0 points at halftime! The Timberwolves showed their original form, not because he was too strong, but because the Lakers' outside defense was too weak

2024-05-05 14:19:21

0 points at halftime! The Timberwolves showed their original form, not because he was too strong, but because the Lakers' outside defense was too weak

Poetry Basketball

2024-05-05 12:33Published in Shaanxi

The NBA playoffs continued, and today the Nuggets hosted the Timberwolves, and finally they lost to the Timberwolves 99-106, although Jokic personally cut 32 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in this game, but still could not help the Nuggets win. In addition to Jokic's outstanding performance today, Porter Jr. also scored 20 points and 6 rebounds. But Murray had a mediocre performance today, scoring a single point in the first half and scoring 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Compared to Edwards on the other side, he is clearly completely underwhelmed.

0 points at halftime! The Timberwolves showed their original form, not because he was too strong, but because the Lakers' outside defense was too weak

Murray played like that, and the Nuggets would have been hard to win. In the first half, Murray didn't score a point and was completely limited by the Timberwolves' forward defense. And many of Murray's goals in the second half were also difficult goals, and he didn't hit some shots in a comfortable position. It proved that the Timberwolves' defense was on point and didn't allow Murray to find his offensive rhythm. Many fans think that maybe the Timberwolves will put Murray in trouble on the offensive end in every next game, and Murray will struggle to put up bright numbers in this series.

In fact, Murray is not a superstar in the league, his level is not up to the standard of a superstar, but he has a lot of pick-and-roll opportunities next to Jokic. With Jokic's generous body as cover, Murray played to his mid-range advantage. In the last round against the Lakers, the reason why Murray can play those supernatural performances and can hit consecutive killer shots at the last moment is because the Lakers do not have a forward defender who can match Murray, and their outside defense is really poor.

And today Murray did not play the role of savior in the final moments, did not help the team to score the key goal. Today, the Timberwolves have three players on the front line who can take turns to wear out Murray: Edwards, McDaniels and Alexander Walker. The three of them are excellent defensively against Murray, due to their excellent height, reach, and athleticism. So Murray had to face a lot of confrontation everywhere he went. This is a far cry from the Lakers' Russell and Reaves' defense.

It's fair to say that this series can really expose Murray's true level. If a star has real ability, he can play effectively in any defensive situation. At the moment, Jokic has that ability, and Murray clearly doesn't. If the Nuggets want to rely on Jokic to beat the Timberwolves on his own, it will be almost impossible for the Nuggets to win this series, and they must start five to blossom in full swing, otherwise the Timberwolves will be the winning side.

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