unfinished glory

Chapter 33 The first defeat

The next game is on November 11th. The Spurs, who just finished the game with the Lakers, rested in Los Angeles for one night.The next day I packed my luggage and rushed to Seattle to prepare for the game against the Sonics.

Although this is not back-to-back, consecutive away games are quite tiring.Fortunately, the season has just started, and everyone's physical reserves are sufficient.

However, the Spurs still did not arrange too much training, and the team was given a day off on November 11.

On the afternoon of November 11, the team conducted a simple joint training.

In the last game, the Sonics beat the Eagles fat, winning by 21 points and shooting 50.7% from the field.

Their lineup is very difficult to deal with, not to mention Ray Allen, the best shooter after Reggie Miller, with a score of 20+ all year round.

Luke Ridnour is a qualified starter, with a good level of organizational passing and a mid-range shot.

Rashard Lewis, who is about [-] meters tall and plays small forward, is a test for the Spurs' defense.

There are also tall insiders with offensive skills like Jerome James, and stocky rebounders like Reggie Evans.

On the bench, there is Vladimir Radmanovic, who is the same height, position, and shooting ability as Lewis.Guard Antonio Daniels, who played for the Spurs for four seasons, and Ronald Murray, who averaged 12 points per game last season, and so on.

Head coach Nate McMillan spent 12 seasons in the Sonics as a player. After retiring, he went directly to the team as an assistant coach for three years before being promoted to head coach in 2001.

After staying in the league for nearly 20 years, he is very familiar with the situation inside the Sonics and the teams in the league.

As soon as it came up, the Spurs' offense was very difficult. They missed five consecutive offenses, of which Duncan contributed three strikes.

The Sonics also faced the defensive pressure of the Spurs. They missed two shots and made two turnovers without scoring.

The game progressed to more than three points before the Spurs made a tip-up by Nesterovic and scored the first score of the game.

Then Lewis on the Supersonics made a fuss and hit two points in the mid-range shot.

In the next few minutes, both sides played more tangled, with constant strikes, fouls, and mistakes.

With about 4 minutes left in the first quarter, the score between the two sides was only 14:15, and the Supersonics came from behind.

The Spurs fouled, and Popovich took advantage of Lewis' free throw and chose to make an early substitution.Barry, Malik Rose and Chongxiao Lee came on for Manu Ginobili, Nesterovic and Bowen.

The Sonics also made adjustments immediately. Radmanovich replaced Reggie Evans on the field, and Lewis moved to the power forward position.

In defense, Li Chongxiao did not face Radmanovich, but defended Ray Allen.

Although Ray Allen's athletic ability is very strong, when he was in the Bucks, he was often able to suddenly start, go inside and complete dunks.

In the past few years to the Supersonics, in terms of breakthroughs, he just replaced dunks with layups, and his offensive ability has not diminished at all.

What makes it even more difficult for defensive players to deal with is his excellent shooting ability.

Ray Allen's shot speed is extremely fast, from catching the ball to shooting, it only takes 0.4 seconds, and it takes 0.3 seconds for a person to blink.

And unlike Richard Hamilton's pure running pitcher, Ray Allen's singles ability with the ball is also very strong.In the game, he is often able to dribble, take two steps laterally to open the space, and hit a three-pointer.Or just sway past the opponent and complete the jump shot.

When Li Chongxiao played against the Sonics in the preseason, he was easily beaten twice by Ray Allen.It has been baptized in several games until now, but I still find it difficult to fight.

He has to guard against the opponent's off-ball and cannot give the opponent a little shooting space.In addition, when the opponent holds the ball, be careful not to sway.

This is different from playing the Lakers. Popovich arranged double teams in that game.In this game, Ray Allen's teammates have several players with good shooting ability. If the double-team creates an open space, the Spurs will be even more uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the shooting percentages of the two teams were not high today. Li Chongxiao, facing Ray Allen, made three shots and only hit one goal.

But Duncan was too strong today. He only made 7 of 1 shots in the first quarter. Even Li Chongxiao ran out of position and hit a mid-range shot. The Spurs still trailed by 19 points 23:[-].

Without Ray Allen on the court at the start of the second quarter, Li Chongxiao turned to Radmanovic, which was much easier.

Although the opponent has an advantage in height, they are not very confrontational, and their offensive ability with the ball is also poor.

Li Chongxiao strengthened his physical confrontation and used a lot of close defense. Although he couldn't completely contain the opponent's attack, he didn't allow the opponent to easily get the opportunity to attack.

Radmanovic's defense was mediocre and he was prone to distraction. This was caught by Li Chongxiao and he hit two consecutive three-pointers.

This made the Sonics coach McMillan fly off the court, replacing Radmanovic directly, putting Danny Fortson on the field, and Lewis returned to the small forward position.

Although Lewis's movement speed is not fast, his team's defensive ability is good, and he can still play a very good role against a novice like Li Chongxiao who has no ball control and breakthrough ability.

Li Chongxiao's two three-pointers were the only highlight of the Spurs' offense in this quarter. The problem for the Spurs was not defense, but the lack of feeling in offense.

Duncan hasn't had a good touch since the first quarter until now, so he will be replaced together with Li Chongxiao.

Letting Duncan play for more than three minutes in the second quarter is obviously a trick of Popovich.With Duncan resting, the Sonics brought up Ray Allen, and the Spurs' defense was punctured.

Ray Allen made consecutive breakthroughs, one scored and one fouled by Nesterovic.In desperation, the Spurs began to shrink their defense.This gave Lewis another chance.

这样超音速3分钟打出一个9：2的小高潮，将比分改写为46：35。

On the Spurs side, Duncan, who had only rested for 3 minutes, could only go into battle again, which stabilized the situation, and the two sides began to compete defensively.

By halftime, the Sonics ended with a 52:42 lead.

At the beginning of the second half, the Spurs continued their bad touch, scoring only 6 points in the half.

The Sonics' field goal percentage began to pick up. They scored 11 points and pulled the score to 15 points.

Then the Spurs did not allow the opponent to expand the score, but they were also unable to narrow the gap.At the end of the third quarter, the Spurs were still 60 points behind 75:[-].

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Popovich used a double defensive lineup of Bowen + Li Chongxiao to deal with Lewis + Radmanovich.

In this way, the situation still cannot be opened on the offensive side, and through the suppression on the defensive side, the Spurs slowly recovered some points.

With the appearance of Ray Allen, three shooters are on the field, which makes the Spurs' defense a little overwhelmed. This is a situation that Popovich did not expect before the game.

Moreover, Radmanovic, who didn't defend very hard before, became more active in defense after being reprimanded. Li Chongxiao didn't get a good chance and was replaced immediately.

In the last minute and a half of the game, the Spurs trailed by as many as 19 points.

Popovich looked stern off the court, took out a small notebook and recorded something, and then replaced the main force.

Li Chongxiao played for a little time at the end, but still seized the opportunity to hit a mid-range shot, allowing the score to reach 12 points.

At the end of the game, Li Chongxiao briefly answered the questions from the Huaxia reporters on the sidelines. Facing the congratulations from the reporters on his first scoring in double figures, he just said "Thank you! I hope the team wins more than this." Back to the locker room.

(End of this chapter)