Just halfway through the first quarter, both sides scored very high scores.

Sanders called the timeout to strengthen the defense. He saw clearly that Guo Xu was stronger than the veteran Trier Brandon, who currently has an annual salary of tens of millions.

Guo Xu's style of play is similar to Trier. He breaks through the pick-and-roll, catches the ball, takes a fast speed and has a range. Guo Xusheng is young, and he is more explosive than Trier, and his strength also has the upper hand when fighting.

If Guo Xu was also a lottery pick, Sanders would not feel depressed, but Guo Xu's pick was too low. The Timberwolves, who held the 22nd pick in the second round, could choose him. The management chose a shooting guard named Igor Lakosevic, but did not sign the contract, wasting a draft pick in vain.

After the timeout, Sanders replaced Trier and replaced Anthony Pierre, a 193cm tall and 94kg shooting guard. In this way, Billups could rely on his physical advantage to take Guo Xu at the No. 1 position. However, the Timberwolves' pre-game deployment has been disrupted. Sanders originally regarded Trier as the key to defeating the Lakers, but Trier was a defensive loophole.

Trier looked at the opposite side unwillingly. He felt that Guo Xu was like his youth, but he was much better luck. Guo Xu played for the Lakers and could win the championship ring this year. He is still empty-handed and has never played in a big city.

The three teams that Trier has played for are the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. If the city where the NBA team is located is divided into first, second, third and fourth tiers, these three teams are probably in the fourth tier and have serious lack of competitiveness.

After two pauses, "Zen Master" Jackson did not use the tactical board, but simply emphasized a few triangular attacks to let the players keep an eye on their own people. He thought the pause was too long.

It's really easy to be a coach like this. Jackson's strength is his control over the team, his management of stars, and his technical and tactical aspects are not his strengths.

This is good news for Guo Xu. Even if he is at a disadvantage in the face of Bilups, the "Zen Master" will not replace him with a rest immediately. He will be happy to see him find ways to fight on the court. As long as his performance on the defensive end is not too bad, his playing time will definitely increase. It is not surprising that he plays for 35 minutes with Harper absent.

The game continued, Billups did not look for pick-and-rolls when facing Guo Xu, and pulled a three-pointer in the middle. Guo Xu made accurate predictions and jumped to interfere with the ball. The ball bounced out of the box, and Leidel grabbed the defensive rebound.

Billups is a heavy defender with average speed and average breakthrough ability. He usually relies on his body to win opponents when he scores two points, and is best at using cold arrows on the periphery. In Guo Xu's previous life, this person was once called the "ball blind identifyer". Guo Xu knew him too much, otherwise he would be embarrassed to post on the China NBA forum.

In the Lakers positional battle, O'Neal attacked strongly at a low post, attracting Garnett to double-team, turned around and hooked to make a blacksmith, Grant grabbed the frontcourt rebound, and was blocked by Garnett who turned around for the second attack.

There was chaos under the basket, and O'Neal grabbed the offensive rebound again. He was about to grab it, but Szebiak slapped the basketball off the ground.

Szebiak intercepted the ball and passed it to find Billups who reached out to ask for the ball. Guo Xu knew how strong Billups was. He chose a gambling steal during the retreat. He jumped up with all his strength and touched the basketball with one hand, preventing the pass. The ball fell and was picked up by Kobe who was retreating.

After landing, Guo Xu immediately made a fast break and threw away Billups. He received a pass from Kobe and shot a three-pointer one meter outside the 70-degree three-point line on the left. No one was disturbed and he hit the hollow!

22 to 16, Guo Xu scored 12th.

Woodson shouted: "Jason scored another three-pointer, and today he is likely to break his personal single-game scoring record."

"He did a good job on the defensive end, and Billups returned in vain in two rounds."

In the next round, Billups failed to break through and distributed the ball to Garnett. He was also entangled by Guo Xu when he ran without the ball.

It is difficult for Guo Xu to defend Billups alone, but he has teammates. His close-fitting defense makes Billups difficult to turn around, and it is enough to not be able to shoot cold arrows from the outside. If Billups relies on his body to squeeze him through forcibly breaking through, the speed will not increase, and the Lakers can assist in defense in the inside.

After several passes, Szebiak made a mid-range shot against Ledel, O'Neal grabbed the rebound, and when he returned to defense, Garnett yelled at Szebiak, a little dissatisfied with his attack.

Szebiak was selected by the Timberwolves in the first round six in 1999, and the coach did not arrange tactics for him. In fact, he has strong personal offensive ability and comprehensive skills, and can take on more responsibilities. But now he rarely takes the initiative to attack the ball.

Last season, Szebiak, who was born with a calf, was not afraid of tigers, was dissatisfied with the ball and tried to hold the ball more on the court. As a result, he was taught a hard lesson by the team boss and became much more honest this season.

Garnett once told Szebiak in the locker room: "Some people don't know who the boss of this team is yet!" Then the two clashed, and Garnett hit the poor rookie in the face with a punch of "get out of here".

The thing that the two of them are most well-known to fans is that Garnett spits saliva directly on Szebiak's face.

At that time, the Timberwolves played against the Raptors at home. Garnett sat on the bench early because of a foul. Szebiak was scolded by the head coach for missing a goal. During the timeout, a surprising scene appeared. Garnett looked unhappy and actually spitted his saliva on Szebiak's face, which made everyone stunned. Perhaps the "Wolf King" also realized that his behavior was inappropriate and walked away quietly.

After the game, Garnett missed the press conference, and two days later a reporter found him at the training ground. When mentioned, Garnett said: "To be honest, it was just a misunderstanding. Some people just wanted to amplify it on purpose. I was a little out of control at the time, and Szebiak played too badly. He deserved some lessons, and I just did it for me."

With Garnett here, the Timberwolves are rookie hell, not only confidence, but also psychology will be affected.

The position attack, O'Neal's strong attack caused Nestrovic to foul and went to the free throw line.

During the dead ball, both sides started to substitution. Guo Xu was out, Brian Shaw came on, and the Timberwolves replaced Nestrovic and replaced Lafonso Ellis.

Teammates celebrating with Guo Xu, his outstanding performance is an important reason for the Lakers' lead.

Jackson called Guo Xu to his side and said seriously: "You can only rest for a while and keep this excited. As long as Trier appears, I will let you go. I will arrange for you to play. I will arrange for you to play the game. I believe you can beat him up."

"No problem." Guo Xu smiled. He liked listening to this very much.

Guo Xu is most suitable for playing against Trier. If he doesn't defend, it will not be difficult for Trier to pass the 198cm tall Brian Shaw. Kobe can also defend against Trier, but Jackson wants him to deal with the swingman.

Jackson began to add tasks to Guo Xu. The coaching staff was very clear. Veteran Harper was injured at this age and it was not easy to recover. What was waiting for Harper was to retire after the end of the season. Brian Shaw also declined significantly. Before Fisher came back, the No. 1 position had to be supported by Guo Xu.

Guo Xu is already the leader of the Lakers.
Chapter completed!