After returning from the second half, the Rockets' offensive style of play was adjusted again.

If Jeff Van Gundy wanted to hit Yao Ming more before, because he wanted Yao Ming to use his height advantage to make the inside, then Yao Ming became a transit station in the second half.

David Wesley, who still wanted the ball in the penalty area, then the three-point shooting percentage of the strong side was as high as 38%, stood on the outside to meet.

However, Yao Ming will face the Timberwolves once he receives the ball, so Van Gundy's strategy in the second half is to use Yao Ming's point to try to attract defense, so as to give more offensive space for other role players.

Originally, this matter should be the task of Tracy McGrady, the core outside line, but Yao Ming was targeted by the Timberwolves in this game. Instead, McGrady, who ranked sixth in the regular season scoring list, was relaxed by the Timberwolves.

In this case, Van Gundy can only make McGrady focus more on personal offense, thereby shifting the responsibility of leading role players to Yao Ming.

Even though Yao Ming has only 0.8 assists per game this season, Jeff Van Gundy has no choice at present. After all, this Rockets team is completely dragged forward by Yao and Maggie.

The division of labor between the two, one inside and one outside has always been clear, but with the Timberwolves targeting the defensive end, Van Gundy had to make temporary changes to let Yao Ming test areas that he had never touched this season.

When the Rockets attack, Yao Ming receives the ball in the inside, the Timberwolves will immediately step forward and attack, and Yao Ming, who has been double-teamed, has also mastered the passing trick.

Before the "Alien" Kassel hit him, Yao Ming could quickly transfer the ball to the outside.

"Bang!"

However, the Timberwolves' rotation defense was very fast. David Wesley, who was originally in a large open position, was interfered by a madman who came to make up for the defense when he took action.

The shooting is naturally a sprint without a doubt.

Seeing that the team came back in the second half missed shots in the offensive round, Jeff Van Gundy's face gradually began to become gloomy.

But this time Van Gundy did not yell at the players, but fell into silence thoughtfully.

As a top league coach who started with defense, Jeff Van Gundy knows how powerful the Timberwolves' defensive pressure is on the court.

Especially when Kassel clamped into the inside, other players grasped the timing of the empty rotation just right.

This is still the case when the Timberwolves' defensive core Garnett was designed to be transferred to the weak side of the defense by Jeff Van Gundy, otherwise the Rockets' offensive situation would be even worse.

The Timberwolves' rotation defense is not because the players' defensive abilities are excellent, but because the head coach Luke's defensive philosophy is very capable, Garnett's excellent defense ability and can maximize the advantages of one defense and two defense to the extreme.

Then the other four people made up for the gap after the pinch by constantly moving and filling up positions.

Or Luke discovered that Yao Ming's single pass route was going to make a big deal, so that the Timberwolves only needed to move according to the defensive route formulated in advance, and they could completely disintegrate the Rockets' offensive opportunities.

Thinking of this, Jeff Van Gundy's facial expression was a little strange, and he couldn't help but look at Luke sitting on the Timberwolves bench.

Luke looked into the field with expressionless expression at this time, as if all this on the field was under Luke's control.

Luke's calmness made Jeff Van Gundy feel powerless. Originally, the Rockets were at a disadvantage in this round of the series, and now Luke showed Van Gundy's face in tactical attainments, which made Van Gundy feel helpless like a deflated ball.

It was not until this time that Jeff Van Gundy realized that he had always underestimated Luke.

No! To be precise, the entire league underestimated Luke!

In people's personal impression, Luke is a "stadium tyrant". He leads the team either to fight or on the road to fight, as if there is nothing outstanding except fighting Luke.

It is precisely because of this that people ignore Luke's talent in tactics and think that Luke is a gangster who only knows how to be ruthless.

As a result, Luke taught Jeff Van Gundy a lesson in this game and told Van Gundy who is the toughest defensive coach in the league today!

After all, the regular season defense efficiency is second in the league, which is what Luke has given the result of leading the Timberwolves.

The only team this season with higher defensive efficiency than the Timberwolves is the Spurs, but unfortunately, the Spurs' offensive efficiency can only rank in the lower reaches of the league. In contrast, the Timberwolves rank sixth in the league, which is a real balance of offense and defense.

As for the Detroit Pistons, who could have been able to stabilize the Timberwolves on the defensive end, the Detroit Pistons collapsed directly on the defensive end due to the absence of Double Wallace.

By the end of the season, the Pistons' defensive efficiency has dropped to ninth in the league, and is definitely the most tragic team this season!

As Jeff Van Gundy failed to find a way to crack the Timberwolves defense in the second half, the game ended. The Timberwolves beat the Rockets 21 points at home, winning the team's first victory after the playoffs.

In this game, the Timberwolves were able to beat the Rockets at home, relying on the Timberwolves' excellent overall defense.

Under the defensive system created by Luke, Yao Ming only scored 7 points and 8 rebounds in the game.

And this is still the case where there is no excellent defensive center in the Timberwolves, otherwise Yao Ming's data will shrink further.

If the Timberwolves want a defensive center like Diop who has basically no playing time on weekdays, Luke is confident that Yao Ming will be back in this round of series.

Unfortunately, after veteran Elvin Johnson was traded, the Timberwolves' inside line became closer and closer to offense, and their focus on the defensive end was being compressed.

Even if the "Sugar Man" Olovokandi has a pretty good defensive ability, and a strong center like O'Neal can be used as a meat shield to push it in front, the Sugar Man's offensive ability is too depressed.

That's why Luke chose to let Divac serve as the starting center defender Yao Ming in this round of series, rather than the "sugar man" Olovo Kandi, who is more suitable for tonnage.

In fact, as long as the "Sugar Man" has a higher presence on the offensive end, the height of Sugar Man 213 and a weight of 130 kilograms is definitely the best choice for defending Yao Ming.

But the same thing is said, the offensive sugar man is so bad that even Luke can't bear to look at him!

On the offensive side, the Timberwolves scored the highest score in the team in this game was the "madman" Spreville.

Facing Bob Sulla, who has extremely average defensive ability, the Madman made 10 of 16 shots in the game, including 2 of 6 from outside the three-point line, 4 of 5 free throws, and 2 tough scored 26 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.

It was the outstanding performance of the madman Spreville that the Timberwolves could maintain a double-digit lead on the offensive end.

Otherwise, even if the Timberwolves successfully defended against the Rockets' offense, it would be difficult to solve their own offensive problems. After all, the Rockets' defensive efficiency is also among the top in the league, and it is not something the Timberwolves can break through just by trying to.

In addition, the performance of the star Kevin Garnett and "Alien" Kassel are also very stable.

Garnett scored 21 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, while Kassel scored 16 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists.

The "Three-Headed Monster" worked together to help the Timberwolves defend this victory at home, giving the team a good start.

As for the performance of Nehbar and Salmons on the bench, they were also quite extraordinary.

Among them, Nehbar contributed 14 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal in his 26 minutes of the game.

Salmons also had 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals, among which three consecutive three-pointers at the end of the third quarter laid the foundation for the Timberwolves to win.

After the game, Jeff Van Gundy took the initiative to walk towards Lu Ke. Looking at the young and evil star coach in front of him, Van Gundy's face was filled with helplessness: "You are an excellent basketball coach. I admit that I have been underestimating you before, but I will not give up on this round of series. I hope you can surprise me in the end of the game."

"Believe me, I will." Luke said the most pretending and dumb words in the calmest tone!

…………………

At the post-match press conference, Luke simply answered a few questions from reporters. In the interview, he did not have full confidence to say that the team would definitely sweep the Rockets.

There is no derogatory remark to the lost Rockets.
Chapter completed!