Now the competitive state of Garnett and Chris Webber is different from the past.

One is the first player in the active league who has just achieved three consecutive MVP achievements, and the other is the miserable veteran who has worked hard for his first championship trophy with the veteran's basic salary.

Chris Webber's defensive ability is already very average. With the recurrence of knee injuries in the past two seasons, Webber's movement speed is much worse than before. He quickly couldn't stand the singles facing Garnett.

Garnett played very aggressively in the whole first quarter, leaving Chris Webber far behind.

Since both Iverson and Artest have excellent finishing abilities, the Heat did not dare to double-team Garnett on the defensive end, so they could only let the Timberwolves clear one side, allowing Garnett to play Chris Webber in a row.

As Garnett made another jump shot from the right middle distance, Riley, standing off the court, finally couldn't bear it anymore and waved his hand to Haslem, replacing Chris Webber, who had been in his second career, in advance.

Haslem's appearance can ensure that the Heat will become stronger on the defensive end, but Haslem's contribution on the offensive end is far less than Chris Webber.

Haslem is a typical tough guy on the court. In addition to striving to grab offensive rebounds on the offensive end, his only function is to be able to make some shots from the middle distance on both sides.

However, Haslem is a powerful player, and his height of 2.03 meters gives Haslem no advantage in the inside.

Especially when facing Garnett, who is tall and long, it is difficult for Haslem to complete the defense against Garnett.

The two teams played back and forth on the court in the first quarter. Although the Timberwolves' defense is terrifying, these Heat players are also not good at it.

"Big Shark" O'Neal's strong inside shot, Wade's breakthrough in the trance step, and "lone wolf" Marbury, who made a strong shot when he was disagreeing, worked together to help the team fight against the Timberwolves, and the score was always very anxious.

As Iverson used Garnett's pick-and-roll to hit the last jump shot, the Timberwolves led the Heat only two points after the first quarter.

In this game, the Timberwolves' defense against the "Big Shark" O'Neal was very targeted. In addition to letting Da Ben use his strength to defend behind him, Garnett, Arte and others will also get stuck on O'Neal's receiving route in advance and continue to harass O'Neal.

This defensive method is exactly the defensive strategy of the Pistons defeating the Big Four Lakers back then, and it is also the defensive system that made O'Neal the most collapsed.

Although O'Neal is 34 years old this year, and his average number has dropped to 17.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, once O'Neal comfortably catches the pass in a low post, O'Neal's strength will still make the defender feel broken.

After all, a 61% shooting percentage of the season is enough to prove O'Neal's efficiency. Even if the Sharks no longer have the peak, O'Neal is enough to beat most center players in the league.

Unfortunately, O'Neal encountered Ben Wallace, who was very familiar with him in this game, and Garnett, who had the best assistive defense ability, and others, which made O'Neal very depressed in the whole first quarter, only scored 2 points and 3 rebounds.

If Marbury hadn't scored eight points alone, the Heat's situation would have only become more difficult.

The two sides replaced the substitute lineup in the second quarter to compete. Even though the Heat's lineup depth was excellent, the Timberwolves had never been afraid of any team during the rotation stage.

Spanoris, Iguodala, Ariza, Gerald Wallace, and Millsap, this offensive and defensive rotation lineup is enough to allow the Timberwolves main players to rest with peace of mind.

Although the Heat's substitute depth is strong, it is not outstanding in the center position, so Luke directly mentioned Millsap to the fifth position, increasing the team's mobility on the field and allowing the Heat and other old guys to taste the pain.

The Timberwolves' excellent field mobility throughout the second quarter allowed the team to play defensive counterattacks many times.

Especially Span Norris, who is good at playing fast breaks, completed all-around contacts with Gerald Wallace and others, allowing fans on the scene to experience the feeling of a dunk contest.

"Swish~"

With Iguodala hitting a three-pointer at a 45-degree angle on the right, the Timberwolves have expanded their lead to ten.

In the second half, the Heat became more devoted on the offensive end. Whether it was Stephen Marbury or "Flash" Wade, both of them were more determined to hit the ball to the basket and scored fouls again and again through violent body collisions.

Iverson has become the main target of attack on the Heat on the court.

Even if everyone else on the court can assist Iverson, Riley lured Iverson out through pick-and-rolls many times in the second half, allowing Marbury to succeed in offensive singles and continuously narrow the score for the team.

The unsatisfaction on the defensive end made Iverson a little angry, and at the same time vented all his anger on the offensive end.

Iverson's desire to attack throughout the second half was very strong. No matter who he faced, Iverson could always use various methods to send the ball into the basket and started an offensive battle with Marbury and Wade.

Iverson's tough performance seemed to allow fans to see the lonely hero who fought alone against O'Neal and Kobe.

However, in this game, Iverson faced a rotational attack between Wade and Marbury, but even so, Iverson was not at all inferior, allowing the fans on the scene to deeply understand the strength of the league's scoring champion.

In the last quarter, Iverson scored 21 with his thin body many times. With two and a half minutes left before the end of the game, he even beat Wade until six fouls, shaking the atmosphere to the extreme.

The Timberwolves only led the Heat by two to three points in the last few minutes, and Wade's six fouls also forced the Heat to put all the offensive burden on Marbury and O'Neal.

With only 21.4 seconds left in the game, Marbury scored a three-pointer against "Gloves" Payton on the right, catching up with the score to a draw again.

Marbury's performance in the final stage lived up to expectations, and even Luke, who was in the field for consecutive key goals, was sweating coldly.

The two sides drew in 21.4 seconds, and the Timberwolves had two chances of timeouts, but while Luke was about to call out a timeout, Iverson gestured to Luge, indicating that the ball should not be stopped.

Luke immediately understood what Iverson meant. Although the suspension could allow the team to arrange a complete offensive tactic, it also gave the Heat a chance to adjust.

Iverson planned to control the game by himself and refused to give the Heat any chance to adjust.

After spending halftime with the ball, Iverson dribbled the ball to suppress the time. He looked up at the numbers of the timer that kept regressing. Iverson's face was full of perseverance, and there was no tension in the winning goal at all.

Until there were only about eight seconds left, Garnett wanted to lift it up and make a pick-and-roll for Iverson, but Iverson made continuous gestures to pull it away.

Without fancy dribbling movements, Iverson directly used a signature to start breaking through from the right, and cleaned Marbury in one step.

When Iverson broke through to the free throw line, the Heat suddenly surrounded three people and attacked Iverson. The fear of Iverson had reached an indescribable level.

Seeing that he attracted three people to defend at the same time, Iverson did not force the ball to the point where he made it difficult, but instead divided the ball to Artest, who was in an open position at the bottom line.

After receiving the pass, Artest looked up at the defender who was rushing towards him with all his strength, and then gritted his teeth and completed the three-pointer.

"Dou~"

"Swish~"

As the game ended and the sound of basketball entering the net sounded at the same time, the Timberwolves' home court instantly became boiling, and the fans immediately bounced from their seats and shouted wildly at the field.

At the same time, Artest, who made a final three-pointer on the court, was quickly surrounded by his teammates. Everyone ran towards Artest, pressing Artest under him excitedly to celebrate the victory of this Christmas battle.

When everyone was excited about Artest's three-pointer, only Iverson leaned on the billboard with a smile on his face, looking a little tired while sitting on the sidelines.

This high-intensity match made Iverson exhausted, who had appeared in the 39-minute game, but Artest's final victory still made Iverson's face full of smiles. At least the efforts of this game were not in vain!

"How about choosing to believe in teammates at the last minute."

Iverson turned around and found that it was head coach Luke.

Compared with Ranbir and others who had already rushed into the field to celebrate the final goal, Luke's face was still as calm as ever.

"This taste makes me happy." Iverson grinned after thinking for a moment in his mind.
Chapter completed!