The Warriors started well 1-0! Believe it or not: Compared with the Warriors, the Lakers are only 4 points away!

In a highly anticipated playoff game just ended, the Golden State Warriors came to challenge the Minnesota Timberwolves away:

The two teams played very stalemate, and the scores on the court were alternately leading, but the Timberwolves made 0 of 8 three-pointers, and the star Edwards even scored 0 of 6 shots without scoring. The Timberwolves directly cut off the power in the second quarter, and did not score a single point in the first four minutes. On the other hand, Curry and Green were fully fired, and a 15-0 offensive established a double-digit lead. However, Curry suffered a hamstring strain in less than 3 minutes in the second quarter and announced his withdrawal from the game. The Timberwolves only scored 11 points in this quarter, and braved at the end of the half. The Scottish lead by 13 points;

In the second half, Hilder, who had a poor touch in the first half, suddenly exploded, with three-pointers and mid-range, scoring 16 points in a row, helping the Warriors expand the lead to 20 points in one fell swoop. Curry was injured and retreated and took on the heavy responsibility of scoring the team well. The Timberwolves, Reed and Edwards, both offensively recovered, leading the team to narrow the score to single digits in the fourth quarter. However, at the critical moment, Payton, Hilder and Butler hit three-pointers in a row to help the team stabilize the situation. In the end, the Timberwolves had no hope of counterattacking, and the Warriors defeated the Timberwolves 99-88 away to get a good start in the series! The Timberwolves easily eliminated the Lakers in the last round of the series, but facing the Warriors who played G7 in the first round, they were suppressed and had no power to fight back at all. From the Warriors getting a good start in the series 1-0, we should understand that compared with the Warriors, the Lakers are the following 3 points:

First point: the coach's on-the-spot command ability!

From the first round of the series against the Rockets, we can see that Cole's on-the-spot command ability is not comparable to that of the rookie head coach Redick. Whether it is Butler retreating from injury, or the sudden shooting tactics used by the Rockets Adams when facing the Rockets' dominance in the interior, or the starting point of Post to break the Rockets' double tower advantage, it proves that Cole's adjustment ability is far better than Redick! When it came to G1 with the Timberwolves, the first quarter was still on the same pace as the first quarter, but in the second quarter, Curry was injured and retreated, the team did not have the same situation as the Rockets G2 again, which shows that Cole did his homework after the first round of the series. On the contrary, in the first round series between the Lakers and the Timberwolves, Redick even made a weird move without substitution in the second half. When the team was behind 1-3, he did not make any adjustments in terms of using people or the lineup style. G5 made Gobert become O'Neal's dominance at the basket and was unwilling to be a big player to beat.

In contrast, today Cole's personnel allocation in the second half is a textbook. When Hilder needed to score, Payton Jr. was arranged to defend Edwards in the second half, so that he could keep his physical fitness on the offensive end. In the case of serious height, he won 10 Timberwolves in rebounds!

The second point: the players’ fighting spirit on the field!

Facing the same tall Timberwolves, although the Warriors had just finished the tiebreak with the Rockets and were exhausted, since the game jump, all the players fought on the court without reservation, especially the team's three core cores. Curry, Zhu Meng and Butler set an example, leaving no spare energy on both offense and defense. Under the influence of ears and eyes, even a defensive colander like Hilde can lock Edwards on the defensive end. Facing the Timberwolves' tall lineup, the Warriors actually grabbed 51 rebounds in the whole game, including 18 frontcourt rebounds. In contrast, the Timberwolves only grabbed 41 rebounds in the whole game, including 12 frontcourt rebounds. On the other hand, except for the role players DFS and Fan Debiao who can make people see their hard work on the court, everyone else cares too much about their offensive performance and does not invest the strength they should have on the defensive end!

The third point: the essential difference in defensive quality!

Since getting Doncic, the Lakers have achieved good results, but since this team lost to the Bulls twice in a row, we should clearly understand their defensive tactics and have fatal flaws. Due to the lack of real inside frame guards, the team's forward team has to compress the defense line to participate in assisting defense. Doncic, Rivers and others have natural bad defensive habits, which also gives teammates more defensive pressure! This makes it easy for other teams to beat the Lakers as long as they can hit a three-pointer on the weak side of the outside, they can easily defeat the Lakers. This is the case when the Bulls defeated the Lakers twice and the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers G1. The Warriors' defense level of the entire team is several levels higher than that of the Lakers. There is a DPOY-level single defender who is the DPOY-level frame protection defender. Butler is also a top forward defender. Boger, Payton Jr. and Moody are all top defenders. Most importantly, with the arrival of Butler, Hild no longer becomes the team's defensive colander, and Curry's defense is already seriously underestimated.

Fourth point: The quality of the stars and the ability to collect games!

The Lakers team now takes Doncic as the absolute core, but he has a fatal flaw, which is that he likes to complain too much on the court, whether it is offense or defense, whenever he has contact, he will look for the referee. Many times, he even wants to sacrifice defense and complain to the referee. Such behavior will be too harmful to the team. After playing in seven seasons of his career, his personal defensive habits have not made any progress. After being eliminated by the Celtics in the finals last season, he should have improved his defensive ability, because the standard level of offense and defense is the top star! No matter what, you should work hard to defend under the premise of your physical talent. Referring to Curry, he is very short and everyone likes to hit him on the defensive end, but he never gives up on defense. He will always achieve good results when he tries his best! Neither Doncic nor James took the initiative to take the responsibility for losing after the Lakers lost, and he was used to making excuses for losing..

When it comes to the ability to collect games, although Curry and Butler are not young anymore, at the last moment of the game, both of them are not ruthless. On the other hand, Doncic and James collapsed many times in the last minute of the fourth quarter of the series against the Timberwolves, which is also the main reason why the Lakers were eliminated early! The Warriors have already achieved a good start in the series 1-0, and the gap between the Lakers and the Warriors is obvious!