"Not good, Lu, the Warriors just defeated the Rockets through tiebreak and completed the promotion 4:3."

"Our opponent in the Western Conference Finals will be the Golden State Warriors, which is a headache."

Pushing open the office door, General Manager McHale ran in panic, looking at Luke, who was sitting at the desk staring at the computer watching the game, McHale's face was full of worry.

This season, the Golden State Warriors ranked eighth in the Western Conference with only 42 wins and 40 losses. This ranking is not enough to threaten the Timberwolves' promotion.

But the key is that the Warriors led by Old Nelson are too weird. First, the Black Eighth killed the Mavericks in the first round, and then in the semi-finals, they killed the Houston Rockets through tiebreak.

The Western Conference Finals were unpredictable, something that no fans expected before the playoffs.

In addition, the Golden State Warriors averaged 116.3 points per game in the playoffs, ranking first in the league, even 5 points more than the second-ranked Phoenix Suns.

Average of 116.3 points per game is quite impressive even in the small ball era, not to mention the hand-to-hand combat era where the main battle is mainly hard to fight.

Even though the Golden State Warriors averaged 112.8 points per game, they ranked last among the 16 teams in the playoffs, the Golden State Warriors' offensive firepower still made other teams feel scared.

Especially this Warriors have multiple Nervous Swords stars, and head coach Don Nelson arranged a large number of three-pointers, and no one knows where the Warriors will suddenly get lost. This is why the Warriors can advance all the way.

In addition, the Golden State Warriors are also the only team this season to double-double the Timberwolves in the regular season.

What even made Luke decide to trade Allen Iverson was after the game that lost to the Warriors.

This year, three players in the Warriors averaged 20 points per game, and six players averaged 20 points per game.

The average three-point shooting average reached about 40 times, nearly 15 more than the Timberwolves.

The Warriors' promotion is the situation that General Manager McHale least wants to see. Compared with the Warriors, McHale hopes that the team's opponent in the Western Conference Finals is the Houston Rockets.

Unfortunately, the Rockets, led by Yao Mai, lost to the Warriors, and were scored 22 three-pointers by the Warriors in a tiebreak, setting a historical record in the playoffs. They could only watch the Warriors step over their heads.

"It's indeed a headache."

"But no team can win the championship by offense without defense. Tang is an excellent basketball coach. I am ashamed of the madness of being brave enough to practice."

"But I want to stop the Warriors' miracle in this round of the series. Otherwise, once the Warriors pass the Western Conference Finals, this year's championship will probably be a miracle in the entire history." Luke said with a slightly tilted backward slightly, frowning and slightly solemnly.

This season's Warriors are typical of playing cards without reason, and have improved the team's offensive efficiency through a large number of three-point shots.

In addition, Byron Davis, "Martial Saint" Jackson, and Jason Richardson all have excellent ball-holding and offensive skills, which gives head coach Nelson more room to play.

Although the Warriors' offense is not stable enough, even if it is stronger than Old Nelson, it will be impossible to solve it. Once the Warriors play a good ball, the game will basically be finalized.

This is also the reason why the Warriors fought against the Rockets in the seven games in the semi-finals, because the Warriors' performance was extremely unstable.

Even though the same offensive system is used in the seven games, the large number of three-point shots also means that the Warriors rely too much on their own skills.

This is a very deadly double-edged sword, but it can't stand the lunatic, Old Nelson, just dares to bet.

Old Nelson knew that the Warriors' lineup was too bad and it was impossible to win the championship under normal circumstances, so Old Nelson simply played Magic Ball, and his playing style was a bit similar to the Houston Rockets who were obsessed with three-pointers in later generations.

Many times, even if there is a chance for two-point shots, the Warriors have to seek shots outside the three-point line.

The biggest difference between this Warriors and the Houston Rockets is that the Rockets were centered on James Harden, and the ball was controlled by Harden alone. With a group of shooters, Harden used his personal ability to help the entire team shoot a large number of three-pointers.

However, the Warriors created by Old Nelson can be the ball-holding point, and even the fourth-place Al Harrington can take the initiative to attack on the offensive end.

In short, except center Biderlins, everyone else may become the core of the Warriors' offensive, which makes it difficult for the defensive team to grasp the key points and dismantle the offense like against the Lakers' defense Kobe.

Now that the Warriors defeated the Rockets through tiebreak is something Luke had guessed before. The Warriors, built by a group of bandits, are a bit tricky, but under absolute defensive pressure, unless the Warriors can feel hot every game, a pure offensive team will inevitably come back in the playoffs.

The first Western Conference Final between the two sides will officially start on May 20, local time in the United States, and the confrontation between spear and shield has attracted a lot of fans' attention.

Before the series started, fans were discussing online, and began to imagine the battle between the Timberwolves and the Warriors.

Many fans are discussing whether the Warriors can defeat the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals and become the biggest dark horse this year.

If this kind of thing really happens, the Warriors' ratings in the finals will most likely not be lower than those in the Timberwolves, or even higher.

The overwhelming discussions from the outside world still brought great pressure to the Timberwolves.

After all, the Timberwolves are the advantageous side on the surface. Even if the Warriors are successfully killed in the Western Conference Finals, it is a natural thing to the outside world.

Once the game is lost with the Warriors, the public pressure faced by the Timberwolves may come like a tide.

The Warriors' upset promotion has pushed the Timberwolves to the edge of the cliff in public opinion. Before the series started, the Warriors have already gained the upper hand in morale.

Compared to the cautiousness of the Timberwolves who don’t want to lose but dare not lose, the Warriors can obviously play more relaxed in the series and look at this round of matches with a balanced attitude.

Worst of all, Luke knew that the Timberwolves' strength had touched the interests of other teams in the league.

As early as the regular season, the league held shareholder meetings many times. Every time Timberwolves owner Glenn Taylor became the target of the fire.

Even if David Stern is the president of the league, it really means that the president of the league is just a worker found by the team bosses collectively spend money.

The real funder behind the NBA league is still the investors of thirty teams. The Timberwolves' dynasty has gradually tilted the league's resources, which has caused many teams to be forced to make a fuss, and their annual returns are pitifully small.

Even last year, as many as six teams in the league grew negative assets, and after a year, the teams still lost money.

The team's poor record has made fans not have the intention to watch the game on site, and no one buys tickets, the team will lower the ticket price, thus forming a very bad and vicious cycle.

At the worst, the Grizzlies' home tickets had been reduced to $5 per ticket, and it was only about 35 yuan in RMB, which was the real bargain price.

So Luke knew very well that David Stern would never let this momentum develop, and would not watch the league he promoted went downhill.

If multiple funders in the league are in a loss state in one season, Stern will inevitably use some means to sanction the Timberwolves and reshuffle the league to balance.

The money owner’s loss is something that David Stern is most reluctant to see, and the money owner’s withdrawal is something that Stern will never allow.

The Warriors' upset momentum this year is very rapid. From the Black Eight Miracle in the first round of the playoffs to the second round of the playoffs, the Warriors' stumbled into the Western Conference Finals, which is inspirational and miracle.

This is an opportunity for David Stern, and Luke is not sure whether the league will intervene in the Timberwolves and Warriors series.

Just as the outside world is currently overwhelmingly discussing, the Warriors have become the darling of the playoffs.

Even if the Timberwolves stop in the Western Conference Finals after the league's intervention, the Warriors who have entered the finals can still ensure that their ratings will not drop.

Once the ratings of the finals are guaranteed, David Stern's final worries will disappear, and he can also defeat the Timberwolves' rule and win a new championship team to attract attention. It can be said to be a kill of two birds with one stone.

Compared to the difficulty of the Golden State Warriors themselves, the league's attitude is Luke's most worried about.

Although NBA has always claimed to be fair and just and open to the public, it has resolutely prevented the occurrence of black whistle behavior.

But Luke, who was a two-person man, knew very well how ugly the Alliance was. In order to pick up his godson, the Alliance could make some disgusting gestures.

As for the standard card points in daily games, there is no need to say more. The league has the ability to control the game.

As long as the league wants to change the league structure, there are so many ways for the league to regret the fans.

Black Whistle is not just a deliberate partiality against a certain team, but the highest level of Black Whistle is double standards.

Even the league dared to stand up with a clear conscience: "The league firmly eliminates the black whistle, and the bottom line of competitive sports should be protected by everyone..."

At present, Luke can only take one step at a time, strive to not give the Warriors any chance to win in this round of series, and win the game in three quarters, so that the league can't know how to start even if it's willing to help.

Otherwise, once the game is dragged into the final stage, the Timberwolves will face a real five-to-eight!

…………………

On May 20, the first game between the Timberwolves and the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals officially started.

This round of series is very popular, and it has even set a new high in the league's ratings this season before the game started, which can be regarded as a focus battle.

One of the two teams is a quasi-dynasty team that won the championship for two consecutive years, and the other is a crazy team that frequently creates miracles.

If other teams can beat Timberwolves in the playoffs, fans may still feel a little shocked, but if this team is the Golden State Warriors, fans may be able to accept it soon.

After all, the Warriors can even eliminate the Dallas Mavericks, the No. 1 in the league in the first round of the playoffs. Fans really don’t know what else this Warriors can’t do.

In this game, the Warriors continued their regular lineup, with the five starting players: Byron Davis, Jason Richardson, "Martial Saint" Jackson, Al Harrington, and Andris Bidlings.

The Timberwolves' side is: Iverson, Iguodala, Gerald Wallace, Artest, and Ben Wallace.

"Gloves" Payton will miss this game due to injury. Even if Payton shows the team that his physical condition is no longer a big problem, he can play in this game.

But on the conservative side, Luke still asked Payton to continue the quit as the team doctor's advice, and instead brought Iguodala to the starter and partnered with Iverson in the backcourt.

As for why Luke doesn't use Spanoris, who has better organizational skills in the starting lineup, because the Warriors' backcourt players have too strong offensive ability, Spanoris' defense will definitely be beaten.

In comparison, Iguodala, who has more outstanding defense, will be the best choice for employment.

The two teams played very fast throughout the game, and there were also a large number of shooting and iron shots accompanied by fast pace. The "bang bang" sound made the fans on the scene feel like they were in a super-large iron shop.

The Timberwolves are originally one of the teams with the most defensive counterattacks in the league. The Timberwolves always rely on defense to win. After defending their opponents' attacks, the Timberwolves, which have Iverson and Spanoris, will always launch a counterattack as soon as possible.

Defensive counterattacks have become the main scoring method for the Timberwolves this season.

As for the Warriors, they are an offensive team themselves. Old Nelson knows very well that once the defense against the Timberwolves falls into the position, the Warriors' offensive efficiency will inevitably be greatly reduced.

So the Warriors raised the pace of the game to the extreme at the beginning and wanted to complete the attack before the Timberwolves' defense fell.

From the backcourt to the frontcourt until the end, the full play will not exceed eight seconds.

Among them, the Warriors also made a large number of three-point shots in the first half, and the large number of three-point shots meant that the Timberwolves could basically protect every defensive rebound.

It is precisely because of this that the two teams played very fast on the court, which was different from the situation where they played steadily in other series. This game seemed to allow fans to see a new visual feast.

With Iverson scoring against "Big Bearded" Byron Davis in the first half, the Timberwolves led the Warriors by three points.

It is not difficult to see how abundant the Warriors' offensive firepower is in this game.

The Timberwolves are not a team that is good at attacking, but in the face of a large number of counterattack opportunities, the Timberwolves can lower the pace to play positions.

Especially the Warriors were determined to speed up the pace in this game, and even if they serve at the bottom line, they could always play very quickly.
To be continued...