Commentator Koenig Freke was a little helpless about the Rockets' performance: "It's hard to imagine that the Rockets are actually a team with fifth-ranked defensive efficiency in the league in the regular season."

"I didn't see the defensive dominance that the Rockets should have in these two games. Instead, the Timberwolves did a great job on the defensive end, which put the Rockets in trouble."

"We are not surprised that Bob can't defend against Ratrill, but what's unexpected is that Jeff didn't make much adjustment on the defensive end."

"This game is allowed to break out again, and this kind of thing shouldn't have happened to Jeff.

Freke's partner Tom Hovas agreed: "Yes, the Rockets' performance in these two games is not like a Western Conference team, especially the weakness of the offensive end is simply shocking."

"During the regular season, the Rockets also had Yao and Maggie incorrect performance and eventually relied on role players to win the game, but in this round of the series, there was no sign of any counterattack momentum for the Rockets."

"Even if Yao's offensive environment in this game has been improved, everyone knows that if the Rockets continue to play with this momentum, it will only be a matter of time before the Timberwolves win the series."

…………

After returning from the second quarter, the Timberwolves had already crushed the Rockets without any suspense in their overall morale.

This can be seen from the status of the Timberwolves substitute player, among which Hudson, a famous league drawer, even made a shot from inside and outside, almost breaking through the Rockets' defense line with his own strength.

You know, this is a playoff level confrontation. Players like Hudson who rely on touch are not valued, and their playing style on the court has become even more restrained.

But in this game, Hudson played very confidently on the offensive end, as if he treated this game as an ordinary regular season, making the Rockets' defense line break out, completely playing the leading position in the league.

In addition, Nehbar's performance on the bench is also very stable, and no one on the entire Rockets' bench can keep up with Nehbar's pace.

It’s not that Nehbar has extremely fast starting speed, nor is Nehbar’s excellent physical fitness, but Nehbar’s soft playing style makes the Rockets completely unable to adapt.

Nehbar seems to be mediocre on both offense and defense, but Nehbar has many offensive changes on the offensive end.

Whether it is three-pointers, mid-range, pick-and-roll, or pass-through after a breakthrough, Nehbar has put his advantage to the extreme, allowing Joan Barry, who is facing him, to have no idea how to defend.

At the end of the half-time game, the Timberwolves expanded their lead to 13 points with their better overall performance.

This is when the Rockets star McGrady only had only rested for more than two minutes in the first half. Otherwise, the Rockets' performance on the offensive end would only be even worse, and it would be impossible for the Timberwolves to lead by 20 points.

After returning from the second half, Jeff Van Gundy's use of Yao Ming became obviously entangled.

Because the Timberwolves' defense method against Yao Ming is very transparent, as long as Yao Ming lands at a low post to catch the ball, the Timberwolves will clamp it without hesitation.

On the other hand, when Yao Ming held the ball at a high position, the Timberwolves insisted on choosing single defense, allowing Yao Ming to take advantage of his height at the middle distance to complete the attack.

Although Yao Ming's shooting feel is very soft, his shooting percentage at mid-range can also reach about 50%.

But the Timberwolves couldn't resist and let Yao Ming shoot at mid-range. Not to mention whether Yao Ming can maintain such efficient shooting efficiency after exhausting his physical strength. Just say that when Yao and Mai were on the court at the same time, Van Gundy could not let Yao Ming shoot alone.

Otherwise, the other four Rockets will become decorations, especially McGrady's point will be wasted as a runner-up, so the Rockets can simply surrender without having to continue to struggle in this round of the series.

So after the entanglement, Van Gundy still let Yao Ming fall to the low post. Even if Yao Ming encounters double teams as soon as he receives the ball, at least Yao Ming, who is standing in the inside, can use his height advantage to try his best to grab rebounds and strive to win more offensive rounds for the Rockets.

To put it nicely, Van Gundy suddenly woke up and knew that he would definitely lose the game if he continued to use Yao Ming as a high-level turret.

To be honest, Jeff Van Gundy had no choice but to define Yao Ming as a blue-collar center and let Yao Ming do some things to fight for rebounds and protect the basket.

As for the offensive responsibility, it was forced to be transferred to McGrady and others.

"Swish~" As the Madman once again took a step back and scored a three-pointer in one-on-one, the Timberwolves officially widened the gap to 20 points, and it was about to send the game into garbage time.

This situation on the field made Jeff Van Gundy gradually begin to become numb, from the initial anger, to the later frowning and contemplation, to the current numbness.

If it is just that the defensive end cannot limit the madman, Jeff Van Gundy will not have too much headache, but the most important thing at the moment is that Van Gundy's performance on the team's offensive end is completely powerless to change.

This weakness is not only a deficit in offensive tactics, but also a flaw in the team's lineup.

If the Rockets can have a third player on the court standing up to continue their firepower at this time, the Rockets will not be so passive.

At the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves replaced all the main players with a 23-point lead.

From the current point of view, this game is basically final. Even if Jeff Van Gundy is unsuccessful, it will be difficult for the Rockets to turn the tables in 12 minutes.

Unless the Rockets' rotation lineup can score a fairy-like performance outside the three-point line, the Timberwolves will definitely win this victory.

Of course, although Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy was a little desperate, these two losses made Jeff Van Gundy realize a lot.

I believe that after this game, Van Gundy can formulate a new combat plan based on the video playback of these two games. Even if the lineup is difficult to make up for, if nothing unexpected happens, the Rockets will change in the next game.

At least you can deal with the Timberwolves well and continue to struggle in this round of the series that has already advanced with half a foot.

"Dudu!"

With the whistle at the end of the game, the Timberwolves once again beat the Rockets 24 points at home, rewriting the total score of this round of series to 2:0.

Yao Ming's personal data rebounded in this game, but his 17 points and 9 rebounds were only useless. He watched the team lose another away game, and it became closer and closer to being eliminated.

As for McGrady, who still contributed 31 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while playing 43 minutes, her personal data is absolutely impeccable, but the team just cannot cross the Timberwolves' mountain!

The Timberwolves' best performance is still the All-Star guard "Madman" Sprewell.

In the last game, the Madman scored 26 points, 4 rebounds and two steals in the first game. In this game, the Madman scored 28 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists again, helping the team defeat the Black Ba rumors and pressed the Timberwolves' black fans' face to the ground and rubbed wildly!

In addition, Garnett scored 18 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, Kassel scored 13 points, 1 rebound and 6 assists, Szebiak scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Hudson scored 16 points, 2 steals, etc.

With the end of this game, the Timberwolves will visit Houston on the 29th with a lead of 2        0.

At that time, if the Rockets lose the game again, the Rockets can only prepare their fishing rods in advance and choose the fish pond to prepare for fishing home.

After all, since the establishment of the NBA, no team has been able to make a comeback while falling behind 0:3 in the playoffs.
Chapter completed!