became extremely harsh, and it was even more difficult to complete one shot and one shot than climbing the sky.

So in the second half, Jackson asked Kobe to play without the ball, and the "left-handed magician" Odom took control of the ball, and then created opportunities for Kobe through a large number of off-ball pick-and-rolls to help Kobe get rid of double-teams as much as possible.

After all, the Timberwolves cannot take out two players alone to attack Kobe in the whole game. As long as Kobe does not hold the ball, the Timberwolves can only try their best to keep a guard according to the joint defense position.

The moment Kobe received the ball, as long as Kobe shot quickly enough, the Timberwolves would find it difficult to react and go forward and attack. This is the change in the second half of "Zen Master" Jackson.

Seeing the Lakers' playing changes, Luke sat off the court and couldn't help laughing, because Kobe's current state is somewhat similar to later Warriors star Stephen Curry.

He is obviously the team's star and the league's scoring champion, but he rarely plays the ball. Instead, he lets the forward player hold the ball and try his best to create space for his move through the ball without the ball.

Jackson's idea is correct. This change can indeed give Kobe a shot space, but Kobe is not Curry. The two have completely different playing styles.

In addition, the Lakers basically never used this style of play during the regular season, so Kobe's offensive efficiency in the second half was still not high. Even though he had obtained a lot of mobile phone opportunities, the Lakers' situation still did not improve.

In Luke's eyes, the Lakers' poor offensive tactics are completely incomparable to the Warriors in later generations. With the star alone, Kobe, who relies on his teammates' pick-and-roll, cannot get many opportunities.

The Timberwolves are a defensive team with strong team capabilities. When "Gloves" Payton, Gerald Wallace and Garnett are on the court at the same time, the Timberwolves' efficiency in defending without the ball is definitely the best in history.

This may not be the case, but it is definitely unprecedented.

This also led to Kobe's change to play without the ball, not only not like Curry, but also like a 3D player. He takes a quick shot when receiving the ball, and whether or not he scores depends entirely on his touch.

In addition, a large number of off-ball running positions also caused Kobe's physical strength to decline seriously in the second half. Before the third quarter was finished, Kobe was exhausted and out of breath, which was much more exhausted than the first half.

The Lakers' offensive change did not make the team better. Instead, while Kobe's physical strength declined sharply, the "madman" Spreville also stood up and made a tough blow.

In the third quarter, the madman scored 12 points in a single quarter against Kobe's defense, and with his own strength, Kobe became very tired on both sides of the offense and defense, and his legs were as hard to move forward as if he was filled with lead.

At the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves have expanded their lead to 19 points with the team's indestructible defense and the outstanding personal performance of the "Madman".

In the last quarter, Kobe, who was unwilling to admit defeat, still applied to play. He gritted his teeth and hit a high-difficulty backward jump shot on the court. He became more and more brave in the double team, as if he was even more brave than the first three quarters.

But Kobe's recovery in competitive state is entirely supported by tenacious mental strength. Physical fatigue makes Kobe's movement slow. In the end, the "madman" can pass Kobe in one step, allowing Kobe to follow behind and pull the jersey.

Seeing that the score difference of nearly 20 points was unable to catch up, Jackson could only sigh helplessly, waved his hand to replace all the main players, and announced that the game had officially entered garbage time.

At this moment, "Zen Master" Jackson seemed to have grown ten years old in an instant. Jackson has experienced too many losses in the playoffs, but the dominance of the Timberwolves showed made Jackson see no hope.

Even remembered the fear of being dominated by the Bad Boy Legion when he led the Bulls, especially the familiar face sitting next to Luke, which made "Zen Master" Jackson once suspected that he had returned to that year, and remembered those heartbreaking and bad memories.

Luke's understanding of triangular offense far exceeds that of the "Zen Master". Until now, Jackson still can't understand a question. Why did Luke understand himself so much?

This feeling is like a roundworm in the brain. Luke can always predict Jackson's thoughts, which makes Jackson grow fear from the bottom of his heart.

"Dudu~"

As the whistle sounded at the end of the game, the Timberwolves beat the Lakers 22 points at home.
Chapter completed!