Carl-Anthony Downs and Nikola-Jokic The matchup between Nikola Jokic and makes this match more like the opening time of five The end of the month instead of the beginning of October. After the Nuggets rookie bone Hyland made that three-pointer, he not only made an ice in my veins celebration action against Russell on the bench (Russell’s goal celebration action) ), and sprayed trash talk at Russell.
Mike Malone changed his rotation in the second half, which not only ignited the passion of the players, but also made this game look like an important game.
For many reasons, the Timberwolves is working hard to recapture what they have lost. The most important thing is that they have not become a team that has been feared in the league for a long time. If they can achieve a certain degree of success this season, then the league without any grievances will soon get a pair of rivals.
The Timberwolves and the Nuggets have almost all the elements to become rivals. The two teams don't seem to like each other very much. Everything is ready now, except for the Timberwolves' revival.
On Friday night, the two teams met at Denver ,After overtime, the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets 114-112. Large-scale fouls, coaches yelling at referees, players scrambling for the floor, these are exactly what Wolves coach Chris Fincher hopes to play against three teams that are expected to enter the playoffs for eight days. Seen on the road trip. Vinci said after the game that a referee told him that this was his first time since the start of the preseason that he whistled a regular-season game.
Vinci said: "As of now, our morale is very high. This may be the highlight of many good things. The players are all playing hard and they are fighting for each other. We must continue to push ourselves. , Let yourself enter the best condition."
For this team that has been questioned for many years, they have taken an important step. The toughness and urgency on the defensive end have always been their crux. In the preseason game on Monday, the Wolves defeated the Pelicans with their passion and defensive thinking. This game played an exemplary role. In the game against the Nuggets on Friday night, if only from the perspective of defensive execution rather than effort, their substitute players made up for the lack of the starting lineup.
Vinci said: "You can feel that sense of urgency on the court. I think the matchup between KAT ( Downs) and Jokic set the tone for the game."
These two inside star players are never ashamed to express their contempt for each other. In the early stages of their careers, Towns was always able to kill Jokic, but in the past few years, things have clearly changed. During the time when Towns was dealing with injuries and heart-wrenching things, Jokic not only became a NBA elite player,Also got the MVP. When people talk about who is the best inside player in the league, the player who inspired the team has opened the distance between him and Towns.
Downs said: "When you play against a player who just won the regular season MVP, you have to have that sense of urgency. For me, it’s a great game. I played some outstanding performances against a very good opponent. I got a good workout on the court and did some things I wanted to do."
debuted in 22 minutes In the time, Towns scored 12 points on 5 of 9 shots, 0 of 3 three-pointers, plus 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Jokic’s shooting performance was much worse. He made 3 of 10 shots and 1 of 6 three-pointers, but he still sent out 10 assists and 9 basketballs, hitting +19 in 27 minutes of playing time. The positive and negative values of. The Nuggets' starting lineup was much sharper than that of the Timberwolves. However, with the help of Jaylen Noel, who scored 12 points and a substitute lineup that did not make any mistakes, the Wolves reversed the momentum of the game.
Downs said when talking about Jokic: "We all know the rules of survival of inside players, so when we compete for territory like two gorillas , we have to fight to the death. Of us. Only one person can leave alive. He believes that that person is him, and I also believe that that person is me, so this is very interesting. The confrontation between us has become more intense, and the sense of urgency has also become stronger. Because of this, I really like playing against players like this."
On October 30, the two teams will meet for the first time in the regular season at the target center. The Saturday before Halloween? Let's wait and see.
Jay Noel’s outbreak
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_pan 8 span ,This is also one of the highlights of the Wolves training camp. Because the players all want to occupy a place in the rotation and the level of competition is high, Vinci said he has 12 players who can get playing time.
In this team full of wings, Noel thinks it is difficult to get playing time. However, his shooting performance and defensive performance in the fourth quarter and overtime caught Vinci's attention. Thanks to the shooting performance of Anthony Edwards (3 of 7 shots), Russell (1 of 10 shots in the beginning and 3 of 12 shots in the game) and Jaden McDaniels's shooting performance, the Wolves are in Only 7 points behind the opponent at the beginning of the fourth quarter. With 2 minutes and 23 seconds left in the game, they were still 6 points behind, but then Noel hit a 3+1 and then tied the score with a dunk before the end of regular time, forcing the game into overtime.
With 1 minute and 33 seconds left in overtime, the Wolves trailed 108-112. Noel used a steal after a layup, a back shot and a beautiful turn back shot to help the team seal the victory.
Noel said when talking about his 12 points in 13 minutes: "I do look forward to shooting that kind of shots. Some of them are my favorite shots, so I just After making sure I could find my shooting point, I made the ball."
Noel contributed 2 steals throughout the game and played a reliable defense with the ball. Vinci once said that if the bench players want to earn more playing time for themselves, they must work hard on defense and rebounding. Noel has always kept this sentence in his heart.
Vinci said: "His defense is really good.This is exactly what we need him to do. We have a lot of players who can put the ball in, and he is an elite in this area. If he can continue to play such a performance, then he will enter the rotation and get a stable playing time. "
Span beat him to score 13 strong 106strong Beasley’s fight
pp11span8 span8 span8 span 8 Span span 8 Lost 7 of 12 shots, including 5 three-pointers he missed. He did not perform well in these two preseason games.
To some extent, this is completely Unexpectedly. Beasley, who accidentally parked his car outside his house due to gun threats, spent 120 days in jail in Hennepin County.
Beasley revealed He can leave prison every day to train, but he still seems to need some time to recover and prepare for this season. In addition, he missed the last 23 games due to a hamstring injury last season, so he is very interested in the game. The unfamiliar feeling of Wolves is also understandable. In any case, he is the best scorer of the Wolves, and the Wolves will need his shooting skills very much at the beginning of the season. It is very important, his role will be very heavy. When he played in the second team, we designed a lot of tactics for him. Although he hasn't made high-level shots in the preseason,But he can definitely do it. No matter what, I like his aggressiveness. He is gradually regaining his form and is working hard to perform normally.
From a scoring perspective, the Timberwolves also need Edwards to invest more on the offensive end. He only scored 8 points in 22 minutes of playing time. Finch said that he hopes Edwards can be at the basket. Play a little more aggressively. Compared to offense, Edwards is more focused on defense. In addition, he is in offensive organization mode more often on the offensive end. Towns is not worried about this.
Downs Said: "This is an upgrade, but it's just a preseason after all, so don't take it too seriously. I know Ant (Edwards) can score 25 points every night, so I don't worry about his offense at all. ”
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