After 21 years, the Lakers will fight the Timberwolves again in the playoffs! There are many reasons why they are optimistic about the Lakers!

There is no game today, let's talk about the Lakers vs Timberwolves matchup.

The last time the two teams met in the playoffs was in the Western Conference Finals in 2004, when the F4-led Lakers eliminated Garnett's Timberwolves 4-2.

After 21 years, the two teams fought again.

Ten ESPN pundits made predictions about the Timberwolves-Lakers series, and all 10 of them believed the Lakers would beat the Timberwolves to reach the second round.

In this regard, Huazi said in an interview: "I like this. Yes. ”

Reporter: "Why?" ”

"I just like that. It's so cool. I love the fact that everyone wants the Lakers to win. That's how it should be. They don't want the Timberwolves to win, I understand. ”

The "brick family" at home and abroad thinks so, so the question is:

Don't the Timberwolves have a chance at all? Maybe.

If you're a Lakers fan and still "pick and choose" and think this opponent is difficult to beat, then my advice is to just go home and farm and play the hammer in the playoffs...

From the West, the Timberwolves are not an opponent yet? Do you have to touch the Clippers, Nuggets, Thunder, Warriors, Rockets...

Brother Di predicts that the Lakers will solve the battle within 6 games.

Tell me why.

The Timberwolves are one of the most obvious teams with their strengths and weaknesses.

Let's start with the pros.

1. Large size, overall stature, sufficient forward resources, and basic defensive disk.

As a result, they can take advantage of the Nuggets.

2. Edwards.

This season, Huazi's three-point improvement is obvious, and he is the player with the most three-point goals in the league.

3. The offensive and defensive ends are relatively balanced.

This season, they played 8th in the league in offensive efficiency and 6th in defensive efficiency.

Gobert provides a solid foundation for the team's interior line.

A team with stars and a defensive base will not have a bad regular season record.

But... Or a phrase that is said every year:

In the playoffs, it's all about alignment.

Why are the Lakers widely favored? Here are a few.

First, and without a doubt, Doncic.

Last season, the Mavericks 4-1 Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, Doncic averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. He shot 47.3 percent from the field, 43.4 percent from three-point range, and 62.7 percent from the field.

No matter how intense and intense the game is, Dongzi can always make the most accurate reading and judgment.

Whatever the other party gives me, I can take.

If you pinch me, I can feed an inside line like Hayes, a strong side pinch, and he can also find an open three-point for his teammates...

Timberwolves, if it's Maidan defense, Dongzi is raw, and if Gobert covers and changes defenses, then the best defensive player will also be beaten as a cash machine, which was verified last season.

As for naming Conley Sr., that's something James, Reaves and Doncic are all going to do.

But one thing is different, the Lakers don't have the interior of Lively and Gafford as they are.

As a result, the Lakers' winners and losers this year are rebounders and three-pointers from role players.

Doncic's ability to create opportunities is not at all, this guy has averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game after joining the Lakers, shooting 43.8% from the field.

Second, the Lakers still have more points than the Timberwolves.

Doncic + James + Rivers three engines, I won't go into details.

Let's talk about the defensive end, the Lakers' defense relies on the rotation of the forward group and the empty non-space points.

If it is a regular starting match, Hayes vs Gobert, James vs Randle, Doncic vs McDaniels, Kozato vs Conley, and the task of defending Huazi will be handed over to Hachimura first.

But Hayes is just a fake starter, and the Lakers' ace lineup is not a starter, but a five-small.

When Finney-Smith and Brother Biao come up, these two are on strength, and they are a package combination for Huazi.

Overall, the Lakers' small lineup play against the Timberwolves' tall lineup will be a battle of styles.

For James, what will test him in this series will be the old man's ability to defend the interior.

He might have to go against Randle, Reed, or even Gobert.

Some friends will ask, what should I do if the Timberwolves are tall inside?

They didn't have a teacher, and they didn't have a big guy like Zubac, who could attack on their own and stand up for a dozen and one.

So, the Lakers' test is rebounding.

Thirdly, I will summarize for the time being that the ball quotient and technical deficiencies.

The Timberwolves are a team, if you play straight with him and just fight physically, then they are not afraid of you at all.

Huazi's partial blasting is really awesome, and Randall can also collide with a large physique.

The Lakers can't cultivate the Timberwolves' game mood, and once the momentum rises, this opponent is quite scary.

But once you make some changes, you force them to think, they read the defense, they test their on-the-spot adaptability, and a lot of the time the team doesn't know what to do.

For example, all kinds of mixed joint defense.

Representative figure, Randall.

The big brother is the face of the playoffs, playing in 15 playoff games, averaging 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He shot just 34.4 percent from the field, 28.3 percent from three-point range, and averaged 3.9 turnovers per game.

He doesn't have much chemistry with Huazi, so the Lakers must force him to handle the ball.

At this point, you will find out that Randall is a reckless man.

Writing this, I have to talk about Huazi.

I think the Timberwolves can win 1-2 games, which is already a sign of respect for his progress this season.

If he wants to lead the team to a win over the healthy Lakers in such an underdog's series, he may have to average 40 points per game plus 10 assists, which is a high metric.

A year later, Edwards' Achilles' heel has not improved: fear of packing, weakness in left-handed ball control.

How to deal with the bag is an important ability for a young player to become a real star, especially a defender.

Huazi's ability to attack one-on-one is no problem, and the means of retreat shooting and three-point shooting are absolutely enough.

However, the ability to handle the ball is still not good enough.

At some point in time, Redick will definitely be decisive in the bag, pinching Huazi, letting him play the ball to others, to tease Randle, and let him go to singles.

has the ability, Lan Dou killed the Lakers one by one...

Timberwolves, look at Huazi from high to low.