Nuggets VS Timberwolves G5
With Conley out of the picture, the Timberwolves were in disarray. The ATO who comes back after the start of each quarter and the pause generally plays okay, after all, the coach's words are still in the ears, and how to play according to the arrangement. But as you fight, the execution is dissipated, in stark contrast to the well-organized nature of the defending champions.
Several old problems on the offensive end of the Wolves have not been solved at all. Huazi is still mechanically looking for a Gobert blocking point Jokic, and the previous games can still forcibly break through Jokic's delay, after 4 trainings, the Nuggets' effect on defending Huazi has also improved, and Huazi played very painfully.
G3G4 said after the game that in the face of Jokic's delay, it would be better for the ball to move to the weak side and start again. The G5 Timberwolves came up with a compromise solution, trying to use their teammates at the 45° three-point line to make a second pass, helping Huazi to play the ball to Gobert or finding a shooter in the same corner on the same side. This is not something new, the problem is that the Wolves have no point guard, and many of the re-transfers that use Huazi to play the ball are of low quality. Walker's performance as a guest point guard, overall, is okay, but not enough, after all, there is a Jaden as the weakest offensive point on the court, not only visible damage space, but also damage handling the ball. The Timberwolves were dragged down by poor passing quality and constipated offense after a good three-point response in the first half.
There are several other cases that exacerbate constipation in attack:
Downs and Reed were pinched by Mr. Joo, and 3 fouls at the speed of light, which caused the Wolves to once put on a combination of Gobert + Lee Kyle + Jaden in the first half, this lineup Nuggets defended casually, Huazi couldn't breathe, and Morris, who replaced Jaden to save the fire, couldn't do it at all;
The Nuggets are starting to hit the low post on the strong side, and Towns will be a little harder to deal with when he catches big and small. What's even more outrageous is that some of the big ones that don't have a pinch attack eat the small, and the wolf can't grasp it, and the big Holiday is still an existence that no one can beat the wolf;
There is no point guard, which leads to a large number of misplaced near the basket and some players brainless misattacks;
Without a point guard, the Wolves had a harder time using Gobert in the transition, and the offense was played crazy by the Nuggets' reasonable collision zone.
One of the few rounds that made people feel smooth was that Huazi and Reed each had a breakthrough to catch the ball at a fixed point. There is no delay in front of him, the threat of swiping on the side is small, and it is easy to say that he can hit it, which is also the lesson that G4 summed up after the game - don't let the main attacker always be delayed by the Nuggets at the three-point line, and find a way to put them in a more relaxed one-to-one environment when receiving the ball on the line. The wolf still didn't do it.
The Nuggets on the offensive end can be summed up as the second season of Toy Story.
Jokic doesn't talk about everything alone, Gobert works hard, but there are some things in the world that are not enough to work hard. Jokic's superb footwork skills, finishing touch, and ball level, needless to say, the key is that the Nuggets have such a superman and obviously have better tactical design and execution than the Timberwolves. There were a lot of unexpected back screens and upper screens in the game, which made it easy for Jokic to go to the near-basket domination area, and Jokic's coquettish off-ball moves and transitions were even more difficult to prevent. Whether Jokic can go to the basket or not is decisive for the game, and the Wolves did a perfect job in G2, but in the next three games, the Nuggets have more and more tricks, and the Wolves seem to have given up on it, so Jokic destroyed Gobert and the others in a battle of wits and power.
The sense of order is the biggest gap between the two teams in Tianwang Mountain. The Nuggets never panicked from beginning to end, their offense and defense were orderly, while the Wolves couldn't stay focused for too long, and they didn't look very smart when they played. They need Conley to return to the thinking ability to bring the two teams closer together, and they can't rush to the defending champions with just one heart. What's more, in this game, it seems that the Nuggets are the more passionate team, after all, even Jokic is performing violent dunks that go straight to the middle.
Knicks VS Pacers G5
Neither G4 nor G5 has much to say. The G4 Knicks looked like they had run out of oil and surrendered early. The good thing about not getting tangled up is that they are energetic again in the G5.
Thibodeau won Achiuwa and put a lineup of 4 small +1 centers, which is a bit of sacrificing size for space, which may have something to do with how much the G4 Pacers targeted Achiuwa. McBride, who was promoted to the starting lineup, lived up to the coach's expectations, scoring 17 points in the game. Burks, who was a pure spare tire replacement, scored 18 points. The Knicks are full of injuries, but the seven-man rotation is used well, and it seems that there is still combat power, only Bronson played 42 minutes in this game, and the others did not play 40 minutes, and the physical consumption can also be supported.
That's not the point, the point is that the Knicks grabbed 20 frontcourt rebounds, which is hard not to win. The Knicks are already on the smaller side, and they can still grab this look, on the one hand, it shows that the front board does not necessarily have an absolute relationship with the size, and on the other hand, it is due to the distinctive characteristics of the two teams, the Knicks' hard work does not need to be said, and the Pacers' defense is also difficult to describe.
The Pacers are even more stubborn than the Knicks, and during the period when Achiuwa played the No. 4 position, the Pacers have never been able to continue to do this point without a basket, and they have come and gone. The team's defensive habits are really poor, and the defense is as bad as their ability to use transitions and shifts to create advantageous alignments and quality chances. is also because the team style of the Pacers and Knicks is too distinct, so the taste of the game in the series is not heavy, and it is more to see which side has its own style smooth.