I really can't handle the ball

Chapter 85 Feasibility of Completing Mission Goals

"According to the previous reports, Bowen of the Spurs should not play again in this game. The Spurs lost the perimeter defensive gate, which is very unfavorable to them. I don't know how the Spurs coach Popovich should adjust."

"Bowen's accidental injury really hit the Spurs hard. On the other hand, the Mavericks are playing smoothly. Lee is now feeling hot and has scored 8 points in a row. Under such circumstances, Popovich's most important task at this stage is to formulate effective restrictions. scoring strategy."

During the timeout, Barkley and Kenny Smith analyzed the situation on the court in the on-site commentary, and then discussed Bowen's accidental injury.

"Hahaha, from the replay, it can be seen that Bowen was obviously aiming at people. Fortunately, Li responded quickly, otherwise he would be the one who was carried out on a stretcher. Bowen's injury is not worthy of sympathy!"

"That's right, we encourage physical confrontation, but we don't support using dirty means to injure other players. This kind of person is absolutely unforgivable!"

All hurtful actions on the court, whether intentional or unintentional, are not to be forgiven.

The timeout ended, the game continued, and the head coaches of both sides made substitutions and adjustments.

The Mavericks replaced Rasu Nesterovic and Finley with Sean Bradley and Lagabel.

On the other side, the Spurs replaced Bowen, Turkolu and Wesley with Robert Horry, Ginobili and Mamado Ndiaye.

After the substitution adjustment, the Spurs had the ball, and Parker dribbled forward without rushing, and came to the top of the arc to organize the attack.

Duncan quickly mentioned to make an off-ball screen near the free throw line, Parker used the screen to break through to the inside, and Nash bypassed the pick-and-roll to chase and defend.

After Parker broke through to the penalty area, he was caught between Bradley and Nash and immediately passed the ball to Ginobili who cut in from the right to the basket.

Ginobili made a three-step layup after receiving the ball, ready to attack the frame.

Chasing Lagabel saw that he couldn't catch up with Ginobili, and even if he planned to foul, he couldn't let him score easily.

So, Lagabel stretched out his hands and grabbed Ginobili's neck, violently pulling him to the ground.

With such a rough defense, Lagabel immediately raised his hand to signal that he had fouled, and gave the referee a good impression, so that he would not be sentenced to a malicious foul.

Ginobili, who was lying on the ground, felt a burning pain in his neck. He got up from the floor and wanted to settle the score with Lagabel, but when he turned his head and saw a group of Mavericks behind him, his momentum suddenly lost, and he turned to meet with Lagabel. The teammates gathered together, and they comforted themselves in their hearts to pay off Bowen's debts.

The referee checked the replay and saw that Lagabel's foul was indeed fierce, but he had an action to protect the opponent's player and only awarded a common foul.

On the sidelines, the Spurs head coach Popovich immediately stopped doing it when he saw the penalty, and shouted at the referee: "How dare you allow that guy to play, the person who gave it to me was almost killed by him. Are you dead!? Such a dangerous action is not given a malicious foul, you are really an accomplice of the murderer!"

"Stop yelling, Pop, Bruce's previous defensive actions were also aggressive, do you want us to treat them equally? Then Bruce should be fined a second-degree flagrant foul."

"If you're yelling like crazy, I'll have to give you a T."

When the referee said this, Popovich, who was in a rage, fell silent in an instant, and returned to the bench unwillingly.

Amid the boos of the fans at the scene, Ginobili stood on the free throw line, received the referee's pass, made two free throws and scored 1 point. It seems that the foul just now still affected him.

The ball is switched, and the Mavericks have the ball.

In this round of attack, Li Xuan shuttled inside and quickly got rid of Turkoglu's defense, and ran towards the outside at an accelerated speed.

The Spurs immediately switched defenses, and Duncan on the edge of the penalty area quickly ran out to supplement the defense.

During the timeout, Popovich specially formulated tactics to target Li Xuan. Whoever gets close to Li Xuan will immediately assist or supplement the defense, and he cannot be given an easy chance to score.

As soon as Li Xuan ran beyond the three-point line, he received a precise pass from Nash. When he turned around and wanted to shoot, he saw Duncan chasing him.

Duncan's defensive habits are very good. Even if there is no interference, he doesn't take off, but just raises his arms high to block the attacker's vision.

Li Xuan made a fake pass and quickly passed the ball from Duncan's side.

Duncan couldn't intercept the pass with both hands and feet, until the defense ended in failure this round.

Nowitzki, who came to meet him, received the pass and hit a mid-range jumper without defense!
18: 14!

In the next few rounds, the two sides strengthened their defensive strength, and the defensive methods became more and more rough. The shooting percentage of the two teams dropped sharply, and the point difference remained within 5 points and was not opened.

After playing for about 10 minutes in the first quarter, the head coaches of both sides replaced some of the main players and replaced them with rotation roles.

For the Spurs, Duncan continued to stay on the field and played the first quarter, while Parker and Turkoglu were replaced to rest.

Such a substitution adjustment was expected by Li Xuan.

Now that the Spurs have lost the perimeter defense gate, and if the interior defense gate is replaced, the game basically does not need to be played.

In addition, in the memory of Li Xuan's previous life, Duncan averaged nearly 40 minutes per game in the regular season this season, and even reached about 42 minutes in the playoffs. Duncan was really hardworking at his peak.

Although the Spurs Popovich is not the coach of dead players, as long as he plays against a strong team, Duncan basically rests for a few minutes, and then he has to play full time.

It can be seen from Popovich's rotation that in the entire Spurs, he believes in no one except Duncan.

If it is not for the consideration of physical loss, Popovich would like Duncan to stay on the court and play the whole game, which is too demanding for Duncan.

For the Mavericks, Nash and Finley took a rest, while Li Xuan and Nowitzki stayed on the court to deal with Duncan.

After substitutions and adjustments, the game continued. The Mavericks' tactics were very clear. Li Xuan, Nowitzki and Bradley took turns to defend Duncan, constantly consuming Duncan's energy.

Under the strict defense of the Mavericks, Duncan also scored 2 points in the last 4 minutes, which is really very tough.

On the last attack of the first quarter, the Mavericks had the ball, and Delk dribbled to the top of the arc to organize the attack.

The offensive time passed quickly, and with only seven or eight seconds left, Li Xuan rushed out inside, attracting most of the Spurs' defense.

Delk immediately passed the ball, but Li Xuan didn't catch it. The basketball flew past him quickly and passed it to Jamison who was on the same line.

After Jamison received the pass, he got a very good shooting opportunity and took off directly to shoot.

Bang bang!Fight with anger!
At this time, the time had not yet run out, and the basket was in chaos. Duncan blocked Nowitzki so that he could not take off to grab the rebound, and he raised his arms to grab the basketball that was about to be handed.

At this moment, a pair of long arms suddenly appeared in front of Duncan, and took away the basketball that was close at hand. He turned his head and saw that it was the No. 10 rookie, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

After attracting the defense, Li Xuan rushed into the inside line and took off vigorously. Through Nowitzki, he used his long arm to pick off the offensive rebound on Duncan's head, and took off for the second time and made a shot.

The referee checked the replay and saw that the ball left his finger after the indicator light was on, and ruled that Li Xuan's goal was invalid.

In this way, the first quarter ended, the score was 26:22, and the Mavericks entered the second quarter with a 4-point lead.

(End of this chapter)