After the confession failed, I went to the NBA to play and lose weight

Chapter 68 The Powerful Spurs
To say that the most successful team since the new century is definitely inseparable from the Lakers from a commercial point of view, and in terms of performance, especially in terms of the number of championships, the Spurs, which just won another championship, are also inseparable. Slightly worse than the Lakers.

And if it covers before the last century, the biggest gap between the Spurs and the Lakers should still be that they have not established their own "dynasties".

However, the concept of this dynasty was actually proposed by Phil Jackson. In fact, Zen Master also established the three-peat championship based on the premise that he had coached the Bulls and the Lakers successively, and then defined the three-peat championship as the standard of a "dynasty team".

From this perspective, the Spurs did not establish their dynasty. During the three consecutive championships of the Lakers, the Spurs could only be a foil in the West, and the Spurs at that time first experienced the retirement of David Robinson , Duncan has to bring new players while being troubled by injuries.

They are not even the biggest opponent of the Lakers in the West, and they are not as big a threat to the Lakers as the Kings.

However, after the disintegration of OK, the Sharks' eastward tour, and the collapse of the Lakers dynasty, the Spurs also passed the most difficult period. The growth of Parker and Ginobili gave Duncan a right-hand man, and finally defeated the Pistons in 05. The team won the championship.

In this year's finals, they swept the Cavaliers and won another championship a year later. This time even Parker won the FMVP.

As the defending champions, the outside world still regards them as the most powerful championship contenders in the West when there is no major change in the team's lineup and it is still minor repairs as in previous years. There are more championships in the East.

As far as the Magic are concerned, the two matches against the Spurs in the regular season are likely to be their only games this season. If they meet again in the playoffs, it will be the finals. This is something that the current Magic cannot imagine. things.

At present, there are many experienced veterans in this Spurs team, not to mention Duncan. Michael Finley was also a 20+ scorer. He helped the team win the championship last season and can still contribute steadily this season.

And Barry, this second-generation star player does not have the glory of his father, but lives in its shadow. At present, the highest individual honor is only a second-team rookie.

However, his slam dunk king's physical fitness, coupled with his gradual practice of shooting, also allows him to gain a foothold in a championship team like the Spurs.

Facing the seasoned Spurs, the Magic also did their best this time. In Van Gundy's mind, if there is any special significance in this game, it is to be able to test the current status of the Magic through the Spurs.

In the first quarter, the Spurs took the lead in shooting from inside and outside. The Magic couldn't stop Parker at all. Neither Nelson, Bogans, Arroyo, nor Dooling could keep up with his speed. The field was almost completely blown up by Parker alone.

And once the Magic shrinks their defense, the Spurs will inevitably have opportunities from the outside. Finley, Bowen and Barry fired shots from the outside. The Spurs made 7 of 5 three-pointers in the first quarter, leading by 33 points with 27:[-].

In the second quarter, the Spurs' offensive continued unabated. Parker was replaced by Ginobili. As long as Li Chengming was pulled out of the three-second zone, it would be difficult to defend the inside line.

Li Chengming defends alone in the low post and defends the inside line at the top. Even if he faces Duncan, he will not lose his position. But facing the French sports car known for its speed and the Argentine demon knife known for its weird breakthrough rhythm, he has become a teaser. that one.

Parker was spinning fast like a small spinning top, while Li Chengming was like a big spinning top driven by him, but he was dizzy and couldn't tell the difference between east, west, and north. Then Ginobili came over and stabbed him twice, and Li Chengming was shaken to the ground. Twice, if it wasn't for the steady footing, I'm afraid the fool would be even bigger.

Anyway, the laughter of the Holy City fans should be enough for Li Chengming to remember for a while...

At halftime, the Spurs temporarily lead by 57 points at 69:10. This is also the biggest point difference that the Magic has fallen behind at halftime in so many games. The previous game with the Pistons was mainly a collapse in the second half.

In fact, the Magic's offense wasn't bad today. As long as Howard catches the ball in the paint, it's an opportunity. The Spurs can't defend him and can only foul him.

Bogans, Lewis and Turkoglu also performed well outside the three-point line. The Magic did not take many three-point shots but their efficiency was not low. Even Li Chengming pulled out to the outside line and hit a three-pointer in the second quarter. .

The point is that the Magic can't defend against the Spurs' offense. Compared to the Celtics, Li Chengming thinks that the Spurs, a team that integrates both inside and outside, is more difficult to deal with.

Because the Spurs have a lot of tactical cooperation, they often let them run and pass through without paying attention, and then they have an open shot or a chance at the basket, but how do people run after the ball?
Unless there is a team in the West that can deal with the Spurs first, after entering the finals, it may not be easy to say who will win or lose against the Celtics.

Of course, if there is a team that can solve the Spurs, it will surely cause great trouble to the Celtics in the finals.

During the intermission, Van Gundy emphasized defense in the locker room. In fact, the Magic’s defense now mainly relies on Howard. He can directly expand the defensive area to the three-point line by relying on his speed and explosive power, but he is the magic team. last line of defense.

However, Nelson and Turkoglu on the outside are relatively slow, and they will be targeted by opponents on the defensive end.

In fact, in the starting lineup of the Magic, in addition to Howard and Bogans, Lewis and Turkoglu have proper defensive weaknesses, and Nelson can only defend specific opponents.

They want to achieve better results. In addition to Howard's continuous improvement and the improvement of the overall lineup, they also need to cultivate the tacit understanding of the players, at least to ensure that the defensive end rotation is in place in time, not always stealing or blocking shots, at least Interference Given the pressure, you can't let the opponent have an open opportunity with a pick-and-roll.

There is another way, which is to ensure your own offensive efficiency, especially to give full play to the advantages of the inside line, and then expand from the inside to the outside to fully utilize the advantages.

The beginning of the third quarter is the stage for the Magic to chase points.

In this quarter, Li Chengming came on the court early in the 5th minute, and then suddenly fired from the outside, hit two consecutive three-pointers, and used the opponent's defense to get to the basket, causing Oberto to foul, made two free throws, and scored 8 in a row. The score stopped the Spurs.

Then he succeeded in singles against Duncan in the low post. Shifo's defense is very strong. He has both static talent in height and wingspan and rich experience, but the more stable the defender is, the more he is afraid of unreasonable attacks. , For example, O'Neal directly shoveled hard in the low post, Kobe forced the inside line, and Duncan couldn't do anything about them.

And in the face of Li Chengming's low-level strong kill like a savage stab and a tiger, the 31-year-old Duncan had to sigh that he was young and invincible.

Li Chengming's strength advantage is too obvious. Duncan also needed to avoid his edge when facing O'Neal back then, and now it is uncomfortable for Li Chengming to stand up.

Moreover, Li Chengming has accumulated a lot of experience after more than a dozen games. Compared with Tai Yi, who is still struggling with ups and downs, Li Chengming has fully adapted to the rhythm of the NBA game.

This also forced the Spurs to help defend, and then leaked Bogans from the outside.

Bogans scored two more three-pointers after receiving Li Chengming's point, which made the Spurs a bit overwhelmed, and also allowed the Magic to narrow the point difference to 5 points in just over three minutes.

At the critical moment, Popovich decisively used the slashing tactic, sending Howard to the free throw line twice in a row, which also directly interrupted the Magic's offensive momentum.

The key is that Howard himself did not live up to expectations, and only made one of four free throws, allowing the Spurs to pull another 3 points.

Foul tactics are always used when necessary, and they are used to achieve different purposes according to the situation. Now it is obviously used mainly to disrupt the offensive rhythm of the Magic.

And the Spurs don't need to use it all the time, as long as they interrupt the Magic's rhythm first, then maintain this deterrence, and tell the Magic that they can use it at any time, so that the Magic will have a burden on their hearts, and even Howard will be on the offensive end. hesitate.

And Li Chengming is also affected, because it is difficult for him to catch the ball if the opponent fouls, and he has to worry about whether the opponent will suddenly foul when receiving the ball. Uncomfortable.

Especially Li Chengming's body type-although he weighed himself the day before yesterday, and he has dropped to 282 catties. Compared with the original trial training, he has lost almost [-] kg in five months, but running back and forth on the court is not good for him. It is unnecessary consumption.

So after 2 minutes, Van Gundy had no choice but to replace Li Chengming first. At this time, the Spurs were still leading by 8 points.

After Li Chengming left the field, Turkoglu used the ball to deploy the offense for the Magic. The Turk was in good shape in this game, shooting from inside and outside, disrupting the Spurs' defense with his own rhythm.

Turkoglu's athletic talent looks mediocre, but he has a good sense of the ball. Although his technical movements are not gorgeous, he is solid and stable. The best part is that he is very good at using rhythm changes to create shooting space for himself. Space He always has a way to get the ball into the basket.

Relying on Turkoglu's performance, the Magic finally bit the point difference to the end of the third quarter, still only eight points away from the Spurs.

The Spurs lineup, since Robinson retired, Duncan is often paired with a defensive blue-collar on the inside.

When facing Li Chengming and Howard, or Howard and Lewis at the same time, they can't take care of both, especially Li Chengming and Lewis can both pull to the outside, giving Howard a chance to fight one-on-one.

If it weren't for the limitation of foul tactics, Howard's inside destructive power would be stronger.

However, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Van Gundy wanted Li Chengming to take a rest, and Howard also temporarily rested off the court. As a result, the situation on the court changed suddenly.

The Spurs took advantage of this time and suddenly began to double-team Lewis. The Magic wanted to let Lewis take over the offensive banner at this time, but they were continuously oppressed by the Spurs and caused mistakes, which also caused the Spurs to fight back several times. On the contrary, it quickly opened up the score.

Van Gundy quickly called a timeout, and then brought Turkoglu up to stabilize the situation, but the Spurs were in a state of play. Barry was horribly accurate from the three-point line today, and he hit five goals in six shots. The offensive and defensive momentum was suppressed, and we could only watch the score come to a 6-point difference.

At this time, even if Howard and Li Chengming were brought up again, they would be powerless to recover, that is, let them brush up a little bit of data.

李成名统共出战17分钟，投篮7中6拿到19分4篮板4助攻，效率非常高。

From the start all the way to Li Chengming, the "sixth man", the Magic are not at a disadvantage in the competition, but they are not as good as the Spurs in lineup depth, and the point difference between the two teams is basically what Barry got today score.

(End of this chapter)