"Hey, guys, I don't need to introduce who this is, right?" Billups smiled and said to the team members after entering the locker room.

A flash of light burst out from the team members' faces, and that expression was like seeing his girlfriend whom he hadn't seen for several months.

Jack Nicholson.

Two-time Academy Award winner, three-time Academy Award winner, the most nominated actor in the history of the Academy Awards, nicknamed "The King of Oscars".

Of course, there is another layer of identity, the Lakers' number one fan.

Since 1970, he has been the owner of the Lakers' season ticket. At the Staples Center, as long as there are Lakers' home games, he is almost a must-visit every game. Almost every night you can see him squirting the audience's emotions, or loudly criticizing the referee, or even running to the opponent's coach to get close to each other. It is a super big bowl, but it is undisguised in the stadium. It is nicknamed by fans as the Lakers' "exclusive mascot".

But that's it. After the 2014-2015 season, with Kobe's retirement, the old man basically stopped watching the game at the stadium. He had only been to the stadium less than ten times last season, and even after the end of the season, it was reported that he wanted to sell VIP tickets in the front row.

For such a hard-core fan, he has spent more than 40 years with the Lakers. However, seeing that his former favorite team missed the playoffs for three consecutive years and was in a bad position, his patience was finally exhausted.

Even if Tang Shuai takes over this year, he has basically not come to the home court. It seems that he is really ready to give up the team he has loved for more than 40 years.

But unexpectedly, after playing the first game of the first playoffs, he actually ran to Minnesota.

No wonder the Lakers players have such a big reaction. Nicholson is no longer just a fan, but a living fossil.

"Hey, everyone, to be honest, Chauncey agreed to let me see you before the game. I'm really happy. I can't wait to see you beat the butts on the court." Nicholson had no airs at all, waved his right hand and smiled at the players.

Nicholson's words caused laughter from the team members, and the distance between them was immediately closer.

"Mr. Jack, we are very excited to see you." Tang Shuai said with a smile at this time. As the team leader, it is necessary for him to stand up at this time.

"Haha." Nicholson showed a hearty laugh, then looked at Tang Shuai and said, "Tang, although I haven't been to Staples this season, I've been impressed by you a few times."

As he said that, he looked at the others and said, "You should be wondering why I came to Minnesota, right?"

The players nodded one after another when they heard what he said. It was not that surprising if Nicholson came to Staples Center for the third time. After all, this was the playoffs, but now it was a bit confusing to come to Minnesota.

"I originally planned to come to the scene again at home, but to be honest, after watching the video yesterday, I was proud of your performance, so as an old fan, I feel it is very necessary to come to the away game to cheer for you, and don't think I'm not paying attention to the team anymore. Although I haven't been to the scene, I haven't lost every video of every game this season." Nicholson said with a smile.

After Nicholson said that, the players all had a look of excitement on their faces. It turned out that Nicholson had been paying attention to the Lakers, and as a star, he was still so old that he deliberately went to a frozen city like Minnesota to cheer them on. This kind of spiritual encouragement is definitely huge.

"Jack, don't worry, these young men are fully prepared and will definitely fully display their strength tonight." Xiao said at this time. As the old Lakers, he and Nicholson should be much more familiar with each other.

"Yeah." Nicholson nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "I can actually accept both winning and losing. As long as I play the momentum of the second half of last night, I will not be in vain."

"Mr. Jack, don't worry about this. We are ready to work hard." Deng said at this time.

"Okay, I'm waiting to see your wonderful performance." Nicholson said with a slightly excited expression.

Nicholson's arrival is undoubtedly a powerful booster for the Lakers. The players were already full of confidence. After being inspired by this, they are now like taking stimulants and are waiting to perform on the court.

Like in the first game, the target center was still crowded. What's different is that there were many Lakers fans at the scene, holding the KT board high, which made people feel a little moved.

The most surprising thing is that Nicholson, who actually sat in that familiar position like in the Staples Center Arena.

Of course, this is impossible to travel in time, space or geographically. The only possibility is that Nicholson managed to buy the position from the air ticket holder. The audience in the front row all have status, so it is definitely not easy to get it. However, Minnesota is a small city after all, and with Nicholson's status and economic strength, it can be completely done.

When the Lakers players saw Nicholson appearing in that familiar position, their eyes staggered, and their whole emotions became excited.

The first fans have all achieved this level, so what reason do they have to perform poorly!

After warming up for a while, the lineups from both sides appeared on the large screen of the LEDs on the scene.

The lineup of the Lakers is exactly the same as in the last game, while the Timberwolves made adjustments. Thibodeau put Jordan Hill, who performed well in the last game, as the power forward, while Aldridge, who had committed more fouls, was removed by him.

The players warmed up for the last three minutes, and the players from both sides came on the stage amid cheers from the fans on the scene.

The game started.

The ones who jumped the ball were still Towns and Noel, and Towns was still at the same pace as when they were on the court, but Noel was like he was hitting the line and jumped, and he turned the ball back from Towns' head back to the Lakers' half.

The Lakers got their first offensive opportunity!

A burst of cheers came from the Lakers fans who attended the event, although not big, but it inspired the Lakers players.

However, Nicholson picked up the drink beside him and took a sip, looking calm, obviously it was not time to show his power.

Tang Shuai took the ball to the frontcourt, and other Lakers players kept running and interspersing.

He saw the opportunity and suddenly accelerated and broke into two steps, followed by a beautiful cross-straight pass to the running Batum. After receiving the ball, Batum avoided Hill and sent the ball into the basket.

The Timberwolves' offense and Towns' performance was also quite stable, and he received Rubio's pass from the empty basket and pressed Noel to score a layup.

In the first attack at the beginning, both sides successfully scored.

Tang Shuai took the ball to the frontcourt and played pick-and-roll with Gasol, and returned the ball to Gasol who cut out, and Gasol raised his hand and shot.

"Bang!"

The ball was a little stronger, and the basketball hit the front of the basket and jumped high.

However, just as Noel and Towns were squeezing each other at the basket, Deng rushed out from the side, reached out and touched the ball into the basket.

There was a turmoil at the scene.

He scored in two consecutive rounds, which was completely different from the previous game. The Lakers showed unprecedented concentration and decisiveness at the beginning.

Looking back, the Timberwolves wanted to play Towns again. This time the Lakers paid attention to double-teaming. Rubio passed the ball to Lavin on the outside. Lavin flicked a shot and then chose to jump shot.

Tang Shuai relied on his speed to maintain his defensive position, and directly activated the president's defensive package when LaVin made a move.

"Bang!"

Lavender's mid-range iron shot, and Noel snatched the rebound directly.

After Noel grabbed the rebound, he immediately gave it to Shuai Tang, and then lowered his head and accelerated forward.

Tang Shuai received the ball and held the ball and quickly attacked. Rubio and Wiggins were guarding the ball in front of him. He had no chance of making a phone call when he broke through to the free throw line.

However, he did not stop, but held the ball and broke hard. When the offensive route was completely lost, he swung the ball back from his shoulder.

The basketball followed Noel.

Noel received the ball, took the ball and took it forward, and then grabbed the ball with both hands and jumped high.

Although Wiggins and Rubio were at the basket, they were pushed to the basket by Shuai Tang. It was too late to make up for defense at this time.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, Noel violently abused the frame with both hands, shaking the entire basket.

There was an uproar on the scene. When Noel attacked and defended, Batum, Deng and Noel, who did not perform well in the last game, performed all of them at the beginning of the game.

After dunking, Noel glared at Wiggins and Rubio, and then hit his chest with Tang Shuai. It was obvious that he was very excited at this moment.

"The Lakers played in this game completely differently than they did on the court. It seems that the Timberwolves are going to be in trouble." The commentator Reggie Miller said at this time.

"It's still early, the game has just begun." Home commentator Benz took the conversation.

Miller smiled and said nothing, but just kept looking at the field.

The Timberwolves' offense, Wiggins received a return pass from Towns to the right side of the free throw line and went back to a beautiful step-down jump shot, avoiding Batum who was defending, and took a knife.

Get two points and help the Timberwolves catch up to 4-6.

Compared with last season, Wiggins' shooting rate and stability have been greatly improved, which is like the game's attributes have finally changed from A+ to S-level players. This growth is one of the important reasons for the Timberwolves' rise this season.

However, the Lakers' opening condition was really hot. Wiggins just made this beautiful mid-range shot, and Tang Shuai turned around and passed Rubio. After a quick-changing rhythm of the Buddha worship move, he dangled Hill, who was assisting in defense, to the ground. Then, in the uproar among the fans at the scene, he jumped up, avoided Towns' block in the air, and directly pressed the ball into the basket with a backhand dunk.

The fans at the scene were in a mess in the wind.

And it was at this moment that Nicholson finally stood up from his seat. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!